(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . is not original with the Apostle Paul. He's actually quoting the book of Isaiah. So let's quickly just go back to Isaiah 22 and look at that. Just to keep the context in mind here. While you're turning back to Isaiah 22, I'm going to read for you a little later in 1 Corinthians 15. After he's gone on and on about how there is a resurrection, we are going to be rewarded for our works. He closes out the chapter by saying, Therefore, my brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Why is our labor not in vain in the Lord? Because heaven is real. Because we are going to be rewarded. Because the things that we do now are going to echo throughout eternity. The people that we win to Christ are saved eternally. The works that we do for God will be rewarded for us eternally. We're going to spend eternity with Jesus Christ in heaven. So it's very rewarding to serve him now. Our labor is not in vain in the Lord, the Bible says. So in Isaiah chapter 22, we have this scripture beginning in verse 12. And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth. And behold, joy and gladness. So, you know, here God wants people to be sorry for what they've done. He wants people to weep and mourn over the dreadful spiritual condition of Jerusalem and the land. But instead, they're just going about their business, partying, having a good time, and they don't care about the spiritual condition at all. Slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die. So this is what the apostle Paul is quoting. So in Isaiah chapter 22, we have some people that need to be getting right with God and thinking about spiritual things and seeking the Lord. And they just don't care. They're just like, whatever, who cares, let's eat, drink, and be merry. Okay, you know, the Babylonians are coming, the Assyrians are coming, whatever, judgment of God is coming, who cares? Let's just eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow we die and just a lack of caring, right? And then the apostle Paul says, well, if there's no resurrection, that kind of is the attitude that would make sense. If this life is all we've got, well, then this life becomes ultimately meaningless. Go if you would to Ecclesiastes chapter number one. Ecclesiastes chapter number one. You see, the atheists of this world, this is what they'll say. They'll say, you know, because this life is all we've got, we've got to live it to the fullest. And, you know, people ask these atheists, like, why are you so evangelical about your atheism? Like, if you're an atheist, why do you feel like you have to make everyone else an atheist? Like, why do you want to spread the gospel of atheism? Why are you trying to get people not to believe in God or not to be a Christian or whatever? And, you know, what they'll typically say, like, I've heard Richard Dawkins say this, who's a famous atheist, evangelical atheist, he's also a pervert. But he basically said that, you know, the problem is that, you know, if you're believing in God, if you're Christian, you know, you're basically sort of living for this future bliss and future glory with Christ. You're not really getting the most out of life now. You know, it's not, but that's baloney for a couple reasons. Number one, I like my life better than Richard Dawkins' stupid, pervert, atheist life anyway, number one. Okay. But number two, the reason that doesn't make any sense is that after you're dead, it doesn't matter whether you had a good life or a bad life, a fun life or a torturous life, because it's over. And there's nothing left, and it's 100% meaningless. I mean, think about people who lived, like, a thousand years ago or 2,000 years ago or 5,000 years ago. Does it really matter how good of a time they had or how bad of a time they had if it's just totally over anyway? Nobody remembers them. Nobody knows their names. The only people that we could name from 5,000 years ago are people that are named in the Bible. You can't name a single person from back then that wasn't in the Bible. I mean, maybe if you're really into history, you could pull out a couple of pharaohs or something and pull out Khufu and Caffrey and those kind of guys. But look, the vast majority of people aren't going to be able to pull any of that out. And even if they did, what about all the 99.99999% of people that lived and died? And their lives don't matter. They're meaningless, right? Except if they serve the Lord. Then they're in heaven. Their works do follow them. They're eternally rewarded. Their life and contribution to this world eternally matters, okay? And so the real reason that Richard Dawkins wants to promote atheism and be evangelical about it is because, number one, he's under the control of Satan. So, of course, he's just doing Satan's work, which is just to work against Christ and the gospel and so forth. He's just an evil person. That's number one. Number two is just that's how he makes money and sells books. That's his schtick. That's his little gimmick of being this atheistic evolutionary biologist guy that people look to. And number three, he wants to be an atheist because he actually is walking according to his own lust, the Bible says. People that are willfully ignorant of the creation and willfully ignorant of the biblical flood, it's because of the fact that they want to walk according to their own lust. And you say, okay, well, why doesn't he just walk according to his own lust and leave everybody else alone? Well, it's human nature to want to drag other people down to your level. So if you're living a wicked and ungodly life, if people around you are living righteously, that's going to bother you. Why did Cain hate Abel? Wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous. Marvel not, my brother, and if the world hates you. Jesus said, the world hateth me because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil. And so this causes that desire to spread atheism and so forth. But this idea of living life to the fullest is so laughable because whether you have the super full, wonderful platinum package type life or whether you just have the suckiest life imaginable, once it's over, it's over. And if you have no consciousness, no memory, you don't know what happened, nobody knows what happened, then none of it matters anyway. But my friend, we are not animals. We have a non physical component to our being called the soul. And after our physical body dies, our soul will continue on and it will continue on in one of two places. It will continue on in heaven or will continue in hell. But we will exist somewhere forever, either eternal death and damnation in hell or eternal bliss and reward with the Lord in heaven. Now look at Ecclesiastes chapter one. Ecclesiastes is a great book that explains from a human perspective the futility of trying to find meaning in this life without God. You know, without the Lord, life ultimately is meaningless. OK, the Bible says in verse number one, the words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. There's no claim in this book made that it's King Solomon that wrote. But the reason that we would attribute this to Solomon is simply just because he talks about being greater and wiser than all the kings before him. And obviously Solomon was the guy that was at that peak or that pinnacle. And so that makes sense. But he's the son of David. He's the king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanity, sayeth the preacher. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. What does vanity mean? It means it's empty. It's meaningless. It's hollow. It's pointless. Right. And remember, what did the apostle Paul say in First Corinthians 15? He said, hey, if there's no resurrection, let's eat, drink and be merry. He doesn't say the be merry part. That's the part that kind of gets added in. But, you know, let's eat and drink because tomorrow we die. But guess what? There is a resurrection. Therefore be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So if there is a resurrection, if there is heaven, if there is an eternal reward, your labor is not in vain. It has lasting, eternal value and significance. But without that, everything is vanity. Right. Your labor is not in vain in the Lord, but labor under the sun, humanly speaking, ultimately is vain. All of it. Everything. Literally everything. Vanity of vanity, sayeth the preacher. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. I apologize for my cough. I'm going to do the best I can to get through the sermon tonight. I was sick like over a month ago, but it's just this cough just is lingering all the phlegm and snot that's just not going away. So I apologize. I'm going to do the best I can to get through it tonight. No promises that I won't be dragged out of here just hacking and coughing. Where were we? What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever. And he's just kind of explaining all the different cycles about the earth, the wind, the sea. Everything's on a cycle. Things are just repeating and going on and on forever. And human life is just a little blip on the radar in the scheme of things as just thousands and thousands of years go by on this earth. The Bible says in verse number nine, the thing that has been is that which shall be and that which is done is that which shall be done. And there's no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, see, this is new. It has been already of old time, which was before us. Now, why do people sometimes think that things are new? Sometimes people think, no, no, this is really new. Why do they think that? The reason that they think that is because, verse 11, there's no remembrance of former things. What it is is that we forgot about the last time that thing was around. So it's like, well, this is new. No, no, no. It has been already of old time, which was before us. It's just that there's no remembrance of former things. We just don't remember it because everything ultimately gets forgotten. Neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. I, the preacher, was king over Israel and Jerusalem, and I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven. This sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. I've seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. And you see, the idea here is that if we look at things from a human carnal standpoint, not thinking about Christ or the resurrection, heaven and hell, eternity, if we just think about just human life, everything is ultimately futile and meaningless and frustrating, right? Now, this is not meant to be a depressing sermon because the idea is we are saved, we do have eternal life, and everything we do actually does matter. And I would submit to you that when you are a saved Christian who is serving God, literally the opposite of this is true where nothing is vanity. You know, it's like everything ends up having meaning. And if you think about the things that people try to do in order to find meaning or fulfillment in their lives, right? Think about all the different various routes that people can take. And Solomon, if he's the author here, which he probably is, is going to go through and talk about all of these different possibilities that people could try as far as seeking wealth, seeking pleasure, power, learning, whatever route you take. And if you think about it, this is what people are doing today in 2024. They're looking for meaning in their lives, and some people, for them, it's just sports. You know, I can't even count how many books I've read about running. I love running, and I've read all kinds of books about running, and I love reading biographies, like autobiographies about running and runners. So I've read a ton of stuff like that recreationally, and I can't even count how many times I've read these books where it's like these people are kind of talking about how they just have no meaning in their lives, and then it's like they discover running, you know, and now they have all this meaning, and I'm just thinking to myself, like, you still don't have any meaning in your life. And, you know, there's a famous ultra runner who, you know, once he got some kind of an injury where he wasn't able to ever run again, the doctor said, you're never going to be able to run again. He hung himself, because it was just, that was his life, running. Now, folks, I don't think I need to tell you, 99% of you, I probably already have you at hello here, that the meaning of life is not found in running. And, I mean, even if you were to just excel and become super proficient, even if you were to just break records, set records, revolutionize the sport, which is obviously what most runners are not going to do, it still is totally vain and meaningless, and nobody is going to give a rip about you 500 years from now. You know, I mean, can you tell me all the great runners from the Olympics BC? Can you name any of them, right? No, because they don't really matter. And, of course, there's some expert, you know, historian or archaeologist that can name them. But the point is, you know, it's meaningless, right? Some people, it's sports. Some people, it's, you know, going down to the gym and building their muscles super big. You know, once you get those giant muscles, then what? What do you do next? You know, now you're going to Disneyland, right? But the point is, you look at people who, it's education for them. And they just, they keep going further in learning and scholarship and education. They take it all the way to the PhD, then what? Then they get another PhD. You know, I literally asked someone the other day, like, oh, what are you going to do when you finish this PhD? And this is what they said, well, I'm going to get another one. You know? And then it's like, what do you do after that? Well, then, you know, you just try to get your paper published, and then you get another paper published. You know, and Solomon addresses that. He says, you know, in making books, right, it's in chapter 12. I didn't, let me see if I can find it real quick. Oh, yeah, verse 12 of chapter 12. Further by these, my son, be admonished. Of making many books, there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. He's just saying, you know, ultimately, you could write all the books and get all the papers published and, you know, and be this great author or whatever. But ultimately, it's just a weariness and a vexation of spirit and a frustration and a vanity, and it's meaningless. So, you know, when it comes to education, when it comes to athletics, for some people, it's just money, and, you know, people just want to be rich. And, of course, this is one of the worst paths to take in life. Out of all the paths that people could take, this is the one you really don't want to go down because the love of money is the root of all evil. So you want to stay away from this one. But a lot of people, it's just, they just want to make money and just enjoy that rich, wealthy lifestyle, drive the fancy cars, wear the fancy clothes, live in the fancy house. But ultimately, I guarantee you, that is going to provide emptiness, vanity, vexation of spirit. It's not ultimately going to make you happy. Other people would say, well, no, no, no, it's not about material wealth. It's not about those things. It's about relationships. It's about true love. And this is what a lot of people believe today because this is really hyped in the music, in Hollywood movies, and your, I guess, Hallmark movies, and your Lifetime movies, or I don't know where it's hyped, but it's hyped places, okay? And the point is, you know, people get this attitude that somehow if they can just find true love, if they can just find that relationship, then their life will be complete. And, you know, teenage boys, what do they think? They're thinking about girls, right? Teenage girls, what are they thinking about? They're thinking about boys, right? And that might even consume their mind to the point where they sometimes can't really see other things. They're kind of just focused on that one thing, and they obsess on that one thing, and ultimately they think that that's just the end-all be-all right there. It's just getting in that perfect relationship, getting married. And, you know, it's a great goal to want to get married to the love of your life. I mean, that's a beautiful thing. But let me tell you something. It is not going to ultimately be the end-all be-all that you think it is. It just isn't. You can get a lot of happiness out of that. You're going to get a lot of mileage out of that relationship, God willing. You know, if you marry the right person, you can really get a lot of mileage out of that relationship, but it is not going to get you to the finish line, because I'm telling you, it's not going to be enough for you. It just isn't. And, again, I don't believe that these things are meaningless, because, again, if we have Christ in our hearts, if we are serving Christ and living for God, all of these things have meaning. And one thing I want to point out, you know, I do believe that my marriage is meaningful, my child-rearing is meaningful, my job is meaningful. You know, even my athletic pursuits I feel like are meaningful, because of the fact that ultimately I'm staying in shape so that I can serve God. You know, it's ultimately all about winning souls, preaching the Gospel. You know, and if I'm married and having children, yeah, I'm just enjoying those relationships for their own sake, but I'm also ultimately perpetuating the teachings of God's Word and passing them on to another generation, both of physical children and spiritual children. Okay, then all of a sudden child-rearing has meaning. You know, athletic pursuits have meaning if I'm witnessing to my fellow athletes, or if I'm, you know, doing things as unto the Lord and not unto man, and striving for excellence in everything that I do, because ultimately I'm serving the Lord Christ, and everything in my life is sort of funneling toward that. And so I'm not saying that these things are meaningless for us. I'm saying that without Christ, without God, without living for God, they are meaningless. And even if you're saved, if you're saved and then you just devote your life to sports and not to spiritual things, you're going to find emptiness there. But if you're serving God and serious about things of God, and then you have sports as a part of your life, then that can be meaningful for you. Same thing with education or work or whatever pursuits, building a business, you know, relationships, all those wonderful things that we do in life. But, you know, aside from all of these pursuits that we've already mentioned, for some people, the meaning of life for them is about helping other people. They're going to fix things. They're going to make a difference. And you run into a lot of people like this where they don't want to be rich. They don't want to be famous. They don't want to necessarily be a great athlete or something. But you run into people whose greatest desire in life is to make a difference in their community, make a difference in the world. I mean, we have a lot of people in this world that are volunteering for all kinds of charities, and they're volunteering to go to places where catastrophes have happened, and they're going to help out, and they're going to volunteer, and they're going to do things pro bono, right? And I mean, you know, those are good things. Those are nice things. But let me tell you something. Going out and doing that kind of charitable work without Christ, though, without Christ in your heart, without the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, it is ultimately found to be meaningless as well. You see, a lot of people with that kind of a heart or that kind of attitude would go into professions like being a first responder, you know, because they want to make a difference. Maybe they want to be a nurse and care for people, or they want to be an EMT or a paramedic or a fireman, you know, because they're out there saving lives, right? And people would go into those type of professions and things, and some people would go into law enforcement and say like, you know, hey, I'm going to be a cop because I'm going to be a good cop. You know, I'm going to be the guy who's out there actually helping people and cleaning up the streets. I'm going to be part of the solution. And, you know, there are people out there that feel that way, of course, both saved and unsaved people, where that's what their life is about. But when you look at the scripture here, it says in verse number 15, that which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. And so there's ultimately going to be a frustration in saying, hey, we're going to clean up this town, because you're probably not going to clean up this town. You know, hey, I'm going to go to the Indian reservation and clean it up. Hey, I'm going to go to the rough neighborhoods in Phoenix and clean them up. I'm going to go to Chicago and Pittsburgh and New York, and we're going to clean up these folks. It was messed up before you got there, and it's going to be messed up after you're gone. And it's a very noble attitude that says that you want to clean up this town or that you want to help people, you want to make a difference, but ultimately it's going to be sad and frustrating when you find that the problems are still there. You know, oh, we're going to end poverty. Well, the Bible says the poor you have with you always. There have always been poor people. There will always be poor people. And so this is a frustrating thing, and this is why many times you'll hear about people like this, first responders, people who are public servants, taking their own lives, committing suicide in high numbers. Why? Because ultimately they realize that they're not making the difference that they thought they were making. You know, I've talked to police officers who said, man, it's just so frustrating because I really want to fix things and make my area safe, and it's just not safe and it's just never going to be safe, and there's just nothing I can do about it, and my hands are tied. I can't fix it. The police officer was telling me how he just felt like he's just babysitting all of these derelicts and babysitting all these criminals and everything, and it's like he's not really making a difference. It's really frustrating. On the other hand, let's say you have a police officer, like I had an uncle that was a sheriff's deputy in Los Angeles, and he was a born-again child of God. He still is, but he was a policeman. He's retired now. But as a Christian, as a born-again child of God, he understands that there's more than just his job as a policeman, but that rather there's eternity, there are souls, there's Christ. And his attitude was just, hey, I can't fix things. I'm not going to fix LA. I'm not going to fix even this. But you know what? I can just make my little area a little bit better, and I can reach the individual. And ultimately, when you have Christ as Savior, you understand that there is an eternal difference that we can make. We can't fix Tempe. We can't fix Phoenix. We can't clean up this town. But one thing that we can do is win one person to Christ. And if we win one person to Christ, we have done something of eternal value. If we can encourage and help our fellow brother and sister in Christ, we have done something of eternal value. If we can encourage them, motivate them, teach them, train them, admonish them, ultimately, we're working for something eternal. You see, Solomon's big complaint throughout the Book of Ecclesiastes is that nothing he does lasts forever. He can build a bunch of things. He can accumulate a bunch of wealth. He can consolidate power for his kingdom. But ultimately, he's going to die and leave it to someone else, and they're probably going to screw it up. He doesn't know if the guy that he leaves it to is going to be wise or a fool. Even if he's wise, well, then the next guy's going to be a fool. Eventually, somebody's going to ruin it, and there's going to be no remainder. There's going to be nothing left of all his work that he's done under the sun. You see, there's something innate in us that wants, where we don't want to just do something that's significant now, we kind of want to do something of eternal significance. We want to do something that lasts forever, right? We don't want to hear that, hey, 500 years from now, everything we did is gone and doesn't matter. Let's look at chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes. Go to chapter 3. While you're turning to chapter 3, actually, I'll read from chapter 2, verse 24. There's nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw that it was from the hand of God. For who can eat or who else can hasten there unto more than I? He said, hey, you know, the best thing to do, this is that same mentality that Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 15, same mentality from Isaiah 22, the eat, drink, because tomorrow we die type mentality. He says, hey, there's nothing better than to eat and to drink. You know, just enjoy, man. Live it up. And then he says, well, okay, well, who can do that more than me? I mean, I'm the king. I'm at the head of a prosperous kingdom. Man, if anybody can eat and drink, it's me. For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledge and joy. And, you know, he's really talking about himself here because he is a man that is good in God's sight and he's been given wisdom and knowledge and joy. And then it says, but to the sinner he giveth travail to gather and to heap up that he may give to him that is good before God. Now, that sounds pretty good. It sounds pretty good, like, hey, you know, if you're righteous, you get all these benefits. If you're sinful, you know, God takes stuff away from you and gives it to the righteous. It sounds pretty good, but then why is this final sentence there at the end of verse 26, if that's so good? This also, even this, even this which sounds so good, ultimately is vanity and vexation of spirit, okay? Even just having this attitude of, well, look how much good I have, look how blessed I am. At the end of the day, it's going to be empty unless we have Christ, unless we have heaven, unless we have the resurrection. Look at chapter 3 verse 9. What prophet hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I've seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of man to be exercised in it. He hath made everything beautiful in his time. Also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and to do good in his life, and also that every man should eat and drink. This comes up over and over, like, a lot of times in Ecclesiastes, eat and drink, eat and drink, eat and drink, eat and drink. And this is sort of just symbolic of just enjoy, just enjoying life. He says, eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God. But look at verse 14, it says, I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Now, notice the contrast here. Everything that man does is temporary. Everything I build is eventually going to be gone. You know, for example, my life's work is Faithful Word Baptist Church. Faithful Word Baptist Church will not exist forever. You know, eventually this church will either not exist at all, just be completely defunct, shut down, missing, absent, done, over, gone. Or, option number two, it'll just be some liberal, ungodly, stupid, wicked place. Say, well, Pastor Anderson, you're a little bit pessimistic. I think Faithful Word Baptist Church is forever. I think Faithful Word is never going to stop. You want to know how I know that that's not true? Now, obviously, if Christ returns, you know, in the next, like, 10 or 20 years, yeah, we'll make it. We're going to make it, amen? But I'm saying, like, in the long run, here's how I know that I'm right. Because I was always taught growing up that it's possible for a good church to last forever. I don't believe that anymore, and here's why. Because there aren't any examples of that in this world. If that were true, then you'd be able to point to some church that's been going strong for 400 years or something. You know what I mean? Like, all the good churches are new. Or, even the old IFB is relatively new. You know, you want a really old church? You want to go back, you know, it's the Roman Catholic Church, and it's trash. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's your old church. Hey, you want to find a really old religion? It's Hinduism. They're worshipping literally demons and snakes and fire and guys with pitchforks. But they're like, we're the oldest religion. Well, Satan's pretty old. But the point is that, you know, churches are born, they live, they thrive, they decay, and they die. And it's always going to happen. And I know that Faith Forward Baptist Church is going to go through that same process. I'm going to die someday, someone else will take over, and maybe the next guy will be good. Maybe the next guy will be a fool. And just maybe the next, maybe literally the next pastor will run it into the ground. Or maybe it'll be the guy after that, or maybe the guy after that. But give it a few generations, maybe even sooner, someone will destroy it and run it into the ground. But this does not bother me at all. This does not break my heart at all. Because it's just the way of the world. It doesn't bother me any more than the fact that I'm physically going to die someday bothers me. Or that my children are going to die someday. Or that my friends are going to die someday. Why? Because what matters is what we do now. You know, look, if Faith Forward Baptist Church ceased to exist tomorrow, it was still a great run. It was a great run. It was great while it lasted. You know, eventually it ends. But what we did as a church in the last 18 years is of eternal significance. The people that we won to Christ will always be saved. They will never go to hell. They're saved eternally. The preaching and the teaching that we've done from this church is going to echo throughout eternity. People will continue preaching. Look, I'm still preaching stuff that's been preached by people before me, and before them, and before them, all the way back to the time of Christ. The doctrines keep echoing. The preaching keeps echoing. The teaching keeps echoing. And most importantly, the souls that are saved live forever with Christ. And so what we do has eternal significance. You see, what man builds, the buildings, the physical institution, the actual physical organizations, the athletic achievements, the degrees, the diplomas, the certificates, you know, all the different things that we do, the businesses that we build, all of those things are going to be gone someday. But whatever God does, as opposed to what man does, what God does, it will be forever. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3.14. So this is an interesting verse in a book about how just everything's temporary, everything's going to be gone, nothing I do is permanent. Then it's like, well, everything God does is permanent. So if I can get involved in the work of the Lord, now my work becomes permanent. Does everybody understand that? So the way to find eternal value in the things that we do is by hitching our wagon onto Christ's work. Whatever God does lasts forever. And so if we can get involved in the work of the Lord, now we're actually making an eternal difference in this world. And look, I'm not saying that there's no benefit in finding true love or being a first responder or all the other things that people want, you know, or learning things and gaining knowledge or going out and building a business. You know, I'm for you building a business, gaining knowledge, finding true love, and saving people's lives. Do all of it. But my friend, do it in the name of Christ. Do it as a servant of Christ. Do it for the Lord Jesus Christ and win souls to Christ as you go, and you are now living a life of eternal significance. And instead of everything you do being vanity, nothing that you do will be vanity if it's done in the name of the Lord Jesus. You know, all of our labor is not in vain in the Lord. Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we do it all in the name of the Lord. And then it all has meaning. So it says, I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it. And God doeth it that man should fear before him. That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been, and God requireth that which is past. Right? Say that ten times past and understand it. Verse 18, I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. And this is exactly what we're being taught today, isn't it? So I guess people are finally getting the message after all these years that Solomon wanted people to see the fact that they were beasts. And now they see it. Right? Because here's the thing. Without God, without Christ, that's what you are. A glorified ape. Right? You're just another primate. Homo sapiens. Right? Of course, we don't believe for one second that we're animals. But when the Bible is saying here that men would see that they're beasts, this is a metaphor. It's like when Jesus said, I'm the door. You know, it's not to be taken literally. It's a metaphor. He's saying that he is like a door. Okay? Does everybody know the difference between a metaphor and a simile? Right? You learn this in elementary school and English class. A simile is when you use the word like or as. And please, somebody explain this to the Roman Catholic Church. But a metaphor is when you don't say like or as, but you're still making a comparison. Right? It's like when Jesus said, I'm the bread of life. That's a metaphor. You know, and the Roman Catholics are like, well, he didn't say he's like the bread of life. You know, well, what if I told you that Christ could use a metaphor? You know, they're taking it, they think he's the literal bread. You know, this is my body, which is broken for you. They think that literal piece of bread is Jesus' literal body. It's absurd. It's madness. It's ridiculous. It's like Nicodemus saying, oh, I got to go up into my mother's womb so I can be born again. It's stupid. It doesn't make any sense. And so it's a metaphor. And so the metaphor here is that human beings are beasts. Why? Well, because the same thing that happens to a beast is the same thing that happens to a human. Ultimately, they're going to die, decay, and turn to dust. And if that's it, like the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, if there's no resurrection, then you're a beast at that point. Let's eat and drink because tomorrow we die. He says that they might see that they themselves are beasts in verse 18. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts. Even one thing befalleth them, as the one dieth, so dieth the other. Yea, they have all one breath, so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast. For all is vanity. All go into one place. All are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his portion, for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? I mean, think about it. If you died and that was just the end, the way the agnostics and the atheists believe, and the Sadducees and people like that, if you just died and that's the end, who's going to take you and show you what happens after you're gone? And, you know, hey, you know, let's make sure we have a really good funeral for Uncle Bob. Uncle Bob doesn't know what's going on, according to that logic. Right? You could go urinate on Uncle Bob's grave and nobody's going to care, and nobody's going to know, because Uncle Bob don't move no more, and he's not in this, right, according to that mentality. Now, look, I'm not saying that about Uncle Bob, because if Uncle Bob was saved, you know, then he could be looking down from heaven, so don't you, you know, find a better place to use the bathroom. Okay? Because you don't want to offend Uncle Bob up in heaven. Okay. But the point is that, you know, everybody is going to dust physically. They're gone. And who's going to show them afterward what happened afterward? They don't even know, according to that logic. But the difference is the spirit, right? The spiritual aspect is the only difference. The spirit of man that goes upward, you know, assuming that you're saved, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth, right? The animal breathes its last breath and it just basically just gets assimilated into the earth, because that's all it is. It's just physical matter. Whereas the man, the human, his spirit returns to God that gave it, right? The spirit returns unto God. If you're saved, you go to heaven. If you're unsaved, you go to hell. And of course, if you would flip over quickly to Ecclesiastes chapter 12, it says this in verse number 7. It says, Ecclesiastes 12, 7, Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. And then he says in verse 13, Some people would try to say that Ecclesiastes is just teaching that there's no life after death, or that, you know, that Ecclesiastes is just saying that nothing matters. And so, you know, people have even wondered, like, why is this even in the Bible? You know, because the whole Bible is telling us that things do matter, and that God is real, and that there's heaven and hell, and all these different things. And then Ecclesiastes is just there, all of a sudden, just acting like, well, you die and that's it. You have no preeminence above a beast. Eat, drink, and be merry. Why is this even in the Bible? Okay, and people have wondered that, and people have struggled with that. But the bottom line is that, number one, it's in the Bible because God wants it in the Bible. And, you know, it's kind of a miracle that a book like Ecclesiastes makes it into the Bible. Because, you know, if man were putting together the Bible, if it was just human beings putting together the Bible without God's providence, you know, I would say probably Ecclesiastes would end up being left out. Because they'd say, hey, this book is going to really, you know, give teenagers the wrong idea or something, you know. Or that, you know, maybe even a book like Song of Solomon would be left out. Like, you know, hey, what is this book doing here? Maybe the Book of Esther would be left out, right? But, of course, we know that God's hand has fashioned the Bible that we have, and these are the 66 books that are God-breathed. And so the reason that we have the Book of Ecclesiastes is because it's not teaching that life is meaningless. It's teaching that physical, carnal life under the sun without spiritual things is meaningless. And it is. And so it's an important, powerful truth that we get from reading the Book of Ecclesiastes. Because we, and you say, why preach on this? You know, we're not atheists. We're not agnostics. We, you know, we don't need this. The reason I'm preaching this to you is because even as a saved, born-again child of God, your life can become meaningless if you neglect spiritual things. You know, so basically, you can get saved as a kid. You know, you're coming to church, you get saved, and you can grow up. And if you just grow up and just live a life in pursuit of one of these earthly pursuits without seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, without keeping spiritual things on your radar, you can end up actually living a pretty meaningless life. You're still going to heaven, of course. You're still saved. You're going to heaven. That's great. But I don't know about you. I don't just want to go to heaven. I also want to live a meaningful life on the way there. And I want to dedicate my life to something that is actually going to be permanent. Not just an athletic record that's going to be broken, a diploma to hang on the wall somewhere, you know, a business that can give me wealth and then I don't even know what to spend the money on and stuff like that. No, no, man. I want my life to have significance now. And I'm telling you that the older that you get, the more you're going to realize that these earthly pursuits do not have meaning unless they are done in the name of Christ and unless they are coupled with an ultimate goal of serving Christ and an ultimate mission of winning souls to Christ, edifying our brothers and sisters in Christ, reaching people with the gospel, the furtherance of the kingdom of God. And look, obviously I am for you getting married, having kids, building a business, you know, producing whatever artwork or athletic achievements or whatever. You know, those are all good things to do in our lives. But they need to be done in the name of God and we need to seek first the kingdom of God and we need to make sure that we have those things in our life in their proper place. Because I'm telling you, maybe you're a teenager right now and it's just all about true love. Let me tell you something. I hope that you find what you're looking for. I really do. But once you find it, it's going to be great. You're going to enjoy. But eventually you're going to say, okay, what's the next thing? You're not just going to be like, and then, you know, we got married and I was 19 years old and we got married and that's just it now. That's all that matters to me. It's just me and my wife and our relationship and that's just life. And 30 years later, that's just life. And 40 years later, it's just life. It's just all about love, love, love. All you need is love. Folks, if you believe that, you're crazy. It isn't true. You know, you're about to get married and you're laughing at that, but it isn't true. I'm getting my soul wedding partner back. But the point is, the point is that, you know, of course you can have a great marriage. You can have a meaningful relationship with your wife 20 years in, 25 years in, 30 years in. I'm not saying that you can't. Of course you can. You can have a great marriage that lasts for 60 years. But I'm just telling you, when you're 5 years in, 10 years in, 15 years in, you're not just going to be like, well, this is all that I need. Everything else is just details. You're going to be like, no, I need more meaning. Trust me, you will need more meaning. Nobody wants to say amen because then their wife's going to be like, what do you mean? Now, here's the thing. My wife is not offended when I say this at all because she feels the same way. It's like she understands that, look, you know, by the way, it's kind of a lot of pressure if somebody's like whole existence is all wrapped up in you. It's like that overly attached girlfriend meme or something. Like, you know, no, you know, you don't want anybody to be that wrapped up in you. You're not going to be that wrapped up in somebody else. And look, I'm all for being super duper in love but you can't just – it's funny. Somebody was showing me this marriage book. His brother Alex was showing me some marriage book that he was given and he was just talking about how he's just having like this super intense marriage that just keeps getting more intense over the years. And I'm just like, well, that sounds a little intense for me, you know. And I'm just like, you know, okay, thank you Billy Mays but, you know, is that the guy with the like, this is amazing, the infomercial guy? You know, Billy Mays guide to marriage or something. The point is that, you know, everything has enjoyment for a season. Everything gives meaning for a season but we want something that lasts for a lifetime. We want something that lasts forever. We've got to serve God. And look, if you seek God when you're young and look what the Bible says. You're there in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 1. It says, remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth. I'm telling you, if you're a young person and you have all these paths before you, is my life going to be all about sports? Is it going to be all about art? Is it going to be all about music? Is it going to be all about making money? Is it going to be all about education? Look, I'm telling you, if you take the path that says it's going to be first and foremost about being a Christian, it's going to be about serving God, it's going to be about Jesus Christ, you will not regret taking that path. And it won't give you an empty feeling. And you can still do all the other things on the side. I'm not saying not to pursue those other things on the side. But you've got to seek first and foremost the kingdom of God. If you choose that path, then ultimately whatever achievements you have in the other areas will have meaning and you will be able to ride that train all the way to the bitter end. The Jesus train is never going to run out of steam. The romance train is going to run out of steam. The athletics train, you know, oh, it's just all about sports. Well, good luck with that because once you hit 30, once you hit 40, once you hit 50, your body's not going to do the same things that it used to do. You know, there are girls where it's just all about their physical appearance. But your beauty is not going to be there eventually. You know, when you get to be 60, 70, 80, you know, now obviously we've got some gorgeous, you know, 60, 70, 80-year-olds in this room. But I'm saying, you know, in general, beauty is going to fade. And so the point is that, you know, you've got to make sure that when you're choosing what your focus is or what your life is about, that you make it about Christ. And yes, get married. Yes, build the business. Yes, but make it first and foremost about seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Then those other things end up having meaning. Okay, and you're not going to regret it. And you know what, obviously I haven't been a perfect person. Obviously I'm just a normal guy. I'm just a Christian, a human being like everyone else. But I can honestly say that, you know, this is the path that I chose in life. You know, when I was a teenager, when I was around 16, 17 years old, I chose to get really serious about serving God. And I was constantly in church as a 16, 17, 18-year-old, constantly in church, constantly going to Bible studies, constantly reading my Bible, constantly witnessing. As soon as I found out about soul winning, I got into soul winning. And I was going on missions trips, and I was involved in these things from a young age. You know, I would say I really got serious about serving God when I was about 16 or 17. And I do not regret that decision at all. And at certain points in life, I put other things on the back burner so I could really make sure that I was serious about God. And ultimately, God has allowed me to do a lot of the things that I kind of skipped back in those days or things that I put on the back burner because I was like, hey, I got to seek first the kingdom of God. You know, God has kind of allowed me to go back and do some of those things that I missed out on in those days because I sought first the kingdom of God. And then now they're all meaningful. Versus if I would have just said, eh, you know, I'll go to church, but my main focus is X. My main focus is Y. You know, I guarantee you that I wouldn't be as satisfied with how my life turned out. You know, and obviously I need to keep on putting Christ first because, you know, hopefully I still have a lot of my life ahead of me. I know the way I'm coughing, it doesn't seem like it, but I'm actually a pretty healthy guy if I could just get the stupid phlegm out of my lungs. But, you know, hopefully, God willing, I have many more decades ahead of me. You know, I have to keep seeking first the kingdom of God. And look, I do have a lot of other side interests. I'm not one of these people that just says, you know, no, don't go to the gym and don't do, you know. Look, I'm for having hobbies and having fun and having relationships and having other things in life besides just church. I understand that God gives us a more balanced view of how to live our lives. But I'm just telling you that if you think that you don't need this spiritual component and you think that, nah, I'm just not that into religion, nah, I'm not that into the Bible, nah, soul winning is not my thing. Yeah, I'll go to church Sunday morning, kind of check it off, but, you know, I don't need to be living a strict life or going soul winning or reading my Bible every day. You know, I'm more into this and that. You know, you're going to be disappointed because when you get the PhD, it's not going to feel as good as you think. When you get the gold medal at the Olympics, when you, you know, that's if you even achieve those things because those are obviously difficult things to achieve that a lot of people don't even make it to. But I'm saying best case scenario, you make it to that finish line. You get that PhD. You get that gold medal. You build the big successful business. You know, you, I don't know, have the hit song on iTunes or whatever. I don't even think iTunes even exists anymore. Apple Music or Spotify or whatever, you know, whatever you think it is, you will experience an empty feeling when you get there. But when you're serving Christ, it's not an empty feeling. Your labor's not in vain in the Lord. And then you can enjoy your marriage for what it is, a marriage, not the literal meaning of life. Right? You can enjoy, you know, athletics for what they are, not the literal meaning of life. What a sad life when literally your life is running. Your life is lifting weights. Like you're literally lifting stuff up off the ground and putting it down again. And you're just like, I found the meaning of life. And by the way, like here's the thing, I love lifting weights. I like, in fact, you know, sometimes I like lifting weights more than running even, you know, if you can imagine that. But, you know, lifting weights is cool. But, you know, eventually though, like once your muscles get to a certain size, like I, you know, I don't really want them to get any bigger at some point. Some of these guys look like a cartoon character or something. They have some kind of like body dysmorphia where they like, they're like anorexic people. Like anorexic people are really skinny and they look at themselves in the mirror and they think they're fat. Right? It's a mental disorder that a lot of people have. Who knows what I'm talking about? I mean literally, they literally, like I watched a documentary about it when I was a kid. This super, this girl was so skinny, it was like gross how skinny she was. It was gross. She was like a skeleton. And she's just like, oh, but look, I have this belly. It's like, those are your internal organs. She's like, oh, I got this little guy here. It's like, what do you want to do? Just like start taking out organs? I don't know, maybe we can take out your spleen and you can lose a little more weight. But I think the same thing happens sometimes with these muscle heads that basically they have these gigantic muscles and then it's like they're looking in the mirror and they see themselves as small or something. And pretty soon they're just like this big, and their head's too small for the rest of their body. Like, hey, let me go pump a bunch of iron so I can have a head that's too small for my body. Vanity of vanities. And so I'm done, but the point is, seek first the kingdom of God. It's all about eternity. It's about heaven. Keep that in mind. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Right? Because if there's no resurrection, then yeah, it's just eat, drink, because tomorrow we die. Let's eat, drink, and be merry, as we said when I was a kid. But rather, we know there is a resurrection, Christ is real, the gospel is real, the kingdom of God is real. Let's put that on the front burner and let's do all the other things. And you know what? If you trust in the Lord, God will give you the desires of your heart. He will allow you to achieve the things that you want to achieve, but put him first. Let's bow your heads in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for giving us meaning in our lives, Lord. Obviously, thank you for salvation in a home in heaven, but Lord, also thank you for giving us meaning in our lives, where even if we just sweep the floor or cut the grass, Lord, if we're doing it for your honor and glory, our lives matter. And the people that we reach, the people that we influence, those people will live forever, and all of our deeds and works will follow us and echo into eternity. Lord, thank you for giving us lives that are meaningful. Thank you that we will never be forgotten 10,000 years from now, a million years from now, because whosoever doeth the will of God abideth forever, Lord. Thank you that we will never be forgotten. And Lord, I pray that if there's anybody in this room who doesn't really care about the things of God and is just kind of really focused on something worldly, Lord, please help them to understand, Lord, that they need to also, in addition to those worldly pursuits, they need to also bring you into the picture and seek first the kingdom of God. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. If you need the hymnal for Isn't He Wonderful, 468. Isn't He Wonderful, 468. We'll sing it twice and be dismissed. Isn't He Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful. Isn't Jesus, my Lord, Wonderful. I have seen His evidence recorded in God's Word. Isn't Jesus, my Lord, Wonderful. Isn't He Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful. Isn't Jesus, my Lord, Wonderful. I have seen His evidence recorded in God's Word. Isn't Jesus, my Lord, Wonderful. Amen. Good singing tonight. You are dismissed. You are dismissed.