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The title of my sermon tonight is remember that you will die. Remember that you will die. The part of James that I want to focus on here is chapter 4 verse 14 where the Bible reads, whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow, for what is your life, it is even a vapor that appearth for a little time and then vanishes away. The Bible says that our life is as a vapor that appearth for a little time and then vanish it away. You know, think about you're cooking something, you're boiling something, and that steam rises up from the boiling water and it's there, you see it, it's real, you can reach out and touch it, you can feel it, but in just a few moments it's gone. And that's how our life is in the scheme of things. Even though it might seem like a long time, even if you live a long life, you know, 70, 80, 90 years, it goes by faster than you think. As you get older, it begins to accelerate. You know, when you're a kid, a year is a really long time. When you become older, it goes faster and faster. I can't even imagine how fast it goes for some of you, you know, when you get really old. But I'm thinking to myself, you know, at my age, I'm 39, and it's just like Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday, it's just like another Wednesday, now it's Sunday, now it's Sunday, I'm just like writing sermons, it's like whoa! Because it just goes so fast. And our life is a vapor. Now the Lord on the other hand, with Him, a day is like a thousand years, a thousand years is like a day, He dwells in eternity, and of course we have eternal life, and so it's not like we're gonna die and it's over, because when we die, we're gonna go to heaven, we're gonna continue to live on. We have everlasting life, we have eternal life. But as far as this physical life that we live, it is a vapor, it appears for a little time, and then it vanishes away, it's gonna be over before you know it. Now go if you would to 2 Corinthians chapter number 4, 2 Corinthians chapter number 4, and we're gonna start reading in verse number 16, 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 16, I'll start reading while you get there, for which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. And this is a verse that I think about a lot. The things that are seen are temporal, and the things that are not seen are eternal. And there's really two ways to look at this verse. There's a positive way of looking at it, and there's a negative way of looking at it. And I think we need to look at it both ways. Now the positive way of looking at it is the actual context of what Paul's actually saying. Because Paul's actually bringing up negative things in our life. Because if you look back at verse 17, he says, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment. Now what is affliction? Is affliction a good thing or a bad thing? I mean affliction is something bad happening to you, right? When the children of Israel were afflicted by their taskmasters in Egypt, that's a bad thing. Another synonym of the word affliction in the Bible is tribulation. And so obviously tribulations, afflictions, troubles, those things are not fun things. They're not the things that we would desire or choose. Not that they're a part of life, they're something that we have to go through. David said it's good for me that I've been afflicted that I might keep Thy word. So they make us a better person, they strengthen us, and they are just part of our experience here on earth. But the Bible is actually giving encouragement in verse 18 by saying the things that we see right now are temporal, meaning whatever bad thing you're going through is temporary. That's the positive way of looking at this verse is that the bad things we go through in life are temporary. I don't care what you're going through right now, it's temporary. It will end. You will not be suffering forever. Now the lost, they're going to suffer forever, but I'm talking to the saved tonight. I'm talking to Christians, and I'm here to tell you that the things that are seen here on this earth are temporal, the light afflictions that we're enduring. And Paul calls it a light affliction because he wants you to put it in perspective. You know, the stuff you're going through is really not that bad. It could be worse. There's always someone who's going through something worse. And he says our light affliction is just for a moment. Now why does he say it's just for a moment? Because our whole life's a vapor, the afflictions are but for a moment. And they work for us a far more exceeding, much bigger, and eternal weight of glory. So the glory that we earn by going through a little bit of suffering now, the glory lasts forever. The reward lasts forever. The suffering is just quick. Now it doesn't feel quick while you're going through it though, does it? You know, whenever I have some kind of a sickness, or an injury, or some problem in my life, I always feel like it's going to last forever. Is anybody else the same way? I always just feel like I never will be well again. And it's not a logical thought, but I feel that way. I think I'm just like, I will always be sick. I'm just unhealthy now. This is just who I am now. I just cough, and I ache, and I hack. That's how I feel. Whenever I have an injury or something, I just feel like, man, my leg's never going to be normal. My finger's never going to be normal. My arm's never going to be normal. And sometimes it never is normal, unfortunately. But a lot of those things, they pass. But while you're going through it, you feel like, oh man, this is horrible. And look, all those things pass. Whether they're relationship problems, financial problems, health problems, they will all pass. And then you say, well, wait a minute though, you don't understand, my problem's permanent, but here's the thing, but you're going to die. And then when you die, your problems die with you. Right? So when you die, all your problems are over on this earth. And where you're going, there's no more sickness, no more sorrow, no more pain. And you know, your physical problems in your body are only temporary. Your financial problems are temporary. You're going to leave that mess for someone else to clean up someday. Alright? You're going to be gone. It's all temporal as far as you're concerned. And so our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen. So again, the positive way of interpreting this passage is look, don't look at the pain and suffering that you're going through for the cause of Christ. Look at the eternal reward you're going to get. Focus on that. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Because the things that you can see with your eyes are all temporary and the things which are not seen are the eternal things. Now, another negative way of looking at this passage that I look at it this way often is that every good thing in our life will eventually be gone. It will be taken away from us. We will eventually lose everything. And the reason that I like to think about this is because it's good to go through life with a loose grip on the things of this world. You don't want to hold on too tightly of the things of this world. And I'll tell you why. Because if you try to cling tightly to the things of this world, you know what you're going to do? You're going to compromise or sin or make bad decisions because you're just trying to just hang on to things that are temporary. For example, what are the things that are the most important to us in our life? What are the things that we love the most? What are the things we care about the most? You know, you can stop and think about it and say, well, you know, family, friends, loved ones, right? Those are the most important things in our lives are the people in our lives. And then you can think about other really important things in your life like your church. I hope that's important to you. You could think about your job. That's pretty important. And then you could think about the house that you live in and your possessions. You know, as you kind of move down the list of things that are in this world that matter to you. But let me tell you something, eventually you will lose them all. All of them. Every single one of them. So when God asks you to put everything on the altar, when God asks you to be willing to lose everything, when God says, be thou faithful unto death and I'll give thee a crown of life. You know what my attitude is? If God says to me, be faithful unto death, I'm just going to say, you know what? That's easy because I was going to die anyway. So basically God's telling me to do something that I was going to do no matter what. Because no matter how unfaithful I am, I'm still going to die. I could go hide and cower and not speak the truth, not preach, not witness to people and just keep all my beliefs totally secret. I could go get some cabin in the woods and get off the grid and just get the most organic food and stay clear of all the pollution and all the junk and eat healthy, live healthy, not mess with anybody and just be totally. But you know what's going to happen to me? I'm going to die if I do that. So what, I might live to be 119 years old and 364 days and then die? But eventually I'm going to die. So here's the thing, maybe my vapor can last a little longer than somebody else's vapor, but they're both a vapor. And so if you actually understand the fact that we're all going to die, we're all going to eventually lose everything, then when God asks us to sacrifice something, you know what we can say? Yeah, I'll sacrifice that because I was going to lose it anyway. Think about that. It makes it a lot easier to sacrifice when you stop thinking that things are permanent. You think your bank account is permanent? It's not. This building that we're in, one day this building will not exist. This building will be completely gone. Okay, now you say, well who cares because this is a pretty humble building. But you know there are a lot of churches that have a pretty fancy building and they're pretty proud of that building and they would even look down at our church and talk down to our church. I don't think a single news article has ever been written in the history of journalism about our church that didn't mention, oh they're meeting in a rented office space, meeting in a strip mall, meeting in a rented, right? Because that's supposedly some kind of an insult. But what's the difference if we're meeting in a rented office space or if we're meeting in some cathedral-like hall, they're both going to burn up, they're both going to be gone someday, they're both not going to exist a few hundred years from now, they're both going to be consumed, so why does it matter? It doesn't. But the people that are gathered here tonight, guess what, they're all going to be gone someday too. A hundred years from now, virtually no one in this building is going to be alive on this earth unless the second coming of Christ and the millennium and all that. But humanly speaking, a hundred years from now, probably none of us are going to be here. But here's the thing, that's what we see, that's the body, the things that are seen are temporal, so I see a bunch of bodies out here, they're all going to be gone someday. Now the souls inside those bodies are still going to exist a hundred years from now, two hundred years from now, but can we see the soul? No because the things that are not seen are eternal. So I'd rather spend my time worried about preaching to souls, getting souls saved, edifying souls because that's what matters than to spend my time trying to get a fancier building and trying to impress people with facilities and vehicles and clothes and all the things that are going to be gone someday. So we need to realize that the things that are seen are temporal, the things that are not seen are eternal. Eventually I'm going to lose everything. You say my spouse does everything to me. You're going to lose your spouse someday. My kids, it's all about my kids. You will lose your children someday. My parents, your parents are going to be gone someday. Your brother, your sister, your friends, they're all eventually going to be gone. And sorry, this isn't Mormonism where you know, the family stays together for all eternity and whatever. Folks, you need to realize that the things on this earth are all temporary. Here's another way of putting it. Everything in your life is borrowed. You know what I mean? Stop and think about that. And this is why we need to just enjoy what we have while we have it. Every day that God gives us is a gift. Every day with our spouse is a gift. Every day with our children is a gift. Every day in our nice homes and in our nice vehicles is a gift. Every day at our job is a gift. Every day that we get to go to church, every service we attend is a gift. And you need to enjoy it and not take it for granted because it will all be gone someday and it's all temporary. But I'm not saying that to be doom and gloom and negative because you know what? I can enjoy my wife today. I can enjoy my kids today. I can enjoy serving the Lord today. I'm enjoying being at church today because today is all that I'm guaranteed. Today is all that I have. Now go if you would to 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. This is such an important truth for you to understand tonight because it's going to affect the way that you live your life. You know, if you just are under this delusion of thinking that everything's permanent in life, that's going to affect how you live your life and you know what? You're wrong. If you think that anything in life is permanent, you're totally wrong because everything, everything is changing every day. Everything is going to be gone someday. The only things that are eternal are God, God's word, and those who are saved, right? And then of course there will be those who are eternally damned. But as far as actually living and continuing, you got to be saved and that's all that matters. The soul that man can't see. Look what the Bible says in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise. What a noise that will be. And the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. And here's the point that I want to make about everything being burned up. It says in verse 11, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness? So that, that's a great question. The question is being asked, how should you live your life in light of the fact that everything's going to be dissolved? So that proves what I was saying a moment ago that understanding that everything's temporary in this world will change the way that we live our life. What manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Going back to Old Testament, to the book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. Well what manner of persons ought we to be? Well you know what, if we're people who just, our job is everything, I mean does that really make sense in light of the fact that it's going to be dissolved someday, it's going to be gone someday? I mean you just, those who just want to just work toward wealth and retirement and financial security, hey, if that's what you're living for, you are living for something that is temporary. You know, I mean what manner of persons ought we to be? What he's saying is, you know if you understand what I'm preaching tonight, you'll live for God because you'll know that's the only thing that's permanent, that's the only thing that's going to last, that's the only thing that can't be taken away from you is what you do for God. Only one life so soon has passed and only what's done for Christ will last. And so we need to make sure that we're investing in eternal things, that we're not laying up treasures on this earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but that we're laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for our treasure is there will a heart be also. And we can't see those treasures in heaven. I don't take inventory every once in a while like, you know, let me see how, let me pull out the Golden Street Journal and see how my investments in heaven are doing. And see if, oh, I was a little down this week, I was kind of a slacker. You know, oh, whoa, whoa, it's way up, I did a bunch of soul winning or something. You know, it's not like that, we don't, we can't see it. But that's what matters, that's what's eternal, we believe it by faith, we know that God will reward us, we know that he's coming quickly, his reward is with him to give every man according as his work shall be and we need to understand that that unseen reward in heaven is the only thing that's permanent and whatever we lay up on this earth is temporary. You say, oh, I've got gold and silver, it's all temporary. It doesn't matter what's in the portfolio, your wealth is temporary and you could die today, you could die tomorrow. Would it really be the first time anybody your age died if you died tomorrow? And there are all kinds of ways that God could just snap his fingers and just snuff out your life like that. But you know what, God has us on this earth for a reason. I don't fear death, I don't worry about death because I'm going to be on this earth as long as God wants me to be on this earth. And here's the way that I see it, as long as I'm more valuable to God alive than dead, God's going to keep me around. And that's a biblical concept. I had you turn to Ecclesiastes but, you know, let me read for you from Philippians. You don't have to turn there. Here's what Paul said in Philippians, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose I want not, watch this, for I'm in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better. I mean, going to heaven's great, nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you, he tells the Philippians. I'd love to go to heaven but I'm here because that's better for you. You guys need me, he's telling the Philippians, right? And I love what he says next, and having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith. He said, I'm not worried about dying because I know how much the Philippian church needs me, so I'm sure God's going to keep me around to help them out. And so that's encouraging to any of us if we realize, hey, I'm serving God, I'm working for him, I'm a net positive force on this earth, you're a net positive force on this earth if you're soul winning and loving people and edifying the brethren and so forth. And so that gives you the confidence, of course I'm going to stick around because God's using me here. If God decides that my death serves his purpose, serves his glory, serves his agenda, then it's not a big sacrifice to ask me to die at a half-vapor instead of a full-vapor. Because it's just a vapor anyway. And so the Apostle Paul knew that he was going to stick around because he's more valuable alive than dead. So let's look at Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is a great book. And again, you can look at these in a positive way or a negative way. I don't consider tonight's sermon a depressing sermon whatsoever. I find it encouraging. I find it liberating. And in fact, in some of my darkest hours when I was the most depressed or the most upset, I kid you not, the book that I go to for encouragement is Ecclesiastes. Others are grabbing for Psalm 23. Others are grabbing for Psalm 1. For me, I go to Ecclesiastes because I read Ecclesiastes and the reason I find it so encouraging is because I'm just reading all these verses telling me, hey, everything's meaningless. Everything's vain. It doesn't matter. And then I look at my problems and I'm like, they don't matter either. All this that's bugging me, that's plaguing me, none of it really matters. I don't know about you, and I hope at least one person will benefit from this sermon besides me, but it makes me feel so much better just to realize, hey. And just to be clear, I'm not going through a rough time right now. I'm actually doing great right now, but I hesitate to say every time I say that behind the pulpit, something bad happens. So hopefully this is an exception. But anyway, I feel great. But you know what? I know that there are probably a lot of people here tonight that are going through hard things. And you know, I'm sure in the future I'm going through hard things and in the past I've gone through many hard things. And this encourages me because to the Christian, remember that you will die is not some kind of a threat. It's really just something to motivate me to do with what I've got, to enjoy every day and to serve God every day and to work hard every day knowing that every day is a gift. And remembering that I will die for me is like, that's like saying to a marathon runner, remember that there's a finish line. Oh, thanks, that's depressing. No marathoner is depressed by the finish line. Nobody who's running a marathon sees the finish line just like, oh man, it's over, you're kidding. I want to keep going. You know, maybe the rare person might feel that way. But you know, most people are like, great, it's over. Okay. For the Christian, death is the finish line. Death is the end of the race. Death is the award ceremony at the end of the marathon where we're handed out the medals and we can talk about. And the interesting thing, whenever you experience something like a marathon or just any kind of a sporting event or activity or difficult task, you know, one of the things that you enjoy afterward is talking to other people who did the same thing and you can talk about the high points, the low points and the stories and you know, it's kind of the party at the end where everyone kind of just has fellowship in their sufferings and joys and triumphs and it's going to be the same thing when we get to heaven. What a glorious reunion, what a glorious day that's going to be to just get together and talk about it all and just be done with it. So remember that you will die. Let's look at Ecclesiastes. I'm just going to give you some of the highlights of the book of Ecclesiastes on this particular subject. Starting in chapter 1, just to get the introduction of the book, it says in verse 2, vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Now do you get the idea? A little repetitive there, isn't it? Vain means empty, meaningless, it doesn't matter. That's what he's saying here. He says in verse 3, what profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh unto the sun? One generation passeth away and another generation cometh but the earth abideth forever. And I do believe that the earth will abide forever but not in its current form. It's going to be destroyed and it's going to be renewed and there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth. The earth will stay forever but it's going to be changed, it's going to be different than it is now, even though it will still be the same planet. The sun also ariseth and the sun goeth down and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goes toward the south and turneth about into the north, it whirls about continually and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. Unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. All things are full of labor, man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done, is that which shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new! It hath been already of old time which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things, neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. This is talking about from an earthly, worldly perspective. You know, he's going to give a spiritual perspective later in the book, but he starts out the book and just saying, humanly speaking, our lives don't matter. Humanly speaking, hundreds of years from now, no one's going to know who we are, no one's going to care. And think about this. This is written by King Solomon. King Solomon was a great, powerful man. He reigned over a great kingdom. I mean, he was so powerful and so wealthy, he's got what, 700 wives, 300 concubines, he's got all this gold and silver and apes and peacocks and whatever, and he had tons of intelligence. I mean, this guy had a lot, but here's the thing. I submit to you that if it were not for the Bible, we would have never heard of him in our lives. We would have never heard of him. If he did not write books of the Bible, and if the Bible did not talk about him in books like Second Kings and, sorry, First Kings and Second Chronicles, if he were not recorded in scripture, we wouldn't know who he is. How do I know that? Because there were all kinds of great kings in the Middle East that also had tons of wives and concubines. They also had tons of money and wealth and power. Okay, list, and Varen, you're excluded from this, list me some kings of ancient India. They want to, you know, list for me some of the wealthy, powerful kings of ancient India from, oh, I don't know, 3,000 years ago? Anyone? Anyone? But you know what? I'm pretty sure they existed. I guarantee you there were some Maharajas back then, and they had all kinds of wealth and power, and I guarantee you that there were people's names 3,000 years ago that would make everybody tremble if they heard that name. Everybody knows who so-and-so is. He's the most powerful man in India or the most powerful man in China or the most powerful man in Japan or whatever. Okay, who are they now? No one knows and no one cares. Folks, South America had these empires of the Mayans and the Incas, and they built these giant structures. Who were they? What were their names? No one cares. It doesn't matter. They're nobody. They're nothing. They're dust. They don't even exist. Nobody cares. They might as well have never existed. They're gone. And I guarantee you that Solomon would be in the same boat. Okay, here's the proof. Show me other historical records of King Solomon outside the Bible. Show me all of the historical documents telling us about King Solomon. That's the Bible. That's it. Because guess what? There were all kinds of other great kings in the Middle East, in the Far East, Central Asia, Southern Asia, Ethiopia, look all over the world there have been kingdoms and wealthy powerful people and they don't matter anymore. They're all gone. That's what Ecclesiastes 1 is teaching us. You will die and no one will remember that you ever even existed. No one will even care. And you know what? There have been great scientists who made great discoveries. Nobody knows who they are. Nobody cares. You know, let's talk about astronomers from 2,000 years ago. You know, you might be able to name one or two, but there were a whole bunch that did a lot of great things and unless somebody's an expert in that field, they're probably not interested, don't care, never even heard of these guys. And today we've got a bunch of scientists who really want to leave this legacy, you know, because they're going to discover the next big thing. But even if they succeed, which most won't, many will enter, few will win, even if they do discover the next big thing, you know, even if they're remembered for a hundred years, maybe they'll be remembered for a few hundred, but eventually they will be completely forgotten, totally obsolete. They'll be at some museum somewhere. Nobody cares. Does everybody understand what Ecclesiastes 1 is teaching us? You can be one of the most powerful people in the world and people have, okay, look, there have been so many powerful world leaders that none of us have ever even heard of that no one will ever hear of because their names and their memory are complete dust. Today, I mean, we have our celebrities today, the household names, you know, every once in a while, you know, some pop celebrity will come up, I'm like, who's so-and-so? They're like, you don't know who that is? Whoa, where you been? But here's the thing, 200 years from now, nobody will know who that is. Of course, John Lennon from the Beatles famously said, we're more popular than Jesus Christ right now. That's what the singer of the Beatles said. We're more popular than Jesus Christ right now and he said, I forget how many years, he said 50 years from now or a hundred years from now, you know, people won't be following Christ but they'll still be listening to the Beatles. I thought, I think he said something like that, forgive me if I got the quote a little bit wrong, but it's something to that effect. Like people are still going to be listening to the Beatles after Christianity's dead and gone. My friend, Christianity will never be gone. Christianity is the truth. It's God's word and it can never, and many people have predicted its downfall and doom. I can't even count how many emails I've gotten that say, oh, you know, you're going to go extinct and you're a dying breed and, you know, thank God that religion's dying and Christianity's dying. That's a joke. It's not even close. We're going, we're going up. We're getting bigger, okay? We're winning more people to Christ. We are moving forward and Christianity will never be destroyed. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. And so, but I will say this, eventually the Beatles will be forgotten, I promise you that. And even if Christ doesn't return in our lifetime, even if Christ returns hundreds of years from now, people will eventually get sick of and move on from the Beatles. I want to hold your hand, it's only going to last so long, my friend. People in the year 2275 are probably not going to be listening to it, except some geeky professor somewhere or something that's like an expert in 20th century culture or something. I'm telling you something, everything on this earth is going to be gone someday. And not only is it going to be gone, it's going to be forgotten. It's not going to matter. Let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter 9, now that we've kind of understood that truth from chapter 1. You know, the earth abides forever as generations come and go, kingdoms come and go, kings and princes and celebrities and musicians. So who are the great musicians from, I don't know, 2,000 years ago? Who are the big bands from around 300 BC? You know any? Anybody got any good bands from the 13th century AD, 14th century AD, 15th century AD? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? Well let's see, the only musicians I can think of are, I don't know, David, Asaph, the ones that are recorded in God's word and they will abide forever. But the worldly musicians, I guarantee you that the worldly musicians, the pop stars, you don't, and you say, well they didn't have pop stars back then. Really? Because I just read to you how there's nothing new under the sun. You know, I guarantee you that the Canaanites and the Philistines and the Edomites, they had their Jimi Hendrix. You know, he's on the lyre or whatever, you know, going crazy on the lyre, getting all, you know, playing the Edomite national anthem, you know, with a lot of extra notes. You know, they had their Woodstock of, you know, the Moabites and the Ammonites and whatever where they all, you know, didn't have enough porta potties and, you know, took LSD, stared at the sun until they ruined their eyes and had to go to the doctor. Had one concession stand to feed like hundreds of thousands of people and then the hippies like flipped it over and destroyed it because they charged too much for a hot dog. There's nothing new under the sun, my friend. Everything happens over and over again. It's cyclical. Just like the wind returns again according to its circuits. Blows north, blows south, east, west. Everything is on repeat. There have been people like me, there was some Steven Anderson type guy. Obviously we're all unique, we're all special, we're all like snowflakes, I get that. But I guarantee you there was some Steven Anderson type dude 500 years ago getting up and screaming about the Bible. Am I right? And you know, you think of the liberal, you think of Joel Osteen, I guarantee you there's a Joel Osteen kind of guy in the first century AD. There was a Joel Osteen kind of guy in the third century AD. You don't think positive only preaching existed back then? Is that all new? There's nothing new under the sun. The same stuff that we're dealing with today, other people dealt with it. You say, well, the technology's new. All it does is just amplify aspects of human nature that were already there. You know, it used to be if people gossip online, they used to gossip from house to house. They just had to physically go places and talk to people if you can imagine that. But anyway, let's look at Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 2. Title of the sermon is Remember That You Will Die. Realize that only one life so soon has passed and only what's done for Christ will last. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 2. All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the clean and to the unclean, to him that sacrifices and to him that sacrifices not. As is the good, so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun that there's one event unto all. Yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil and madness is in their heart while they live and after that they go to the dead. For to him that is joined to all the living, there's hope. For a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything. Neither have they any more a reward for the memory of them as forgotten. Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished. Neither have they any more apportion forever in anything that is done under the sun. Now Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists and people like that, they'll take these verses out of context to say like, oh when you're dead, you're dead, that's it. You don't go to heaven or hell, you die, it's over, it's all gone. That's not what this is saying because if you actually read it in context, what's the last phrase there in verse 6? They have no more apportion in anything that's done under the sun. So it's not saying that their life ceases to exist in heaven or that their existence ceases to exist in hell, it's saying that on this earth, under the sun, because people in hell are not under the sun, are they? They have a little bit of a sunshade there, okay? Thousands of miles of rock. And then those that are in heaven are above the sun, right? They're beyond the farthest star, they're beyond that. So what the Bible's talking about here is that humanly speaking, our lives on this earth, when we die, it says their love, their hatred and their envy is now perished. It's not saying that they don't, that they're not up in heaven loving God or down in hell envying people that are in heaven. It's talking about under the sun, honor, look, if I die, right, um, you know, I'm considered this hateful guy by the world. I'm considered a loving person by those who actually know me. I'm considered this hateful dude by the world or by the SPLC, right, but here's the thing. When I die, my hatred and my love will be dead. Does everybody understand that? It's gone. It's not on this earth anymore. And I am going to eventually be forgotten if enough time were allowed to go by, right? Just like I guarantee there are all kinds of awesome preachers and mediocre preachers and kind of good preachers and okay preachers and terrible preachers of the past. And we don't know who any of them were, right, because they're just, they're gone. It's over for them. What the Bible's telling us here is that, you know, you spend so much time trying to lay up treasures for yourself, it's a waste. But other people, they try so hard to build a legacy. Isn't that what presidents care about? Their legacy. You know, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan and George Bush, you know, what kind of a legacy are they? What's going to be the legacy of Trump? What is going to be the legacy of Donald Trump? That's a subject that people are talking about right now. Now here's the thing. You know, I have a message for Donald Trump. The presidency doesn't last forever, it ends. And even if he were to be elected for another four years, it still ends when that four years is over. And if he were to even say, no, we're going to amend the Constitution and we're going to have a three-term presidency, you know, you're going to die, you're not going to live forever. Everything is temporary. And you say, well, but their legacy goes on. I wonder how many people in this room could even name all the presidents, because I'll tell you right now, I could not. I cannot name. Who would raise your hand, every head bowed, every eyes closed, no I'm just kidding. But who would say right now, I cannot name all the U.S. presidents. Put up your hand if you'll be honest with me on that. Alright, God bless you, I see that hand. I could not name all the presidents. And even if you could name the presidents, you know, you may not be able to tell me a lot about Franklin Pierce. You may not have a whole lot to say about, you know, William Harrison. Is that even one of them? Did I get that right? What's that? Number nine. Do you hear this guy? Hey, I hear Jeopardy's looking for new contestants. Even though Alex Trebek's gone, you know, you can still get in there with the new guy, I guess, right? I guess they have a new host, right? I don't know. But anyway, look my friend, we couldn't necessarily, okay, tell me something about him. What? He's part of my family. He's related to him. Oh yeah, well I'm related to John Quincy Adams, alright? So there you go. We're all probably related to one of them. Benjamin Harrison? Yes, he was. So the point is that, you know, a lot of us don't know anything about these presidents because they're so long ago. Now, I bet everybody could tell me something about Bill Clinton. Monica Lewinsky, excuse me. Everybody could probably tell us something about Ronald Reagan, you know, but here's the thing. Kids, some kids would be like, who? But probably everybody could tell us something about John F. Kennedy or even Jimmy Carter. You know, you talk about Jimmy Carter, you talk about the long lines at the gas pump and the 18, 19 percent interest rates, the hyperinflation, the helicopters crashing into each other. See, I know some stuff. But you know why? Because those guys were recent. But if we went back into the 1800s, you know, okay, we know about Abraham Lincoln, but a lot of those guys in the 1800s, we wouldn't know much, would we? And then, okay, how about this, who was running things here in the 1600s? You know, I mean, very few people in this auditorium, maybe a tour guide, you know, very few people in this auditorium could actually list for me like who the real power brokers were in North America in the 1600s. Or how about the early 1700s? Who were the movers and shakers? Who were the governors and the people in charge? Very few people could tell that, couldn't they? I mean, that's where we live. We live here and we don't even know that. Hey, you know what? I can name for you my grandparents, but I cannot name for you all my great grandparents. And my great, great grandparents? Forget it. Great, great, great grandparents, I have no clue who they were. I don't even know if they were Chinese. I don't know who they were, right? Who knows? No clue. You know, oh, you know, I have a Cherokee princess in my ancestry. Okay. No idea. No clue. None of us. Why? Because those people are totally forgotten now and so will you and so will I be one day. But there's one place I'm not going to be forgotten and it's up in heaven and you're not going to be forgotten. God's got it all written down up in heaven, right? He's got all your tears in a bottle. He's got all your, your, your wanderings written in his book. All of your prayers he has preserved and the incense in heaven is the prayers of the saints. So on this earth though, so we don't want to let the Seventh-day Adventist or the Jehovah's Witnesses twist this and say, see when you're dead it's all over. No, no, no, it's all over for you from earth's perspective. Get the context. Under the sun it's all over for you, but you either continue on in heaven or in hell, your Seventh-day Adventist or Jehovah's Witness, it's going to be hell for you unless you repent and actually believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and believe in salvation by faith and not the garbage that your cult is teaching you. Look at verse 7. Um, actually I'm sorry, let me just read the end of verse 6 again. Neither have they any more apportioned forever in anything that is done under the sun. Verse 7, go thy way, eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a merry heart for God now accepted thy works. Now when it says there God now accepted thy works, here's how I think of this. I think of it as like the chili cook-off at our church where if you don't bring the chili by a certain time, it's not accepted anymore. It's like, okay, you got up until 5.30 to enter a chili and after 5.30 the bell rings, you can't. It's like God is right now accepting your works, right? He's accepting your entries, all the works that you do. But let me tell you something, there's going to come a time when you can't enter any more good works because it's all done. Like you've already, you've turned it in. Think about like an assignment like for school or something, right? And it's like the, the term paper is due on Friday at 5pm and they're accepting that paper until 5. If you show up at 5.30, oh wait here, let me, it's like sorry, too late, you failed. Well our life is the same way. There's a, there's a due date, there's a deadline that's called death and that's the deadline and God accepts your works, accepts your works, accepts your works, accepts your works, accepts your works. When you die, you can't do any more works that will earn you rewards like the works that you do on this earth. Obviously we're going to still do stuff in heaven, we're going to keep working, but it's not the same because the works that we do on this earth right now, we're laying up treasures in heaven. Once our life's over, that's it. Then we're going to go to the judgment seat of Christ eventually and we're going to be rewarded based on what we did in our body, the Bible says, what we did on this earth. So you can't just get to heaven and be like, oh man, I didn't do much on earth. God, is there any way I can get a little extra credit assignment since I missed the mid, the term paper? No, because it's like, sorry, I've already turned in your final grade. Sorry, the chilies have already been entered. I don't care how good your chili is now. The chili that you make on November 1st is meaningless for the contest. It's the chili that you make on October 31st that matters because that's when God accepts your works. That's when the church is accepting your chili to be entered into the contest. So he says, look, eat your bread with joy, drink wine with a merry heart, for God now accepted thy works. Let thy garments be always white and let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity, boy, he just has to keep rubbing that in, huh? For that is thy portion in this life and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave where there thou goest. And again, this is from an earthly perspective under the sun, you're not going to be working from the grave. You're not going to be voting from the grave. Democrats, you're not going to be able to. You can't do anything. Now obviously, like I said, from an earthly perspective. So what's he saying? Realize that every day is a gift, hey, let your garments be white. He's not telling us to just sit around and be like, nothing matters. Is that what Ecclesiastes is saying? Nothing matters, so let's do nothing. No, he's saying look, because everything's vanity anyway, everything's empty, everything's going to be forgotten, then we need to first of all enjoy what we've got, enjoy our wife while we're married because this is a temporary thing. And I'm not talking about like temporary like Elizabeth Taylor swapping wives every two years, or swapping husbands every two years. I'm saying it's temporary in the sense that marriage ends even if you're married for 60 years. It's going to end when you die. So enjoy your spouse, enjoy your children, don't let these things just pass you by. Enjoy your food, enjoy your drink, but most importantly, whatever you find to do, do it with your might because there's no work in the grave. It's like Jesus said, I must work the works of him that sent me while it is yet day. The night cometh when no man can work. Even Jesus knew I have a limited time on this earth and I need to work hard with the time that I've got because the night's coming when no man can work. Well you know, we need to have Jesus' same attitude and say hey, I don't know how long I've got on this earth, so whatever I find to do, I'm going to do it with my wife, my might. Look, anything that's worth doing is worth doing right. Anything that's worth doing is worth doing well. Anything that's worth doing is worth doing it with your might and putting effort into it because otherwise, why are you wasting your short life on things that don't matter? So even if we do a medial job, do it unto the Lord. Do it as unto Christ. But we need to also make sure that we're doing things that have eternal value, not just working really hard at whatsoever our hand finds it to do, but let's make sure that all of those things also are working us toward our spiritual goals of drawing closer to Christ, winning other people to Christ, raising our family for Christ, preaching the Gospel, serving the Lord, being a blessing to our local church, being a blessing to the people around us, and helping people grow spiritually. Now let's go to the last chapter, Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Verse number 1 says, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come naught, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. You know what the Bible's saying there? The Bible's saying that eventually you're going to get to a point where you are ready to go, where you are ready to die, to where the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Have you ever met people who just tell you, I'm ready to go, right? I mean, you run into people that are in their 80s, 90s, or even over 100, and some of them are just, they're just like, I've had a bunch of them, I'm just waiting for God to take me home. It's like, alright God, let's go. I'm ready to go. Let's go. You know, because they're done. Now those of us that are young, we're like, whoa, I want to stay here. But that's what the Bible just said. The Bible said, you're not to that point yet where you'll say, I have no pleasure in the years. You know, but eventually those years will draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. And then you get to be 99, 100 years old, you know, I hope you all live that long. Where you're just like, okay, I'm done, I've lived my life, I'm ready to go, it's over. That day is coming for all of us. Remember that you will die. Look at verse number two. While the sun or the light or the moon or the stars be not darkened. You know, we can go outside right now and we can see the sun, we can see the moon, we can see the stars. You know what, elderly people don't go out on stargazing tours because a lot of times their vision could be too blurred to see it. You know, I've tried to go stargazing with someone whose eyesight wasn't very good and it's like they don't, they can't see this stuff. You've got to be able to see it. He's talking about your eyes being dim with age so that you don't see these things. In the day, verse three, when the keepers of the house shall tremble and the strongmen shall bow themselves and the grinders cease because they are few. You know what the grinders are? Your teeth, your molars, right? And eventually you're going to lose your teeth. No matter how good you take care of them, they will eventually be gone. The grinders cease because they are few and those that look out of the windows be darkened, again a reference to your eyesight failing, and the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird. Have you noticed that elderly people sleep much more lightly than young people do? I mean teenagers will just sleep for like 10 hours, 11 hours, they're just in a coma. Sleep in real late. But you know what? Old people get up at 3 in the morning, 4 in the morning, 5 in the morning, and even throughout the night, you know when you're a kid you pretty much just sleep through the night. The older you get you start waking up multiple times throughout the night. Waking up throughout the night. Waking up and then you know you wake at the voice of the bird. The first little bird starts cheeping and you're just like boing. Teenagers are like. Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high. Your typical elderly person is not going to be doing a lot of ziplines and roller coasters and things. You know you start to have a fear of heights. Fears shall be in the way and the almond tree shall flourish and the grasshopper shall be a burden and desire shall fail because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets. Wherever the silver cord be loosed or the golden bowl be broken or the pitcher be broken at the fountain or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Vanity of vanities. You know this is reality my friend. You know we're all going to get old. We're all going to die. We're all going to experience these things and if you think about women who their whole life is just based on how they look well you know you're going to have a real fun time in your 70s, 80s, and 90s if all you care about is just being scantily clad and just how you look and you better get a little more depth of meaning in your life. You know or maybe you're a young guy and you just live for sports. It's all sports to you. Okay well enjoy sports in your 80s. It's not going to be the same. It's not going to be as fun as it was. You're going downhill. The point is that when we're young what does the Bible say in verse 1, remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth. You know if you're smart you young people would realize you know what I'm going to die someday and none of this matters and I need to live for God. I need to actually seek the Lord in the days of my youth. Now first of all you young people should seek the Lord in the days of your youth anyway because you're going to have a better rest of your life if you spend your teens at 20 seeking the Lord instead of your 10s and 20s seeking after booze and fornication and partying. Then you're going to be having bad consequences for the rest of your life but not only is the rest of your life going to be better if you actually love the Lord and care about the things of God now as a young person. You know what about the fact that we're all going to die one day anyway and the only thing that matters is what we do for God. So why don't you start sowing those seeds now. Not the wild oats but why don't you start sowing the seed now of serving the Lord, winning people to Christ, reading your Bible, praying and you're going to be able to enjoy that for the rest of your life and you're going to be able to enjoy that all throughout eternity. So look at verse 13. So it's important to get the book of Ecclesiastes in context by getting the conclusion. Verse 13, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil. And let me encourage you with one final thought. You can mess up your life on this earth pretty bad but if you're saved you can always continue serving God. You're never out of the game completely when it comes to loving and serving God as long as you're breathing air and I'm going to be getting to this down the road in the Judges series but just think for a moment about Samson. I mean could anybody screw up their life worse than Samson did? I mean think about it, this guy screwed up his life in every possible way. He's permanently blinded, he's enslaved, and he ruined his reputation. So he's got a bad reputation even to this day. It's rare to see even children being named Samson. You know even though he was a great man in some ways because of his bad reputation for the bad things. You know people just don't want their kids to do those things and I'm not against anybody naming their kid Samson. I'm just pointing out the fact that he's not necessarily a role model. Well he ruined his reputation. His physical body is ruined because he was blinded and he has no freedom, he's enslaved. He's just a big time loser being made fun of by the Philistines. The Philistines throw a party just to make fun of him. He's just the butt of everyone's joke. I mean I don't know, you know the Bible doesn't give us all the details but I guarantee you they're probably throwing stuff at him, spitting on him, slapping him around, just abusing him in any way they can think of. Making fun of him. I mean can you imagine being in a worse position, your own nation's mad at you, the Israelites are mad at you, the Philistines are making fun of you, your eyes have been poked out, you're doing a job that an animal does, grinding a millstone. You failed in every way possible but yet, yet he was still alive. And so he was still able to pray to God and he was still able to do one more thing for God. And when he did that last one more thing for God, in a sense he rehabilitated his reputation somewhat because of the fact that at least the Israelites were freed from the Philistines because he killed all the important Philistines and so they were able to get out from under their yoke as a result of what Samson did there. So I will say this to you, maybe you have ruined your finances to the point where your finances will never be fixed. Maybe you've ruined your body to the point where you'll never be able to do the things physically that you used to do, you'll never be able to do the sports that you did or whatever, the work that you did, whatever. Maybe you've fried your brain on drugs or whatever. Maybe you've ruined your reputation, ruined your health, ruined all your relationships. Maybe you've just totally burned the bridge with parents, brothers, sisters, kids and maybe you're just a big time loser tonight. But let me tell you something, if you're a saved child of God, you can drop on your knees right now or tonight or tomorrow morning and say, alright God, I'm ready to go. Here am I, send me, Lord. I want to live for you. I want to do something for you. And he will say, welcome back. Let's go. Let's do it. Now you might go back to your old job and say, I'm sorry, can I come back? And they're like, nope. You might try to go back to sports and it's like, nope. You might try to go back to the old girlfriends and boyfriends and say, nope. You might go back and try to mend things with your spouse or your parents or your siblings or your friends and they don't want anything to do with you. But the one relationship that you can always fix is the one with God. And if, and here's how I know God would never say no, is because of the fact that if God were truly done with you, you would be dead as a child of God, as a Christian. And I'm speaking to only saved people tonight. Anybody who's not saved, well, you need a different message about the cross of Jesus Christ. I'm up here preaching to the saved and I'm here to tell you that if you are breathing air, God is not done with you because if God were done with you, you would be dead. So if you're under the sound of my voice and you're a saved child of God, then you can always, always get back in the game when it comes to the Lord. And you know, that's encouraging because there are a lot of other things that aren't like that. Your sports career is temporary. Your job career is temporary. Your good looks are temporary. Your relationships are temporary. The one thing that's permanent is your walk with God. That will last forever. And so you can always serve God. You can always be a part of his team. You can always be used by God. Remember that you will die. And the only thing that's going to matter is what you did for God anyway. So even if you mess up every part of your life, there's always one part of your life that you can always count on to be there. And that's the spiritual side. That's your walk with God. And so don't waste your life on things that don't matter. What's the sermon about? What's the point? Don't waste your life on things that don't matter. You spend your whole life on politics, you're wasting your life, no one will remember any of this. Oh man, we're always going to remember 2020. What a wild year. Folks, there have been way wilder years in the past that we don't even know about. Way wild. But we know that 2020 look like a picnic that we don't even know. Someday 2020 will be so forgotten. No one will care. None of it will matter. But you know, you're just care so much about politics. None of it matters in the end. You follow sports religiously. None of it matters. Right? You're just, oh man, you know, my job. Look, sometimes life gets so stressed out and we're just like, oh man, my job and all of it, you know, my reputation, you know. But here's the thing, just take a deep breath and say, you know what, it's all going to be dust someday. It's all going to be gone. What did I do for Christ today? Did I take advantage of everything that God has blessed me with today? Did I thank God for my food today? When I sat down to eat my food, did I realize this food is a gift? And thank God for it. And thank God for my family and enjoy my family. And say, okay, now what can I do to further the kingdom of God? What can I do to earn rewards in heaven? What can I do that's going to matter 500 years from now? Because every soul I win to Christ is going to matter 500 years from now. Every person that I train to be a soul winner, that's going to matter 500 years from now. Every prayer I pray to God when I get on my knees and pray to God in heaven, every prayer I pray will redound and keep on resounding for all eternity, it will echo into eternity. Every prayer that ever comes out of my mouth will echo for eternity in the ears of God. So every single day we need to wake up and read our Bibles, thank God for another day, thank God for our loved ones, thank God for our house that's temporary, our borrowed clothes, our borrowed car, our borrowed dwelling, our borrowed job, our lease. Every vehicle is leased. Everything's temporary. Everything's going to be gone. But you know what? I thank God that I get to enjoy it today. And I thank God for the opportunity to serve Him today. The opportunity to tell someone a Bible verse today, to present the Gospel today, to go through the Romans road today, to preach a sermon today, to encourage a brother today, to encourage a sister in Christ today, today, today! Because we don't know what's going to be tomorrow and our life is going to be a vapor and before we know it we're going to be that guy that Ecclesiastes is describing that's stooped over and we can't straighten up and our teeth are gone and we can't see right and we can't taste and the sound of the singing is low and we're scared of heights so there's going to be no roller coaster. So if we live our life for fun, you're going to say, well I have no pleasure in the years. Take me home Lord, I'm done. But let me tell you something. If you live for God, if your life is about doing things for God, then you know you might be in your 90s and say, you know what, I wonder if I can just win one more soul to Christ. I can't ride another roller coaster, but I bet I can win one more soul to Christ. I wonder if I can just take my great grandchild upon my knee and tell him one more Bible story, just give one more sermon, just explain one more doctrine, just preach one more time, win one more soul, encourage one more believer, and folks, look, your legacy, you say, oh technology, everything's going to be preserved. No it's not. Those hard drives, whether there be hard drives, they shall fail. Whether there be SSD cards, they shall cease. Whether there be solid state drives, they shall vanish away. All data will eventually be fried. I mean think about when all these plagues are happening in Revelation, think about the hard drives. Those earthquakes and all the, you know, the electricity is going to go out and the surge protector is just not going to be able to handle what's going to happen during that time. The tsunami is going to come in and all this, look, you think, you know, you think that all those servers over at Google, you say, well, I got it all backed up on Google Drive. So it'd be a big old tsunami that's going to come into Mountain View, California and just baptize every Google Drive. Every Google Drive shall be baptized in water and then baptized in fire. That's my prediction. Everything will, every digital image will be gone. Every sermon I've ever preached will be gone. But you know what? My soul will go on, your soul will go on, and everybody I win to Christ will go on. Every prayer I pray will go on. Think about that and remember that you too will die. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this day, Lord. What a day that you've given us to serve you and to love you and to love our families and to love our friends. Lord, what a pleasure it is every day to wake up and eat and drink and go outside and hear the birds chirping and enjoy the life that you've given us, Lord. But help us not to waste it. Help us to enjoy it and help us to, and Lord, when I say enjoy it, I mean appreciate it, Lord, and be thankful for it. Help us to enjoy it, appreciate it, and be thankful for it, Lord. And help us also to use it to work hard, to put our might into our works and help our works to be spiritual works that have eternal value. Help us to spend time praying and soul winning and reading our Bibles and going to church and doing things that matter. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Let's do one more song. Turn to song 375. Work for the night is coming. Song 375. 375. The work for the night is running, work for the morning hours. Work while the news is sparkling, work when it's raining hours. Work when the day grows brighter, work in the glowing sun. Work for the night is coming, when man's work is done. Work for the night is coming, work through the sunny day. Fill quiet his hours with labor, rest from shore and toot. Give everybody business, something to keep in store. Work for the night is coming, when man's work's no more. Work for the night is coming, under the sunset skies. While their presents are glowing, work for daylight flies. Work till the last week bade him, bade him to shine no more. Work while the night is darkening, when man's work is o'er. Work for the night is coming, when man's work is done.