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Ecclesiastes here, number 2, we'll begin reading verse number 1. As always, we'll read the entire chapter, and you can follow along silently as I read the beginning of verse number 1. The Bible reads, I said in my heart, go to now I would prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure and behold this also is vain. I said, if laughter is mad and mirth, what doeth it? I sought in my heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainted with heart with wisdom, and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. I made me great works, I builded me houses, I planted me vineyards, I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits. I made me pools of water, to a water there with the wood, to bring forth trees. I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house. Also I had great possessions of great and small cattle, above all that were in Jerusalem before me. I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces. I gathered me men singers and women singers, and the lights of the sons of men as musical instruments and that of all sorts. So I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me, and whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoices in all my labor, and this was my portion of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had brought, and on the labor that I labored to do, and behold all of his vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no prophet under the sun. And I turned myself to hold the wisdom and madness involved, for what can the man do that cometh after the king? Even that which had been already done, then I saw that wisdom excelled folly as far as light excelled darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness. But the fool walketh in darkness, and I myself perceived also that one had been happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, as it happenedeth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me. And why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is manly, for there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool forever. Seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten, and how died the wise man? As the fool. Therefore I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me, for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Yet I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun, because I should leave it under the man that should be after me. And who knoweth whether he should be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun? This is also manly. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which I took under the sun. For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom and in knowledge and in equity, yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is manly and great evil. But what of man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, for what he hath labored under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his trapeil greek. Yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night, this is also manly. For there is 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 hereunto more than I? For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom and knowledge and joy. But to the sinner he giveth a trapeil to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is manly and vexation of spirit. Let's bow our heads in that word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for bringing us safely to church once again. And God, I love faith for Word Baptist Church. And there's no place I'd rather be right now on Sunday morning than in your house with your people. And I pray that you would now speak our hearts through the message, dear God. And help us all to grasp the truth this morning and to really let it sink down into our ears. And we love you and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now Ecclesiastes 2, and if you would turn to Matthew 13. Well, we're going to come back to Ecclesiastes 2, but turn to Matthew 13. I almost don't like to preach out of Ecclesiastes sometimes because it's such a great book. And it seems like it almost needs to be taken as a whole. I mean, such a beautiful book. I hate to just isolate one part of it because it's really one whole book. You have to just sit down in one sitting. If you're ever going to read Ecclesiastes, you have to just sit down in one sitting and just read the whole book. Cover to cover is the way to read Ecclesiastes. It's one of my favorite books. Beautiful, poetic book. But we're going to take Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and we're going to look at a few other places. But I want to talk about what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 13, 22. Look down at your Bible. Jesus is describing different believers or people who hear the word of God preach. Some believe it, some don't. Some are fruitful, some are not. But in Matthew 13, 22, the Bible reads, He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. Now Mark 4, 19 says basically the same thing, I'll read it for you. I just want you to listen carefully. And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And then Luke 8, 14. He says it a little bit differently in each place. And that which fell among the thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. Now if you look down at your Bible in Matthew 13 there, he's telling a parable here, and he says in verse 3, And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, The sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among the thorns. This is the one that we're dealing with this morning. And the thorns sprung up and choked them, but others fell into the good ground and brought forth fruits, some in hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. And then if you go down, you'll see the interpretation, where Jesus describes what it means in verse 18. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the waste God. Now, is this person saved or unsaved? No, they're not saved, okay? The seed was sown in their heart, but they didn't understand it. They didn't comprehend it. And you know, it's funny, before my wife got saved, I gave her the Gospel, what, twenty-five times, thirty times? Very stubborn, you know, pray for her, you know, I'm just kidding. But anyway, I gave her the Gospel about twenty-five, thirty times, before she got saved, literally. And this is before we were married, of course. But, I talked to her about it, she said that she'd never really fully comprehended it until she got saved. I mean, she didn't really understand it. It's so different than what she'd been taught in her whole life. It's so different than what the world will take. Sometimes people hear the Gospel and they just don't quite understand it. And what happens is, they'll hear the Gospel one time, they don't understand it, and then the wicked one, the devil comes in verse 19 and catches away that which was sown in their heart. And they don't end up being saved. That seed was received seed by the waste God. But he that received the seed into sowny places, the same as he that heareth the word, and anon with joy, received it. This is a person who does get saved, okay? They received God for as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them to believe on his name. So here's a person who receives the truth. They believe on Jesus Christ. Yet, hath he not root in himself? They're not rooted and grounded in the faith, as the Bible tells us that we ought to be, that we're not tossed to and fro. He says that we need to be steadfast, unmovable, rooted and grounded in the faith. And then he says, but doeth for a while, for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he's offended. So this is the fair weather Christian, you know, he's saved, he gets in church, he's living for God, until hard times come, until persecution comes, or tribulation, but tribulation could be any trouble or any kind of affliction, or persecution it could be. He's saying when any hard times come, he's offended, he falls away, he falls out of church, because he's not rooted in what he believes, he's not grounded in the faith. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it, which also beareth the fruit, and bringeth forth some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Now a lot of people are confused about what this fruit is. A lot of people will say, well when a Christian brings forth fruit, oh yeah, we're talking about the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, temperance. That is not a Christian bringing forth fruit. That's the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit brings forth fruit in your life, love, joy, because everything brings forth after its own kind, all the way back to Genesis 1. So the Holy Spirit, God is love. He's going to bring forth love. God is, the Holy Spirit is called the oil of gladness. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and so he brings forth after his own kind in your life. That's the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Christian bringing forth fruit is winning another person to the Lord, because you're multiplying, you're bringing forth after your own kind. Oranges bring forth oranges, apples bring forth apples, Christians bring forth Christians. Now people will mistakenly think that if someone doesn't bring forth any fruit, they're not really saved. That's what people will say. Now the reason is because they have the wrong idea what fruit is. They'll look at somebody who quits drinking and say that person brought forth fruit. Or they'll look at somebody who goes to church, oh, they brought forth fruit. Now look, you can go to church all day long. It doesn't mean that you're going to reproduce, okay? That's not what bringing forth fruit is. It's not going to church. It's not abstinence from alcohol, okay? Now, first of all, and if it were love, joy, and peace, how do you bring forth 30 love? 60 peace. 100. Good for you. 30 church attendance. 60 baptism. Okay, that's not what it means, okay? Bringing forth fruit all the way from Genesis 1 all the way to the end of the Bible, bringing forth fruit is multiplying. Be fruitful and multiply, the Bible says. And so you could win 30 people to Christ. You could win 60 people to Christ in your lifetime. You could win 100 people to Christ, okay? That's what bringing forth fruit is all about. Now, Jesus said every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Now, he didn't say that if a person does bring forth fruit, they'll be cast into the fire. He's saying that every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast forth. Because you've got to get that verse in context. That verse is found in Matthew 7. And the Bible says, beware of false prophets. This is a false preacher, okay? Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather graves of thorns or figs of thistles? Likewise, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Now that we've got the verse in context, we see not every person is a tree. A tree is a prophet. A tree is a preacher. A tree is a solider. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise. Now, let me give you an example. Let's say we have a portrait of apples, and this apple portrait is filled with apple trees. Now, each tree will produce hundreds of apples, right? How many of those apples will become a tree? Very few. I mean, what percentage of the apples that fall from the trees and the apples will become a tree? Less than one percent. Does that mean that the ones that fell down or were eaten or were sold in the grocery store weren't really apples? Because they didn't bring forth more apples. Now, think about this. Just because an apple doesn't bring forth more apples, it doesn't mean it's not an apple. But if that apple is buried in the ground and becomes a tree, you better know it's going to bring forth apples. And if it brings forth anything other than apples, it was not an apple in the first place. Does everybody understand? So Jesus is saying, if you see a tree producing fruit, you can look at the fruit and the tree is known by its fruit. Now, do you examine the leaves of a tree to see whether it's an orange tree or an apple tree? I'm not some type of horticulturist. I mean, you look at it and you see oranges on it, it's an orange tree. You see apples on it, it's an apple tree. That's the best way to identify a tree. And so God is saying, when you see a tree, you look at the fruit, you can tell whether it's a false prophet or whether it's a righteous prophet, whether he's reproducing good or reproducing bad. But guess what? Some people just never reproduce. The Bible says, except a kernel of wheat falls to the ground to die, it abides the world. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. If it dies, you must die to self. The old man must be crucified with lust, Sarah. If you die to self, then you will bring forth fruit and you will win souls and you will be fruitful and you will bring forth 30 or 60 or 100 or more. That's bringing forth fruit as a Christian. And so people will say, well, you know them by their fruits, so if this person is living right, they must not be saved, no. It says you'll know the false prophet by his fruit because he'll bring forth thorns and briars. He'll bring forth gall and wormwood because that's what he is on the inside. That's what he'll produce. Look at someone's children to see what kind of a person they are. I'm talking about their physical children. That'll tell you a lot about what kind of person they are. Look at their children and then look at their spiritual children. Look at the people that they went to Christ. Look at the people that they're leading. Look at the people that they have reproduced and you'll know what they are because the tree is known by his fruit. Now, if you are like the person in the parable here, you may hear God's word and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but if the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, it says he, talk about the person that received the word, becomes unfruitful. Look down at this Bible. That's what it says in verse number 22. At the end it says, choke the word and he becometh unfruitful. Many Christians are unfruitful. Now, if every Christian in the world were bringing forth 30 other Christians, the whole world would be saved. Think about that. I mean, if every Christian won 30 to the Lord and the whole island, pretty soon there'd be nobody else to win the Lord. So we know that's not happening because many Christians are unfruitful, that's why. And so we have to understand that there's a danger and by the way, we live among thorns. I mean, we're surrounded by worldliness and wickedness and things that will try to choke out the word of God in our life and make us unfruitful. The weeds that are growing up around us will sap us of all the nutrients and sap us of our lifeblood and sap us of the word of God's power in our life and we will become unfruitful Christians, barren Christians, that never win anybody to Christ, that never reproduce, that never see anybody saved. God forbid that faithful word back his church would become filled with thorns and briars that would choke the life out of us and we would cease to reproduce after our own kind. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 2 and then we'll be back at Ecclesiastes 2 where we'll spend the bulk of our time. 2 Timothy chapter 2 carries the same idea in verse number 4 when Paul said this to his young protégé in the ministry of Timothy who was trained to be a preacher, who was trained to be a man of God. He said, No man that warth and tangled himself with the affairs of this life. It's the same idea of being tangled up in thorns. You know, weeds have a way of wrapping around things and twisting their way around things. They're very crooked. And he says, No man that warth entangled himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strived for masteries, he has not crowned, except he strived lawfully. He's saying sin, breaking God's laws, is going to entangle you. It's going to pull you away from pleasing him who calls you to be a soldier. He says, Don't be entangled by the thorns and briars and cares of this world. Turn back to Ecclesiastes 2. You see, there are many things in this world that will try to divert your attention away from what you really ought to be spending your time on, which is serving God. That's what life's all about. It's all things were created by him and for him, the Bible says. And they were all created for his pleasure. Our life is not to be lived for self, but to please God, to serve God, and to bring forth fruit and to win souls to Jesus Christ. That's what your life's about. But this world will try to get you tangled up in all these other things. All these other things will try to distract you to keep you from remembering what the most important thing you're doing in this world is, which is bringing forth fruit and winning souls to Christ. Look at Ecclesiastes 2, verse 1. Here's a man, Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, who got a little bit tangled up for a while in the cares of this world. He was looking for something that would fulfill him and something that would give him happiness and joy in his life. He said in verse 1, I said in my heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with myrrh. Therefore enjoy pleasure. Behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, it's mad. And of myrrh, what do it? Now, what's myrrh mean? Fun. That's what myrrh is. It's having a good time. Fun. He says here that he decided, you know what? I'm trying to find out what's going to bring joy to my heart, and I'm going to try just fun and pleasure. He said I'm just going to go out and just have all the fun and all the pleasure. And this is the world we live in, a world where recreation is glorified. Everybody's just looking forward that weekend when they can go out and have fun. And that's what people live for. They count down to the great big fun time when they're going to go to the amusement park or they're going to go camping. I'm not saying any of those things are bad. Those things are fine. Going out and having fun is fine. But he said I'm going to go out and I'm going to give my heart to myrrh. I'm just going to enjoy pleasure. I'm just going to have fun. But he said it's vanity. There's an emptiness associated with living your life for pleasure and fun. He said I said a laughter, it's mad. It's crazy. And at myrrh, what do with it? What's the point? He said this isn't giving meaning to my life. Now listen to me. When you're a child, that is your life sometimes. You know, you just think, oh man, if I can only go swimming or if I can only go to Great America or if I can only go out to pizza or if I can only play the next video game. And you know what? I'm going to tell you something, kids. When you grow up, that is not going to be enough for you in your life. It's not going to do it for you anymore. I mean, when you're a child, you speak as a child. You understand as a child. You think as a child. But when you become a man, you put away childless things. And I'm going to tell you something. Adults and people that are my age and older than I, we don't just get the biggest thrill in the world from sitting down to Super Mario Brothers. It's true. I mean, we don't just live to go on a roller coaster. We're not just so psyched about the Batman movie that's coming out or whatever it is, the 50th stupid Batman movie. And by the way, I don't want to see some pagan movie. All these movies are a bunch of pagan movies combining animals and human beings. That's what pagans have done for thousands of years and everybody thinks of some cool new thing, Spiderman, Batman, Catwoman. Love not the world. I have the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not him. I don't care about movies. And you know what? There are things that I do for fun. But you know what? If I lived for fun, that would be a pretty sad existence. Because let's face it, kids sometimes they live for fun. But as they grow up, it's not about just having fun anymore for me. And I hope it's not for you either. You ever meet these people that just don't seem to ever grow up? They're all like, this is about how much fun we can have. Let's just go have fun somewhere. Okay, look. Pretty soon you get like King Solomon and just say, this is vanity. This is getting dumb. This is getting old. It's madness. What to do with it? But there's another thing that people sometimes try to seek for fullness with. And look at Brisson III. He said, I saw them in my heart. See, he's just trying to try everything. These are the things that will distract you. Don't be like Solomon and have to go try it yourself. Why don't you just read the words of Solomon? He's going to explain to you how it's all man. So just read them. He says, I saw in my heart to give myself unto wine. He says, hey, let's try alcohol. Yet acquainted my heart with wisdom. He said, you know, still acquainted my heart with wisdom. And to lay hold on folly. By the way, that's what it is when you drink wine, folly. He said, I just decided to just go out and drink and be an idiot. That's what he's saying. He's saying, I gave myself to wine because I wanted to lay hold on folly. Folly is the word for fool, stupidity. He said, I just wanted to just go out and just... First I decided it was all about fun. You know, so I did all the fun things. But then I decided, you know what, I'm just going to go out and just drink and be an idiot. See what that's like. Till I might see what was that good for the sons of men which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. That wasn't it. Verse number four. He says, I made me great works. I builded me houses. I planted me vineyards. You know, this could represent great buildings that you build or great accomplishments on the job or maybe you built a business and many people find their fulfillment in life by building a great business or building great monuments. I read recently about the man and his sons who built the Mount Rushmore. They just built it as a hobby. You know, they built this great monument. I wonder if it gave them the fulfillment in their life they craved. I wonder if it really had eternal lasting value. That monument that one day is going to crumble into nothing. And I'm not saying it's wrong to have fun. I'm not saying it's wrong to enjoy pleasure. I'm not saying... I am saying it's wrong to drink. I'm not saying it's wrong to build a great business. I'm not saying it's wrong to build great works and buildings and to build great monuments. I'm not saying it's wrong. But he says in verse five... But see these are the things that can pull you away from the things that are really important in life. Look at verse five. I made me gardens and orchards and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits. I made me pools of water to water there with the wood that bring in four trees. Now I can't really relate to this one. This is about gardening and I do not agree with them. Everything I plant dies. You have great plants. I just saw your plants. Hey, this one's for you, all right? Your garden is not what it's all about, all right? You know, gardening, enjoying the plant world, enjoying nature. He says in verse seven... I got me servants and maidens and had servants born in my house. Also, I had great possessions. Here, it's all about getting as much toys as you can and as much money and cars and houses and servants and people working for you. He said I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me. He said I had more money than anybody who had ever lived in the city I lived. I gathered me also silver and gold and the peculiar treasures of kings and of the provinces. He's saying I had great collections. You know, many people, their life is all about some great collection that they have. People collect baseball cards. They collect stones. They collect shells. They collect whatever the case may be. But he had a great collection. He had peculiar treasures of kings and of the provinces. Look at, uh, her saying in the latter part. I gathered many singers and women singers and the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments in that of all sorts. Many people, music is their religion. Music is what their life is about. I mean, you know what? I'll be honest with you. That's the way I was as a teenager. I mean, for me, it was all about music. It wasn't the garden. It was all about music when I was a teenager. I mean, I loved music and I'm talking about all the world's music and everything. I mean, I was obsessed with music. I used to buy my records in a store that was called Obsessed with Music. That's where I would go. And it was a, they had a used record store, used CDs, and I would go to Obsessed with Music and I would buy, uh, CDs and I would, and they had these bargain bins with literally thousands of records and CDs that were just in no particular order and it was just a dollar. And I remember I would just go through it for like three or four hours trying to find that pearl of great price among those boxes of, you know, one day I realized it was all vanity and I threw it all in the trash. I mean, those things that I had searched and searched and searched for that rare, you know, 45 UK import, you know, and I found it and once I found it, it didn't satisfy. It was fun for a couple of years but I moved on. These things didn't bring Solomon any, any, uh, enjoyment in his life either but for a temporary time. You see, people will try it. They'll get all into their collection. They'll get all into pleasure and having fun. They'll get all into alcohol or, or, uh, great business or gardening or, or seeing how much money they can make or, or doing all these different things. Hey, I'm gonna tell you something. It's not what life is about. It's all gonna be gone someday. Everything I just listed. I mean, have you ever seen a building that King Solomon built? Have you ever walked through, has anyone ever walked through his gardens in today's world? Does anybody really know how much money he had? It's all gone. And look, look at the next verse, verse nine. He says, Ecclesiastes two, nine. So I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained. I think this represents our desire to be the best at whatever the case may be. Look at, uh, look at first Corinthians nine. Think, think about the Olympic athletes. What's their goal? To go to the Olympics and get a gold medal. Why? Do they get a financial, do they get a financial reward for doing it? They might get a peace box. They might get an endorsement, but in reality, many of the people who go to the Olympics, they train day and night for years on end. They don't get any money for winning. They don't earn anything. They do it because they want to be the best. Now, I'm not saying that that's wrong, but they're doing it because they want to have the gold medal to know that they were the best in the world, whether it be running, whether it be hurdles, long jump, uh, ice skating, whatever the case may be. But look at 1 Corinthians 9. 25, and every man that's striving for mastery is temporary in all things. He's saying that they have themselves completely under control. Now, they do it to obtain a corruptible crowd, but we ain't incorruptible. I, therefore, so run, not as uncertainly, so fight-eyed, not as one that beat at the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection lest it by any means when I have preached to others, that I myself should be a castaway. He's describing these great Olympic athletes who, they, they keep their body temporary in all things. I mean, every food that they eat is carefully thought through. The amount of water that they drink is carefully thought out. Their schedule is very, uh, rigid, and it's dictated. They have a regimen where they, they wake up early, and they work hard all day. They train. They, they deny themselves pleasure. They deny themselves the things that their body craves. They're temporary in all things, and they work hard to save the slave for what? The glory of standing up and receiving that corruptible crown, that gold medal, that one day will mean nothing. And this is represented where in Ecclesiastes chapter 2, where, uh, Solomon's saying, I was the best. He said, I was great. I increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with me. I mean, I was the greatest king who ever lived. He said, I was the best. I was the best. Verse number 10 of Ecclesiastes 2. He says, And whatsoever my eyes desired, I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor. And this was the portion of all my labor. Now, what's this being, verse number 10? He's saying, he just gratified himself with whatever he wanted. I mean, can you imagine walking through the store and, and, and, and, and, and, can you imagine walking through the store and whatever you see, if you want it, church. I mean, walk down the street, whatever you see, whatever you want, take it. And by the way, he didn't, he didn't just stop there. We're talking about a man in, in 1 Kings 11. The Bible reads, and he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. So here's a man who had a thousand women. I mean, he had 700 wives. You say, well, why do you have 700 wives and 300 concubines? Well, the 700 wives were princesses, the Bible says. So they were of royal descent. They were of notable status. They were the, the daughters of kings and, and great men around the world. And then he had 300 other women that he just chose because he just wanted them. I mean, he said he didn't withhold himself from any, I mean, whatever woman he saw, if he wanted her, he had it. If he, if he saw things in the store that he wanted, he had it. Whatever his eyes desired, he didn't withhold anything from himself. He just gave himself whatever he wanted. If he wanted to do something, he did it. I mean, he had that power. But look at the next verse, in verse 11. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had brought and on the labor that I had labored to do. He's listed all these things that we just went through. He said, I mean, I tried it all. I mean, I tried money. I tried alcohol. I tried, uh, partying and, and fun. He said, I tried, uh, sex and doing, being the ultimate and gratifying myself. Uh, women. I tried women. I had a thousand different women. But he said, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit. And there was no profit. He said, it was all just a waste. It was all empty. It was all vanity. Keep reading. Look at, look at verse 16. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool forever, seeing that which is now in the days to come. Shall all be forgotten. Now die if the wise man is the fool. Verse 16, he's saying, fame was something that was important to him. Being remembered. Being well known. You know, some people's desire in life is just to have their name out there. Just to be well known. Whether they're a singer or an actor or a politician. They want people to know who they are. They want to be famous. But he said, I know that one day, nobody's going to know who I was. Nobody's going to remember me. Most people have forgotten about what I've done. Nobody's going to know who I was. Nobody's going to remember me. Nobody's going to be forgotten about what I've done. Look at, back track to chapter 1 verse 16. We'll see another area of it. That Solomon was trying to find fulfillment and gratification that was distracting him from the truth. He says in Ecclesiastes 1 16, I commune with mine on the heart, saying, lo, I have come to greatest state and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem. In my heart I have great experience of wisdom and of, he said, education. I decided that education was what it was all about. And many people in America have made a god of education. Their whole life is just wrapped up in getting one college degree after another, or studying and learning and becoming a hippie. And I'm very much in favor of being educated. I think education is wonderful. The Bible says a wise man will increase learning, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Learning is great, education is great, but it did not fulfill me when I decided that knowledge and wisdom was my goal, was my life. He said it didn't fulfill, because he said, in verse number 17, it was vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom, verse 18, is much grief, and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow. He said the more education I got, the more depressed I was, the more saddened I was, the more down in the mouth I was. Look back at chapter 2 quickly, verse 16, or actually verse 17. We'll find the conclusion, Ecclesiastes 2.17, of all of King Solomon's pursuit for meaning in his life. He tried it all, he done it all, and then he just said, you know what, I didn't withhold anything that I wanted. Everything I wanted, I just had it. Therefore, verse 17, I hated life, because the work that is brought unto the sun is grievous unto me, for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Yea, I hated all my labor which I had taken unto the sun, because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. He said, I hated my money, I hated these wives, I hated my music, I hated my collections, I hated my garden, I hated my swimming pool, I hated my money, I hated my life! Now look, this is where the road leads, my friend, of gratifying yourself with everything you want, of fulfilling the lust for education, for money, for collecting, for fun, for murder, for alcohol. You get to a point where you say, I hate life. Is that where you want to be? Because King Solomon said, I hated my life, I hated life. Why do you think young people, all the Hollywood stars, end up doing themselves in? Look at them. I mean how many of them commit suicide, or are trying to commit suicide? Or they're having eating disorders? Or they're in drug rehab? Or they're on their seventh marriage? I mean they don't have any joy anymore, because they've not withheld themselves from anything. They've tried everything. They've tried music, the pranks, the partying, everything that you wish that you had. You wish you had more money, you wish you had more friends, you wish you had all the fun and everything that you wanted, but if you had it, you'd be as miserable as King Solomon was, and you'd be as miserable as they are. That's what the Bible says. You end up hating life. Look at chapter 12 verse 13, Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 13, and like I said, I hate preaching out of the book of Ecclesiastes just because I feel like you kind of have to get the whole book in context to really understand it, so I encourage you to read the whole book maybe this afternoon, because you really have to get the feeling of the book. It's a powerful, powerful book if you just sit down and read it. He says in 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. Now look, in order to fully understand verse 14, he says look, when it's all said and done, the only thing that matters is serving God and obeying God. But let's, I want to fully understand verse 14, and to do that we have to turn to 1 Corinthians 3, where he says for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. He's saying here, look, this other stuff was vanity, it was vexation of spirit, the thing that had been is that which shall be and that which is done is that which shall be done, there's no new thing under the sun, it's all going to be forgotten, everything's going to turn to dust, nobody's going to remember it anyway, your money's going to be gone, you can't take any of it with you. He says, so the conclusion is, fear God and keep his commandments, 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. What do you mean by that? In 1 Corinthians 3, and the New Testament always clarifies things in the Old Testament, the New Testament always sheds light on things from the Old Testament, and that's what Paul does here in 1 Corinthians 3, found in survival, verse 11. For other foundation can no land lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now this is about the judgment seat of Christ. He says, now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, every man's work, remember King Solomon's statement, how all works will be brought to judgment, whether they be good or whether they be evil, he says, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer a loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so is by fire. Now what's he talking about here? He's describing the judgment seat of Christ, but he's also describing 2 Corinthians 5. Now many Christians have a warped view of this. They think that God is going to actually judge us for our sins at the judgment seat of Christ. Now look, gone, gone, gone, yes, my sins are gone. My sins aren't even separated from me as far as the east is from the west. God already promised me in Hebrews 10.7b, there's sins and iniquities, well I remember no more. God already promised me that he's put all our sins behind his back. The Bible says, his sins shall not be mentioned unto him. And I don't believe that one day I'm going to stand before God and God's going to bring up my sins to me. It makes no sense, it's false doctrine, it contradicts the Bible, that's not what this is talking about. The wood-hands stubble, the bad works are evil works, it's not talking about sin. So what, bad and evil aren't sin? When we talk about sin on Wednesday night, or actually on Sunday night, look up the word bad every time it occurs in the Bible. B.A.D. Look it up in the importance. I've looked it up, it's used about 20 times, and guess what it talks about, bad things. A bad dog, a bad sheep, a bad house, now does that sound like any sinful to you? What was the bad sheep? Going around biting people? No? It was a sheep that was of low quality. It was worthless in the Bible. Look up the word bad, don't take my word for it, get out of here, it's a little homework time. Get up before it says the word bad. Bad figs, they were so bad. You naughty, naughty figs. Bad figs. Look, fruit can't really do wrong or right, but fruit can become worthless and decayed and not worth it. And so you have to understand, you have to let the Bible define the Bible. The Bible defines the Bible. The Bible never says it will be judged for our sins, the Bible says our works will be judged, good or bad. A good house versus a bad house talks about good figs, bad figs, good sheep, bad sheep. Quality versus worthless is what those words mean in the Bible. Good and evil. Naughty is another word that's used, n-a-u-g-t-h-t-y talks about things that are just worthless, they're not worth anything. Now, here he's saying that our works are going to be tried and fired. Not our sins. God's not going to bring up our sins to us. What would be the point? They've already been paid for by the blood of Jesus. And by the way, God's not going to punish you for your sins when you get to heaven. If God punishes you for your sins, you go to hell. And Jesus already paid that punishment. And not only that, but you say, well, God chastens and chastises his children. Yes, he does in this life. And the purpose for God's chastening, the Bible says, now they barely, for a few days, chasten us after their own pleasure, talking about our physical fathers. But it says, for he, for our profit, that we should be partakers of his holiness. God chastises us so that we'll live holy and righteously. He tries to get us back on the right path. Why would God need to discipline us and chase us when we're in heaven and we're already perfect? And we've already been removed from the flesh. We've already been made a complete new creature. Why would he need to punish us for something to try to straighten us out? We're already in heaven. We're never going to sin again. It's false doctrine. It's false teaching. But preachers will try to keep you under this bondage of fear, like one day you're going to stand before God for everything. And there's going to be this big screen. And God's going to play back all your sins in front of everybody. I mean, the things that you did, Christian, and nobody knew about, God's going to be playing on a big screen. You're going to be so embarrassed. You're going to be in shape. Well, man, how beautiful heaven must be. I can't wait to get there. Sounds great. That's not good at all. No, our sins are forgiven. When we get there, it's going to be well done. Now, good faithful servant, there's no condemnation to them which are in Christ, who are walking out of the spirit. And so, we see here that our works will be judged. Now, they're not going to be judged between sinful, wicked things and good things. He said they're going to be judged between gold, silver, and precious stones. And Solomon understood this, and that's why I'm going into this. Gold, silver, and precious stones would pay itself. Now, is there anything wicked and sinful about wood? Stupid pulpit. Get this pulpit out of the house of God. It's made of this wicked substance of wood. Hey, if you feed your horses hay, you're not right with God. The stubble, it's all wicked, it's all sinful. The Bible says you shouldn't even look at it. That doesn't make any sense. There's nothing wrong with wood. There's nothing wrong with hay. There's nothing wrong with the stubble. But did you know that wood, hay, and stubble all have one thing in common? They're not permanent. They're not permanent. And guess what? You put them through the fire, they're gone. Gold, silver, and precious stones are permanent. You can set them through the fire, they're not gone anywhere. There's the same amount of gold on this earth right now as there was 2,000 years ago. Because it's a permanent substance. Is there the same amount of wood? No. Wood can be burned and destroyed and changed. Gold is gold. You can't change it into anything else. Now, what God has illustrated here is that some things that you do in your life, your works, are of permanent, lasting value. That's serving God. That's winning people to Christ. That's doing something for God. Then there are the things that Solomon listed in the book of Ecclesiastes. All those great works that he did. All the great education that he got. All the great buildings that he built. All the riches that he amassed to himself. He said, those are wood, hay, and stubble. And they're not bad things. They're not wicked things. They're not sinful things. But God is going to sit down and look at what you've done in your life and the great business that you build. Yes, it was a great accomplishment, but you're not going to get a reward for it. God's not going to reward you for your music collection. God's not going to reward you for your wonderful gardening. God's not going to reward you for the pools that you build. God's not going to reward you for the money that you made in your life. God is going to reward you for the souls that you won to Christ. That's going to be the reward. And so he's saying here, when you stand before God one day, all your works are going to be laid out. And they're going to be tried with fire. And the things that were of lasting, eternal value will remain. And you'll receive a reward for the things that you've done. There's no mention of punishment here. He just says that if your works are burned, he said you'll suffer a loss. You're not going to get the rewards that you could have gotten. I mean, I need to get to heaven and see my whole life. Think about this. Your whole life is laid out before you. Everything you've ever done, all your accomplishments are laid out. And you see everything you've done in your life. This is what you did in your 20s. This is what you did in your 30s. This is what you did in your 40s. This is what you did in your 50s. And you might sit back and say, wow, I did a lot. Man, look at this great big business I built. Wow, look how much money I made. Wow, it's so successful. Look at these accomplishments. Man, I was famous. I was well known. I was at the top of my field. Look at all these accomplishments. But wouldn't it just be sad if you just watched all this burned up in front of you? Wait, wait, wait, no. And it's all just burned up. It's just gone. And it just becomes very real to you. I wasted my life. I wasted my life. It all went up in smoke. Now, there's not going to be any punishment. But how are you getting your appeal to watch 70 years of life up in smoke? Because I didn't do anything for God. I ate. I drank. I slept. I went to work. I lived. I died. It's gone. But imagine living a life that's lived for Jesus Christ. Just people that you win in Christ. Every week, every month, you're winning for the Lord. I mean, you've sacrificed. You've stood firm for God. You've stood up for the truth. You've preached the truth. You've stood up and lived a clean and holy and righteous life. You've helped others. You've loved other people. You've encouraged the brethren. And your life is laid out before you. Maybe you didn't have as many of the accomplishments. Maybe you were a flop on the job. Maybe you were in the poorhouse your whole life. Maybe your whole life you were just trying to keep the wolf away from the door financially. And you get to the end of your life, and almost nothing is burned up. And you still have this great trophy of life. And God says, well done, thou good, faithful servant. And you receive a reward. Solomon realized at the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, I want to live my life for things that will last eternally. Not things that are going to go up in smoke one day. He said, I don't want to invest my life in building something that's going to be gone one day. I don't want to invest my life in learning things that don't matter one day. I mean, if you learn the Bible, that's the real education. That knowledge will stay with you forever. But when you get to heaven, is it really going to matter some of the other education that you've learned? Some of it might not really apply anymore. And so he's saying here, seek for the things that are above, not other things in this world. Set your affection on things above, not other things in this world. Don't waste your life. You only have one life. And one day you might even realize before you're dead, you may stop to realize what life is really about like Solomon did. And you'll look back even in this world and say, why did I waste my life? I bet there are people in this room who wish that they would have known the things that they know now earlier in their life when they were younger because they look back over the course of their life, they look back over certain decades or years of their life and say, I wasted my 20s. I wasted my 30s. I wasted my teenage years, you could even say. I mean, I've sat down and looked back over times in my teenage years when I was just out living for self and having a good time. I thought, man, how much Bible could I memorize in those years? How many of those people could I have won to Christ at my school? And I look back at my early 20s when I was living for God. And I said, why did I waste my teenage years? And I thought of all the opportunities I had missed, but thank God I don't have to look back and say, my teen years, my 20s, my 30s, my 40s, I wasted my 70s. I'm 82, you know, that'd be sad. And even sadder, at least if you're 82, you could still do something for God. If you're alive and breathing on this earth, God has something for you to do. But if you're in heaven, it's over. The race is run. It's too late. Can I get some? Can I earn one crown? It's too late. You blew it. You wasted your life. I don't want to waste my life. I don't want to hate my life. I don't want to be like Saul and say, I hate life. I hate it all. I hate my job. I love my job. You know why I love my job? Because my job is not my God. That's why I love my job. You know why I love my messed up garden? Because it's not my God that I worship, that's why. So if it dies and withers up in the Arizona sun, so what? Look, you're going to hate life. When your life, when the fun in your life becomes your God, you're going to start hating the fun. See, when I go out and have fun, I enjoy fun. You know, and it's good to go out and have a little fun sometimes. Everybody knows me knows that I like to have fun. Right? That's mean sticking by. Yeah, I like to have fun. But you know, you can enjoy fun when fun is just a little fun. And it's not your whole life's goal. 124 more days, I get to go to Great America. 123 more days, I get to go to the Six Flags. Okay, if that's your life, it's sad. And maybe that works when you're a child, but children, listen to me. Just take my word for it. One day, that's not going to be the funnest thing in your life anymore. One day, you're going to stop and say, there's more important things in life. I'd rather accomplish something for God. I'd rather do something that's going to last. Because you'll start to see that your life is slipping away from you. You'll start to see that you're getting older and older. And you'll say, wait a minute. I better do something that's going to last. I better think about the future. I better think about eternity. Paul said this in 2 Timothy 4.10. Demas had forsaken me, having loved this present world and this department of Thessalonica. Crescents to Galatia, Titus and Thalmatia. Here's a man, Demas, who was a Christian, yes. A believer, yes. But the thorns of this world began to choke him and make him unfruitful. What did he do? He departed from Paul. He would no longer go out-souling with Paul. Because he loved this present world. Now, I believe in America today, if you're living here in 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona, there's probably more fun out there for you to have than almost any society that's ever lived in the history of mankind. I mean, we have it all. I mean, we can hop in the car. I mean, did you realize that people have not always had this fun? You can hop in the car. You can be in the ocean. You can be skiing. You can be anywhere you want to be. There's all kinds of fun. There's roller coasters. There are parks. There are games. I mean, there's more fun at our fingertips today. And you can pull up the computer and have all the video games and the DVDs and the movies. Hey, if you want to do something fun, it's there at your fingertips. And it's so easy for you, especially when you're young, to be fooled by it and to be sucked in by it and think that that's what your life is about. Fun, fun, fun. But you better decide when you're young. Look back at Ecclesiastes 11, if you would. And we'll close here in Ecclesiastes before we begin. Go back to Ecclesiastes and let's see what Solomon says here. Look at Ecclesiastes 11, 9. It says, Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes. Go out and have all the fun. Do it your way. Have a big party in life. But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart and put away evil from thy flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years drawn nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Do you see that? The day is coming when you're going to look at all the things that you used to think were fun. Are you listening? And you're going to say, I have no pleasure in them. It's boring. I'm sick of it. I'm tired of it. Now you can say, well, I don't believe that. God has prophesied that one day the things that you think are fun now as a kid, when you're going out and just doing whatever you want with life, instead of serving God, instead of winning souls, instead of learning the Bible. He said, one day, the day is coming and it's drawn nigh when you'll say, I have no pleasure in them. I'm tired of music. I'm tired of the party. I'm tired of alcohol. I'm tired of the party and the fun and the rah, rah, rah. I'm sick of it. He said, it's coming. That's why you have to remember your Creator in the days of your youth. And then he says in verse 2, while the sun or the light or the moon or the stars be not darkened, he's talking about your eyesight becoming dim as you become older. You won't be able to enjoy the sights that you once loved to feast your eyes upon. The clouds return after the rain. And the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble. He's talking about how elderly people, many times, they tremble. They shake a little bit. They're not as firm as they once were. And the strong men shall bow themselves. You know, their big strong shoulders, their big strong back when they're a young man, begin to stoop and bow down as you get older. And he says the grinders cease because they're few. It's like, watch your teeth. The grinders are going to cease because they're few. Is anybody there? I can't go to a dentist. And that's why I told my wife, I said, I'm just going to let my teeth rot out of my mouth before I do this ever again. Because I can't go to a dentist. The grinders will become few for me one day, honey. And those that look out of the windows be darkened by your eyes. And the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low. And they shall rise up at the voice of the bird. You know how old people get up and they're like, hey, I'm at what, four in the morning? No offense, brother Chris. I'm not saying you're old. You know how people, when they get older, they go to bed at like six, seven o'clock. Again, no offense, brother. Watch your ears for a second. They get up at the voice of the bird. When the birds are chirping, I'm still fast asleep at my age. He says, all the daughters of music shall be brought low. They can't hear those great, beautiful voices anymore, hitting all those high notes. And the men singers and women singers, he says, pretty soon it becomes a little bit muffled in here. You can't even really even appreciate it anymore. You know, the older you get, the less it takes. Did you know that? You know how old people just pour on Tabasco sauce? They're like, wait, wait. They're just trying to taste something. So they just dump on all those hot peppers, and they're like, oh, this is good. Here, try some. You're like, ah! You know, they just keep pouring on the hot sauce because they can't taste anything anymore. He says, also, when they shall be afraid of that which is high. People get older, they start to get afraid of heights. It's true. You won't see them swinging from ladders and climbing on the rooftops, jumping off the roof into the swimming pool. They get a little bit nervous about high places. He says, you'll be afraid of that which is high. You're not going to want to go on all the roller coasters anymore. You're going to be afraid of the chair lift at the ski resort because it's so high. You're going to become fearful of these things. He says, they shall be afraid of that which is high, and 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, or ever the silver cord be loose, 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 and vanities save the preacher. All is vanity. And so that's it. That's the answer. Don't get sucked in. The devil's a deceiver. He wants you to think that all the fun, worldly things, and you're going to be fulfilled if you could just get that PhD, or your doctorate, or if you could just get that degree, or you could get that great job, or you could get that house, and that mansion, and you could get that fancy car, and you could get into that beautiful car, and if you could just get the right clothes, and if you could just get the right friends, and if you could just get the right girl, the right guy. Hey, your life will be fulfilled. It'll just be a dreamboat for the rest of your life. Hey, listen, the world teaches you. All the music says, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, you find the right girl, and just everything's just perfect for the rest of your life. You know, it's not true. Am I mean? Sorry. It isn't true, though. It's not true. It's a lie. And everybody who's married knows that, you know, being married is a wonderful thing, and hey, I believe in getting married. I think the best thing I ever did is get married and have kids. I'm glad I got married young. I got married when I was 19. All right, and parents are mad at me for saying that, but right when I turned 19, I got married. Hey, I think that's great. My best friend, Roger Jimenez, he got married when he was 18 years old. He had to outdo me, okay? And so, hey, I think getting married is a wonderful thing, but you know what? After you're married, you don't just say, well, now my life is just complete. I've arrived. I have it all. Everything's perfect. That's not life. Okay, after you're married and you have that special someone, you know, there's still other things that you're going to want in your life, and that's not just going to satisfy everything in your life. And people who have all the money, they're not satisfied. You know, they want more. Nothing in your life is going to satisfy you, period. Live for God. And I'm not even satisfied living for God. David said, I'll be satisfied when I awaken thy likeness. You know, I don't go through life satisfied. I'm always pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God and Christ Jesus. I haven't arrived yet. I haven't attained, but I'm pushing forward toward something, just like everybody else is chasing the dragon of money or chasing the dragon of pleasure or drugs or alcohol or fun and excitement. I'm chasing after and pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God and Christ Jesus. But the difference between me and them, the only difference, is that one day I'm going to run across the finish line, and it's going to be, yeah! It's going to be a crowd that never fades away. It's going to be riches that never fade away. And I'm going to be ruling and reigning with Christ for a thousand years, and so will you if you live for God. But the other person is going to get to the end of it all, and it's all going to crumble into dust and be worthless. And it's going to be burned up because it's wood-hayed and stubble. And I need to be a Christian whose works are burned up because they're wood-hayed and stubble. I want to be a Christian who walks across the finish line, and my work is applied, and I get a reward. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the book of Ecclesiastes and the great wisdom. I'm glad I don't have to live Solomon's life and try it all myself. I'm glad I can just open the Bible and listen to a wise man explain to me, Listen, son, I've had it all. I've had the money. I've had the fame. I've had the women. I've had the gardens. I've had the buildings. I've had the business. I've had the servants. I've had it all, and it was done. Fear God and keep his commandments. God, please help us to eat the admonition of Solomon. Help us understand that the days will come when the only thing that will matter to us in this life and especially when we get to heaven. We'll look back over our life, and the only thing that will matter for us is what we get for God.