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church and we thank you for our pastor we ask that you please bless him with your holy spirit as he preaches your word this evening in jesus name we pray amen amen okay we're in ecclesiastes chapter four tonight we continue our bible study through the book of ecclesiastes last week we finished part two of chapter number three and we continue this evening with this with this thought of those who are in places of righteousness or places of judgment and wickedness is present iniquity is there that same thought that we saw in chapter three is carried over into chapter number four look at verse number one it says so i returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun and behold the tears of such as were oppressed and they had no comforter and on the side of their oppressors there was power but they had no comforter and the first thing we're going to look at is the plight of the oppressed okay so he starts off this verse with talking about you know the the condition or the state of the individuals under the sun that are suffering from oppression from those who are evildoers those who are abusing their seat of authority and he's basically saying when i observe those who are being oppressed i see their tears and what's even worse is that they're not receiving any comfort aside from the fact that they're not getting any justice no one's helping them out you know they have no comfort they're kind of hopeless in this world and to add insult to injury he says and on the other side of their oppressors there was power so aside from the fact that those who are being oppressed are being are being afflicted they're going through a tough time they're not being comforted those who are oppressing them remain in power they retain their authority they retain that position and they retain the ability to be able to oppress the innocent and it says but they referring to those who are being oppressed had no comforter now when you read that you're like man this sounds this is a really sad way to start off a chapter but you know this is the reality of life okay and we have to understand from chapter number one that you know ecclesiastes is just a reality check of how life really is you know life is not a bed of roses there are injustices out there there's people that commit crimes and get away with them from a human perspective and solomon is just being realistic about this and saying look this is going to happen and look folks uh we are a group of people who should know this the best you know we as christians are often oppressed by the thing by the people of this world by wicked people by governments by laws we're constantly being oppressed and in fact jesus told us that that was going to happen to us he said in the world ye should have tribulation but be of good cheer i have overcome the world okay so he starts off in verse number one we're really talking about the state of man and their oppression and the difficulties they go through he talks about those who are burdened okay and you know the ones who are burdened are those who are being oppressed and this again this is very similar to what we see in chapter 3 and verse 16 where it says moreover i saw under the sun the place of judgment that wickedness was there and the place of righteousness that iniquity was there and that's something you don't want to see in a place of righteousness or in the place of judgment you don't want to see a place of righteousness or judgment filled with wickedness and iniquity and injustice but that is the reality that we do see that even today so oppression by definition is when a leader or a ruler exercises their authority with cruelty or unjust laws and manners okay and the bible actually has a lot to say about oppression and one of the things that always stands out in regards to oppression is the bible tells us not to oppress the fatherless and the widows and the strangers it constantly reiterates that throughout the word of god okay don't oppress them don't afflict them you know they're helpless uh they are a humble group of people you know a widow someone who doesn't have a husband someone who's someone who's fatherless does not have a dad to provide for them someone who is a stranger someone who is a foreigner he says don't oppress those people you need to be kind to them you need to help them and not oppress them deuteronomy 24 14 says thou shall not oppress an hired servant that is poor needy whether he be of thy brethren or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates at his day thou shall give him his hire neither shall the sun go down upon him for he is poor and set at his heart upon it lest he cry against thee unto the lord and it be sin unto thee god considers oppression when a boss doesn't pay his employee you know so it's not just like an oppression of persecution it's not just an oppression of you know ruling someone with cruelty it even applies to when a person is not paid according to their wages you know they say they're going to pay them and they don't and you know they just kind of they just kind of screw them over okay that's wrong folks and in fact i heard a story a long time ago this is before i was saved i had a friend who had a friend and this guy he he he you know would remodel houses and do all kinds of stuff and and he would make so much money like he'd just make this ridiculous amount of money but he would do it unjustly okay you say how well this is what he would do he would hire a bunch of people from from home depot okay a bunch of mexicans from home depot oh i can't believe you said mexicans hey it was probably one of my uncles okay there you feel better he would hire a bunch of guys from from from home depot to come do this remodeling and you know the guys would be there all day and they would labor and they would finish the job and he'd say i'm gonna pay you this much and then as soon as they were done he says all right i'm not gonna pay you if you complain i'm gonna deport you i'm gonna get you deported so get out of my property and they're just like what we worked like 12 hours we finished the job for you and he's just like well that's what you get for not having paper i mean that's wicked folks regardless of what you think about immigrants whether they should be here at work any bible believing christian could look at that and compare it to god's word and say that's wicked doesn't matter where you're from if the person did the labor that did the job you promised to give them that money you are oppressing those people okay and so pay my uncle okay i'm just kidding that is considered oppression now today you have a group of people you know blm and antifa or whatever although now those two groups are not even getting along you know they want to redefine what oppression is you know they want to be able to be violent towards you and if you defend yourself okay if you defend yourself when they're trying to attack you all of a sudden now you're oppressing them so what they want is this they want to be able to attack you and rape you and kill you and destroy your property and have you do nothing at all okay that's so stupid and to say well that's oppression i can't believe that you would you know uh lift up your hand or or because i'm beating you or stabbing you or trying to kill you that you take my life or injure me somehow that's oppression folks that's self-defense it's not oppression stupidity of the world today where they're just completely changing the definitions of of these biblical topics and saying well you know he should have just let me kill him and stab him and take his money or whatever you know this is wrong that they you know beat me down or something what kind of nonsensical but this is the generation that received a consolation prize when they were younger right this is that same generation that though they failed at their sports or whatever they did you know the parents were giving them a consolation reward and a uh trophy for trying or whatever you know so they they feel entitled to something in spite of the fact that regardless of the fact that they failed so this these same people grow up there is a generation that grows up they hates their they curse their father they do not bless their mother and they attack people they lie in wait and when they suffer the consequences of those actions and all of a sudden they're being oppressed folks that's wicked the bible says in proverbs 22 verse 16 he that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches and he that giveth to the rich shall surely come to wants proverbs 14 31 says here he that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his maker but he that honoreth him hath mercy on the poor now let me make myself very clear that when the bible talks about being poor it's not referring to the poor that we see today in the united states and i'm not saying that poor people don't exist in the united states i'm sure there's people out there who are incapable they're not able-bodied you know they're not able to hold down a job because of health reasons or whatever misfortune has come upon them where they're completely incapacitated to be able to provide for their family but let me just say this the crackhead who who you know goes by the dumpster and is shooting up and leaves his needles right here on the corner that guy's not poor he said what is he he's a crackhead it's not poverty it's not poor he's drinking a tall boy where do you think he got the money for that and in fact today i saw him and he said oh i just want some money to get some beer and to just get drunk i mean he told me what he wanted to do folks that's not poverty poverty is an individual who is incapable of providing for himself for his family because he's incapacitated he's not able to work we're not talking about the people you know the dad who stands out with his wife you know on some corner with the sign you know and you know some sign saying oh you know we need help and we're christians too and they just say all kinds of lies or whatever those people are wicked folks they're just lazy is what they are and it's like well i see you got yourself a fade there buddy you seem to have some nice clothes on you know how is it that you can't work you look able-bodied okay now the bible says that he that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his maker why because the maker god looks kindly upon the real people who are poor okay looks kindly upon the fatherless and the widows and has promised to provide for them promise 28 16 says the prince that wants its understanding or lacks understanding is also a great oppressor but he that hated covetousness shall prolong his days now the prince that lacketh understanding is a great oppressor you know this reminds me it reminds me of our governor newsome right he's a person of authority but he lacks a lot of understanding the guy's an idiot but you know it may not be that he's just an idiot maybe he's just acting like idiot but he's just completely wicked because he just loves money and he loves to oppress people you know what i mean in order to feed himself and keep his wine celery restaurant open isn't that funny how everything else closed down during the lockdown except for what he had right ain't that funny that he doesn't want anybody else to go to a restaurant yet he himself is at some restaurant wining and dining with his friends with his mask off yet he's wanting to press oppress the people of california and say do as i do not as i do as i say not as i do why is he like that well it says there that it's because he's covetous so it's it's getting money by any means necessary and part of that means is oppressing the innocent in order to make himself rich he lacks understanding okay he's a great oppressor go to ecclesiastes chapter five i don't want to steal my thunder for chapter five but this is a great verse here look at verse number eight it says if thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province marvel not at the matter for he that is higher than the highest regardeth and there be higher than they what is he saying look when you observe when you analyze all of the oppression and the perverting of judgment of the governor when you observe over the next four years the perverting of judgment of the president of the united states the bible says don't marvel at that don't let it don't let it just like i can't believe this is happening what's gonna happen in the next four years hold on well it's gonna get bad but it's just gonna be boring bad okay i didn't vote and i don't care for voting but i will say this trump was a lot well trump was a lot easier to watch than biden is okay it was like you just made me disinterested with politics period i wasn't interested at all trump kind of got me a little interested just because i want to see what he was going to say biden is just like it's not what is he going to say it's like what did you just say i don't understand what you're saying he says don't marvel at the wickedness and the perverting of judgment that's going to come upon you the world your country why because for he that is higher than the highest regardeth so obviously those who are not believers those who are not christians unfortunately they're subject to the oppression and sometimes they won't even get justice for the oppression that they receive you understand whereas believers on the other hand yeah we're gonna suffer we're gonna be oppressed we're gonna be afflicted we're gonna be persecuted i just got an idea i'm just kidding we're gonna be uh persecuted but here's the thing he that is higher than the highest referring to the highest office he that is higher than that person he regards he takes into account the perverting of judgment the oppression that's gonna that's happening and so he he finishes off in verse eight and there be higher than they so it's just like just understand that there's always there's always someone more powerful than the authorities that are oppressing the individuals or the country that they dwell in go back to chapter uh number four if you would so he goes over those who are burdened those who are burdened are those who receive that oppression they don't have any comforters you know uh they're oppressors they have power you know and they have no comforter and you know what yeah it stinks that Biden is the president of the united states but those who place their trust in politics hopefully they start placing their trust in the bible now they're just like i got nothing else i got nothing else we got uh a retarded democrat i mean they're all retarded but i'm saying you know we got a really bad democrat as the president united states okay i have to really place my faith in the bible now and then what are we going to do we're going to say well we told you so that's how we should be living anyways right and so but just recognize that you know he that is higher than the highest does regard all that's taking place the tragedy of the oppressed is that they are afflicted and that they have no comforter so think about people who don't have god they don't have the bible they're suffering all this oppression all this affliction and they they can't be comforted you know they go through a tough time and you see it on social media all the time just people just uh lamenting and wailing and weeping and gnashing their teeth over the injustices of today and it's just like they they have no comfort you see we suffer those same oppressions but we have comfort in fact we have the comforter dwelling within us so yeah that may really take us off everything that's taking place all the wickedness in high places and it may burden us for a little bit but then we're reminded of the fact that we have god on our side this is not our home you know we are homesick for a place we've never been to right we have another city that we're laboring for this is not necessary we're not necessary citizens of the united states we're citizens of heaven okay and that provides comfort for us go to ephesians chapter 2 actually go to ephesians chapter 2 so god tells uh the children of israel of course he's telling us hey don't oppress the poor don't oppress the widows don't oppress the fatherless but also don't oppress the strangers stranger is a foreigner an alien okay and the reason he tells them that is because of the fact that we were one strangers right look at ephesians chapter 2 verse 12 let's look at the spiritual aspect of that literal commandment that he gave in the old testament where he said oppress not the stranger you know if there's an egyptian that came to be a part of the children of israel if there was some Canaanite you know i don't know how that could happen because they're so wicked but let's say there's some some well-meaning Canaanite out there who wanted to be a part of the children of israel of some surrounding nation that wanted to be a part of the nation of israel and they were they were well-meaning they actually wanted the god of the bible god told his people don't oppress them don't treat them differently because they come from some different nation if they want to make me their god don't oppress them okay and he says why well because of the fact that you were one strangers in the land of egypt too and you wanted me to treat you well you understand that i wanted to be good to you you received of my goodness when you were in the land of egypt you were strangers in the land of egypt and i rescued you from the hand of the egyptians now the spiritual perspective of that application is in verse 12 of ephesians chapter 2 it says that at the time you were without christ so just as the egyptian was without god right without the covenant in like manner we were without christ at one time we were not saved being aliens from the commonwealth of israel okay and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without god in the world folks that's a miserable life right there right yeah to be without christ to be aliens from the com not just to be aliens whatever if you're an alien but to be aliens from the commonwealth of israel to be strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope without god in the world that's a miserable existence right to have to just not have god at all verse 13 but now but now in christ jesus ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of christ for he is our peace who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us so he's saying look you know at one point you were a stranger in egypt so to speak because egypt is a picture of the world you were aliens from the commonwealth of israel you didn't you weren't saved you didn't have jesus you didn't have the bible you didn't have a local new testament church you didn't have all these teachings and now you got saved by the blood of christ okay now you're no longer a stranger now you're actually a citizen of the spiritual house of god so what's the what's the principle there don't oppress the stranger when they come to our church right see a guy come in tatted head to toe don't oppress him okay you see some lady who maybe comes in and she's dressed kind of immodest and she's she looks very worldly you know don't oppress her why because there's there's a time when you were a stranger from the commonwealth of israel as well you were worldly you look like trash at one point okay you had the mohawk i had the mohawk i'm projecting here you had i had the mohawk don't talk to albert about this by the way yeah he's seen it if he shows anybody we're throwing him out of the church right i'll make up a reason i'll make up a reason you know you were worldly you were without god and i'm sure if you're to dig back in your rolodex of memories there's some pretty shameful things in your past right and so don't oppress the person who comes in with those things as well be kind to them give them the gospel and if they're saved teach them to grow in the lord don't judge them by their appearance love them care for them help them to grow in the lord make them feel welcome in our church look i'm thankful that when i first came to church and i had a little mohawk going on and i was all into fighting and mma and all these things and i was part of that culture that when i came to an independent fundamental baptist church i'm glad albert didn't like sit down here you know he he was the first person i met when i before i was saved i wasn't even saved at that point i met him he welcomed me he gave me a warm welcome he sat next to me he talked with me and i thought to myself man these people dress different than i do i was like these people look different and but you know what he didn't he didn't look at me from head to toe and say whoa yeah what's up with that mohawk or what's up with that haircut or what's up with that you know whatever the clothes you're wearing or something you know what's going on with that he just treated me like i was part of the part of the fam i ended up getting saved and then thereafter you know i started to grow and started observing how people dress in the church i'm like oh man the ladies wear dresses the guys wear like shirts and ties i don't even think i own a tie but i got a polo i think i'm gonna wear and i started wearing a polo i had some khakis i'm like you know what i think i'm gonna kick it up a notch because it looks like on sunday everyone wears a shirt and tie i think i'm gonna do that too and i began to integrate into the church began to learn began to and by the way you know obviously there's no dress standard at the church but you know your behavior does change when you change your dress too right right okay and so i'm thankful for those who did not oppress me right and i'll give let me take it a step further let me let me take you back in the day so i i came to church and but i was still like in the world you know what i mean i was still worldly and i don't know what it was i forgot i missed the service or something and had gone i had gone to some like rap concert okay shame shame shame and thanks mori and you know who came to visit me that that that saturday because they would have saturday visitations uh pastor myers came to visit right and and i remember he came to knock on my door and it was like in the morning he was like hey we missed you in church and i was like yeah i was at a rap concert and he was like oh okay you know he didn't say like what's a wrap you're wicked you know it's just he didn't like blow me out of the water he didn't just like drill me you know he didn't he didn't condemn me for it he was just like okay you know because in his mind he's like oh he's just he's just got saved he's still worldly but then i started hearing preaching on that and i was like oh dang i didn't know this is that bad i knew it was bad because you know the music i listened to was bad but it was like i didn't know it was this bad and they're proving it from the bible and i'm just like oh man i guess i i need to stop listening to this music and then later on i went up to the pastor and he wasn't the pastor at that time he was an assistant pastor and i said hey i want to thank you for not blowing me out of the water when you found out that i listened to that music i really i'm really i really appreciate that because i don't know how i would have reacted if you did would have been offended or something hey what was i telling him i'm glad you didn't impress me when i first came okay and so the principle there is hey don't oppress the poor person don't oppress the widow the fatherless don't oppress the stranger we're going to get a lot of strangers in our church now the stranger that we don't want to be in our church is that faggot okay that's the one we don't want right the reprobate sodomite faggot you know they're never welcome in our church you know and you will be oppressed if you come here okay throw your butt out of the church not welcome but people who can be saved people who are just worldly they're welcome to come they're welcome to be here and and you know they get saved and grow and and integrate into a new family so to speak okay the bible tells us go back to ecclesiastes or actually go to second corinthians chapter one so he tells them in ecclesiastes chapter four go to second corinthians chapter one that those who are being oppressed there's no comforter for them and you know even for us as christians it can feel like man there's no comfort for us because we sometimes we go through a difficult time for a long period of time you know what i mean like it the the tribulation lasts longer than when we want it to last and sometimes it can feel like there's no comforter but to that god says in john 16 you're in second corinthians chapter 1 john 16 verse 20 says verily verily i say to you that ye that ye shall weep and lament god is telling jesus is telling them hey you're gonna weep you're gonna lament and the world shall rejoice he's like you're gonna be sad you're gonna cry you know what the world's gonna do they're gonna celebrate okay just like when we got bombed yeah i was lamenting you know what the you know what the the sodomites were doing they're celebrating like eh what happened to your church fam getting all these messages ah you got bombed that's what you get now what just just boasting and rejoicing oh it's too bad you weren't in that building wicked now my my lamenting quickly turned into wrath at that point you know but i understand the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of god so i did not let the the the sun go down upon my wrath just punch the wall i'm just kidding i'm kidding i didn't do that but jesus told us that that's what we should do he says ye shall weep and lament the world shall rejoice and ye shall be sorrowful but your sorrow shall be turned into joy so this is just the order of things when it comes to life is that you're going to experience sorrow anguish you're going to lament you're going to weep you're going to feel like you're just being oppressed with no answer there's no justice and ye shall weep and lament the world shall rejoice but your sorrow shall turn into joy one day and here's the thing the world's joy and the world's rejoicing is going to be turned into lamentation and sorrow one day but here's the thing is you know for those who are not saved they don't have comfort people who lose their families to injustices and murders and all these things you know even if they capture the person who did it go to jail but they don't really get any legitimate justice because at the end of the day they're gonna go to hell they're gonna suffer the justice of their wicked ways before god right whereas us on the other hand because we're saved the bible tells us that we have another comforter and that comforter dwells within us he comforts us using the psalms using the word of god he makes intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered all things work together for good to them that love god to them who are the called according to his purpose we receive comfort look at second corinthians chapter 1 verse number 3 it says blessed be god even the father of our lord jesus christ the father of mercies and the god of all comfort who comforted us in all our tribulation that we may be all excuse me that we may be able to comfort them which are any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of god for as the sufferings of christ abound in us so our consolation also abounded by christ and whether we be afflicted it is for your consolation and salvation which is effectual in the adoring of the same sufferings which we also suffer or whether we be comforted it is for your comfort excuse me for your consolation and salvation now what is he saying he's saying look we have the god of all comfort that will see us through we have the god of all comfort that will uh allow us to not only suffer but also or suffer for his namesake but also receive the same amount of comfort in that time of tribulation so we have that promise the person who's being oppressed in ecclesiastes 4 they don't have that promise because folks what if they just die they go to hell end game for them and that's it that's the end for us there's always light at the end of the tunnel even if you don't see it always for the safe person your worst day here is still the best day for an unsaved individual though you can have the worst that you think of the worst possible thing that could come upon you in this world it's still the best thing that can happen for an unsafe person because that unsafe person once they die they split hell wide open and at that point they're lost they're done for all of eternity okay go back to uh ecclesiastes chapter four i feel like my notes are kind of messed up here oh no we're good we're good look at verse two wherefore i praise the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive so now he's he's talking about those who are burdened now he's going to talk about those who are better off he gets a little melancholy here and he's just like sometimes he's just bad for people just to be like they're already dead so they don't have to deal with any of this and i'll be honest with you you know sometimes i talk to elderly people okay when i mean elderly i'm gonna talk about those who are just kind of like on the brink of going to the other side okay and they often think this way they often think to themselves and i've heard them tell me like man like all the crazy stuff that's happening in our country they're like we're not going to see it but you guys are and he's basically saying like it's better for us to like be dead to even see what's going to come upon this world and that's really what solomon is saying is like those who are dead they don't have to deal with all this nonsense of oppression and all this anguish etc verse three says yea better is he than both they which hath not yet been who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun verse 4 again i consider all the travail and every every right work that for this a man is envied of his neighbor this also is vanity and vexation of spirit so one of the things that we see in the book of ecclesiastes is this matter of laboring and god always says look it's good to labor enjoy the fruit of your labor you know use the fruits of your labor enjoy life but let me just tell you something that's very vexing when it comes to this even if you do righteously even if you labor righteously you're not an unjust person you're very honest you do things by the book even when you do every right work there's going to be a man who envies you so it's like that for this a man is envied of his neighbor so he talks about those who are better off then he gets into those who are just have better envy you know you work you labor you're honest you go to church you're providing for your family but then you just still got that one neighbor who just hates you because you have something better than them not because you got it unjustly but just because they just envy you okay and envy is such a wicked sin the bible says in proverbs 27 verse 4 wrath is cruel anger is outrageous but who is able to stand before envy he says wrath is cruel it's bad it's violent anger is outrageous but let me say this who's able to stand before someone who's envious because someone who is envious will be wrathful someone who's envious is angry someone who is envious is covetous and hates you for your success think about that they don't hate you because of your character they hate you because of your success they hate you because of your accomplishments okay and this is a grievous sin that happens with the saved and unsaved alike okay how about pastors who are sometimes envious of other pastors i mean we've seen that in recent years right you know you got like a michael johnson for example who's probably one of the pastor michael envy himself where envy is just oozing out of every aspect of his of his being anytime he opens his mouth to rail against me to rail against my friends you know people just see right through and say man this guy's just envious why is he envious well because his youtube channel doesn't grow why is this envious because his his his church doesn't grow why is he envious because his preaching sucks that's why but is it my fault no that's not my fault it's not my fault that your ministry doesn't grow it's not my fault no one likes your preaching it's not my fault that you're not succeeding that's not my fault stop envying me and my friends so how do you know he's envying you because he's constantly attacking us for the things that we preach and the and our church girls i mean he this is how you know he's envious of us okay folks when you stand with the sodomites against me you're envious when it just bothers you so much of all the attention that we're getting you're just like oh i guess i just i'm gonna have to make some fag friends for this one because i can't stand this uh the success that they're receiving because and let me say this we got we got major success from the bombing major success hallelujah okay and he's like i wouldn't stand nowhere near him yeah please don't i don't want you anywhere near because you know i don't touch the unclean thing what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness what concord hath christ with belial you know what part hath he uh had the light with darkness what part had he had the temple of god with idols folks yeah he's right take his advice folks when he said when he said he would not stand near me yeah exactly if you're a wicked person don't come anywhere near me because i don't like you know having wicked people around me envious cruel outrageous angry people around me okay but you know what this shows us this shows us that from a from a practical level this shows us that we're not gonna be able to please everyone so even when you do the nine to five and you do righteous things and you do right work you know you're just like man you know i think i'm pleasing god and i'm i'm providing i'm being honest just mark it down someone's going to hate you for what you do someone's always going to be envious for what you do you can't please everyone that's why you your agenda should never be to please everyone your agenda should be to live peaceably with all men as much as you possibly can but if that's not possible then it's just not possible okay the bible tells us in galatians chapter 5 and verse 25 if we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit let us not be desirous of vainglory provoking one another envying one another it should never be that you envy someone in our church for their success so what should i do rejoice with them rejoice in their promotion rejoice if they get paid more rejoice if they succeed rejoice if they get married rejoice if they're able to have children rejoice at every single success that your brother has do not have vainglory or envying towards another brother or sister in christ it's not good why because envy is a work of the flesh and envy shows number one that you're being covetous but number two it's showing that you're being discontent with what god has given to you you're discontent with your lot in life okay be thankful for what you have james 3 james chapter 3 in verse number 14 says but if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts glory not and lie not against the truth this wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual devilish for where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work did you guys go back to ecclesiastes 4 so number one we see the plight of the oppressed number two we're going to look at the piece of the modest individual look at verse number five the fool so this is keep in mind we're in context of the of the person who's envious they see your right work they see you're succeeding in life you're getting straight a's or whatever you got the raise you got the promotion you're a boss you're bossing it in this world you're just doing great god's blessing you his hand is upon you and then you just got the the envious you know individual there just to kind of like envy you and hate you for who you are well the same person has verse number five the fool the fool folded his hands together and eateth his own flesh so instead of him saying well you know what maybe i should just take notes from this person see what he's doing so i can succeed too it's a great example i should just see what he's doing instead he goes like this he folded his hands together and eateth his own flesh now it's so funny i love the fact that the bible uses this this type of wording like he's eating his own flesh and i think if someone's just gnawing at their nails or something like this is the man who's consumed right and in fact why is he consumed because he's lazy and the only thing he's good at is being envious towards a successful person the only thing he's good at is slandering railing against those who are succeeding he's not good at improving himself he can't just pick up a secular book on like some self-help book and just learn something right he doesn't know how to do that he can't download audible on his phone and just get a bunch of books on learning how to improve yourself and and you know on business or you know his job or whatever it may be and just actually improve himself and learn no instead he's consumed he's destroying himself why because he's lazy so it says the fool folded his hands together and eateth his own flesh proverbs 21 25 says this the desire of the slothful what killeth him for his hands refuse to labor so when it says that he eateth his own flesh just like he's killing himself why because he's so lazy so lazy he's like i'm not willing to go and work to eat so i'll just eat myself i'll just eat myself i'll just eat my own flesh because i refuse to labor it's just easier just to slander and envy the person who i think doesn't deserve it why does he get the promotion why does he get that job why does he get the wife why does he get why does she get the husband or whatever you know why do why do they get this or why do why why don't you just ask what you can do to just improve yourself and figure out what you need to do and just improve yourself why don't you become a student of life and just learn something right i like being around people who are constantly learning things why because they're just interesting to talk to they're not boring people okay i like to know what they're reading i like to know what they're studying you know i like being around people who don't eat themselves right i like being around people who are just not eating themselves they're not consumed with their own selves because it shows me they're not being envious of others they're actually out there working laboring studying trying to improve themselves so the man who is consumed is the person who's envious of another person and they're eating their own flesh they're lazy people proverbs 25 15 says the slothful hide at his hand in his bosom agree with him to bring it again to his mouth how lazy do you have to be it's like you have food in your hand it's just like you're just like too lazy to bring it to your mouth hun can you help me real quick can you just lift my hand i just can it's like they're too lazy to even feed themselves it's like the person is like the king right who's just like you know he's got the and then the grapes being put into his mouth or whatever i have the force you know they have the grapes being put into their mouth and they're just kind of like you know just enjoying themselves that's that's what the slothful man wants i wouldn't trust someone putting grapes in my mouth because maybe they just don't know how to pace it right or something you know it's like i still have one in my mouth can you just chill out or something you know what i mean i go at my own pace so with the man who is consumed next one we see the man who is content verse 6 says better is a handful with quietness then both hands full with travail and vexation of spirit it's probably one of the best verses when it comes to contentment right here he says look if you had a choice you can have a handful right let's say you just grab a handful of cash okay there's a bowl of cash and you go okay you can hear your choices you can get a handful just dig in grab as much as you can and you'll have quietness in your household with your marriage with your children you know you there's there's quietness in your flesh you may not be able to get a whole lot but you have enough for one handful and everything's good or you can have two handfuls and have travail and vexation of spirit your wife hates you you know your kids hate you your church members hate you just like you know unfortunately the vast majority of people will go for both hands they rather have two hands when they're like well of course i would want two hands full that just better to have more but what the bible's teaching us is it's actually better to have less and have a right relationship with your spouse have a good relationship with your children be able to be upset at liberty to serve god have a clear conscience than to have everything you've ever wanted and not have those relationships right and he's saying look just get a handful and what is the handful it's that which is sufficient sufficient into the day because the evil they're up god just says you know just get what's sufficient just just go there and and you grab a handful of blessings of finances of resources and what do you do with your other hand you hold your wife's hand what do you do with your other hand you you hug your children what did you what do you do with the other hand you eat a burger what do you do with the other hand you just use it to be a blessing to someone else or you get a handful this is what you do you get a handful and you use the other hand to grab it and you give it to someone else and you know what happens when you do that god lets you dip into the bowl again think about that you get a handful grab it you give it to someone else and god says grab another handful but you know what the problem is is that people do this and then god says all right that's enough for you and now there's no quietness in your home now there's strife in your marriage now there's strife with your children now things are going bad better to just get a handful just get just enough right and have quietness right proverbs 15 17 says better is a dinner of herbs let's skip that one no i'm just kidding better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox i think we should switch those around than a stalled ox and hatred therewith now god's not for veganism here or vegetarianism he's just saying if you're so broke you can only afford to eat the grass outside or something like that you know it's better to have that and you know and you have love in your house than to have you know filet mignon carnivore diet but there's strife and hatred therewith it's better to not eat well but you but your your relationships are great than to eat well and not have your relationships great hey it's better to not eat well and you know what your church family loves you all right now from the looks of it i think everyone eats pretty well here so we don't really have this problem yours truly included i know all right now that teaches another teaches thyself also okay i'm all right here's the thing but it's better for you to whatever you have to eat as long as you have love here right have friendships here people that love you here than to have all the the delicacies of this world the the luxuries of this world and you don't have a church to go to you don't have people who love you you don't have people who care for you so get a handful okay first timothy chapter 6 verse 6 is but godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can carry nothing out that's why i kissed the van goodbye i can't bring it with me anyways i wouldn't want that thing to come with me anyways not only can we can't i can't i can't even yeah i can't carry it out to heaven i could even carry it out you know to across the street sometimes you know running so bad having food and ramin let us therewith be content but they that will be rich you know the one who wants two handfuls fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lust which drown men in destruction and perdition you know that destruction of the person who's eating themselves they're consumed with themselves for the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith pierced themselves through with many sorrows but thou omen of god flee these things follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness look he that loveth silver should not be satisfied with silver don't ever seek to love money it's never going to fulfill you get enough for you and look enough for you is is different than enough for someone else in the church enough for you could be you know a hundred thousand dollars for you might be like pocket change although i don't know anybody here who would say that's pocket change but you know for some people that's like not a whole lot because some people have different finances than others but you just need to make sure that whatever your cap is whatever sufficient for you you're content with that it's like yeah i make a hundred thousand but i want five hundred thousand dollars i want a million dollars what you should do is work hard get such as sufficient for you and if god allows you to get an abundance then go for it but here's the thing follow after righteousness don't let it impede you from following after righteousness godliness faith love patience and meekness so how do i know if it's if i'm just like becoming covetous well are you following after righteousness well no okay maybe that's telling you that you're trying to get more than what you should have understand but look if you're making let's say you're making five hundred thousand dollars again i don't know anybody here who has that but let's just throw that out let's just use that as an example let's say you you're making five hundred thousand dollars and you're able to follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience and meekness more power to you because your priorities basically should be correct okay but if that five hundred thousand dollars is keeping you from these virtues then at that point it's showing you that you're trying to dip in with two hands instead of one okay go back to where are you guys at i don't know where to are you still in ecclesiastes four all right look at verse seven we're going to look at the man without a companion so we see the man who is consumed the man who was content look at the man without a companion said verse it says in verse seven then i returned and i saw vanity under the sun there is one alone and there is not a second yea he hath neither child nor brother yet is there no end of all his labor neither is his eyes satisfied with riches neither said he for whom do i labor and bereave my soul of good this is also vanity yea it is a sore travail what he's saying you know there's sometimes people who have all these riches but they have no one to share it with and look folks if you're rich but you have no one to share with what good is it right if you can't be a blessing to someone else right now you might be sitting here thinking well i feel like that's me you know i feel like i'm alone i have all these riches but i'm i feel alone but you need to change your perspective because you're not alone because you're you have a church you have a church you have people that love you and you have people to care for you and you say well i don't feel that way well he that hath friends must show himself friendly right you got to go out and make friends you got to go out and talk to people and spend time with them and look i'm not saying even spend money on them and thank god this is not a church of people who uses people because those churches do exist what i'm saying is stick around for a couple hours here at first works and fellowship talk to people develop friendships develop a love relationship with the people in our church okay because the bible says in proverbs 18 24 a man that hath friends must show himself friendly and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother i think the vast majority people would agree here that they're closer to their church family than they are to their literally literal physical blood family i know i am you know i'm thankful that i have my mom in church but you know i have other family members that are not in church and i pretty much never talk to them we never communicate why because you know i'm here and you say well you know are you making yourself unavailable to them no they know i'm available every sunday morning sunday night thursday evening you know when i'm here they know where i'm at my closest family is here okay and so but they but the person who labors but has no one to share with will become a miserable person because resources and blessings are not meant for us and it's meant for us to take and give to others okay and think about this you say well you know my spouse left me or you know i'm not in right terms with my spouse like what then well think about this think about david and jonathan okay because david and jonathan you know we're such good friends really close friends right in the bible and it actually says when when jonathan died it says in second sammy 126 i am distressed for thee my brother jonathan very pleasant has thou been unto me thy love to me was wonderful passing the love of a woman now david was not a son of mine as much as people would like to use this verse to try to teach that because obviously they're so perverted they're so wicked and violent their manner of thinking that they can't read this well i say oh he's he's a fag or something you know no what this is saying is that jonathan was so close to him is like we shared a love as brothers that even surpasses the love of a woman like we it was like a brotherhood so what does this tell us this tells us that you know there's a special unique relationship even between brethren in the church sisters and brothers where you say man brother i love you okay and you know sometimes i'll tell that to the guys here or you know i'll never tell it to the ladies but i'm saying like to the guys obviously i love everyone equally but the men i'll tell them brother i love you and you know i think to myself like man i really do love them and obviously i love my wife more but you know what my love for for the brethren is just a different type of love it's a it's a love it's a longing for them it's a desire to for them to succeed it's a love that that provokes me to pray for them to think upon them to desire goodwill towards them to desire that god will bless their lives it's it's a love that uh anticipates seeing them in church it's a love that rejoices my heart when i see them in church i'm like oh man so and so is here what's going on brother john what's going on brother hike brother paul sometimes i see brother paul and i just smile we're just kind of like laugh at each other we don't even know why we're alive we're just happy to see each other why because i love him i'm sure he loves me and this is this is the type of love that the bible is talking about here so if you think well you know i had my spouse left me my husband left me my wife left me okay well thankfully god has set forth a love you can have appropriate love you can have with the brothers and sisters in christ in our church and let me just make this disclaimer i'm sure i don't have to say this but let me make myself clear i'm not saying that you can just have that love relationship with some other woman if you're a man okay can i have that love relationship with you no okay well you know everything you describe pastor i feel towards about this woman or something no you know by the way i don't it's not inappropriate if you're looking to you know eventually marry her and if it you know if it if it's appropriate but you know what this is referring to is like a brother and a brother sister and a sister okay where you develop a deep love for your brothers and sisters in christ i don't know that sounds kind of weird why that's not weird i mean david who's a picture of christ had that love for jonathan and you know what jesus has that love for us where he loves us and he wants us to love each other as he loved us you understand where we rejoice to be with our brothers okay and sisters in christ the bible says in proverbs 17 17 a friend love at all times and a brother is born for adversity ain't that a cool verse he says look a friend love it at all times and a brother is born for adversity you know what increases your relationship with your brother so much the more when you both experience adversity together i guarantee you we drew closer as a church after that whole bombing maybe our attitude towards each other changed a little bit maybe before you weren't as close to one another or maybe there's some of you who weren't as close to me and vice versa you know what the what the bombing did it drew us closer one to another why because now it's like a brother is born for adversity it's a unique time in our church folks where we can look back 20 years from now and say i remember that person i know this brother i know this sister they were there in the thick of it when it was going down they were born for adversity that's why it's important that we invest in others and so don't look at what you don't have i don't have children okay but can't you bear spiritual children i don't have a spouse okay but can't you be a blessing to someone else in our church you see don't seek for happiness in what you can gain from others seek happiness in what you give to others the fulfillment you can give someone else okay friendships and love that you can give to someone else so we see the plight of the oppressed the peace of the modest individual and then the power of a team verse 9 says two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor for if they fall the one will lift up his fellow but woe to him that is alone when he falls for he hath not another to help him again if two lie together then they have heat but how can one be warm alone don't try to be warm alone don't try to do this christian life on your own you need the church you need each other okay you need two you see the might in numbers he says you need two and not only that but we see i'm gonna skip some points here the missing link though is what we're looking at and actually if i were to title this entire sermon i would title it the missing link because he says two are better than one it's better to have you know the husband and wife better to have the pastor and the church members better to have the parents and the children two are better than one and verse 12 it says and if one prevail against them two shall withstand him and look what it says and a threefold cord is not quickly broken so who is that third one god you see having a husband and a wife together in a cord is great but you know what makes it way better in a cord that's not easily broken when god is added to the equation having a husband wife together you know married faithful you know just just living together and doing life together is great but what makes it better is when god is added to that equation is when they both recognize we need to honor god in our marriage having parents and children are great parents that want the best for their children raise their children right but you know what makes it better is when you add god to that element having a pastor in the church is great obviously to have god in that equation right making sure that we both are doing this for god why because the threefold cord is not quickly broken when you have the missing link added to whatever relationship you have it always makes it better why because we do it as unto the lord we love each other but you know what we we know this we're gonna fail each other and when we fail each other that's okay because we're doing it as unto the lord and therefore that threefold cord will not quickly be broken because at the end of the day when mortal man fails you when mortal man does that which is displeasing defrauds you whatever may be you're doing it as unto the lord anyways okay and lastly the product of poverty and plenty and i'm going to skip this and we'll probably just i'll cover this in my introduction for chapter five but the the because i'm out of time the the main thing is this is that we're all going to suffer some form of oppression we're all going to go through a difficult time but the difference between us going through a difficult time and them going through a difficult time the world is that they have they're missing something that's god but now ye who are far off at one time are you know they you've drawn nigh by the blood of christ you've gotten saved you have god you have the bible okay so yeah we're going to be oppressed but you know we're comforted by the holy spirit we're going to go we're going to be envied and slandered and railed against but it's okay because we have god who's going to avenge us we're going to be oppressed and and and persecuted and reviled but that's okay because god will avenge us we have the element of god in our lives amen let's fire heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word and thank you for the life that we get to live under the sun thank you for the fact that we have this one life to live and our life is but a vapor and we're thankful that although there are injustices in this world because we're saved we have comfort that we will receive justice one day we will receive we're going to see the punishment of the evildoers of this world we're thankful for that lord thankful that um we can we have the threefold cord and people have often said that the threefold cord can be you know the church the family and the christian school but that's not what it is it's any institution any relationship that we have that has the element of god attached to that and because when we serve one another when we fail one another it's okay because we're doing it as unto the lord and i pray god that you'd help us lord to to take these principles to mind help us to be content with what we have lord never be envious one of another and if we feel like we're alone at times help us to recognize that we have so many people that love us whether in our own church and even in like-minded church i i have a ton of friends at different churches and pastor friends and even church members contact me and let me know that you're praying for me i'm thankful for that lord and i pray god that you you help us never to be like elijah under the juniper tree where we think we're just the only ones lord help us to go out of our way to be a blessing to others and to share the spiritual wealth of the blessings you've given to us in jesus name we pray amen