The Conclusion to the Whole Matter

Welcome to this week's message from the Church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

But you know, Solomon ends this whole section hearing the conclusion of the whole matter.

But before we delve into it, I'm excited.

It's it's he could not have done a better conclusion in the book.

We said that he was the author of many of three books, but an author of a lot of Proverbs, we know.

The romantic book, the Song of Solomon.

We call it the Book of Romance, and then the Book of Proverbs, the Book of Rules, and then, unfortunately, the Book of Ecclesiastes, which we call it the book of regrets, up until the ending.

And really, we saw it changed in about chapter 9, where he had been arguing, four arguments, about living the life under the sun, which we said meant living with a life without God.

And then we see he comes back, and he said, being the wise and unbelievable, knowledgeable man that he was, because you got to remember he's the one who wrote Proverbs.

He comes back and he revisits those four arguments, and he brings us to four conclusions, four answers to those four arguments in the book of Ecclesiastes.

So that's what we're gonna look at this morning.

It's gonna be a fantastic conclusion, I promise you.

You're gonna I mean it's been a little tough, but now you're gonna see the ending.

You know, I can't wait.

Who reads a book and goes to the ending first?

Am I the only one that does that?

I do that all the time.

Always.

I know David doesn't.

He's methodical, but I I I gotta go see who wins the who takes the heel.

And then I get excited.

Now let's go back and see how they did it.

But if they lose the heel, they don't take the heel.

I don't read the book.

I don't want to be a part of a loss.

Amen.

So that's kind of the way I do it.

I always have done it that way.

But I was can't even remember where I was preaching.

It might have been at Liberty.

And I think my son, who was a praise and worship leader, brought this song.

He said, Dad, this is for you.

And I'll never forget it.

When it's all said and done, I think this is the conclusion of the whole matter.

Fear God.

Keep his commandments.

For this is the duty of man.

This is the purpose of man.

I heard this song.

This is the conclusion I want us to understand as he comes and sings this song.

What a song to end the book of Ecclesiastes with.

Wow, amen, honey.

Wow.

When all is said and done.

I don't want you to remember my name.

Just remember the father's name.

What a song.

What a song.

When it's all said and done.

And that is my heart.

It really is.

Ecclesiastes, chapter 11 and 12.

Ecclesiastes 11 · chapter mention

Solomon opens up and he says, Is life worth living?

And then he goes on to answer really as he does the academic, scientific research.

Then he goes from the academic side and the research side and the knowledge side to the pleasurable side.

Then he tries everything, physically, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.

He tries anything he wants, women-wise, wine-wise, whatever, he doesn't.

He's seeking the answer of what is life for?

What is life really meant to be?

And so we finally see that he comes up with foreign arguments about why life is not worth living at the beginning of halfway through the book of Ecclesiastes.

He says, hey, it's not, no, it's not worth living, and here's why.

Argument number one we looked at was the monotony of life.

In other words, we just we go to bed, we get up, we go to work.

We come back, we go to bed, we go to work.

It's just a boring, tedious life.

That was argument number one.

Argument number two was you remember was the vanity of the wisdom of this world.

And we know that to be the case.

Paul says, for the wisdom of this world's foolishness with God.

1 Corinthians 3 19.

So he says, this wisdom, in other words, the humanism, the false religions, all that we see in America today, he says, hey, no, they don't have the answers.

So he said, no, life's not worth living.

Then he had a third argument.

And the third argument was that the f the futility, the emptiness, the meaninglessness of wealth and pleasure.

He said, Yeah, you, hey, sin's fun for a short season.

We'd all agree with that, amen.

But then guess what?

You pay.

You can be sure your sins will find you out.

Numbers 32, 23.

And usually living in sin always brings destruction.

In fact, James put it this way: living in pleasure is wanton.

It means it's meaningless, it's not fulfilling.

Then he came up with the fourth argument.

We're all gonna die.

And as it is appointed unto me, and wants to die, and after this the judgment.

Amen?

Hebrews 9 27.

Hey, we're gonna die.

So is life worth living?

Not really.

In fact, he made the statement early.

He said, it'd have been better if you'd not even been born.

If this is all that life is.

That was a powerful statement, if you recall that.

Amen.

But being the wise man, godly man, the Holy Spirit grabs his heart, brings him back, and then he begins to say, wait a minute.

That's one objective.

There's four arguments of why life's not worth living under the sun without God.

But if you choose to live your life for God, there is excitement, there is hope, there is a future.

Amen.

So with that said, he reviews his arguments, and this time he brings God into the picture, and what a difference that made.

And then he challenges us.

And he said, No, God's, hey, with God in your life, your life is not monotonous, but filled with challenging situations with God.

Unbelievable opportunities with God.

He said, Jesus said, I've come to give you life and give it more abundantly.

And that God's situation and God's purpose for your life is always right for you.

And God is always on time at the right time.

Amen.

Man.

So now we see God's bringing him back.

And he's going back to those roots of the book of Proverbs.

And he's beginning to say.

And he also said, and by the way, your wealth can be enjoyed and employed.

Did you hear me?

Your wealth can be enjoyed and employed for the glory of God.

Amen.

In fact, I don't have this, but write this down.

1 Timothy 6, 17 through 19 says, Charge them that are rich in this world.

Don't be high-minded.

Don't think you're something.

Don't think you've earned all your money, nor trust in your money, uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

That you, here it is, do good, be rich in good works, ready to distribute to those that are in need, willing to communicate, willing to share, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation.

Woo! Is that not good?

Somebody say that's good.

So he came to the conclusion, it's okay to be wealthy, hey, because you can use it.

First of all, let me say, if you are wealthy, it's because God has given you favor, and thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that gives thee power to get wealth.

Deuteronomy 8.18.

Amen.

You with me, church?

And he says, God's given that to you for the purpose of employing it for the glory of God.

Man, that's good.

Boy, that's good.

And then Sodom concluded that it was better to follow God's wisdom than to practice man's folly.

Amen.

Man's foolishness.

He says it's God's wisdom.

Even though we don't have all the answers, even though sometimes you're not gonna be able to figure it out.

Have you ever been in a situation but you knew you're following God, but you didn't understand what's gonna happen next?

Amen.

Hello.

But you know, hello, that's been fun for me.

It's not boring.

I promised my wife when I married her.

I said, honey, I have no money, I have no good looks, but I got Jesus.

Amen.

And I can promise you this there will not, you will not have a boring life with me.

That's been 32 wonderful years ago.

Has it ever been boring?

That's what she's gonna put on my tombstone.

Jesus is awesome, it wasn't boring.

Amen.

So he says, hey, the ways.

He says, the ways and the knowledge, and in fact, he says, we grow rich in his wisdom and knowledge, but his ways and judgments are past finding out.

Romans 11, 33.

So he said, don't get hung up in you trying to figure it out.

You just trust God.

And then lastly, he said, yes.

He says, no doubt about it.

We're all gonna die, the certainty of death.

There's no way to escape it.

And it ought to motivate us to enjoy life now and make the most of the opportunities God gives us.

Amen.

Now, with that said, he comes to the conclusion.

That's a pretty good conclusion.

Wouldn't you say that sums up all we've been looking at?

But he ends with, now I've got four pictures of life that offset those four unbelievable, useless arguments that I started out with.

And he says, first of all, I'm going to say life is an adventure.

Secondly, life is a gift.

Thirdly, life is a school.

And fourthly, life is a stewardship.

And these four pictures parallel the four arguments that he had wrestled with throughout the book.

He says, life is not monotonous, it is an adventure.

Say that with me for Christians.

Life is an adventure.

Life is an adventure.

And he goes on and he says, live it by faith.

Life is an adventure.

Live it by faith.

2 Corinthians 5, 7 says, for we walk by faith, and what?

Let's say it again.

We walk by what?

What does he say in Hebrews 11, 6?

Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

For he that comes to God must believe that he is, that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Wow.

Faith is a walk of life.

It is an adventure in life.

You know what that means?

That means it encompasses the good, the bad, and the ugly.

But it's an adventure, it's an excitement.

Solomon uses two activities to illustrate his point in verses one through six.

Look at verses one and two.

He uses the merchant and he uses the farmer.

Now, the farmer and the merchant, the merchant sending out his ships, and the farmer sowing his seeds.

For example, the merchant had to live by faith with his ships.

In fact, we know Solomon understood this because he was a tremendous trader, and we see that in 1 Kings chapter 10, verse 15, and verse 22.

1 Kings 10:15

We see all the ships that he sent out.

And he had to live by faith because he never knew what kind of, hey, hey, situations that his ships would run into.

It could be bad weather, it could be storms, it could be pirates, they could have problems with the ships, they could sink.

I mean, there they could run upon a reef.

There was all kinds of things that could happen.

And then with the soar, we see, with the soar, the farmer.

In fact, you know, verses 2, 5, and 6, for you do not know.

That's a tremendous point here.

He's talking and he's showing us the example with the merchant and with the farmer.

He says in chapter verse 2, verse 5, verse 6, the phrase, for you do not know.

In other words, you really don't know.

You don't know what's going to happen when you send your ships out into the seas.

You don't know what's going to happen when you sow your seeds into the ground.

You don't know if it's going to be a beautiful season of right rain at the right time, or it's going to be a drought, or the bugs, the insects are coming to eat.

You don't know.

You have to trust God.

Amen.

And that is exactly what he is saying.

He's saying no one can predict the weather, no one can predict the controls of the sea.

You've got to live by faith.

You know what the word acrostic for faith is?

F-A-I-T-H, several, but my favorite, here it is.

Forsaking all, I take him.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.

Lean not on thy own understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

And it was verse 7 says, and it will be helpful to your body, to your family, to your business, to whatever God's called you to do.

Amen.

Amen.

So verse 3, he goes on and he says, He uses the clouds are always changing, and he used the falling tree.

So, you know what I saw in that?

I saw two things.

First of all, the tree fallen, that's the past.

Once a tree falls, whether it's cut down, whether it's blown down, it's over.

There's nothing you can do about it.

You can't raise that tree back up and plant it back in.

It's gone.

So what he's saying is in verse 3, don't worry about the past.

There's nothing you can do about it.

Can I get an amen?

Nothing you do about it.

It's gone.

He said, but there is something we can do about the future.

The clouds, they're moving and they're coming.

And he says, you never know when it's going to rain, when it's not going to rain.

He said, but be ready to take, hey, take advantage of that opportunity.

You can't control the past, but hey, you can't control the future, but you can control today, right now.

Seize the opportunity when God passes it by you.

That's what he's saying.

Amen.

And then he looked at verse 4 and he says, Don't sit around waiting for ideal circumstances.

There will never be ideal circumstances in life.

Amen.

There'll be some good.

Hallelujah.

Let's say, amen for the good.

Now we don't like this next part, but we're going to say it anyway.

Amen for the bad.

And oh me for the ugly.

Amen.

That's life, folks.

When they got on those boats, they didn't know what was going to happen.

But they, hey, sailed by faith.

When that farmer goes by and he starts sowing all those kinds of seeds, he doesn't know what kind of conditions the weather's going to be in the next six months.

He's sowing by faith.

He's throwing them out there, trusting God with everything that he has.

Say this with me.

Life is an adventure.

Life is an adventure.

Say it again.

Life.

Now that's going to get you excited.

Now some people say, oh, I don't like adventure.

Well, bless God.

Get in the boat with us.

We'll take care of you.

We're going.

Amen.

We're rowing.

Just keep rowing.

Where's the page?

Keep rowing.

When the storms come, it doesn't matter.

Just keep rowing.

And that's what we see here.

Be not deceived.

God is not mocked.

Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he reap.

Right here in verse 5.

He says, the way of the wind no one controls.

John 3 8 says the wind blows where it wants to.

And he says, just as, hey, we can't control the wind.

He says, we don't know how the fetus is formed in the wounds.

So nobody knows the works of God.

His creation.

But God, if you remember, in Ecclesiastes 3 1 through 11 says God's got a purpose and a plan for everything and a time for everything.

Everything.

Amen.

So we see he's just laying it out.

So we must live by faith in his word.

Faith cometh by hearing.

Hearing by the word of God.

Good job.

Romans 10, 17.

Hey, so, and then we get to verse 6.

Oh, I love it.

And look at what he says in verse 6.

He says, Oh, what a tremendous exhortation.

In the morning, sow your seed, and in the evening, do not withhold your hands, for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

He says, You don't know what's going to happen.

You just get up in the morning, you sow your seed, and then you work all day hard as you can, taking advantage of what God's called you to do, seizing the opportunities when they come by, and let God take care of the reward.

Now that's an adventure.

I don't know what God wants me to do.

I can tell you, get out of bed and do something for him.

That's what he wants.

Amen.

That's what he wants.

Ephesians 5, 15 through 17.

You'll love this.

Ephesians 5.

He says, See that you walk.

Boy, this is good.

And by the way, by the way, there's four commands in these two chapters.

Four, and this is the first command.

This is the first command of four from God.

Now, if you notice, we've been looking throughout these last three or four chapters, the message of God.

But now he comes down to the end, and this is Solomon saying, These are commands, not from me, but from God.

That's powerful, folks.

And notice what he says.

He says, get up early, sow your seed, work hard until evening, do the job at hand, and then here's why.

Redeeming, see that you walk circumspectly.

Now that's a big word.

Very big word.

I don't know how to spell it.

But I looked it up.

It's kind of like homiletics.

When I went to Liberty University, they said you're going to teach homiletics.

I said, What's that?

No, I had actually taken homiletics in seminary.

But uh I thought to myself, I'm a Bible, I'm a Biblicist.

That means if the book doesn't teach it or say it, I'm a little leery of it.

Amen.

I'm sorry.

So I thought to myself, okay, I've seen the word preaching in scripture, but I've never seen the word homiletics.

So I decided I'd do a research on the word homiletics.

Didn't find it in the Bible, but I found preaching.

But I came up with the definition.

You know what homiletics means?

It means the art of putting together a message and delivering it.

That's the man's version of homiletics.

I said, but I want God to give me God's version of homiletics.

Here's what it is: it's taking a man of God, called by God, filled with the Spirit of God, that saturated his heart and mind in the Word of God and delivering him.

That's preaching.

That's preaching.

Amen.

Giving himself continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word of the Living God.

Acts 6.4.

Preach the word.

2 Timothy 4.2.

That's what he means here.

See that you walk wisely, not as fools, but as wise.

Now watch.

Redeeming the time because the days are evil.

The days are evil.

Verse 17, wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Wow.

In other words, listen to me.

He says the conclusion of the whole matter is that life is an adventure lived by faith, living it wisely through the instructions of the Holy Spirit, through the power of the Holy Spirit, through the instructions of the Word of God.

That's what he means in Ephesians 5.

Man, that's good.

Accomplish what God tells you to do.

Life is an adventure of faith.

And each of us is like a merchant investing today in that which we'll pay dividends tomorrow.

Now most of you have some kind of retirement, hopefully.

You invest hoping to get back in that retirement.

There's no difference.

What an example.

We are to invest in God's plan, God's purpose for our life.

And I'm here to tell you, one day, folks, there's going to be great dividends.

We are going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and we're all going to receive the things done in our body, whether they be good or bad.

And that's the last verse.

And hearing the conclusion of the whole matter.

There's great dividends coming if we walk in God's way.

Look at this.

Galatians 6, 7, 8, and 9.

You don't want to miss this.

Be not deceived.

God is not mocked.

You can't play God.

You can't fool God.

Okay?

For whatsoever, read that with me.

Whatsoever.

Do it again.

Read it again.

God is not mocked.

For whatsoever a man saith, that shall be also read.

Listen to me, young people.

You can play your mom and dad.

Listen to me, adults.

You can play your preacher or something.

Well, you can't play me.

I was a bad boy for I got to say.

Most of those kind of tricks I've created.

But hey, you can play people, but you can't play God.

You can fool me.

You can even use your own eloquency or your eloquent speech and your false motives to fool us.

You can't fool God.

Say this with me.

I can't fool God.

Can't.

Now notice what he says.

Whatsoever you sow, that's what you're going to read.

You can blame me, which that's blame the preacher if you want to.

You can blame your wife if you want to.

You can blame your husband if you want to.

You can blame your boss if you want to.

You can blame everybody you want to, but I'm here to tell you, you are the corporate.

I am the one.

What I sow is what I reap.

How I sow is how I reap.

Amen.

And I'm telling you, He blesses getting up early, doing it his way, working hard.

He blesses, he blesses, he blesses.

Well, slothfulness and laziness and manipulation and lying and cheating and backbiting and gossiping, he does not bless.

And I've got news for you, you're going to get the same thing.

If what you do, it's coming back.

It has me every time.

Every time.

Why?

Here it is.

Be not deceived.

God is not mocked.

But verse 8, for he that soweth to the flesh, what does it say?

Shall of the flesh reap what?

Corruption.

But he that soweth to the spirit, doing it God's way, walking wisely, walking circumspectedly, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.

And then I love verse 9.

Do not be deceived.

God is not mocked, for whatsoever man soweth, that shall he reap.

That's powerful, folks.

That's powerful.

And then I love Psalms 126, 5 and 6, two of my favorite.

He that sows in tears shall reap with joy.

Woo! Amen.

He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed.

And here we, yes, there's a good analogy of the farmer sowing the seed, but it's also Mark 4 says, the seed is the word of God, as we sow the word of God.

Oh, listen to this.

He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed.

Now, watch this.

Oh, this is so beautiful.

Shall doubtless come again.

Notice, doubtless, there's no, hey, you don't have to.

This is not, we're saying, this is not Las Vegas throwing the dice.

This this is, he didn't do that.

He didn't do that.

Hey, this is for sure.

Hey, you're gonna come again with rejoicing, bringing your sheeds with him, bringing your crops with you, bringing your dividends with you.

You do it God's way, it's coming.

Can I get an amen?

There it is.

Whoo, that's it.

Hosea 10, 12 says, So do yourselves, hey, in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up the fallow ground.

In other words, break up that heart and get all that evilness and ungodliness out of your heart.

For it is time to seek the Lord till he comes and reigns righteousness upon you.

Woo! Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And all these other things.

Your job, everything, kids, hey, teenagers, students, all these other things should be added unto you.

All of it.

All of it.

You say, I want to get married.

It's amazing how peer pressure, how the the the hormones start moving in teenagers.

Everybody say, oh, I want my what is it, the knight in shining armor to come and just sweep me away.

Don't let the world misguide you in your thinking process of what a relationship really is.

A relationship is first of all with him, and if it's right, you'll get the right one.

If it's not right, you won't get the right one.

Because Satan's masterfully ready to trick you.

Amen.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

All these things should be added unto you.

That's everything.

Your job, your relationship, your school, your education, everything, if you understand.

And that's exactly what Solomon's coming to the conclusion to hear.

Wow.

Number two, he says, so say it with me.

Number one, life is an adventure of faith.

Say that with me.

So we answered the argument of being that life's not monotonous, it's an adventure.

Amen.

That's a big difference.

It is an adventure if you're saved.

Number two, he says, life is a gift.

Life is a gift.

Enjoy it.

And this is from verse 7 all the way through chapter 12, verse 8.

This is Solomon's second admonition that we accept life as a gift and learn to enjoy all that God shares with us.

And we see that starting in chapter 2, all the way through right here.

But in order to enjoy this life and to live it to the fullest, for what God's called you to do, there's three things we got to do.

Solomon said there's three things you got to do.

Number one, you got to rejoice.

Verse 7 through 9.

Truly the light is sweet and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun.

Now let me tell you what that means.

You wake up in the morning like I did this morning.

Wasn't it a beautiful sunrise?

Wasn't it beautiful this morning?

He's saying when you wake up and you're alive, you ought to be excited.

Amen.

Hello.

You're alive.

You don't wake up and step down and start complaining.

When you step out of bed, you put your foot on the floor, you say, Thank you, Jesus, for another day.

This is the day the Lord hath made.

I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalms 118, 24.

Yes, my back hurts.

I had to go to the contractor.

I was playing racquetball and I was whipping all those young whippers snappers till my back went out, and then they were laughing at me.

And I walked out of the racquetball court like this.

Couldn't even get in my truck.

I called Susan.

I said, honey, my bag's out.

She said, Well, go to the chiropractic.

So I did.

And boy, he took care of me.

I'm just now getting it back in.

You didn't make fun of me about that, did you?

Okay, because his back's out now.

I mean, there's something about, and I couldn't have the, I couldn't even have thought this up, but he's fixing to go into you young people, and here's basically what he's gonna say.

While you're young, live it to its fullest, not in pleasure, not in sin, but live it at its fullest for the glory of God.

Take an opportunity.

Listen to me, young couples, for the glory of God, because it's gonna come when you hit 60, your bite's gonna start going out.

And you're not gonna be able to do all that you could do during those young youthful ages.

Amen.

Anybody 50 and over you?

Can I get us a little help here?

Amen.

Thank you, Ken.

I know you are.

You go, oh, my back too.

Okay.

But is that not true?

So that's what he's saying here.

It's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful exhortation.

Rejoice.

Anticipate each new day and accept it as a fresh gift from God.

2 Corinthians 9, 15.

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

Praise Jesus.

You know, sometimes you ought to come to this altar for no other reason.

Not because you need to confess sin, not because you need to pray about something.

Y'all just come and say, thank you for your gift to me.

Amen.

Just thank you, Jesus.

Just thank you for your gift to me.

Man, that's good.

Rejoice for each day.

You know, let me tell you when this became a reality in my life, early in my ministry.

Have I always done it?

No.

But most of the time, yes.

When my wife at 28 years old died in my arms on New Year's Day, 1981.

She was 28 years old.

The Sunday before that, I had preached my first funeral as a young pastor with one of my deacon's grandmother, and my wife, Becky, at that time, was standing next to me praying for me as I'm preaching.

The next Sunday, I'm standing over her grave preaching her funeral.

That'll get your attention.

You live one day at a time.

Ival, Rosemarie, was diagnosed with cancer, said that she was gonna die in three or four months.

Look at her now.

I will they told us that night he's not gonna make it.

When you have those kind of experiences, you understand when you wake up in the morning.

To God be the glory, I'm glad it's light.

Amen.

I'm here another day.

Show him Jesus.

Don't waste it.

Redeem the times, redeem it.

It's your day.

You have another day to live to praise and exalt Him.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Because you don't know what holds tomorrow.

Just like that.

I love Deuteronomy 33, 25.

You need to memorize this.

It's a short verse, but it's a powerful.

Thy shoes shall be iron and brass.

Now here's the second part of it.

As thy days, so shall thy strength be.

God gives you the strength to live daily.

Can I get an amen?

Isn't that good?

Somebody say that's good.

That is good.

I love, I love what he's saying.

So, youth is a time for enjoyment before the problems of old age start and reveal themselves.

Now look at what he says in verse 9.

Young people, here's what you gotta do.

You gotta watch your hearts and your eyes.

Look at it.

Look at it.

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.

In other words, you've got to guard your eyes.

Listen to what uh Job said in Job 31, verse 1.

Job 31:1

He said, I have made a covenant with my eyes that I will not think on the maiden.

I will not look on things, I will not look at pornography, I will not look at evil, I will not look at stuff that Satan can take and begin to do bad thoughts in my mind.

Paul said, You have to cast down those imaginations.

We have more problems right now with internet pornography than we've ever had.

And that's not just for young people, that's for adults too.

Can I get an amen?

One of the verses I've always had a, I can't remember, but early in my ministry, somebody made me these two little ducks, and underneath it it was Psalms 101.

Uh I believe it's verse 12, 3, I'm sorry.

And it says, I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.

I hate the work of them that turn aside it shall not cleave to me.

In other words, I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.

You put that in front of your television set and see what you watch.

Hello.

Oh me.

That's the way with movies.

Um by the way, let me go ahead and help you about Noah.

That's the most horrible movie I've ever seen.

What do you really think, preacher?

It's junk.

Nothing biblical about it other than the name Noah.

Well, Methuselah's in there.

And the flood.

That's it.

Don't waste your money.

If David hadn't been sent there, I'd walked out.

And David said, if I hadn't been sent there, he'd walked out, so we both walked out.

We should have walked out.

Ridiculous.

I meant so anti-biblical.

But see, there's Satan again.

Hello.

Angel of light.

It's a Star Wars movie.

Rock watchers.

Next thing I thought, they're gonna have a Camaro turning into a Transformer.

Running on to the ark.

Oh, we're starting a new world with the Transformers.

Give me a break.

I'm sitting there the whole time.

David couldn't hear the movie.

That's not right.

That's not right.

Watch your hearts, watch your eyes.

Proverbs 4, 23.

Guard your hearts, watch, for out of it flows the issues of life.

Out of your heart flows what you are.

Can I get an amen?

It's pretty powerful.

I don't have time to.

Well, I want to go to Mark 7.

You need to see these.

Mark 7, verse 20 through 23.

Mark 7:20–23

This is unbelievable.

And he said, Jesus is speaking.

I like the words in red.

That which come out of the man, hey, out of the man that defileth the man.

What comes out of your heart, if it's evil, defiles you.

Now, then he even tells you what comes out.

For far from within, out of the heart of men, proceeds evil thoughts.

Anybody ever had any evil thoughts?

I'm not going any f everybody anybody ever had any evil thoughts?

Thank you.

Don't leave me out here by myself.

I'm not raising my hand.

What did they think?

It doesn't matter what I think, God already knows.

Why don't you admit it and get cleansing?

Amen.

I'm sorry.

I gotta, hey, hey, that's thinking, thinking.

Amen.

Amen.

Precedes evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, that's all sexual perversion, murders, thefts, covetousness, that's wanting what you don't have.

Wickedness?

Deceit?

Lasciviousness.

Whoa, that's a big word.

You know what that means?

Anybody know what lasciviousness means?

How you want to tell us?

I mean, her Hugh?

How her you know what lasciviousness means?

Craftiness.

Craftiness.

Oh.

Angel of light.

Satan.

That's what it means.

Oh, all kind of mischievous stuff.

Yes, very much so.

Now, what's this?

An evil eye.

An evil eye.

Remember?

What did Solomon say?

Gotta guard your heart and guard your eyes.

Okay?

With me?

Blasphemy.

That means rejecting.

Hey, rejecting everything that God is through the power of the Holy Spirit, rejecting Him.

Pride, thinking you know better than God.

Foolishness.

Now look at verse 23.

All these evil things come where?

The heart.

And the file of man.

Hello.

Don't get mad at me.

I'm just a delivery boy.

Amen.

That's convicting to me too.

There's nothing in there that he didn't cover in those three short verses that nail us in a good way.

Convict us in a good way.

Wow.

So we got to rejoice.

God.

Why?

And let me tell you why.

Verse 9 says, because he's going to bring you into judgment.

Folks, he's going to bring every thought into judgment.

That bothers me.

In fact, do you know he says he knows your thoughts before you think them?

That really bothers me.

Other day I had a thought and I said, whoop, I'm sorry.

I was saying sorry as the thought was coming out.

Oh no, yeah, I'm sorry.

Lord forgive me.

The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.

Who can know it?

Now, number two, notice.

Look, rejoice, then remove verse 10.

Remove.

He says to the young people, you must put anxiety out of your hearts.

Now, the word sorrow there in that verse, it is chaos.

Well, actually, it's chaos.

You gotta be careful on that one.

But that's what it means.

Chaos.

It means vexation.

It means inner pain.

It means frustration.

It means anger.

It means grief.

Oh, and boy, young people are filled with that because that you know why you're filled with all that inner pain and that vexation and that frustration and that anger and that grief.

Because there's no hope.

Jesus.

You're living life under the sun.

You're living life going your way.

Frank Sinatra's song was might have been a hit, but it was so wrong.

I did things my way.

No, we do them God's way.

And he relieves that sorrow and that pain and that grief.

How do you know that?

Watch this, watch this.

This is powerful.

This is really powerful.

Um, in fact, go to go Philippians 4, 6 through 9.

But in Matthew 6, 24 through 34, there's 10 verses.

Just read it.

It's on your page.

The Lord says, You cannot serve two masters.

And then he goes on and he says, if he takes care of the birds and all, he's going to take care of you.

Don't worry about what you wear.

Don't worry about how you look.

Don't worry about how tall or short.

I used to, I used to ask the Lord, so why did you make me so short?

Because I was a real good athlete in high school.

And man, if and then those old big old boys, they'd be sorry and wouldn't work and quit.

My cousin Barry Boeing, 6'4.

I mean, every college was talking to him when he was sophomore in his junior year.

He said, I don't like you, so I'm quitting.

I said, You just sorry.

And I said, You may be big, but I think I can whip you.

Now you get back out here and play.

He said, Nope, I'm not going to do it.

And he didn't.

He was on Facebook the other day.

He's riding Harley now.

He said, he said, cuz we need to get together and ride.

I'd gone over and met at a thing in our reunion.

And I picked back, I texted him back.

I said, the only thing I'm worried about is you're not going to quit riding if we get somewhere stuck, are you?

And I put P.S.

football camp.

What year was that?

I forgot whatever.

I looked it up.

He would text me back.

Okay, no, I won't.

I sigh.

You're never going to let me forget that, are you?

I said, nope.

We were picked to be the number one team in the region that year.

He quit, and three other main ones quit.

You think I'm going to forget it?

No.

I'm going to forgive them, but I'm not going to forget it.

Amen.

I'm sorry.

I'm going to forgive him, but I'm not.

No, I know.

Forgiveness is forgiveness.

I know, I know.

And I do forgive him, and I love him, and I'm going to ride with him.

But anyway, the childhood, notice the phrase, childhood and youth are vanity.

Here's what he's saying.

Young people, you got to keep care of your, you got to take care of your minds and your bodies.

Avoid the destructive sins of the flesh.

That's what he's saying.

And what he's saying there, what that phrase there, childhood and youth are vanity.

He's saying, if you live your life apart from God during your youthful years, you are living a meaningless, meaningless life.

Young people, please hear me.

Hear me.

Couples, hear me.

It's never too late.

I beg you.

Start young.

One thing about Susan, she got saved when she was six years old.

She's never done, she's never seen the bad side of life other than tragedy with death or something.

But she, in fact, my girls, my daughters used to call her uh what's the mother, thank you, Mother Teresa.

They said, Mom, you've never done anything wrong.

Now, you can laugh, but praise God that there's a testimony like that.

I can't say that.

I did too much wrong, Steve, before I got saved.

Amen.

Thank God for somebody.

And sometimes we think our new people, our new converts that are going through Darren's class, my first thing in my book is about how to tell testimony.

Tell people what you were before you got saved, but you don't glorify Satan.

And a lot of people think you gotta have a hellish testimony before it to be a powerful testimony.

Absolutely not.

In fact, the ones that get saved early and live for God all their lives, that's the testimony.

Because that's the power of a real God that delivers you from all temptation.

There had no temptation taking me, but such is common to man, but God is faithful and just and will not I'm telling it again, Satan, I'm telling it again.

Cut me off, cut me off.

I don't need it.

No temptation taking me, but such as is common a man, but God is faithful and just and will not suffer us to be tempted above the neighborhood with the temptation.

Make a way to the sky.

Give God a hand.

Amen.

Woo! Glory.

Are you listening, church?

You're with me, church.

The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment.

2 Peter 2, 9.

Amen.

Amen.

The word youth here, listen to Hebrew.

The word Hebrew here is shakaruth.

Shakaruth.

And it literally means the dawning or the blackness of hair as opposed to gray hair.

In other words, he's saying right here, before we know it, the sun will start to set.

So, young people, in the dawning of your life, where you're living right now, give it all you can.

Live for God like you've never lived for him, so that in your latter days you'll be such an instrument used for the glory of God.

Wow.

Wow, wow, wow.

It goes by quick.

It goes by quick, folks.

I'm looking at little Judah on Facebook and my little grandson.

And I can remember when my little girl.

Mary.

And now they're growing and they're having babies.

And I'm saying, where do they go?

Where do they go?

Young people, please listen to me.

Don't waste your life.

Couples, don't waste your life.

That's why we have a strong youth program and a children's program.

You know why you come to church?

Because you need to be fed.

You need to ground your young children and your teenagers right now.

Because the word never returns void.

Are you with me, church?

Are you with me?

I'm so excited for our church.

At land.

You know what we're to do?

Rick Warren study.

We just, if you you miss him Wednesday night, let me throw in a plug.

We're studying the home right now with Rick's with Andy Stanley.

Awesome.

But we just finished purpose-driven life.

And the last thing he said, and the reason I never heard it before, it wasn't in the book.

I knew it wasn't in that book.

He used the acrostic piece.

You may know this, Hugh, but this is it.

This is what our new church plants need to be doing.

Letter P plant in churches.

We've already done that.

That's why we love our association.

We are a church plant.

All right, secondly, E.

We are to be equipping servant leaders, not CEO leaders, servant leaders.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

A.

What are we supposed to be doing?

Helping the poor.

Assisting the poor.

A.

Assisting the poor.

We're doing that.

Amen.

We're doing that.

Amen?

C.

Caring what?

For the widows.

Caring for those folks that need help with their kids.

You know what he said in there in that last saying?

He said, you know what divorce does to young couples?

It belit basically it takes the children and the wives, the women, and it puts them back into poverty.

You go do the statistics, that is so true.

And the church needs to come alongside those ladies and those children to help care for them.

Amen.

And then he educating the next generation.

Wow.

And that's what we're committed to doing.

Educating the next generation in what God's word says.

So that they will walk in the way.

Amen.

Number three.

Life is a school.

Learn your lessons.

Life is like a school, except that sometimes you don't know what the lessons are until you've failed the examination.

Ever been there?

How many times did Peter do that?

Bless his heart.

Peter make it wing make it.

That's what he's saying.

School.

Now notice he did two things.

A, Solomon taught the people God's wisdom and truth.

Look at verse 9 and 10 in chapter 12.

Man, this is so good.

And moreover, because the preacher, and by the way, the word preacher is what Ecclesiastes stands for.

Solomon the preacher was wise.

He still taught the people knowledge.

Yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.

The book of Proverbs.

The preacher sought to find acceptable words, and what was right, well, excuse me, what was written was upright words of truth.

Look at what he said right there.

First of all, he taught the people God's wisdom.

And he says in verse 10 that he was careful in the teachings.

He used acceptable words.

You know what that means?

Words of truth.

They were gracious, they were profound, they would not return void.

Isaiah 55, verse 11.

Isaiah 55:11

He didn't, he didn't, hey, he didn't shun some of the truth.

He didn't pick out, he didn't pick out just the parts that were easy.

He taught the whole truth with acceptable words.

And watch this.

This is awesome.

In fact, the word says upright words of truth, Proverbs 8, 6 through 11.

I'm not going to take time to read them, but you've got to read them.

It's unreal.

He talks about the truth, the wisdom of God, how it enters our hearts and transforms our thinking, and it transforms our life.

He said that in Proverbs 8, 6 through 11.

And he combine grace and truth.

In other words, grace, we say the truth gracefully, but we say the truth.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

And then watch this.

This gets really good.

Then, second thing he said, are you ready for this?

Not only did he teach the people with wisdom and teach them the word of God, because the word of God never returns void, Isaiah 55, 11.

But notice, his words, verse 11, were inspired.

They were given by, notice the word, the one shepherd, the shepherd.

Inspiration was the special miracle ministry of the Holy Spirit that enable men to write the word of God.

2 Timothy 3.16.

All scripture, did you hear me say this word with me, all scripture?

All scripture, not some, all.

Genesis 1.1.

That's why Noah is a fallacy.

It's not taken from the Word of God at all.

Hey, all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

What does that mean?

That means all the word of God is for what's right.

What's this?

Doctrine, good teaching, wise teaching, acceptable words, for reproof, that's correct.

Hey, hey, what's not right?

For correction, how to get right, and for instructions in righteousness, how to stay right.

What else is there?

Why?

Verse 17.

That the man and woman of God may be perfect.

That means mature, complete, fully equipped to do the good works of God.

Somebody say amen.

There it is.

There it is, folks.

I believe every jot and every tittle in this book.

There's not an error in this book.

Not an error.

And by the way, he says, you can read all these other books if you're going and read in there.

He says, but you don't test, you don't test the Bible according to men's writings.

You test men's writings according to the Bible.

Can I get an amen?

Well, that's good.

So that's it.

That's what he did.

His word was inspired of God.

He used the word goads and nails.

Goads prompts the people to pay attention and pursue, hey, pursue truth.

It convicts us.

Nails, I love the word nails.

You nail something in.

He says, hey, you can hang your hat on this.

This is, hey, God's word is sure.

We've got something to hang our hat on.

What is it?

It's the promises of God.

Abraham staggered not at the promises of God, but was for hey, fully persuaded that what God has said, He would do.

Amen.

Romans 4.

There hath not failed one word of all of God's good promises.

1 Kings 8:56.

1 Kings 8:56

And then the last thing, and I'm through.

Woo! Life is an adventure.

Live it by faith.

Life is a gift.

Enjoy it.

Life is a school.

Learn our lessons through the Word of God, through history, through creation, through circumstance, through trials.

It's a our whole life is a school where we learn the principles of God and how to trust God.

Amen.

You say, I've just been announced, I've got cancer.

You're in the school of trusting God.

I've just lost my job.

You're in the school of trusting God.

My wife just walked out on me.

You're in the school of trusting God.

My husband walked out on me.

Ladies, you're in the school of trusting God.

You're there.

But that's okay.

If you're walking with him, living a life above the sun, God's with you.

Can I get an amen?

And he'll see you through every step of the way if you're following his principles.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou should go.

I will guide thee with my eyes.

Psalm 32.8.

And that's good.

And then the last thing, and I'm through.

Life is a stewardship.

It's a stewardship.

We don't own our lies because life is the gift of God.

Say this with me, church.

We don't own our lies.

We don't own our lies.

Say it again.

We God owns them.

Acts 7, is it Acts 17, verse 24 through 28.

Acts 17:24–28

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples, made with hands, neither is worshipped with nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their inhabitation.

Verse 27.

Verse 26, and have made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, a time to be born, a time to die.

Remember, and the bounds of the habitation, that they should seek the Lord, I love it, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.

And then here it is, for in him we live and move and have our being.

That's beautiful.

That's beautiful.

You with me?

See, here it is.

We say this with me.

We are stewards of our lives.

Not owners, stewards.

And he says in 1 Corinthians 4 2, more of it is required in a steward that a man be found faithful.

I wrote this to myself.

We have done, he says, some people are only spending their lives, others are wasting their lives, some are investing their lives.

Which are you?

Are you spending your life?

Are you wasting your life?

Are you investing your life?

Corey Tim Boone, listen to this.

Unbelievable.

The measure of a life.

After it's all said and done.

We need to do that.

For me, if nobody else is in the life is not alive.

It's a life.

What a difference.

What a difference.

What a difference.

Let me fill them in for you.

If we're gonna have a life of donation, one, we've gotta fear God.

That means live a holy life.

Number two, we gotta keep his commandments.

That means live by his manual, the word of God.

That's what it means.

And lastly, verse 14.

We gotta prepare for final judgment.

Life is worth living.

Yes, if you really are truly, absolutely sold out to God.

It's worth living.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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Send us an email at office at the church at cw dot com.

We hope you have a wonderful day and again, God bless you.