A Time & Purpose for everything

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.

The title of the message this morning is a time and a purpose for everything.

Listen to what Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote in his book, titled When Bad Things Happen to Good People, in which he told the tragic story of his young son's death from a debilitating disease.

As a religious person, he said, I wrestled with why God allowed such a thing to happen.

We've all been there.

Amen.

All of us have been there.

When I lost, and Susan, I, first of all, when I lost my wife, she died in my arms.

I was there.

Now I wasn't there when we lost our little baby.

Five and a half months old, born dead.

Because I had learned one of the things that Solomon knew but had questioned, but came back to that God's in control of all things.

He is sovereign.

But in his book, he wrestled with why God allowed such a thing to happen before his son to die.

And he concluded one of two things must be true.

Either God is all-loving, now listen, but not all-powerful.

He wants to present, excuse me, he wants to prevent diseases, but he can't.

Okay.

The second conclusion, or God is all-powerful, but he's not loving.

He is able to prevent diseases, but he won't.

Now, we know that's not true.

None of it is.

Because 1 John 4, 8 says, My God is a loving God.

John 3.16, for God, quoted with me, so what?

Love the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have what?

Everlasting life.

And then Revelation 19, 6 says that my God is omnipotent, all powerful.

And Luke 1.37 says, nothing is impossible with God.

By the way, the Greek word for nothing is nothing.

Amen?

So we know that's not true.

So the conclusion the rabbi came to was the first of the two options.

Here's what he said: God is loving, but he's not omnipotent.

God cares about us, but he has decided to let the world run on its own without intervention from him.

God is not sovereign or all-powerful.

He keeps his distance from the everyday affairs of the world.

Boy, was he wrong.

Boy was he wrong.

And so Solomon, as he's wrestled with the same thinking, okay, listen to me now, comes to the conclusion that he's wrong.

That is not the case.

Solomon would not agree with Rabbi Kushner's conclusions, even though he struggled with those same questions.

With life.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Why do good people endure suffering?

Or why would God let my little baby boy at five and a half months be born dead?

Why would God allow my 28-year-old wife to die in my arms?

Been there.

Struggle with those questions.

Solomon believed that God is sovereign and over all of time in history and that nothing happens outside of his purpose, including suffering.

Paul said that I might know him and the power of his resurrection.

Now listen.

And the fellowship of his suffering.

Being made conformable into his image.

Ladies and gentlemen, you can't be like Jesus if you don't go through suffering.

Hello.

Can't.

Can't.

And this suffering for just a moment works for us a far more exceeding glory for us.

Paul said.

Amen.

So we see.

In this section that we're going to look at today, Solomon offers some insight about life, insights about God, and insights about living.

So, today, let's look at verses one through eight to start with, because it's so, so powerful.

He says in chapter 3, verses 1 through 8 To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, a time to pluck up that which is planted, a time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up, a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Whoo, I like to dance.

Amen.

We Baptists don't dance.

Well, you better get used to it.

You're gonna dance in heaven.

Amen.

He says, it's a time.

It's a time to dance, a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace, a time to refrain from the embracing, a time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away.

Ha ha!

That verse right there validates yard sales.

Just a thought.

Amen.

A time to rend, a time to lose, a time to keep, a time to cast away.

A time to rend and a time to sow, a time to keep silence and a time to speak.

Woo boy, we need to learn those.

A time to love, a time to hate.

Oh, you mean we hate?

A time to war and a time of peace.

What profit?

Now here's the third word.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he labors?

But I'll stop right there because there's three words that we saw run through this whole 12 chapters.

One, vanity of vanity.

The word vanity, hello, we said means emptiness.

It means hopelessness.

It means meaninglessness.

And then under the sun means that we live our life apart from God.

And then the third word is profit.

Now God so gripped my heart with this word profit.

I'm gonna do a message on profit and lost.

Because there's 14 things that cause us to lose profit.

And there's 14 things that cause us to gain profit.

As I studied that word, I almost got completely off of where I was going because I got so captivated by that word profit.

Because profit literally means what is left over.

And so in reality, what Solomon says is when you come to the time that you die, what will be your profit?

What will be left over of your life?

What kind of life would you have lived so that it will be left behind so that your labors do follow you for God?

Revelation 14, 13.

Your labors do follow after you.

Amen.

So we see Solomon gets into it.

And he comes to the conclusion that if individuals are not unique, then we're not important.

But if we are important, then we have a purpose.

Amen?

Can I say something right now before we go any further?

You're important to God.

God has a purpose for your life.

We're not interested in your we're interested in your and God has a fantastic future for you.

He died for you, and he has a purpose for you.

And it's not evil, it's not thoughts of evil, but of good and of peace and of a great blessed hope.

Jeremiah 29, 11.

So we see.

Solomon then comes up with these arguments proving that life was nothing.

He's arguing with if life is nothing more than vanity of vanities, it's meaningless.

If God is not in my life, there's no prophet, then eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die.

Epicurean philosophy.

Hello.

So he begins these arguments.

The first argument this morning we're going to look at is the argument of monotony.

Here's what he says.

If we have no other purpose than to get up, go to work, get up, go to work, get up, go to work, we're born, then we die.

If that's all we're here for, why are we even doing it?

Now that's his thinking right here, but then because of his godly rearing and his walking with God all those years, he said, but that can't be right.

I've got to study this more.

And so then he comes into the passage of scripture that we're going to be looking at this morning.

Ecclesiastes 3, verses 1 through 22.

Ecclesiastes 3 · chapter mention

And he comes up, and his first argument was the monotony of life, which we saw that last week in verses 4 through 11 in chapter 1.

And so now here's his argument, here's his thought of the monotony of life, and then he, through chapters 3 through chapters 10, comes up with these four conclusions.

Conclusion number one, the first argument was the monotony of life.

And he examines this monotony in chapters 3, starting at verse 1 through chapter 5, verse 9, and he has four factors.

The first factor is he saw something about, hey, he saw something within man, and he said, number one, he said, man has to look up because God orders time.

God has to keep his eyes fixed on God, for in God is hope and truth.

Hey, I love what he says 18 different times, for my eyes are fixed on thee, O God, and the Lord is my trust.

Regardless of what is happening, I've got to keep my eyes fixed on him.

And that's what he's talking about when he's talking about right here, that he saw something above man, a God who was in control of time and who balanced life's experiences.

And we're going to see that in a minute in verse 1.8.

And then he said, we've got to look within, then we've got to look ahead, and then we've got to look around.

And the round will be a message next week in its own because it deals with problems and burdens of life.

Chapter 4, verse 1 through chapter 5, 9.

But let's begin right here.

So the preacher asked his listeners to look up, to look within, to look ahead, to look around, and to take into consideration.

Here it is: four things time, eternity, death, and suffering.

These are the four factors God uses.

Let me say it again.

Time, eternity, death, and suffering are the four things that God uses to keep our life from being monotonous.

Wow.

Ever thought about that?

Never had?

Think about it.

Because there's a time to be born, there's a time to die.

And in between those two things, that the moment you're born, by the way, the moment you're born, you start dying.

Hello?

You do.

But in between those two episodes, the birth, the death, God has a fantastic plan for your life.

And that life is consistent with these elements.

What?

Time, death, suffering, and eternity.

And it's so tremendous.

So, number one, when he says I look up, because God orders time.

In these verse one through eight that I just read you, there's 14 statements Solomon makes.

14.

There's 28 examples of our life being lived in the seasons.

28 things he says in those eight verses that we go through.

28 seasons of life that we go through.

Okay?

Now, I'm not going to look at every one of them, don't have the time to look at them, but I want us to look at a few that sometimes when you read this chapter, it's misunderstood.

They're very important because it's what controls Solomon's thinking and bringing his thinking back to right thinking.

And let's look at them.

Number one, here's what he said.

From the moment of our birth to the moment of our death, God has a plan to accomplish his purpose in your life.

And for him to accomplish that purpose in your life, you have to go through these four things during your life.

And so, number one, he says, verse two, birth and death.

Birth and death.

Things like abortion, mercy killing, surrogate parenthood make it look as if though man is in control of birth and death.

But Solomon said otherwise.

Man, even though we we have medically come to experiments and things that we're doing now that are frightening, I'm here to tell you, you can think what you want.

God still controls the birth and he controls the death.

Amen.

Joshua 24, 3.

Look at what he said.

And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood and led him throughout all the land of Canaan and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac.

God gives us children.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

That's the purpose of marriage, is to produce children.

In fact, Psalm says to produce arrows in the hands of an awesome God.

We're to train them up to be flaming arrows for God.

And we'll talk about that next weekend in the marriage retreat.

But we see, he says also, Jeremy, go to Psalms 139, verse 13 and 16.

Psalms 139:13

I've given you a lot of verses there, and I've taken them all apart, but I'll go to the meat.

For thou hast possessed my reigns.

Who's thou?

God.

Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.

Watch this.

My substance was not hid from thee.

When I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, not totally made yet, in thy book all my members were written, which in count in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them.

God knew you had already written your name in his book before you were even conceived.

Do you hear me, church?

Listen to me, there is no such thing, and we learn this Wednesday night in our purpose-driven life.

You don't want to miss, you need to start coming on our.

We got our tapes in, we're studying the purpose-driven life, and one of the things in those first four chapters in the purpose-driven book is this.

Rick Warren made this statement.

There is no such thing as il-legitimate children.

It's ill-legitimate parents.

Hello! Amen.

If you are conceived, you were written down, planned already by God.

Why?

He's got a fantastic purpose for your life.

Amen.

So we see who controls the birth and the death and why.

Here's why.

What?

Ephesians 2 10.

For we are his, say it with me.

Read this.

Created what?

Unto what?

Which God hath before ordained that we should walk in it.

God hath before ordained.

Before you were even born.

God's got a plan for your life.

Can I get a amen, amen?

Now you see why abortions are so barbaric.

You're interrupting God's plan.

I'd hate to know that I've got to stand before God knowing I interrupted his plan.

Hello.

Now, I know that's tough, but now listen to me.

If you've had an abortion, listen.

Listen to me.

Don't you let Satan take that guilt and destroy you.

First John 1 9 works.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And for you that are watching online, listen to me.

God loves you and He loves you so much that He will forgive you and restore you and still make something beautiful and fantastic out of your life.

Can I get an Amen?

Amen.

But you must hear the truth.

Because the truth shall set you free.

Susan, I spent 22 years dealing with college students.

When I would teach through this, I'd have them lined up.

They had abortion.

And we saw many young ladies get liberated.

But we saw a few tormented.

One ended up committing suicide.

But guess what?

That was Satan's plan.

Kill, steal.

Don't you dare let that happen.

Amen.

But I'm here to tell you.

I'm that and have it more abundantly, but God controls the life and the death.

In fact, and we'll see this in a minute in Ecclesiastes 8.8.

He says, man cannot control his spirit, nor his death, nor his life.

Wow, that's powerful.

So we see.

We may foolishly, now we can foolishly hasten our death.

Can I?

Hey, if we're not wise and we're dumb and we're stupid and we abuse ourselves with drugs and alcohol and all the worldly things that Satan wants us to get addicted to so he can destroy us so that God can't complete his plan for your life.

Now, if we're that crazy or not smart, we can hasten our life.

But that's not God's plan.

God's got a plan and a duration for your life.

That's pretty good, wasn't it?

Hey.

Duration for your life from when you're born till you die, and he wants to take you through it.

And there's nothing that comes into your life that he doesn't direct or permit to refine you, to make you the instrument that he needs to accomplish what he set forth for you.

Whoa! That's good.

Amen.

Why?

That's why we're here.

That's why we have such a great family.

We come here to hear clear biblical truth so that we can live it, so we can fulfill what God has for us.

That's why you don't want to miss.

I know there are sometimes circumstances, oxen ditch, you gotta get him out.

But if you just choose, that's what the scripture says.

I understand that.

But try to get him out and still be in church, too.

Guess what?

Next time he'll help you get him out faster.

Hello.

Amen.

Notice the second thing.

By the way, Jeremy, you got good.

Did we have Psalms 48 18 up there too?

I think we did.

He even controls the death.

I meant when we're dying.

Now that shows you right there he has power over the day of the death.

But in Psalms 48, verse 14, I think.

Psalms 48:14

I had it in there.

Maybe I didn't.

But it talks about a powerful insight.

And it talks about that the God is our God and He guides us even through death.

Do you hear me?

That's why, hey, you don't have to be afraid of death.

He will guide you even through your death.

Now, I don't know about you.

That got me a little, that gave me a little comforting.

That helps you to know that when that doctor says you have three months to live, or your cancer, or whatever, and many of you have already gone through some of that.

And by the way, if we all live long enough, we will all go through that.

You gotta die something.

Hello.

Remember, you got, hey, say this with me, I'm gonna die.

So you're gonna die of something.

Okay?

Unless the rapture comes and I'll vote for the rapture.

I'd love to be preaching.

We're gone.

All those folks driving in after we're gone, we're gone looking up.

They're gone.

We're gone.

We're out of here.

But notice he says in verse 2, planting and plucking.

Ooh.

What does he mean?

During this time of life, we have a time to sow and we have a time to reap.

In other words, we have a time to make our life count or not count.

Look at Psalms 65, 9.

Thou this is the earth and waters it, thou greatly enriches it with the river of God.

In other words, what he's basically saying there, he is the one that provides everything for us.

He's the one that's given us the ability to work, he's the one that's given us the job, he's the one that provides.

Can I get an amen?

Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that gives thee power to get wealth.

Deuteronomy 8.18.

We work so that we can provide for our own needs, but the help of the people.

Ephesians 5, 28, 4, 28.

So, and by the way, God wants us to work.

Can I get an amen?

What's wrong with America today?

We've quit working.

But then he goes on.

And let's go.

Oh, here's the verse I really just gripped my heart when we talked about that.

Go to Galatians 6, 7 through 10, Jeremy.

Be not deceived, God is not mocked.

Read this next part with me.

For whatsoever.

Alright, verse 8.

Read it.

And he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.

Alright, let me show you something.

For he that soweth to his flesh, for those who live their life under the sun, apart from God, in his direction, in his will, huh?

Woo! Reaps corruption.

But he that soweth to the Spirit lives according to God's teaching, his word, and what God's Holy Spirit teaches us to do through his word and what not to do reaps everlasting life.

Everlasting life.

Look at verse 9.

So let us not be weary.

In other words, don't give up when the times are tough.

When you're going through a situation like we recently went through with Ivan, don't give up, don't lose hope.

Don't lose hope.

For in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

If we don't quit.

We don't give up.

We don't turn from God.

Every time we go through a major tragedy, we either get bitter and blame God or we get better and become what God wants us to be through that trial.

That's good, preacher.

Have I ever wanted to run?

Say foot.

I like foot.

My grandmother said, say foot.

Have I ever thought, have I not thought exactly the way Solomon has thought a couple of times?

Yes.

No doubt.

Is God really real?

And here's what I always say same thing he said.

That's why I've been enjoying it.

Lord, I've been doing everything I'm supposed to do.

Why me?

Why not me?

Because he knows better than me.

And he knows what I need.

Because he wants to make me like him.

And I must suffer to know him.

Philippians 3.10.

You with me, church?

See how all this, oh, it's so great.

And then he says, verse 10, as we therefore have opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially them who are of the household of faith.

Isn't that good?

Now let me show you what Jesus said about this sowing and planting.

But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.

Woo! In other words, if he, hey, if you're not doing the planting through the power of the Holy Spirit of God and doing it for the Lord, your planning's gonna reap nothing.

You're gonna be up the stream without a boat or in a boat without the paddles.

Just gonna be like this.

Wandering in the wilderness, just like they did for 40 years.

Because they didn't complete what God told them to do.

Then there's gonna be a time of killing and healing.

Now, some say this refers to wars, refers to wars, excuse me, yes, but I think in 1 Samuel 2.6 it really results more with sickness and and the plague in the land in 1 Samuel 2.6.

God permits some to die while others are healed.

This is not, and this does not imply that we should refuse medical aid like some people do in some religious cults.

For God can use both means and miracles to accomplish his purpose.

Can I get an amen?

Let me prove this.

Look at uh Isaiah 38, verse 5.

Isaiah 38:5

Remember Hezekiah?

God comes to Hezekiah and he says, Get your house in order, you're gonna die.

Let me ask you something.

If you go home today and the Lord's sitting there with one of his angels, or he's talking to you personally, and he says, Robert, get your home in order, you're gonna die.

Clay?

Get your home in order, you're gonna die.

Now I don't know about you, but if he told me that, I'd be as about as quick, nothing else would matter, but me getting my house in order.

Now let me tell you something, folks.

Listen to me.

I love you so much, listen to me.

You could die right now in three seconds.

I've had one in 21, you know, in 31 years, I've had a man literally die while I was preaching with a heart attack in a service.

Remember that, honey?

Can't remember where we were.

Prayed for him, got him in the ambulance.

He died about 30 minutes before he got to the hospital.

So he literally died right there.

My question was, is his home in order?

Now, guess what?

Hezekiah's home was in order.

He was a faithful man of God, serving God.

And so, listen to verse 5 with that said, Go and say to Hezekiah, thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father, have heard thy prayer and have seen thy tears.

Behold, I will add unto thy days 15 years.

In other words, Hezekiah said, Wait, Lord, okay, wait a minute.

I wasn't expecting it this early.

I still have some more things to do for God.

Well, actually, he said, for you.

I hope you got what I said.

Because I don't know if you did.

Or you got so crap my heart.

Lord, I've got a lot of things I want to finish for you.

I want to do for you.

Not for me.

Not for you.

That's why God spared your life.

We prayed.

I said, okay, I'm gonna let Idol have some more time to do the word for me.

Somebody say that's good, preacher.

Or is that convicted?

I hope it's both.

And medicine, here you go.

Peter, verse 21.

For Isaiah had said, let them take a lump of figs, lay it for plaster upon the boy, and it shall recover.

Thank God for medicine.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

So God can divinely intervene in that timetable.

Undoubtedly, if I read this correctly, the way I interpret this correctly, it was time, time to be born, and time to die.

It was time for him to die.

But he had not, now he might have been finished with what God wanted him to do, but I think, now this is just my interpretation.

That he was so living, and you go back and read those, you'll see how he was a godly man, loved God, live for God, that he wanted to do more for God, and because he wanted to do more for God, God gave him 15 more years.

Woo! That's good.

So if you're living for God, I just got a feeling that you're gonna live a longer time.

In fact, scripture validates that.

There's longevity for those that live for God.

To those that don't.

Woo! Man, I may have to, I'm gonna have to put it in fifth gear.

No, I'm not.

You're not missing it.

You're not missing it.

Then verse 5.

By the way, hating, there's things that we must hate.

We must hate unjustice.

We must hate sin.

We must hate unrighteousness.

In fact, I'm not gonna go through all the verses, but Proverbs 6.

There's six things God hates in Proverbs 6.

You gotta look at those six things He hates, and you gotta hate them.

We gotta hate them as a church in a Christian body.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

So casting away stones and gathering stones.

Boy, this is good.

If you want to hurt your enemy in the Old Testament scriptures, you filled up his field with stones.

So he couldn't plow.

So he couldn't till the land.

So he couldn't have food to support the army.

Can't eat, can't fight.

Amen.

Hello, make sense.

So he said, just hey, throw the stones.

But then I got to thinking about that.

People also gather stones for other things, for for building walls and houses.

Stones that are either, hey, stones are neither good or bad.

It depends on what you do with them.

If your enemy fills your land with rocks, don't throw them back.

Build something with it.

I thought about that.

Hey, if hey, if your enemy throws stones at you, hey, don't throw them back.

Build something great for God.

Amen?

Build something great for God.

Now here's the principle God taught me.

When people throw stones at me, instead of throwing stones back, I'm just gonna take what they said, and you meant it for evil, but God's gonna use it for good.

Genesis 50, 20.

We're gonna build something with it.

You throw it up, we're just gonna take it and build something.

For God.

Amen?

So that's what he's talking about there.

He's saying, killing and healing, then casting away stones and guiding stones.

There's a time to get rid of what's tying you down.

Here's another principle.

Tying you down, in fact, the good, I think I gave you that, Martha in Luke 10.

You know, she was distracted by serving, and I'm not saying serve is bad.

Thank all of y'all that come early and serve and help and help us put up and take down.

But she was more concerned about serving than she was learning the word of God from Jesus.

And he says, Mary, Martha, you've allowed the things of this world to distract you.

How many of us have allowed the things of this world to distract us?

We all have.

In fact, Jesus mentions that in Matthew 13, 20.

He says, the cares and the wealth and all this world of the worldliness and all of this things that Solomon's dealing with.

Hey, hey, it's encumbered you, and you have become unprofitable.

There's that word again.

Are you getting this?

I mean, it's so in me, I can't, it's just coming.

I'm I can't help it.

Amen.

And that's good.

Then verse 5, embracing and refraining from embracing.

Now in the Near East, people grab each other, hug each other, and kiss you on the cheek.

People say that's the most huggingest church I ever been in.

There's a reason for that.

We are the most, we want to be the most hugging because we love you.

And we care for you.

I love you.

When you're not here, I'm concerned about you.

Not because I want you to be in a chair.

I want to know what's, are you okay?

Are you growing?

Something's going on that I can pray for you about.

Many of you text me all the time and say, pray.

What do I do?

I text you right back and say, I'm praying.

Right then.

Amen.

There's a time to embrace.

And that also means there's a time to be a friend, and sometimes there's a time that you can't be a friend.

You say, now wait a minute, when can you not be a friend?

When they won't listen and they just turn away and decide that they're going to live all their life totally ungodly and without God under the sun, and they don't care what you say or what you do, there is a time you can't be a friend.

Hello.

How do you know that?

That's what scripture.

In fact, there's several verses.

That's why I read the verses in there where the nation Israel, God just literally said, because of the Amorites, he said, don't even don't help them.

In fact, he went on and he said, Jehoshaphat, why are you helping his kingdom?

Why are you helping them?

They hate me, they do nothing, they kill my people.

Don't do it.

Where the love the sinner, I know people, sinners hate this, but I don't care, it's biblical.

Love the sinner, hate the sin.

But when the sinner comes to the point that he denies you and tries to harm you and gets, you know, just anti-God all the way, there's a time then you have to walk away.

You shake the dust off your feet and you go on.

Amen.

Amen.

You with me, church?

And hopefully we never have to do that, but you have to do it sometimes.

Getting and loosening.

A time to search, a time to give, up for lost.

Another translation.

The next phrase gives the biblical authority.

I told you for garage sales, a time to keep it, a time to clean out.

I don't have to tell you, you hear me preach it every week.

God says that we are to be givers, we are to give to the poor, we're to help the poor, we're to help those in need, because it's like lending unto the Lord.

In Proverbs 11, 24, there.

It's unbelievable.

He talks about it, when you increase, you're to give.

And for those that don't give, well, here they go, Jeremy.

There's that scattereth and yet increase.

In other words, you can scatter, you help, you give, you increase, and there's that that withholds more than is meat, but it uh tendeth to poverty.

What we said last week, we live our life with an open hand.

God can take and give everything anything you got, but he also can give you anything he wants to.

Amen.

That doesn't happen if you live a life like this.

Amen.

Try me.

Don't take my word.

You just start giving.

You start giving.

You start giving.

And watch what God does to you.

Woo! He'll open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing.

That's it.

So that's what he said.

And then tearing and mending.

There's a time to weep, there's a time to laugh.

Be with our people when they're hurting.

When he's tearing, he's talking about ripping your clothes because there's so much bereavement.

David ripped his garment when his little son died and fasted.

There's a time to mourn and to bereave.

We ought to be mourning right now for our country and crying out to God for our country.

We're headed.

Do you realize if the debt continues, it's already to the point where my grandchildren can't pay them way their way out of it right now.

Do you understand that?

And we don't think anything about it because we just make money.

Well, the more they make, the less value that money is.

And I'm not an economist, I don't even try to be, but I'm telling you, eventually that dollar gets down to zero and you're bankrupt.

And there's nothing you can do about it.

It's called then true depression.

Loving and hating.

We're to hate the things that God hates.

Second thing, looking within, eternity in your heart.

Look at verses 9 through 14 real quick.

Well, that's good.

I knew I'd get hung up on those.

I knew I would.

That's okay.

Oh, don't miss this.

What prophet hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth?

I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

He hath made.

Now watch this.

Here's the key verse.

Here, put a star.

This will be the verse, one of the platforms, but one of the columns of this whole book.

He hath made everything beautiful in his time.

Another translation, even the original translation, says, He hath made every.

Are you ready?

He has made everything beautiful in his time.

Also, now watch.

The word world there also means eternity.

That's the key phrase.

In their heart so that no man can find, hey, out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Wow, wow, wah, wah, wah.

He's saying, we are created in his image.

You believe that?

Genesis says we're created in his image.

God created us in our hearts for us to crave and for us to desire, is a better word.

Desire eternity.

Amen.

We're not animals.

And then he goes on in here, and you're about to read it.

And he says the major difference between us and animals is not that, hey, we but in fact he really says, and those people that live under the sun and don't believe in God believe that we're just like animals.

By the way, when you deny God and live recklessly, hey, from the homosexuality to the abortion, all that, that's living like, hey, that's about as bad as you can get it.

How do you know that?

Romans chapter 1 says that the reason we have come to this place, we've lived our whole life apart from God, and we now are serving the creature instead of the creator.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

God help us.

God help us.

Amen.

We need revival.

What he's saying is animals don't care what they do, how they live.

Now listen to me.

He says, so we're just like animals.

We're gonna just turn back to dust.

If we really think that, we're just gonna live like animals.

Hello?

Now don't go out here and say I said we're animals.

Do you understand that?

That's what the scripture teaches.

Now, watch this.

This is good.

But he doesn't keep us there.

It gets really good.

He says, but we're not.

The difference between an animal and human beings is we have a soul placed in our hearts that we desire the things of God to be like God and to be with God one day.

Wow, that's good.

That's so good.

That is so good.

And so he brought God into the picture.

The preacher adjusted sights, and now we see he says, hey, life only under the sun is useless, it's helpless.

But when you bring God, verse 9 into it, and he repeated this opening question that he had said in chapter 1, verse 3, all our labor really worth it.

It's not worth it if it's done apart from God.

And then he goes on, he said, Let me tell you why.

First, man's life is a gift from God.

Verse 10.

It's a gift from God.

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

Hey, uh James 1.17, every good gift, every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom there's no venimals, there's no, hey, there's no prejudice with him, there's no favoritism with him, neither shadow of turning.

In other words, everything we have is a gift of God.

Who you are, your color, your race, your aptitude, your education, where you are, your job, everything is from him, and we're to live and to work for him because we are his gift.

Oh, that's good.

I could stop right there, and you ought to have a Holy Ghost Pentecostal shout.

Come on.

Amen.

That's what he said.

But he also goes on and he says, that's why we're to exercise our faith, because if we live our life under the sun, there's no meaning, and it will be a monotonous life, and we will die.

What?

Feeling useless and helpless.

Let me give you a great example.

I was flipping through TV last night and so many stations, but who's the guy that wrote The Passion of Christ directed in Mel Gibson?

They had this, they titled it the tragic life of Mel Gibson.

And for the next 45 minutes, I missed a little beginning.

It told us of how he had gone from the top to the bottom.

Why?

Right here.

Right here.

He's lived his life under the sun.

Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

Secondly, hey, man's life is linked to eternity.

Verse 11.

We are linked to eternity.

Genesis 1, 26 through 28.

We're made in his image.

We'll talk about that this weekend.

And then thirdly, man's life can be in Job, but now he gets to 1214.

See, right now you're feeling, oh, I'm depressed.

Preacher, beat me over the head with a ball bat.

Hey, by the way, look, can I say something?

That's not my intention.

I never die, I love you too much.

I'm feeling just as depressed as you are.

Because what I'm teaching and preaching and God's showing me, that's where we are in America.

That's scary to me.

It breaks my heart.

We don't need to pray and fast 21 days.

We need to start praying and fasting every week until we see revival in America.

But in verses 12 through 14, look at what he says.

This is awesome.

I know that there is no good in them but for a man to rejoice and to do good in his life.

Now, to rejoice and do good, hey, living a life for God.

That's what he's saying.

See how he's changed.

He's coming back to his roots.

He's coming back.

This, all this other's useless, but living for God is good.

And also that every man should eat and drink and joy, be joyful in the good of all his labor.

It is the gift of God.

Wow.

And then he says, I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever.

Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it.

And God doeth it, that men should fear before him, that should be excited, honor him, living for him, because what God has given you is good.

Amen.

It's good.

Suffering's good.

Amen.

Amen.

You with me, church?

Man, God's teaching us.

God's teaching us.

Woo! Hey, he first Timothy 6.17 says, Everything God has given us we are to enjoy.

I'm not going to let the guy out there, the seleculus, throw water on me and say, look what the preacher's got.

I'll show you anything I got.

And I thank God for it.

Amen?

Well, I wish I had what he's got.

See, you just messed up.

Because it's not what I got that you want.

Because you really don't know what I got.

All you see is the outward.

You don't see the inward.

Lord sees not as man sees.

Man looks on the outward appearance, God looks on the heart.

See, you can have all the material things and still be void, Solomon was.

In this period of his life.

Or you can have nothing and be rich.

But what I do know, and I still know, for me personally, nobody else.

God, everything he's given me, I've made sure I've been accommodating to give.

Hey, as it comes through my hands, give to others, and I'm telling you, He has blessed me.

That I know.

That's what he says.

Give and it shall be what?

Good measures.

Press down.

Shaking over.

Hey, I'm enjoying the shaking over.

Now, watch what he says.

The men give back to you.

People give to you, and you give to people.

We become a living conduit.

In fact, you know what I thought about?

You know those old timey steam engines on the Mississippi River now?

How the big old propeller thing just keeps coming and it's over and over and it's just throwing water.

That's what that's the way I see it.

You just God's giving, you giving.

Woo! Y'all just moving on, moving on.

We're moving.

We're moving.

Hey, I'm moving.

That's somebody got neat.

There's some water.

There's some water.

Let's go.

We're moving for God.

Amen.

Off the pump and into the floor.

Too many of us pumping.

We ought to be flowing.

Hello.

Woo! I told you God's been whipping me like a scaldy dog, but it's been good.

All right, I gotta wrap this thing up.

Got too much to wrap up.

I always do it.

When the well-known British Methodist preacher William Sangster learned that he had progressive muscular atrophy and could not get well, he made four resolutions and kept him till he died.

Number one?

I never complain.

I think we ought to make that resolution before we get to that place.

Hello.

That's one of the things that I have asked the Lord in my heart this new year to work on me.

Never complain.

Okay.

What happens?

Never complain.

Now I'm gonna tell you how that means.

Then secondly, he said, I will keep the home bright.

In other words, God is gonna be joyful and it's gonna be bright in my home.

Even though I'm dying, everybody's gonna, it's gonna be a joyful time.

Third thing he said, I will count my blessings.

Fourth thing he said, I will try to turn it to gain.

I'll use it to bring people to Christ any and every way I can.

Last thing, and I'm through.

Number three.

Thomas Watson, great theologian, said Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset.

Wow, did you hear that?

Eternity is a day for the godly like it has no sunset.

Eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise.

Wow.

The proper attitude for us, verse 14, is to fear the Lord, which is not a cringing of a slave before a cruel master, but the submission of an obedient child to a loving parent.

Do you serve God willingly, lovingly, or do you serve him because he's whipped you?

Now guess what?

If you don't serve him in your child, he will whip you.

You'll go to the woodshed.

Been there several times.

Not fun.

Go willingly.

And then he said in verses 15 through 22, look ahead.

Death is coming to all.

Verse 15 helps us to recall the verses 9 to 11 in chapter 1.

Here's what he says.

A God gives us the assurance that he is in control of the cycle of life.

And that past, the past seems to repeat itself.

There's nothing new under the sun.

If it's new, it's not true.

If it's true, it's not new.

Can I get an amen?

Look at the ties, bow ties.

I can remember when I was in seminary, just started, we had these big old wide ties with the big fat knots.

Thought you were a clown with that tie on.

Like Darren.

He dressed up like a good clown.

He does.

He is a clown.

I mean, not really well, maybe you are.

No, I'm joking.

But but I everybody laughed at him.

Hey, guess what?

They're back.

They went to the skinny ties.

Remember little skinny ties, you couldn't even see them.

They're back.

Bow tie.

Now bow ties coming back.

I never worn a bow tie, but I'm wearing one on Valentine weekend.

We all men were gonna wear a bow tie.

Amen.

We're gonna wear a bow tie.

All right.

Valentine weekend, we're all gonna wear a bow tie.

Come on, Sylvester.

No.

Sylvester had that good-looking fat knot the other day, man.

He looked sharp.

I don't even remember how to tie one of those.

Not the fat ones, not the fat ones.

Well, maybe they do, but in fact, I used to tie that fat knot, and I'd have to button up my coat real quick because it was up to here.

I knew I wasn't tying it right.

So I and for you ladies, and I can't stand it, the hot pants are back.

God help us.

That was back when I was in junior high.

Terrible.

How do you say it, Christy?

Terrible.

Terrible.

Terrible.

B, Solomon added a new thought here.

He said, Not only is God in control of the cycle of life, God will call the past to an account.

Verse 15.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Everything that we do and we've lived through, we're going to give an account of during that span of life.

Can I get an amen?

We're going to give an account.

Verse Ecclesiastes 12, 14.

Go there quickly.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.

Verse 13 and 14, he literally says, For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.

And then the last thing: God will judge when history has run its course.

God will be the judge, verse 18.

Look at what he says.

I said in my heart concerning the state of the sons of men, that God might manifest them and that they may see that they themselves are beasts.

Ooh.

See, y'all thought I was talking about us being like animals.

I didn't say that.

God said that men will act like beasts.

Look at what he says right there.

Now that's the key there is the word manifest.

Look at the word manifest, and I'm through.

In the experiences life, God is testing man right now.

The word manifest is, and here's what it means: it means to test or to prove, it means to make bright.

It's bara, the Hebrew word.

It literally means to expose what you really are.

God is revealing what man really is like.

He is sifting.

That's what it means, man.

For when man leaves God out of his life, he becomes like an animal.

You hear me?

Amen.

Oh me.

That's what he said.

But then he ends it up, Solomon calls, he says, but because of God.

Whoo! But he says, we, because we live for God, we live under God, hey, we live under God's direction, under God's guidance.

Our life is to be enjoyable and it's to be lived a day at a time, and we're to be satisfied.

We must never, hey, hey, we must never leave God out of our life during these four times.

During what?

The time of eternity, our faith, our death, our life.

We are to live for him.

And Paul says in Philippians 4.11, we are to be content.

Now, can I say something?

I'm still learning what that word content means.

But can I tell you at age 60?

Now let me say this: there's one part of life we should never be content, and that's our walk with the Lord.

Amen.

We should never be content.

We should always have a hunger and a desire to be more like him.

Can I get an amen?

You with me, church?

But if you're becoming more like him, that means you have more contentment.

And let me say right now, at age 60, Melvin?

I know you're thinking I don't look that old, aren't you?

No, I know that.

Don't you say what you think.

Listen to me.

At age 60, I'm a lot more content now than I was 10 or 15 years ago.

You know why?

It says because I'm learning more as I grow in the Lord what my purpose is and my meaning is.

And when you know what your purpose and meaning is, you're content.

Somebody say that's good, preacher.

And it's taken me a long time to get to not that I've gotten there, but I'm getting there.

I plan to spend the rest of my life.

I said I plan.

I feel like God's plan.

It's me to hear to help build this church.

I hope that's okay with you.

That we're gonna build a church that's real.

I gotta quit saying that.

We're gonna build a church God's way.

Because when I say that, it means lines that other churches aren't real.

I don't want to do that.

That's not right.

It's not wrong.

It's not right, and it's not, I shouldn't say it.

But we want to build a church God's way.

Amen.

Amen.

And we are.

We're not gonna play games.

We're not gonna play games.

We're not perfect, but we want to be real.

I love what he said in verse 11.

Look at what he said.

Everything is beautiful in his life.

So when you're living according to God's plan, everything's beautiful in your life.

Remember that song?

Beautiful.

Sun good.

He understood.

Boy, that's a beautiful song.

That's oldie good.

You know, I keep saying these oldies, but the thing is they're oldie to us, but the new our young generation never heard them.

They'd be new to them.

That's why, Benji, we need to pull some of them out.

They they don't know it's old.

And the only reason you know it's old, you heard it with your mom and dad.

If you hadn't been raised up in our church, you wouldn't have known.

You said, whoo, that's a good song.

Amen.

Church, I love you.

We're in trouble in America.

We're living like animals.

When you can turn on the television shows and see what they're showing on TV as public consumption.

God help us.

The Jerry Springers and all that garbage and junk.

Now we're getting primetime shows like Jerry Springer.

God help us.

Father, we love you.

We thank you.

We need you.

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.