Death is certain

So great to see you. We are completing, if you are

visiting, we are completing our series on Ecclesiastes, an

amazing, amazing series and I'm really trusting as we close.

Last week we had my mum up here with one foot in the grave and

one out the grave. If you heard her under her

breasts, he said are you waiting for me to put both feet in the

coffin? I think she will outlive us all.

But today we're going to look at what happens when you put both

feet in the coffin. So it's both feet in the coffin

today. So it's what does it mean when

we die and how do we actually live knowing that we are going

to die? And we're, we're my Nigerian

friends. We've got some guys here from

Nigeria. Where are they?

We're the Nigerian guys. Why don't you stand?

Why don't you stand? Let's give them a very warm

welcome from Nigeria. Nice to have you with us.

So some of the great phrases of, of the world come from this book

2 is better than one. The three stranded chord is not

easily broken. God has set eternity in our

hearts. Yeh Sol Yokhutsin, they all

come. All these amazing sayings come

from the book of Ekizi. You didn't know that, eh?

I thought you Afrikaan is something that you never knew.

And now we're going to read Chapter 12 and in its entirety.

And then we're going to make a few points.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.

Just to go over it again, it doesn't say remember your

Savior. It doesn't say remember your

king. It says remember your Creator in

the days of your youth. Because the Creator is the one

who made the Garden of Eden. The Creator is the one who made

us perfect. Sin is what distorted the world,

and so it's better to remember God in his sinless perfection

when we are young, before the effects of sin grip our hearts,

because otherwise we just So he created light.

The Bible says they were naked and unashamed.

We know from that day on, all sin or most of sin is done in

the it's done in the dark. So when we remember our Creator,

we realize that actually we can do things under light and have

freedom and enjoyment while we are still young.

I want to speak to some of you young guys because I want to

tell you where alcoholism starts.

Alcoholism doesn't start at 45. Alcohol starts at 15 or 14 where

you can't help go out with your mates and in order to be cool,

you start drinking with them. That's why.

And 95% of you won't become Alcoholics, but 5% of you will.

And it starts when you're young, starts when you're young and

somebody has to talk to you and say, actually, young people

think of your creator. Think of what perfection looks

like before you actually get into imperfection.

And just because you grew up an alcoholic home doesn't mean you

need to recur that problem. You can actually stop it dead in

its track if you just think and think how did God order things?

And inside of the garden there was space, there was place,

there was enjoyment, there was freedom, there was fruit, there

was life, there was fun, there was adventure.

And somehow we allow the darkness to creep into our

hearts from young ages. So by the time we 45, we are

completely gripped by sin. Pornography doesn't start at 45.

Pornography normally starts at 11 or 12 when just with a group

of friends you start to Google. And I want to say to young

people, this book is written to say to us, remember your creator

while you are young. Amen.

Before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you

will say I find no pleasure in them.

Before, say before four times in the scripture it says before so,

so before actually stuff happens, you've got to think

about God. We're, we're about to do a

funeral. We've done 3 funerals this week

in the life of the church. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

Friday next week we do the funeral of Rudy.

Frowling. Geraldine is sitting there and

his daughter Tehila, their son is overseas.

Other daughters here, but Rudy and Geraldine were founders of

this church when when Ashley and Nadine got up and said we're

going to plant in Pretoria, Rudy and Geraldine decided that they

would relocate from Durban and come and plant the church.

Last week on Friday, Rudy passed away.

He was an incredible man. He was an athlete who won a

scholarship to America to go and compete in athletics and in one

of the major universities in America.

He was a musician, LED a band called 12 Drummers drumming, was

one of our worship leaders. And actually Geraldine and her

children are about to think. I had to speak to his 20 year

old daughter. She's had to prepare because he

had a brain aneurysm many years ago and another one when she was

still a young girl. And so she's had to think

through the process of watching her dad die and and and trying

to help her dad look after him, give him food for how many

years, 15 years now to Healy, I think almost 10 or 12 years

taking him through the process. Geraldine said this to me.

She said, I've never had nine months, which is literally had

to change her husband's nappies. She said, well, I've had to show

my children that actually marriage is worth it even when

it's difficult. Her son was on the screen.

We were on a Zoom call to America, and her son is sitting

there and he's looking at a mum who for nine months has changed

their own husband's nappies and he's newly married.

And her mum is saying to you, you know what I've thought about

God. I've thought a lot about God,

and I believe it's worth it. I believe God is worth it.

I believe his ways are worth it. And I don't know if you're

relieved now or you're paying now, but sitting in this family

is a relief that he's gone home, but the pain that he's not here.

And so we have to argue with these things, things that we

don't really think about much. Three weeks ago, this strong

strapping man walked into our church just like that.

Big muscles with both eyes. And then he looked in the mirror

and his one eye was blurry. And he went for, he thought it

was just a cataract. And he found cancer.

And in 10 minutes, he had to make a decision.

Do I have my eye out? Do I keep my eye in?

And the doctor said you have to have your eye out.

Three weeks ago, he sat here with two eyes.

Now he sits with one eye. And that's what Ecclesiastes

about saying, do we? Do we actually, and now you

think, but what about the other? Do you protect it?

Do you prepare for it? Can it spread?

Is it going to stop? I don't know all of those

things, but but let's think about God and all of these

things. Let's come up with a solution

before the hard times come because when the hard times

come, you're going to Chuck your toys out the cot and think this

is not God. How many days your dad been in

ICU, Vilma? 110 days, 110 Have you been to

the hospital to visit in the hospital?

It is exhausting. It is, it is, it is exhausting.

I've seen family members lose marriages because of hospital

visitation. 110 days, every day, two to three times a day, every

day goes to hospital to visit her dad.

But actually I remember the day that this man, her husband

walked into this church. His name is Carl.

Never forget, we went and attended us this way.

It was about 3/4 back on the left hand side in the aisle.

Is that right, Carl? He had not been to church for 20

years, 10 years not been to church.

And God gripped him and God did something inside of him, deep

inside of him. And you must see this guys.

What's their profile pictures? It's all about his family, all

about his wife, all about his children, and has supported his

wife through 110 days of hospital visits, 330 hospital

visits, you see. But when the pressure hits, if

we haven't made the decision already, it becomes too tough,

becomes too tough. And that's what this book is

about. It's about wrestling with the

deep things of God so that this God who we don't understand

because ways are higher than our ways, we don't give up on.

And when it doesn't go according to us, beautiful before the sun

and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark and the

clouds return after the rain, all of us have got some lights

in our lives. She's a light in my life.

He is a light in my life. They are lights in my life.

She is a light in my life. And so we've all got sun, all

got moon, all got stars. But little bit by little bit,

over time, they start extinguishing themselves.

They pass away. And then the clouds come.

And we know when we're young that the clouds will go again

and we'll see the light again. But there comes a time when

actually the lights in our life start to extinguish.

My dad was a light in my life whenever I was in trouble at

university. Hey, Dad.

It's raw. What have you done, boy?

I cheated at an exam. It's OK.

We'll fix it. Why did you cheat?

I wasn't feeling well, Dad. And that light would come down

and he would sign and he would redirect my life towards north.

And then that light extinguished.

And I had another light too, was one of my teachers at school.

And then that light was extinguished.

And eventually the lights extinguished and just clouds

come over. And Afrikaans, we call it

Badompa. It's a bit stuffy, a little bit

humid, where we can't see light anymore.

It says you've got to make some decisions before the light goes.

That even when the clouds are there, you can keep your

direction. You with me.

Amen. When the keepers of the house

trembled, There's an incredible picture of a house crumbling.

Who keeps the house? Who keeps the house clean?

Don't say you're made. Who keeps your house clean?

You keep your house clean. How do you do it?

Yeah, but how? With what?

With your hands. Exactly.

When the keepers of the house start to tremble, the things

that used to bring order in your life start to tremble.

You must make a decision for God before your hands start to

tremble. I've got an on beautiful lady,

88 years old, still drives, but her hands are like this and she

constantly holds their hands. All of us, friends, it doesn't

matter. All of you, surgeons, you

surgeons ensure your hands because your hands are the

greatest value. I know your brain and all those

things, but the ability to make an incision inside of a brain or

an eye or a spine is what makes you your money.

But one day, whether you're 65 or 75, they're going to start

trembling. And before they start trembling,

you need to make some decisions about God.

You know, my hands won't tremble of what's my my handwriting's

got worse and it worries me. I look and I think I kind of, I

look like a doctor. When the keepers of the house

start trembling and the strong men stoop.

The strong men are your legs. The strong men stoop.

Why did you sit down and worship Real?

Because of leg problems, because your knees are so how old are

you now, 69? You see eventually, friends, as

you look around the auditorium, you'll see the all the

youngsters standing and you'll see the people over 60 start to

sit down saying flip, worship is long in this church.

Now your legs are getting weak. It's just we have to face it.

We have to face the fact. And when you sit down, you must

think about your life, you must think about what's important,

you must think about your Creator, you must think about

order. Because when your hands start

going and your legs start going, all of the rest is going to

start going too. You OK?

You with me? How we doing when the grinders

cease because they are few? How's it, man?

Like a man you like, but you can drink my milk soap my

mechanician. Like a colony, but now it's,

we've got people here who make a living in teeth.

But I want to tell you this, your teeth are going to crack

and they're going to fall and you have an implant.

And just when you think it's done, the next one's going to

crack. And those looking through the

windows grow dim. All you like is you've got no

glass. You think I'll never?

Don't say never. It never belongs to

Ecclesiastes. So think about God before your

eyes get dimmed, before you get distorted vision.

Think clearly about God. Think clearly about God before

all the experiences of your life, disappointment and unmet

expectation and loss and death and accidents, before those

things affect you. Think clearly about God when the

doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades,

When men rise up at the sound of birds but all their songs grow

faint. These are the doors.

What's the greatest complaint in three CR?

The music's too loud. It's so that some of you all

those can hear, but now we just actually want to.

But eventually the doors are going to shut and you start

speaking louder now. It's so nice to see you.

Oaks. Open the doors.

Close the doors. I've had an ear infection for

about 6 weeks. I went in ENT but antibiotics on

the outside didn't work. Tried cortisone from the inside.

Then I got the report. You need to see an audiologist.

I said I'm not deaf. 57 years old.

The hands start to tremble, the knees get weak, the eyes start

to fade and the ears are not as sharp as they used to be.

And before that, you need to think clearly about God,

otherwise you're going to become very grumpy.

The clouds are going to come and you're going to be grumpy.

Old man, you were young and strong, and we said you must

have fun. Then you're going to age as you

prepare for a new body. But while you age, you must

represent God well when men are afraid of heights.

Remember my dad, big, strong, successful entrepreneur, changed

the world. Go into business meetings.

I remember going into a business meeting with him.

It was with famous brands and famous brands are opening their

2000 store and and my dad had put a clause in one of his

agreements and they had to change the clause because it was

very expensive for them to pay my dad out.

I remember sitting with these big shots of famous brands.

The buddy opened their 2000 store and and and we were

sitting there and they said to my dad, could we please drop the

claws and wow, wow, wow, wow. And my dad stood up.

He said, I'm so unbelievably disappointed with you.

He said, I thought you guys were going to give me a check for my

business and I would ride out into the sunset.

No, we won't change the claws. Bye bye, cheers, bye.

And we got I said, cheapest dad, you just left them standing.

He says, come sound, they'll be busy after the massive man who

could take on this unbelievable empire.

But at the end of race to help him down the stairs because he

was scared of heights. He was scared of just three

stairs. And now it's so wonderful.

You run up to the top there and you sit at the back.

But soon you'll be coming early to church so you can take the

seats at the bottom because I'm. I'm just preaching the Bible.

I'm preaching the Bible to say, hey, guys, it happens like this.

When the almond tree blossoms, that's this Gray hair.

And the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no

longer is stirred. Whoop, whoop, whoop.

What's the grasshopper called? Not Spinner Corp.

Yeah. Sprinkle.

Who can sprinkle on? Where's a young oak you can

sprinkle on? You can do like one of those

flip things. It must be somebody that can do

1. Can you do one of them?

You that flip thing. That that flip thing.

Yeah, You that guy. Can you who can do a flip thing?

Who you can you do a flip thing? Come.

Yes, you can. Yeah.

Come Hop, hop spinner cop. Come hop, hop spinner cop.

Come. Wait, how are you going to do it

there? Like wait here.

I don't know where where you can do it like that way.

Yeah, you can tumble, tumble down that way.

But but like big jump, big jump big like a big jump, like a No,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Like a big, like a big like a

spinner cup jump, like a sprinkle jump, yes, like that.

So there was a time where we could jump like a sprinkle on

when you saw a lecker puppy walking past.

That's what he's talking about. He says when a lecker puppy walk

past you, he says now you're dragging your feet remembering

the days when you could. The only reason I didn't jump

off there is I don't want to break my knees.

And he's saying when you saw, you saw that.

When I saw that chick, I jumped. Now after a long day,

then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the

streets. Remember him before the silver

cord is severed and the golden bowl is broken.

Silver Cord. The golden bowl with candles

before the silver cord is severed and your life breaks and

the light disappears, or the wheel is broken, or before the

pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel is broken

at the well. And the dust returns to the

ground that came from, and the Spirit returns to God who gave

it. Meaningless.

Meaningless, says the teacher. Everything is meaningless.

He compares our life to light and to water.

And he says eventually the light will go out.

And many of you are thinking, sitting here, completely and

utterly bulletproof, thinking it will never happen to me.

Just a little bit of porno, just a couple of extra pots at night.

It'll never happen to me. But he says you must think about

these things clearly because before you know Ian, William

Mitzel Dyer, my hero, my business mentor, the one who

taught me more about God than anybody else, I had to hold his

arm as I led him down the stairs because three stairs made him

scared. And now that light is gone, and

I think I'm going the same way. And Rudy Furlong, the athlete

who won a scholarship to go to a top university in America, who

made the number one charts in Germany with 12 drummers

drumming, the father of three absolutely beautiful children,

beautiful children. He's gone.

And a man, healthy, strong, well built, looked after himself.

Healthy man walks into the church with two eyes 3 weeks

ago. And so we've got 2 feet in the

coffin and we have to ask ourselves a few questions.

This is what he says. Meaningless, Meaningless.

Everything is meaningless. It's very quick.

It happens so quickly you can't really grab it.

What is it all about? Why am I here?

What am I going to do? It's under the sun.

There's got to be something more than under the sun.

There's got to be something above the sun, otherwise all

this stuff is just a waste of time.

I close with four words. Not only was the teacher wise

but also imparted knowledge to the people.

He pondered and searched that and set in order many words or

proverbs. The teachers searched to find

just the right words. That is delightful words, and

what he wrote was upright and true.

The words of the wise are like goads.

The collected sayings are like firmly embedded nails given by 1

Shepherd. Be warned, my son, in addition,

in anything in addition to them, of making many books, there is

no end and much study. Where is the body?

Now? All has been heard.

Here is the conclusion of the matter.

Fear God and keep His commandments.

For this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every

hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

The first thing that we see, friends, is the pleasure of

words. When you study Ecclesiastes, the

pleasure of God is there. God wrote Ecclesiastes so that

we could actually live a pleasurable life.

He wrote the whole Bible for that.

In fact, Ephesians chapter 1 says I'm created according to

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

the will and pleasure of God, say will and pleasure.

In Pretoria, we love the will of God.

I want to I came here to teach you about the pleasure of God.

I want to serve God and have fun.

I will create it according to the will of God and the pleasure

of God. The scripture is written, the

words are written. These beautiful words are

written so that we can actually find the delight in God.

One of the most incredible, but my favorite scripture at the

moment. I've got many, but my favorite

scripture at the moment is found in Luke Chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

There's a church full of people and a woman, the Bible says, who

sinned much in that town. And sitting in this room today

are some people that have sinned much in this town.

And Jesus is talking to all these religious people and he

just looks at this woman. He just looks, he says to Simon,

the religious guy. He looks at the woman and he

says to Simon over there, Simon, do you see this woman?

He's talking to that guy, but he's looking at her.

I just want to rejoice when I read that in the Bible.

Stops a whole meeting to grab the attention of one woman.

He's talking to that guy, but he's looking at her.

Say, Simon, do you see this woman?

Because the problem is Simon couldn't see her because he was

so full of stuff. But Jesus can see you.

And when he writes that, it becomes delightful to me.

It's a pleasure. God can pick out one Sinner in a

crowd of many. It's delightful.

He writes this book, friends, actually, so we can understand

what our life is all about. He's tried money, He's tried

women. He's tried all these things.

He said these things apart from God are absolutely meaningless.

But with God you can have the biggest jolt of your life.

The second thing if I had a stick, is the pain of the word

of God. It says he goaded him.

Just put it up there again. It says he goaded.

Put X26 up. We all fell to the ground and I

heard a voice saying to him in Aramaic.

So Saul, why do you persecute me?

It is hard for you to kick against the goats.

Give a little kick, this little kick.

Just give a little one of those. Just give one of those.

You see? See, what is happening is that

God is actually busy dealing with Paul's life.

He's busy sorting him out and Paul's kicking, kicking, just

kicking, kicking. He's kicking, just kicking,

kicking, kicking. And God says, hey, buddy, when

you read the word, you've got to know some of this stuff.

You can leave it there. I'll kick you.

We don't like it being untidy. He says that stuff that is out

of line. I'm going to keep goading you.

I'm going to keep goading you until it comes back into line.

I'm going to keep goading you. And so when you read

Ecclesiastes, not easy. You know why?

Because some of you with your money are selfish.

You make money to spend it on yourself and yourself alone.

And God's Word is going to keep coming until you line up with

His Word and some of your sexuality is out of control.

And God is going to goad you with his word until you line it

up with his word. Let's go back to the

Ecclesiastes. Please, teacher search.

Define just the right words. And what he wrote was upright

and true, delightful. The words of the wise of like

go, it's painful. The collected sayings, like

firmly embedded nails given by 1 shepherd.

Say shepherd. When God deals with us, even

though it's painfully, it's carefully God deals with us

carefully, he deals with sinners carefully.

Be warned, my son of anything in addition to them of making many

books. There is no end and much study.

Where is the body now all has been heard.

Here is the conclusion of the matter.

Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the

whole duty of man, say the whole duty of man.

Some of you who have grown up in scary families.

God is not scary. Fear God doesn't mean God is

going to smack you, doesn't mean that fear God is reverence.

The way people say to me, how do you explain the fear of God?

I explain the fear of God by standing on the beach at Leisure

Bay, by standing on the rocks at Leisure Bay.

And when I look out at the sea, this massive vast ocean, I look

down into the pools and I see life and fish and coral and

colours. I see the pounding of the waves

coming in. I see the tides this way one

day, that way the next day the sun coming up, this massive ship

that looks like a speck. When I look at the sea, I have

reverence for the sea. It's got power, it's got

authority. It's got beauty.

It's got life, it's got things that live inside.

When I look at the sea, I think of fearing God.

He says this is how you are to act your whole life.

Fear God and obey His commands, for this is the whole duty of

man. Why did we read Ecclesiastes?

To fear God and to obey His commands, for this is the whole

duty of man. It talks about money and it

talks about sex and it talks about power and it speaks about

words. It speaks about authority.

What must I do with my words? How should I speak about

Stephen? Very simply, fear God and obey

His commands. How should I speak about Heidi?

Very simply, fear God and obey his commands.

That's all. And we close this whole series,

for God will bring every deed into judgment, including every

hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

So we get a chance to prepare. Almost every book in the Bible

ends with grace, and this church preaches grace.

If you've been here for any length of time, we'll probably

say we over preach grace. But this book ends with

judgment. It doesn't end with grace.

It ends with judgment because it gives us a chance to prepare.

We've got to sit down and think. I was young, I was strong.

God said I must have a go. I must use my strength, I must

exercise to the fullest. I must live adventurously.

Then he says to me, I must think about Him carefully as the

Creator before my hands start to shake and my legs get tired,

before I have to wear glasses to see things clearly, and before

the desire of my body goes. I need to think clearly because

there is going to be a day of judgment and everything I've

done will be judged. Everything.

Every idle word I've said, every attitude that I've had, every

motive of my heart. Every time I've shared in the

microphone, every time I've prophesied, every time I've

preached, every cent that I've given or haven't given,

everything will be judged. And that's scary.

And so we have to soften that with the New Testament that

we're not under judgement. OK, let's soften it.

But let's come back to Ecclesiastes.

Do you believe in grace or yes? Do you believe that believers

will be judged? No, they won't.

We are under the grace of God on judgment day.

We will not be judged because we are covered with the

righteousness of Christ. But this book was read to us,

was given to us as a gift to prepare for that day of judgment

that we don't actually waste our lives.

And all of this stuff is meaningless.

But this little lot of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

This little lot of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine, let it

shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Because God has put me in Pretoria, where people have

forgotten their creator and sexuality has gone insane.

Young men are addicted to pornography at 11 years old and

teenagers are getting smashed out of their minds before their

frontal lobe is developed on when to say no.

And so they get alcohol poisoned, they start vomiting.

That's what you see along the strip, kids vomiting because

their brain is not developed enough to say no.

So I've got to let this light sign, not some judgmental light,

but a light of God. I've got to let the creator of

the universe who created Eden and inside of Eden we are naked

and unashamed and we can actually live in the light and

be honest and ask for forgiveness and say sorry and

trust God. Because one day my hand is going

to start to shake, my legs are going to come weak, and I'm

going to be scared to walk down the stairs.

And then it says the silver cord will be broken, the light will

be snuffed out, and I'll be remembered no more.

Don't waste Ecclesiastes. God bless you.