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