Have a look at Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and verse number 9.
Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse number 9, it says,
Two are better than one.
Two are better than one is the title for the sermon this morning.
Two is better than one.
Well, let's just recall what's taking place here.
King Solomon, you know, he's trying to find meaning.
You know, he's backslidden at this state in his life.
He's far from the Lord.
He's trying to find meaning and purpose in carnal earthly things,
and not in his Lord God.
Like, he's not looking at eternity.
He's just looking at the here and now,
what we can attain for the current present,
and not looking how our life has ramifications into eternity.
Now, before we start reading verse number 1,
let's just backtrack a little bit to chapter number 3.
Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse number 16.
King Solomon made this conclusion.
He goes,
And moreover, I saw under the sun the place of judgment.
That would be your court system,
where you're judged for certain crimes.
He goes,
That wickedness was there.
So he says,
Look, even in a place where we're looking for justice,
there's still wickedness.
What he's saying is,
we're never really going to find justice on this earth.
You know, I know we take criminals and we bring them before judges,
and you know what?
The further our government and our laws get away from the laws of God,
the less justice that we're going to see on this earth.
Okay?
So he makes this conclusion.
Even though there's some level of justice,
there's still wickedness in the judgments that come from man.
He continues by saying,
and then he says,
In the place of righteousness,
that iniquity was there.
And we kind of concluded,
well, you know,
the place where we're looking for the most righteous of people
would be your local church.
You know, you come to church,
you believe you're amongst believers,
you're looking for the saved,
the righteous,
those that have been made cleansed in the blood of Christ,
you're expecting a higher standard amongst people.
But even within a place of righteousness,
it says there's iniquity.
Iniquity was there.
I mean, that's obvious because we're sinners.
You know, even though we've been saved from sin,
even though Christ has taken our sins to the cross
and has paid the curse, the punishment that came from God for us,
we still have this flesh,
we still have this body,
we still struggle with sin.
And you know, if we walk in the new man,
we will not sin,
but if we walk in the flesh,
we will continue to sin.
And so, you know,
even this morning,
I'm sure there are some of you that have committed sin
even before coming to this church.
Okay?
And so, you know,
he comes to this conclusion.
He goes,
I just can't find justice on this earth.
I just can't find righteousness.
Even amongst the best of the best,
I can't find perfection.
I can't find righteousness.
So we get to chapter number four.
And then he says in verse number one,
he says,
so I returned.
So this is kind of his conclusion.
I returned and considered all the oppressions
that are done under the sun.
And behold the tears of such as were oppressed,
that they had no comforter.
And on the side of their oppressors,
there was power,
but they had no comforter.
Because look,
my conclusion is,
then it's just not fair.
Like living on this earth,
it's not fair.
If we can't have perfect justice,
if we can't have perfect righteousness,
then I see on this earth
that things are just not fair.
And you know,
brethren,
the sooner you understand this on this earth,
the sooner you can just push on with life.
Okay?
You're not always going to find fairness.
And I've already covered this last week,
but again,
with my children,
having 11 children is not easy.
You're not always going to be fair.
As much as you want to be fair as parents,
you're not always going to be fair.
You know,
even if you have a couple of children,
you know full well,
as much as we try to treat every child
uniquely and special,
and given the same attention,
one child's going to turn to the other child,
ah,
you got it better from that.
You know,
when I was your age,
I was not allowed to do X, Y, and Z.
But look at you,
you're allowed to do that.
Okay?
Maybe because parents grew up
and they came to a different realization.
You know,
you can't always have things to be fair.
If you can't find fairness,
even within your own parents,
if you're going to find fairness
in the justice system,
you're not always going to get just deserves.
Okay?
And so once again,
you say,
well,
hold on,
isn't that where God steps in?
Absolutely.
That's where God steps in.
This is why as a Christian,
you know,
we shouldn't be bogged down and bothered
when things don't necessarily go our way,
or we don't see things working out
the way we think it should,
because we know God is above all.
He sees all things
and God will always balance the books.
Always balance the books.
You know,
whether you understand that
or whether you're just deserves get served
sometime late in the future,
the sooner you accept that God steps in
and is fair and is just and is righteous,
the sooner you can just get on with life
and leave the things
that you thought were not fair to God.
Say,
God,
it doesn't seem right to me,
but I'm just going to leave in your hands.
I'm going to get on with my life.
Leave it.
And Lord,
I'll let you sort it out.
The sooner you do that,
the sooner you can get on with life,
move on and not be bogged down
with stress and worries and bitterness
and hurt and anger,
because we're all going to go for these things.
Now it says again,
where is Solomon coming from?
A position,
a carnal earthly.
He's not considering the Lord here
in chapter four.
You need to keep that in mind.
The book of Ecclesiastes is a journey
from start to finish.
And as he keeps going,
to the finish line,
he's learning things on that journey.
All right.
So what he's saying in verse number one
is true from a carnal perspective.
This is how people live their lives
without the Lord.
They say it's not fair
and they get frustrated at the earth.
That's how King Solomon is
at this point in time.
He goes,
look, the oppressors,
the people that do wickedly,
they seemingly have great power.
They seemingly get away with things.
The rich who have trampled on the poor,
they're still rich, Lord.
This just doesn't seem right.
He says the ones that were oppressed,
they have no comforter.
Who's there to make sure
that their case is heard?
Who's there to make sure
that someone stands up for
the wrong that they've suffered?
Because it's just not fair on this earth.
Now I want you to keep your finger there.
Please go to Psalm 73.
Go to Psalm 73
and stay there in Ecclesiastes chapter four.
Go to Psalm 73.
One of the greatest Psalms
on this idea of the earth not being fair
or justice not being carried out.
You know, Psalm 73 is one of the best Psalms
about this topic.
And I'm not going to spend a lot of time
like, you know, expanding this.
I just want to read it to you
and you can hear the heart of the Psalmist here.
Psalm 73 verse number three.
Let's start there.
Psalm 73 verse number three.
He says,
for I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Have you ever felt that way?
That you looked at the wicked
and it seems like the wicked prosper.
The wicked do well in life.
You know, here am I just trying to serve the Lord
but I just don't seem to succeed as much
as the wicked in this earth succeed.
Has that ever dawned to you?
And then become envious?
How do they get away with it?
You know, I'm trying to live godly and righteously.
I just, why are they so successful?
Why are they rich?
Why are they seemingly getting away with so much?
The wicked.
Okay.
And again, this is the same idea.
This is the same thought that Solomon is going through
in Ecclesiastes 4, all right.
Let's keep going there.
Verse 4.
For there are no bands in their death,
but their strength is firm.
They are not in trouble as other men,
neither are they plagued like other men.
And again, is this true?
That they've got no troubles?
No, that's not true.
They have troubles,
but it just seems like they don't have troubles.
This is kind of like,
again, this is Facebook.
You see people on Facebook,
or whatever social media,
they're happy, they're taking pictures,
they're going on holidays,
they're living their best life now,
and you go, man, look at their wonderful life,
but you don't see all the problems.
They've all got problems.
We all have problems.
We all have trials.
Okay, but you know,
you don't show that side of your life.
And the problem with Facebook is you think,
wow, look at all these great people having a great time.
My life is full of problems.
Is there something wrong with me?
No, because they're all going through problems.
Okay, but that's not the position.
That's not what they show you on the outward.
So the Psalmist is looking at the wicked.
The wicked are showing their best.
Look how great our life is.
It seems like to the Psalmist that they've got no issues,
but of course they've got problems.
All right, verse number six.
Therefore, pride compasses them about as a chain.
Violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could wish.
They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression.
They speak loftily.
They set their mouth against the heavens.
They even speak against the Lord.
Lord, how come these people that don't believe in you
don't trust in Jesus Christ?
How come how come these people that blaspheme your name
or they give,
you know, they speak of their existence
as though it came from some big bang
or, you know, instead of glorifying you
for their existence, Lord, all right?
They even, their mouth are against heavens
and their tongue walketh through the earth.
Verse number 10.
Therefore, his people return hither
and waters of a full cup are rung out to them.
And they say, how doth God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?
These people say, look, it's Christianity.
The Bible, there's no knowledge in the Bible, come on.
You want to succeed in this world?
Put that Bible, there's no knowledge there.
You know, hey, come and learn from us.
We'll teach you how to succeed, right?
That's how, that's what they are.
Verse number 12.
Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world.
They increase in riches.
Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain
and washed my hands in innocency.
Look at that.
The Psalmist says, look, I've tried to live a clean life.
Have I cleansed my heart in vain?
Has it all been worth for nothing?
Like, I'm trying to just serve the Lord, dude.
I'm coming to church.
I'm coming to every service.
I'm reading the Bible.
I'm preaching the gospel to the lost.
You know, is it all for vain?
Because how come I'm not succeeding like the wicked do?
Hey, these could be questions that come upon your mind, okay?
They increase in riches.
Because I washed my hands in innocency.
Verse number 14.
For all the day long have I been plagued
and chastened every morning.
Now brethren, if you develop this envy in your heart,
okay, you look at others.
Look at what they've achieved.
Look what they've done.
Hey, look at them out there on a Sunday.
You know, they're not going to church.
Maybe just working on the Sundays and avoiding church
and having nothing to do.
Maybe that's the way to profit in this world.
What's it going to cause in your heart?
As it said there, you're going to be plagued.
You're going to be cast down.
You're not going to have joy in life when you compare what others have,
you know, to what you have been given by the Lord, okay?
You're going to lose satisfaction.
You're going to lose contentment.
You know, there's a time that you could once come to church and sing.
Count your blessings.
Name them one by one.
Count your blessings.
See what the Lord has done.
You know, we ought to be Christians that rejoice even the little that we have.
We say thank you God for the blessings that you've given me.
Thank you for the life that you've given.
Thank you for my family.
Thank you for New Life Baptist Church.
Thank you for your word.
Thank you for salvation.
Thank you, Lord, that I know when I die, I'm going to go to heaven.
You know, we have to learn to thank God.
But when you look at the wicked, when you look at others and what they have,
you're going to be plagued, cast down.
You're going to lose joy.
Let's say, was it all worth for nothing how I served my Lord?
Again, if you just have a carnal earthly perspective on life.
All right, let's keep going there.
Verse number 15.
If I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me.
Look at this verse number 17.
Until, so this was his thought pattern.
This was what he was thinking.
He goes, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end.
He goes, I had to go to church.
I had, and of course, the Old Testament, that was the temple.
The house of God was a temple.
The sanctuary was a temple.
I had to go and hear the preacher of God's word for just to be reminded about their end.
Yeah, they seemingly get away with things.
They seemingly prosper.
They seemingly have a good life.
They seem to be just enjoying life without God.
But I know what their end is going to be.
You know, if they die without Christ, they're going to burn for all eternity in hell.
Because I just, man, I've just been reminded.
And I'm reminded that even if I have very little in this life,
but when I pass away, I'm going to inherit the riches of heaven.
I'm going to have the same riches that Christ inherits.
I'm going to have a mansion.
I'm going to walk the streets of gold.
I'm going to be in the presence of my Lord God forever.
And I'll be rejoicing.
I'll never have to struggle with sin.
I'm never going to cry.
I'm never going to be angry.
I'm never going to be frustrated ever again.
Because God is going to wipe away all my tears.
See, you see the psalmist, he's going through what Solomon has gone through.
Just again, and we're going to, you're going to go through that.
When you have your perspective on earth, on carnal things, on temporary things.
Yeah, life is not always fair.
It's going to be that way.
But think about, I know my end.
I know I'm going to heaven, praise God.
You know, the end is more important than the beginning.
You know, where I end up.
But of course, when we go back, go back to Ecclesiastes now.
Go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 4.
I just wanted to read to you from Psalm 73.
Just again, to put that perspective on the book of Ecclesiastes.
Okay, everything is true from an earthly carnal perspective.
King Solomon has to get to the point of understanding.
There's more to life than what is on this earth.
Okay.
Then he can really appreciate everything.
Every work, everything is achieved in life.
The other thing that he said there in verse number 1.
He goes, but on their side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter.
You know, the people that are being oppressed have no comforter.
But you know, you need to remind yourself as a Christian,
maybe you are, maybe you have been oppressed, maybe you are currently being oppressed.
You know, you say, who's my comforter?
You should know who your comforter is.
Jesus Christ says in John 14 16,
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter,
that he may abide with you forever, even the spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive, because it's he of him not,
neither know of him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Reverend, one of the great privileges of being saved in the New Testament
is to not just have the words of Christ and have salvation,
but to have the comforter dwell with you, in you, within you.
That's of course the spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit.
We have God as our comforter.
Okay, and you know, the ungodly,
yet they truly, when they look for comfort,
the only comfort they can reach toward is another human being,
another man who's a sinner,
another person that has problems and struggles.
That's their comforter.
There's very limited comfort when it comes to human beings.
Okay, there's some level of comfort,
but not the comfort that you can truly get from the Lord God.
You know, so please understand, you may be oppressed.
You may be thinking, life is not fair.
You know, I've been accused.
I've gone through hardship.
Someone has done me wrong.
I'm just not getting the justice that I deserve.
Well, turn your hearts to the comforter.
He lives within you.
The Lord's not far.
It's not like the Lord is some,
you know, you've got to go on some pilgrimage,
you know, all the way to Israel,
you know, all the way to Jerusalem to just get close with God.
No, if you're saved, the Lord is living in your heart right now.
The Holy Spirit right there, right now.
Okay, you know, instead of grieving the Holy Spirit,
hey, spend time in fellowship with the Holy Ghost.
You know, the Lord will give you a comfort that you truly,
you know, again, you know,
I've had the privilege of going to church pretty much my whole life.
You know, and I get a church and there are some people
you know, I want to be this way one day.
Like when I get to a certain age, I want to be this person.
I don't know if I can get there or not,
but there are some people that they're just beaming always.
Like you just look at them, you go, man,
they're like Jesus Christ.
You know, they walk with the Lord.
They're shining forth the glory of God.
You can see Jesus in their behavior, in their love,
you know, in their work.
You see Christ in them and they're smiling
and they're an encouragement and they're a blessing.
You go, man, the brothers so and so,
sisters and so and so, what a blessing.
But you know what?
They've got problems.
They've been oppressed.
They've gone through hardships.
And your thought is maybe they're not.
Maybe, hey, their life must be so great.
That's why they're so happy.
No, no, no.
They go through the same hardships and problems as you.
Okay.
But you know what?
They're comforted by God.
That's the difference.
Okay.
They know God's comfort.
They know God's love.
They've experienced it.
And they go, even though my life has fallen apart,
the Lord has comforted.
I know the love of God.
I'm in his hands.
I'm protected forever.
I'm his child.
My eyes are in eternity.
And then they have a positive influence on other brethren.
Okay.
But never think that, you know, look, oh man,
look at brother, look at pastor so and so.
They seem to be so happy.
They've got problems too.
They've just learned to go to the comforter.
They've learned to be comforted by God.
Okay.
That's the only difference with the rest of us
that are going through hardships and struggling.
All right.
Anyway, Ecclesiastes chapter four, verse number two,
verse number two, Solomon goes,
therefore, sorry, wherefore I praise the dead,
which are already dead more than the living,
which are yet alive.
Isn't that interesting?
He goes, look, it's almost like, he goes,
if this is life, life is not fair,
then it's better to be dead.
Cause at least, you know, you're dead, right?
I mean, the dead is not, you know, obviously again,
just from a carnal perspective,
that dead person is truly dead.
He gets to experience deadness in its completion.
He goes, that's better than being alive,
but not really living.
Like not living life to the fullest
or living a life and you're being oppressed.
You know, your freedoms are being taken away from you.
You know, you can't live the life that you want.
You know, yeah, you're living,
but you're not living life to the abundance.
At least the dead are living, not living,
but they're experiencing death to the abundance, right?
And he goes, and so this is, again,
this is where a bad mindset leads you.
Then it's just better to be dead, right?
I mean, then to just live a life of misery and oppression
and not get in the justice that you deserve,
maybe it's just better to die.
Again, the thoughts of a suicidal man
would start to lead this way, you know?
And then, you know, unfortunately,
sometimes they take action on those things, okay?
But then, and then it keeps,
and then like that is a bad thought, obviously,
but then what he says next is even worse,
because then he says in verse number three,
yea, better is he than both they.
So there's someone even better
than that's dead and not living,
because someone even better than that.
He goes, which have not yet been,
who have not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
He goes, actually, better than just being dead
is to have never existed,
to have never experienced life whatsoever,
because if you've never existed,
then you've never experienced the oppression
that comes from this world.
You'll never experience how unfair this world can be.
You'll never experience the sadness and the hurt
that you can go through in life.
Maybe that's better, to have never existed, okay?
Again, is this how we should be thinking as Christians?
No.
The lesson is, this is what you're gonna be thinking
if you're living a life without God,
without eternity in your mind,
without the right perspective.
This is where this philosophy will lead you,
that it's better to just never have existed.
I mean, that's what people actually believe.
I mean, I know, because I go door to the soul with you,
and I talk to people,
and you talk to people about existence
and life after death.
Have you ever had someone say to you,
well, this is not really, you know,
our life doesn't really exist.
We're just a computer program, right?
Or, you know, it's all just someone's imagination,
and we're just playing out someone's imagination.
That's, and you go, man,
but you're talking to them,
and that person looks intelligent on the outside.
They look like a normal human being,
but you know why they've gone that far?
Well, they're trying to find meaning in life.
They refuse to seek God.
They refuse to seek meaning in Christ.
They're looking for meaning on the earth,
and it just gets worse and worse and worse and worse.
Maybe we're just a computer program.
Maybe we don't, we just don't even really exist,
you know, and that's, you know,
that's where this kind of philosophy ends up leading you.
Let's keep going there.
Verse number four, Solomon goes,
again, I considered all travail and every right work.
For this, sorry, that for this,
a man is envied of his neighbour.
This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
This is a sad reality of life
that I want you to also learn,
and for young people, I want you to learn,
because, you know, us adults, we've learned this.
We've learned this.
You guys haven't learned this yet, probably.
He goes, if I work, okay,
it says in verse number four, and every right work.
So as Christians, what are we trying to do?
We're trying to live our righteous life.
You know, ideally, that's what we're trying to do,
not just be saved, but then live a life that pleases the Lord.
You know, we're trying to, you know,
keep our marriages together,
and we're trying to raise our children to love the Lord.
You know, we're trying to stay away
from the addictions in this world,
you know, the alcohol and the drugs.
We're trying to keep ourselves clean and pure,
and we're trying to battle the sins that we have in our life.
You know, and we go to work, and, you know,
ideally, we try to be the best employee that we can be,
to set a good example for the Lord Jesus Christ
that we serve and worship,
and you think, children, you're going to think this.
You're going to come to learn this soon.
You think, look, if I just do really well,
and I just serve Jesus, and I do the best,
and I try to be the best employee and work hard,
you're going to think everyone's going to like me.
You're going to be like, okay,
like everyone's going to be pleased
that I'm doing the best I can,
that I'm doing a good work.
No, no, no, no, okay?
Truly, rather than that, okay,
what he's learned here, it says in verse number four,
that for this a man is envied of his neighbor.
Envied.
People are going to hate you for being righteous.
People are going to hate you for working hard.
You know, I don't want to boast of myself, okay?
I don't want to boast of myself,
but just one story, right?
I remember working a job,
just doing the best I can,
thinking I'm serving Jesus,
and I'm just going to work hard.
I'm going to make sure my employer is happy with me.
You know, my boss is delighted with the value
that I've added to his company.
I'm just going to put my head down,
just work hard, not crazy.
I'm not going to burn myself out,
but I'm going to put a good effort forward,
and then I had some employees come up to me and say,
you know, Kevin, you don't have to work that hard.
You know, you can slow down a little bit.
You know, I'm just trying to work hard,
not just to benefit me and my employer,
and to serve Jesus,
but I'm thinking of making the company better.
Like, I'm thinking of making my team better,
and my team would come around like,
just slow down, you're making us look bad.
What?
You know, that's what happens, right?
You want to do good.
You want to do right,
but others look at you,
and they get frustrated that you're doing right.
You know, after you're in a workplace for some time,
people start to learn that you're a Christian,
because like, why don't you hang out with us on Sundays?
I'll go to church.
You're not going to hang out this Wednesday after work?
No, I've got church tonight, or whatever,
whatever it is, right?
And start to learn, hold on,
your life is a bit different.
Like, your life is structured differently
to the rest of us,
and eventually, as time goes on,
you know, they recognize that you're a Christian,
and look, it's not like you're there
trying to shove your Christianity in their face.
Okay?
But I remember just working,
again, I'm just trying to get along with people,
working hard, trying to serve the Lord,
make a paycheck so I can provide for my family,
give to my church, etc, etc.
And then you have employees coming up to you,
not just, hey, slow down and work,
but then trying to challenge you on your clean living.
Not that I'm telling them,
not that I'm going up to my fellow colleagues
and saying, hey guys, stop fornicating.
Hey guys, you gotta stop drinking alcohol.
That's not my life.
You know, I'm there to work.
I'm not there to preach at them on the workplace.
I'm there to work,
and I'm committed to those hours,
and to labor, and to work with these people.
You know, I'm not there trying to tell them
all the issues and all the problems
they have in their life.
I'm not there to say, hey, you know what,
you should stop talking bad about your husband,
or you gotta stop talking bad about your wife,
or, you know, you gotta stop looking at that girl over there.
You gotta come, you know,
no, I'm just working my job.
I'm leaving them to live their filthy life,
that's their business,
and I'm just trying to serve the Lord
and serve Christ as best as I can.
But even when you're doing that,
your colleagues will come up to you,
and they wanna defile your way of living.
They wanna defile your mind with dirty jokes.
They wanna tempt, hey, come on.
I'll buy you a drink.
Just come out and hang out with the boys after work.
You know?
What, are you seriously going to stay with your wife
till you die?
What, just one person for the rest of your life?
Are you serious?
It's like, I'm not even talking about them with that.
But they come, they start to ask,
they envy righteousness is what I'm trying to say, brethren.
You see, everybody knows
that we ought to live a righteous life.
Even the ungodly know they ought to live a righteous life,
a clean life.
And when they see others doing it,
it bothers them.
Say, why does it bother?
Look, I'm just living my life,
they're living their life, it bothers them.
Because they know that they ought to be right with God.
And they say, well, this person's right with God.
Then they're making me look bad.
Not just in the work ethic,
but also in your life, in your clean living.
You're making people look bad.
Not that you're shoving it in their face.
Not that you're preaching to them.
But just by your example, they feel bad.
They realize they're doing things wrong.
And the only way to make themselves feel better
is to try to destroy you.
Envy your life.
Please, just kids, learn this.
Learn this truth.
Otherwise, you're going to be cast down.
You're going to be like Solomon.
You're going to be like the Psalmist that we read earlier.
It's all vanity.
It's all worthless then.
You know, it just causes envy.
It just causes conflicts.
You know, living a righteous life.
I'll quickly read to you from 1 John 3, verse 11.
It says,
For this is the message that you heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another.
Now, I want to talk to my church here.
We ought to love one another.
We're brethren, aren't we?
Brothers and sisters in the Lord.
We're to love, not envy against one another.
Not rail against each other.
Not have conflict with one another.
We ought to love one another, okay?
Then it says, in verse number 12,
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one,
and slew his brother.
And wherefore slew he him,
because his own works were evil,
and his brother's righteous.
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
Marvel not.
Don't be surprised if the world hates you.
And the example that we're given there is Cain,
who slew his brother Abel.
Wherefore, why?
Why did he kill his brother?
He goes simply because of this.
Because his own works were evil,
and his brother's righteous.
That's all, okay?
Cain saw that God accepted Abel's sacrifice.
Abel was trying to serve the Lord,
trying to do that which is righteous, okay?
Cain goes, I'm going to offer my own sacrifices,
which God did not accept.
His lifestyle, his way of living was wicked
in comparison to Abel.
Abel's not preaching to Cain.
Abel's not trying to make Cain feel horrible.
Abel's just trying to walk with the Lord.
That's all.
And it bothers Cain that much.
He goes and slays his own brother.
And then we have that conclusion.
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
Don't be surprised if the world hates you.
Okay, children, you're a school,
or whatever situation you're in with your friends,
if you're playing soccer, or whatever activities.
You know, you do what is right.
You do what is righteous, okay?
You don't cheat, you don't steal, okay?
And you will stand out.
And guess what?
Sometimes your own friends or other people
are going to laugh at you, mock at you,
for not trying to live as ungodly
as they're trying to live.
You say, why is that?
Then it's just not worth it.
If I'm being mocked, or maybe even bullied
for doing that which is right, it's not worth it.
No, it's worth it.
Because you're pleasing the Lord.
The teaching is Marvel.
Don't be surprised if the world hates you.
Hey, the world hated Jesus.
They took him and crucified him to the cross.
Was Jesus evil?
Did Jesus sin?
Did Jesus do anything wrong toward anybody else?
They killed him anyway, okay?
And you need to remember this, accept this,
that the Bible does not teach,
the moment you get saved,
everyone's going to like you
and your life's going to be easy.
In fact, the opposite.
The world's going to hate you,
especially if you walk in the ways of the Lord, okay?
But understand this in context of the bigger picture, okay?
That you are going to be in heaven with the Lord God.
And for the persecution you receive,
you're going to be rewarded, okay?
There are great rewards to receive in heaven.
You know, the greater hardship you go through
for living for Christ, the greater the glory
and the rewards you will receive in heaven.
All right, next verse, please.
Verse number five.
Next thought that he has here
is the full fold of his hands together
and eateth his own flesh.
Now, that might be a little bit hard to understand.
What is that saying there?
Okay, I need you to turn to another passage.
Keep your finger there and turn to Proverbs.
Don't forget that King Solomon
also wrote the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs chapter 24, please.
Proverbs 24.
What does it mean that the full
have folded his hands together?
I'm kind of folding my hands right now.
Does that mean I'm a fool?
I'm foolish here?
Well, look at Proverbs 24 and verse number 30.
We're talking about a full, all right?
Proverbs chapter 24 verse 30.
You'll see that what verse number five is speaking about
is a slothful, sluggard, foolish man.
Verse number 30, it says,
I went by the field of the slothful
and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding.
Okay, so King Solomon goes
and looks at the possessions,
the vineyard of a slothful man,
a man that refuses to labor, all right?
Verse number 31.
And lo, it was all grown over with thorns
and nettles had covered the face thereof
and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
He goes, look, a slothful man
does not maintain what he has, all right?
If you're growing a garden and you're slothful,
it's going to be overgrown with weeds,
is what he's saying, okay?
Verse number 32, look at this.
Then I saw and considered it well
and looked upon it and received instruction.
Look at this, yet a little sleep,
a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to sleep.
So what is this folding of the hands to sleep?
It's all about a sluggard, a slothful man,
a man that would rather sleep than go to work,
a man that would rather rest than labor.
Okay, that's what we're touching upon.
He keeps going there.
Verse number 34, so shall thy poverty come
as one that travaileth
and thy want as an armed man, all right?
So I want just to bring that correlation there with you
that the one that folds his hands to sleep,
okay, a man that wants to go to work,
he's going to use his hands.
He's going to labor with his hands and with his body,
but the slothful man, he'd rather just fold his hands
and go to sleep, okay?
And he goes, look, that man is unproductive.
That man's vineyard is falling apart.
You know, even his stone wall is breaking down.
There's no maintenance.
There's no work.
And he's tending to poverty.
He's getting poorer and poorer and poorer
and he's achieving nothing.
Back to Ecclesiastes chapter four, verse number five.
So now that we know what we're talking about here,
verse number five, it says the fool,
and yes, the sluggard man is a fool.
He lacks wisdom.
The fool folded his hands together
and eateth his own flesh.
So instead of working
and then eating the fruits of his labor,
he's eating his own flesh.
You know, you can kind of understand this
in two different ways.
Obviously not, like he's a man, he doesn't have food.
So he's going to lose weight.
He's going to be, you know, skin and bones, okay?
So it looks, I guess, that he's eating himself, okay?
I mean, how does this guy survive?
Look how skinny, like he can't provide.
He's lacking.
But the other idea of eating his own flesh
is he's causing his own destruction.
You know, if you choose to just be lazy
and do nothing with your life
and, you know, not work and not labor
and just think I'm just going to sleep,
I'm just going to take it easy
all the days of my life,
you're going to destroy yourself.
You're not just going to destroy yourself.
You're going to destroy your family.
Especially men.
If you're married with children, you know,
you've been given a responsibility
to make sure your family is taken care of.
If you have to work that second job,
you go and work that second job
if that's what you have to do to make ends meet.
You know, or just check your bank account, I'm sure,
you're wasting a lot of money on rubbish, on nonsense.
That's probably the wisest thing to do
is cut out the waste that you're doing, okay?
But the slugger man, the one that refuses to labor,
he's going to destroy himself.
He's going to destroy his relationships, his marriages,
he's going to destroy his children, okay?
Verse number six.
So don't be lazy.
But then in verse number six,
Solomon comes to another realization.
You also don't want to be a workaholic.
Like you don't want to be the guy
that is just constantly trying to be productive non-stop.
That's your life.
That's what your life is all about.
Because it says in verse number six,
better is in handful with quietness
than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
Then I returned and I saw vanity under the sun.
He goes, look, it's better to just have one handful
enough to get through in life, is what he's saying, right?
It's better to just have what you need to survive,
to provide, to live a decent life.
That's better than to have two hands full,
than to have in excess,
than to have too much with travail and vexation of spirit.
And we've already seen this,
explored this in previous chapters.
The more you have,
even though that's the heart of man many times,
to get more, to have more,
to buy the second house, to buy the third house,
to have 30 investment profit is, all right?
To have X amount of dollars in the bank account,
to drive the best cars, you know,
just to get, get, get.
The more you get,
the more troubles you're gonna have in life.
That's what he says, okay?
Yeah, don't be lazy, don't be a sluggard,
but then don't be this guy that just wants it all
because there's problems on either side.
You wanna be in the middle.
We call it middle class in Australia.
I guess that's the place we wanna be, the middle class.
Okay, like enough to just get through
and have a life that gives you joy
and you have enough, right, not to live an excessive life.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong
with enjoying yourself and going to holidays.
And you know, I'm not saying there's anything wrong
with enjoying life, okay?
But you don't wanna have too much, okay?
Cause that's just gonna bring problems in your life.
But you don't wanna be the guy that doesn't work
and has nothing cause you're just gonna destroy yourself
and your family and everybody that you know, okay?
We wanna be somewhere in that middle, okay?
The other way we can understand this,
and I mentioned it before that we all have problems.
We all have trials, we all have difficulties in life, okay?
You might say, well, pastor, I don't know,
you seem like a happy man.
You know, I wish to trade your problems with my problems.
Yeah, but once I give you my problems,
you know what's gonna happen?
You're gonna want your problems back.
You're gonna want your, I don't want your problems.
And you don't want my problems, trust me.
You know, again, we envy other people sometimes,
but they've got problems.
You wanna be like them,
but then you're gonna be carrying their problems.
Okay?
No, look, we don't, again, what is it saying?
Better isn't a handful requirement.
Better to just have your problems, all right?
Then both the hands full of travail and vexation of spirit.
Again, I wanna really be careful with what I'm saying here
cause I do believe we ought to help each other.
In fact, the Bible says in Galatians 6 to
bear you one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
We are there to help each other in a time of difficulty, okay?
But before I became a pastor, before I chose to be,
before I became a pastor, I wanted to sell this in my mind.
And I've shared this before, but I've seen too many pastors fail.
I've seen too many pastors fail in life.
Even my own pastors, I've seen them fail.
I've seen them fail their marriages.
I've seen them fail their children, okay?
And one thing that I, and I have uncles that are pastors in Chile
and I've seen how they failed, okay?
What have I observed in life?
That people that have the most problems,
the most conflicts, the most worries
are the people that get involved in other people's problems.
And a lot of church members think,
it's my pastor's responsibility to come in and fix my problems.
And pastors do.
They think this is what pastors are meant to do.
So you go to family after family after family,
tell me your problems and they try to fix it.
Try to fix it, try to fix it, try to fix it.
And while they're trying to fix other people's problems,
their problems are getting out of control.
Their marriages are breaking up.
Their children are rebelling against the Lord
and then their house is destroyed
and then they destroy their own ministry.
You know what?
I've spent extensive time before I became a pastor
reading through the pastoral epistles.
1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, okay?
And if you read that,
there is no instruction from the apostle Paul to pastor Timothy
to go and sort out the problems of his congregation.
It's to teach the Bible,
teach what is true and let each man
then take that lesson for themselves and apply it.
For every man, every husband, every father
to take responsibility for their own family
and their own family problems.
That's the right thing.
If you take on other people's problems,
you're not going to be able to control your own problems
because you've got too much to bear
and your life will fall apart.
In the same chapter, in Galatians 6, 2,
that says, bear ye one another's burdens
and self-fulfill the law of Christ,
it also says in verse number five,
three verses later,
for every man shall bear his own burden.
Three verses later,
for every man shall bear his own burden.
We all have burdens.
God even gives them to us so we can learn,
so we can grow, so we can succeed
and push beyond that boundary that's stopping us
to be something greater.
To be something more.
Yes, where you can step in and support someone,
please do.
Someone's going through some hardship
and you can step in and help them to some extent.
Yes, but don't take it away from them.
It's their burden to carry.
You want worries in life?
You want stress?
You want conflicts?
Then yes, get involved in someone else's problems.
That's the sure way to destroy friendships
and destroy your relationships with people
and cause all kinds of conflict,
even conflicts in the church.
When I hear about conflicts in the church,
it always boils down to
someone got involved in someone else's life.
Always.
Unnecessarily.
You know?
Always.
I mean, every conflict that I know,
every different church that I've been part of,
even over this church,
when I hear of conflicts,
someone decided to put their foot in
in someone else's life.
And I said, look,
I've just got enough burdens of my own.
I've got my own problems.
Let me deal with my own problems.
Let me deal with your problems.
And we'll be just fine.
Let's keep going there.
Verse number eight.
It says there is one alone
and there's not a second.
Yea, he have neither child nor brother.
Okay, so now Solomon looks at
not just families,
but he's looking at an individual person.
A man that has no dependence.
Okay?
He's got no family.
He's got no responsibilities of other people
toward other people.
He goes,
Yet is there no end of all his labor?
Neither is his eyes satisfied with riches.
Neither save he.
For whom do I labor
and bereave my soul of good?
This is also vanity,
yea, it is a sore travail.
All right.
Now before we got to chapter four,
you may recall
that in the previous,
I can't remember if it's chapter two or three,
where he says that, you know,
where King Solomon's kind of frustrated.
He goes, look,
I've worked hard.
I've achieved a lot.
I've got a lot of possessions.
But then he goes,
but when I pass it down to the next person,
when I pass away
and my inheritance is given
to the next generation,
he goes, how do I know
if my children are going to do
what is good or foolish?
Maybe all the hard work
that I've labored to achieve,
all the possessions,
maybe the next generation
is going to destroy it.
Maybe they're going to be foolish
with what I have.
And he goes,
oh, it's all just vanity
and a vexational spirit.
So then you go,
maybe it's just better
to be by yourself then
and work for yourself
and just care for yourself.
But he goes, no,
there is one alone.
He works,
but he's not satisfied in my father.
Like he works for riches.
You know if you're single
and you've got a job,
you're going to have more
than the guy that's married.
If I work a full-time job
and I've got a family of 11 kids
and you work the same full-time job as me,
we have the same income,
but you don't have people
to look after,
you're going to have
more riches than me.
As in possessions,
you're going to have
the bigger bank accounts,
you're going to have
all those kinds of things.
You're going to be able
to spend more on yourself.
But you know what?
Even that,
you're going to get to that point.
Isn't that how people live?
The age that people get married
gets later and later in life.
The age that people start having children
gets later and later in life
because they think,
well, I just want to live for myself.
I want to go and travel
and I just want to work for myself
and just spend my 20s
looking after myself.
My 30s looking after myself.
Maybe my 40s will start
thinking about getting married.
You know what?
By the time you're 35
and you've got nobody,
you're going to turn around
and go, man, all this labour,
all this work,
all this selfishness
that I've just given to myself,
for what purpose?
I've got no one to share this with.
I've got no one to enjoy this with
because I've just done it for myself.
Okay?
And this, of course,
leads us to the next thought there
in verse number nine
that says,
two are better than one
because they have a good reward
for their labour.
You know, having family around is important.
Having people around is important.
You know, I'm naturally,
I think if I just lived
without eternity in mind,
if I lived without the Lord in mind,
I think I'm naturally a loner.
Like, I'm comfortable just by myself.
Like, I'm comfortable
to not talk to anybody at church
if I just live how I want to live.
You know, I'm comfortable,
not that I share this story all the time,
but, you know,
before I got married,
my wife thought she wouldn't be able
to have any kids.
That's what she was medically told.
She would be impossible for her
to have children.
And for me, I thought,
well, that's fine.
I'm fine with that.
I have no problems with that.
You know, kids are burdens, aren't they?
You know, that's what I thought.
I mean, they kind of are,
but there's a lot of joy
that come with it as well.
Okay?
You learn that in time.
You learn that as you mature in life.
But I'm not,
I'm a loner.
I'm happy.
I don't need,
I don't need friends.
I don't need,
like,
what's the word I'm looking for?
Like, people to give me,
validation.
I don't need people to give me validation.
Like, I don't have a problem.
Like, I'm happy to preach God's word,
and if you don't like it,
I'm fine with that.
As long as I'm preaching the truth,
I'm fine with someone not liking my preaching,
as long as I'm just doing what is,
what I know needs to be done, right?
That's kind of the person that I am,
alright?
Naturally.
Now, if I sought that way of living though,
eventually I'm going to get to a point
where I'm like,
I don't have anybody.
Like,
you know,
if I decide I'm just not going to get married,
I'm just going to leave for myself,
at some point I'm going to realise,
life would have been better
if I had other people around me.
And again,
we need,
we need people,
you know?
I would not be serving the Lord
if I was not going to church every week.
Like, I'm not naturally going,
man, I can't wait to go soul-willing today.
I just wake up on a Monday morning,
go, man, I can't wait to knock the door,
and I'm going to call brother Jason,
brother Jason,
are you keen to go soul-willing today?
He goes, yes,
alright, I'm going,
because brother Jason's going to,
and I'm going to let him down.
Like, I need other people,
we need,
that's why we need church.
We need to be amongst other believers,
to provoke each other
unto love and good works.
You know,
you rub off on me,
I rub off on you,
iron sharpener for iron,
that's what relationships are all about.
Alright?
Two are better than one,
because they have a good reward for their labour.
You know, the more you have,
the more you can achieve in life.
You know,
I put my kids to work around the house.
You know, the house is in good nick,
generally speaking,
but you know,
it was just me and my wife
doing all the work and the chores,
the house would fall apart.
The more we have,
the more we put our hands together
to labour,
the greater things will be.
You know,
I learnt this,
again,
on the workplace.
I never liked working as a team.
I'd rather just give me my job,
I'll do my job,
leave me alone.
Okay?
But then I found out,
as time goes on,
hey, working as a team,
we actually can be more productive.
I'm uncomfortable,
I've got to step outside of my comfort zone
to work with a team,
but we can achieve more
if we work as a team.
Because we all have strengths and weaknesses, right?
And so if I'm working by myself,
yeah, I've got my strengths,
I can do things with them,
but then I've got my weaknesses,
and there are going to be areas
that I'm not going to be able to achieve
or do very well.
But if I get along with a second person,
we do a job,
I've got my strengths,
they've got their strengths.
Maybe where I'm weak,
they are strong.
Maybe where they're weak,
I am strong.
And then together,
we can accomplish more
than what one person can do by themselves.
You know, I enjoy being a pastor,
but one of the qualifications of a pastor
is to be the husband of one wife.
In other words,
I would not be able to achieve this ministry
without my wife.
You know, she's just as an important part
to this ministry than I am, okay?
But she's behind the scenes.
She's my support.
She's my wife, okay?
She's the one raising my children.
She's the one making me look good sometimes.
In the past, your kids are well behaved.
Yeah, talk to Christina.
She's the one that did all that hard work.
I mean, obviously I work together.
You know, we're laboring together.
What did it say there again?
It says in verse number nine,
because they have a good reward
for their labor.
We work together.
We complement one another.
That's what a marriage is meant to be.
Complementing one another.
Not competition.
You know, not separate lives
where one flesh, okay?
Where you're strong,
she's going to be weak.
Where she's strong,
you're going to be weak.
You know, men and women,
we're made differently.
We function differently.
You know, God made us different
to complement each other.
To be that one flesh.
To have a strong marriage.
To have a strong family.
Two are better than one.
Yeah, going solo with someone else is better.
Even if that someone else
is a silent partner.
That's better.
You're going to be more motivated
to get out there
than to just go by yourself.
Let's keep going there.
Verse number 10.
For if they fall,
the one will lift up his fellow.
But woe to him that is alone
when he falleth,
for he hath not another to help him up.
So this should be obvious.
In a time of need,
if you're with someone else,
they can help you.
All right?
If you're struggling.
All right?
If you fall,
that other person can
at least call the ambulance
if they can't help you.
All right?
If you're sick,
I've got a wife that can look after me.
If she's sick,
she's got a husband.
I mean, I don't look after her anywhere
as well as she looks after me,
but you know what?
If she's sick,
she knows the kids aren't going to go hungry
because there's the husband there
to help out in that situation.
Okay?
We can help each other.
Okay?
That's the advantage of having more than one.
Verse number 11 again.
If two lie together,
then they have heat.
But how can one be warm alone?
So again,
the idea of body heat.
You get two people together,
that heat is going to stay circulated
between those two people
than one person that has the heat
that leaves their body and gets cold.
Verse number 12.
If one prevail against him,
two shall withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Verse number 12 is a very famous Bible verse.
Okay?
Very famous Bible verse.
So obviously,
if you're by yourself,
the likelihood of you being attacked
is greater than you being with someone else.
Okay?
This is why when we go to the door
to the soul wedding,
nothing wrong with going by yourself,
but let me encourage you
to go with at least someone else.
Okay?
If there's someone that hates you,
that hates God,
that might seek to hurt you,
they're going to think twice
if there's someone else.
Okay?
Because there's someone else there to stand up.
Okay?
You know,
it's even better to go soul-willing
with your child.
You know,
your five-year-old,
your ten-year-old child.
It's better to go soul-willing with them
than by yourself.
You say,
why?
You know,
my ten-year-old child's not going to protect me.
Yeah, no, no, but here's the thing.
You know,
you've got a second witness.
Okay?
If a false accusation is made against you,
you've got someone else
that can testify of what truly happened.
Okay?
I mean,
this can be used in so many applications.
Verse number 12 is so popular
because it's got unlimited application.
Again,
free code is not quickly broken.
So the idea,
yeah,
one,
you can do things with one,
but if you have two,
it's better.
We think about marriage,
right?
You take on a second person,
life is better that way,
but then it says a three-fold cord
is not quickly broken.
It's okay.
Me and my wife,
that's great,
but if I can add a third person,
and normally when you go to a wedding,
sometimes pastors preach,
you know,
include the Lord in your marriage.
Okay?
A three-fold cord is not quickly broken,
right?
If you both are serving the Lord,
you know,
you're not just serving one another,
but you're both serving the Lord,
your marriage is going to be strong,
and of course,
that's a great truth.
You know,
even a marriage without the Lord,
when they have a child,
that marriage is going to be stronger.
Okay?
I've looked once,
I did some reading on divorce,
and looking at different times
of when people actually get divorced,
and one very common time,
one of the most often times
when people get divorced,
is when the children grow up
and leave the home,
because then there's husband and wife left,
they stay together
because of the children,
but once the children have left,
then they break up.
You know, many times,
it happens a lot.
You know,
I'm talking about just the ungodly world.
Okay?
My point is this,
not that that's fine,
or anything like that.
My point is,
that children do strengthen the marriage.
Many times people say,
hey,
we'll stay together for the children.
Okay?
And so,
again,
the three-fold cord,
just adding another element
to that,
you know,
dynamic makes things stronger.
You know,
you can take this with Bible doctrine.
You know,
you might believe a certain doctrine.
You might be basing your doctrine
on some unclear verse.
You know,
well,
that's,
you know,
you don't really have a strong position.
If you're going to take a strong position
on something,
you want to have at least two,
and even better,
three verses,
three black and white verses,
that teach that truth.
Once you've got that two or three witness,
then you can stand firm.
The Bible says,
so I believe it,
and you can teach it.
You can stand on that doctrine,
then stand doctrine on one verse
that may or may not say
exactly what you think it's saying.
Okay.
Again,
I mentioned the witnesses,
the two or three witnesses.
We see that in the court system of the Bible.
If somebody's going to be judged for a crime,
they were to take two or three witnesses,
because that testimony is greater
than the testimony of just one man
who could be lying about the situation.
You know,
if you're seeking counsel or advice,
you know,
hey,
yeah,
go and find a second person.
Go and find a third person.
Go and get some counsel.
Listen to what other people have to say.
You know,
that's good.
You know,
if you go and talk to someone,
and like you have three people,
and they all kind of say the same thing,
that gives you a lot of confidence.
Yeah,
you know what?
I'll take that advice.
I'll take that counsel.
I'll walk in that way,
because they all see this clearly.
I've seen,
you know,
two or three people there,
and that's going to make the steps
that you take in life a lot more sure.
You know,
also think about a free-for-all court
is not quickly broken,
is to have options in life.
Be flexible.
You know,
don't just have one plan in your life.
Plan A.
What if Plan A fails?
You know,
you ought to have a Plan B.
You ought to have a Plan C in life.
You ought to have options.
So you know where you're going,
what you're trying to do,
but if this doesn't quite work out the way I thought,
then I'm going to go and follow this direction.
You know,
there are so many applications
that you can take there from verse number 12.
You know,
having those different options in life,
you know,
will help you,
not just to throw all your eggs in one basket,
and when it fails,
you get cast down and depressed.
You know,
you pursue the different options
that might be available to you.
All right,
let's keep going there.
Verse number 13.
It says,
Better is a poor and a wise child,
than an old and foolish king
who will no more be admonished.
Would you rather be a king,
power,
wealth,
you know,
influence,
or a child?
You'd think a king.
You know,
look,
he's successful.
A child's got to start from the scratch.
Okay.
But the king,
a foolish king anyway,
can become stubborn and stiff-necked,
you know,
where a child is someone that learns
and grows and develops.
All right.
The Bible's telling us it's better
to just learn,
to continue to learn,
to continue to grow,
to be adaptable in life.
Okay.
The hard and foolish king becomes,
like,
you know,
he can't learn anything new.
Okay.
He can't grow.
He can't develop.
You go to,
the king can do wrong.
You go to the king,
say,
king,
look,
let me give you some advice.
You're making some mistakes here.
The king will refuse that.
At least a child is learning.
At least a child is adaptable.
He can change something about himself.
Right.
Someone can go to a child and say,
look,
you need to correct this about your character.
And they can work hard and do that.
But if you grow,
and this is a truth,
the older you get,
the more stuck in your ways you get.
You know,
we need to be careful,
especially as God's people,
because none of us have achieved the status of Jesus.
None of us.
We should never get to the point where I'm comfortable
with how far I've gone in Christianity.
Have you reached Jesus standard yet?
Well,
no,
then you've got a long way to go.
Keep changing.
Keep learning.
You come to,
don't go to church and go,
I know it all.
I've already heard this pastor.
Go keep changing.
If you're not like Jesus yet,
there's a lot you still need to learn.
There's a lot you still need to change.
It's better to be that way
than be a king who can no longer be admonished.
Verse number 14.
For out of prison he cometh to reign,
whereas also he that is born in his kingdom,
become of Paul.
All right,
just very quickly.
So he says,
look,
another thing that someone realizes,
that the person that's been in prison,
or someone that has gone through hardship,
they're more likely to reign or be successful.
Okay.
Rather than someone that is born into a kingdom,
like a,
you know,
born with a silver spoon in their mouth,
you know,
everything goes their way,
because that person is going to become Paul.
So what is that teaching?
It's teaching us to appreciate the hardships that we go through.
Okay.
Appreciate the hardships.
It's teaching you.
It's guiding you.
It's making you a better person.
It's helping you succeed.
All right.
Then being someone that is just constantly prospering.
Look,
parents,
we need to teach our children
to go through hardships.
You know,
we don't need to protect them
every time,
about every little thing.
It's okay for our kids to get offended.
They need to learn to grow thick skin.
You don't just step in and fight every little battle for them.
You know,
and just keep them wrapped up in cotton wool all their life,
because then they're going to go into the real world,
and they're going to tend to poverty,
because they don't know what it's like to go through hardship.
They don't know how it is to push through and achieve more.
Okay.
Yeah,
you can be born into a great kingdom,
and have all the great riches,
and have life go perfectly for you,
but once you take that person and put them into the real world,
they're going to fail.
But you take the guy that was in prison,
the one that's gone through hardship,
that has learned the hard lessons,
okay,
that has been offended.
They're the one that's going to achieve and succeed,
because then they're going to be able to push through
and learn from the challenges they've gone through.
Verse number 15.
I considered all the living which walk under the sun
with a second child that shall stand in his stead.
The second child is referring to the next generation.
Verse number 16.
It says,
there is no end of all the people,
even of all that have been before them.
They also that come after shall not rejoice in him.
Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
All right,
so again,
Solomon's considering the generations.
The second child,
the second kid,
it's something like the next,
the second generation should come afterwards.
Generations that comes after you,
okay.
Now,
to understand verses 15 and 16,
let me just read to you the second part of verse number 16 that says,
they also that come after shall not rejoice in him.
The one that comes after is the next generation.
What it's saying is,
the next generation is not going to appreciate
what the previous generation has done for them.
Okay.
I mean,
I hear this in the media,
that the current generation blames the previous generation.
And yeah,
the previous generation have done mistakes.
Okay.
But the previous generation has also raised the current generation.
Does that make sense?
Like if you do the best you can to raise your children,
give them everything they need,
that child's not really going to understand or appreciate what you've done for them.
Okay.
And let me give you a quick example of this.
My parents,
they migrated from South America, Chile.
Okay.
And when they came here,
my dad says,
I just wanted to give my children a better life,
more opportunities,
than Chile.
And sometimes in my mind,
as much as I love Australia,
I think, man,
I've got all my grandparents in Chile,
I've got my uncles and my cousins,
and I don't even know them that well.
Hey, and I go to school and my friends have cousins and uncles,
and you know,
they've got all these family,
and I'm just like,
I don't have any family.
You know,
like I'm kind of thinking,
man,
was it really worth that,
you know,
coming all the way?
Everyone that we know is over there.
You know,
everyone like,
if I need help,
my family's on the other side of the world,
you know,
or,
you know,
was that,
you know,
so what I'm trying to say is,
those thoughts start to process my mind,
where I'm not appreciating what my father has done for me.
Until I went to Chile.
Okay.
And then I had,
and yeah,
it was great to have the family,
but I started to realise in Chile,
it's hard to succeed.
Like it's hard to get ahead in life.
When I went to Chile,
I looked at their little houses,
and it's like tiny,
and I'm thinking,
how do people live in such a tiny place?
I'm talking about middle-class people.
You know,
I'm not talking about the poorest of the poor.
I mean the poorest,
they're just living in slums.
And then I'm looking at,
you know,
my cousins and my,
you know,
I talk to them,
and they're like just a store clerk,
for example.
They're working as a store clerk.
Okay.
Just like an entry-level job.
And I speak to them,
and they're like,
oh man,
so what did you do for your education?
Did you go to university?
And I go,
no,
I never went to university.
And they're like,
oh,
you know,
and I ask them,
what did you do,
done,
oh,
you know,
I'm an engineer.
Like they got all these qualifications.
They've done all this study,
all this work,
and they're just working entry-level jobs.
And I start to realise,
oh wow,
in Australia,
you can work any job,
and you can make a good living for yourself.
You can work any job,
you can have any status,
and you're respected in Australia.
You put some level of effort in,
and you can achieve in Australia.
And I looked at Chile and go,
man,
as much as you study and work hard,
it doesn't guarantee anything.
You know,
and I start to realise,
in Australia,
you go to work,
and people appreciate your character,
what value you add,
who you are as an individual.
In Chile,
they only value you,
if you have a piece of paper on your wall,
that says diploma,
so and so.
Okay.
And I start to realise,
man,
yeah,
life in Australia is so much better.
And then I hear people whine about Australia,
and go,
man,
I wish you could just travel and see the world.
And even as bad as Australia gets,
there are so many blessings here,
there are so many opportunities.
But again,
if you just grow up like that,
you know,
in Australia,
you don't appreciate the previous generations.
Okay.
That's what Solomon is saying here.
Okay.
Again,
for those of you that,
I know I'm going a bit over time,
my apologies,
but I'm almost done here.
When we started this church,
don't forget,
I've used this example before,
we met in a shed.
It was hot,
30 degree weather.
I'm sweating,
my whole shirt is wet and drenched.
We've got fans going on,
don't we?
But it's not giving us any,
any satisfaction.
You know,
we're all hot,
we're all bothered.
We're just thankful to be in church.
And then we went from that shed
to the Rugby Union Hall.
Okay.
And that was one step better,
but we still had problems.
And then we've gone one step better,
we've got our own building.
All right.
So you've gone through that process,
you can appreciate what you've gone through.
But then if you're someone new to church,
and you have what?
You just meet in this warehouse space.
You know,
you don't appreciate it.
You don't appreciate what has gone on before,
is what I'm trying to say.
And that's life.
I remember,
I'm not trying to boast,
just working hard on the job
and getting the promotions.
And doing well,
getting promoted,
becoming a supervisor,
becoming a manager.
All right.
And I'm like,
man, you know,
I've worked so hard.
And the people
that were my colleagues and employees,
they saw that hard work,
and they can understand the promotions.
But then there I am,
employing employees,
all right,
taking on employees,
you know,
to work under me,
and they come,
and they're rude,
and they don't work hard.
And I realise,
oh, they don't appreciate.
They don't see the work that I did
to get to this point,
so they don't respect me
as their manager yet.
And I started to learn this lesson,
oh man,
okay,
that's how the world works.
Okay.
And what am I saying here,
brethren?
I'm saying is,
we have to be careful.
You know,
it's easy to criticise our parents,
but we forget the labour,
the hardship that they've gone through.
Okay.
It's easy to criticise your pastor,
but you don't understand
how much work that pastor did
to try to get this church running
and being operational.
It's easy to criticise.
It's easy to not appreciate.
And again,
I'm talking to the young people here.
You know,
your parents worked hard
to make sure we have a place to meet.
They've given faithfully to church,
so we can pay a lease,
so I can make a living for myself,
pastoring a church,
okay,
to find a church that is teaching
the whole Bible,
who's not worried about offending a wicked world.
You know,
your parents appreciate this church,
but the possibility is that
the next generation will grow up
and not appreciate what they have.
It's just what they're used to.
Oh,
this is church,
and they don't have that appreciation.
They don't have that consideration
for what has come before.
And that's my conclusion,
brethren,
is to be appreciative.
For everything that you have.
I don't care if your parents are wicked,
ungodly people.
They've given you life.
At least appreciate them
for giving you life.
I don't talk to my mother.
At least appreciate your mother
for going through labour,
okay,
going through those pains
to bring you forth,
to give you an opportunity to enjoy life.
I'm not enjoying my Christian life.
At least appreciate
that God sent his only begotten son
to die in your place,
so you can have eternity.
Your life might not be the best life
that you have on this earth,
but the life to come
is going to be the greatest thing
you've ever experienced.
To be appreciative.
Be thankful
for what you've received in life.
All right, brethren, let's pray.