Alright, we continue there in Ecclesiastes 5, and I drop down to verse number 20 just quickly.
It says, For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
The title of the sermon this morning is, The Joy of His Heart. The Joy of His Heart.
Now, I wanted to give it that title. I wanted to give it a positive title of this chapter,
because so far, through the book of Ecclesiastes, from chapters 1 to 4, it's been a very downcast Solomon.
You know, he's looking over, everything is accomplished, all the things that he can do in life,
he says it's all vanity, it's all worthless. And so, you know, again, that mindset, you know,
you need to remind yourself that that mindset is one who thinks carnally, one that thinks without the Lord God.
He's not thinking of eternity in mind. He's thinking about the now, the temple.
You know, what is the purpose of life if we're not going to pass away anyway, we can't take any of it with us,
then surely it's all vanity. And again, if you take that view and you think that's what life is about,
if you think that's what the Christian life is all about, then you are going to be downcast,
you are going to think everything is vanity, and you need to learn the lesson.
No, actually, there is great joy. There is joy that we can have in our hearts.
It's a joy that God gives. It says, because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
God can give us joy. Even when we realize that the things in this life is temporal, we can't take it with us,
we can still come to the point that we enjoy these things.
Now, one, before I keep teaching, and I want you to understand this as we go chapter by chapter,
the last thing I want is by the end of Ecclesiastes, the last thing that I want, if you get to this point,
I know I failed as a pastor, if you get to the point and you say, life is vain, everything I do is vain,
it's all vanity, whatever you accomplish, it's vanity.
If you take that view, and you think it's all empty and worthless, you've missed the point of this book.
The point is, everything is worthless and vanity without God. That is the point.
But with God, it gives us joy. With God, it's not vanity. With God, there is a purpose to everything.
With God, what we do in this life matters for eternity.
Because I see sometimes Christians, they look at the world, they look at accomplishments,
they look at even what they have in life and say it's all vanity. You've missed the point.
If you say it's all vanity, what you're saying is, I'm thinking of life without God, and therefore it's all vanity.
No, you've missed the point. That's not the point of the book of Ecclesiastes.
It's not all vanity if you're living a life to please God.
If you're living a life where you have eternity in mind, it's not all vanity.
And so I hope as we go chapter by chapter, you start to realise that this is a journey of Solomon.
Don't stay stuck in the journey where he's backslidden and is trying to just find meaning on that kind of life without God.
Don't stay stuck there and think, well that's what life is all about. No.
You need to go in the journey with him and get to the point that it all matters, it all has meaning,
as long as I put God first in my life and I serve him.
Alright, now let's start doing verse number one. Ecclesiastes chapter five, verse number one.
It says, keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God.
Of course, the house of God was a temple for Solomon, the house of God for us in the New Testament is church.
So think about this in the context of church. It says, and be more ready to hear.
So what does it mean to keep thy foot? Well obviously, the opposite of that would be to be more ready to hear,
than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil.
Look at this, verse number two gives us more context.
Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God.
For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few.
Now one thing that we learn, even in the time of the Old Testament temple,
is that you would go to the house of God to hear, to be taught God's word.
And so it's basically saying this, watch your feet, make sure the reason you go to church is to hear from God's word.
Don't let church be a place where I just come and open my mouth foolishly, and just talk and give my opinions and the wisdom of man.
No, we come to church to hear the word of God, to be taught, to learn something.
If you want church to be profitable in your life, you have to take the attitude that when I step into God's house,
even before the preaching starts, even while we're singing hymns, even while I'm in fellowship with the brethren,
I'm coming to the house of God to hear, to learn, to change. Have that mindset.
Don't have the mindset that I've matured enough, I know the Bible enough, there's probably not anything I'm going to learn today.
Don't have that mindset, otherwise church will be unprofitable, and you will get to the point where you think your voice is all that matters,
and you show yourself to be rash with your mouth.
So when it starts in verse number one, it says, keep thy foot when thou goes in the house of God.
The modern idiom that we use today is, don't put your foot in your mouth.
That's a modern idiom. Don't put your foot in your mouth. You know what that means?
Where you talk too much, and you say too much, where you might reveal secrets, where you may offend somebody,
where you might just speak foolishly about a topic without knowing more information about that.
Don't put your foot in your mouth. Don't disgrace yourself. Don't embarrass yourself with too many words.
That's not what church is about. That's not what the house of God is about.
The house of God is about coming to hear the words of God.
You say, but Pastor Kevin, the one that speaks the most during church service is you.
I mean, you're there for 40 minutes, 50 minutes, an hour, opening your foolish mouth, yeah.
But you know what, if I was just preaching my wisdom, it would be foolishness.
It would be a waste of your time.
No, we come to church, we read the passage, we read a whole chapter of scripture,
and we go chapter by chapter, verse by verse, because we want to know what does God have to teach us.
Not what does Pastor Kevin have to teach us.
No, what does God's word, what does God's Holy Ghost want to teach me this morning?
That's the purpose of coming to the house of God.
Keep your finger there, please, and go to 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
And while you're turning there to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, I'll read to you from James chapter 1, verse 19.
This is the New Testament teaching of the same topic.
It says, wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, be quick to hear.
Have the attitude that I need to learn, I need to listen, I need to understand.
Swift to hear it says, slow to speech, slow to wrath.
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God,
wherefore, lay apart all filthiness of superfluity, of naughtiness,
and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls.
But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceive in your own selves.
So yes, we come to God's house to hear, that's great, but then you need to do what you hear.
Make one change, I've taught this before.
Take one lesson, take one truth from God's word.
It's too much to apply it all.
Just take one and apply it in your life.
Make the change necessary and you'll grow, you'll flourish, you'll please the Lord.
But again, what did it say there in James 1 verse 21?
Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness.
So we come to God's house to be refined, to be challenged in our sins,
to identify what are the areas of our life that are wrong with us,
that displease the Lord, that offends the Lord, and you make that change.
Now, you're there in 1 Corinthians 2, but I'm going to quickly read back at Ecclesiastes 5.
There was one point in verse number 1 that I didn't touch upon.
But it says, be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools.
That's your mouth just speaking, nonsense.
Then it says this, for they consider not that they do evil.
You see, if you come to God's house, not to listen, not to learn, but to voice your opinions,
you're not going to consider that you do evil.
You're going to think you're right with God.
You're going to think your life matches exactly what God wants.
No, you need to come and hear so you realize that there is evil within you.
There is hurtful things, there are harmful things.
There are sins within you.
If you don't take the attitude where I'm coming to God's house to listen,
you're going to think you're perfect, you're right.
You'll never make any changes.
You'll remain stagnant in your spirituality.
You won't mature, you won't grow.
This is why it's so important that God's house is a place that we come to hear.
You're there in 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
1 Corinthians chapter 2, look at verse number 1.
The apostle Paul says,
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God.
He goes, look, when I stand and I preach to you, it's not about my excellent speech.
You guys know sometimes I mess up my grammar.
You guys know sometimes I don't even, I've got a word that I can't even get out of my mouth.
You guys know sometimes I struggle.
I don't have excellency of speech.
I'm never going to have millions of people listening to Kevin because look at the way he speaks.
That's not my forte, and I'm glad it's not my forte.
And neither does it say that he comes with wisdom.
Again, I'm not coming with wisdom of man.
I'm not here just teaching you what I've learnt in life.
Though sometimes what I've learnt in life does correspond with God's Word, and I'll give you those examples.
But we come to hear the testimony of God, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
That's what we need to hear in church.
Verse number 2.
For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
And again, I love these words of Paul.
Because we know Paul's a great apostle.
We know he studied many churches.
We know that he wrote most of the books of the New Testament.
God used me in a mighty way.
But even he says when I get up to preach, I've got a fear of God.
I'm trembling.
He wants to be careful what he speaks is the testimony of God.
And what I like about that is because that's how I feel.
Every time I start to get nervous when it's time to preach.
I don't care.
I'm almost five years of the pastor.
I still get nervous.
I still get butterflies in my stomach.
I'm still worried.
What if I say something wrong?
I'm not the only one because Paul felt this way.
We see that in that passage.
Verse number 4.
He goes,
Amen.
This is why we need to preach God's Word.
Amen.
This is why coming to church and not just hearing two verses
and the rest of it just a man speaking,
you know, that's not church.
That's foolishness.
No, we come to hear.
Even this pastor, even though I've opened my mouth,
I still come to hear what God is saying to us through his Word.
And what I hear, what I've studied, what I've meditated upon,
I then communicate that to you.
Okay?
The working of the Spirit.
My goal is that I speak to you God's words
that God's Holy Spirit will work in your heart,
will work in your mind and teach you something new,
convict you of areas that you need to change in life and that you do it.
That is the purpose of church.
Ecclesiastes chapter 5, please.
Go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse number 3.
Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse number 3.
The Bible says in verse number 3,
For a dream cometh through the multitude of business.
Do we come to church to hear dreams?
I mean, what kind of church would this be?
Like, you know, alright brethren,
I've got to tell you about the dream that I had last night.
You know, brethren, the Lord gave me a vision this morning.
I looked outside and I saw thunderings and lightnings.
He said, no, that wasn't the weather, Pastor.
That wasn't what you saw.
I don't think you saw that.
I said, that's crazy.
It is crazy.
But there are so many churches this morning doing that exact thing.
God spoke to me this morning.
You need to hear.
Hey, raise your hands, everybody,
because the Holy Spirit is going to reveal to you a vision
as I tell you my wonderful dream.
And now, look, I don't know.
I'm not good at acting like a charismatic.
I'm not good.
You know, I've experienced some of those churches,
but I've not been there long enough to really make fun of it.
But, you know, that's basically what they do, alright?
Now, verse number 3.
For a dream cometh through the multitude of business.
Look what the dream is being compared to.
And a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
You know, people come into you with a dream.
Let me teach you what God taught me in a dream is a fool.
That's the comparison, okay?
And you'll see this is actually being drawn out a little bit later
as we keep going through this chapter.
But let's remember, the book of Ecclesiastes is also quite a scientific book.
There's been learnings.
We know Solomon was the wisest man on the earth.
And it's actually true that the busier you are,
normally the busier you are in life,
kind of like you've got a little bit more stresses.
There's a little bit more in your mind.
Well, you know, every night that we sleep, we actually dream.
You say, oh, I didn't dream last night.
You actually did dream, but you just don't remember it.
In fact, I'm sure some of you guys recall,
there are times that you probably wake up at night,
you know you had a dream, it's right there,
and literally seconds pass and you kind of forgot about it.
Has that happened to you?
It happens to me.
You know, just like literally seconds, like one or two.
I know the dream.
What was it?
It's gone.
Like, what?
What happened?
It's gone.
Okay?
I mean, we all dream is the point, okay?
But your dreams become, and look this up,
you know, this research shows that the busier you are,
the more stressed you are, the more vivid your dreams are.
The more you are likely to remember those dreams.
Okay?
Because all the dream is, is your body's shut down,
your body's resting in the night,
but your mind's still processing the information,
the thoughts, your business that you've had during the day.
I mean, I know there are times when I've been so busy
and I've gone to sleep and it's like my brain does not shut up.
It's like still thinking about work.
It's still thinking about life.
I'm like, just shut up.
I want to sleep.
Can't you just shut down, brain?
Actually, your brain never really shuts down.
You know, it's processing all the information
that it's had during the day.
That's where your dreams kind of come out of.
All right?
But so it's true.
For a dream coming from the multitude of business,
yeah, the busier you are, the more stressed,
the more vivid your dreams will be at night,
the more likely that you're going to remember it.
And again, it says, speaking about our voice
and what we speak, it says,
and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
The more you speak,
the more likely you're going to show yourself a fool.
The fool speaks very much.
Have you ever met a fool that speaks a lot?
You see, the fool wants to demonstrate that he's not a fool.
And so if I speak much, if I have a lot of words to say,
people will think I'm intelligent.
But actually, as you listen to them,
you realize, man, what they're saying has no substance.
They're just saying things over and over again.
They haven't really diligently researched that topic.
They're just parroting something they've heard online,
and they reveal themselves to be a fool.
You want to be considered not a fool?
You know what you do?
Watch this mouth a little bit.
Close it a little bit.
Only speak those things that you know that are true.
Speak the things that come from God's word.
We know that God's word is always true.
We need to be careful about how we speak.
You know, we've got a problem.
You don't need to turn that.
I'll just read it to you.
Proverbs 17, verse 28, it says,
even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise.
So even someone that you think, he's foolish,
but he holds his mouth, he doesn't speak,
he controls his mouth, even he can be considered wise.
Okay?
It continues by saying, and hear that shut of his lips
is esteemed a man of understanding.
You want to be considered wise?
Even if you don't feel that you're wise,
you want to be considered wise?
Just don't talk too much.
Be someone that hears.
Be someone that understands and learns, all right?
I mean, that can be a conversation.
You don't always have to throw your two cents.
You don't always have to throw your opinion.
Be careful because your opinion might reveal yourself
to be a fool.
Rather, if you want to be considered wise,
just, okay, interesting.
I'll have to think about that.
Okay?
Keep your mouth with few words
because the fool loves to speak.
You know, there's also a modern saying along these lines.
It says, I'm sure you've heard this.
It says, it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool
than to speak and remove all doubt.
It's better for people to think you're foolish,
but keep your mouth shut, than to speak and everyone,
okay, yeah, he's definitely a fool.
I love these sayings.
You know, I guess part of the reason I like it
is I'm not really a man of many words.
I'm not really, really.
You know, okay, when I preach, yeah,
this is behind the pulpit.
This is the, you know, the Holy Ghost using me
to teach a God's word, but if you know me in person,
I'm a man of few words.
I don't have a lot to say.
You know, I'd rather learn.
I'd rather hear what you have to say.
I'd actually like to listen to other people's opinions.
It challenges my own, you know?
And I actually like that.
You know, I don't think I'm a very wise man,
but I actually like the fact that it makes me portrayed
to look like a wise man.
You know, so this is good teaching.
This is good information to receive from God's word here.
Let's keep going to Ecclesiastes chapter five,
verse number four.
Ecclesiastes five, verse four.
So a vow is a promise.
You know, okay, I'm gonna, Lord, I promise
I'm gonna do whatever.
If you make this, when thou vowest a vow to God,
defer not to pay it.
You promised God something, you better do it.
Okay, you better do it.
It says here, for he hath no pleasure in fools.
Pay that which thou vowest.
Do you notice that?
If you speak too much to God, say, God, I promise,
Lord, from this day forward,
I'm not going to commit this sin.
Don't make those promises, okay?
Because if you break that promise,
if you break that vow, God will consider you a fool.
Don't be someone that speaks too much.
You know, I know the practice of many Baptist churches.
People come before the altar.
You know, after the preaching,
and you've got the emotional music in the background.
Come before the altar, you know,
and recommit your life to God or something like that, right?
People come and they make all these promises to God.
Pray, Lord, I'm gonna, you know,
I'm gonna quit my job, Lord,
and I'm gonna go to Bible college
to serve you all the days of my life.
Lord, you know, I come and I'm, you know,
I'm gonna change this, Lord, I promise you this.
And there's tears and there's weeping,
and the pastor thinks, I've been successful.
Look at all these people making all these changes in their life.
They're making vows and promises to God,
and they don't keep it.
You know, don't make promises when you're overly emotional.
If you're gonna make promises,
make sure that there's logic behind it.
Your brain is processing as well.
It's not just some emotional reaction.
We have to be careful what we promise to God.
There are so many promises that people make,
even Christians make to God,
that they do not keep.
Well, you know what, when you broke that,
you know what God thought of you at that time?
What a fool.
So should I make no promises to God?
That would be wiser,
because it says here in verse number five,
better is it that thou shouldest not vow,
sorry, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Please don't take the approach,
well, at least I tried, Pastor Gavin.
At least I did make a promise and I was committed.
Yeah, but it would have been better
if you didn't make that promise, you know,
instead of breaking the vow.
Now, I want you to take it to,
look, this is Old Testament, okay?
You know, there was nothing wrong
for the Old Testament Israelites
to make vows under the old covenant.
God actually sometimes encouraged them to do that, okay?
But man fails, man, you know,
I mean, they even promised to keep the covenant,
didn't they, the Old Testament Israelites?
The Old Testament covenant, they did not keep the covenant.
It's very hard for man to keep promises, to make vows.
So we have to be very careful if we choose to make a vow,
or even better, don't even make the vow
if you're going to break it, okay?
Now, let's go to a New Testament teaching.
Let's go to Matthew chapter 5.
Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 33.
Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 33, please.
Matthew 5, 33.
Let's hear the words of Jesus.
Don't forget, Jesus is God.
When people are making vows to God,
they're making vows to Jesus.
And I'm sure Jesus, because He's eternal,
He's always been, right?
He didn't just get born in the manger
and He came into existence,
He's always been.
I'm sure Jesus has a list of vows
that man has made over the years,
over the thousands of years that were broken, okay?
So we get to this teaching here in Matthew 5, 33.
Jesus Christ says, again,
Ye have heard that it had been said by them of old time,
Thou shalt not forswear thyself,
but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.
So to swear, to make an oath, to make a vow,
these are all one and the same thing, okay?
Verse number 34, Jesus Christ says,
But I say unto you, swear not at all,
neither by heaven, for it is God's throne.
Don't make a promise, I promise by heaven.
No, because God's throne is there.
It's holy.
If you break that vow, you're saying,
you're destroying in a sense that
the holiness that belongs to God.
Verse number 35,
Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool,
neither by Jerusalem,
for it is the city of the great king.
Neither shalt thou swear by thy head,
because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
But let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay,
for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
So you know what we learn really?
Just don't make the vows.
You're better off not making vows.
Just say yes, say no.
You say, but if I say yes, aren't I making a vow?
Hey brother, are you gonna come to my house tomorrow?
Yes, I'll be there.
What if my car breaks down?
Yeah, I mean, obviously,
if there's a situation completely out of your control,
you know, if you have a car accident,
or something happened, you know,
no one's gonna turn around and say,
oh man, you broke your vow.
You know, people understand that things happen
and you can't be at certain places at certain times.
The point being is don't make these promises to God,
or by heaven, or even by his own creation earth,
or even by your own head,
because there's nothing you can do
to change your own head, okay?
These things are out of your control.
Don't make these promises.
Don't make these vows.
Now, the other thought is,
well, does that mean never promise,
never make a vow?
Is that what it's saying?
Well, again, you need to consider
the weight of your promise, okay?
Because there are vows that are made.
There was a vow made even this Friday, okay, in marriage.
When we wed one another,
we are making a vow to that spouse,
that we are taking them as, you know,
a husband taking a wife, and a wife taking her husband.
She makes that vow, she makes that promise.
We often say before God and these witnesses.
That is a vow, isn't it?
Well, obviously, that's not wrong, that's not sinful.
Obviously, we know that marriage
is something God wants us to enter into,
but the point is, that's a pretty serious commitment
to make a vow, isn't it?
I mean, marriage should not be something
that you think, well, if it doesn't work out
for a few months, we'll just end it now,
we'll just get divorced, it doesn't matter.
No, we make those promises to God, okay?
If you break those vows, God looks down, what a fool.
What I'm saying is, you know what, besides marriage,
I can't think of any other vows
that I would be willing to make toward God,
because I'm likely going to break them, okay?
I mean, if I'm going to make a promise,
it better be as serious as something like marriage.
I'd rather just not make the promises to God.
It's better not to make the promises
than to make promises and break them, okay?
So I wanted to show you that the teaching,
it's not saying never make vows,
because we do sometimes have to make vows,
especially on your wedding day, okay?
But you better consider the seriousness
of the vow that you're making.
I mean, even within this same chapter,
I haven't got time to go through it now,
but it's got that chapter about, you know,
if a man look upon a woman with lust,
he committed adultery with her in his heart,
and it says, well, it's better to pluck out your eyes.
You know, better to cut off your hand
if it causes you to sin.
You know, Christ is speaking
at a very extreme point of view.
He wants to highlight just how important
or how serious hell is, that if cutting off your hand
will prevent you from going to hell,
you're better off doing that.
These are extreme positions, extreme views, okay?
We obviously know plucking out your eye,
cutting off your hand's not gonna deliver you from hell, okay?
But Jesus Christ is teaching us some extreme thoughts here,
and you know, making a vow is an extreme,
it is an extreme as well,
decision that you're making before God.
So if you're gonna make a vow,
you better be careful about what you're saying,
what you're promising, you know?
Don't promise to God.
Don't make these promises to God, all right?
God's made a promise to you
that if you put your faith and trust on Jesus,
that you'll be saved, hey, and you get everlasting life,
those are God's promises to you.
Praise God that the moment that you pass away
that you're gonna open your eyes and be in heaven.
You know, God's made us many promises.
It's our responsibility to put our faith and trust
in those promises of God's Word.
That's better than you making vows to God,
and as a man, the weaknesses that we have
break in those vows.
All right, back to Ecclesiastes 5.
Ecclesiastes 5 and verse number 6.
We're still on the topic about our mouth, okay,
and the foolish words that we say
that can, you know, identify us as fools.
Verse number 6 says,
Suffer or allow, allow not, suffer not,
thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin,
neither say thou before the angel
that it was an error,
wherefore should God be angry at thy voice
and destroy the work of thine hands.
All right, now this one's a little bit tricky.
Verse number 6.
How many times do you talk to an angel?
Okay, but don't forget,
the word angel in the Bible means messenger.
That's all it means.
Sometimes angels can be human beings.
Sometimes angels are the heavenly host in heaven.
Okay, we understand that,
but, you know, if we think about this idea,
okay, the angel here,
what are we talking about?
Making vows, right?
Don't allow, suffer not thy mouth
to cause thy flesh to sin.
Don't make promises that your body can't keep
or you're going to cause yourself to sin.
The messenger here, the angel here,
is someone that comes up to you
and says, hold on,
you made that promise though.
Here's the messenger.
Like, he's highlighting to you,
hey, you've broken your vow,
you've broken your promise.
Okay, so what are you not to say to the messenger,
to the angel, okay?
It says, neither say thou before the angel
that it was an error.
Yeah, I made a promise to God,
but I was mistaken.
You know, it's not really my fault.
It was just a mistake.
It was an accident.
No, no, don't make excuses for yourself
if you've broken vows you've made before God.
Okay, don't take that attitude.
Why?
You know, I was just,
you know, it was an error.
No, no, no.
Don't justify yourself
if you made vows to God
and you broke them.
Don't justify yourself.
It was just a mistake, an accident.
Okay, don't take that attitude.
Wherefore, because this is why,
should God be angry at thy voice
and destroy the work of thine hands?
Whoa.
God takes this seriously.
Vows that you make to God.
I didn't really mean it, Lord.
It's an accident.
I said those words accidentally.
I didn't really mean the way I said it.
That's ridiculous.
Don't take that attitude.
Reverend, if you break a vow to God,
you've sinned against God.
You've sinned against God.
Now, when we sin, just like any other sin,
don't make excuses.
Don't justify yourself.
Don't even say, but I meant well.
It doesn't matter what you meant.
Don't justify.
You sin.
You're a sinner.
You know you're a sinner.
God knows you're a sinner.
Reverend, when you sin, what do you do?
Yes, Lord, I'm a sinner.
Yes, Lord, I'm wrong.
I made a mistake.
I've sinned against you, Lord.
I'm sorry.
Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.
That's the attitude.
Don't justify, oh, I'm going to protect myself.
Oh, this happened, that happened,
or that person or this person.
You've sinned against God.
You've broken your vows.
Don't just say it was a mistake.
Say, you know what?
I was wrong.
I'm a sinner.
I messed up.
You're right.
God, be merciful to me.
Please don't destroy the work of my hands.
We know God is merciful.
We know he's long suffering.
We know that we can go before him
and confess our sins before him,
and then we're right with God again, okay?
But again, just showing you the seriousness
of making vows to God, please don't do it.
Don't make promises to God,
because you don't know what this flesh can do.
You know, the flesh is weak.
I mean, you can be living a spiritual high,
coming to church, reading your Bible,
going sowing, excited for God,
and then you're like, ah, man,
I can do this for the rest of my life,
and you make foolish promises,
and then you're a spiritual low,
and you're cast down.
You're going through difficulties.
You're going through problems.
You're going through sorrows and hurts,
and you know you just can't keep to those promises
that you kept when you're on that spiritual high.
That is the Christian life.
You're gonna have highs and lows, okay?
Please don't make promises when you're on your high,
because when you get to your spiritual low,
you'll find yourself unable to keep those promises.
Be careful with the words that come out of your mouth.
Be careful with the words that you speak to other people.
Be careful about the words that you speak toward God.
Verse number seven.
Now here, we're back to the Charismatics.
It says, for in the multitude of dreams
and many words, every time, every service,
God gave me a dream.
Look, many words.
They speak a lot, don't they?
They're very discrete.
Don't they?
They're very descriptive about their visions.
You know, the revelations that they receive from God.
For in the multitude of dreams and many words,
there are also diverse vanities.
But fear thou, God.
Diverse.
Diverse means many, several, vanities, emptiness.
These Charismatic churches, my vision, my dream,
because God says it's full of vanity.
It's worthless.
It's empty.
It means nothing.
But instead of that attitude,
instead of speaking about,
and you know, I'm sure you know what it,
you know sometimes you wake up,
you've had a dream, right?
And in your brain, it's like,
man, this is the best dream I've ever had.
I gotta tell someone.
Have you ever had that?
I gotta tell someone.
And then you start telling someone,
and you realize, hold on.
This dream's really rubbish.
Like, you know, this dream doesn't make any sense, actually.
You know, he made a lot of,
I mean, you know, I was emotional.
I was really focused on that dream when I woke up.
And you start speaking about it.
You go, what a load of nonsense, right?
I mean, this is not even entertaining, you know?
Because, yeah, there is emptiness.
There's worthlessness in those dreams.
It's just your brain's processing.
You remember some of that processing information
that took place.
And, yeah, if you've got a church full of dreamers
and visionaries, and, yeah, it's all worthless,
it's all empty.
It means nothing.
Rather, it says, but fear thou, God.
I want to be a church that fears God.
I want to be a church that's careful
about the words that we speak.
We're not just parroting.
We're not just parroting Pastor Kevin, all right?
We dig into God's word,
and we gain the wisdom that God has for us.
We're ready to hear rather than ready to speak.
We're just swift to hear, you know, slow to speak.
These churches that are about dreams
and all their excellent speeches, you know what?
The Bible says they do not fear God.
It says, but fear.
So instead of being dreamers, rather, you fear God.
You know, Pastor Kevin, I don't know.
These charismatic churches,
they've got a lot of young people.
They've got a lot of exciting activities.
You know, there's a lot of money
coming through that church.
And, I don't know, maybe God's blessing them.
No, they do not fear God.
No, it's worthless.
It's empty.
Yeah, it may entertain your flesh,
but when it comes to your value of worship toward God,
it means nothing.
It means nothing
because it's all foolishness and emptiness.
We need to be in a church,
whether you're part of this church
or some other church, doesn't matter.
We're in a church that upholds God's words.
We come to listen to God's wisdom,
not the wisdom of man.
That's what the preacher ought to be speaking about.
A church is focused on the preaching.
You know, yeah, great, we sing songs.
We enjoy fellowship.
But, you know, the power of the service
that takes up the most time is the preaching.
That's how it ought to be.
Listen to what God's word has to say.
We don't want to go to a church
that's, you know, half an hour of songs and dance
and a 10-minute pep sermon.
No, they've got the wrong priorities.
The priority is to fear God,
to hear what he has to say to us.
Can you keep your finger there and go to 2 Peter.
Go to 2 Peter chapter 1.
2 Peter chapter 1, verse number 19.
Many of you know this passage,
but I think it's important that we highlight this again.
2 Peter chapter 1, verse number 19.
The Bible says,
we have also a more sure word of prophecy.
Where unto ye do well that ye take heed,
that ye listen,
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts.
That's what God's word does.
His sure word of prophecy.
Not dreams, not extra biblical teachings,
not the book of Enoch.
People turn to these crazy books that aren't in the Bible.
Maybe God's truth is out there.
It's crazy, you know there are so many people
that have not read the Bible cover to cover,
and they're already looking for these extra biblical books.
Or they're listening to the dreams,
the imaginations of some unsaved heretic.
Maybe God's truth is out there.
It's in your sure word of prophecy.
Many of you are holding it in your hands today.
And what does it do again?
Look at it.
It says that if you do well to take heed,
if you do well to listen,
as a light that shineth in a dark place,
you know there are places in your heart that are still dark.
There are places in your heart that still are rebellious against God.
There are places in your heart that says,
you know what, I'm going to commit this sin, I don't care.
You know, I'm just going to do, I don't care what God's worth.
There's a darkness in each of us.
Well, God's word is like a light.
When you listen, when you pay attention,
it shines a light in that darkness.
And it reveals to you the issues that you have,
the problems that you have,
the things that you need to change and fix.
It says until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts,
that day star is Jesus Christ.
You know, the whole goal of learning and growing
is that we can be more like Christ,
that we can be more like that day star,
that we can have more light of Christ shining in our life
than we have in the past.
Look at verse number 20.
You say, well, is that sure word of prophecy really the Bible?
Well, verse number 20.
Knowing this verse, that no prophecy of the scriptures,
of the scripture, is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man,
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
It's scripture.
That's the more sure word of prophecy.
Not some dream, not some charismatic vision.
It's God's word, the scriptures.
That is where we put our confidence in.
That's what shines a light in the darkness that we have within us.
That teaches us great things so we can be more like Christ.
And so, verse number 7 in Ecclesiastes 5 or 7,
that ends kind of that little topic about our mouth.
Now I want to talk to you about the title of the sermon was about joy.
Finding joy in our life, a joy in our hearts.
Let's keep going there.
Verse number 8, Ecclesiastes chapter 5, verse number 8.
Verse number 8 is something that we've seen touched upon in previous chapters,
but let's read it again.
If thou seest the oppression of the poor,
and violence perversion of judgment and justice in a province,
marvel not at the matter.
Once again, Solomon's saying, look, there's injustice in this world.
Life is not fair, okay?
The violent seemingly get away with great wickedness.
When that happens, he says, marvel not at the matter.
Don't be surprised, okay?
Don't be surprised.
Don't let this bother you that justice is not being served on this earth, okay?
This is why, again, the same teaching again and again and again that we learn here.
It says, for, this is why, for he that is higher than the highest regardeth.
Who is higher than the highest?
Our Lord God.
Like we might say, well the justice, the government, they're like the highest on the earth.
They've got the, no, they're someone higher than that.
That's why.
That's why let's not be bothered when we see injustice in this world.
Justice on this earth is not carried out and we think it should.
Because there's God seeing it.
He regards it.
He's not forgotten about the injustice.
He's not forgotten the wickedness that people do.
You know, the crimes that people are getting away with.
God has not forgotten it.
That's why we just rest in the Lord.
We say, Lord, it's not fair, but I'm leaving it in your hands, so move on.
That's the right answer.
We see this over and over again in the book of Ecclesiastes.
And then it says, and there be higher, and there be higher than they.
That they, again, is the government, the justice system, those that pass laws, make, you know, make judgments.
And there be higher than they.
That higher, of course, is, again, God.
Okay, they're not the highest.
There is a higher power that is our Lord God.
And, you know, I'll quickly read to you a passage that is very dear to my heart.
Romans 12, 19, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.
For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, save the Lord.
Just leave it in God's hands.
Alright, leave it in his hands.
Let God bring forth his justice, his vengeance, his wrath on the matter.
Verse number 20, this is what we do instead.
Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him.
I can't do that.
This is my enemy, Pastor Kevin.
He's hurt me.
You feed him if he's hungry.
If he thirst, give him drink.
In so doing, thou shall heap coals of fire on his head.
Coals of fire? God's wrath.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Okay, if you're suffering a time of injustice, it's not been fair for you.
You know, someone's hurt you, and they're not getting the just desserts, and it just seems like they're getting away with it.
You know what, just do good unto them.
Are you hungry? Let me feed you.
Are you thirsty? Let me give you something to drink.
Let me be kind to you, because the kinder you are to them, the nicer things that you do, the greater God's judgment will be upon their head.
But you leave it with God.
You know, the hotter those coals of fire will be when God steps in and judges that person.
Leave vengeance to God, alright?
There is someone higher than the authorities on this earth.
So again, this is a common theme that we're seeing through the book of Ecclesiastes.
Verse number nine, please, Ecclesiastes 5.9.
Moreover, the prophet of the earth is for all.
The king himself is served by the field.
Alright, here we learn some interesting lessons about leadership, alright?
If you're a king, if you've got authority, you've got people under you, like our government should be this way.
They should be considering the prophet of all people.
They should be looking for the well-being of their citizens.
That's what they should be doing.
We know governments aren't doing this all the time. Kings aren't always doing this.
But the lesson is here, that if people on the earth profit, they do well, they succeed.
You know, if you're a king, in your kingdom, your servant, the people in your kingdom, they're all doing very well in life.
Then it says, the king himself is served by the field.
The better your kingdom is doing, the better the king is going to do.
You know, if you're someone in authority, you're a parent.
The better your kids do in life, the better your life is going to be.
Alright?
You know, if you're an employer, if you treat your employees with respect, you pay them on time, you know, you train them, you make them feel valued, then guess what?
The productivity of your company is going to increase.
And you're going to look good as an employer.
That ought to be the heart of a leader, alright?
But rather, there are leaders like this in verse number 10, that says,
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase, this is also vanity.
You see, there are some people that make themselves kings, put themselves in positions of authority, they become pastors, whatever, for the love of money.
They do it, how wealthy can I become?
It's not about others, it's not how can others profit under my authority, it's how can I profit?
It's how can I profit from others?
No, the right type of leader is you care and you love the people that are under your authority.
It's not about loving yourself, it's all about me.
No, it's not about you, leader, it's about those that are under you.
Okay?
There are two thoughts of leadership.
And you need to decide if God gives you a position of leadership, you know, which road are you going to take?
Are you going to think it's all about me?
These servants, they're under me, they're here to serve me.
It's all about my profit, or is it rather, as a leader, you ought to be caring about the profits of those under you?
Alright?
Now, I'll give you a quick story in my own workplace.
I've shared this story before, I like this story, okay?
But I was given a position of authority once, as a manager, and I said before, I've worked in a call centre environment.
And if you've ever worked in a call centre environment, you're taking calls all day.
And you think about how tiring that can become, you know, eight hours a day, just taking calls, calls, calls, every single day, Monday to Friday.
Call centres are known to have a high turnover rate.
By turnover, what I mean is employees quit, and you get new employees in.
You train them, they quit, you get new ones, okay?
Call centres are just known, you can't fix this, that's just how it is, the type of work that it is.
People are always quitting because it gets too much, you've got to get new employees over and over again.
When I was given a position where I was overseeing a call centre, the turnover rates per year in our company was 40%.
That means in a period of 12 months, we would lose 40%, almost half of our workforce.
And so, for the whole year, we're just rehiring people, that 40% over and over again.
And it's not just hiring people, you've got to train them.
You want them to get to a point where they can be as productive as the people that left.
That takes time.
This is back in 20, 2011 maybe?
So this is many years ago, you know, think about inflation now, but we calculated that every time someone quits,
just one person, and we have to train somebody, you know, we have to do the recruitment, get the advertisement out there,
the interviews, bring someone in, train them up, by the time they're effective enough to have covered the person that had left,
the company has spent $10,000 just on that one person.
Now we're talking about a call centre of say 50 people.
If we have 40% turnover, that would be 20 people.
Think about that value, 20 people every year times 10,000.
What is that value anyway?
What's 20 times 10,000 for someone?
200,000 every year.
Okay, and now considering inflation now in 2022, you know, it's probably more like 15, 20,000 to replace an employee.
Alright, so anyway I'm giving this position, I'm like man, this is crazy.
Like how much money are we spending just, you know, and I talk to my employees, I'm trying, because I started to learn the biblical principles.
I need to care for my employees.
I need to figure out why they're quitting.
Now I really know they're going to quit because that's the kind of environment that we're in,
but I realised a lot of employees felt undervalued.
They felt like they weren't important and they felt like they were underpaid.
So I did some research, found out how much roughly they should be paid.
We realised, yeah, they maybe are a little bit underpaid.
They weren't underpaid in the sense, you know, they were still meeting the award levels and all that kind of stuff,
but when we compared other workplaces, similar jobs, we realised, yeah, maybe they're about $2,000 to $5,000 a year underpaid
compared to other people in other departments.
So I started to think about that, okay, I've got this many employees.
I think, let's say I'd average about $3,000 per employee.
If I increase everyone's pay by $3,000, let's say, it wasn't all $3,000.
Some got $5,000, some got $500.
Depends on how much, how long they were working there, how effective they were in the job.
Obviously it was a little bit different for everybody.
I just worked out, okay, this is less than the cost of replacing staff, 40% of staff every year.
If I just pay them a little bit more.
And I knew we were going to go through some very hard times on the work, on the job, okay,
it was going to be very hard because we were changing systems, it was going to be a nightmare, I already knew it.
And I knew, man, if it's 40% now, I won't be surprised if it's like 80% turnover by the time the new system comes in
and we just can't afford this, we need the business to run, we need to be profitable, et cetera.
So I worked with some managers, I worked with some HR department guys.
They all approved, all right, let's give your staff a pay rise.
I brought them each into the office one by one.
I said, listen, I've listened to what you guys have to say, I want you to know that I care about you,
the company cares about you, we're going to go through some tough times and we need you, you're important to the business.
And if you can hang around, here's something to help you hang around and be productive and understand when times get tough,
I had this conversation with you, here's a pay increase, outside of the usual pay increases.
Here's this pay increase, every employee, bang, bang, bang, all of them happy, super delighted, very thankful.
All right, then we had the system changes, then yeah, you know what, these employees, not only are they taking calls every single day,
but they're working overtime because things weren't working, changes had happened, things were going, orders were missing,
there were so many problems because of the new system, and it takes time to change, if you know a company, you know what we're talking about here.
Brother, you probably know what I'm talking about, when you change systems, there are things that happen that you just don't expect,
okay, and people's workloads can increase, but you know, I'm like, oh man, we're going to lose staff.
You know that year, our turnover rate dropped to 5%, from 40%, losing 40% of our staff every year to 5%,
and that was actually cheaper to pay them a pay increase than to constantly hire staff.
But because I paid them a pay increase, I went over budget, and what did that mean for me?
You know, I had a certain budget that I had to meet, and if I kept within that budget for that financial year, I would have been paid a very, very generous bonus.
So I had mentioned I have a choice, and I'm not trying to boast of myself, I'm just telling you my stories, that line up with God's word here, okay?
I had to make a choice, man, that bonus would be nice, if I can take that bonus, that would go a long way to paying off my mortgage,
I can do that, and keep losing staff at 40%, or I can go over budget, not worry about my personal bonus, but try to make my employees happy, and I went that way.
You know, they got a profit, I didn't really profit in the long run, well I kind of did, okay, but I kept staff, I had people coming up to me impressed.
How did you change it all of a sudden? From losing 40% of your staff, to losing just 5% of your staff, in a call centre, when all other call centres across Australia lose like 20% of their staff, easily.
You know, well, because I cared for my employees, and guess what, it made me look good, okay, I didn't get the money, but it gave me a good reputation.
It made people think that I'm a good manager, that I can handle a big business, and all I had to do brethren, is apply this very simple principle, verse number 9,
Moreover the prophet of the earth is for all, the king himself is served by the field.
You know, even as a pastor, I care more about each one of you, your spiritual life, your growth, your understanding of the scriptures.
I don't come here, preparing a 10 minute sermon, where I've not spent hours meditating, thinking of God's word, I'm thinking, what does my church need to hear?
How can they grow? If you ever take a position of authority, you have to care about the people that are under your authority.
And naturally, through that progression, you will profit, God will bless you, God will look down upon you, and you will develop a good reputation before other people.
Verse number 11, when goods increase, and this is another theme through the book of Ecclesiastes, when goods increase, so the more you have, they are increased that eat them.
Okay, so you say, well it would be nice to, I don't know, buy an investment house. Yeah, but then you're going to have to pay a real estate agent.
It would be nice to have a house, and then rent it out, Airbnb, we can make a profit, yeah you will, but then you've got to hire cleaners, and you've got to hire people that are going to change linens,
and hey, you might even need to get one of your kids to take phone calls if you're busy working.
The more you have, the more you actually have to take care of, and it becomes too much for one person. You need other people.
Eventually you need, and you get to a point where those people need to be taken care of, you might have to provide full time jobs for people, and you don't actually appreciate your investments and the risks that you made.
You know, what I was saying is basically there's kind of a limit. You can have so many things, but you get to a point where it just no longer profits you anymore, because there's other people eating that profit that you're making.
You're not actually profiting in the long run. It keeps going there, eat them, and then it says, and what good is there to the owners thereof, so what good is there if people are living off what you're making, saving the beholding of them with their eyes.
You know, if you got too much, then what's the point of it? Well, okay, the only thing you can do is look at it with your eyes.
You know, if you own, like you know, I use these examples, because I hear about it on Facebook, I own 30 investment properties.
You know, okay, but you can only live in one house. The other 29 or whatever, the other 30 that you got out there, all you can really do is look at them.
You know what I mean? That's the whole point. Like, I can only have so many things. You know, I can only have so many cars. I'm only driving one car at a time.
You know, if I got a garage full of Ferraris and Lamborghinis and whatever, you know, Porsches, I mean, I can only really drive one car, the rest of it is just to be looked at.
I mean, who cares? It's kind of pointless. You know, and again, the more you have, the more maintenance, the more labour, the more sorrows, the more you need other people to help you to take care of those things, and then they're profiting from, they're taking profit away from you.
You know, the bigger your paycheck, the more the government eats for themselves. The greater the percentage they eat for themselves.
That's the teaching that you see here. Let's keep going there. Verse number 12.
The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
So, in comparison to wanting too many things, our life should revolve around verse number 12 there. The sleep of a labouring man is sweet.
You know what it's saying here? If you want to live a happy life, when you go to bed, you lay your head on your bed, it's sweet. Like, you know, I had a productive day. I've had a good day, and now I can go to sleep and enjoy my sleep.
And then I can wake up tomorrow morning and continue. Well, we learned a few things. Number one, you need to be a labouring man.
Number one, to the men, you need to get jobs. You need to work hard. You need to labour if you want to sleep well. You know, because you get tired and it's like you sleep like a baby.
Okay? You say, what about the ladies? Ladies, obviously, your role, your responsibilities is your family, your household. You do labour in your household. You do labour.
Okay? Don't be, you know, the lady that's just watching the soap operas, you know, and just always on YouTube and always on Facebook. No, you labour hard as well in the responsibilities that God has given you.
Okay? And your sleep will be sweet. It's as whether he eat little or much. Like, it doesn't matter, even if you earn a lot and you eat a lot or you earn little and you eat little.
Obviously, people's pay cheques are going to be all kind of different. But if you just labour and you be productive, you will sleep well. You will have a good life.
Okay? In comparison to the rest of verse number 12 that says, but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
You see, if you just work to be rich, you just work to have much, well the more you have, the more worried you're going to be about those things that you have.
And then you won't sleep well. You see, so we want to be people that labour, we provide for ourselves, we have what we need, and we have a good night's sleep, and we repeat that over and over again.
Rather than just working for wealth and possessions, and then you won't sleep well. Because you'll be worried about what's going to happen to this investment, what's going to happen to the stock market, what's going to happen to this or that.
You know, having those worries and concerns. You don't want to live that life. Because you're not going to live a life that is peaceful.
Verse number 13. There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely riches kept for the owners thereof, to their hurt.
See, the more you own, the more riches you have, it starts to hurt your life. Okay?
And, you know, I'll tell you a quick story of a friend, he told me, well, a friend told me this story about his uncle.
He goes, you know, I had this uncle that, he just, he worked hard, he was constantly working, seven days a week.
You know, he had his family, he had his kids, but he worked so hard, he laboured so hard, that he did not, you know, share his life with his family.
Like his kids don't even know him that well. He's worked hard, he's had all these investments, he's literally a multi-millionaire.
Okay? And then the guy gets cancer and dies. No one liked him. He didn't get along with his family.
Okay? Oh, but he worked so hard, he added this money. He didn't even enjoy his wealth. He would not even go on a holiday with his family.
Because he thought, well, we're wasting time on a holiday, let's just work and make as much money as we can. He dies.
Okay? Never enjoyed it, didn't appreciate his family, his kids did not grow up knowing their dad properly, he laboured for riches to his hurt.
Okay? There's no point. Okay? There's no point to it all. You know? And let's keep going there, verse number 14.
But those riches perish by evil travail, and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
So the guy that's just working for riches, he has children, but he has nothing to really give them.
He said, but all the wealth? Yeah. But this same man, and we know, I hear lots of stories about this, with all the riches, all the millions that he made, caused divisions in his family.
Who's going to get this much in the inheritance? Who's going to get that much, that much?
A family that ought to love each other, a family that is meant to be united, was destroyed because of the great riches that this man amassed for himself.
For no purpose but to hurt himself, and eventually hurt his entire family. They're all divided, they're all fighting, they all think they didn't get enough inheritance, they didn't get enough of their millions of dollars.
You see, that's not the life we want to live. It's just about wealth, and then you have your family fighting about how much they get. They're left with nothing, really.
Okay, they got a bigger bank account, yeah, but they don't even talk to their siblings, they don't talk to their cousins, they don't talk to their family. It's destroyed.
Verse number 15. As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.
Okay, so yeah, this man that passed away, didn't take any of it with him, what was the point of it all? He didn't enjoy his life, okay?
And we need to remind ourselves, we've come naked, out of the womb, and we're going to go back naked, okay?
We're not going to be able to take anything with us, of these earthly possessions, of these earthly treasures.
What can we take with us, though? Our soul, if you're saved, you can take your soul to heaven, praise God.
Hey, when you preach the gospel to others, and they're saved, you're taking their souls to heaven. Amen.
So there are certain things we can take to heaven, but again, think of King Solomon with an earthly perspective, because there's nothing we can take here.
It's to our hurt. It's just destructive. You know, Job had the same conclusion. I'll quickly read to you from Job chapter 1 verse 20.
It says, and Job arose and wrenched his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshipped.
Job lost it all! You know what he does? He gets down, and he worships God.
So many people would be mad at God if they lost it all. Lost all their wealth, lost all their property, lost their family.
Job's so different. He gets down and worships God. Why does he do it?
So, verse 21, and he said, naked came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thee thou.
The Lord gave, and the Lord have taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Again, we start to learn this lesson. If we can't take anything with us then, well, we need to just recognize God's given it to us.
God can take it away, and we need to get to this conclusion in our minds as we go through Ecclesiastes, that whatever we have,
and we've seen this in previous chapters, it's all come from the hand of God.
That changes how you see life, how you see your possessions, how you see your family, how you see your bank accounts.
It changes everything when you just stop and say, God, you've given me these things. It changes everything.
Okay? We'll keep going there. In Ecclesiastes 5, verse number 16.
And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what prophet have he that have laboured for the wind?
All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he have much sorrow and wrath in his sickness.
Alright. So what prophet is there if you labour to the wind? If you labour for nothing? If you can't take it with you, okay?
He goes, also his days he eateth in darkness. Your days are going to be sorrowful. They're going to be dark.
You're not going to enjoy life. You're going to be worried and cast down if you're just labouring for temporary things.
Now I'm going to quickly read to you, and I'm going a little bit over time. My apologies. I'm almost done here.
I'm going to quickly read to you from John chapter 6, verse 24. Maybe turn with me actually. Turn with me to John chapter 6 and verse number 24.
John chapter 6 and verse number 24. Now we go into the miracle of Christ, you know when he fed the 5,000.
You know, Christ always had people seeking him. Now some people were interested in the words that he taught.
Some other people were interested in seeing Jesus perform miracles, like feeding the 5,000.
Some people went to listen to Jesus just to have a good feed. Yeah. We read about this here in John chapter 6, verse number 24.
John chapter 6, verse number 24. When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples,
they also took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. And when they found him on the other side of the sea,
they said unto him, Rabbi, when cameest thou hither? So you can see this multitude of these people trying to seek Jesus.
What does Jesus say in verse number 26? And Jesus answered and said, verily verily I say unto you, ye seek me not because you saw the miracles,
but because you did eat the loaves and were filled. Because the only reason you're coming to me is because you want me to feed you again.
Hey, you lazy people, go and work and feed yourselves. I can't just feed you again and again and again.
I mean you've got to start feeding yourself at some point. It wasn't about just seeing the great works of God.
It wasn't just about hearing the preaching of Jesus. They just wanted a good feed. Alright.
What does Jesus then say in verse number 27? Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life,
which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed. Brethren, when we labor, when we work with our hands,
it's not just for the temporary things. It's not just to be fed right here and now. We ought to be laboring with eternity in mind.
Again, the same theme over and over and over again. This is not saying don't go to work and get a paycheck and feed yourself.
This is saying when you go to work to earn a paycheck to feed yourself, that you do it to the glory of God.
That you put again Jesus as your employer. You put Jesus first. When you're married to your spouse, you say Jesus gave me this spouse.
I better honor, I better perform my duties toward my spouse because Jesus has entrusted this person to me.
It's about doing what you normally do in life that the rest of the world does, but they do it for carnal means.
They do it for temporary value. No, yeah, okay, you do the same things, but you do it for the Lord.
You put him first. You serve him in all aspects of your life. That's what life is about.
It's not about quitting your job and becoming a full-time pastor. It's about serving Jesus in your full-time job.
It's about serving Jesus in your family. It's about serving Jesus when you're learning, children, when you're being educated.
You serve Jesus. Jesus is teaching me. I'm going to do all things for Jesus. That's the right approach.
Eternity, the kingdom of God, serving Christ first and foremost.
Verse number 18, Ecclesiastes 5.18. Because then we get to this point.
Behold, that which I have seen, it is good and comely for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor,
that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him, for it is his portion.
You see, brethren, what you have on this earth, oh, it's all vain, it's all empty. No, it's not.
Yes, if you think of life without God, it is. But with God, it all matters. It all has a purpose.
Okay? That's the mindset. I'm serving Jesus, and everything that I have has been given to me by God.
And then enjoy what you have. Because you're not doing it for carnal, temporary reasons.
You're doing it because the hand of God has blessed you, and you're enjoying the fruits of your labor that God has blessed you with.
Verse number 19. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof,
to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor. This is the gift of God.
Everything you have. Look at your house. Look at all your possessions. All of it is a gift of God. Enjoy it.
Don't feel guilty, oh, I shouldn't enjoy this, because others don't have it. No, God gives some riches and wealth.
God gives people different things. I really taught about contentment. Just enjoy, be thankful to God.
And enjoy what you have. Thank you, Jesus. I get to eat this nice steak today.
You know, brother so-and-so is probably having beans. You know, I don't know, that brother eating beans, you know what, praise the Lord.
Thank you, Lord, for these beans. It's going to nourish me. You know, and the guy that's eating steak every night.
Praise God. You've labored hard. God has given you that gift. Enjoy it.
Eat unto the Lord. Be thankful to God for what he's given you. It is the gift of God.
Now, verse number 20, where have we got the title from? It says,
And he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God answerth him in the joy of his heart.
Okay, now what is this talking about? He shall not remember much, sorry, and he shall not much remember the days of his life.
What is that talking about? Just backtrack to verse number 17 again, about this idea of the days of your life.
In verse number 17 it says,
You see, your life, you're going to have tons of darkness, you're going to have tons of sorrow, you're going to have tons of wrath, you're going to have tons of sickness in your life.
Okay, you say, well that's the bad side of it. Alright, we all have that. That's all part of life.
Okay, but if you learn to appreciate what God has given you, you learn to rejoice, and say thank you God for everything, and you enjoy the labor of your hands, which is the gift of God.
The Bible then says, with that mindset in life,
For he shall not remember the days of his life.
You're not going to dwell in all the problems. You're not going to be cast down with all the sickness, wrath, and sorrows that you've gone through.
Rather, because God answered the joy of his heart, rather you will live a life of joy. You will enjoy life.
You know, enjoying life is not the removal of problems, it's just that when you live life, you live for Jesus, and God gives you that joy, God gives you rewards and blessings, and that helps you forget the problems.
And rather, you rejoice in the great things that God has done for you. That's how you get joy in your heart.
Not the removal of problems, but be thankful for everything that God has for you. Be thankful. Set him first in life. Serve him faithfully in whatever aspects your life leads you to.
And whatever possessions you amass in this life, you just give God the glory. Thank you Lord for everything you've given me. Please give me the joys of my heart. Let's pray.