Ecclesiastes 9, look at verse number 16. It says,
Then said I, wisdom is better than strength. That's the title for the sermon.
Wisdom is better than strength. Do you believe that? You know, wisdom is better. You know,
I mean, strength is good, being physically strong, being active, right? I mean, this is great. You
know, the kids for youth group on Friday. Hey, there was some strength being shown there. We
were in tug of war. All right. Isabel told me she had some blisters on her hand afterwards. I don't
know if anyone else had any blisters. I mean, strength is great, but you know what's going to
win the tug of war? Not always strength. Sometimes it's the wisdom. It's the technique, knowing how
to push and how to pull. That often, you know, is much better. Well, in this case, of course,
when we look at the Bible here, it is better than strength. And so, you know, we want to apply
ourselves to the wisdom that God has in His Word. You know, the Book of Ecclesiastes is a lot of
great wisdom. You know, there's a lot of learning that we can get out of this. The desire to live
a life without God, the desire to live a life where we are chasing the riches of this world.
We don't need to experience it because we have the Book of Ecclesiastes to give us the wisdom
of saying, hey, this is not good for you. You're not going to be satisfied. It's not going to give
you joy in life if you're just chasing this world. And so we want to learn from the wisdom of God.
And, you know, I promise you, it's going to make your life so much easier. You know, it's strange
to me when Christians reject God's Word when they rebuild against God's Word. And they say, well,
that doesn't work in my life. Well, I'm in a different situation. I mean, that's your choice.
You know, God gives you the freedom to decide whether you want to apply the wisdom of His
Word or whether you want to apply your own wisdom. It's up to you. But you're going to face the
consequences of those actions. You know, to me, why don't we just listen to what God says? Why
don't we just do it? And when we realize we come short of God's standards in His Bible, why don't
we just put our hand up and say, yes, God, I fail in that area. Can you help me do better? Lord,
I'm not ready to do that just yet. Why don't you help me, Lord, to bring my mind, my heart,
to trust your Word and to have a desire to follow your Word, Lord, even though right now in my life,
I don't, I just seem so far from it. You know, to me, it just makes, if we're saved, if we go
into heaven, if we know that's what's more important than what this life contains, then
we should just obviously take the wisdom that God gives us and apply it. It's God's wisdom. It's not
the wisdom of man. It's God's wisdom found in His Word. Let's start during verse number one.
Ecclesiastes 9-1. For all this I considered in my heart, even to declare all this,
that the righteous and the wise, so that's kind of where you want to be, righteous and wise,
and their works are in the hand of God. No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is
before them. All right, so look, we desire to be righteous. How do we know to be righteous?
How do we know what the standard of righteousness is? Well, first of all, if you're saved,
you already know that you can't meet righteousness. You'll never achieve it. Okay,
you failed. You've made mistakes in life. Okay, and so you're a sinner. All right, that's obvious.
Okay, but we know that by God's Word. We know that by His laws, and then for us to walk in
righteousness, again, we're instructed by His Word. Hey, wisdom. All right, we understand there's the
wisdom of man, but we understand that the wisdom of God, again, found in His Word. So we know by
God's Word, we know what is righteous. We know what is wrong. We know what is wisdom. We know
what is foolishness. It says, and their works. Hey, we know what God wants us to do with our
lives. You know, God doesn't just give us information. He wants us to take that information
and do something with it. He wants us to improve our marriages. He wants us to improve our children.
He wants us to take His Word and improve our righteousness. He wants us to take His Word and
improve our soul winning. He wants us to take His Word and improve our service in the house of God.
He wants us to take the Word and improve our work and our employment, all areas of our life. God
wants us to take the words and put our work toward it, right? But then it says this at the end of
verse number one, no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. The only way
you can also truly know what love and hatred is, is through God. Society kind of has an idea of
what love is. It has an idea of what hatred is. You know, there would be many that would
label our church a hate group. You know, just for preaching God's Word. Just for saying this is what
God says. This is what God's standard is. Our desires to line up with God's Word. If we just
preach God's Word without compromise, people will say you're a hate group. You know, and here's the
thing. Yeah, we do have hatred. You know, we learn what hatred is. Hey, what we need to decide is
what God hates, we're going to hate. That's the standard. And what God loves, we're going to love.
And look, if you love something that God hates, and you hate something that God loves,
there's something wrong with you. Again, just put your hand up and say, God, I failed. You know,
I've got issues. I've got failures. Lord, I don't fully understand your word in some places.
Help me understand. Help me come to the same point that you are. But the point that we learn
out of this brethren is that society, the world cannot really truly teach you how to love or
truly teach you what hatred is. The society doesn't know. It's mixed up. The only place that we truly
know how we can experience these emotions is again found in God's Word. If you can keep your finger
there. Actually, yeah, actually, yeah, keep your finger there. Go to 1 John. Go to 1 John
in your New Testament. Go to 1 John chapter four. I'll read to you a few other passages
while you turn to 1 John chapter four. And people often in the world, there's a common saying that
says, you know, follow your heart. Brethren, let me encourage you. Don't follow your heart.
Don't follow your heart. Okay, the Bible says in Jeremiah 17 nine, the heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? You want to follow your heart.
You don't even know your heart. You know, when you preach the gospel to people, you know,
people say, well, God knows what's in your heart. You know, even Christians say this sometimes.
Well, God knows what's in my heart. Yeah, that's a pretty scary thought. Okay,
because your heart is desperately wicked above all things. I mean, think about everything in
this world that can deceive you. Your heart is even more deceptive than all those things.
So don't rely on your feelings. Don't rely on your heart. Okay, again, what do we rely upon? We rely
on what God's Word says. Okay, and listen, if we're walking the new man, if we're walking the
Spirit, then you know, our heart is righteous. Our heart is going to line up with God's heart.
But a lot of our life is spent in His flesh, you know, and the idea that we need to take and
crucify that flesh and put away that old man. That's a constant thing. Every day of our life,
we constantly wake up with a heart that is desperately wicked. Who can know it, though?
Who can know the heart truly? And, you know, sometimes people, you know, and I understand,
I'm a pastor, people kind of come up to me sometimes about relationships. And,
you know, what do you think I should do? And you know what I tell people, you know,
when it comes to the matters of the heart, I'm probably not the best person to come to and speak
to. Make sure she's saved. Make sure he's saved. Make sure he loves the Lord. And he loves you.
That's a good place to start. All right. I mean, if they don't love you, if they don't love the
Lord, that's going to be a bad relationship. I tell you from the very beginning. All right,
but really, when it comes to the matters of the heart, it's hard because who can know it? Well,
the only one that truly knows it is the Lord God. Verse number 10 says, Jeremiah 17, verse 10,
I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways and
according to the fruit of his doings. You see, the Lord sees our heart. And it's good to pray
sometimes, Lord, can you try my heart? Can you search my heart? It's a scary prayer. I don't
like to pray that prayer, you know, but sometimes we have to, because you don't really know your
heart. And you know your heart needs to be clean. You know your heart needs to be pure. You know
your heart needs to love what God loves and you need to hate what God hates. And sometimes it's
good to go before God and say, God, can you check my heart out? You know, we go to doctors to check
our hearts, don't we? We go to doctors to make sure that things are working well in our physical
bodies. Well, the heart is more than just something that pumps blood. You know, in the Bible,
the heart, you know, refers to our emotions, you know, our feelings, how we perceive life.
And we need to make sure that we go to the great physician, we go to our doctor and say, God, can
you check my heart condition right now? You know, does it love the things that you love? Is it lined
up with you, Lord? Or is it love in the world? You know, you're there in 1 John 4, look at these
words. It says, he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. God is love. How can the
world who does not love God, give you any information about love, tell you what love is?
It cannot, because they do not know God. If you reject God, you're going to reject love.
The only way they can truly love is to truly know God, and to truly know his word, then you can
truly love. Pastor, I don't know if I love my spouse. Well, you know what, first thing you need
to do is love God. Know God. And once you know God and you know the love of God, then you can
love your spouse correctly. You can love your children correctly. You can hate the things that
you are, that are to be hated in this world correctly. But you need to know God. God is love.
How can you know love if you don't know God? You don't know what God wants. You don't know what
God says. You don't pick up the Bible. You don't read it. You've never read the Bible cover to
cover. How can you truly say that you love God? So we need to get into his word, amen, to know
truly how we ought to feel about certain things. Can you please turn to Ecclesiastes, back to
Ecclesiastes, and just back to chapter number three. Chapter number three is very much the
bedrock of a lot of the chapters in the book of Ecclesiastes. But just a reminder there,
Ecclesiastes chapter three verse number one, just a reminder to everything there is a season and a
time to every purpose under the heaven. Look to everything there is a season, right? Look drop
down to verse number eight. A time to love and a time to hate. A time of war and a time of peace.
You know there are some pastors, there are some churches that tell you that that hatred is a sin.
But look there's a time to love. There's a time to hate. When is hatred a sin?
When you hate the things that God loves. That's the sin. Is it ever sinful to love? Yes. When
you love the things that God hates, that's a sin as well. You know just love for love's sake can
be sinful if you love the things that God hates. But if you hate the things that God loves, that's
sinful as well. Hey we want to live a righteous life, a life that pleases God, that lines up with
his word. Well there's a time to love, there's a time to hate. If you truly say to me I don't hate
anything, I don't hate anyone, then you've got a problem. Okay you're not righteous. You need to
go to God and say God teach me to hate. Teach me to hate the things that ought to be hated. Teach
me to love the things that ought to be loved. Okay that's the right approach when it comes to God's
word. Verse, back to Ecclesiastes 9 please. Ecclesiastes 9 verse number two.
Solomon takes another view here. He goes in verse number two. All things come alike to all.
What he's talking about here is that problems come to everybody. You know everyone again,
everyone has problems. Okay and why do you keep saying this pastor in different sermons? Because
I grew up in church thinking that some people don't have problems. You know I just thought
that you know for some people they're just they've just got a bad lot in life and other
people just have a good good good in life. It's not even like that. Everyone has problems.
You know especially when I became a pastor, I mean I've learned that a long time ago,
but especially when I became a pastor I realized and people you know people as a pastor again
people talk to you about things and you realize that everyone's got problems. Everyone's got
hardships you know truly. I mean I mean even you know you're probably even familiar with some of
the hardships and problems that people go through your brothers and sisters in the Lord but I'm
telling you it's even worse than that. You know pains and emotional scarring and some histories
that are just unbelievable to me. You know and well that's what Solomon realizes. All things
come alike to all. Everyone goes for problems. There is one event to the righteous and to the
wicked. He goes even if you're righteous or you're wicked you're still gonna have problems. You've
seen that this is all about problems okay. To the good and to the clean and to the unclean.
If you try to live a good life or if you just try to live a wicked life you still have problems.
To him that sacrifice and to him that sacrifice of thought. You know this morning you're sacrificing.
You're coming to the house of God. You're sacrificing your time right. You're sacrificing
your lips of worship toward God. Those are sacrifices of praises but there are some people
that don't sacrifice. There are some people that do nothing for the Lord but it seems like those
that do things for God and those that do nothing for God they still have problems. As is the good
so is the sinner and he that swearth as he that fearth and of. People that make promises. People
that are too scared to make promises. Just seems like problems happen to all right and I want you
to take you know this is again a truth in the world right. You know even if you live the
righteous life the good and clean life. One that offers sacrifices. Someone that overcomes sins.
Someone that keeps all their oaths. You're still gonna have problems. You're still gonna go through
trials and difficulties. God that's really sad. That's really depressing. Only if you have an
earthly attitude. Only if you have a carnal attitude to life. Okay I've said this over and
over again and please remember this. Your trials and your problems have been God has allowed you
to have those things. Yes problems can come from the devil. Absolutely they can come from a world.
They can just come from the natural consequences of sins. You know just being born a sinner or
committing sins and the consequences that come out of sins but sometimes God just sends you
trials and difficulties and again as hard as it is we need to learn how to rejoice when these
things happen. Just as much as we rejoice when we're blessed. We have to turn around and say
God I rejoice when you let me go through problems because again these are learning opportunities.
Times to grow and but look problems happen to all. Okay so you can either get downcast.
Solomon gets downcast or you can learn how to rejoice about it. Okay it's up to you. You know
it depends how you want to live your life. You can either complain you know blame God you know or
think other people don't go through problems it's just me and have a pity party. You can have that
attitude but I tell you what you're going to be pretty depressed. You're gonna be pretty cast down.
You're gonna be pretty much you're gonna be a negative person. You're gonna have a negative
outlook you know to life. People aren't going to like your presence if that's your view of life.
Okay or you take the view well God what are you instructing me to do? What a blessing brother
Michael problems blessings constantly saying that but it's true though right. I mean sometimes you
look at that right these are blessings but they actually are blessings. Okay and you know what
if you are living a righteous life again God has looked down upon you and he says you know what
it's time to prune you a little further. It's time to make you a little better. Here's a problem
to refine you. Here's a fire to go and clean out that dross so you can come out
a little more pure on the other side and you know what that'll give you a positive outlook to life.
You know you can be a blessing to others that are going through problems.
It's just about having the right outlook. Again King Solomon has a negative outlook. He's very
pessimistic because he's trying to live our life without God. He's trying to find meaning and
purpose in the world without God. Let's keep going to verse number three.
This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun that there is one event
unto all. Yea also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil and madness is in their heart
while they live and after that they go to the dead. So he goes look life is all about problems
it's evil right. I mean it's just issues after issues then you just die. I mean that's a pretty
pessimistic life right. You're born, you get old, you have problems and you die.
And is that what life is? Well kind of. It kind of is isn't it right. It kind of is.
But you know what life can be so much more right. God has come to give us, Christ has come
to give us salvation. Not just a temporary life. If you're saved today you have eternal life.
You'll never die. Truly you'll never die. Your soul and spirit will live forever.
I mean and Christ has come to give us a life that is abundant. A life that is free. A life that we
can have meaning and purpose. You know not just for today but for all eternity. I mean God has
done so much for us. Yeah you know what try to remove God from that equation. Try to remove God
from your life and even as a Christian you'll start to despise life. You'll start having a
negative outlook to things. You know it's going to happen because we don't forget you still have
the flesh. You still have the old man. You know that old man knows the old way of living. The
old man is very pessimistic okay. The old man does not rejoice in the Lord. That's why you need to
walk again in that new man. Can you please keep your finger then. Go to Psalm. Go to Psalm chapter
one. Go to the first Psalm. Psalm one. I'll just read it quickly to you. Because I don't want you
to be pessimistic. Go well what's the point of being righteous if I'm going to have problems
anyway. Yeah but you have God to help you through the problems okay. And in fact if you've got to
just let's read this one quickly because one of my favorite Psalms. Psalm one. Psalm one. It says
blessed is the man that worketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the
way of sinners nor siteth in the seat of the scornful. You see you are blessed if you don't
follow the way of the sinners. You are blessed if you don't seek after wickedness. I want you
to understand there is still wickedness. There is still sin. There is still problems but God will
bless you through that through that journey. God will bless you in life. Verse number two.
But his delight. This ought to be you brethren. Your delight is in the Lord of the Lord and his
Lord doth he meditate day and night. Is that where you delight? I mean tell me right now what is your
favorite thing? What do you delight in the most? You know what if you could just do anything right
now what would it be? I think a lot of us would not even say pick up our bibles and read it.
But his law that ought to be our delight. That's what we need to get to in life. We really just
enjoy picking up his word. First thing in the morning do it brethren. Pick up the bible and
say Lord I want some sweetness here. I want to be blessed. I need some guidance. I need some
direction because there's so much wickedness in life. Look at verse number three. And he shall be
like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bring forth his fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. You see you still have
problems in life but you stand sure and secure. You're unmovable. You're stable right and you're
being nourished by the waters as it were. You know you've been fueled by God you know to continue in
life a positive outlook even in the face of problems. Look at verse number four it says
the ungodly are not so. They are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly
shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord
knows the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish. We all have problems okay
but if you live in a righteous life if you're saved a child of God and you're living after his
ways he will get you through the problems. He'll keep you stable and secure. You know people are
going to look at you and go I don't understand. How do you continue? How do you continue being
positive? How do you continue just loving the Lord even in the face of problems? And you say you know
what because it's a blessing. Blessed is the man okay if I seek after righteousness if I walk in
his ways. Truly brethren when we start to set God as our priority eternity in mind life changes
completely. You can be stable, secure, positive. Everything has purpose in life when you put God
first. We move God out of the equation yeah life is a misery truly okay. Back to our Ecclesiastes
9 verse number 4. Ecclesiastes 9 verse number 4. Again Solomon very pessimistic all right he says
for to him that is joined to all the living there is hope for a living dog is better than a dead
lion. I mean that that's kind of obvious like obviously a lion in many ways is better than a dog
well I don't know I guess if you wanted a pet around the house the dog's going to be better
okay but when it comes to a creature of power and strength okay the lion is better okay the lion
will rip that dog apart but if the lion is dead the living dog is better. What is strong and look
this is kind of strange like he's basically saying that you know what life is better than death
and again that's true okay I mean at least in life you get to experience things in in death
your body's there stuck in the grave. We know of eternity we know there's eternal life we know
there's a heaven and hell okay but again just consider where Solomon is at he's just thinking
earthly just thinking carnally he's not thinking about eternity at this point in life that's fine
okay yet life is better than death in many aspects if that's all we have to live for
I mean again when we think about what what we read about in Philippians you know for me to live is
Christ but to die is gain you know again when you come when we add God to the equation life is great
but even better is when we go to be with the Lord right I mean you kind of again you have a flip
there okay like if this was all we had there was no eternity there was no God then obviously
being a living dog is better than a dead lion okay life is better yeah and and look when we
take this view that you know for me to live is Christ and to die is gain we're not saying that
life is meaningless and this is die no life is still good but it gets even better after you die
okay it gets even better again if you put God in the equation of your life
if you live for God you know things will be better not only did he come to give us a life
that is more abundant on this earth but eternal life in heaven in the presence of God it's the
best life you'll ever live best life that you'll ever live it continues I'll just read it to you
Philippians 1 then it continues in verse number 22 but if I live in the flesh this is the fruit
of my labor yet what I shall choose I whatnot for I'm in a straight betwixt two having a desire to
depart and be with Christ and to be with Christ which is far better nevertheless to abide in the
flesh is more needful for you see abiding in the flesh we're still on this earth right why did not
why did God not just take us immediately as soon as we're saved why did not take us to heaven where
it's far better because it's so needful for you to be on this earth if you're still living right
and you're saying well man I got I got major sickness because I can't even get out of bed
all right but you still have life then God has a need for you on this earth okay life is not
meaningless okay never have the attitude I just can't wait to die because I mean can't wait to
die to speak with the Lord that's great but to die I can't wait to die because life is just miserable
no you're wrong okay God has a need for you all right I mean just think of what that is
I don't know what my what God wants from me well you know the very minimal thing that we ought to
be on this earth for is to see others come to Christ is to give them the gospel the very
minimal thing right is to tell people how to go to heaven and by doing that you'll earn great
rewards in heaven God has a need for you you know you're here for a purpose you know I know what my
need is it's to pass the two churches it's to be a loving husband it's to raise godly children
I know what God I know there's a need here last thing I'm going to do is commit suicide when God
has work for me to do on this earth I mean it would be far better the moment I cross you know
to eternity far better but there's still a lot to do here okay but again if you remove that from the
equation then you know what you're going to just think that you know life is miserable problems
what's the point okay if you remove again God from the equation but I want to you know tell
you that your life is needful you are needed your importance you're useful by God I don't
care how horrible you feel about yourself you might think you're you know you can't amount
to much but God has a need for you on this earth as long as you're breathing you're important to
God verse number five it says for the living know that they shall die but the dead know not anything
neither have they any more a reward for the memory of them is forgotten now again these are verses
that if you're not careful you can take them out of context and you start teaching things like the
Jehovah witnesses the Jehovah witnesses believe that the moment you die your soul and spirit
remain in the body and then you experience what they call soul sleep okay or that if someone dies
without Christ and then they get judged that they they no longer cease to exist they don't believe
in hell like eternal torments they believe the moment you're thrown into hell you just cease to
exist okay what they do is they take a verse like number five where it says but the dead know not
anything it's like see once you die there's nothing to know that's it you cease to exist
neither have they any more reward for the memory of them is forgotten it's like that's it they're
done for that's not the reality okay again what is Solomon saying if we just look at earth from
a carnal perspective that's how we see things we see a body in the grave well they can't do
anymore they can't think anymore they don't have any memories because that body is dead
but again we understand that there's eternity in mind okay now if you die without the Lord yeah
one day the memory of them is forgotten okay but I want you to remember that that's not really
all that life is about it's not just you live and then you die and you're forgotten
and yes from an earthly kind of perspective that is the reality you know we probably don't even
remember we don't know like history books capture some names and some people but I'm sure there are
people in history that have done great works but they're completely forgotten in history you know
what they achieved was never written down or if they were written down those books have probably
perished okay but don't forget what God says in Hebrews 13 verse 5 he says I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee the world can forget you you know if God can taris and you know what the
Lord comes back in 100 years you know 100 years from now after we're all long and perished people
aren't going to remember our names okay but the Lord says he will never leave us he'll never forget
us okay the Lord does not forget his people you're a child of God your names are written down in
heaven in fact God says that he's got new names for you in heaven you're never forgetting in God
okay again if you just live earthly carnal yeah you know what what's the point of life
you get forgotten anyway yeah but if you have God in mind if you're saved your name will be
remembered forever it's written down there in the lamb's book of life can't be forgotten okay it's
written down for all eternity verse number six also their love and their hatred
and their envy is now perished neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is
done under the sun all right so again we all get forgotten we all have problems you live
righteously you live as a sinner we just have problems we all die so what's the point of life
against solomon's pessimistic attitude then he says this words in light of this in light of
seeing the world through this lens he says in verse number seven he goes go thy way so this
is what you shouldn't be doing then all right go thy way eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine
with a merry heart for God now accepteth thy works all right let's explain verse number seven
very quickly i'll turn the second part this is for God now now accepteth thy word well what it
means by now accepteth is basically saying that you know God is receiving your works now like
your your earthly works now you know God is blessing your earthly works now now it's accepted
again if you have an earthly perspective that is true you know that what we do for life now just
matters for now so just might as well just enjoy what you have now okay but again we know as
Christians that what we do has lasting effects for eternity okay it's not just the now that God
cares about but God cares about us laying up treasures in heaven for eternity again what we
do today makes a difference for eternity you know when we say on this earth to get ahead in life
we say to people you know get an education right get experience work hard right apply for those
promotions all right get your studies and we talk about this we say look better yourself in your
future you know start applying yourself and that's all good that's all fine got no problem with that
okay but we often forget that we have a greater future we have eternity there are rewards
all right heaven is not a communist society God's not going to take from everybody and give
everybody an equal share that's not heaven okay the more work you do for the Lord today the
greater your rewards will be in heaven okay and that's going to matter for eternity again we talk
about how important it is right to get your education work hard provide for yourself and
again I'm not against that that's all good right it all has a place but it's just temporary it's
just temporary even more important is that you apply yourself for God you serve him okay you're
going to get to heaven you've got you're going to have some type of bank account I don't know how
that bank account is going to look like and it's not going to be the same we're going to have
different levels of authority you can read about this in the book of Revelation when God creates
the new heavens and the new earth you know God still has kings God still has nations God still
has authority in the new heavens and the new earth and those authorities are made up of people
of Christians you know what I want you to further your life I want you to have a good job I want
you to have a good paycheck but I'm talking about heaven okay you know I want you guys I want your
life Baptist church to have some you know some authority in that new heaven new earth some riches
in the new heaven new earth okay so start applying now children you have your whole life you know
a lot of your parents got saved later in life you know you've got a lot more time if you apply your
heart to serve the Lord to maximize your treasures in heaven I don't care if my children are rich on
this earth do you guys really care I care I want them to be rich in heaven I want Jesus Christ to
say thou good and faithful servant what's that word servant you're a worker you're there to serve
Jesus if you don't serve Jesus in this life how can God say to you when you see him thou good and
faithful servant how can God call your servant if you don't serve Jesus everything you do to serve
Christ will be rewarded in heaven and the bible says even a cup of water even a cup of water you
come and serve somebody a cup of water you will not lose your reward just every little thing that
we do as long as we're serving Christ you know what makes a massive difference in eternity
you say but to serve Christ I can't chase the things I want in this world
well good number one I mean this world can hurt you you know what Jesus Christ says that what we
give up in this life that God's going to reward us a hundred fold in the life to come a hundred
fold think about that interest rate that's awesome and put your yeah put your deposit
put your money down in heaven if it's a hundred fold I want in and that's life eternal again just
thinking about this life alone is I mean it's okay but make sure you're serving Christ you're
thinking of eternity let's keep going there verse number eight let thy garments be always white
that means let your garments be clean and let your let and let thy head lack no ointment man
I've got a bit of ointment in my hair this morning got a little bit of gel all right
let me just see all right make sure your hair doesn't lack some ointment all right
if your hair's a little dry all right get a little what is this teaching us
look he's saying look Solomon saying this if if life is just about problems and dying well you
know enjoy your life that you have now okay he said there in verse number seven go thy way eat
thy bread with joy all right enjoy your food there's nothing wrong with that drink thy wine
that's your juice right with a merry heart enjoy what God gives you you know not only that let your
garments be always white have some clean clothes right and let thy head like fix yourself up look
presentable and again he's just taking this from an earthly perspective it's not saying these
things are wrong or sinful it's not wrong or sinful to have clean clothes okay but what he's
saying is look if if if we're all gonna die and there's nothing more we should just appreciate
what we have and enjoy ourselves you know you've labored hard for your bread for your food enjoy
your food hey we should enjoy our food we should be thankful right enjoy your drinks I'm not talking
alcohol here we're not talking alcoholic wine here and a wine in the bible can be used many
times just as juice it's not always it's not sometimes about alcoholic wine sometimes it's
just about juice all right and yeah have some clean clothes in fact keep your finger there
and go to Matthew chapter six go to Matthew chapter six and verse number 31 so this should
be a reality whether you're saved or you're unsaved this should just be a reality for
everybody right just to enjoy what you have you know make sure you're clean and tidy
and in Matthew chapter six verse number 31 I just want to remind you of this thought
because we're coming again this is Queensland this is the Sunshine Coast we're not far from
the coast all right the weather's getting warmer we're coming to the we're in spring now we're
coming to the summer months and I know how people start dressing when it gets pretty hot out here
okay I mean the clothes is not modest all right and we're Christians we're not trying to follow
the world remember we're here to love what God loves God does not love the bikini okay don't
dress yourself with in a bikini ladies be careful how you dress the bible says in Matthew 6 31
therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or whether we're whether
we've all shall we be clothed the reason I took this is because that's what Solomon's talking about
eating drinking our clothing okay but why did I turn here look at verse number 32 for after all
these things do the gentiles seek look at this I want you to not forget this for your heavenly
father knoweth that ye have need of all these things of what food drink clothing amen verse
number 33 but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall
be added unto you what should your priority be God's kingdom his righteousness you prioritize
things God will make sure you've got enough food drinks and clothing okay what we learn in in the
book of ecclesiastes that our clothes should always be white think about that for a moment
what is it saying we should be presentable you know as Christians our clothing communicates to
others how God has blessed us I want you to think about that because it's God that gives us the
rain it's God that gives us you know okay the food and the drink that's nourished the inward man
to nourish the body inside okay but what what what nourishes the body on the outside is our clothing
that covers our body on the outside all right God is the one that gives us our clothing
I want you to think about your wardrobe does it please God as we come to these summer months
how are you going to dress you know you're going to have some money to go to the shops and buy
clothing okay are you going to take the world standards or you're going to take God's standards
are you going to love the things that God hates we're going to hate the things that God loves
which one are you going to love what God loves you know what ladies your thighs are your nakedness
men the same what are you going to do are you going to wear shorts or a skirt that's going
to show your thighs look how God clothed me today because it's God's job to clothe you
God promises you arraignment if you put his kingdom first in his righteousness
you know what's going to happen when you start lowering your standards when you start not to
be presentable or clean you're basically communicating to your brothers in the Lord
that I'm not seeking his kingdom or his righteousness
you know what I'm hating the things that God loves that's what we're communicating
your clothing also represents who God is how he's blessed you okay and look I'm not talking about
dressing like some monk or some nun or some Amish woman okay where there's like you all you can wear
is blue and black or something because we're too scared to look pretty or something there's a lot
of clothing that's pretty on ladies okay there's a lot of nice clothing a lot of fresh summer
clothes that you can put on okay that is beautiful to look at okay but we need to understand what God
standards are understand okay to dress modestly God is the one that gives you clothing okay when
you come when you when you dress and you're out in public make sure your clothes are always white
make sure you've put on some clothes you've had a wash you've had a shower you know your clothes
have been washed they've been ironed or whatever it is to be presentable the more you present
yourself I'm not saying put on the brands put on the brand clothing and we're out of that and
become like a billboard for some organization I'm not talking about that I'm not sure about
bling bling and whatever but hey how you dress ought to be presentable you know and every time
we come to that warm months in the sunshine coast I have to remind the church I have to
remind us that we need to stand out differently from this world okay it's very tempting to just
go it's just Queensland pastors you don't understand you're from Sydney you know this is
how we are in Queensland okay that's how you are in Queensland but you love what God loves
you're a Christian you're a Christian first not a Queenslander first you're saved
hey you know what enjoy good food as well buy some nice nice food all right enjoy what God has
given you put on some nice clothes show yourself to be presentable you know God that's what God
wants in your life back to Ecclesiastes chapter nine verse number nine Ecclesiastes nine nine
what else is important in life live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest
all the days of the life of thy vanity which he have given thee under the sun listen God has
given you your spouse all the days of thy vanity for all thy portion in this life and in thy labor
which thou takest under the sun now again you say well it says vanity maybe marriage is vain and
empty in purpose yeah again where is Solomon pessimistic not thinking about eternity all
right but even in that state he goes well even if that's how life is it's worth having a joyful life
with your life it's worth having a happy marriage even if life is meaningless in purpose it has no
meaning and we all just die and go to the grave and nothing matters it's still worth having a
good marriage it says his wife Solomon's married to a thousand women here he realizes man one wife
is the way to go okay I mean he could say wives here you know he says look a wife joyfully all
the days of your life how is your marriage do you say look I'm happy today I'm enjoying my marriage
today you know every day of my life pastor Kevin is joyful with my spouse if you say no I can't
say that pastor I know you can't I can't always because the life is problems I understand that
right I understand that thing we don't always see eye to eye with our spouse I know sometimes we're
going to argue or whatever back and forth but the aim is to live a joyful life if you can say most
of my days are just misery with my with my spouse then you're not even living a life that is
worthless because even the life that is worthless and that in vain deserves a happy marriage
you gotta prioritize your marriage you gotta fix your marriage you gotta find joy in your spouse
you married that person you said till death do us part this is who I want to be with for the
rest of my life so maybe it was a mistake well it's not a mistake now you said I do
that's the person that God has given you what did it say here
it says uh yeah which he have given thee under the sun God has given you your spouse
are you going to find join your spouse you have to you know go out on a date go out and enjoy
yourselves we've got nothing to talk about we'll talk about the bible talk about the kids talk
about your future talk about your goals sometimes husbands and wives don't even know each other
anymore they've lived with each other for so long they don't even know each other okay brethren we
need to have happy marriages strong happy marriages if you love your children you need a strong happy
marriage you need to set a good example for your children to see dad loves mum mum loves dad my
parents the parents love the children because then your children are going to feel valued
and they're not going to try to find love from some loser that wants to just use them for one
thing now when you set a good example of loving families it's important God has given us marriage
okay God has given us a spouse I mean just take that God has given that spouse to you think about
that God has gone here you go here's your spouse it's God's gift to you what are you doing with
that gift is marriage important to you do you love your spouse you have to love them okay so please
please work on your on your marriage if you're not having joy in marriage you're actually living
a life that's worse than vanity because even in the days of vanity he says it's worth having a
joyful marriage think about that think about you know the bible is so different to the society
so different that's what we have to line up how who can know God's word who can know God's ways
you have to get into God's word and you need to fix the things that are broken
fix it don't ignore it I sometimes ignore things that are broken my toilet doesn't flush properly
you know I'd rather just ignore it but I don't want to ignore my wife though like that's actually
vastly more important eternally more important than my toilet
let's not treat our spouse like the broken toilet okay that we're trying to ignore
no she's she's important he's important to you verse number 10 whatsoever thy hand findeth to do
do it with all thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave
whither thou goest again that that mindset you know temporary life means nothing because even
then we should just do the best we can whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might
again don't take this view that well if life you know that's just vanity I shouldn't do the best
I can because there are many other passages in the bible that confirm that these things are
things that we need to do okay loving our wife is not just found in the book of ecclesiastes
as a point of vanity of life but we find many passages in the bible about loving our wife
okay we find many aspects of the bible about enjoying our food and our meals and our drinks
and our clothing that God gives us when it comes to putting our hand and giving the best we've got
we've got other passages in the bible once again I'll just quickly read to you in colossians 3 23
it says and whatsoever ye do do it heartedly as to the Lord and not unto men
whatever you're doing do it with all your hearts give the best you can children in your studies in
your school do the best you can I don't care about being rich and being it doesn't matter
just do it unto the Lord do it like the Lord's asked you to do it then you're going to give
your best when I come to preach I try to do it to the Lord I want the Lord to be pleased
with the preaching I can do the 10 minute sermonette and just give you a pat on the
back and say well done off you go okay but you know what we need to do the best we can
I tell you as a pastor I do the best I can I honestly do with the time that I've got
I do the best I can you know what if I don't meet your standards
I'm more than happy for you to find another church I'm not offended you know I hope there's
a good pastor out there a good church that's going to feed you God's word and it's going to
be praying for you and loving you and encourage you in God's ways that's fine I want you to live
after the Christ but I tell you now as your pastor I do the best I can okay with two churches in two
different states I do the best I can all right because I do it to the Lord not unto men to the
Lord I know if I do it to the Lord it's going to benefit men okay in the long run let's keep going
to verse 11 I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swifts nor the battle to
the strong neither yet bred to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favour to
men of skill but time and chance happeneth to them all something else is observed is that the strong
doesn't always win the battle the swifts the fastest runner doesn't always win the race
now again if you're strong you're going to win most of your battles if you're a fast runner
you're going to win most of your races okay but this idea is that you know life is not fair
okay is there again okay because problems fall on everybody okay Goliath was much stronger than
David much stronger than David but David wins okay the story of the tortoise and the hare
the hare was much faster than the hare but the hare wins the race yeah that's just a story
that's a favor that's a fable by the way that's not real okay that's a fable hey but there's a
lesson to be taught there okay it's not saying that trying to be strong trying to be fast is
a bad thing it's just you need to understand that you're not always going to win okay you're
going to face problems you know things are going to be interrupted in life and you know life is not
logical in that sense always right like the swifts not always going to win the race that doesn't
sound logical because sometimes the swiftest can be running and in their in their race they might
break their leg and that's that's it it's over for them all right and then someone that is slower
will win i mean we often you know sometimes when we think about sporting events some of the
greatest sporting games are usually when there's like a David and Goliath battle
and David wins like the team that you think is just going to be wiped out they got no chance in
the world of winning they end up winning these are usually the games that are most remembered
all right or if there's a team that's losing and like they have this massive comeback right at the
end and they suddenly win they're the games that people remember okay because it's sort of not
normal you expect the stronger teams to win all the time you know and this just reminds us of a
few things and you know when it comes to God again God looks at our hearts doesn't he he can see the
wickedness in our hearts God sees things differently to how man sees things and if you can please turn
to first Samuel 16 turn to first Samuel 16 first Samuel 16 and I just want you to remind you of
this story here when God has asked Samuel to pick a new king for the nation of Israel and we know
that new king would become king David all right but Samuel goes out and he looks at all of David's
brothers in fact David's not even there David's out there looking after sheep because David's
father you know thought well there's no way that that David the youngest will be king you know so
he puts the other guys you know my strong boys they're all there first you know Sam is going to
decide surely with one of these men who's going to be the next king but it says in first Samuel 16
verse 6 and it came to pass when they were come that he that's Samuel looked on alive and said
surely the lord's anointed is before him so same with sees alive because man this this guy surely
this must be the king like what you're probably tall probably handsome strong right you can just
see something about this man he's definitely going to be the king verse number seven but the
lord said unto Samuel look not on his countenance nor on the height of his stature because I have
refused him for the lord seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the
lord looketh on the heart you know I want you to think about this we can't change our outward
appearance you can't change how tall you are okay you can't change the color of your hair I mean
unless you die but you know what I'm talking about okay God has created you of characteristics that
you cannot change on the physical but one thing that you can be working on is your heart you want
to start winning the battles you want to start winning the race you want to start doing well in
life and being the underdog the David that beats the Goliath what you need to be doing as Christians
is fixing your heart God looks upon the heart okay so it's desperately wicked exactly so fix your
heart okay go to the lord and say lord help me have a heart that is after you David was a man
after God's own heart David did not just want to follow his heart he said you know what I'm
going to follow God's heart I want God's heart in my heart that was David's approach
listen and he was made king nobody thought they would be the one selected
God was looking at the heart of men as Christians you know what you can't necessarily change your
outward appearance you can't you can't add your stats to your stature you can fix your heart
you can fix your heart God will then look at your heart and bless you you'll start to win the race
the spiritual race you'll start to be strong you'll stand out you'll be different God will bless you
but you've got to fix your heart okay we talked about raiment hey be clean be clothed hey show
people that God has blessed you that you're trying to serve God with your outward appearance
that's fine but no one sees your heart except God you know what if we're going to fix the outward
make sure we fix the inward as well the inward in fact is the priority because that's what God
looks upon okay I'll just read you another passage in first Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26
and this is to all Christians for ye see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after
flesh not many mighty not many noble accord saying that not many that are
wise men in the flesh like wise in the world not many that are mighty or strong in this world
not many that are noble highly respected in this world are the ones that actually get saved okay
verse number 27 says but God have chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise
and God have chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty
and base things that's the lower things of the world and things that are despised
hey you might be despised in your family have God chosen ye and things which are not to bring
to naught things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence you know what when you
realize that I'm just a weak human being I'm not righteous I can't make it to heaven based on how
good and mighty I am that's when you can finally make the switch and say well God you must be the
only way of salvation you have to weaken yourself you have to lower yourself and realize it can't
be me Lord it has to be Jesus and then God will use you you know I stand behind this pulpit
preaching to you guys sometimes yelling all right sometimes saying some hard things
and you know I get feedback like also who you I don't get this from you guys because you love
me but I get this sometimes like who are you to say that what do you know you're right I don't
know all right you're right I'm foolish in this world's eyes I'm weak in this world's eyes but
God has used me because it's his word that gets proclaimed it's his might it's his power it's his
Holy Spirit that does the work you know what we just let God use us as an empty vessel Lord you
use me for your glory I don't think I'm much but I know I can do a lot if you use me in your hands
Lord I can do achieve a lot again you're important to God please don't think I'm saved but I'm nothing
God needs you you're still breathing on this earth today you're needed you're needed by God to do
something great for him on this earth fix your heart though love what God loves hate what God
hates and then God can use you in a mighty way verse number 12 Ecclesiastes 9 12
it says for men also know if not his time as the fishes that are taken in an evil net
so fish don't know when they're going to be fished out right as the birds that are caught in the
snare so are the sons of men snared in an evil time when it fall off suddenly upon them
again the same thoughts that came in verse number 11 that you know as much as you prepare you might
prepare to be strong and win the battle you might prepare to be the fastest runner to win the race
but you don't know the times when evil come you don't know if tomorrow is going to be a
good day or a bad day you know if there's going to be problems that come in that day
but I say to you it doesn't matter if it's a good day or a bad day you still rejoice in the Lord
man you're going to change your life if you just do this it's a good day today's a good day praise
God tomorrow's a bad day praise God Lord thank you for the bad day help me for your bad day help
me to learn what I need to learn help me to be more like Jesus today Lord you've given me a
hardship you're refining me you're making me better Lord thank you praise God doesn't matter
okay again if you're just living for this earth you're not thinking of God you're not thinking
of eternity you're going to be cast down on the bad days yeah you're going to be excited on the
good days but you're going to be cast down on the bad days you got a 50 50 chance tomorrow if it's
going to be a good day or bad day all right I don't know I don't know but I can say you can
be positive every day of your life if you think about the Lord if you're thankful for everything
that God has given you even the bad days verse number 13 this wisdom have I also seen under the
sun it seemed great unto me there was a little city and few men within it and there came a great
king against it and besieged it and built great bulwarks against it now there was found in it a
poor wise man and he by his wisdom delivered the city yet no man rememberth that same poor man
so this is where we get to this idea that wisdom is better than strength
Solomon's observed a battle at some point he's seen a powerful king powerful nation great army
going besieged a little city with very few people probably not even prepared for this battle he goes
but they won the little city they won the battle not because of strength but because there was a
man in the midst a poor man what did he say there a poor a poor wise man there was one man with
wisdom in that city and somehow through his wisdom you know that man obviously developed some type of
tactics some way of defeating this battle you know not every battle is won by might sometimes it's
just having the right approach to things the right tactics somehow that little city beat the big city
again sorry beat the big king with a big army okay because there was a wise man there
reverend the wiser you become the greater the battles that you can win so i'm just a little
city yeah that's all you are i'm just a poor wise but great have the wisdom of god you better win
amazing battles you'll be extremely successful extremely blessed if you apply the wisdom of god
you reject god's wisdom you lose apply god's wisdom you'll win okay you'll win in life
and then we get to verse number 16 oh by the way it says in verse number 15 at the
university it says yet no man remember of the same poor man sometimes you're going to help
other people in life but no one's going to remember you okay and i've experienced this
in in business i've experienced this many times where i've improved you know i've i've been able
to improve productivity and look because my heart i learned this principle so long ago i'm just
serving christ i whatever i do in my in my job i'm just doing that unto the lord so i'm going to
do the best that i can i'm going to try to be the best employee that i can okay and then lord you
can bless me in your time however you want to bless me well that's in your hands i'm just going
to work for you lord so i would look at other places in the business and go man they can do
things better you know they can make more sales they can reduce their costs hey we can we can make
work much more effective more efficient okay and i would go to people and say hey let's work
together we can change this i can help you here you can help me there and then the you know the
supervisors or the managers of those positions they would implement the things i would recommend
and guess who got the praise not me the managers did the other people did you know because they
got increased sales they got the improvements okay they got the praise this employee though
as it said there it says uh uh yet no man remember of that same poor man
and so my manager would come up to me and say kevin you're making this you're doing this all
wrong you need to toot your own horn you need to go around and say hey look at what i've done look
what i've achieved because people would get the praise and my manager would get frustrated
and they go you know what that was kevin's idea and and my manager's like you gotta do it you
know you gotta tell people what you've done i said no i don't want to because i'm just serving the
lord i'm just doing what god wants i just want to be a good employee i want this business to prosper
and if the business prospers all employees are going to prosper in the long run
so is it worth it if you're going to be forgotten yeah don't worry if the world forgets you
don't worry if the world does not thank you because if you do it to the lord
he's going to reward you amen he's going to thank you very quickly matthew chapter 6 verse 2
therefore when thou doest thine arms do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets that they may have glory of men verily i say unto you they have their
reward but when thou doest arms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth that thine
arms that that's good works that thy arms may be in secret and thy father which see if in secret
himself shall reward thee openly you'll be rewarded by man or be rewarded by god
you know why you want to be rewarded by god he's going to reward you openly then you just be quiet
you just apply wisdom you do the best you can you do all things unto the lord
if people remember you they forget you who cares god sees all things
labor hard work hard apply yourself in whatever capacity you have even in your chores children
your chores at home do the best you can oh but my parents aren't going to see that who cares god
sees it god sees it he'll reward you if you do it unto him let's keep going there verse number 16
then said i wisdom is better than strength nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised
and his words are not heard again not heard by who by the world but heard by god god sees the arms
that we do verse number 17 the words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him
that ruleth among fools right basically why we're saying here that wisdom is found in quiet
in quiet study in conversations okay hey this church service is not being broadcast on on
channel 10 this morning okay it's in quiet very few people know this church service is even on
but this is where you're going to find wisdom okay rather if you're looking for foolishness
yeah the cry of him that ruleth among fools usually where things are boisterous and loud
is where you're going to find foolishness
sometimes people just love to lift themselves up and lift up the things that they know
you know to sound important but so much foolishness is found there
you want wisdom you need some quiet study okay you heard a sermon then you go to god's word
you turn to ecclesiastes nine this week and read it again say god now that i've heard the sermon
help me to pull some further truths from your word help me apply the things that are heard on sunday
hey that quiet study with the lord that's where wisdom is going to come from
verse number 18 wisdom is better than weapons of war but one sinner destroyeth much good all
right so wisdom is a defense you can protect yourself if you increase in god's wisdom okay
you say well i don't want god's wisdom i just want to live my life i just want to go and enjoy life
and and find the pleasures of this world well yeah once enough destroyeth much good yeah you
can chase this world if you want but you're going to destroy yourself okay you're going to destroy
much good i often preach to the children because i've got a lot of kids but there's a lot of
children at church you know your parents have done much good for you okay they want you to
do well in life they want you to be happy they want you to please god okay they're doing a lot
for you but at some point you have to make the decision am i going to continue doing that which
is good or am i going to seek sin well at that point it's going to be in your hands do you want
to destroy your life or do you want to protect your life do you want to honor god with your life
you know what you need to get the wisdom of god it's good that your parents bring you to church
if you say i don't want to be in church my heart's not in it okay fine acknowledge that
acknowledge my heart is not in it this morning i don't want to be in church this morning
acknowledge it and say god please search my heart try me lord fix my heart help me to be someone
that is seeking your heart lord help me change because i don't want to destroy my life i want
to have a happy life i want to please you lord i want to please my parents i want to please
those that have invested heavily in my life you know your parents can't bring you to church your
whole life at some point kids you're going to have to make that decision that i want to be in
god's house i want to gain his wisdom i want to love god myself and not be forced by my parents
you've got to fix that in your heart okay and again if your heart is far from the lord
don't panic because the heart is desperate desperate wicked for all of us okay we've all
had to make a transition after we're saved we then have to make a true transition to go you
know what i'm not going to seek my heart but i'm going to seek god's heart i'm not going to love
the things that i love i'm going to love the things that god loves start making that transition
apply to wisdom get god's wisdom not the world's wisdom and i promise you your life will be blessed
you'll have a happy life you'll have a happy marriage okay you'll do well in life let's pray