(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Man, Ecclesiastes chapter number 6, beginning in verse number 1, the Bible reads, There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men, a man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth. Yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease. Now, many of the things in this chapter are repetitions of things that Solomon has already said in previous chapters, and we've already talked about them a lot, and I promise that in this series, I'm not just going to keep repeating and harping on these things over and over again. So, verses like these, I'm just going to kind of blow past them. But one thing that I do want to emphasize in verse number 1 is that word, common, when he says, There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men. And then he explains a situation where a guy has all this riches and wealth and honor, but then God doesn't give him the power to eat thereof. You know, somebody else ends up enjoying it. And the thing I want to point out there is that this is not the exception, this is the rule. He says this is common. And what he's saying is that when people achieve greatness in the world's eyes, or become very rich and powerful and have everything that this world would consider as success, you know, the more common result of that is that it does not gratify, it does not satisfy. There ends up being emptiness and vanity as a result. And he says this is common among men. It's not just me. It's not just King Solomon who has all the money and the wealth and the power and feels this way. He said, look, this is the way people feel. This is happening all the time. Which is why if you seek the things that this world offers in the way of riches and power and fame, you are being foolish because these things will not satisfy you according to the word of God. And in the last chapter we saw, in chapter 5, he said, he that loveth silver should not be satisfied with silver. It's never going to be enough. And the common situation is for people to be unhappy and dissatisfied even when they have all these things. Look at verse number 3. It says, if a man beget a hundred children and live many years so that the days of his years be many and his soul be not filled with good and also that he have no burial, I say that an untimely birth is better than he. Now, I'm going to get into the untimely birth in a moment, but first I want to point out the fact here that it gives the situation, you know, first in verses 1 and 2 we talked about a guy who's very rich and powerful, but then he dies or he doesn't get to enjoy it for whatever reason. Now we're talking about a guy who's successful in another area because he begets a hundred children, which is obviously, again, success, not necessarily in the eyes of 2021 America, but that's because we live in a strange society that values all the wrong things and we're an empire in decline and so we think of children as being a burden and a bad thing. But in the Bible, children are seen as a great blessing. I mean, even a worldly guy like Haman is bragging about the fact that he has ten kids because that's the way people thought back then. And so here, this is another kind of success being described about a guy who begets a hundred children. But yet, the Bible says if he have no burial, I say that an untimely birth is better than he. So what's the big deal about no burial? What's going on with that? Well, obviously what's intended there is the idea that nobody really cares about him enough to bury him or to have a funeral or to take his death seriously. And look, I guarantee you, there are people who die all the time where nothing much really happens. There's not much of a funeral. Maybe a couple of people show up and nobody is really that heartbroken. And he's basically saying that that's a sad situation. But I want to focus in on the burial itself for a moment. Flip over, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. You know, whenever I hear about someone wanting to cremate their loved one, this is always the verse that pops into my mind every single time. When somebody talks about cremating someone, I think about this verse about how dishonorable it is to have no burial. And so that's why I would not want any of my loved ones to be cremated. I don't want to be cremated. I want to be buried. Anyway, now I don't need anything fancy. Just put me in a pine box and bury me under the earth. But I do want to be buried. I don't want to be cremated. And today it's sad because our society is now pushing cremation. And part of it is just because of the cost. It can just be expensive. It's just cost prohibitive to bury people. So then they just cremate people. But Christianity teaches burial of the dead, and it's the Christian thing to do to bury people. OK, now you're turning to 1 Corinthians 15, but there's an entire chapter, Genesis chapter 23, devoted to Sarah's burial. You know, so it's like a big deal that's being made in the book of Genesis about burying Sarah. And then in 1 Corinthians 15, we get a little bit of the symbolism of what burial represents for the Christian. It says in 1 Corinthians 15, 42, so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. Now, what does it mean to be sown? It's talking about a seed being planted in the earth, isn't it? It is sown in corruption. It is raised in corruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. And watch this. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there's a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. So the body is sown into the earth. Obviously not literally. Obviously, how a person's remains are dealt with has nothing to do with what happens to them after they die as far as their soul is concerned. But it's symbolic. It's not a literal seed that you're putting into the ground. But it's symbolic that when you bury the dead body, you are symbolically planting a seed because you believe that that person is going to rise again one day. Just as when you plant a seed, there's a new fresh plant that grows up. A new life is produced. The same thing with the dead body that's buried in the earth because they're going to be resurrected someday. And you're expressing your faith in that when you bury the dead. You don't have to turn there, but Romans chapter 6 verse 4 says, Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Watch this wording. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. So notice again the word planting is used in tandem with the word burial, symbolic in baptism. But being buried is also symbolism. Why do we get baptized? Why don't we do like the Presbyterians and just do something like that? You know, the reason why we actually baptized by immersion as Baptists is because we believe that, you know, it symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We're buried with him by baptism into his death. And it says in Colossians, same thing, buried in baptism. And so that's what that pictures. And so we're also picturing that when we bury the dead. We're picturing the fact that it's just a seed. It's the natural body being sown. Someday the spiritual body will be raised. Well, if you think about it that way, then, you know, what does cremation seem to symbolize? I mean, it's like it makes you think of like burning in hell or something, which obviously if you cremate the saved person, they're still going to heaven. And if you bury the unsaved, they're still going straight to hell. But what do we want to symbolize? Do we want to be like the Hindus? Pagan Hindus cremate their dead because they're pagans, okay, because they're not worshipping the Lord, because they're not Christian. And the same thing with the ancient Greeks. You know, if you study ancient Greek culture, it was all about being cremated. They wanted to be cremated. That was the highest honor for them is to be cremated. And there are many other pagan cultures like that because the ancient Greeks and the Hindus, they're all worshipping demons. And so they have similar demonic religions and similar ideas about what happens after death. Of course, they believed that they were all going to Hades. And they were right. They were all going to Hades. But we as Christians, you know what, we're going to heaven. And so we should follow the Christian practice of burial. And you know what, it hurts me to see people struggle with this because of the financial aspects of it. You know, it's kind of insult to injury when someone dies and you're already grieving the loss and then you get hit with these incredible bills. You know, you wish it was like the old days where the church had the cemetery out back of the church, right? But, you know, alas, I don't think the city of Tempe would like that very much because I would do it. I love that, you know, that someday our church would have its own cemetery. But you know what, you know, we try to help people out in that situation too when we can because of the fact that we don't want to see people cremate the children of God. You know, when the saints die, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the saints. And, you know, it's precious in our sights too. And so we like to see them buried. Now, if you would go back to Ecclesiastes Chapter 6. So this verse here talks about not being buried as a dishonor. And he says, you know, if this guy doesn't see any good and he also has no burial, at the end of verse 3 it says, I say that an untimely birth is better than he. Better than the guy who begat a hundred children. You say, how can somebody beget a hundred children? Well, first of all, there's this thing called polygamy that Solomon knew a little something about. But not only that, okay, this could probably also just be referring to children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. You know, God willing, I hope to live to be a very old man and someday have a hundred descendants myself. I'm doing my part, you know, we'll see if my kids do their part and my grandkids and so forth. But I want to have the hundred children and the burial. I'm going to do the best of both worlds. But it says, untimely birth is better than he. Look at verse number 4. It says, for he cometh in with vanity, the untimely birth that is, and departeth in darkness and his name shall be covered with darkness. Moreover, he hath not seen the sun nor known anything. This hath more rest than the other. Now, what is an untimely birth? Well, we would think of this as a miscarriage. That's probably the word that we would use. A child who dies in his mother's womb is a miscarriage. Now, the reason that this would be called an untimely birth is because of the fact that when a woman is pregnant and her child dies, a lot of times that will trigger her to go into labor immediately. So even if she's not full term, she's not to nine months, this process is triggered and so the untimely birth is referring to a miscarriage. But not only that, you know, if you think about it, we have today extremely premature babies that can survive, but part of that is due to modern technology. You know, I remember many years ago reading a news story about a record being set, I think it was like the University of Chicago Medical Center, and how young, what was the age? It was like 23 weeks gestation or something. What was it? 21 or something. It was some incredibly premature child, you know, using a lot of technology and everything. And look, obviously back in the ancient world in Bible times, you know, you're not going to be able to have very premature babies. Obviously you'd have some that are a bit premature that could survive, but pretty much if they're very premature in those days, they're just going to die anyway. And so it's an untimely birth that's associated with death. And so he's saying, man, you'd rather be the untimely birth. You know, what's the point of even living if you end your life as someone who nobody cares about, is what he's saying. You know, you might as well have just been a miscarriage. And then he basically just says, you know, they haven't seen the sun or known anything. This hath more rest than the other. Now, we strongly believe from the Word of God that all babies go to heaven. That's what the Bible teaches. So the untimely birth goes straight to heaven. It's not just a lump of cells. And you know what's funny about that is that I'm a lump of cells too. What does that even mean? Oh, it's just a lump of cells. Well, so are you, buddy. You big ugly lump of cells, you. Who do you think you are? You know, you want to murder this little tiny lump of cells. You're a big fat lump of cells. But guess what? We're alive. We're human. We're God's creation. We're the children of God. We're not just a lump of tissue or whatever. And so the baby in its mother's womb is alive. There's plenty of scripture to prove that. You know, you have incidents like John the Baptist leaping in his mother's womb when he's in the presence of Jesus Christ. And so, you know, we have, of course, God knowing us and forming and fashioning us in our mother's womb. And we have John the Baptist being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. Was this like the Holy Ghost in that lump of cells? No, it's a person. Also, we have the Old Testament law which states that if a woman is pregnant and someone injures her maliciously and causes the baby to die, that it's life for life. It's basically the death penalty for murdering a child in its mother's womb. It's a death penalty. So that's life. And even today in our modern jurisprudence, guess what? If you murder a pregnant woman, that's a double homicide. But, oh, it's not alive. It's not a person. It's garbage. And you know what? Any kind of a science definition of life would say that that baby is alive. I mean, if they found it on Mars, they'd have a field day with that, right? I mean, if they found, you know, forget a lump of cells, they would love to just find one cell on Mars and get all excited and pop the cork on the champagne and say, yes, we proved that life can originate by itself without God. So amazing. Isn't that what they would do? They'd get all excited and blaspheme and curse the name of God because they found some single cell on Mars. Well, guess what? Science is real, libtard. And you know what? Abortion is murder. It's so funny how the liberals love to say, so we believe in science. No, you don't believe in science. Because if you believe in science, you wouldn't be murdering babies. You'd say they're alive. And you'd also believe in two genders, male and female, if you actually believe in science. But there's a lot of scripture on this. Like, for example, in Job, if you would flip back to Job, you can keep your finger there and Ecclesiastes will be back. But there's a very similar passage in Job chapter 3 to what we see in Ecclesiastes chapter 6. You know, speaking of depressing chapters in the Bible, right, let's go back to Job chapter 3 where Job is cursing the day when he was born. And every time I read this verse, I think about the fact that, you know how we have the bulletins on Sunday and they have like a picture and they have a Bible verse on the front? Well, we actually, we don't pick those pictures and verses, although we do veto some of them. But we get those from a company that sends us those. You know, we make the rest of the bulletin, but it's like a ready-made picture with a Bible verse. And I remember one time we're making the bulletin and we look at the front of the bulletin and the verse that's on the front of the bulletin said, Why die, die not from the womb? And I was just thinking like, that's an odd choice, you know, for a Sunday morning bulletin. But that's what I always think of when I read this verse. Job, you know, you start running out of verses now at the bulletin company and, you know, you start putting a verse about Judas hanging himself or something, you know. What's he going to say next week, you know, Adam, Seth, Enos or something? All right, Job 3.11, Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Why did the knees prevent me or why the breasts that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet? I should have slept. Then had I been at rest. And that's the exact word that was used in Ecclesiastes, rest. But let's keep going. With kings and counselors of the earth which built desolate places for themselves or with princes that had gold who filled their houses with silver or as in hidden untimely birth, I had not been as infants which never saw light. Again, the same wording as in Ecclesiastes about not seeing the sun. There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together. They hear not the voice of the oppressor. Does this sound like the baby is just ceasing to exist? No, it's going to this place where the small and greater there, verse 19, and the servant is free from his master. He says, wherefore is light given unto him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in soul which long for death but it cometh not and dig for it more than for hid treasures which rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hid and whom God hath hedged in? So there's the same type of idea here in Job that's saying that, you know, you're better off to just die before you're even born like dying in the womb or dying as an infant than to live a horrible life which makes sense. You know, it reminds me of what Jesus said about Judas Iscariot. It would be better for him if he'd never been born and that's true because if he'd never been born, where would he be right now? He'd be in heaven. Right now he's burning in hell, but if he'd never been born, he'd be in heaven right now. Now you say, well, Pastor Anderson, you know, why are you upset about abortion then if all these babies are going to heaven? Here's the thing about that. First of all, there are people out there who have this really weird, sick doctrine that teaches that God just damns babies to hell, that he just like sends unborn babies and newborn babies to hell. And a lot of, I'm not saying that all Calvinists believe that, but there are a lot of Calvinists who believe that. And then you'll see certain Calvinists really excited about, you know, protesting abortion clinics all the time. You know, part of the reason why, I mean, you know, I'm glad that they're fighting abortion, but I wish it weren't because they have this sick doctrine, this bizarre doctrine because it's like they don't understand the Bible or they don't understand the nature of God. They don't understand the nature of salvation that God is just damning people. I had a Calvinist one time tell me, and again, I'm not saying that all Calvinists believe this, but there are a lot of Calvinists who will come right out and say that they believe this. But I had one Calvinist say, well, if they're the children of Christians, they go to heaven. If they're the children of the unsaved, they go to hell. What in the world? But a lot, I've heard some of them just say they all go to hell. Well, that's nonsense. Okay. The Bible clearly, there's a lot of evidence, you know, and you think about the case with King David, where King David's baby died, and that baby was a product of an adulterous union. And yet he said that he can't bring it back, but he said the child cannot come back to me, but I will go to the child. And he rejoiced and was at peace about it once the child passed away because he knew that the child was in heaven. So there's a lot of biblical evidence. I think one of the strongest pieces of evidence, another verse that unfortunately people don't really think about, Romans chapter 7 verse 9 says, for I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And so, you know, a baby is an innocence, just like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they didn't know that they were naked. Little toddlers run around naked and don't even give it a second thought because they're innocent. And because they're innocent, they go to heaven. Just like Adam and Eve before they sinned, children are innocent, they go straight to heaven. So you say, well, then why are you so mad about abortion? First of all, number one, you don't see me spending my life fighting abortion. I don't spend my life just on a crusade to fight abortion because I'd rather get people out of hell. That's what my life is mainly geared toward. And what does the New Testament tell us to gear our lives toward? You know, preventing abortion. And I'm totally against abortion and I'll fight abortion and stand up to abortion, but that's not the main focus. The main focus is getting people saved, preaching the gospel to every creature, number one. Okay, but number two, just because the babies that are aborted go straight to heaven, that doesn't change the wickedness of the person who's committing that murder. I mean, how could you sit there and say, oh, well, you know, it's okay that you murdered a baby because it went to heaven. That's, you know what, if somebody murdered me, I'm going to go to heaven too. Does that mean it's okay to murder me? You know, you could murder millions of people in this world that are Christians and you'd just be sending people to heaven. Just send them all to heaven. That's stupid. It doesn't make it any less wicked to commit murder where the soul's destination is. So that doesn't make any sense. That argument makes no sense, right? Just because they go to heaven, it doesn't mean that we think it's okay. It still incurs the wrath of God. If you went and killed a bunch of Christians, they'd all go to heaven and God would be angry at you. And when America murders a bunch of babies, God's angry. Whether they go to heaven or not, which we know for sure they go to heaven, there's zero doubt that they go to heaven, but it still angers God. In fact, they're constantly showing up in heaven and God's constantly reminded of the garbage that's going on in our country. So the reason that I would fight against abortion, although I'm not going to dedicate my whole life to that, and I don't want to get unequally yoked with a bunch of unbelievers to do that, but I would fight abortion because of the fact that it brings down the wrath of God on America. And you know, people get real upset about abortion, Christians get real upset about abortion, but then they turn a blind eye to the sodomites. And you say, you brought up the sodomites a lot lately. It's Queer Pride Month. So you should expect it to get brought up a little bit in the month of June when every single day we see these things online and we see these things out and about, we see them on billboards, whether you're in your home, on your computer, or whether you're out and about, you see this stuff everywhere. Well, you know what, every once in a while I need to give a little public service announcement about this. Look, I say, here's my opinion, I say that the sin of sodomy in America is worse than the sin of abortion in America because hey, the aborted babies go to heaven, it's still murder, it's still wicked, it still angers the Lord. But you know, these sodomites, they go around molesting children and destroying their lives and creating a bunch of other reprobates that actually go to hell. They offend the little children. And when you offend the little children, you can often cause those little children to grow up and be unsaved. Because a lot of these victims of homos, they end up becoming very bitter and very hateful toward God for allowing that to happen to them. And then they could grow up and become an evil reprobate. So the sin of sodomy sends more people to hell than abortion does because abortion doesn't actually send anyone to hell. Whereas sodomy sends a boatload of people to hell because of the fact that they go around offending the little ones. And the Bible says if you offend one of these little ones, you know, it'd be better for you to take a millstone and hang around, and have it hang around your neck and for you to be cast into the sea. It's better for a millstone to be hanging around your neck and for you to be cast into the sea. And by the way, that is a suicide method, just so you know, that was done frequently throughout the middle ages by Catholics. So that they could, you know, confess their sin on the way down, but they were tied up. You know, it's a weird thing, but anyway. But the point is, you know, people ask me, you know, what's your advice for sodomites? Why would I have advice for sodomites? I don't have any advice for sodomites. And this is why, and by the way, I know this is kind of a tangent, but like I said, some of the things in Ecclesiastes 6 are a little repetitive, so we've got to cover some other ground. Let me explain something to you. I have no advice for sodomites. None of my sermons are geared towards sodomites because they're doomed. They have no hope. They're doomed. They're reprobates. If they're reprobates, if God has rejected them, if God has hardened their heart and blinded their eyes, if they hate the Lord so much that they don't even want to retain God in their knowledge, then I don't have any advice for them. You know, it's like, well, why don't you extend hope to them? Because I'd be lying if I extended hope to them. And it's like, well, what's your advice? That's what that BBC documentary, you know, what's your advice for homos? I don't have any. If I did, it would be kill yourself, but I don't have any. But let me tell you something. I don't feel the need to, yeah, and do it by the Millstone method. But let me say this, okay? I don't go around telling homos that, and here's why. Because I have nothing to say to them. There's nothing I can do for them. And so I'm not going to waste my time preaching at them, hey, let's go preach at a queer property. No way. First of all, why would I want my eyes to be defiled with everything at that place? I think it's a sin to even go to that place even if you're going there to preach. Even if you're going there to witness or whatever, you shouldn't even be at that place because you shouldn't even set that wickedness before your eyes. I mean, why would you want to be defiled with that garbage? And by the way, don't you dare post some filthy picture on Facebook because you're exposing it. Look at these homos, look at these transvestites. Folks, it's not worth, we don't need to see a picture of it. You don't need to look at that stuff, you don't need to post that stuff, okay? But look, I wouldn't go down there and preach to them because the Bible says, and you say, well, you're, you know, you, that's your opinion. The Bible doesn't teach that, really? Because here's what the Bible teaches. It says in Matthew 7, 6, give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you. Now, last time I checked, that's a pretty famous Bible verse. I bet everybody in here has heard that verse before. Don't cast your pearls before swine. So why, why would I go and cast my pearls before swine? People that the Bible says hate God, the Bible says they're rejected, the Bible says it's too late for them, the Bible says they've been blinded, their hearts have been hardened. Why would I go and cast my pearls before swine? They're going to turn around and rend me. So when I preach about sodomites, I'm not preaching for sodomites, I'm preaching for Christians. I'm preaching for Christians warning them about this dangerous segment of our population so that they can guard themselves and watch out and be careful of these evil predators. That's the purpose of my preaching about this. And so that we would not delight in them and glory in them the way our world is doing right now. So we'd have the right viewpoint, the right attitude. But I don't have anything to say to them, you know? And here's the thing. You know, I've taught this to my children as well. You know, I tell them, look, don't just call out these sodomites in public because there's no point. You know, it's like why would you say something to them? There's nothing that you can say to them that's going to fix them. So what's your point in just telling them to go get AIDS and die or whatever? You know, it doesn't really accomplish anything. It's just vanity. And, you know, you might say it to the wrong person and they just turn and rend you. You know, these people are violent. They're full of murder, the Bible says. So why would you just go out and just purposely want to provoke sodomites? It doesn't make any sense. Now, look, I will say this. I don't mind provoking them all day long if they get provoked by my preaching. But I'm not preaching to provoke them. In fact, I would prefer if no sodomite ever listened to any sermon that I preach ever again. I mean, look, I'm serious. If there was a way on YouTube to just check a little box in the settings like no homos can watch these videos, this channel is invisible to homos, I would check that box. Because I'm not just like, yeah, I'm going to make some homos mad. What's the point? Folks, I'm not into vanity, okay? My point is to preach to God's people. That's it. Sodomites getting offended by that is a natural byproduct. It's a necessary evil. But I'm certainly not going to just go out of my way to make sodomites mad. I do want to express myself about sodomites for normal people so that normal people can see, hey, not everybody accepts this garbage. Hey, some people realize this is sick. But going out and just confronting sodomites, provoking sodomites, going to raise hell at the sodomite parade, it makes no sense, my friend. Grow up and think about these things because it's really just vain and doesn't accomplish anything. And, you know, they could just turn and rend you. Okay. So that's a very destructive sin. Abortion is bringing down the wrath of God on America. But you know what? I think Sodom and Gomorrah happened to bring down the wrath of God as well. And I didn't really see any indication of abortion there. You know, God got pretty angry at Judah and the Canaanites for abortion when they sacrificed their sons and daughters into Molech. But, you know, he also rained fire and brimstone on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. So those things both bring down the wrath of God. And I think that sodomites probably bring down the wrath of God more because they do more damage because they actually send people to hell as opposed to abortion, which is wicked. It's murder, but it doesn't. And, you know, at least the people who have had abortions don't necessarily hate God. And many of them will get saved. Many of them will be in heaven because God can forgive all sins, including murder. Well, can he forgive the hungmanos? Yes, he can. But they have to believe on Jesus first. And since they don't even want to retain God in their knowledge and since they hate Jesus, it's going to be pretty hard for them to believe in Jesus when they hate him and don't even want to remember that he exists, according to the word of God in Romans chapter 1. So, anyway, that was kind of a little commercial break for the month of June. But back to Ecclesiastes here, it says in verse 6, Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good. Do not all go to one place. Now, this is the key phrase here in verse 6 that he's getting at in this chapter. Do not all go to one place. Now, this is not talking about the soul, okay? Obviously, we know that people go to heaven and people go to hell. But what he's talking about here is that everybody's going to the grave. Everybody's going to die. And here's the thing about this, okay? If everybody eventually dies, whether you live, and look at the example that's given in verse 6, it's kind of a crazy example, a thousand years twice told. Now, told means counted, like the teller at the bank counts your money, okay? So, it's saying here, if he lives two thousand years, you know, a thousand years and then another thousand years, which is obviously impossible, nobody's ever done that. But he's saying even if you lived two thousand years and then the other one is an untimely birth, so it dies in the womb, he's saying they both go to the same place. Now, what this is basically saying is that if everybody eventually dies, then it doesn't really matter whether you lived 20 years, 60 years, you know, 90 years or 90 minutes. Because either way, you die. I mean, think about, obviously to us, it matters while we're living our life. But here's the thing, what about a thousand years from now, two thousand years from now, five thousand years from now, a million years from now, is it really going to matter whether people live for five minutes or five years or 50 years because they all ended up the same way. See, what the Bible teaches is it's the end that matters, okay? So, what we can take from this and really the whole book of Ecclesiastes is that it's what comes after death that matters. That's all that matters. Only what comes after death matters in the end. Obviously today, you know, we care about how our day is going today because we're here right now experiencing it. We want it to be nice. But really, when it all is boiled down, only one life so soon has passed and only what's done for Christ will last. And three thousand years from now, you know, there are going to be people in heaven and, you know, whether they live 30 years or 60 years, it's not like people are going to be like, man, I'm so glad I got to live to be 90. Yeah, it's cool. It ceases to matter at some point. You know, what's going to matter is, you know, the rewards, the works that you did for Christ. And the whole point of the book of Ecclesiastes is that life without Jesus Christ is totally meaningless. And our world is doing a pretty good job of figuring that out now because now they're basically teaching everyone that they're animals and that it's just a cosmic accident and that we're all stardust and that we basically are just really advanced apes and, you know what, dolphins might even be smarter than us, in fact. Look at the size of that brain in that dolphin. Maybe he, you know, maybe there's just a lot going on in there. You know, still waters run deep. You know, and maybe the dolphin's even smarter. You know, our world today is teaching that they're animals, that humans are animals, right? But you know what? Without God, without Jesus Christ, without the Lord, they're pretty much right. Their life is meaningless, and they really do have no purpose, and there really is no morality, and there really is no right and wrong. So eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow you die. But thank God that those of us who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we realize that we are not animals, but we are human beings made in the image of God, and our lives matter, and God has the hairs of our head numbered. So much for being an accident, right? So much for being a lump of cells. So much for being just, you know, this cosmic accident of the Big Bang and there's this little ripple in this universe. You know, God formed and fashioned me in my mother's womb, and he knows every hair on my head, every tear that I've ever shed, he has kept in a bottle. He has written down the story of my life and told all of my wanderings. And so, you know, our lives have meaning as Christians, but sadly, the unsaved, their life has no meaning. And that might seem like a harsh thing to say or a harsh reality, but it's the truth. Unsaved people's life eventually, ultimately has no meaning. Because 500 years from now or 50,000 years from now, when they're burning in hell, it's not going to matter what kind of car they drove. It's not going to matter how much money they had. It's not going to matter how long they lived. None of it is going to matter. Nothing will matter. And for those of us who are saved, you know, those aren't really the stats that are going to matter either for us. You know, it's going to be spiritual things about our lives that matter. And so we need to keep that in mind because as Christians, it's easy for us to get caught up in the world system and start wanting to live the way they live, where it's all about money. It's all about the trophy wife. It's all about the fancy house. It's all about athletic achievements. It's all about fame and fortune and popularity and all these things. But you know what? If you live your life that way as a Christian, then your earthly life ceases to have very much meaning. The more you do for the Lord, the more meaning your life has because it's only what comes after our death that matters. That's why he says you could... Look, this isn't just my philosophy. This is what the Bible is teaching in Ecclesiastes chapter 6. I mean, he's putting it out there in black and white. He's saying, look, you can live for 2,000 years or you can live for 20 minutes and it doesn't matter. You could have 100 children. Your life is still meaningless. Is that not what he said? It's vanity. It means nothing. You could be this great king. And you know what? If it were not for the Bible, no one would know who King Solomon is. No one would care. You realize that? Solomon was a pretty powerful king. He had a lot of power. But you know what? If it weren't for the Bible, no one would know who he is. You know how I know that? Because how many sources, how many historical sources are there for King Solomon outside of the Bible? Can somebody tell me that? How many literary sources are there from 1,000 B.C. that tell us about King Solomon? Can we read about, can the Egyptians tell us about it? Oh, there's this guy Solomon up in Israel and man, he's cool. I mean, are the Babylonians telling us about him or the Assyrians telling us about him? You know, are the ancient Greeks, are the ancient Greeks writing about him in the Iliad and the Odyssey? No, there's zero. Because you know what, if it weren't for the Bible, no one would know who he is, even though he had 700 wives and 300 concubines and tons of money and peacocks and apes and the guy partied. And he had all this wealth, all this power, all this fame, and the fame of his wisdom went abroad into all the world. But yet, no literary sources outside the Bible. You know why? Because there are just very few literary sources from that time period, period. And so I guarantee you that there were all kind of maharajahs over in India that had all kinds of power and wealth. And in their day, they were the coolest dude. And I guarantee you that in Ethiopia, you had all kinds of great rulers and wealthy people down there. I mean, think about it, the Ethiopians showed up at Judah with a, you want to talk about a million-man march? The Ethiopians marched 1.1 million. They said, I see your million-man march and I'll raise you 100,000. Because 1.1 million Ethiopians marched on the people of God. That's a powerful nation. That's a powerful empire, right? How much do we know about it? Very little. You know, can we name the kings and the rulers and the leaders and the movers and the shakers? No. And we could go on and on. We could talk about all different other civilizations where even the greatest people are totally forgotten and don't matter. So here's the thing. Let me ask you this. What's the difference between the top dog in Ethiopia and the lowest slave in Ethiopia? I'm talking about back in the heyday when they're sending 1.1 million troops into Judah. Let me ask you this. What's the difference now in 2021 in famousness? Because they're both zero. Everybody understand? Enough time goes by and everybody's fame approaches zero. Someday no one will know who Donald Trump is. Someday no one will know who Joe Biden is. He already isn't sure who he is. But someday the people around him won't even know. You know, these people will all be forgotten. They're not going to matter. Only that which comes after death matters. That's not the way we think, is it? That's not how we think. And you remember Absalom? He's going to put up a pillar so that people remember me after I'm gone. Where's that pillar today? The only reason anybody remembers you is because you're in the Bible as a bad guy, as a villain. But otherwise no one would remember you, Absalom. No one would care. And I wonder how many other people erected great pillars and monuments and pyramids and statues and somebody just finds some gnarly statue with its nose broken off and they're just like, This is a guy. Yes, I made it into 2021. No you didn't. Your life is meaningless. But thank God our life's not meaningless. My life has meaning every single day. And you know what? We don't believe in some impersonal God who's distant. He's not a God that's far off. He's a God that's nigh at hand. And he knows every thought that I think and he cares about my life. He cares about my problems. He cares about my thoughts. Every hair in my head is numbered. He says in Ecclesiastes 6 verse 7, All the labor of man is for his mouth, yet the appetite's not filled. Again, this is the same thing we've been talking about for the last five chapters. For what hath the wise man more than the fool? What hath the poor that knoweth to walk before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. It's like, Man, but you know, the sight of the eyes is better than the wandering of the desire. But guess what? They're both meaningless because everything's meaningless. That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man. Neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun? Let me boil this down for you very carefully what he says in these last couple of verses. Don't miss what he's saying. He's saying, I want to figure out how to live my life in such a way that my life is going to matter after I'm gone. And he's saying, I don't know how to do that because I don't know what the future is going to be like. I don't know what they're going to care about. I don't know what's going to matter. How can I make sure that my life matters after I die? That's what he's saying. But I don't know the future, so I don't know. Now, thankfully, he played his cards right and he mattered because we're here talking about it then. But that's only because he was with the Lord. He followed the Lord. He's in the Bible. But that's what he's saying here in this verse. Read it carefully. Pay attention. Who knoweth what is good for a man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun? What did he start out talking about in the chapter? After you die, nobody buries you. Ah, man. What a shame, right? And then it's like, okay, well, maybe if I just have a lot of children. I mean, if I just have a hundred children, somebody's going to keep my name alive. Nope. Because plenty of people throughout history have had a hundred children and nobody knows who they were or why they mattered. And so he's saying, what can I do to make sure that my life matters after I'm dead? And there's only one right answer to this. You have to serve the Lord with your life, win someone to Christ, and no one can ever take that away from you, and your fame will last eternally. If you, the Bible says, and we'll close on this. Go to Daniel chapter 12. Let's close on something positive since this is kind of a downer of a chapter. Let's go to Daniel chapter 12. You know, Solomon's really worried about his legacy. You know, I've lived this life, I've accomplished great things, but I want it to matter after I'm gone. But I don't know how to do that, you know? I mean, think about this. Think about how little literature survived from the ancient world. I'll bet there were all kinds of great other poems and stories and books that were written, but only a couple survived, right? It's like, man, how do you make the cut? You know, 800, you're in 800 BC, ancient Greece, you know, it's pretty much the Iliad and the Odyssey survived. You know, and it's like, how do you make that cut? There were lots of other poems, lots of other, you know what, a lot of it's just chance. Now, a lot of it's because, you know, the best stuff ends up getting preserved. But, you know, you think about a book like Beowulf, you know, Beowulf is written approximately 1000 AD. And, you know, there's only one manuscript of it, and it was almost burned up in a fire in the 1800s. So, one manuscript. I mean, wouldn't it have been pretty easy for that one manuscript to have just been destroyed? But yet, today, that's like the big example of old English literature. Anybody who studies old English, that's what they are studying, that's what they're thinking about, that's the big one, Beowulf. But it's like an accident that it even survived. And there were probably hundreds of other stories and poems that might have even been much better, that just didn't make it, just because they didn't make it. So, Solomon's saying, like, how, you know, I don't know what's going to come after me, so it's like, how do I live my life? What do I do so that my life matters? We know the answer to that as Christians, don't we? And he gets to the answer, you know, by the end of things. We're only in chapter 6. But look at Daniel chapter 12. It says in verse 2, And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. So if we win souls unto Christ, if we turn many unto righteousness, because the Bible says he that win his souls is wise. And the Bible says the wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. If you win people to Christ, if you are a preacher of righteousness like Noah, if you stand up for what's right and live right and follow Christ, you will shine like the stars forever and ever. Unlike the so-called Hollywood stars, they're not going to shine forever. You know what they are? They're just like a little shooting star. Right? It's like, boom, and then it's over. I mean, think about it. A shooting star, you blink and you miss it. That's the way these Hollywood stars are. I mean, I'd like to ask our teenagers. Teenagers, will you name for me some of the big actresses from the 20s? How about you, young guys? In the 30s? Who were those really hot actresses from the 30s, guys? Huh? The stars, the big names. How about the dudes? Who were they? Who was the top? Who were some of the top? You got something? Frank Sinatra? Nope. Frank Sinatra was still coming out with music when I was a teenager, buddy. Alright, so that hurts. But yeah, I mean, I don't know. Maybe he does go back that far. Does anybody know? The 40s? You were close. Alright, you did good. Alright. But I didn't say 40s, did I? I guess I did. But you know what? The point remains. You know, we got a big Sinatra fan over here. No, I'm just kidding. Just kidding. But you know what? The point remains that the only way to truly have glory that lasts and a legacy that matters is to serve the Lord. And that's what I take from this chapter more than anything else. That's how it starts. That's how it ends. Ecclesiastes 6 is telling me that only what comes after death matters. So what kind of treasures am I laying up in heaven? What kind of eternal glory am I investing in now? That's all that matters. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for giving us something to do with our lives that matters, Lord. Otherwise, man, this would be a depressing book. Reading Ecclesiastes about how meaningless everything is and how nothing satisfies, it'd be super depressing. But Lord, thank you so much that you sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins and suffer just an incredible, unspeakable amount of suffering, Lord, for us. So that we could actually have meaning and purpose in our lives and so that we could have eternal life. And not only eternal life, but eternal glory, Lord. Help us to work hard on things that actually matter in our brief little sojourn on this earth, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.