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man Okay, we're in Ecclesiastes chapter number 11 tonight, and it's a shorter chapter actually and so the sermon might be a little short now Every time I say that though my wife reminds me She's like every time you say the sermon is gonna be shorter ends up being longer And so I'm I'm gonna try to stick to that She wasn't complaining about it because she loves my preaching and so But it might be a little short because it's only about ten verses very practical things here And so let's get right into it if I were to title this chapter It would be the right kind of liberal Christian the right kind of liberal Christian I'll explain what I mean to you what I mean by that just a bit look at verse number one It says cast thy bread upon the waters for thou shalt find it after many days Give a portion to seven and also to eight for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth So the first thing we're gonna look at here in verses one and two is the value of being a liberal Okay, so it's actually valuable to being a liberal now when we think of a liberal number one We think of like the Democratic Party right, but when we think about it from a Christian perspective We think of like people who go to like fun centers, and they listen up. You know CCM and their compromises and the lukewarm and they wear skinny jeans And you know they have low standards And I mean the list goes on and on and on and on and on right that's typically mean when we talk about liberal Christians Like oh that church is liberal that person's liberal You know you got the guy with with the mohawk the pastor with the mohawk up on stage And you know he's preaching behind a glass podium or something like that That's what we think of when we say liberal whereas the biblical definition of a liberal is actually referring to someone who's generous someone who is Basically gives liberally, I mean you think of what the Bible says in James chapter number one It tells us if any of you lack wisdom Let them ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and a braided not So what is that talking about it says when we lack wisdom in this world if we don't have the wisdom to make certain decisions God instructs us to ask him for that wisdom Lord Give me wisdom for this specific decision and the Bible says that God will give it to us liberally What does that mean he'll be generous with the wisdom that he imparts into our lives and in fact? He says he not only gives it to us liberally, but he will not abrade us for it What does it mean to a braid it means to like rebuke or? Reprove or correct you know you think of someone who's just constantly asking you for something and just wears you out He said no. I don't want to give that to you. You know that's a braiding them Okay, stop bothering me You're annoying me kid You know that would be like a braiding someone for something that they asked for Whereas God says no. I'm not gonna abrade you if you ask me for wisdom in fact. I'll distribute that wisdom to you liberally Generously, that's what it means to be a liberal okay, so that's the right kind of liberal Okay The right kind of liberal Christian according to the Bible is the Christian who is very generous with the resources that God has given To them and this is what this is referring to in Verses 1 & 2 He says give a portion verse number 2 to 7 and also to 8 for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth Turn with me if you went to Luke chapter 14 hold your place here in Ecclesiastes chapter 11 So obviously the opposite of being a liberal is actually being stingy right hoarding the resources that you have Not being a blessing to others not distributing the resources that God has given to you to be a blessing to someone else Strengthening someone else's hand with the resources that you have you know even though. It's in your hand God considers that to be a stingy person a person who's just unwilling to depart or unwilling to impart a Resource whether that be finances food clothing to another individual because they're in need of it God expects us to be liberal and you know when we think of God the example that God gives to us You know he gave us his son right and how much more is he willing to give us everything? Else if he's willing to give us his son sacrifice his son for us God is very gracious and generous with us you know aside from the fact that salvation was free Even above that God has been very generous with us whether he's blessed us with a job. He's blessed us with good health He's blessed us with a spouse with children with a great church And you know we should never have this attitude of well You know God's been generous with others, but he's not generous with me You know I'm still lacking these things folks if you just count your blessings If you just think about what God has done for you no matter What state you're in no matter what you're lacking you will always be able to come up with a very Extensive list of things that God has done for you and every good gift and every perfect gift coming from above from the Father of Lights in whom there is no Variableness neither shadow of turning the Bible says so God gives us gifts every single day The fact that you're breathing is a gift from God You know the very fact that you're in this church is a gift from God right hey How about this the fact that you live in America is a gift from God? I mean America we understand is Babylon, and it's wicked and has all these issues But folks I mean Babylon is a lot better than than whatever you know than India. Let's just be honest okay Babylon is a lot better than than than Korea or than Communist China, okay? You Know I'm a Babylonian unfortunately I was born in Babylon, but you know I thank God that I was I was born here Because this is where I heard the gospel. This is where I found church. This is where I met my wife This is where I'm raising my children This is where I'm pastoring a church And this is where God has me and you know where I'm able to serve him in this country Hey, thank God for those things okay, and and recognize that God has been liberal to you therefore With that in mind we should also be liberal with others okay and be gracious to them You're in you're in Luke I'm gonna read to you from a different from a couple different verses here Isaiah 32 verse 8 says this but the liberal Deviseth liberal things and by liberal things shall he stand so a person who's generous is Constantly devising ways he can be generous or she can be generous right just thinking about ways to be a blessing to others And it says and by liberal things shall he stand what does that mean well because he's constantly sowing Generosity and graciousness he's gonna be able to stand by those things as well You know the world says this what goes around comes around right the Bible actually says you reap what you sow So if you're sowing generosity you're sowing graciousness You're being bountiful without what you give to others You're gonna reap the benefits of that in the future or even Sooner than that the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 11 verse 24 There is that scatter it listen to this get increases What does it mean to scatter means you disperse something right and it kind of goes against logic because you think there's someone if you're? Scattering something let's talk about money or food or resources if you scatter that how do you increase if you're actually? You know devoid or you're actually void of those resources, how is it that you're increasing well in God's economy That's how it works. He's talking about being generous with others. You're scattering to give to the needs of others What will God do he will increase your resources? So it says there is that scatter it yet increases, and there is that withholdeth more than his meat But it tendeth to poverty okay, so then you have the other person who has resources like well No mine. My name is Jimmy and I'll take all you give me and they and they hold more than his meat in other words They don't necessarily need it They're there. They're holding on to that which they need and then some so to speak and It says, but it tendeth to poverty now. What's a great example of? Something like this someone who is just stingy someone who is withholding more than his meat and it tends to poverty Babylon the United States of America Right why because they're constantly withholding our money Through taxes and taking all this money and what happens well is it any? Coincidence that United States of America is also in tremendous debt You're constantly living in debt. I mean, I don't know what the number is today. Well does anybody know like it's in the trillions obviously, right? tens of trillions of dollars Good night But yet Constantly taking taxpayers Money and through wicked means and all these things. So the the concept here is this when you scatter your resources You're generous with others God will allow you to increase your resources if you withhold more than his meat then God will allow you to go into poverty Okay, he says the liberal soul shall be made fat and he that water it shall be watered also himself He that withholdeth corn the people shall curse him But blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it he that diligently seeketh good procureth favor But he that seeketh mischief it shall come unto him. So the concept is very simple God blesses you with something. You need to make sure that you devise a way to give it away Now you'd have to give it all away But devise a way that you can be liberal with the resources that God has given to you You said why well so that God can increase you you can increase your resources your finances You know, whatever you have if you are liberal and generous with it God will make sure that you receive it often tenfold. Okay, look at Luke 14 verse 12 It says here then said he also to him that bade him When thou makest the dinner or supper call not thy friends nor thy brethren neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbors Lest they also bid thee again and a recompense be made thee but when thou makest the feast call the poor the maim the lame the blind and Thou shall be blessed for they cannot recompense thee for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just So think about this, you know, God not only blesses us for our efforts of being generous in this lifetime We admit we can receive a payment so to speak in this lifetime But even in the life to come and the Bible specifically says hey when you bless people who aren't able to pay you back Don't worry if they can't pay you back. You'll be recompensed at the resurrection Okay This is why it's important if someone ever asks you for money Okay, here's my advice to you if someone ever asks you for money What you do and then they say hey, I'll pay you back. Just say no, it's just a gift Just take it if you're able to do it obviously, okay They say can I get a hundred dollars and either hundred dollars for X Y & Z, you know, obviously consider the cause of the poor Okay, we should consider and say well, what is it that you need? You know, maybe you can get it but if it's a matter of you know They need money for whatever just some regular cause or some need that they have and they need cash or something like that And you impart it unto them don't expect it back Okay, and and and if they say I promise to give it back to you just say don't even promise me that It's better than just not to vow that I'd rather just give it to you as a gift. Okay, and just kiss it Goodbye, okay, but you're not really kissing it goodbye because you're gonna see it again at the resurrection of the just Because it says there They cannot recompense thee for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just you say man This person hasn't paid me back this this money of X Y & Z. Well, you know what just kiss it Goodbye, and you'll get it back in the resurrection Because God sees it all he sees what you sacrifice he sees what you're generous with He sees what you're liberal with and if no one ever thanks you if no one ever thanks you for the general for your generosity Don't worry about it. God beholds the evil and the good Okay, he sees every work that you do and you will be recompensed go to Matthew chapter 6 if you would So this is the concept that we see in Ecclesiastes chapter number 11 When he says let me read it to you again, it says in Ecclesiastes 11 verse 2 give a portion to 7 and Also to 8 for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth So this is some really good advice here. Okay. What is he saying? If God has blessed you with resources look for seven people to be a blessing too. And in fact look for eight Why because he says you don't know what evil is gonna come upon the earth. What does that mean? you're not you don't know what's gonna be you don't know what's coming down the pipeline and You might have riches today. You might have an abundance today, but you may not have it tomorrow You may not have it three months from now. You may not have it a year from now So be generous with what you have today so that in case if you ever lose those resources Because you blessed seven yay eight Those people will remember you in the long run Okay, there'll be a blessing to you because you so generosity to them you were liberal with your resources to them when they were In need and so in like manner they will recompense you as well. You say well, I don't know I was a blessing to seven people and you know, I was in need and they still didn't you know, help me out And they weren't liberal with me. They were you know, they were withholding corn for me You know, they didn't seem to remember me during these times. Okay. Well, there's still the recompense of the just okay There's still the resurrection and God's not gonna let you go without you understand. This is just practical advice to say Hey always look for people to be a blessing too. I mean doesn't the Bible say as we therefore have what? Opportunity let us do good into all men especially those of the household of faith So the Bible actually says this You know Before your blessings to the people out there with your resources. You should actually put your brethren and your sisters in Christ first Because it says especially they of the household of faith God actually favors people in the house of God more than the people out there when it comes to being a blessing with resources Now obviously we want to be a blessing to people out there and the number way we do that is by giving them the gospel right and They're like, well, I'm in need well go buy him a meal You know, I'm hungry go buy him a meal if they need something to say come to church You know come to church and look folks any person who has a church to go to will not go without Okay, I remember my father-in-law telling me a story about One of the one of the men in the church and this man was was, you know, he was basically successful spiritually speaking he was doing well with his family, but he came to church with just nothing and You know, my father-in-law wasn't necessarily Jumping at the at the opportunity to just help every Tom Dick and Harry that he ran into You know, they kind of have to prove that they were actually in need and they were willing to come to church and be a Part of the church and do all that. Well, this guy did that and he kind of got his life together You know and you know, I think that's great I think it's great to help people but I think we need to make sure that we help those who are in our church Okay and Here's the thing people have this attitude that like well church Church should just be doing like You know all all this public service and and help people with money all the time and get people food all the time No, it's not a food drive It's not a restaurant This is not you know first works You know drive-through or first works ATM or first works thrift store first works Baptist Church Our responsibility is to preach the Word of God here. This is a local church for believers You know the people out there don't determine what we do in here Oh, I can't believe you guys do it what you should be doing what Jesus would do You don't know what Jesus would do. So shut up You haven't even read the Bible. Don't tell me what Jesus would do. You don't even know Jesus You know, oh, yeah, that's not what Jesus would do. How do you know? Find Jesus in the Bible for me. Where is that? Show me a verse with Jesus in it You won't be able to do it because you haven't even read it Your your view of Jesus is the guy with the dress You know Don't even get me started on that. What I'm saying is this and don't let people guilt-trip you out there and To being generous towards the wrong people You know We need to follow biblical guidelines and mandates that says we need to favor God's people and be a blessing to God's people Obviously consider the cause of the poor and not just you know Just not be wise what the resources that God has given to us, you know, we need to be good stewards Obviously, you understand and look folks. Let me just say this, you know it If someone in our church and I don't think this has ever happened if it has I didn't hear about it I don't think it's happening now But if someone in our church is in need is just going around asking for money to different people. That's a problem That's a problem You understand, you know If there's someone who is in need and they ask someone for money and they give them that money and it just kind of big It kind of becomes like a pattern That's a problem folks You know, if a man do not work neither should he eat that's what the Bible says and So look at Matthew chapter 6 So this is what Ecclesiastes 11 is talking about. It's talking about making sure you sow as much as as much Generosity as you possibly can because it's gonna come back around to you one day Matthew 6 verse 1 says take heed that you do not your alms before men Alms is basically almost like a like a gift you're given to someone maybe someone who is poor This is not referring to tithing at all, okay It's an offering to someone else take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them Otherwise ye have no reward of your father which is in heaven Can someone explain this to the tick-tockers out there and the instagramers? Or they're just like they have a hundred dollar bill and they go to the poor guy and they're like, here you go You know, it's like what is that There's so much of that going around Where they're just like they just want everyone to see the hundred dollar bill and the twenty dollar bill that they're giving out Why because they want to be seen of men now god forbid any of those should be any Christians Obviously unsafe people they just don't know any better sometimes and they do it for vainglory But god forbid that some believer out there would partake in something like that And it's just like I'm about to do a good deed a roll roll the camera Pull up the iPhone real quick. Let's get this in 4k. I Was just take heed that you don't do it before men to be seen of men verse 2 therefore when thou doest thine alms 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. Yeah, they have their likes They have their hearts. They have their thumbs up. They have their comments and oh, man You're so you're such a good person and this is how it needs to be and all these. Yeah, that's your reward But when thou doest alms verse 3 let not thy left hand know what thy right hand do it now Obviously, this is figurative, right? It's not like, you know, there's a split personality between your hands or something like that It's basically saying be so discreet that something as close as your hands, you know They know what each other is doing would even know the good alms that you're doing It's basically saying just be as discreet as you possibly can Don't sound a trumpet That thine alms may be in secret and thy father would seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly So look, you know, it's there's nothing wrong with wanting to be rewarded for doing something good God is saying this is the formula that you need to use in order to be rewarded though Okay, you need to make sure you do it in secret You need to make sure that you have the right motives don't sound a trumpet so that God can reward you Openly, all right, go to 2nd Corinthians chapter number 8 2nd Corinthians chapter number 8 talking about being a liberal Christian Hey be a liberal Christian. We first work Baptist Church needs to have liberal Christians in it. Amen Make a soundbite out of that one We need to be liberal Liberal be as liberal as the day is long Why cuz it's good for you to be a liberal Christian It's good for us to be generous with the resources that God has given to us and to be a blessing to others Look at 2nd Corinthians 8 verse 1 Now it's good for us just because it's good to just depart from finances and resources and goods It's good to just give that stuff away. But also on top of that just you receive a reward because of it Okay, look at verse number 1 moreover brethren We do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed upon bestowed on the churches of Macedonia How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty Abounded unto the riches of their liberality. So this church is actually they're struggling they're going through affliction They're experiencing deep poverty But in spite of that, they're very rich in their liberality. What does that mean? They're still very generous what they have I mean think about the widow who gave over what two mites and Percentage wise she actually gave more than anybody else who put money into the Treasury because she gave all of her savings basically, right? God doesn't care if you have a million dollars. He just cares regarding the percentage of what you give Understand like is it is it sacrificial to you? Okay, are you are you being generous with what you have verse 3 says for to their Power I bear record. Yea beyond their power They were willing of themselves praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift And take upon us the fellowship of the ministry of the Saints go to chapter 9 if you would chapter 9 Look at verse number 1 of 2nd Corinthians 9 for us touching the ministry into the Saints and it's superfluous for me to write to you For I know the forwardness of your mind for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia The dikea was ready a year ago and your zeal hath provoked very many Yet have I sent the brethren lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf that as I said you may Be ready less happily if they of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared We that we say not ye should be ashamed in this same competent boasting. So what is this talking about? It's talking about you know, the church of Corinth basically Stated hey, we're gonna give to this cause here We're gonna take up an offering and be a blessing to the church, right and the Apostle Paul's coming in saying well I've told everyone that you said that and Your zeal has provoked very many So make sure you still have that same desire in that same zeal when we come and pick up that money Because if not, then you know, you're gonna be ashamed, okay, he's basically saying like hey you need to follow through Whatever you say you need to follow through on because here's the thing You know, there's a lot of people that will do something like this and they only do it for the praise of men But They're not necessarily willing to put anything in I think of like Ananias and Sapphira right Well, they claimed that they were gonna sell all their property and give that and then they kept packed They kept back part of the price and they ended up dying because of it. Okay in the book of Acts And I called out North Valley Baptist Church on Sunday I'm gonna do it again today People get offended at that was just like go look it up yourself But for example, you know Jack Treiber will get up before his church and take up these crazy offerings to pay for their streets or whatever To pay for their fountains and their ivory there the hundredth piano that they already have okay, and You know, they have services outside I guess but they have like they do it differently right for the hike What is it? It's like a drive-thru service You got parking lot so everyone comes in a car Okay, and he'll preach and they'll like honk and stuff like that and so, you know I'm serious true story but he'll take up these offerings because he's characterized by doing these outlandish offerings to pay for the the Crazy debt that they have because they're always in debt because they withhold more than his meat. You know, I mean But you have them basically What he'll do is he'll take up an offering and he's like who's willing to give like $100 honk Like no one's honking and stuff and then he calls out like a specific section and someone will like honk I know that car right there, you know, they call out the brother or whatever and so, you know There's tons of people that do this, but I promise you there's probably a lot of them they honk and then later on They don't even give that or whatever. Yeah, I promise you there. I'm pretty sure there's people out there that do that. Okay? Cuz he doesn't like like every service and he puts people on the spot And he even he's done it, you know, he's done it in his church building too because he'll call out the name and stuff and you know It's great, you know and then you know people love that because you know Then they get all this attention Wow brother so-and-so is giving $1,000 home. Yeah, you know this guy's spiritual. He's godly. Oh, man It's nonsense folks. It's vainglory And here's some advice for North Valley Baptist Church sell all the pianos do you have Sell and I'm not for selling in the church but But they are so obviously it would not bother them at all Sell their pianos sell their buses sell his wardrobe His wardrobe alone can pay for like half the debt. I'm sure Sell the things are just unnecessary. I'm not against churches having nice things if it doesn't make them go into debt Hey, it's okay to beautify the the house of God Right make it look decent and nice and beautiful if it doesn't make you go into debt right Because at that point if you're going into debt, you're not really doing it because you love the Lord You're probably doing it because you want the praises met You want people to look at what you got going on? You're trying to keep up with the Joneses keep up with the Paul chapels. Oh Sorry, did I say that? I Mean from a biblical perspective no church should ever be in debt And if our church ever went into debt for whatever reason which I don't think will ever happen Then this is what we'll do. We'll just cut a bunch of extra stuff out. We won't have Activities, you know, but one things that will never change is like tracks You know obviously paying the bills, but I don't think that will ever happen. I Don't think that will ever have I think God will always provide for our needs We try to be as generous as we possibly can with the things that we have Look, you know, we're gender. We're trying to be generous with the song books that we have Look if hey anybody in here if you don't have a song book take a song book home Freddy Take a song book home. If you want a song book, you know, if you don't have a song we'll take it You know, I mean be be you know, you don't have to take a whole stack Okay one per family, please, you know But the things that the church are free Activities are free You know everything that we do is completely free wife because we want to practice this principle of being generous So that God will continue to bless us and and and you know, and so we can continue to serve God you understand How did I get off on that Look at verse five. Oh We're talking about the people who are boasting, you know, they're like, oh, yeah, we're gonna help we're gonna help Macedonia We're gonna help them of Macedonia and Acaya We're gonna help these new and he's like, all right You better keep that promise cuz I've been bragging to everyone that this is what you're gonna do So you better be ready ready with that money Where's my money? Verse five therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren that they would go before unto you and make a beforehand your bounty Whereof ye had had noticed before that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty and out of covetousness So he's like so just in case, you know, I sent some guys ahead of me to go make sure you have that money Like, you know, he's just trying to make sure that they fulfill their promise there. But this I say Verse six, but this I say he would soweth sparingly Shall reap also sparingly and he that's so with bountifully shall reap also bountifully So it's like the if you sow a little bit if you're only a little generous then you're only gonna get a little bit back It's just the law of numbers But if you're gracious if you're generous if you are liberal with the resources you have you are going to receive Bountifully as well verse 7 every man according as he purposeth in his heart. So let him give not grudgingly Or of necessity for God loveth a cheerful giver So it's not like all right fine here take the songbook. I guess now someone comes to you the pastor. Can I get a song? I mean, I guess I Mean, yeah You're asking me I guess, you know Or is like can I get this money? Yeah, I have this bill that I need pay. Can I borrow this money? Yeah, you know you can have it. I guess I mean like Yeah, it's like the only thing I have but I mean I have a family but I guess yeah That's like grudgingly Understand cuz then you're making the person feel really bad about it. It's like, you know, what never mind I'm good, you know He says God loves a cheerful giver That's not like yeah take this thousand bucks anything else He's he's saying like have a good attitude about it You know, don't put the person through a guilt trip Who's asking for that? You know take it and and the reason he's saying he loves a cheerful giver speak. Why would a person be cheerful when they give Because they understand the system They understand what they're doing They're like take it because I can never I'll give God And here's the thing you can never ever I'll give God Never you can never I'll give God whatever you give to someone else to be a blessing to you Will always receive more than what you gave It's always the way it works Verse 8 says in God is able to make all grace abound toward you That he always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work as it is written He had to disperse the broad he had given to the poor his righteousness remaineth forever Now he that ministered seed to the sower both minister Bread for your food and multiply your seed sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness being enriched in everything to all bountiful ness Which cause it excuse me, which caused it through us Thanksgiving to God So he's saying look as a church because he's talking specifically about churches, right? He say be generous because you need to be generous in order for God to bless you so you can continue to serve God And that's one of the reasons why I think our church should be generous so we can continue doing missions So we can continue doing soul winning We can continue preach the gospel and and here's the thing the Bible says in Ecclesiastes that money answer with all things That's true. Like how are we supposed to pay the bills with money? How are we supposed to get invitations for the church with money? How are we gonna take this mission strip with money? That's what it means when it says money answer with all things, right? So, how do we get the money? Well, this is how we get it by being generous to others We pray for it. We're generous with others We seek to be as good stewards as we possibly can with what God has given to us and God will bless us for it Okay Go back to Ecclesiastes if you would So this is the this is the principle here. He says hey be a liberal Christian Be liberal be liberal as the day is long. Okay Be as liberal as the day is long Seek the people in the church to be a blessing too Okay And he says give a portion to seven verse two and also to eight for that knows not what evil Shall be upon the earth and look folks. God is not mocked for whatsoever man. So at that shall you also reap? Okay So don't be weary in well-doing for you shall reap if you faint not and do season you shall reap if you faint not Look at verse three Let's move on here. So point number one is this hey Just if you get nothing from the sermon get this be a liberal Be a liberal we welcome liberals to this church. Amen We want to we want to build liberals in this church. We want to disciple people to become liberal Christians at our church Okay, it's a good attribute to have to be generous to be gracious with people Etc, you know, hey when we go out to eat and you know There's someone maybe he's a little down in the on the on the dumps and you know They're just they're not doing well financially pay for their meal Look to pay for the meals of other people. Okay, look for those seven. Yay. Look for those eight sometimes Verse three says if the clouds be full of rain They empty themselves upon the earth and if the tree fall toward the south or toward the north in the place where the tree fall There it shall be what is this talking about just saying look you need to be able to accept the inevitable It's basically saying look the clouds be full of rain. They're gonna empty themselves upon the earth Can't really do anything about that The tree falls toward the south toward the north and the place where the tree falls there. It shall be I Know that sounds really profound He's like hey when the tree falls wherever he lands. That's where it's gonna land What is he saying he's basically saying this Some things are just inevitable and don't worry about the things that you cannot change. You can't change the weather. You're not DARPA I'm just kidding. Okay You know, you can't change the weather. You can't change where trees fall. Don't worry about the things that you cannot change Concern yourself with the things that you can improve that you can change I think of this really corny quote, but the corny quote actually makes a lot of sense God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change Courage to change the things that I can and wisdom to know the difference I feel like I see these in little frames and bathrooms or something, you know, like The bathrooms is like it's like the lighting is all dark, but you have that one little quote right there, you know Like thanks for that reminder But it's true it's like we need the peace of God I'm sorry. Does anybody have that in the restroom? I didn't mean to offend anybody here if you do. Hey, I love that quote That's why I'm using it, right? Sarah make a note make sure we put that in our restroom, too Something some things we can't change and you know, I I've I've Seen that a lot of people stress out about things that they can't change things that they have no power over you know, and And you're gonna go crazy if that's you The Internet is filled with people who are stressing out about things that they can't change I Feel people like that every post every every comment is about things that they cannot change I rather just kind of focus on the things that I can't change Okay, and in fact look at verse 4 he that observed the wind shall not sow and he that regarded the clouds shall not reap The Bible says so what is this telling us the person who is looking at the cloud that he cannot change? Well, he's not gonna go so why cuz he's too busy looking at social media about the cloud of tyranny He's regarding the clouds he's regarding the wind and therefore he's not gonna sow and you know what he's not gonna repeat it So in other words, you know, we need to put in the effort to change what we can in spite of that which is inevitable Okay, it's inevitable The destruction of America is inevitable folks, right? It's inevitable It is inevitable. It's gonna happen. It's gonna take place one day God's gonna judge America. In fact, he's already judging it Okay But here's the thing. We shouldn't just so we shouldn't just observe the destruction observe gay Pride Month Who wants to observe that? Observe that I don't want to look upon that that filth and disgusting this you gotta put up with this stuff for a month an Entire month folks, that's why you know You say well, you know, we need to observe it because we need to preach on it We need to yeah, I get that but you know what? I'd rather just go so I Rather go reap. So while everyone else is freaking out about the moral decline of our country, which is you know, obviously it's grievous It's vexing You know, we can be doing simultaneously is actually so any repeat Preaching the gospel preaching the Word of God hitting on these things, you know, I'm not going to go to some gay pride parade to preach against the sodomites Observe the clouds without rain Those who are twice dead plucked up by the roots I'd rather just preach an hour-long sermon here with people that agree with me I'll get like the whole church to say amen You understand and then go do some soul winning win people win people to Christ and So we need to make sure that we put in the effort in spite of the things that we cannot change Yeah, America's on a decline, but we can still win souls to Christ America is gonna be destroyed but we can still raise our families for God America's on a decline but you know We can still love our wives as Christ also loved the church and gave them some for it Wives can still reverence their husbands. We can still raise our children in the nurturing the admonition of the Lord We can still fulfill our God-given responsibilities in spite of the fact that America is still gonna be destroyed You know, we can still preach against the sodomites even though they're taking over America right we can still preach against adultery and sodomy and pedophilia and murder and Abortion even though it's inevitable that people are still going to do it. We can still preach against it We Don't want to be the kind of people to just make excuses why we can't do those things Okay, and from a practical perspective you think of people who like, you know, oh, you know It's windy outside. I can't go work Well, it's a little cloudy. I can't work today. These are the same people who say the line is without You know, I shall be slain in the streets where they come up with all these reasons why they can't work Okay, all these reasons why they can't get a job why they can't work folks man is made to work Go to work. Amen Keep yourself busy Do work don't look at don't observe the wind don't regard the clouds. Don't look at it as a reason Well, you know today's just not a good day to work This is a little cloudy. It might rain today. It's a little too hot a little too muggy little just go work The line is always gonna be there And let me say this the guy who said this in Proverbs the line is without He was actually probably telling the truth, right Cuz he's in the Middle East You know, there's like wild animals over there hurt. There's like lions. There's like bears that kill children and stuff Okay, right. It's like animals there. I Mean he's still a little weenie for not going It's supposed to work anyways, you know He's still a little punk For not for not working even though the lion potentially could be out there But how much more the person who lives in the United States of America folks? There's no lions outside There's no bears. There's no she bears. You can call someone you can call the man of God Baldy Go up that Baldy probably no she bears are gonna come out. This is not the wild here. Okay, you have no reason There's no excuse not to work. Okay, I Yeah, but the economy is crashing it's just Everything's just going so bad folks for the Christian. There's always work to do Always work God will not allow you to go without there's always something to do. There's always work to find It can be done. Okay verse number five as thou know It's not what is the way of the spirit nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child Even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all So here he just kind of segues into this subject of things that we just can't understand and He gives us some examples here. He says we don't know the way of the Spirit and You think of what Jesus said? You know the the wind blows where it listeth and you can't he compares that with the Spirit and a person being born again It's like we understand how it works in a sense of you believe and the Spirit comes to live within you But the intricacies of that we don't really understand, right? Or how bones do grow in a womb of her that is with child like we don't understand how that can happen But God makes it work He says even so thou knowest not the works of God that maketh all So instead of stressing over like how does that work though? How do the bones? How is like there's another life in there like the bones are growing at the eyeballs are being made sin use How is that even possible? Well, just know this. It's just the work of God and sometimes that Causes us to marvel other times it causes frustration It's like why is this happening to my life? Why am I allowed to go through this trial? Why is this happening to my life and we don't understand. Well, this is just the work of God So instead of stressing out of like why is this happening? What we need to think about is this Well, this is just the work of God and maybe it's too high for me to understand and I just need to go with the Flow there. Okay Verse 6 says in the morning sow thy seed and in the evening withhold not thine hand in other words be generous For thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that or whether they both shall be alike good Now this is probably my favorite verse of this passage of scripture of this chapter Because he's saying this look in the morning. So your seed in the evening be generous He goes because you don't know which one's gonna prosper and In other words, he's basically saying you need to have your fishing pole and all types of ponds Or rivers or lakes or I don't know Jacob wouldn't know better than I would You need to have what a river lake. Give me some Ocean okay have different poles and all oceans the Atlantic Ocean Pacific Ocean Basically have your fishing pole in multiple areas because you don't know which one's gonna be biting and You know a good spiritual application to this when it comes to the spiritual things is This matter of receiving rewards right for the things that we were doing in our body We obviously understand that winning souls to Christ produces rewards But so does fulfilling our God-given roles so does suffering for Christ so does persecution So does you know doing good to your brothers and sisters in Christ in the house of God all of these dude You say which one produces the most? I don't know So this is what you do. Just do them all So be a good wife Be a good husband be a be an obedient son daughter win souls to Christ disciple them try to get them baptized You know be generous to others do it all Seek to do it all so you can receive a full reward for the things that you're doing because here's the thing in the morning win someone to Christ in The evening disciple that person because you don't know which one shall prosper Either this or that or whether they both shall be alike. Hey at the end you might see whoa I'm getting a lot of payback for all this stuff It's all bountiful. I'm receiving an exceeding great reward for every single thing that I've done, but the point is this Have your fishing rod and every single pond because you don't know which one's gonna produce the most So it's important to just do it all man And look this is a good uh from a practical perspective this is good advice when you're trying to get a job Fill out multiple applications. Amen Apply to multiple places because you don't know which one shall prosper Look at verse number seven truly the light is sweet and pleasant thing It is for the eyes to behold the Sun but if a man lived many years and rejoicing them all Yet let him remember the days of darkness for they shall be many all that cometh is vanity now this thing seems kind of sad But it's just it's just a reality of things. Okay He's saying this look if you have many years to live, you know, enjoy them rejoice in them But don't forget the days of darkness. What does that mean that the bad times? Okay, the bad old times the days that are not good. Why because they shall be many He's like he's like you're not just gonna have a bad day sometimes it's just a bad life. I Know that's not your Joel's thing sermon that you want to hear It's like that's not what I wanted to hear. Yeah, but that's just the reality of things, you know Sometimes life is bad Now here's the thing no matter how bad it gets for you this side of eternity if you're saved Still the best day ever I mean think about this your worst day here is still the best day for some unsafe person The worst possible day that you can have here on this earth is still an unsafe person's best day ever Why because when they die they split hell wide open? So you say look remember the days of darkness for they shall be many and you know what I've noticed as I grow older My wife she was looking at my head she's like you got a gray hair quiet You watch that mouth. I'm just kidding. I thought I was like, are you serious? She's like, yeah, you finally got one right there I'm all I'm all let me see it. Let me do Not in plug it But apparently more will grow if you do pluck it But you know as I get older I Start realizing that sometimes the days become darker What does that mean? It's like you start noticing more evil in this world Sometimes the evil days start coming more often, you know when you're young is like just once Christmas and you know Just go home mom, and you know, just be with my brother and sister Life is good kind of thing. But as you grow older you start noticing that the days are evil I mean doesn't the Bible say that? Redeeming the time for the days are evil. So the Bible says And so you may think to yourself not me everything's going fine and Danny for me Everything's all good and well, yeah wait till you start getting to like late 30s 40s 50s you will experience evil in your life and evils are necessary There's just necessary and he tells us look remember the days of darkness and remember this in the days of adversity consider Why does God allow evil days to come upon us because it makes us wiser It helps us to sympathize with others who are going through evil days what if it like your entire life was just like great Nothing bad ever happened. You never got sick. You never went broke. You never got your heart broken You know, you never Lost anything you were never robbed or stolen from and you never lost a loved one Everything was just great the life that life does not exist folks Because if it did you to be a horrible person You would be a horrible horrible individual in this world because you've never experienced adversity or evil It's good when the day the dark days come because they make us consider they humble us and they shall be many verse 9 says rejoice O young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thine heart and In the sight of thine eyes, but know thou therefore all these things God will bring thee to judgment Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart to put away evil from thy flesh for childhood and youth or vanity What is he saying? Well now he's instructing the young people. He's saying look. Hey young man You got your strength and you know days are good and and everything's going well. Well, let your heart cheer itself okay, and Follow your hearts Right walk in the ways of the heart follow your heart do whatever you want Yeah, we all have our own volition our own will yeah, you can do whatever you want but For all these things God will bring thee into judgment What is he saying? Yeah, you can live however you want young man young lady, but here's the thing just know this God will bring into judgment for every single one of those things So what is he telling the young people? He's saying this just be wise Don't live excessively don't try to go out and sow your wild oats and get involved in fornication and drunkenness and having children out of wedlock and And and living this this this lifestyle that's not pleasing unto God, you know, enjoy life Let your heart cheer itself enjoy your youth and your strength But live with the recognition that there are consequences to your actions Don't think there's no consequence. I still got mom and dad yeah, but you know what mom and dad are not always gonna be there and God can take away mom and dad away from you like that So it's best for you To let your heart be cheerful, but you know what always consider be wise and the Bible says here in verse number 10 Put away evil from thy flesh For childhood and youth or vanity. Hey young people now's the time to clean up your life before he ever gets dirty Put Away evil from thy flesh Don't allow yourself to get involved in the uncleanness of this world Make sure you learn how to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord and in fact chapter 12 look at chapter 12 verse 1 Remember now that thy creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not Nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them Hey now's the time young people to read your Bible Over and over and over again now is the time to pray now is the time to learn how to win souls to Christ Now is the time to capitalize on your youth and the time that you're spending you know Serving God, and it's not a waste I'll finish with this I Got saved when I was 21 years old very young man, okay? And you know what I spent my 20s up until this point serving God Literally from from the day that I got saved to this day. You know that's what I've been doing my entire time And you know some people in their 20s would look at that and say man. What a waste So you didn't go party you didn't go to the club You weren't out there with all kinds of girls and all these things and drinking and smoking and do no I wasn't On Saturday I was in bed getting ready for church on Sunday He said what were you doing on Friday preparing my Sunday school lesson to teach on Sunday So what were you doing? Oh, you know the other nights reading my Bible just serving the Lord Putting away evil from my flesh That's what I spent my 20s doing And you know what someone could look at that out in the world and say what a way so boring That's so lame Yeah, but I guarantee you that same person in their 30s is gonna regret everything that they did in their 20s Cuz it's typically in your 20s when you make the worst decisions of your life It's true And here's the thing ask me do you regret what you did in your 20s nope I'm a pastor now I Got my own church. I have a wife. I got a fourth one on the way I'm living the la vida loca over here, man I'm having a good time serving God and guess what I'm not suffering any Consequences of any stupid decision that I would have made in my 20s And if I did make some dumb decision in my 20s it was in you know I was still serving God I was still in church I was still reading my Bible and you know what all things work together for good to them to love God And it worked together for good for me, and so I'm still enjoying life So yeah, you know I might have wasted my 20s by not learning how to you know hold my liquor Smoke and do all this stupid stuff that people do in their 20s Yeah, I might have missed out on those all those beloved hangovers All the raunchy women of this world yeah, I missed out on all that, but that's a good thing that I missed out on that Because now I'm in my 30s. I'm 35 right now Gonna be 36 in November November 8th Just keep that in mind Yeah, I'm gonna be 36, and you know what when I look back from the time that I got saved. I have no regrets whatsoever No regrets. I don't have any regrets of reading my Bible instead of going out to play Instead of going out and having parties and fun. You know I didn't do any of that I'm thankful that on Friday evenings You know they used to have this thing called are you right are you reformers unanimous and was helping like people overcome drug addiction? You know I got involved in are you and I was teaching the Bible in are you I spent my Friday evenings all the way? To like 12 o'clock midnight Helping people overcome their drug addiction instead of going out there and partying Now obviously we're not gonna have an are you program here, but I'm saying like that's what I spent my 20s doing I spent my Saturday mornings You know visiting a bus route getting kids saved bringing them to church signing them up That's the best way to spend your life is serving God So what I'm saying is this young people you know and I it wasn't a short sermon She was right What I'm saying is this is don't envy young people don't envy the 20 year olds out there who are supposedly having fun I I promise you they're not I Promise you they're not and and and don't base it off of what you see on Instagram either I don't know they look like they're having fun all this stuff People put their best on Instagram right. I mean look just look at my pictures on Instagram You got a photoshopped it. You know miss Ashley's issues. You gotta she gotta put the filters on there, and you know Gotta make it look good amen But that's not reality I'm a lot bigger in person folks. I'm just kidding What I'm saying is like don't look at your friends Instagram or social media platform or whatever and say wow you know they're having such A good time. I promise you they're not Serving God in your 20s teenage years is not a waste take it from someone who actually did it Spent their 20s serving the Lord I have zero regrets and now oh yeah Yeah, I was very disciplined in the beginning not having fun not sowing my wild oats not doing all those things You know what I'm reaping the benefits today. I'm reaping it This is the life and So you know this is the the lesson that we learn here from Ecclesiastes 11 is be bountiful learn to be generous But also you know give your your you your youth to God You know spend your youth serving the Lord reading the Bible winning souls to Christ I promise you you will not regret it. Amen. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father We thank you so much for your word, and thank you for Ecclesiastes Lord and the wisdom you gave Solomon to pen down these words. I pray God that you'd help us Lord to continue to be liberal Liberal as the day is long help us to be as generous as we possibly can with people and obviously there's a We need to use discretion Lord and be good stewards of what we have But Lord if there's something in our hand Help us not to withhold it from someone who needs it help us to give to them Lord And I pray Lord that the that the young people in our church We have so many young people that would give heed to those words and and make sure they serve God in their 20s and not Make any stupid decisions Lord. It's better to just serve the Lord in their teenage years and their 20s and And and reap the benefits thereof thereafter Lord, and I pray God that you'd help us to do so We love you so much. We thank you pray these things in Jesus name. Amen