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Amen. Okay, we're in Ecclesiastes chapter number nine this evening, and if I were to title this chapter, I would title it The Exceptions to the Rule. The Exceptions to the Rule, and the reason I would title it that is because of verse number 11. Look down at your Bibles at verse 11, it says, I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all. You know, when you read the Bible, and specifically books such as the book of Proverbs, or even the book of Ecclesiastes, you'll often see that God talks about how to be successful in life, whether that be with finances, with relationships, and he basically gives an order of how to do that, right? You work hard, you'll gain riches. You study, you search out knowledge, you will gain wisdom. You prepare, you will win the race, and these are the universal laws, so to speak, that God has set forth throughout life in order to help us to succeed, or just to average Joe Schmoe to succeed, because these are just universal laws that he's put forth. But then there's the exception to that rule, okay? Because obviously we know that we have to work hard in order to gain riches, or study to have wisdom, to gain understanding, you know, we need to be men of skill in order to have favor with our bosses, et cetera, to get that promotion, but sometimes it just doesn't work that way. Sometimes it's given to people who don't deserve it, but time and chance happen into them all. You know, we see that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. You know, we need strong people, or in a war, in a battle, there needs to be strong individuals to win that war, but sometimes the battle's given to those who are not strong bread is given to those who are not wise, riches are given to those who don't have understanding, or even favor to men who don't have skill, and why is that? Well, because time and chance happen into them all, okay? And they are the exception to the rule. And this is an important principle that you need to understand and familiarize yourself with, because of the fact that just because time and chance happen into them all, and someone who is undeserving of these things gets them, it doesn't make Nolan void the principles of God, you understand? It's like, well, I guess the Bible isn't true. No, it's not that the Bible isn't true, it's just that this is the exception to the rule, okay? And guess what? You, at times, have been that person to which time and chance has happened too, okay? You know, you are maybe not a person of understanding, a person of skill, a person who's wise or even strong, yet time and chance happen to you, and you came out the better because of it. So these are the exceptions to the rule. So that's basically the overall interpretation of that particular verse. The real surface meaning of that. But an underlying spiritual meaning to this can also apply to Christians, okay? Why? Well, because of the fact that in the world's eyes, we're not necessarily the swiftest, right? In the world's eyes, we're not the strongest, we don't have the wisdom of this world, we don't have the understanding of this world, we don't necessarily have the skills of this world, but yet we always come out winning, right? Why? Well, not because of time and chance, but because we have God on our side. And us and God make the majority of God before us who can be against us, right? You know, I'm not saying that we don't have any wisdom whatsoever, but you know what? We don't have the wisdom of this world because of the fact that we have the wisdom of God. And the wisdom of God is superior to the wisdom of this world, and that's why we come out on top. But even then, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 25, verse 26, for you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God had chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, and God had chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised, the Bible says, have God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. So how do we come on top? How do we win? How do we gain favor with God? Well, this is how we do it, is that we're just nothing. We're nobody, in a sense, in the eyes of the world. We're men of no understanding of the things of this world, no wisdom of the things of this world, we are weak, but here's the thing is that that's what God wants to use. Why is that? Because at that point, when you come out on top, people look at that and say, well, obviously it's not Bruce Mejia that was able to do all this. I know Bruce Mejia. That guy's rude. He's just like, you know, the guy's just mean. You know, that success over at First Works Baptist Church can only be ascribed to God. Because this guy is not talented. He stutters when he preaches. Sometimes he's not the best of preachers, not the nicest person there is. You know, so whenever there's success in the church, you know, obviously it's not him, it's not the people at this church, because they're the ones following him. It obviously has to be God. And they see it as an insult, but to us it's like, hey man, yeah, yeah, that's cool. I'm cool with that. Why, because no flesh should glory in his presence. Okay, now look, we should never use this and say, well okay, let's just be a bunch of stupid idiots and not study and not try to gain wisdom and knowledge and understanding. We want to be vessels and to honor me for the master's use. Okay, and prepared into every good work. But obviously every single one of us, including myself, we all have limits, we all have a lid that we hit. And when we hit that lid, well, you know, at that point, God makes up the difference, okay? And when someone looks at you and sees how successful you've become in your child rearing, at your job, in your marriage, or whatever it may be, you know, what to God that they can say, well that must be God then who does that. Because I know Ulysses Hernandez. And I mean, I know him and it's just impossible that he can obtain this type of success, you know, in the Christian life without God. You know, they see it as an insult, but we don't. Because we know what the Bible says about that, okay? We know that that's who God chooses in order to confound the wise. And so, you know, they look at our church, it's like, what, New IFB Baptist, Fundamental Baptist Church, these guys don't even go to seminary, they don't have any degrees. These people, you know, they're a bunch of radicals over there. If anything great is done at that church, it's but by the grace of God. Well yeah, amen. So there you have it. So we're the exception to that rule, amen. We become the exception to the rule of this world because the world says, well, you know, in order to be successful in this world, you have to adhere to the principles of this world, you have to be the strongest, the smartest, the wisest, the richest, the most man of understanding, but the Bible says that God uses the basest things of this world, and in fact, the most despised things of this world, to confound the wise, okay? And look, the Bible says that we're like the offscouring of this world. We're despised. I mean, Christians just in general are, but in my opinion, those who attend New IFB churches are some of the most despised people in this world. As you can clearly see over the events that have taken place over the last couple of months, we're very much despised in the eyes of, and not just in the eyes of the world, sometimes other Christians just despise us too. They just hate our guts. You know, they just don't like us, and one of the reasons they don't like us is because we're proving the fact that we can preach this way, have this type of church, do ministry in this manner, and still succeed, right? We're basically showing, hey, yeah, you can get up and say faggot, and people aren't gonna be leaving in droves. In fact, you're gonna attract more people. Okay, you can get up and teach God's word, and talk about Leviticus 2013 in the month of June, as you shall see this month, okay? You can rip face, and you know what? All it's gonna do is it's gonna cause the church to grow more, the people to grow more. It's gonna be a blessing. Well, no, that doesn't really work. Yeah, you're right, it doesn't work. We're the exceptions to the rule. That's not how you grow a church. Yeah, you're right, that's not how you grow a church. We're the exception to the rule. Why, because sometimes the race is not to the swift. Sometimes the race is not to the Bible college graduate. Sometimes the race is not to the professor seminary, seminary man of degree. Sometimes the race is given to us, you know? And so, and it's not by time or chance, because it happens all the time. I mean, we have pastor friends who are succeeding, exceedingly doing ministry the way we do it, okay? Preaching as hard as we're preaching, sometimes even harder. And they're doing a great job, okay? They're succeeding, so they can't point to Faithful Word Baptist Church and say, well, that can only happen at Faithful Word Baptist Church. What's happening here? Amen. Yeah, okay, okay. Faithful Word and first works, but nowhere else. Well, there's Verity. Amen. All right, all right. Well, it's Verity, Faithful Word, and first works, but nowhere else. There's, you know, Shield of Faith. Amen. There's Sure Found Aid. There's a bunch of churches like this who are succeeding. Okay, well, it's just the West Coast then. Okay, you're right. I'm just kidding. I'm joking, I'm joking. I am biased towards the West Coast, though. But what I'm saying is this, is that we are the exception to the rule as Christians, as Baptists, because of the fact that we're the offscouring of this world, and it's typically who God wants to use. So I'm not interested in gaining popularity with the world, I'm not interested in gaining popularity with the popular Christianity today. You know, I'm interested in just doing what God wants me to do, running church the way I believe God wants us to run it, preach the Word of God, and whatever happens, happens, okay? And we end up obtaining the race, getting the bread, the spiritual bread, so to speak, getting the spiritual riches, so to speak, because of God's favor. And so that's basically the chapter there, and obviously there's a lot more that we're gonna say throughout the chapter, but that's kinda like a summary of the theme there. So look at verse number one, let's go through the verses here, first of all, we're gonna look at the first couple of verses, verses one through 10, it's like the imminency of death, that's what's being highlighted there. The imminency of death, what does that mean when we talk about the imminency of death? It's referring to the fact that death can happen at any moment. Sometimes death is at hand for all of us, okay? Why, because we don't, you know, the Bible tells us that it is appointed for a man once to die, but after this, the judgment. And what that means is that we all have an appointment with death, we are all gonna die one day, the problem is we don't know when that appointment is, okay? Sometimes it's imminent. And what we see here in these first couple of verses is the fact that death is no respecter of people. Death is not racist, it's not prejudice, it can care less if you are an old person, if you're a young person, if you're a teenager, it's no respecter of people, it will affect everyone. Look at verse number one, for all this I considered in my heart, even to declare all this, that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the clean and to the unclean. To him that sacrifices and to him that sacrifices not, as is the good, so is the sinner, and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all, yea also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that, they go to the dead. So what is it basically telling us here? It's telling us that death happens to the righteous as well as the unrighteous. Happens to everyone, right? Death is one of those things that no one can really escape in this world, okay? You can prolong it, you can try to live as healthy as possible, you can make all the right decisions, but here's the thing, even if you live a healthy life, you're a righteous person, you're God-fearing, death can even come upon you as well. It happens, right? And we are all gonna die one day. Now here's the thing, the surface meaning to this is the fact that everyone's gonna die. So it should come as no surprise when people start dying in our church. Now if they just start dropping like flies, all right, maybe there's something to that, right? Maybe there's something going on or something. But I'm saying, you know, right now we have a very young church, we have a very young church, and that's great, I think that's wonderful that we have a young church. Obviously, you know, we got sprinkled of some ancients in our church, which is great, I think it's good. But as the years go by, as the decades go by, we're all gonna get old, okay? And after a while, you know how we're like, oh man, wedding after wedding after wedding after wedding? It's like, five weddings this year? Well, there's gonna come a time, folks, where it's just like funeral after funeral after funeral after funeral. Five funerals this year or something, you know? That's just the way of life. Everyone goes that way. No one escapes this event here. You know, it happens to the righteous as well as to the unrighteous. All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked. And the reason it's important to be reminded of that is because of the fact that sometimes we can get caught in this fantasy loop where it's just like, well, we're just gonna be here forever, you know? I'm a Christian and I have Christian children and I'm trying my best to serve God. But then death comes upon maybe one of your family members and you begin to question, man, am I doing that which is right? Why did God allow this to happen? Well, here's the thing, this is the reason God allowed it to happen is because of the fact that people just died. People pass away sometimes, okay? Not sometimes, all the time. And death is no respecter of people, okay? You know, death is a very bitter event in the life of someone who's not saved as well as a person who is saved. This is why God kind of goes out of his way to talk about how death and hell are cast into the lake of fire, okay? Go to 1 Corinthians 15, if you would. Hold your place there. So death is no respecter of people. Wicked people die just as the righteous. The righteous sometimes live 80 plus years. But guess what? Sometimes the wicked do too, okay? I don't know how old Hugh Hefner was when he died, but he was pretty old, I think. You know, he looked like he was old, but he died in an old age. Now, thankfully, he's dead, okay? There's another pervert who just died. I don't know how recent it was. Oh, man, what's his name? He's like the founder of Hustler Magazine, Larry Flint. This guy was a wicked person. He was like a Hugh Hefner type. And he lived out many years. He died in an old age, okay? And the Bible tells us, hey, the wicked shall not live out after days. Well, what about, you know, Larry Flint and Hugh Hefner? Well, they're the exceptions to the rule sometimes. And then like man, same thing with the righteous. Sometimes the righteous, you know, the Bible tells us that if we obey our parents, we shall live long on the earth, right? That's like our insurance, we'll live long on the earth. But that doesn't always happen. Sometimes people die young. Sometimes people die in their 20s, 30s, 40s. And you know, that's just the way of life. That's the exception to the rule. But you know what, when it comes to this matter of life and death, we as Christians are actually the exception to that rule, okay? Look what it says in verse 54. So when this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So yeah, obviously we're gonna physically die one day, but that's all that's gonna happen. And obviously the exception to that rule would be that you'd make it into the coming of the Lord and you see, you're there for the second coming of Christ. You're there to behold Him with your eyes, but if you don't make it to that point, you're gonna suffer that physical death one day. But here's the thing, that's all you will suffer. We're the exception to that rule, whereas the unsaved person, once they die, they not only die physically, but they die spiritually forever. There's no coming back from that. Once you die and go to hell, you're there forever, there is no exception to that rule. The only space and time where you get to experience just a little bit of relief is when you're judged with the white throne judgment and you're relocated to the lake of fire, which is worse, it's worse. Whereas us, yeah, this flesh will die one day, but in the eyes of God from God's definition and God's perspective and His terminology, we're still alive. And in fact, I would even go as far as to say that a Christian who dies and is in heaven today, he's more alive than we are today. Why, because now he's absent of that corruptible flesh, that body of death. It's only the spirit that's living in heaven right now. And so they're more alive than we are today. You understand? We are alive in Christ, but our flesh is still corruptible, it's dead, and it's gonna go into the grave. Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God, the Bible says. And the Bible tells us in Romans chapter eight, verse 838, says, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So what we see there is that, yeah, you know, death shall seize upon every single one of you one day. But that's all it's gonna do. And even then, your enemy death shall be swallowed up one day in victory as well. Because it's gonna be swallowed up by the lake of fire when it's tossed in there with its buddy, hell, okay? And so go back to Ecclesiastes. So yeah, you know, death is no respecter of people, and will seize upon every individual in this room at one time or another. But if you're saved, you know, you don't have to worry about experiencing the second death. Because we've overcome by our faith, and we're not gonna be touched by that second death, we're not gonna be hurt by the second death, okay? Look at verse number four, so we see there that death is no respecter of people, it's basically saying everyone's gonna be subject to this. You know, we don't need to be morbid when we talk about death, when we talk about it to our children, we just need to be realistic though. And prepare people, prepare our children to just let them know that, you know, people die, mom and dad are gonna pass away one day, you know, and that's just the way of life, that's why it's important that we get saved, we have eternal life, because that way we will see each other once again, understand? Now, not only that, but we see here that death puts misfortunes into perspective, look at verse four, for to him that is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. I like how blunt the Bible is sometimes, you know, it's just like, he's putting things into perspective here, and he's basically saying, look, you know, if you're a dog, and this is not referring to like a dog, like a fag, like the way we would call dogs, or fags dogs, this is just giving that symbolism there, that a dog who's just out there, he just kind of doesn't have a home, a living dog is still better than a dead lion, a dead lion being strong, the king of the jungle type thing, but he's dead, and he's making that comparison there, and he's basically saying this, you know, no matter how bad it gets for you here on this earth, if you're alive, you're still better off than the person who's dead, right? You still have it better than the person who is dead. Now, again, the exception to that would be the rapper bae who was twice dead, plucked up by the roots. They don't have it better, okay? It's funny because I remember years ago, I don't know, it was like 2009, 2010, I was part of that church plant, and I had reached this individual, or I got him back into church, he was already saved, and I got him back into church, and he was a lot older than me, but I would go over to his house, and just, I knocked on his door, I would go over to his house, and just kind of disciple him, and finally I got him back into church, and he got a Bible, and he started reading it again, and this guy had just kind of ruined his life. You know, he lived a life of just sowing his wild oats, and just getting involved in all kinds of sin, and some of the damage was just irreparable, you understand? But he was saved, the guy was still alive, I mean, he's trying to get back into church, he's trying to get right with God, and I brought him to church, and I said, look, we go in the morning, we come here, because it was a church plant, but on Sunday night, we go back to Long Beach, because they have a Sunday night service, you should be a part of a Sunday night service. So I said, I'll pick you up, and I'll take you to the service on Sunday night. So I took him there, and the church in Long Beach was a very big church, and I remember there was this guy there, and this man, he had been a Christian for a long time, he was involved in ministry for decades, he was involved in bus ministry, and he'd just done the whole Baptist thing, or as just, you know, bus captain in Sunday school, he'd done it all, okay, and he had reached actually a lot of people, and they crossed paths in the hallway, and the guy who I brought, he looked at him and said, hey, and he called out his name, he's like, do you remember me? He's like, no, who are you, he's like, dude, you got me saved when I was a little kid, you're the one who got me saved. And he's like, oh, he's like, what's your name? And he told him his name, he's like, yeah, you picked me up on the bus. He's like, when I was a little kid, you came and you brought a bunch of kids on the bus, and I was one of them, you gave me the gospel, and I'm the one who got saved. He's like, I've never forgotten you after that, you changed my life. And the guy's like, oh man, praise the Lord. He's like, what you been up to? And he's just like, well, you know. And he kind of told him everything that he went through, just like, kind of ruined his life and everything, and just, marriage was kind of like in shambles, and just, you know, children in shambles, just not good at all, right? And he's kind of telling, the guy from our church was like, well, you know what the Bible says? A living dog is actually better than a dead lion. And I remember, I looked at him, I was like, whoa, man. And I looked at my, you know, I looked at my visitor, the guy, and he just kind of looked at him, he's like, oh, like, he's just like, and then, you know, it's like Jephthah, like, as soon as he said it, he kind of knew like, oh, man, I probably shouldn't have said that. Because then, you know, I mean, it's the Bible terminology though, you know? But it's what came out of his heart, because he knew the scripture, and he's probably dealt with a lot of people. He's probably dealt with a lot of living dogs, right? And so he's just like, he's like, I'm not calling you like a dog or something like that. And he was trying to like interpret the verse for him, he's just saying, you know, you've been through a lot, so it's like, you're like a living dog, but hey, you're not a dead lion though. And it just got kind of awkward, he's like, well, you know, it's good to see you, brother, you know, it's just like. And I walked away, and I was just like, man, that was savage. And I didn't even know how to like, what do you, how do you carry on a conversation after that? And I don't know if I said something, I was like, well, you know, we're all kind of like living dogs, I guess, you know? We're all kind of like messed up in our life and stuff, so don't worry about it. Hey, you're in church now, man, you know? Because I'm trying to like not discourage him, I want him to like remain faithful in church. But I'll never forget that conversation. But you know what, it was definitely applicable. And basically, what the man in our church was trying to get across is the fact that, you know, you're telling me all your problems and stuff, but it looks like you're still alive. Looks like you're still living. You're in an independent fundamental Baptist church, this guy's picking you up for church. Let me look at your Bible. Oh, it's King James? Oh, man, it looks like you're doing pretty well. You know? You're coming to Sunday night church, looks like things are going pretty well. Because here's the thing, you could be a dead lion. You know, you could have been something, oh yeah, you know, you got these people out there who maybe have done great exploits in the past, they were very stout and strong and fierce, but they're dead now. And a living dog is better than a dead lion. So death actually puts misfortunes into perspective sometimes, you know? And that's what's good, I hate to say this, but it's like, this is what's kind of good about funerals. Because it makes you think about death. And it makes you realize, you know, no matter how bad it gets for me here in this world, I'm not dead. I'm still alive, I still have an opportunity to work, to labor, to love my spouse, to love my children. And if you feel like, well, you know, I don't have my spouse, or I don't have my children, okay, well, you can still love on church members. There's always something to do for you as a, we're not gonna call it a living dog, but how about a living Christian, right? There's always something great, and here's the thing, our light affliction is only for a moment, and it can't compare with the eternal wind of glory that we shall see one day. You know that when you go to heaven, or when you're in the millennial reign, or when you're in the new heaven, the new earth, this day will be but a drop in the bucket for you? It can't even compare. The pain that you feel today does not even compare. It will not compare at all. It puts things into perspective. Says in verse number five, so let me say this, because in a church like this, we gotta say, don't be using this kind of counsel when you talk to people. Hey, you're like a dead, you're like a living dog. What do you mean? Well, it's better than a dead lion. Just pat him on the back and just walk away. You gotta be kind to people, and be sensitive, okay? Verse five, for the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything. Neither have they any more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. He's putting things into perspective. He's saying, look, you know that you're gonna die one day, but the fact that you know this is great because of the fact that that means you're still alive. Whereas the person who's dead, it's already too late for that individual. They don't have any more reward. The memory of them is forgotten. Also, their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished. Neither have they any more apportioned forever in anything that is done under the sun. He's like, they can't even feel emotions anymore. They don't feel those emotions, or should we say, they can't express those emotions anymore. Love and hatred and envy, it's all perished. Their portion is done, okay? And so, what's a good interpretation of that? How can we apply that? Well, apply it this way. Don't despise the emotions that you have today. There's gonna come a time when all that's over with, okay? Exercise your emotions liberally, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Be tempered in everything that you do, but just recognize this, is that you're like, oh man, but I just spend every day just crying sometimes. Yeah, but you know what? There's gonna come a time when that's no longer the case, where God shall wipe away all tears, okay? And so, it's just telling us that these things do have an end Death puts things into perspective for us. It puts these misfortunes in perspective. Look at verse seven. It also reminds us that our endeavors have an end. It says in verse seven, Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. What is he saying? You know, don't just spend your life miserable because you're mad about certain situations. You know, what should I do? Eat your bread with joy. Drink your wine with a merry heart. Juice is what it's talking about, right? It's not talking about alcohol. Alcohol is wicked, and the Bible condemns drinking alcohol. Well, you know, I just drink a little bit to get buzzed. That's still drunkenness. And I'm sorry, I don't find buzzed in the Bible. It's not a term that the Bible uses. When it talks about wine, it's referring to juice. And you say, well, how do I know? When it's encouraging you to drink wine, that's how you know it's juice. Okay? And so it's telling you, hey, drink wine with a merry heart, enjoy life. Yeah, but I'm going through a really tough time. Does that mean you can't enjoy life though? I mean, look, folks, it could be a lot worse. There's people who are going through a difficult time without this church. They have no church whatsoever. No fellowship with anybody. They don't joke around after church and laugh and play and fellowship and eat and talk and just occupy their minds with fellowship. They don't have those things. You do. Amen? And so he tells them, hey, go your way, eat bread with joy, drink thy wine with a merry heart. Look what it says here. For God now accepted thy works. What is this telling us? You should work now. There's gonna come a time when he doesn't accept your works. And that's the time when you can no longer work. You know, Jesus said, I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day, the night cometh when no man can work. There's a song, I don't know if it's in the hymnal, one day we should sing it. It's called I Wish I Had Given Him More. How many of you have ever heard that song? Really beautiful song. And it's a song that basically goes, it says, by and by, when I look on his face, his wonderful face, I wish I had given him more. This is more, so much more, more than I ever had before. And he's just basically lamenting over the fact that, you know, when we get to heaven, when we see Jesus Christ face to face, there's gonna be people who have this sense of regret saying, man, I wish I had done more. I wish I had given more. And he goes, I can't, I'm not gonna sing it right now. I don't wanna bless you that much, okay? You get a sermon and that's it. And plus, I don't remember all the words. Just take my word for it, right? The song's out there. It's a beautiful song. And it's basically telling us, you know, what this is saying, which is, God now accepteth thy work. Don't put working for God off until next year, you know, next whatever period where you're free. No, you gotta do it now, okay? You gotta disciple people now. You have to raise your children now. You have to love your spouse now. You have to win souls to Christ now. You have to preach now because now's the time where God accepts your works, okay? Don't have this apathetic attitude towards God where it's just like, well, I'm just gonna put all this stuff off until 2022. No, now's the time to work, okay? Now there's certain things that, you know, seasonal things that you can't do until things clear up. Obviously with all these COVID restrictions, we can't go to certain countries, but we can still win people to Christ here. You know, we can still disciple people here. We can still baptize people, preach sermons now. You know, I never want to have this attitude where, I don't know if I should preach this sermon now, you know, preach against the sodomites now. No, now's the time. When I'm 35 years old, I'm in my prime. When I got the most vinegar, I'm the angriest I've ever been now. Now's the time to preach against the sodomites. Now's the time to foam out the mouth and scream and yell and offend and preach as hard as I possibly can. This is gonna come a time when I'm maybe, Lord willing, 60, 70, 80 years old. And you know, I'm not gonna be able to preach with as much fervency as I do today. I'll try, but I might risk like, you know, my teeth falling. I don't know, something might happen, you know? I think of like Jack Howells. Jack Howells preached hard till his very last year, like till the very end, you know? And I think that's great, but you know, there's other preachers who tried to do that and they didn't do well. John R. Rice being one of them. I can tell you some horror stories about John R. Rice, where he kind of began to lose his mind at the very end. And you know, he's preaching. Like my wife's uncle would tell me that in college, at Howells Anderson, he was there preaching. And then he just forgot he was preaching. And he just like walked away. He just like walked off the platform. Obviously there's other issues with that. Probably his health and you know, his eating habits or who knows, maybe he just didn't take care of his mind. I don't know what it is. There's other horror stories that I can tell you that I just don't want to dishonor men of God of times past because of things that they were experiencing physically. But you know, there comes a time when it's just like, you can no longer do those things. So that's why I don't want to say, well, I'll preach a really hard sermon against the sodomites when I'm like 50 years old, you know, when I have the plenary understanding. No, I got the understanding now. I'm angry right now, okay. You know, it disgusts me right now. And I'm sure it'll disgust me more later, but you know what, I'm disgusted right now with it. So I need to preach now. You know, oh man, maybe I should just wait to you know, to really just understand everything in order to just serve God. No, just do it now. Preach now, win now. If you fail, then you get some experience, folks. Oh, don't you want to, you know, you got bombed and everything, you know, don't you want to just wait a little bit, maybe just wait till next year to preach again. No, I don't. It's still fresh on my mind. Yeah, well, you know, they kind of like, they bomb you and stuff. You should just cool it down. You've done enough. I mean, you're the only church that's ever gone bombed in the history of the United States for preaching. Can't you just wait? No. Why, because God accepted my works now. He accepts that preaching now. So it needs to be done now, okay. Well, can't you just wait till July? No. June is Fag Pride Month. So therefore, I need to preach it now. And not say, well, you know, let them do their thing and we'll just, we'll cover that some other time now. It needs to be done now. Why? Because God now accepteth thy works. And look, folks, it's better to just act on something once you're, when you already set in your mind that you're ready to do it. When you had that mentality, it's like, well, I'm ready now, that's when you need to do it. Don't hesitate. Don't procrastinate. Once you say, well, you know what, I'm ready in my mind now, then now's when you need to do it, okay. And so, work for the Lord now, preach now, win souls now, disciple people now. Get serious about the things of God now. Because that's when it's accepted. And there's gonna come a time when you're not gonna be able to do it. The Bible says in Revelation 14, 13, and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. You know, in the millennial reign, we're gonna be working. Even in the new heaven and earth, we're gonna be laboring and working, but we're not gonna be rewarded for those labors or works, so to speak. It's just things that we do because we're there. The reward happens at the inauguration of the millennial reign. When Jesus comes and he distributes authority to all of his servants, those who have labored for him, at that point, that's when you receive it. The things that you've done in your body now, not the things you're gonna do then, okay? Go back to Ecclesiastes chapter nine. He says in verse number eight, so we're looking at the fact that death reminds us that our endeavors have an end. Preach your great sermons now. I'm hoping I preach great sermons till the day that I die, but I'm not promised that. You know, I don't know, maybe my ideas like will run out when I'm 50 or whatever. I don't know what's gonna happen when I'm 50. If I have great ideas now, I don't wanna wait till then to preach them. Now's the time when I can fling my arms and spit all over the place and act a fool. I can do that now. And that's how you need to think. Say, well, you know what? We have the resources now. Hey, and by the way, there's some of you who are younger than me. A lot of you are younger than me, okay? I'm glad no one sent amen on that one. That's good. Good, good, good. I was waiting for that. A lot of you are younger than me. Hey, you're hearing this when? Now. Not hearing it five years from now. You know, there's a lot of people that would say, man, I wish I'd heard this back then. I wish I'd heard this when I was 20 years old. I wish I'd heard this when I was 15. I wish I'd heard this before I made a mistake in my life. I wish I, well, guess what? You are hearing it now. So if you're a teenager, you're in high school, you're 15, 16, you're 13 years old, or hey, if you're five years old, if you're 10 years old, you know, real Albert's family here, you got the entire spectrum of numbers here, you know. If you're young, guess what? You're hearing it now. So now's the time. Oh, wait, maybe, you know, Pastor, maybe I should wait till I become an adult. No, you should do it now. Learn the things now, take a stand now, obviously within the limitations of what your parents allow you to do, okay? Like, dad, I'm gonna go preach against the fags right now. You know, I'm gonna start my own YouTube channel and I'm just gonna, I'm talking about just all-encompassing serving God. You should do it now, okay? And don't wait till, well, I'm gonna wait till I'm married, I have kids, I'm kind of stable. Now it should be done, because now's when God accepts your works, okay? Says in verse number eight, let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment. What does it say? You should put your best foot forward now. That's what it's gonna say, right? Let your garments be white, wash your clothes! Put some gel on that thing on your head. Comb that hair, do something with that thing, you know? Some people would covet the fact that you grow hair. I'm gonna look down, some people covet that. And you're walking around here with the full set of hair, and you're just letting it just like, the atomic bomb, you know, throughout the day. All right, now that I said that, I can look up. What I'm saying is this, hey, the Bible says, let thy head lack no ointment, and he's saying now. Now's the time to put your best foot forward, okay? Verse nine, live joyfully. Brother Hike pointed this out, this is pretty funny. Live joyfully with the wife, whom thou lovest all the days of thy life, of thy vanity. This empty life you have, you should live joyfully with your wife, and love her all the days of your vain life. This short, empty life you have. Man, Solomon, okay, cute. He's basically saying like, hey, enjoy your wife now. Live joyfully, joke together, tickle her. You know, dance with her, enjoy her now. Do those, now that's embarrassing. Yeah, but here's the thing. Here's the thing, though. There's gonna come a time where you're not gonna be able to do those things, okay? Do it now, why not? And if you can't dance, don't worry, just close the blinds and no one can see you. My wife and I don't break dance or anything like that, okay? We like ballroom dance is what we do, okay? Every once in a while, she's not used to that, so I gotta teach her, okay? That's embarrassing, well, I'd do it now. You know what, yeah, you may think it's embarrassing, but I'm thankful for it because you know what's gonna happen is maybe one day I can lose my wife, and they just say, you know, I'm glad I did those things with my wife. I'm glad I made those memories with my wife, and not allowed to embarrass me, to keep me from doing those things, you know? I don't crip walk with my wife or anything like that, okay? We don't have like a battling session, we're just like pop-locking or something. You know, I just slow dance or something, I joke with my wife, I play with my wife. Why, because it says live joyfully with that wife. That brings me joy, I like laughing, I like enjoying my wife, we joke around, you know? And my life is vanity, according to Solomon. Just a vain life, so might as well. Just kidding. He says, live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity, for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun. What is he saying, take advantage of today. Take advantage of today, play with your children today, play tag with your children today, wrestle with your sons today, take your daughters out to eat today, take them out on dates today, why? Because this is the time to do it. Now is when it's accepted, okay? And then he finishes off in verse 10, he says, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, you know, whether it's dates or ballroom dancing, or serving God, or, you know, discipling someone, preaching God's word, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, give it all you got. Give it all you got. Well, I'm only gonna put 50% of effort into this. Put 110% effort into it. For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, where the thou goest. So you might as well just give it all now. It's not like, well, I'm gonna wait till my very last breath and then I'm gonna crank it up. Well, here's the problem, you don't know when you're gonna die. You don't know when that's gonna be. So why don't you live your best life now? Right? Live your best life now, and what do I mean by that? I'm not talking about whatever they talk about when they say live your best life now, I'm talking about live for God today. Give God everything you got today, okay? Try to preach your best sermon today. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do with thy might. This is the opposite of what a lot of Christians do, they just kind of live an apathetic Christian life. Where they're just like, hmm, we'll see what happens, you know, eh, just kind of go along with it. Sometimes go to church, sometimes don't. Sometimes I read my Bible, sometimes I don't. You know, feeling cute today, might go to church. Right? Feeling cute today, feeling godly today, might read my Bible. Am I reading my Bible today? Feeling spirit filled today, might go soul winning. No, it's saying, look, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do with thy might. Just give it all you got, okay? Put as much effort into the Christian life as possible, now's the time to do it. The Bible tells us in Colossians chapter three, verse 23, and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily. Ask to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. You know, Jesus is just the greatest boss you ever have. He takes account of every single work that you do, how heartily you put effort into it, he'll never forget those things, and he will reward you according to that work. It says, but he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons. Now that's not saying that, you know, when you get to heaven, you're gonna be punished for the wrong things that you've done. It's saying that you're gonna be punished for the things, the wrong things that you've done here, while you're here on this earth, okay? So yeah, you will receive the reward of the inheritance when you meet the Lord, but you will receive for the wrong which you have done here on this earth. Why? Because he's no respecter of people, you understand? He says there is no respect of persons. And so the principle that God's trying to get across here through Solomon is just have this attitude that just you're all in. Go all in as much as you possibly can, because you never wanna have this attitude of regret. And I've met a lot of Christians over the years that they wish they would have done more. I'm in fact, I'm thinking of one right now, the person who passed away a long time ago, and he was a great friend of mine, he was a soul winner. And like in my book, the guy was a solid soul winner. He was all in, I mean, he preached the gospel. And for me, he was an example to me. And he ended up dying of cancer. And I remember being with him on his deathbed at his house, and he just looked completely different from what I saw him. And I remember I was trying to talk to him, and he was barely able to talk. And I remember just kind of like, I was talking to him, and it looked like he was trying to say something. I was like, what are you trying to say, brother? What are you trying to say? And this is what he said, I wish I would have done more. And I was taken back. You know, he's on his bed, and he's basically saying like, with his last breath, like, I just wish I would have done more. And for me, it was just like, I felt like you did a lot, but who knows, maybe for him, he felt like he didn't do enough, okay? And so whatever you find to do, do with your might, while you're capable of doing it, okay? Look at verse 11. We're gonna look at the uncertainty of life. So we looked at the imminency of death, but now he's gonna talk about the uncertainty of life. And what he's talking about there is the element of time and chance. He says in verse number 11, I returned and saw unto the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet the bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all. So we see the element of time and chance that happens for the good. Some people come out winning even though they're not necessarily qualified or they don't have all the smarts or they're the strongest or the wisest. They're not necessarily men of understanding, but they come out winning, okay? And so you and I are both subject to that. Time and chance happens to us. And I think every single one of us can attest to a time where we basically had the advantage even though we didn't deserve it. Let me give you a really raw example. You're walking down the street and you see a $20 bill on the floor, okay? Do we still use paper cash around here, all right? You see a $20 bill? Did you deserve it? Did you work for it? Or how about like $100? How many of you have ever found $100? Moses, okay, anybody else? That's it, $20? Okay, time and chance is not good to any of you, okay? All right, yeah, $20, $5. Everyone's at least $5, okay? A dollar, hello? 10 cents, no, I'm just kidding. You know, you see it and you're just like, you know, you didn't deserve it, but someone lost 100 bucks and it's not cool to lose 100 bucks. That's not cool, dude. You lose 100 bucks, it's like, man, there goes $100. Yeah, but you know what? Someone else who didn't deserve it, time and chance happened to them and they saw it. It just so happens they looked down and they saw it and they took it and it was theirs, okay? Sometimes that happens, right? That's a really like raw example, but that's, you know, it can happen in different levels. So it happens for the good, but it also happens for the bad because look what it says in verse 12. For man also knoweth not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, saw the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. Sometimes time and chance happens negatively to people. It's like a fish who's just taken in an evil net. It's like, out of all times, did you have to swim in that part of the ocean? You just had to swim in that part of the ocean, be in that specific area, and you're caught in the evil net. Shamu, right? When he was caught in the evil net and just became a worker for SeaWorld for years to come and just killed a bunch of people. Well, and like man, sometimes we're taken in an evil net. And this is important to understand because every single one of us are subject to this. Or sometimes something bad will happen to you, like, why is this happening? Well, sometimes it's just time and chance. It's not because you're a bad person. It's not because you're reaping what you've sown or because God is punishing you. It's just that time and chance happening through them all, sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad, okay? And that's what he means there. And the Bible tells us, be not afraid of sudden fear, though, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh. And look, when bad things happen to unsaved people, it's like the end of the world for them. They have no explanation for that. When bad things happen to us, it's great sometimes. Most of the time, right? Because God works all things together for good to them to love God. So no matter how severe, how bad it gets, we know that God can transform that into something good in spite of time and chance, all right? Look at verse 13. And then he gets into the power of wisdom here. He gives the parable of a poor wise man. He says, this wisdom I have seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me, there was a little city, a few men within it, and there came a great king against them, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city, yet no man remembered that same poor man. Now we don't know exactly what this guy knew or what he did, but this some guy, older gentleman, poor, wise man, I'm assuming he's older because most of the time in the Bible ancients are also synonymous with wisdom. And we see there that he basically is able to deliver the city against a king who's coming against it to besiege it. And it doesn't necessarily tell us how. We don't know if it's like, okay, this is how we could win against them. Here's the battle tactic and he delivers it. Or he might've just used the wisdom of his words, okay? The wisdom of his words to appease the king or whatever it may be and deliver the people. But we see there that wisdom was used, and because wisdom was used, he was able to deliver that city. Says in verse 16, then said I, wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless, the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. What's the principle there? Sometimes wisdom is not appreciated by people. No matter how much it can do, okay? Now let me say this, as a pastor, my job is to impart wisdom to you, whether on a personal level or from the pulpit, okay? And you have one of two choices when I give you wisdom. You can either despise it, meaning you just completely reject it and don't give heed to it, or you can accept it and learn from it and succeed in whatever area I'm giving you wisdom in. Those are the two options. But unfortunately, more often than not, folks, people despise wisdom, they'll despise it. They despise it by just saying, well, I don't really agree with that, I don't think it's true, or I don't think it's possible, or whatever it may be. Okay, then you're despising wisdom then, okay? And sometimes people do that to me only because I'm younger. Okay, they'll say, well, you know, you're a young guy, you're a young kid, or you know, which I appreciate that. I mean, I know. You know, they'll say, well, he's just a young guy, you know, what do you know, and okay. So the choices still don't, they don't change, though. So you can think that, you can say that, but the options remain the same. You can either take the wisdom and adhere to it, or you can despise it and not adhere to it. But here's the thing, you're gonna learn wisdom, though. It's either gonna be from my admonishment to you, or your rejection of that wisdom, the consequences that you face for rejecting it, and the experience you gained, and thereby getting wisdom. God wants to give you wisdom no matter what. I'd just rather learn wisdom from someone else, though. I'd rather learn wisdom from someone else's mistake, right? I'd rather look at a person, fall through a pit, and say, okay, I'm not gonna walk over there, and the way he walked, or go down that path, because he suffered because of that, so I'm gonna take his experience and his pain, and I'm gonna gain wisdom from that. But you know, there's a lot of people who say, ah, I'm gonna walk over there anyways. It happened to him, but it won't happen to me. And then what happens, they fall into the pit, they get out of the pit, and they said, okay, now I've gained experience to now walk into that pit, and I've gained some wisdom. Well, that's the same thing. So, we should be a people who do not despise wisdom. And sometimes people, they don't purposely despise wisdom, but they overanalyze or become analytical of the wisdom being given to them, because they're like, oh, I don't know about that. I don't really know about it. What does the Bible say about that? Where'd you get that from? Look, do you want the wisdom or not? This is not some esoteric wisdom that I just got from some different book, okay? I got it from the Bible. I got it from older, godlier men who are wiser than me, and I've got it from experience as well. So take it or leave it. But my recommendation is that you take it. The words of the wise men, verse 17, are heard and quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroyeth much good. Now, verse 17 is pretty interesting, because here's the thing. In a setting like this, I'm not calling you fools, in a setting like this, a lot of those words of wisdom sometimes go through one ear and out the other. Wisdom is actually more readily received on a one-on-one situation, okay? Obviously, in a church setting, it's more difficult to receive instruction, knowledge, and even wisdom sometimes, because you're thinking about, are we going to Cain's tonight? Or what am I gonna eat? Why is it so cold in here? When is it gonna be done? The AC is freezing me right now. Oh, look, the baby's going over here. The girl's crying over here. And you have all these things going on, and things are just going in one ear out the other, except for right now, because I said all those things. Right now, you're just hanging on every word, okay? But often, wisdom is more readily received on a one-on-one situation. It's more intimate, so to speak, okay? But at the end of the day, verse 18 is that wisdom is better than weapons of war. He's basically saying, look, gain wisdom, get wisdom whenever you can. It's far more effective than any weapon that you could ever own, or any strategy you can put together in a warfare type of a scenario. So what we see here in chapter number nine are the exceptions to the rule. And if you walk away with anything from this sermon, just know this is that death is imminent. You don't know when it's gonna come upon you. And because of that, life is sometimes uncertain, but it's for that reason that we should do everything with our might, and not hold back. Give it all you got while you can, amen? That's pretty much it, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, and thank you for the book of Ecclesiastes, very deep truths of wisdom and knowledge. I pray, God, that you'd help us, Lord, to gain it, to understand it, to apply it, and thank you so much for the reminders that death is imminent. Sometimes death can come upon us at any moment, and that shouldn't necessarily cause us to fear on a day-to-day basis. It's really just there to help us to understand that we should start serving you now if we're not serving you. And if we are, help us to be thankful for the life you've given to us, and help us to continue to move forward and do more works, and never put it on cruise control in our Christian life. Help us to always do things with our might, and obviously there's seasons when we have to take a break, we have to disengage a little bit, but may our life might not be characterized by that. May we be characterized as those who are steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord. I pray, God, that you continue to bless our church. We love you so much, and we thank you, and we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.