WEBVTT 00:00:03.786 --> 00:00:05.370 Are you ready for the message this morning? 00:00:05.370 --> 00:00:07.514 I'm ready, here we go. 00:00:07.514 --> 00:00:11.047 The title of the message is Living Life Out of Control. 00:00:11.047 --> 00:00:14.114 Living life out of control. 00:00:14.114 --> 00:00:15.262 That sounds interesting, right? 00:00:15.262 --> 00:00:20.065 So we're in the middle of a sermon series entitled Everything is Meaningless. 00:00:20.065 --> 00:00:22.129 Wow, isn't that? 00:00:22.129 --> 00:00:26.765 I mean, it's just amazing to even think about that. 00:00:26.765 --> 00:00:32.567 There's a book of the Bible that really this is the main theme that everything is meaningless. 00:00:33.189 --> 00:00:36.868 The book of Ecclesiastes is one of the wisdom books found in the Old Testament. 00:00:36.868 --> 00:00:38.517 What are the other couples? 00:00:38.517 --> 00:00:43.911 Anybody know another wisdom book in the Old Testament, proverbs, and one more In Job. 00:00:43.911 --> 00:00:47.046 Yeah, so we have those three and it's one of the wisdom books. 00:00:47.167 --> 00:00:49.445 But it's very different from, say, proverbs. 00:00:49.445 --> 00:00:54.002 Proverbs approaches wisdom from kind of the general rule standpoint. 00:00:54.002 --> 00:00:57.130 So it's like if you do this, then this will happen. 00:00:57.130 --> 00:00:59.926 If you don't do this, then that will happen. 00:00:59.926 --> 00:01:00.448 Right? 00:01:00.448 --> 00:01:01.231 Does that make sense? 00:01:01.231 --> 00:01:08.653 So wisdom is if you apply these truths, then there's an outcome-based situation that will occur. 00:01:08.653 --> 00:01:14.504 But in the, the book of Ecclesiastes actually addresses kind of the exceptions to the rules. 00:01:14.504 --> 00:01:19.844 So it doesn't just look at you know, you do this and this happens, or you don't do this and that happens. 00:01:19.844 --> 00:01:23.460 It looks more at like the outcome. 00:01:23.460 --> 00:01:32.959 The outcome can look very different based on circumstances and situations and things that are out of our control, things that don't make sense. 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:48.409 So if you had to define it, you could say that Proverbs is a very idealistic book, in the sense that this is like best case scenario, and then Ecclesiastes is more like a realistic book, so it's like worst case scenario. 00:01:48.409 --> 00:01:50.481 So we need both of them together, right? 00:01:50.481 --> 00:01:54.882 And then Job is a living example of an individual who actually had to walk out. 00:01:55.525 --> 00:01:58.996 What we read in both Proverbs and in Ecclesiastes. 00:01:58.996 --> 00:02:04.555 So our passage this morning is in Ecclesiastes, chapter 6, verses 10 through 12. 00:02:04.555 --> 00:02:07.263 And let's read the word of God together. 00:02:07.263 --> 00:02:12.045 I'm reading from the New Living translation Everything has already been decided. 00:02:12.045 --> 00:02:19.995 It was known long ago what each person would be, so there's no use arguing with God about your destiny. 00:02:19.995 --> 00:02:24.104 The more words you speak, the less they mean. 00:02:24.104 --> 00:02:26.288 So what good are they? 00:02:26.288 --> 00:02:33.653 In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? 00:02:33.653 --> 00:02:36.561 Our lives are like a shadow. 00:02:36.561 --> 00:02:41.210 Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone? 00:02:41.210 --> 00:02:44.462 Lord Jesus, we thank you for your Word. 00:02:44.462 --> 00:02:51.247 We thank you, father, that you put words that are really exciting for us to read and to praise you about. 00:02:51.247 --> 00:02:57.562 You also put words that help us to deal with what's actually happening in our current situations and circumstances. 00:02:57.562 --> 00:03:10.587 So we pray, lord, today, that we would glean hope and wisdom and common sense and direction from the words that you speak to us out of this book that You've placed in your Bible, called Ecclesiastes. 00:03:10.587 --> 00:03:18.094 In Jesus' name, amen, I once knew a pastor that became the lead pastor of his church. 00:03:19.298 --> 00:03:30.885 About the same time that Joel Osteen became the lead pastor of his church, joel Osteen's dad had passed away and this pastor's dad was retiring, was no longer a part of pastoring the church. 00:03:30.885 --> 00:03:57.620 And so this pastor that I knew watched Joel Osteen on TV and thought to himself well, I mean, not a huge persona, you know, not necessarily, you know, not something that he was necessarily thinking this is just tremendous to listen to, and then also gospel light to a certain degree. 00:03:57.620 --> 00:04:01.560 And so this pastor thought you know, we're both starting out at the same time. 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:08.608 We have similar scenarios, we're both taking over for our dad, so pretty good chance that over time we could follow the same trajectory. 00:04:08.608 --> 00:04:17.740 You know, since this pastor was thinking I'm not necessarily that much worse than Joel Osteen, right? 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:33.166 Well, joel Osteen's church quickly became the largest church in America, and this pastor's church only grew nominally, in a very small way, and so it was a good lesson in humility for myself. 00:04:33.166 --> 00:04:37.358 I mean, the pastor that was actually. 00:04:37.358 --> 00:04:38.100 It was me. 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:42.052 It was actually me that felt all those things and thought all those things. 00:04:42.052 --> 00:04:45.206 I was my friend who was the pastor. 00:04:46.288 --> 00:04:57.891 So as we continue our study of the book of Ecclesiastes and we read these words, we have to see that Solomon if he's the author of this book, and it seems like he is is employing a similar tactic. 00:04:57.891 --> 00:05:25.668 So he uses the teacher or the preacher to talk about all of the difficulties that come with living our lives for God and also living our lives in a world that is messed up by sin, right, and so it's like he throws all of that off onto the teacher and the preacher to be confused, about to toil with, to try to figure out, to consider all of those things. 00:05:25.668 --> 00:05:30.125 And I picture this guy I don't know how you picture the teacher or the preacher. 00:05:30.125 --> 00:06:41.906 I picture him like dressed in all black, with maybe a pipe you know with, with cherry tobacco, cherry smoked tobacco in it, and he's sitting there and he's, the lights are really dim and he just, you know, he puffs out some smoke and then he and I'm not encouraging that, by the way, I'm saying this is my vision of what the teacher or the preacher might, might look like and he's, he's sitting there and he has these pontifications, these words that he speaks out, and he doesn't use a lot of filter, he just kind of says it the way that he sees it, and I think that Solomon in all of his glory, somebody who had been given a great privilege by God to walk as the wisest man who had ever been given wisdom outside of Christ, obviously, but the wisest man who had ever been given the gift of wisdom, and yet here at the end of his life, as he's considering things he talks about a friend, a teacher, a preacher, who has some things to say that aren't so rosy or positive about life experience why, why would God include something like that in his book, in the Bible? 00:06:41.906 --> 00:06:48.526 Why would he put something that is such, in some way, such a downer in the Bible? 00:06:48.526 --> 00:06:52.221 Why would he allow for that, and not only allow for it but the call for it? 00:06:53.305 --> 00:07:05.023 Is it possible that we find ourselves at times like the teacher or like the preacher in our own lives as cynics or critics, especially when it comes to the questions of life? 00:07:05.023 --> 00:07:26.701 Is it possible you don't have to say that you are one of those but is it possible that at times we find ourselves in the seat of the cynic or the critic, trying to figure it all out, asking all the questions of life that don't seem to have the answers, at least that we want to hear? 00:07:26.701 --> 00:07:29.391 It's not wrong to ask questions. 00:07:29.391 --> 00:07:39.839 In fact, the Bible says that we are supposed to pray, we're supposed to talk to God, we're supposed to commune with them, we're supposed to ask him questions and to listen for our answers. 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:45.720 The problem is that God chooses to answer our questions in many different ways. 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:46.785 Is that right? 00:07:46.785 --> 00:07:58.048 Have you ever had him answer no to something that you really wanted him to answer yes to and in the end you realize not then, but years later, maybe you realize that no was actually the right answer. 00:07:58.048 --> 00:08:00.360 That's hard man. 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:04.327 Our flesh cries out and says no, god, you're wrong. 00:08:07.093 --> 00:08:11.170 So Solomon, through the teacher here, continues this line of questioning what good? 00:08:11.170 --> 00:08:14.322 Who knows what will happen? 00:08:14.322 --> 00:08:19.302 Those are the questions he's asking of life and its seeming lack of purpose. 00:08:19.302 --> 00:08:21.610 So let's get into it. 00:08:21.610 --> 00:08:27.569 The first thing we need to recognize from this passage is that God is ultimately in control. 00:08:27.569 --> 00:08:30.036 That's an amen moment. 00:08:30.036 --> 00:08:32.822 We want God to be in control. 00:08:32.822 --> 00:08:34.267 Trust me. 00:08:34.267 --> 00:08:43.793 Trust me, the God of the universe, the creator of all things, the eternal Father, who is love. 00:08:43.793 --> 00:08:45.217 He defines himself as love. 00:08:45.217 --> 00:08:50.048 We want him to ultimately be in charge and to be in control. 00:08:50.048 --> 00:08:57.160 Right, we'll talk about in a few minutes why we don't want him to be, but I'm telling you, we want him to be in control. 00:08:57.160 --> 00:08:59.099 We want him to be in charge. 00:08:59.099 --> 00:09:02.280 The passage said everything has already been decided. 00:09:02.321 --> 00:09:05.552 It was known long ago what each person would be. 00:09:05.552 --> 00:09:07.119 Isn't that wild? 00:09:07.119 --> 00:09:09.504 Because why do we resist that so much? 00:09:09.504 --> 00:09:16.788 Why does that thought creep over us and make us want to scream or to back away from this truth? 00:09:16.788 --> 00:09:18.631 Here's the reality. 00:09:18.631 --> 00:09:24.917 We champion this thought when it comes to baby dedications and pro-life events. 00:09:25.879 --> 00:09:31.381 You'll hear verses like those found in Jeremiah and here in Psalm 139, verses 13 through 15,. 00:09:31.381 --> 00:09:34.168 For you formed my inward parts. 00:09:34.168 --> 00:09:37.642 You knitted me together in my mother's womb. 00:09:37.642 --> 00:09:42.152 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:09:42.152 --> 00:09:44.485 Wonderful are your works. 00:09:44.485 --> 00:09:46.613 My soul knows it very well. 00:09:46.613 --> 00:09:55.301 My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 00:09:55.301 --> 00:10:06.634 Now we have written songs about these verses, we have prayed prayers that included these verses, we have spoken words that include these verses. 00:10:06.634 --> 00:10:19.009 So what changes in our minds about the importance of God being in control after we breathe our first breath here on this planet? 00:10:19.009 --> 00:10:28.380 Something changes in our mindset, something changes in our will, Something changes in the way that we evaluate things. 00:10:30.745 --> 00:10:38.410 But it's interesting because, even if you don't believe that God is in control or God is sovereign, listen to yourself, pray. 00:10:38.410 --> 00:10:46.585 Sometimes the prayers that we all pray say we have a relative who is desperately in need of salvation. 00:10:46.585 --> 00:10:48.171 What kind of prayer do we pray? 00:10:48.171 --> 00:10:55.437 God, save them, rescue them, bring them to yourself, show them who you are. 00:10:55.437 --> 00:11:01.754 Why don't we pray something more like Lord? 00:11:01.754 --> 00:11:03.157 You know that they have good sense. 00:11:03.157 --> 00:11:05.470 These are smart people. 00:11:05.470 --> 00:11:09.414 They realize already that they have a problem. 00:11:09.414 --> 00:11:16.557 So just be there and be ready when they make a decision to seek after you. 00:11:16.557 --> 00:11:18.490 We don't pray that way. 00:11:18.490 --> 00:11:19.231 Why not? 00:11:19.231 --> 00:11:29.080 Because we understand that we need a God who not just in our making, in our mindset, in the way that we evaluate him. 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:33.073 We need a God who is bigger than us. 00:11:33.073 --> 00:11:40.086 We need a God that's bigger than us, isn't that true? 00:11:40.086 --> 00:11:49.595 The problem comes in when our life experiences don't line up with what we consider to be good or successful. 00:11:52.105 --> 00:11:54.113 In Romans 8, 28, we all could quote it right. 00:11:54.113 --> 00:11:54.767 What does it say? 00:11:54.767 --> 00:12:03.736 We know that all things work together for good, for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. 00:12:03.736 --> 00:12:06.091 Work together for good. 00:12:06.091 --> 00:12:07.629 What is the definition of good there? 00:12:07.629 --> 00:12:10.048 Is it our definition? 00:12:10.048 --> 00:12:12.951 It's His definition, isn't it? 00:12:12.951 --> 00:12:16.091 It's what he considers to be good. 00:12:18.424 --> 00:12:24.057 It's easy to become resentful toward God when it seems like he's somewhere in the distance, somewhere out there in the dark. 00:12:24.057 --> 00:12:30.493 He's delayed, he's not paying attention, he's forgotten about me or he's forgotten about you. 00:12:30.493 --> 00:12:32.557 Here's the truth. 00:12:32.557 --> 00:12:35.953 The sovereignty of God isn't fatalistic in any part. 00:12:35.953 --> 00:12:43.037 He sees things from a forever perspective and makes only the wisest of plans. 00:12:43.037 --> 00:12:47.072 We can trust His control completely. 00:12:47.072 --> 00:12:52.414 You realize that even science itself relies on the control of God. 00:12:52.414 --> 00:13:02.378 The laws of nature, everything that we know to be true, relies on something greater than itself to keep it in that place of truth. 00:13:04.306 --> 00:13:07.049 Right, I think you all agree with me. 00:13:07.049 --> 00:13:08.471 I think we're on the same page. 00:13:08.471 --> 00:13:12.030 Okay, but it's a hard thing to embrace. 00:13:12.030 --> 00:13:14.188 Why Can we be honest. 00:13:14.188 --> 00:13:17.011 We want to be in control. 00:13:17.011 --> 00:13:22.970 It's my party, it's my life, and I want to do what I want to do. 00:13:22.970 --> 00:13:24.692 However, I want to do it. 00:13:24.692 --> 00:13:27.770 Amen to that. 00:13:27.770 --> 00:13:29.119 It's the truth. 00:13:29.119 --> 00:13:29.945 It's the truth. 00:13:29.945 --> 00:13:33.374 It's the way that we want to live. 00:13:34.505 --> 00:13:36.985 But listen to the verses again from Ecclesiastes. 00:13:36.985 --> 00:13:40.794 So there's no use arguing with God about your destiny. 00:13:40.794 --> 00:13:44.254 The more words you speak, the less they mean. 00:13:44.254 --> 00:13:46.812 It's almost like I could see God. 00:13:46.812 --> 00:13:48.109 He wouldn't do this. 00:13:48.109 --> 00:13:52.696 But if God were more like me, you could hear him go blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:13:52.696 --> 00:13:55.269 You know he's like keep it coming. 00:13:55.269 --> 00:13:56.813 Okay, keep talking, keep talking. 00:13:56.813 --> 00:13:59.711 You already said that a thousand times. 00:13:59.711 --> 00:14:01.847 Trust me. 00:14:01.847 --> 00:14:03.407 Trust me. 00:14:05.884 --> 00:14:07.308 Have you ever had a backseat driver? 00:14:07.308 --> 00:14:12.451 Have you ever been surrounded by backseat drivers? 00:14:12.451 --> 00:14:16.533 If you have been, possibly there is a problem with your driving. 00:14:16.533 --> 00:14:30.158 Okay, if the whole car is trying to instruct you on how to drive differently, maybe pay attention to that, but if there's just one who's telling you how, you're going the wrong direction, you're going to the wrong place, you're making the wrong turn. 00:14:30.158 --> 00:14:31.384 You should have gone back there. 00:14:31.384 --> 00:14:39.015 You should have taken the interstate, you should have taken the backroads, you should have slowed down, speed up, put your signal on right. 00:14:39.015 --> 00:14:41.091 I'm 50 years old. 00:14:41.225 --> 00:14:59.312 I don't want to feel like I'm still in driving school and I'm not talking about my wife, by the way, so don't get that thought in your head but is it possible that that person who's in the backseat trying to drive me everywhere tell me where to drive everywhere doesn't know something I know? 00:14:59.312 --> 00:15:08.294 Is it possible that they don't know about a wreck that's ahead that I'm aware of because I heard it on the radio or I saw it on TV? 00:15:08.294 --> 00:15:16.413 Is it possible that they don't know that you're taking them to a surprise party and you have to go a different direction to get there? 00:15:16.413 --> 00:15:26.335 Is it possible that they know something about the timing of things or a weather situation that's about ready to happen? 00:15:26.335 --> 00:15:29.993 Is it possible that they know more than you? 00:15:31.424 --> 00:15:39.205 You know what the epitome of us wanting to be in control is it's all found on one bumper sticker. 00:15:39.205 --> 00:15:40.590 Do they still do bumper stickers? 00:15:40.590 --> 00:15:43.485 It's found on one bumper sticker. 00:15:43.485 --> 00:15:45.750 It's God is my co-pilot. 00:15:45.750 --> 00:15:51.371 That is the ultimate crying out of. 00:15:51.371 --> 00:15:53.294 I want to be in control. 00:15:53.294 --> 00:16:04.793 If God's not the pilot of your airplane, it's going down, it's going down and it's going down hard and vast. 00:16:04.793 --> 00:16:08.731 We need God to be in control. 00:16:10.585 --> 00:16:34.494 Now isn't it nice, like with my kids when they were young, we'd go up to Cades Cove and Cades Cove was always fun and interesting for all of us because there was some backseat driving going on, when I would let one of them sit on my lap and drive us through Cades Cove Because of the fact that, if you've been up there, it's a very narrow road as they're driving and looking at things. 00:16:34.494 --> 00:16:44.375 But what the person that was trying to help me make sure that they're going in the right direction and get on the road didn't recognize is that I had my hand down at the bottom of the steering wheel. 00:16:44.375 --> 00:16:48.315 If they would go too far this way, I'd just correct it back. 00:16:48.315 --> 00:16:50.793 If they went too far this way, I'd bring it back. 00:16:50.793 --> 00:16:57.246 I also was in control of the gas and, more importantly, the brake Right. 00:16:57.246 --> 00:16:59.705 So it's like that with our Heavenly Father. 00:16:59.705 --> 00:17:01.432 Does he release authority to us? 00:17:01.432 --> 00:17:05.175 Does he allow us to do things where my kids actually driving? 00:17:05.175 --> 00:17:13.973 Yes, at times they were actually driving, but never out of my care, never out of the place of safety that I provided for them. 00:17:13.973 --> 00:17:16.830 And that's the way it is with our Heavenly Father. 00:17:16.830 --> 00:17:18.890 We want to be in control. 00:17:18.890 --> 00:17:26.115 If we don't, well, first of all, how many of you love backseat drivers? 00:17:26.115 --> 00:17:31.946 Anybody that would like for an extra one to be a part of your vehicle ride on the way home, let me know. 00:17:31.946 --> 00:17:36.297 I'll hook you up with somebody that will go with you. 00:17:38.625 --> 00:17:42.776 But why then, if we don't like that, why do we consistently do that to God? 00:17:42.776 --> 00:17:47.228 How do we do it? 00:17:47.228 --> 00:17:49.255 We ask the when questions. 00:17:49.255 --> 00:17:51.992 How many of you remember the? 00:17:51.992 --> 00:17:53.938 When are we going to get there? 00:17:53.938 --> 00:17:58.453 How many minutes is it? 00:17:58.453 --> 00:18:00.381 We all have our stock answers. 00:18:00.381 --> 00:18:01.305 I think mine is 15 minutes. 00:18:01.305 --> 00:18:04.058 It's about 15 minutes. 00:18:04.058 --> 00:18:10.211 About is the important word, because if you're not going to lie, right, it's about 15 minutes. 00:18:10.211 --> 00:18:15.106 15 minutes can become 15 hours, if necessary, in 15-minute increments, right? 00:18:15.106 --> 00:18:16.932 When are we going to get there? 00:18:16.932 --> 00:18:18.276 Where are we going? 00:18:18.276 --> 00:18:21.390 These are questions we ask God. 00:18:21.390 --> 00:18:23.895 How is this all going to work out? 00:18:23.895 --> 00:18:26.232 How am I going to get out of this? 00:18:26.232 --> 00:18:29.634 What are you doing? 00:18:29.634 --> 00:18:42.936 And the one that never, hardly ever, gets answered is why, speaking of another wisdom book, job wanted to ask that question, didn't he? 00:18:42.936 --> 00:18:45.372 And when God showed up, what did he say? 00:18:45.372 --> 00:18:55.305 God asked the question of his own when were you when I laid the foundations of the earth and placed the stars in their place. 00:18:55.305 --> 00:18:56.868 Where were you? 00:18:56.868 --> 00:18:58.594 Where were you? 00:18:58.594 --> 00:19:03.997 In other words, we need a God who's in control. 00:19:06.526 --> 00:19:09.285 We recently finished the sermon series on the book of Mark. 00:19:09.285 --> 00:19:19.285 You guys remember that this year, where we talked about how Peter attempted to correct Jesus for telling his disciples of his plan to give his life up for the redemption of mankind. 00:19:19.285 --> 00:19:23.305 And Jesus said oh, you're right, let's change direction. 00:19:23.305 --> 00:19:25.760 Maybe we could do this in different ways. 00:19:25.760 --> 00:19:26.305 Is that what happened? 00:19:26.305 --> 00:19:28.355 No, what did Jesus do? 00:19:28.355 --> 00:19:39.265 He rebuked Satan Because he understood that the temptation that Peter was speaking was actually Satan speaking through him. 00:19:39.265 --> 00:19:41.569 What is the temptation? 00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:43.974 You can't trust God. 00:19:43.974 --> 00:19:45.960 There's got to be a better way. 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:49.651 What did he do with Adam and Eve in the garden? 00:19:49.651 --> 00:19:52.076 Did God really say that? 00:19:52.076 --> 00:19:54.037 You know what God's doing? 00:19:54.037 --> 00:19:55.265 He's holding it out on you. 00:19:55.265 --> 00:19:59.275 There's something that you should know that you don't know. 00:19:59.275 --> 00:20:04.285 Thank God that Jesus didn't deviate from the plan of redemption Amen. 00:20:04.285 --> 00:20:12.397 We are sitting here today because of the fact that Jesus did not give in to demonic control. 00:20:13.967 --> 00:20:16.012 We all have our own brand of control, don't we? 00:20:16.012 --> 00:20:22.265 Maybe some of us use prayer to attempt to control even God. 00:20:22.265 --> 00:20:24.830 We command him, god. 00:20:24.830 --> 00:20:28.117 I command you to do this, to go there, to do that. 00:20:28.117 --> 00:20:31.855 I command the angels to go to this and do this and do that. 00:20:31.855 --> 00:20:33.707 Friends, let's be careful. 00:20:33.707 --> 00:20:36.030 Let's be careful. 00:20:36.030 --> 00:20:40.999 Let's make sure that we're walking in humility in everything that we do. 00:20:40.999 --> 00:20:43.691 It's one thing to ask God for something. 00:20:43.691 --> 00:20:45.855 It's another thing to tell him what to do. 00:20:45.855 --> 00:20:57.700 He is a holy God who should be respected and reverenced, and we should have a holy fear for him and awe. 00:20:57.700 --> 00:21:12.121 Not fear of destruction or devastation, but fear of understanding his otherness, the fact that he's greater than we are. 00:21:15.130 --> 00:21:15.891 How about in work? 00:21:15.891 --> 00:21:20.979 Some of us attempt to control our work environment by being volatile. 00:21:20.979 --> 00:21:27.116 Oh, I'm just so tired, just so busy, I can't handle. 00:21:27.116 --> 00:21:28.078 Another thing. 00:21:28.078 --> 00:21:36.285 I know you can picture somebody else in the office that you work at acting like that. 00:21:36.285 --> 00:21:40.655 None of us would ever try to control the scenario by being volatile at work. 00:21:40.655 --> 00:21:45.314 Right, I don't know what's wrong with them, but don't send them any emails today. 00:21:45.314 --> 00:21:51.094 Right, we can do all kinds of things to control. 00:21:51.094 --> 00:22:20.049 How about in marriage, men misusing Scripture to beat their wives with words and with hands and feet Sick women using sex as a weapon to control their husbands, family children withholding love and respect, or parents withholding love and respect from their children. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.888 You can even use health to try to control things. 00:22:25.888 --> 00:22:31.590 I'm starving myself, I'm exercising obsessively, or just the opposite. 00:22:31.590 --> 00:22:39.285 I'm eating my third bag of Cheetos and this one is the flaming hot bag. 00:22:39.285 --> 00:22:50.489 And just to break it up a little bit, the worst one of all, maybe, is the remote control. 00:22:50.489 --> 00:23:02.347 If you want to know what level of control you're exercising in your life, men especially, how often are you glad to see somebody else holding the remote control? 00:23:02.347 --> 00:23:09.140 Not very often, do we Nobody, nobody fast-forward to commercial like I do. 00:23:09.140 --> 00:23:11.048 You know what I'm saying. 00:23:11.048 --> 00:23:14.000 Here's the reality about all of this. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:21.333 The joke is on us because, no matter how much we think we're in control, we are not. 00:23:21.333 --> 00:23:23.279 I'll give you a quick example of this. 00:23:23.482 --> 00:23:24.799 I was in the hospital in 2020. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:40.920 Many of you know this story, so I won't go into a great depth, but I had a colon issue and other issues going on and I had to have four surgeries Two of them were planned and two of them were emergency because of infection and times where I almost died. 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:46.372 And as I went into all of that scenario, the reason why it got to that point is because I was afraid to go to the doctor. 00:23:46.372 --> 00:24:05.799 Yes, I'll say it, I was afraid to go to the doctor, and so I waited a month, as things did not get better but continued to get worse, and so then when I did go to the doctor, it was beyond just taking a pill, and then we're gonna get better, right? 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:21.067 So going through that process, I made a determination that I was gonna ask the Lord to show me what it was that I was afraid of, Because for my whole life I thought that I had had the fear of death, the fear of dying. 00:24:22.429 --> 00:24:27.790 But I got so close to the point of death and when they told me that I did, I'm like I don't even remember that. 00:24:27.790 --> 00:24:32.220 I know that I felt bad, but I didn't know that I got to that point. 00:24:32.220 --> 00:24:44.489 So it's kind of interesting because God has placed in our bodies all of these hormones and things that are released at times when they need to be released, and a lot of times we don't even recognize what's happening within our bodies. 00:24:44.489 --> 00:24:50.039 Cindy's experienced that multiple times, I'm sure yeah, thank God, you're here today. 00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:51.968 Yeah, what a miracle. 00:24:51.968 --> 00:24:54.799 So it wasn't the fear of dying. 00:24:55.464 --> 00:25:01.359 But then I thought, well, maybe it was the fear of pain, because we think about dying and then we think about the pain of dying. 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:07.891 But I'm telling you this right now I went through what I would call extraordinary pain. 00:25:07.891 --> 00:25:11.263 Now I know for I will not compare it ever with birthing a child. 00:25:11.263 --> 00:25:16.226 Okay, nothing ever in my mind will equate to that, because I've been through that four times. 00:25:16.226 --> 00:25:19.910 She's done great and I've almost passed out every time. 00:25:19.910 --> 00:25:21.623 Not kidding. 00:25:21.623 --> 00:25:30.920 So anyway, what happened is I realized it wasn't the fear of pain and so finally I'm like what is it, god? 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:33.640 And I didn't know it until the last surgery. 00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:40.907 And COVID was rampant and nobody was allowed to come in the hospital to be with me, even my wife. 00:25:40.907 --> 00:25:43.314 So I had that final surgery. 00:25:43.474 --> 00:25:44.140 I'm in my hospital bed. 00:25:44.140 --> 00:25:46.432 I can't help myself. 00:25:46.432 --> 00:25:59.086 I'm reliant upon the nurse to do every single thing for me until that mean person comes in and I know some of you work in this field, so I'm not saying it you, but physical therapists. 00:25:59.086 --> 00:26:09.291 I have a special place in my prayer life for physical therapists Because I've never known pain. 00:26:09.291 --> 00:26:12.762 It's like the pain of getting up out of that bed after surgery. 00:26:12.762 --> 00:26:13.988 But I know you gotta do it. 00:26:13.988 --> 00:26:16.409 I know you gotta do it and I'm thankful for you. 00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:27.826 I'm not trying to disparage you, but anyway, what I realized laying in that bed when I couldn't do anything, the Lord spoke to me and said you're afraid of losing control. 00:26:27.826 --> 00:26:33.788 And I said well, I don't have much control right now. 00:26:33.788 --> 00:26:39.571 And he said exactly, that's the point, you got it. 00:26:39.571 --> 00:26:45.647 I'm like did it take four surgeries and all of this stuff for me to finally get to that point? 00:26:45.647 --> 00:26:47.603 He's like you tell me. 00:26:47.603 --> 00:26:50.791 You tell me. 00:26:50.791 --> 00:26:51.342 Now. 00:26:51.342 --> 00:26:54.042 I'm not saying that God did all of those things, don't hear me wrong. 00:26:54.042 --> 00:26:58.364 But what I am saying is that God used that to help me to understand. 00:26:58.364 --> 00:27:01.288 The real issue that I had in my life was a control issue. 00:27:01.288 --> 00:27:04.326 I don't wanna be out of control. 00:27:04.326 --> 00:27:09.183 Here's what the blessed news I'm gonna give all of you today. 00:27:09.183 --> 00:27:11.925 I never really was in control. 00:27:11.925 --> 00:27:14.444 It was all God anyway. 00:27:15.180 --> 00:27:17.728 So, moving on, how should we live out of control? 00:27:17.728 --> 00:27:22.248 How should we live that way In the few days of our meaningless lives? 00:27:22.248 --> 00:27:24.488 Who knows how our days can best be spent? 00:27:24.488 --> 00:27:28.604 Here's the issue. 00:27:28.604 --> 00:27:29.928 Can I be honest with you? 00:27:29.928 --> 00:27:39.846 Like, if we knew what God was gonna do the whole time, it may be a little easier for us, although, to be honest, we would still be in there trying to, like, coach him up. 00:27:39.846 --> 00:27:47.106 You know, god, that's good, but this might be even better, cause we could kill two birds with one stone. 00:27:47.106 --> 00:27:51.444 You could deal with those wicked people and you could bless me at the same time. 00:27:51.444 --> 00:27:55.527 You know, yeah, I guess I'm the only one that has thoughts like that. 00:27:57.041 --> 00:28:11.487 No, but the teacher spends chapter seven here trying to offer some answers to how we should spend the few days that we have in this miserable, meaningless life, understanding that God is ultimately in control. 00:28:11.487 --> 00:28:12.430 So let's look at this. 00:28:12.430 --> 00:28:19.230 The first thing that he says in Ecclesiastes seven is we must keep eternity in the front of our minds. 00:28:19.230 --> 00:28:29.689 In verses one through four, he says a good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume, and the day you die is better than the day you are born. 00:28:29.689 --> 00:28:33.688 Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. 00:28:33.688 --> 00:28:36.365 After all, everyone dies. 00:28:36.365 --> 00:28:39.267 So the living should take this to heart. 00:28:39.267 --> 00:28:41.987 Sorrow is better than laughter. 00:28:41.987 --> 00:28:43.104 Should I just stop now? 00:28:43.104 --> 00:28:47.770 No, for sadness has a refining influence on us. 00:28:47.770 --> 00:28:55.049 A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time. 00:28:55.049 --> 00:29:00.608 Wow, solomon, that's deep. 00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:06.888 I was introduced to death very early on in life. 00:29:06.888 --> 00:29:12.007 When I was 18 months old, my brother, who was a year older than I, drowned. 00:29:12.007 --> 00:29:14.301 When he drowned. 00:29:14.301 --> 00:29:16.648 It changed the whole trajectory of our family. 00:29:16.648 --> 00:29:34.306 My brother had learned how to open the gate in the backyard, unbeknownst to my parents, and so he opened the gate and he and I found ourselves at this place of runoff area and that's where he found his. 00:29:34.306 --> 00:29:35.830 That's where he passed. 00:29:35.830 --> 00:29:50.307 I don't remember that, thankfully, but I do know from years of experience of living in a family who have suffered a loss like that how much it can affect a family. 00:29:52.420 --> 00:30:04.125 I will say this on the night before my brother Brian's funeral, a Baptist minister came to my grandfather's house to talk with my grandfather about his need for salvation. 00:30:04.125 --> 00:30:11.594 My grandfather was not wanting to talk at that moment so he said maybe you can help her. 00:30:11.594 --> 00:30:18.253 Talking about my mom, the Baptist minister spoke to my mom and thanks me to God. 00:30:18.253 --> 00:30:33.078 My mom gave her soul and life to Jesus Christ on that night and about a year and a half to two years later my dad gave his life to the Lord and about around that same time I gave my life to the Lord. 00:30:33.078 --> 00:30:57.045 I gave my life to the Lord and now I have grandchildren who my granddaughter this morning was lifting up her little hand and saying hallelujah Jesus, and she doesn't know fully what all of that's about, but guess what Generations have been changed and affected because of the death of my brother. 00:30:57.045 --> 00:30:59.605 Now, do I wish that on anyone? 00:30:59.605 --> 00:31:01.546 Could God have done it some other way? 00:31:01.546 --> 00:31:02.904 Of course, absolutely. 00:31:02.904 --> 00:31:03.667 He could have done things. 00:31:03.667 --> 00:31:15.148 He does things in many, many, many ways, but he's promised to turn things around, to make things that are horrible and devastating into something that can be called good. 00:31:16.460 --> 00:31:19.388 I've conducted and attended many funerals since that day. 00:31:19.388 --> 00:31:36.648 As heart-wrenching as they can be, I always in some ways recognize that they're the greatest opportunities for us to consider our own lives, our own brevity of life, the shortness of our lives, and it helps us to put our priorities in the right order. 00:31:36.648 --> 00:31:39.566 What's really important? 00:31:39.566 --> 00:31:41.568 How should I actually live my life? 00:31:41.568 --> 00:31:46.027 What will be said at our funerals? 00:31:46.027 --> 00:31:50.900 What will the words be that will be spoken? 00:31:50.900 --> 00:32:12.549 Will people have to invent things about us to make a sound like decent people, or will they have words and experiences that they can express not perfection, but a heart that understood the love of God for themselves, for yourselves, and then also that you showed that love toward others? 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:30.104 Sorrow and sadness and suffering and death teach us much more in this life than mindless days listening to podcasts about things that we're interested in and I'm not saying you shouldn't listen to podcasts, I'm just comparing the two. 00:32:30.104 --> 00:32:43.106 We can find ourselves trapped in this frame of thought that keeps us away from thinking about the things that are really important or significant, based on something that we want to do. 00:32:43.106 --> 00:32:55.248 It's not wrong to laugh and enjoy life, as long as we remember that what we gain by looking at life from an eternal perspective, that's what we need to remember, what we will gain. 00:32:55.248 --> 00:32:59.163 I'd much rather be ready for eternity than living this life. 00:32:59.163 --> 00:33:01.611 For my constant amusement. 00:33:01.611 --> 00:33:09.169 My friends, the story does not end with you taking your last breath here on this life. 00:33:09.169 --> 00:33:32.730 We were made by God to live eternally and we will either with Him, which is His intended purpose for creation, or apart from Him, which is the root that sin and death and hell will lead us to. 00:33:35.961 --> 00:33:40.587 Paul struggled with this whole concept of life and death in Philippians as he writes these words. 00:33:40.587 --> 00:33:49.167 For to me, living means living for Christ and dying is even better, but if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. 00:33:49.167 --> 00:33:51.366 So I really don't know which is better. 00:33:51.366 --> 00:33:54.019 I'm torn between two desires. 00:33:54.019 --> 00:33:56.400 I long to go and be with Christ. 00:33:56.400 --> 00:34:04.931 Can we say amen to that, which would be far better for me, but for your sakes, it's better that I continue to live. 00:34:04.931 --> 00:34:15.009 So he understood that if he is here on this earth, he's left here for a reason to do something with this life that he's been given. 00:34:16.702 --> 00:34:23.347 The second thing that chapter seven tells us is that we need godly accountability in our lives to keep us properly focused. 00:34:23.347 --> 00:34:29.764 Verses five and six says better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool. 00:34:29.764 --> 00:34:34.666 A fool's laughter is quickly gone, like thorns crackling in a fire. 00:34:34.666 --> 00:34:36.666 This also is meaningless. 00:34:36.666 --> 00:34:47.889 If we want to walk this walk the way that God intends for us to, we cannot trust our own judgment exclusively. 00:34:47.889 --> 00:35:06.168 The reason why the body of Christ is so valuable and so important, especially in the days that we're living in, is because we can easily get off track and take a side road or take a path that's going to be very, very destructive for us. 00:35:06.168 --> 00:35:15.425 How important it is to have the words of people who love us, who share things with us that could save our lives. 00:35:16.940 --> 00:35:19.007 I once had a man well, pete Beck. 00:35:19.007 --> 00:35:20.164 Many of you know Pete Beck. 00:35:20.164 --> 00:35:26.632 He passed away this last year and he's in glory, celebrating with Jesus and dancing. 00:35:26.632 --> 00:35:28.240 That man loved to dance and he was. 00:35:28.240 --> 00:35:30.989 He's dancing and running and leaping and praising God. 00:35:30.989 --> 00:35:39.327 I'm sure one time I was complaining to him about our church in North Carolina and I said it seems like nobody has any passion. 00:35:39.327 --> 00:35:47.023 And he looked at me and he goes well, how's your passion level? 00:35:47.023 --> 00:35:50.052 That's all he said. 00:35:50.052 --> 00:35:55.052 And I'm like well, these people are bringing me down. 00:35:55.052 --> 00:35:57.806 And he's like no, no, no, that's not what I'm asking. 00:35:57.806 --> 00:36:00.528 Like, how was your relationship with the Lord going? 00:36:00.528 --> 00:36:02.688 Are you enjoying fellowship with him? 00:36:02.688 --> 00:36:04.748 Are you spending time in the Word and in prayer? 00:36:04.748 --> 00:36:07.648 Are you worshiping outside of Sunday mornings? 00:36:07.648 --> 00:36:09.623 Are you, you know, witnessing? 00:36:09.623 --> 00:36:12.471 Okay, enough enough? 00:36:12.471 --> 00:36:16.708 You're right, I'm the problem, we're the problem. 00:36:17.101 --> 00:36:19.106 We all need Jesus, right? 00:36:19.106 --> 00:36:27.030 We need people in our lives that we trust to speak the truth in love to each other. 00:36:27.030 --> 00:36:33.626 They may not answer all of our problems, but their advice will be far more worth. 00:36:33.626 --> 00:36:41.987 Worth far more than popular songs that have no moral compass and the shallow humor of comedians. 00:36:41.987 --> 00:36:44.666 We need the truth. 00:36:44.666 --> 00:36:49.048 Amen, just about finished here. 00:36:49.048 --> 00:36:50.706 We are further along in our spiritual journey. 00:36:50.706 --> 00:37:02.146 We who are further along also need to be those people for others, not critics, but people who walk alongside and say, hey, I've been down that road. 00:37:02.146 --> 00:37:08.847 I'm telling you it's a dead end, it's not the right track for you. 00:37:08.847 --> 00:37:11.943 Let me walk with you, Let me show you the way. 00:37:11.943 --> 00:37:17.206 There's a better way, there's a more excellent way than the one that you're walking. 00:37:17.206 --> 00:37:25.367 Proverbs 27 says it very succinctly an open rebuke is better than hidden love. 00:37:25.367 --> 00:37:30.389 Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy. 00:37:30.389 --> 00:37:41.009 I still think of Judas' kiss and Jesus said my friend wow. 00:37:43.320 --> 00:37:46.949 In number three, we must avoid ever-present dangers that try to distract us. 00:37:46.949 --> 00:37:51.809 Extortion turns wise people into fools, and bribes corrupt the heart. 00:37:51.809 --> 00:37:53.925 Finishing is better than starting. 00:37:53.925 --> 00:37:55.606 Patience is better than pride. 00:37:55.606 --> 00:37:58.684 Control your temper, for anger Labels you a fool. 00:37:58.684 --> 00:38:00.686 Don't long for the good old days. 00:38:00.686 --> 00:38:02.885