Tyler Lynde: So today is the final message in our sermon series entitled Everything is Meaningless.
Tyler Lynde: I think that that is a tremendous title.
Tyler Lynde: To grow a church right.
Tyler Lynde: Come to our church.
Tyler Lynde: We're studying everything is meaningless.
Tyler Lynde: But this stuff is in the Bible.
Tyler Lynde: Each week we have discovered different elements of life in this world that people look to for meaning but really they don't hold much value or meaning at all.
Tyler Lynde: And at times it feels like that our efforts, as good as they are, they feel like we're chasing after the wind.
Tyler Lynde: If anybody ever experienced that, it's like you can't quite get your hands around it.
Tyler Lynde: But this book concludes not with something that's meaningless but something very meaningful.
Tyler Lynde: So this is this sermon is called a meaningful conclusion.
Tyler Lynde: Let's turn to Ecclesiastes, chapter 12.
Tyler Lynde: We're going to start in verse nine.
Tyler Lynde: Besides being wise, the preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care.
Tyler Lynde: The preacher sought to find words of delight and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
Tyler Lynde: The words of the wise are like goats and like nails.
Tyler Lynde: Firmly fixed are the collected sayings.
Tyler Lynde: They are given by one shepherd, my son.
Tyler Lynde: Beware of anything beyond these.
Tyler Lynde: Of making many books there is no end and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Tyler Lynde: The end of the matter.
Tyler Lynde: All has been heard.
Tyler Lynde: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man, for God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Tyler Lynde: Let's pray, father.
Tyler Lynde: We thank you for your matchless words.
Tyler Lynde: Lord, it's so amazing to me every time that I open your book or every time I heard here at red, or sung or talked about.
Tyler Lynde: It brings life, it brings light, it changes us, and so, lord, would you do the work that only you can do today and take these words that you've given to me, cause them to be filled with life and power for change and transformation, and we give you glory for them in Jesus name, amen.
Tyler Lynde: So it's interesting.
Tyler Lynde: I did not know they were going to show that video today.
Tyler Lynde: It was a great surprise.
Tyler Lynde: But I'm starting out talking a little bit about what the video was about, but from the other side of things, from the pastor side.
Tyler Lynde: So every preacher that I know of kind of has a love hate relationship with sermon prep.
Tyler Lynde: So preparing a sermon the week of your sermon, it's like it's a serious thing.
Tyler Lynde: It takes days and hours to pull it together and there's all kinds of things that you're thinking about in preparation for giving a sermon.
Tyler Lynde: So here are a list of some of the questions that run through my mind as I'm preparing my messages.
Tyler Lynde: Number one what does the passage mean?
Tyler Lynde: That's important, right.
Tyler Lynde: We don't want to just say something that is totally out of line of what the passage actually means.
Tyler Lynde: What did it mean to the original hearers?
Tyler Lynde: How were the principles applicable to our day and time?
Tyler Lynde: What should I say?
Tyler Lynde: How should I say it?
Tyler Lynde: How do I engage the people I'm speaking to so that they will listen to what I have to say?
Tyler Lynde: When should I try I'm focusing on try to try to be funny.
Tyler Lynde: Try to be funny, thank you.
Tyler Lynde: Or when should I be serious?
Tyler Lynde: Am I going to make people too mad or too happy by what I'm going to say?
Tyler Lynde: What illustrations or stories should I tell?
Tyler Lynde: How do I say everything that needs to be said in the time allotted to me?
Tyler Lynde: That's a challenge.
Tyler Lynde: How do I make sure that I'm not misunderstood or misquoted?
Tyler Lynde: I can't really do anything about that.
Tyler Lynde: How can I make sure that the gospel is being spoken purposefully and powerfully?
Tyler Lynde: The gospel is what brings about life and change in people's lives.
Tyler Lynde: Is God truly being glorified by what is being said, but there's one question that haunts me more than any other question, and that is is anybody's life actually going to change as a result of this sermon today?
Tyler Lynde: That's the one that I think about the most.
Tyler Lynde: The Lord kind of gave me an answer to that or a solution, and that is and you may not even realize this, but every week that any of us elders of your church pastors here at TCC prepare our message.
Tyler Lynde: Our first prayer, our first thought is not what we can do, what we can say to you, but our first thought is God, would you change us?
Tyler Lynde: The word of God that we preach to you has first been implemented in our own heart and in our own soul to bring about the change that we hope and desire that will happen in your lives.
Tyler Lynde: And so I can stand before you today with all in all honesty and transparency and openness and say I'm not where I need to be, but the change that needs to occur in my life from this passage of scripture is beginning to occur, and I thank God for that.
Tyler Lynde: And my prayer is that that same change will transfer to you, that you will see God work in you and through you as a result of today's message.
Tyler Lynde: So Solomon, as he concludes this book of sermons, he kind of thinks about or talks about the intent of the preacher, right?
Tyler Lynde: So let me give you a few points.
Tyler Lynde: Number one the preacher has first understood wisdom in his own life.
Tyler Lynde: It says.
Tyler Lynde: Besides being wise, how many of you realize, solomon was a wise man, in fact one of the wisest men who ever lived on the face of the earth.
Tyler Lynde: Obviously, we know there's one that outdid him.
Tyler Lynde: His name is Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: Right, but Solomon was a wise man, he had a lot of wisdom and he shared a lot of his wisdom here also in the book of Proverbs, in a song of Solomon, and then in the book of Psalms.
Tyler Lynde: Solomon actually wrote some of the Psalms as well.
Tyler Lynde: So we see this wisdom literature that came from Solomon.
Tyler Lynde: He understood wisdom in his own life and the question I have for you is are we content with having wisdom for ourselves?
Tyler Lynde: It would have been one thing for Solomon to have all this wisdom and have a war room where he draws all his plans up and has all of these projects and things and schemes, but he never shared it with anybody else because it was his wisdom.
Tyler Lynde: That would have been horrible, right, the wisdom that we are given by God is meant to be shared with other people.
Tyler Lynde: We are called to be wisdom preachers.
Tyler Lynde: The preacher thoughtfully shared with others the truths he had learned and you can see that here in the text.
Tyler Lynde: The preacher also taught that people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many Proverbs with great care.
Tyler Lynde: The preacher sought to find words of delight and, uprightly, he wrote words of truth.
Tyler Lynde: Now, reading through the book of Ecclesiastes, you may be confused about this, because it sounds in some places like the ramblings of an elderly gentleman, if I'm being honest, if we're being real.
Tyler Lynde: But what he's saying here is that all of these sayings, all of these wisdom thoughts, have been placed in an orderly manner, on purpose, intentionally.
Tyler Lynde: The way that they were written, with the emphasis that they were written with all of that was done on purpose by the preacher.
Tyler Lynde: It's important to know also that speaking the truth in love is a theme that we see used throughout all of the Scriptures.
Tyler Lynde: You see that the preacher sought to find words of delight, but he also, uprightly, he wrote words of truth, speaking the truth in love.
Tyler Lynde: Love and truth are friends, not enemies of each other.
Tyler Lynde: So remember that as we go into our next series, but not only that.
Tyler Lynde: The preacher also acknowledged that the only words that have power for change are the ones given by the good shepherd.
Tyler Lynde: It would have been one thing if he stopped his commending to the people the reading of this book at the point that I wrote down some great sayings that are filled with all kinds of wisdom and insight and understanding and knowledge.
Tyler Lynde: That would have been something that may have been interesting to us.
Tyler Lynde: But what does he say?
Tyler Lynde: The preacher acknowledged that the only words that have power for change are the ones from the good shepherd, and the words that he wrote, the words of the wise, are like goats.
Tyler Lynde: What's a goat?
Tyler Lynde: Anybody know what a goat is.
Tyler Lynde: It's like a stick with a point on it, and the purpose of the stick with a point is to keep the flock together, to keep them away from danger, to keep them in a place of safety.
Tyler Lynde: It may hurt a little bit to be prodded or to be poked by a goat, but it's always for good, for the right intent, for the best intent.
Tyler Lynde: And it says that these sayings were nailed, firmly, fixed, by one shepherd, capital S shepherd.
Tyler Lynde: Ultimately, the preacher warns us also not to stray far away from wisdom that is rooted in the Word of God.
Tyler Lynde: This book, the book of Ecclesiastes, is not just the words of Solomon, it is the Word of God.
Tyler Lynde: And how easy it is for us to stray away from what God says is true and right.
Tyler Lynde: He says my son, beware of anything beyond these, of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Tyler Lynde: I'm here to tell you, guys, we live in an era where everybody wants to get their information from other people that have compiled it for them In every aspect of life.
Tyler Lynde: We want other people to.
Tyler Lynde: Now we want the computer to do it for us and to compile it and to tell us what is what and what is true and what is wrong and what is all of these different things, my friends, let's please keep the Bible at the very core and center of our study.
Tyler Lynde: I'm glad to have books.
Tyler Lynde: I read books a lot, I listen to podcasts, I listen to sermons from other preachers, I listen to music that is uplifting and encouraging.
Tyler Lynde: But I must find my wisdom, the greatest part of my wisdom, must come from the Word of God.
Tyler Lynde: Let's read it, let's meditate on it, let's focus on it, let's rely on it.
Tyler Lynde: It's trustworthy.
Tyler Lynde: And then, finally, the preacher gives a meaningful conclusion.
Tyler Lynde: Let's read this the end of the matter.
Tyler Lynde: All has been heard fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Tyler Lynde: So what is the first implorative, what is the first thing that Solomon says must be done, as he's viewed all of life?
Tyler Lynde: Remember, this is a man who has experienced the highs and lows, but he's experienced a lot of highs the wealthiest man in history, the man who did more and was understood more by people who would come from other nations just to observe the types of things that Solomon had done.
Tyler Lynde: This was a man who was respected and revered and honored in great ways, and yet, when it comes down to it all it's not about his accolades.
Tyler Lynde: In fact, all of that is meaningless.
Tyler Lynde: It's all meaningless, but here's what means something Fear God, fear God.
Tyler Lynde: What does it mean to fear God?
Tyler Lynde: Does fearing God look like this or does it look like this?
Tyler Lynde: It can look like both, depending on where your relationship is with Christ.
Tyler Lynde: If you don't know Christ, it may look like this, but once we know Christ, the fear of God is ah, it's worship, it's honor, it's glory, everything belongs to him.
Tyler Lynde: It's an attitude of reverence and awe that God's people show to him because they love him and they wholly respect his power and his greatness.
Tyler Lynde: This is the very foundation of true religion.
Tyler Lynde: Fear God, my friends.
Tyler Lynde: We live in an age where the fear of God has left many churches and many people's lives, and we know that the fear of God is absent from this world because this world continues to denigrate and to go into further and further depravity levels of depravity.
Tyler Lynde: The fear of God, solomon says in a later writing in Proverbs, chapter one, verse seven the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Tyler Lynde: Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Tyler Lynde: It's the beginning of knowledge, it's the basis, it's the foundation.
Tyler Lynde: In Psalms 111, 10, it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Tyler Lynde: All those who practice it have a good understanding.
Tyler Lynde: His praise endures forever.
Tyler Lynde: The fear of the Lord is healthy and good and we should embrace it and not run from it.
Tyler Lynde: God isn't looking for us to run from him.
Tyler Lynde: He's looking for us to run to him and to understand that he is greater than we are.
Tyler Lynde: We need to hear that there is something in this universe that is greater than we are and he is God and he is worthy for us to fear him and honor him for what he's, for who he is, just for who he is, even if he didn't do one more thing, just for who he is.
Tyler Lynde: The fear of the Lord, though, by itself is not enough.
Tyler Lynde: It requires obedient living.
Tyler Lynde: The result of fear, the result of true fear of the Lord, is that we will live obedient lives.
Tyler Lynde: Otherwise, fear that we express is only a sham.
Tyler Lynde: It's fake, it's not real.
Tyler Lynde: It's pretend.
Tyler Lynde: To honor God with our lips but our hearts be far from him is the way that a lot of Christians, people that call themselves Christians, live their lives.
Tyler Lynde: Let it not be said of us.
Tyler Lynde: We have a chance, even today, to turn our hearts toward God, to fear him and to obey his commands.
Tyler Lynde: Keep his commandments.
Tyler Lynde: The person who truly fears God will pay attention to his word and obey it.
Tyler Lynde: Now, when we think about that, we think about I'm not under the law, I don't have to do those things.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know that the 10 commandments are still a good idea?
Tyler Lynde: There would be nothing wrong with following and obeying the 10 commandments, and in fact, that's what God intends for us to do.
Tyler Lynde: Man took the 10 commandments and made 613 rules or regulations or laws, because people do that.
Tyler Lynde: They take God's stuff that he says is enough, and they say it's not enough.
Tyler Lynde: So they add to it and they pile on.
Tyler Lynde: But there's 10 commandments, and then, even further than that, a further delineation of that we know is found, and we'll talk about that in just a minute.
Tyler Lynde: With Jesus, actually, let's look there real quick.
Tyler Lynde: Matthew, chapter 22, verses 34 through 40.
Tyler Lynde: But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, jesus here, they gathered together and one of them, a lawyer, asked a question to test him.
Tyler Lynde: Now we don't know for sure what kind of testing this was, but it probably wasn't like I'm checking you out to see if I wanna follow you or not.
Tyler Lynde: There's probably more tests, like let's see if we can make this man say something wrong or make a misstep so that we can arrest him.
Tyler Lynde: He says, teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
Tyler Lynde: And Jesus said to him you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Tyler Lynde: This is the great and first commandment.
Tyler Lynde: And a second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Tyler Lynde: That's simple Two commandments.
Tyler Lynde: Can we do that?
Tyler Lynde: Can we be honest, because I want to say on these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.
Tyler Lynde: Everything depends on loving God and loving people.
Tyler Lynde: Loving God and loving people, those are the commandments that we are called by God to fulfill.
Tyler Lynde: That's where our obedience is to be found.
Tyler Lynde: In those two places Jesus made it extremely clear for his followers to keep his commandments is to love God and love people.
Tyler Lynde: That's what it is.
Tyler Lynde: This is the final counsel of Solomon.
Tyler Lynde: As he gives this great wisdom and, combined with what we just read about Jesus and what Jesus said, we understand that this is true.
Tyler Lynde: Now we're gonna get into the fact that we can't obey the commandments of God without some help.
Tyler Lynde: Is that right?
Tyler Lynde: Because many people better than you and I have attempted and failed, right?
Tyler Lynde: The next thing is that God will judge the entire world.
Tyler Lynde: Solomon then begins to get very serious here at the end of the book.
Tyler Lynde: He's had some fun through the book.
Tyler Lynde: He's given some wisdom that was kind of tongue in cheek and some that was very somber, and now he hits the most serious of all God will judge the entire world, for God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Tyler Lynde: Now we can look at that and thank God.
Tyler Lynde: Thank God, we're on this side of the cross, we're on this side of Calvary, and that is true.
Tyler Lynde: That is true.
Tyler Lynde: But I want you to also read out of Revelation, chapter 20, verses 11 through 15.
Tyler Lynde: Because we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Each one of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
Tyler Lynde: From his presence, earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them.
Tyler Lynde: And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and books were opened.
Tyler Lynde: Then another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
Tyler Lynde: Is your name in the book of life?
Tyler Lynde: And the sea gave up the dead who were in it.
Tyler Lynde: Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
Tyler Lynde: And then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
Tyler Lynde: This is the second death, the lake of fire, and if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Tyler Lynde: This is New Testament, this is Revelation, this is something that we have, that's coming still.
Tyler Lynde: The day of the Lord, the day of judgment, the day when we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Now we could say here today, if we're all honest, we probably could think of three people right now that needed to be on the judgment list.
Tyler Lynde: We can laugh or cry, it's true.
Tyler Lynde: Maybe not three names of people, but three categories of people Abusers, criminals, whatever you wanna list.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know?
Tyler Lynde: If we're to be honest about this, we have to say we're the ones who deserve the judgment.
Tyler Lynde: All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Tyler Lynde: All of us are deserving of the wrath of God.
Tyler Lynde: All of us, if we were to get what we deserve, should be separated from God forever and sent to hell.
Tyler Lynde: That is not just something preachers say.
Tyler Lynde: That is the absolute truth.
Tyler Lynde: It's found throughout scripture, from the front to the back.
Tyler Lynde: These things are absolutely true.
Tyler Lynde: Thank God that God, in His grace and mercy and love, sent His only Son to live the life that none of us could ever live, because none of us have a desire even to follow after God before he saves us and changes our hearts.
Tyler Lynde: We're born dead in sin and trespasses, but Jesus came.
Tyler Lynde: He lived a perfect life.
Tyler Lynde: He took all of the suffering that he took in His body and I don't believe, when he prayed in the garden, that he was praying about the stripes on His back or the crown of thorns on His head or the nails in His hands and His feet.
Tyler Lynde: When he cried out my God, my God, is there any other way that we could do this?
Tyler Lynde: I think he was talking about when the sin of the world came upon His shoulders and the wrath of God was poured out upon Him so that, for the first time and the last time in all of eternity, god the Father and God the Son were no longer together.
Tyler Lynde: They were separate from each other.
Tyler Lynde: That's what Jesus endured for us, so that we, by grace, through faith, can put our trust and hope in a living God who did what he said he was going to do, so that we could be changed and we could be made followers of Jesus Christ who are not righteous by our own deeds, but who do deeds that are in line with righteousness, because we have been saved and we have been changed.
Tyler Lynde: This is the gospel.
Tyler Lynde: This is the good news.
Tyler Lynde: We need to remind ourselves of this all the time, all the time.
Tyler Lynde: So this great gift of salvation that we've been given the technical term for that is justification.
Tyler Lynde: It's the grace of God that's been given to us.
Tyler Lynde: It's grace that we don't deserve.
Tyler Lynde: We've been made just as if we never sinned, just as if we never made a mistake, just as if we were made right with God.
Tyler Lynde: And we have been made right with God as believers.
Tyler Lynde: We have been made right with God as believers.
Tyler Lynde: But a lot of people think that that's the end of our story.
Tyler Lynde: I'm just holding on until Jesus returns.
Tyler Lynde: My friends, if we think that accepting Jesus Christ is all that there is to a relationship with God, we are sadly mistaken.
Tyler Lynde: There is so much more to this life than just that particular experience, as important as it is.
Tyler Lynde: According to Scripture, followers of Jesus will continually be increasing in their desire to obey God and to do the things that he wants us to do.
Tyler Lynde: That should be something that continually grows in us.
Tyler Lynde: I want to live a life that's pleasing to God.
Tyler Lynde: Now, it doesn't grow in this kind of a trajectory.
Tyler Lynde: It grows like this, but we should ever be increasing in our love for God and our desire to obey his commandments.
Tyler Lynde: And secondly, we should be ever decreasing in our desire to disobey God's commandments and to do the things that this world tells us is what's best for us.
Tyler Lynde: Those desires, those wants should be decreasing, continuously decreasing.
Tyler Lynde: That process is called sanctification.
Tyler Lynde: It's the work of the Holy Spirit, bringing to our attention something that needs to change and him saying let's go together.
Tyler Lynde: We can do this together.
Tyler Lynde: Put your hope and faith and trust in a risen Savior and I will give you the grace which is the ability to do what you can't do in your own strength.
Tyler Lynde: Let's change, not just for change's sake, but let's change to the glory of God.
Tyler Lynde: To the glory of God.
Tyler Lynde: I'm going to make a statement that is really the central part of this whole message.
Tyler Lynde: If you don't get anything else, please pay attention to this.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus didn't obey all of his Father's commandments so that we wouldn't have to Hear me.
Tyler Lynde: He didn't obey all of Father's commandments so that we wouldn't have to, but so he could empower us by the Holy Spirit to do what we can't do in our own strength.
Tyler Lynde: We are called to walk like Jesus walked.
Tyler Lynde: Let me ask you this if there were only one question asked of us at the judgment seat of Christ, if God looked at us and said what did you do with the gift of love?
Tyler Lynde: What would we answer?
Tyler Lynde: You understand that the gift of love has to be received before it can be given.
Tyler Lynde: The gift of love is something that the Father expressed toward us in sending His Son.
Tyler Lynde: But once we have received that gift of love, it has no choice.
Tyler Lynde: It can't be contained within our souls, within our physical bodies, even within our spirit.
Tyler Lynde: The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Tyler Lynde: It is looking for ways to get out, to be expressed heavenward and towards people here on this planet.
Tyler Lynde: That is our purpose Now.
Tyler Lynde: Don't forsake love for agreement, because some people believe that if I agree with somebody else or if I applaud them, even though they're not agreeing with Scripture, if I try to build them up or help them, it has to be within God's.
Tyler Lynde: What God says is right, correct.
Tyler Lynde: That's not true love.
Tyler Lynde: It's like we have grandchildren now and our granddaughter I'm not going to name.
Tyler Lynde: We've got two granddaughters, so I'm not going to name them, but one of them was over at the house recently.
Tyler Lynde: I can't wait until the day where they come up to me and say Pops, I'd really appreciate that you don't use our examples in your sermons.
Tyler Lynde: So maybe I'll just say this could have happened in somebody's house recently.
Tyler Lynde: So maybe a grandchild is playing and everything's going great.
Tyler Lynde: And our house is the snack house, so they all know where the snack cabinet is and they all head for the snacks.
Tyler Lynde: But sometimes it's like they get real quiet.
Tyler Lynde: And whenever they get quiet, what do you know?
Tyler Lynde: Something's going wrong.
Tyler Lynde: There's the potential for really something bad to happen, and so one recently one of our grandchildren went over.
Tyler Lynde: My wife is reading her books and doing all of the sweet she's such a sweet lady, she really is and tea parties and she's buying dolls for the baby oh, don't tell her, for her birthday she's getting a baby doll, anyway spilling beans everywhere.
Tyler Lynde: But all of a sudden her voice changed no danger.
Tyler Lynde: And I look over and our granddaughter, our sweet granddaughter, has her hand on the knobs of our gas stove and she's trying to turn the knobs to be a gas stove.
Tyler Lynde: Now it would be cruel for us to not say no danger, wouldn't it?
Tyler Lynde: Because that's true, it's what she needs.
Tyler Lynde: It's not always what I want for her to have, but it's what she needs.
Tyler Lynde: And it's the same way with the love that we show toward others.
Tyler Lynde: It was just as loving for my wife to read her books or to give her snacks or to do a dance party or whatever it is that she was going to do, but it's just as much love when she said don't no danger, right.
Tyler Lynde: So we have to redefine and we're going to be talking about this in the weeks to come what we think love is, because love and truth, again, are friends, not enemies.
Tyler Lynde: So true believers will produce fruit that proves that there are new creatures in Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Are we living in that life?
Tyler Lynde: What does our tree look like?
Tyler Lynde: It should be that over time, each year that we have a better, there's a better product.
Tyler Lynde: There's our fruit shinier, or it's healthier, or it's growing or whatever the case might be, and it's feeding more, it's helping others, it's used for blessing the nations.
Tyler Lynde: Unfortunately, pretenders will act the part, but nothing will have truly changed.
Tyler Lynde: Matthew 7, 21 through 23,.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus says Not everyone who says to me, lord, lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven.
Tyler Lynde: On that day, many will say to me Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?
Tyler Lynde: And then I will declare to them I never knew you.
Tyler Lynde: Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.
Tyler Lynde: I never knew you.
Tyler Lynde: Now, when I'm witnessing to people, I usually ask a couple of questions.
Tyler Lynde: One question I ask is do you know Jesus?
Tyler Lynde: And most people will say, oh, I've been to church or I've heard about the Bible, or.
Tyler Lynde: But the next question is does he know you?
Tyler Lynde: To be known by God, to be chosen by God to be my name, to be written in a book of life, is different than just knowing about somebody.
Tyler Lynde: Right, everyone will exist eternally, either with God or apart from God.
Tyler Lynde: A person's eternal destiny is determined by whether they believe and put their trust in Christ alone to save them.
Tyler Lynde: There is, no, there is nothing else outside of that that will save you.
Tyler Lynde: But if you are saved, you will begin to live like you are a Christian.
Tyler Lynde: In other words, you will begin, in a progressive manner, to obey the commandments of God.
Tyler Lynde: It takes choice too.
Tyler Lynde: That's sanctification.
Tyler Lynde: You have to choose, but God gives you the power.
Tyler Lynde: Let me talk to you about hell, and this isn't going to be preached in a lot of churches today, but it's the truth and it's found in the Bible.
Tyler Lynde: I've given you references for the things that I'm going to say about hell.
Tyler Lynde: Hell was a place originally designed for Satan and his demons.
Tyler Lynde: It's a place of punishment.
Tyler Lynde: Hell will also punish the sins of the people who have been to heaven.
Tyler Lynde: It's a place of punishment for the sins of those who reject Christ.
Tyler Lynde: By the way, that is the only sin that will send somebody to hell is rejecting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Tyler Lynde: So if the devil has lied to you throughout your life and tried to convince you that you've committed an unpardonable sin, or whatever the case is, if you have put your faith, hope and trust in a living God and Savior, jesus Christ, my friends, that is what gains us access and entrance into the kingdom of God, and it's also the refusal to do that that, unfortunately, will cause people to go to hell.
Tyler Lynde: Hell is a place of conscious torment.
Tyler Lynde: There will be fire that is unquenchable.
Tyler Lynde: There will be weeping that will never cease.
Tyler Lynde: There will be the gnashing of teeth.
Tyler Lynde: There will be worms that don't die.
Tyler Lynde: Hell is not the party that many rock musicians have attempted to make it.
Tyler Lynde: Hell is a place of utter despair, forever.
Tyler Lynde: The worst part about hell is not any of these things, though.
Tyler Lynde: It's the fact that God is not there.
Tyler Lynde: Can you imagine for one moment in time if God would were to remove himself from this planet just for a second?
Tyler Lynde: What do you think the effects would be?
Tyler Lynde: Talk about global warming or climate change, or whatever you want to call it.
Tyler Lynde: This world would implode.
Tyler Lynde: It would change in an instant, because God is the one who set things in place and who keeps things in order, and he's the one that will determine the expiration date of our current earth.
Tyler Lynde: There will be a new heavens and a new earth, but man will not be able to decide that.
Tyler Lynde: About how many cars he drives or planes he flies, god will decide it.
Tyler Lynde: Hell is forever and irreversible.
Tyler Lynde: Hell is forever.
Tyler Lynde: Hell is forever and irreversible.
Tyler Lynde: Now let's flip the coin and let's talk about the good stuff.
Tyler Lynde: Heaven, on the other hand, is a place of no mores.
Tyler Lynde: Heaven is a place where there's no more tears, there's no more pain, there's no more sorrow, there's no more separation from God.
Tyler Lynde: Heaven is a wonderful place, but, you know, the best thing about heaven is not any of those things.
Tyler Lynde: It's the presence of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde: We will be with Him, we will look Him face to face and we will spend eternity thanking Him and praising Him for the sacrifice that he made so that we could enjoy His presence forever.
Tyler Lynde: Now, for the sake of making a statement, I just want to say to the daughter's family that, as difficult as things are and I can't even imagine the hope that we have as believers in Jesus Christ is that there is a place where there is complete and total healing and rest and restoration, and we believe that Scott is.
Tyler Lynde: That's where he's at today and he would want us to be saying that.
Tyler Lynde: He would want people to know that.
Tyler Lynde: Charlotte Stanton also, who passed away a couple of weeks ago You'll be celebrating her life tonight.
Tyler Lynde: At six o'clock.
Tyler Lynde: There's a receiving of friends from four to six and then at six there'll be a service tonight.
Tyler Lynde: So if you can make it, we'd love to have you come out.
Tyler Lynde: These are the things that we hold on to from a hope standpoint, because this isn't the end of the journey, it's not the end of the story and for those of us who are in Christ, these loved ones of ours.
Tyler Lynde: We will see them again, not like they were.
Tyler Lynde: Erase from your memory any kind of negativity that you could ever consider.
Tyler Lynde: Think of them on their best day and then multiply it toward times a zillion and you may be getting close to what they're going to be like and what we're going to be like when we are with him.
Tyler Lynde: The book of Ecclesiastes pleads for a savior to bear away our sins, to forgive us, to cleanse us from all of our selfish disobedience and to give us peace and purpose in an empty world.
Tyler Lynde: Solomon was here, and he understood more clearly who Jesus is.
Tyler Lynde: He would say to you put your trust in Jesus today.
Tyler Lynde: I told you at the beginning of this message that the Lord uses these words to change us before we ever deliver them to you.
Tyler Lynde: And this happened to me this very week yesterday actually, I went to get my haircut, and I go to one of the places where it's kind of like rolling the dice.
Tyler Lynde: It's like whoever's available next, and so this is seriously what I do.
Tyler Lynde: I'll pray before I go in.
Tyler Lynde: Lord, I'd like to have a good haircut.
Tyler Lynde: I can't pay for the one that ensures a good haircut, or I choose not to.
Tyler Lynde: But also.
Tyler Lynde: You know what he says to me usually.
Tyler Lynde: Just pay attention, I might want to do something.
Tyler Lynde: What?
Tyler Lynde: In a haircut place?
Tyler Lynde: Yeah, so I walked in yesterday and you always kind of scan the room to see who's busy cutting hair and the one person that's sitting down, and you realize you're the only one there.
Tyler Lynde: So they're going to be cutting your hair.
Tyler Lynde: And I'm going to get serious for a minute and be real with you.
Tyler Lynde: The gentleman that was sitting there was very effeminate and it seemed obvious to me that he was struggling with homosexuality, and so I'm going to be real with you.
Tyler Lynde: My first thought was don't eat a haircut today.
Tyler Lynde: I thought about leaving, but then I looked down and I saw his name Hayden.
Tyler Lynde: I wasn't Hayden.
Tyler Lynde: I'm sorry, zaden.
Tyler Lynde: Zaden, I'm going to ask you to pray for Zaden.
Tyler Lynde: I remembered my mind went back three years ago when I sat in a chair, got my haircut at a different location and Zaden was the one that cut my hair that day and we had to talk about our families.
Tyler Lynde: He talked to me about how difficult his relationship was with his dad growing up and how he and his mom were kind of at odds and there was a lot being expected of him as an adult child and he didn't know how to handle all of it.
Tyler Lynde: And so all of a sudden, my attitude changed.
Tyler Lynde: Just like that.
Tyler Lynde: I said, lord, you're going to give me another chance to share, because I told him before I'm going to be praying for you.
Tyler Lynde: And so I looked at Zaden and I said, zaden, I've been praying for you for a few years.
Tyler Lynde: I'm so glad that you're going to cut my hair today.
Tyler Lynde: And we had a conversation about family and about remodeling and about life.
Tyler Lynde: And it's not that the end of the story is he.
Tyler Lynde: I wish it was.
Tyler Lynde: The end of the story was that he got saved yesterday as my hair was getting cut.
Tyler Lynde: That would be a great way to end it.
Tyler Lynde: I don't know the end of his story, but I'm trusting God that my piece of it that I almost missed out on because of my prejudice that my piece of it that God would use that see fit to use that to reach this young man who's desperately seeking for hope.
Tyler Lynde: So all he wants is hope.
Tyler Lynde: Let's pray Another in Jesus name.
Tyler Lynde: I thank you for this message today.
Tyler Lynde: I thank you, lord, for your word is faithful and true, and I pray now for those that are in this room or that are watching this online or listening in a podcast, lord, that have never accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, they've never put their trust in him.
Tyler Lynde: I pray that this would be the day, this would be the day of salvation that they would choose, instead of being afraid of God in the wrong way, that they would choose to put their faith and hope and trust in him and to fear him from an awe and reverence and respect way.
Tyler Lynde: Change their hearts and minds that they would be able to follow after Christ and obey the commandments of the Lord and know that when they stand before before you, god, that the end of the sentence will be enter into my rest.
Tyler Lynde: Follow me.
Tyler Lynde: Long to hear those words from you.
Tyler Lynde: Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Tyler Lynde: Enter into my rest.
Tyler Lynde: So, if that's you now, I just encourage you to just call out to God.
Tyler Lynde: Just you, between you and him.
Tyler Lynde: You don't have to pray fancy, you don't have to have the exact right words.
Tyler Lynde: Just talk to him, tell him that you need a savior, that you've tried everything on your own and you can't fix it, and ask him to come in and change your life.
Tyler Lynde: Ask him to forgive you of your sins and to put you on the pathway that you need to be on.
Tyler Lynde: And maybe there's another group here that, like me, you find yourself missing out on opportunities because you really just don't want to be bothered by somebody who's obviously dealing with something that you don't agree with.
Tyler Lynde: Father, would you give us wisdom that wants to impart wisdom to others?
Tyler Lynde: Would you give us your heart of love?
Tyler Lynde: Would you help us to really understand the love that you've given us, so that we can give that love to others, not just in word, but indeed as well?
Tyler Lynde: Lord God, Help us to speak the truth in love.
Tyler Lynde: And, father, I just pray also that you would be that we would find ourselves in a place where, every day that we're continuing to pursue what you want us to pursue and that we're walking away from the things that you want us to walk away from in ever-increasing manner.
Tyler Lynde: Let me give you glory for it In Jesus' name, amen.