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[0:00] well howdy been a while who are you again we were my name's Larry no we were living in a van down by the river for a while and man that's kind of rough you can only take that for so long no it could take it for a long time it was great thank you for your support and encouragement we really enjoyed the time away great to spend with people last week from this congregation at our retreat and that was pretty fun except for on the golf course with Mark Harbour but we'll tell you about that later take out your Bibles with me please and turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 9

[1:04] Lord willing we have about four more weeks in Ecclesiastes after which we will be in the wonderful little book called 1st John and so during my three weeks down by the river every morning I just had devotions and read been asking the Lord for a while you know where are we going after Ecclesiastes well we're going to go back to the New Testament we go back and forth between Old and New Testament so back to the New Testament so where are we going you know we just did Revelation so okay let's not do that again real soon so we're you know and so it narrowed it down to just a few few books we've done Paul so we haven't done John and so I began reading John every day read all five chapters every day and I'd encourage you to do that if you're not reading anything right now read 1st John each day all five chapters it doesn't take that long until about the second week because you start seeing things and you start slowing down you start coloring and you start you know anyway it's a wonderfully brilliantly written book that's the theme is

[2:21] I write these things to believers that you may know that you have eternal life so it's about assurance it's showing you how do I know if I'm really saved how do I know if the faith that I have is real faith the faith that saves not just that fades etc so wonderful so looking forward to that anxious to get there but we have work to do in Ecclesiastes and God has us here for a reason he has brought us to Ecclesiastes to ask some of these very hard questions deal with some of these subjects that we would not be prone to go there first choice and it is incredibly relevant to our people that live around us as far you know we're getting more views on our live stream because of the subject matter so it's interesting people are interested in things like an unfulfilling and joyless life that's where people are living so so even though we think as Christians whether

[3:32] I want to sit I want something more positive I want 1st John this is good and this is good for us to know how to answer the world as well this is the world view of people around us if this is all there is if there's no resurrection then let's live it up now because this is it so with that let us read so we're looking today at Ecclesiastes 9 verses 1 through 12 if you're able please stand as I read from the word of God recorded here Ecclesiastes chapter 9 but all this I laid to heart examining it examining it all how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God whether it is love or hate man does not know both are before him it is the same for all since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked to the good and the evil to the clean and the unclean to the one who sacrifices and to him who does not sacrifice as to the good one is so is to the sinner and he who swears as is he who shuns an oath this is an evil in all that is done under the sun that the same event happens to all also the hearts of the children of man are full of evil and madness is in their hearts while they live and after that they go to the dead but he who is joined with all the living has hope for even a living dog is better than a dead lion for the living know that they will die but the dead know nothing and they have no more reward for the memory of them is forgotten their love and their hate and their envy have already perished and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun so go eat your bread with joy drink your wine with a merry heart for God has already approved what you do let the let your garments be always white let the not oil be lacking on your head enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun whatever your hand finds to do do it with all your might for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol to which you are going again

[6:37] I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift the battle is not to the strong nor the bread to the wise nor riches to the intelligent nor favor to those who have knowledge but time and chance happen to them all for man does not know his time like fish that are taken in an evil net and like birds that are caught in a snare so the children of man are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls upon them so reads the word let us pray for discernment father we thank you for your word we thank you even for this word that Lord we struggle with this preacher this Solomon type person gives us an accurate view of life under the sun but he seems to stop there so grant us eyes to see and ears to hear what you want us to see and what gaps you want us to fill in with the truth we pray this in Christ's name amen please be seated so it's a fun subject today same event happens to all we're all gonna die life is hard and then you die it's kind of the theme of this book right this author this preacher right does not seem to have a convinced view of afterlife he seems to believe that you die and that's it no more no more knowledge no more activity nothing after you go to show so we know better than that so we know that we're examining him let me give you another picture that Jesus gives

[8:34] Jesus told a story about a rich man and a poor man and two different destinies to which they went striking story Jesus said there was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day and at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus covered with sores who desired to be fed with what fell from the richest man's table rich man's table something like that moreover even the dogs came and licked his sores that's kind of disgusting to a Jew the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side or Abraham's bosom the rich man also died and was buried and in Hades being in torment he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side and he called out father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and just to cool my tongue for I am in anguish in this flame what a picture but Abraham said child remember that you in your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus in like manner bad things but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish and besides all this there is between us and you a great chasm that is fixed in order that those who would pass from here to there may not be able and none may cross from there to here and he said the rich man said then I beg you father send him to my father's house for I have five brothers send him so that he may warn them lest they come into this place of torment and Abraham said they have

[10:47] Moses and the prophets and he said let them hear them and he said no father Abraham but if someone goes to them from the dead then they'll repent and Abraham said if they do not hear Moses and the prophets they will not be convinced by someone coming back from the dead so we're looking at a subject today death destiny where do we go that that if you're not a believer and have confident faith in your Lord and your resurrection and your settled state this is a subject that that we as humans tend to avoid you know we go to a funeral and we can't wait till it's over why why do we struggle with death why do we avoid the subject of death facing the whole matter well because it's unsettling and we're unprepared for it it's uncertain about the future we dread the process we might be going through we put it off facing death because we don't really know how to deal with that so consider this

[12:07] I may as just a person in the world a person that's not a believer I may resent the idea of a creator to whom I'm accountable even though I know in the depths of my heart that's true as Paul says in Romans 1 everybody knows they can deny it they can deny it they can deny it but they know they've just suppressed the truth they know there's a creator and they know they're accountable to him so I may resent that I may even reject that idea but what if I'm wrong what if I'm wrong if there is no afterlife it doesn't matter but what if there is and what if I'm wrong so in Luke 16 as I just read the story that Jesus told Jesus tells a different picture of the afterlife in fact he portrays a picture of both the believer dying and going to Abraham's bosom and the unbeliever or the man who didn't honor

[13:11] God going to Sheol where he's in torment one in comfort one in torment two different places and then he highlights this rich man who's in torment begging Abraham to send somebody from the dead to warn his brothers so they don't end up here so that's the thing that we dread if we're not believers that's the thing we dread that maybe that's true and I don't want to face that because facing my death that brings up some very ultimate issues so here we are in Ecclesiastes 9 and that's exactly what he's bringing up the inevitable you're going to die so before you die this is kind of the thought here before we die what really matters and if we all die and there's no afterlife what does it matter what's the point but if there is what does matter while

[14:23] I live now what should I do before I die before I get to that point right I don't want to be one of those other brothers that didn't figure it out like my older brother didn't so Ben Franklin you know Benny he's famous for this one quote he's famous for a lot of things but he said in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes nothing is certain the only things that are certain are death and taxes and thank you Ben for that so certainty of death right so this passage verses 1 through 3 begin with that picture of the certainty of death it's inevitable he says in verse 2 it's the same for all right it's the same no matter who you are whether you're righteous or wicked it's the same for everybody in verse 3 it's an evil that is done under the earth that the same event happens to everyone that at the end they go to death it's inescapable nobody avoids it all will face it doesn't matter how you lived your life everyone will die period certainty and he's struggling with that because shouldn't the righteous not die and the evil should die you know how come the righteous why be righteous you're still going to die so then he ends verse 12 same way he's going to talk about the unpredictability of death but the fact that you can't escape it right verse 12 man does not know his time just like a fish that's suddenly taken in the net like birds that are caught in the snare so the children of Adam are snared at an evil time an unfortunate time a misfortunate time when it suddenly falls upon them so it's unpredictable as well it's unexpected it could be an accident it could be something unforeseen we just don't know we don't know right we hope we have lots of time

[16:30] I hope I have more time I want to die with my boots on here or my loafers I want to preach my last sermon and go home and go home right but I don't know that the Lord's going to let me do that that's what I'd like right so but we don't know he could take me tomorrow we just don't know so there it is that's how he frames this whole thing so beginning starts with the inevitability of death at the end he concludes with the unpredictability so what do we do in the middle of that how do we handle this when we face death if we're all going to die what matters now what's the urgency of life so two things I think come out of this before we die verses one through six we need to recognize something we need to recognize a real condition that we are in and then secondly beginning of verse seven to twelve he's going to talk about positive thing how to live live abundantly live fully do it to your utmost right carpe diem which is maybe what he means but Jesus adds to that

[17:43] God adds to that okay so we're going to talk about enjoying life abundantly like Jesus talks about as God intended okay not just however you want to do it but as God intended which will be abundant life okay so let's look at those two things verses one to six first response to what really matters before I die before I die first of all come to terms with your true condition not just that your life is fragile and it may go away at any moment but that your there's a reason that we all die both both good and bad both righteous and wicked because we are all sinners recognize that true condition so he gives three facts here verse one through three he talks about death is unavoidable right and verse one starts positive we think when we just read verse one we think oh oh he's gonna he's gonna talk about sovereignty here he's gonna talk about about God's

[18:54] God's hand right he says I laid the heart examining all how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God yes amen we're in the hand of God and then he's gonna come in verse 12 and go in verse 11 and go it's all chance time and chance it's all bad it's bad luck so is it hand of God sovereignty or is it bad luck well he doesn't know we do he's right when he starts in verse one it's in the hand of God everything's in the hand of God God is sovereign God is in control no matter what we saw it in Joseph's life even though the 20 years of suffering and difficulty subjection and humiliation and all that he saw at the end no God was in control God meant this God intended this he didn't just allow it to happen he intended me to suffer and Jesus his son comes to earth and what is did God just let things happen to Jesus no he planned it out he said no he's going to be beaten he's going to be marred he's going to be rejected he's going to that's

[20:03] God's intention so that he might be our substitute we think shouldn't go that way so it is in control but he brings up in verse two even though the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God even though we're in God's hand verse two and three we still experience the same thing everybody else experiences whether you're righteous or wicked or good or whether you make sacrifices or don't make sacrifices whether you take an oath or you don't take an oath doesn't matter everybody is going to experience this death and he calls it an evil verse three look at that it's an evil it's death evil now Paul says death is an enemy it's a last enemy and that's true it's an enemy is it evil is it morally evil no it's a consequence of our sin right it's not evil but we have to recognize in Hebrew okay the Hebrew word for evil can also mean bad tragic misfortune you know just negative thing it doesn't have to be a moral evil so he could be simply just saying this death is a tragedy it's a misfortune it's the worst thing that happens to anybody it's the same for all all will die and again he mentions nothing about an afterlife or hope for the future that's it so then he mentions the cause of verse 3 so what's the cause of this death well in addition to the event happening verse 3 in addition to it being a worst thing of all it's the same event that happens to all and why does he add this by the way the hearts of the children of man are full of evil why does he add that it could simply mean that their hearts are full of the same general way of unfortunate misfortune tragedy misery the word evil meaning something more broad but I think it's more because this is the

[22:13] Bible and we take the Bible in context we take the Bible from beginning to end we know no the reason we die is what Paul sums it up the wages of sin is death we earn we deserve death period and biblically that's the cause we all experience physical death because we're all sinners this was ground into me when when my father died back in I don't know 20 something years ago and that took me by surprise but I thought all night after he died and went there to get him back to health right and God took him and that was the first time somebody very close to me died and so it's like who really is an enemy I've been robbed I've been hurt he's fine he's safe he's good I'm hurting and it reminded me he was a man of faith he was a servant and you think does he deserve that well in a physical sense yeah as Jesus says you know it's even if you die

[23:37] I'm the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me even if you die will live and then in another sense you'll never die part of you you who believe in me part of you you never experience you never see death you never will taste it just your body so that's true we all experience it because we're sinners every time I do a funeral it's a reminder this is a reminder we die and the fact that we die proves that we are sinful otherwise God would not be just if we were innocent there would be no deserving of death so we're all we each go our own way so what's the point so if we all are just going to die even the righteous I mean why be righteous you know if the righteous and the wicked are all dying everybody ends up in the same place what's the point why bother so he says something about hope in verse 4 so yeah we're all going to die but but here's here's the difference he who is joined with the living has hope he who's still alive the one who is still breathing still has hope what do you mean he's because and then it gives a nice little parable or a nice little proverb

[25:08] I like this one for a living dog is better than dead lion I thought of titling this that but what's that mean we like dogs biblical society did not like dogs so it's like going from the worst to the best so that a dog even a living dog a scroungy dirty you know licking your wounds yucky dog not a pet right and then to a lion who's more majestic who's more powerful who's you know what an image that's David's the lion the lion of Judah Jesus is the lion you know so that's that picture so but once the lion's dead not scary anymore not majestic even a living dog like no I won't go there I won't go there I like Muggsy so because as long as you're alive it's better than nothing how does he explain verse 5 for the living know that they will die so the living are still conscious they're still aware they're still thinking they're still able to make a choice they're still able to recognize something to recognize their condition not only that they will die but what causes that and is there a cure for that is there any real hope see can anybody fix that so they they're able to the living are able to recognize they will die they're able to recognize that before they die they can deal with it they can come to terms with their condition because once they die how does he go on now the dead know nothing they have no more reward for the memory of them is forgotten their love their hate their envy have already perished forever they will have no more share in all that is done under the sun they're done they don't get a second chance they don't get to come back they don't get to try it over again they don't get to come back as another form they don't get to do anything they're done there's finality all their opportunities all their choices have been made and finalized so while you're still alive think carefully think carefully this is all you have now okay so that's his perspective before you die come to terms with the true condition let's go a little bit further why did the righteous die like the wicked right is that fair well it goes back to Adam and Eve oh great we get to go back to Adam and Eve

[28:00] I wasn't there you know I would have chose different right according to the writer of Hebrews you were there you were there you were in the loins right you it's kind of weird biblical reasoning but yeah we were there so here it is remember Eden so they're free to eat of any tree in the garden right I mean paradise and I was thinking about that how many fruit trees were there they had all these fruit trees and it's like you know God made all kinds of different fruit weird stuff and good stuff and you know grapes and olives and pears I don't like pears but apples and oh apples is a bad one right no it's still around so anyway anything you want that tree right there yeah nope that's no that's don't eat from that because the day you eat from that one you're going to die so what do they do they eat from that tree gotta have that tree

[29:12] God's keeping something away so remember the serpent deceives them and immediately their eyes are open and they're aware that they're naked somehow somehow they weren't aware of that before something changed when they did that something something about their self-awareness changed something about being self-conscious changed something right they're aware they're ashamed and then the Lord they hear the Lord walking in the garden which is interesting they hear the Lord walking and they hide right they hide they've never hid from the Lord before so something's wrong something's broken right they didn't physically die but something else died that day something really separated them from God so here's how the story goes then Genesis 3 13 the woman said it was the serpent's fall right the serpent deceived me and I ate so the Lord said to the serpent because you have done this cursed are you among all livestock and among all above all the beasts of the field on your belly you shall go so in other words the serpent wasn't a snake the serpent was a dragon lost his limbs and now he's a snake right so just to clarify that on your belly you shall go that's the curse now you go on your belly and dust you shall eat all the days of your life

[30:27] I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring and her offspring shall bruise you on the head so who's that talking about by the way the ultimate offspring Jesus will come and bruise the serpent crush his head but before that the the serpent shall bruise the heel of Christ bring him to death to the woman he said I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing in pain you shall bring forth children pain pain pain oh that sounds fun doesn't it ladies is it I don't know what that's like it sounds pretty intense in pain you shall bring forth your desire and then this part oh this is fun your desire shall be for your husband he shall rule over you that sounds good doesn't it beginning of the battle of the sexes your desire shall be and I interpret that as your desire shall be to fix him and it ain't happening she lost the leadership she took the lead now she loses the lead you'll still want to lead in fact you might often be more capable to lead but he's going to lead that's a curse and to

[31:53] Adam he said because you have so listen so he doesn't blame the woman he blames Adam the woman was deceived but Adam huh what right because you Adam have listened to the voice of your wife ouch and have eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat that one tree cursed you expect him to say cursed are you cursed is the ground now the earth is cursed now the whole earth is cursed cursed that's why we have weeds no well it is why we have thorns and thistles right Diane right so cursed is the ground because of you in pain you shall eat of the earth all the days of your life thorns and thistles so it's going to be harder now thorns and thistles it shall bring forth just for you and you shall eat of the plants of the field by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground why the ground because that's where you came from for you are dust you're adam you're dirt you're earth and to dust you shall return bad news one failure and and we're all cursed one failure you only have to do one thing or you only had to not do one thing we die because we're sinners and by the way we inherit that from adam thank you very much right we get that we're born in sin we're conceived in sin as david says we you don't have to teach a child how to disobey it comes very naturally it just comes very natural right they're wonderful you know it's like where did that come from right i didn't have to teach him how to do that or her her usually sorry i'm just teasing i'm sorry i'm just teasing thank you you're so kind all right even the righteous and the wise are sinners we all fall short new testament psalms and the new testament both make that crystal clear we've all sinned in fact we're not just sinners but we're full of evil we're not not not full of evil in the sense that we're the worst we could ever be but but every part of us is full every part of us is tainted our mind our thoughts our words every act you read through romans three you see oh the lips and the mind and the acts and the hands and the feet it's not that i'm the worst i can be but that i'm thoroughly corrupted right and so i do by nature i sin i do this natural we as christians have hope because now we have something supernatural within now we've been changed so we can fight that we still have that old nature as long as i'm in the flesh i still have that old nature if i just let myself do what naturally happens i will lean on my own understanding i will not trust right on the other hand if i remember and trust and rely and abide right abide in the vine then things can be better if i walk by the spirit so easy just walk by the spirit and you won't carry out the

[35:53] deeds of the flesh that's all you gotta do as if that's easy simple not easy so the believers are only right so when he talks about righteous and wicked why are they righteous if they're still gonna die well they're only righteous because it's a gift from god they didn't earn their righteousness they didn't make it jesus got their righteousness jesus was righteous and we traded right he took my sinfulness and he gave me his righteousness and i have this wonderful trade this exchange that's the only reason i'm righteous that's the only reason i'm holy before the father because the son has made me holy before god not in my flesh so therefore i have hope though we experience death physically christ promises us that we will have life even if we die i am the resurrection life he who believes in me though he die shall live so first thing we recognize here in the first six verses is before you die come to terms with your true condition deal with your humanity why you do what you do why you can't fix yourself deal with that because you can't fix yourself you can do some things for a while make it better so second thing we see in verse seven now he's going to say now he's going to give us some instructions boom boom boom boom boom he's going to talk about eat your bread with joy drink your wine with a merry heart let your garments always be white let not oil be lacking on your head enjoy the wife of your youth verse ten do whatever you do do with all your might so he's going to exhort this kind of carpe carpe diem kind of thing just live so before you die enjoy life abundantly enjoy life abundantly as God intended and I say as God intended because he says at the end of verse seven for God has already approved of what you do that's not carte blanche on you know whatever you want to do you want to change your lifestyle you want to identify something else he's not that's not what he means

[38:16] God's already told you what's approved God's already showed you what's pleasing to him that's and as you live as he intended you can just fully enjoy your life because we will die we have a choice so first of all we have a choice note the emphasis of this choice verse seven eat your bread with what joy drink your wine with what a merry heart get the eat your bread with joy drink your wine is that okay water down wine right just grape juice right drink your wine he didn't say over drink your wine drink your wine with joy enjoy what God has given please recognize you know remember Jesus at the wedding you know had the bad wine he made the good wine so oh that's really diluted right okay yeah that's how they understood it then wasn't it the wine's a good thing wine is a symbol of joy wine is a symbol of the

[39:23] Messiah which is probably why Jesus changed the wine water to wine in the wedding symbolic of the Messiah of joy the last supper four cups of wine right okay so and then verse verse nine enjoy life with the wife whom you love so there's an emphasis of delight and gladness why joy verse the end of verse seven is because God's approved what does that mean God has approved what you do well the word is we've seen it before back in chapter two God is pleased the one who can enjoy life is the one who pleases God now it's now it's kind of reversed it's not the one who pleases God but but God is God has been pleased God is pleasured to do something so notice the answer what are we enjoying we're enjoying bread we're enjoying wine we're we're using our garments that are made from sheep or you know we're putting oil on her head that's that's something created in the world we're enjoying the wife whom we love the wife in

[40:44] Genesis 2 was what's her name again they got Adam in there not Andy Adam and Eve thank you boy sunny skull did I already lose you so so remember when before God created Eve remember he made man right and he every day said it's good it's good it's good it's good it's good it's good he makes man and then he says not good not good to be alone right to be alone not good to be alone so he creates a hell meat he creates Eve and when he sees her what does he call her wow man so but again it was a gift I'm trying to emphasize that in creation God gave gifts he made the trees all kinds of fruit trees he made the plants with all kinds of vegetation and you know all this stuff for man to enjoy as he created it's good it's good six days he's creating and the last thing he creates is what Adam it's all for him now you get to go name everything and that's a gator that's a creepy thing I don't know what I'm gonna call that sorry

[42:02] I'm getting distracted for our enjoyment listen to Psalm 104 God brings forth wine to gladden the heart oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart they're gifts Paul said remember in I believe it's Timothy 1 he said those people that are telling you to avoid certain foods don't listen to them everything God created is good God created everything good it's man that messes it up so as long as you give thanks for that food it's sanctified and enjoy it with thanks because God created it for you so enjoy so I just want to make that basic point enjoy what God has created do you enjoy it I mean you enjoy good steak yeah good bread I recently took a food allergy test and it's like doggone it can't have certain things anymore but I'm going to go back to Lord on that peanuts are good not for you boy so what reasons now does he give one he gave is God's please that we enjoy his creation in fact God intends for us to enjoy his provision that's why I said before you die enjoy abundantly as

[43:32] God intended God intended for us to enjoy his creation to it verse 9 he says enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life and you remember it's short it's vain it's vapor it's going away that he has given you under the sun because that's your portion in life God has given you a portion remember when God brought the Israelites to the land and he divided the land right Joseph you get this portion Manasseh you get that portion and Dan I'm sticking you way up there on and on right so joy is one of the portions that God's given to he's allotted to us joy are you joyful you enjoy God's thing I don't mean all the time and you're you know you're smiling stupid when things are bad but there are times we enjoy we just had three weeks of just enjoying this wonderful creation these weird birds that were flying you know

[44:40] I was just watching all the dealing with hummingbirds I got in a fight with a hummingbird I'll tell you about that later it was cool except for that hummingbird so and then finally verse 10 he says do it with all your might why for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol once you're dead you're dead you don't get a second chance again right do it now now's the time then he adds verse 11 some urgency verse 11 and 12 kind of odd statement in verse 11 right again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift wait a minute the fastest runner usually wins right but not always nor the battle to the strong now don't the strong usually win the battle yeah it's battle of the fittest except when David's fighting Goliath okay so there's exceptions nor bread to the wise usually the wise get bread but that's not always the case because sometimes the wise like Joseph right got stuck some tragedy happened to him etc so no riches to the intelligent there's some foolish rich people right so nor favor to those with knowledge but time and chance happen to them all so it's just bad luck sometimes bad luck so sometimes the fastest runner

[46:12] Usain Bolt used to be the fastest man in the world right what if he stumbles out of the gate I mean he's hands down going to win the race unless he stumbles right and that kind so so so it's so he's just saying there it's unpredictable just because you're gifted just because you have talent because you're you're the rich one or you're the you're the swift one or you're the strong one you're the intelligent does not guarantee that you succeed right so so life is unpredictable there are chance there are accidents and then again verse 12 he adds he adds the same kind of thing life is unexpected so man doesn't know verse 12 his time we don't know when we're going to die it could be real sudden like a fish in the net like birds in the snare we get snared at an evil time an unpredicted time a bad time when it suddenly falls upon them that can be an accident it can be a tragedy it can be cancer so two months before we're getting married two months before getting married

[47:24] I'm healthy as God buff really great nothing wrong I'm applying for seminary so I had to get a physical I go to the physical and the doctor says oh you got cancer no I don't I'm fine no you got cancer you got to go in tomorrow and then the week after that you need to go have all your lymph nodes taken out and blah blah blah blah and then you're going to get married so the first time I got cancer it's like no no no this isn't happening to me she dealt with it I didn't deal with it nine years later nine years later just started a pastorate in San Jose young guy don't know what I'm doing yet and we have Zach Zach's almost a year old or something like that and I found the cancer this time I'm done all I could all I could think as I was driving to the hospital to the doctor was I'm going to leave a young widow and a newborn and I ain't got nothing for them and obviously

[48:29] God preserved my life but he made a point to me he made a very clear point to me dude he said dude then your life's in my hands I can take you any moment I want I'm in his hands so we don't know I'm blessed I could be gone right not everyone gets that you've been through stuff a lot of you here have been through stuff God has held you right some of you are facing stuff you don't know the answer yet it's uncertain but you're in his hands that's why this issue of facing death is so critical so once you die you don't get to say in

[49:39] Hades you don't get to say hey Abraham it's kind of interesting that they get to see Abraham I don't know isn't it that's like oh wow so so according to our Solomon guy here our preacher here you know carpe diem if you're gonna die if there's no resurrection if there's no afterlife this is all you got live now carpe diem as Paul even quoted them right eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you die if that's all there is then that's the logical thing to do the problem is that's not the truth there is life after death scripture has spoken of it from from Genesis on this author seems to not understand that or has rejected it but Jesus makes it clear right is there more than just enjoying life before you die is there more right this this ecclesiastes has proved to us that that mere life under the sun even if you pursue projects even if you accumulate wealth even if you do all these things that are productive and somewhat fulfilling they're not ultimately fulfilling they don't leave me satisfied right so that's so what is there more is that it

[51:07] Jesus says yes absolutely there's much more Jesus said to them I am the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger whoever believes in me shall never thirst in other words he's promising fulfillment fulfillment but I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe me speaking to the Jews all that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out for I came down from heaven not to do my own will but to do the will of him who sent me and this is the will!

[51:51] of! who sent me that up on the last day that's the will of the father for this is the will of my father now he's getting more bold he's already said I came from heaven the Jews are going now he's saying my father not just the one he sent me but my father will of my father is that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day now stop here for a moment consider the colossal claim that Jesus is making he's claiming to have come from heaven he's claiming to be the son of God and he's claiming to have the power to raise people from the dead we're used to it because we read John I love John 6 we lose context with that was huge in fact the response of the

[52:57] Jews is recorded so the Jews grumbled about him why because he said I'm the bread that came down from heaven who does he think he is they said is this not Jesus the son of Joseph you know the carpenter that we know his family he's not from heaven he's from Nazareth right how does he say I came down from heaven Jesus answered them don't grumble among yourselves no one can come to me he said first come to me no one can come to me no one has the ability to come to me unless the father who sent me draws him wow wow and I will raise him up on the last day it is written to the prophets now Jesus quotes from the prophets they will all be taught by God therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the father will come to me he asks he welcomes everyone to come to him but then he says but not everybody can you don't actually have the ability to just come to me the!

[54:11] father has to send you father has to draw you father has to teach you father has to speak to you because whoever the father gives to the son that's father's in charge son's acting it out holy spirit is the mysterious comforter behind the scenes who comes into our hearts right so what difference all this make well if there's no resurrection then just live for now eat drink be merry for Marty but that there is resurrection Christ did race from the dead it was proven over and over in the first century for over 40 days he appeared right there's witness after witness after witness after and crowds of witnesses!

[55:00] not secret witnesses Jesus rose from the dead even Josephus admits that and he promises he will raise all believers so the question is not is there life after death the question for each of us before we die is do we believe in Christ have we come to him have we looked upon him to get a little bit deeper has the father drawn you is the father drawing you do you sense that what does that mean he's drawing is he bringing he he a sense and

[56:05] I shared my testimony many times that I believe from the day I could hear words right and I walked the aisle hundreds of times and prayed the prayer and threw the stick in the fire blah blah blah blah blah didn't work I tried coming I knew I should come I was totally under conviction I believed the father was drawing me I kept!

[56:34] you come across this line you will be saved and I did not to criticize Billy Grant but it didn't work until the father said no right so but are you I don't want to discourage you if you've prayed and nothing's happened keep praying keep praying are you under conviction keep following that he will answer one day it took a while for me but that was what he chose to do in me I think because I was going to be a pastor one day and he wanted me doing stuff that was going to confuse people I do enough stuff that confuses people I don't need any extra stuff right so where are you in this has he spoken!

[57:24] has he drawn do you know do you know that condition do you know that even though maybe you live better than most people you're not as bad as that person over there you still know okay yeah no I'm I'm bad there are times when I outright not only don't listen to God but outright hear what he says and do not do it in fact until I was saved I hated doing what God told us to do and then I found that verse in 1 John 5 3 his commandments we know that we are born of him because we keep his commandments out okay obedience no and his commandments are no longer burdensome then I knew

[58:25] I was changed because his commandments I wanted to obey it wasn't a haft it was not want to now is the time to seek him I don't know who's hearing this today I know a lot of you are believers I don't know who's listening or watching later but now is the time ask the father to draw you use biblical language in your prayers ask the father to draw you ask the father to open your eyes ask the father to teach you and speak to you ask Jesus to bring you to him ask the father to help you to come to him even though you don't have the ability to come to him to give you the ability to come to him keep asking until you see changes we're going to close with be still my soul which is very appropriate we were singing on

[59:28] Wednesday night getting ready for service and I've been away for weeks so I forgot what we planned for worship and I was going through the song these are all about creation stuff these are cool somehow they all relate to the theme for worship I wonder who did that the Lord did that cool they're all mentioning and even this last one be still my soul which both relates to the one you listen to is still the one whom the waves and the winds be still just talks about even in our hard times even in our trials he's still the faithful one he's still the one with it it's reminding ourselves this is one of those preach to yourself songs to your soul especially my soul trust him trust him he's still the same he's still with you let's do that you

[60:28] NINGNING