 We're in Ecclesiastes chapter four. We're going to begin reading at verse one. I'll read to verse three We'll get into our our study of Ecclesiastes by looking at the first three verses of Chapter four beginning at verse one Solomon writes Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the Sun and look the tears of the oppressed But they have no comforter on the side of their oppressors. There is power, but they they have no comforter Therefore I praise the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still alive yet Better than both is he who has never existed who has not seen the evil work that has done under the Sun Now I'll take a moment to summarize a few things and then we'll look at these verses The term under the Sun Well under the Sun is a term that is used in the book of Ecclesiastes 27 times and It refers to the things that occur in the world in contrast to the things that occur in heaven And he's using the term under the Sun to portray the futility of a life that is lived without God He had already begun in Ecclesiastes in chapter 1 verse 3 by asking the question What prophet has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the Sun? The answer is there's no prophet if you have no relationship with God So as an immensely rich and extremely powerful man Solomon has a depth of experience This is a man as we've been studying Ecclesiastes who could have anything that his heart desired and Anything that his heart desired he did in Ecclesiastes 2 he had said in verse 10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure anything. I wanted I took I Experienced but he made it clear that in achieving all of your worldly goals. You still don't have any Spiritual satisfaction. We may become successful. We can achieve those goals But once you have them you discover they really don't satisfy Now some who are young think that they will I know that when I was younger I thought if I had this it would really be a step towards a more fulfilled life or a deeper satisfaction and then when some of the things that I wanted were achieved I I discovered that their emptiness their vanity. They didn't fulfill me They didn't give to me what I thought they would give to me You know the actual result of gaining what you want may be different than what you expected He says in Ecclesiastes 2 verse 17 I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was grievous to me for all is Vanity and grasping for the wind so we came to understand what many today are beginning to find out for themselves Achieving physical goals will not produce peace Especially can never if you don't know Jesus and so with this in mind He returns and considers life under the sun in verse 1 He says I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun and look the tears of the oppressed But they have no comforter on the side of their oppressors. There's power, but they have no comforter Now he had already noted that in place of judgment wickedness and iniquity was present but now he begins to consider all of the Oppression that he has seen and so he says I see how the weak are exploited and wronged by those in power When he speaks can concern in oppressed here in verse 1 the tears of the oppressed that word speaks of those who have been wronged Those who have been crushed or exploited So he draws our attention to this by saying look they cry and no one comforts them No one helps them. No one hears their cry. Why because no one really cares about them And so he says I there are the tears of the oppressed They have no comforter on the side of their oppressors is power They have no comforter and as he was considering that he says in verse 2 therefore I praise the dead who are already dead More than the living who are still alive In other words, it would it would be better to be dead than to live in a world like this I know none of us have ever thought something like that You know what's the point? What's the use of everything? You know while Solomon is a man who speaks from the vantage point of one who has without nothing from himself He's a person who had all that he desired anything. He saw was his and yet he still sees that he says there's still oppression There's still unfair advantage being taken of those who have no no help and nobody cares I see their tears, but I don't see anybody crying for them. It would be better for them If they were already dead, I praise the dead who were already dead more than the living who are still alive And yet he goes on in verse 3 to say yet better than both is he who has never existed Who has not seen the evil work that it's done again under the sun If you were never born you would never have to see the works of evil men Now as he's saying this I need to bring this out for just a moment He's speaking about oppression and no one who is there to comfort them But we need to remember that in the the judicial system of Israel When it was properly administered it was just The law it's called the law of Moses the religious laws that the Jewish nation were under The law of Moses Demanded that justice be dispensed fairly and impartially When you read at the Old Testament Leviticus for example 19 verse 15 It says you shall do no injustice in judgment You shall not be partial to the poor nor honor the person of the mighty in Righteousness you shall judge your neighbor in Deuteronomy 16 verse 19 You shall not pervert justice you shall not show partiality nor take a bribe For a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise twists the words of the righteous But in spite of this though God had given to them this judicial system human corruption surfaced Power hungry officials could be bought off and the weak always suffer because of that We saw in Proverbs 17 verse 23 that a wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back to pervert the ways of justice And in Ecclesiastes in chapter 7 in verse 7 it says surely oppression destroys a wise man's reason and a bribe Debases the heart so he saw oppression. He saw the oppression of the weak The sorrow the tears These are the things that made up the lives of innocent people He also saw the lack of concern on the part of those who could have done something and So under the sun There seems to be nothing that can be done to help them But that's not completely true Because believers have help and it goes beyond the judicial system believers look for help from God and Believers wait on him to dispense justice and to hear their cry Psalm 3417 the righteous cry out the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles Christians know that ultimately God is a righteous judge and God judges Righteously and we trust him Because we know that he is just and is fair In Psalm 102 verse 17, he shall regard the prayer of the destitute shall not despise their prayer Proverbs 22 verse 22 do not rob the poor because he is poor No oppressed the afflicted at the gate Proverbs 23 10 and 11 do not remove the ancient landmark nor enter the fields of the fatherless For their Redeemer is mighty. He will plead their cause against you and so under the sun There is no justice, but under God there is complete and righteous judge justice So as he's speaking he continues into verse 4 and says again I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor This also is vanity and grasping for the wind I saw that for all toil and every skillful work. He's envied by his neighbor That's an interesting thing to observe to be honest with you Now he'd already said in chapter 3 verse 13 that hard work is its own reward And of course there's satisfaction in working with your hands and Accomplishing your goals in your plans. You made it clear that a person should enjoy the labor of their hands He's already made that very clear. They should see this as a gift from God They should enjoy it because they have relationship with him But here he's contemplating the collateral result of working hard and accomplishing much But instead of having neighbors who rejoice with you instead some of them actually envy you So you work hard for example, and as you're working hard you're you're able to pay off your car and That was a car that you know, it's it had seen its better days You know every time you would start it You were fortunate if it went if it even started, you know, I've said this before You know you put the key in the ignition you twist it and it won't start and you get upset and you start banging on The dashboard, why don't you start and then you you try it starting it goes? Ah, I can't and you get even angrier Right, I mean the thing and once it starts it's like sending smoke signals out of the tailpipe as you draw And it's loud and it's it's it's just horrible you get tired of it So you're working and you're working and you're working and and you're saving and you finally are able to save enough to Get rid of that car and get something that you that you like and and man You get that car and you drive up your driveway and yeah, I don't know about you But when I when I have something like that, I thought oh, I'm so happy. What a blessing This is nice and and you see your neighbor and you it's just like how you do it in the neighbor Just goes and walks away, you know, and that's what he's talking about They don't walk over and say well, that's a nice car You know, I know you work hard and and it's something you know They just go into the house and say you see that jerk. He's got nice guys total materialist I thought he was a Christian, but no, he's got nice car. Look at him because there's envy They don't always rejoice at your blessings Sometimes they don't want you to succeed now. I don't want to pour negativity into your soul It's already there without my help But it's true isn't it Sometimes people don't want you to succeed. They really don't they want you to stay where they are It's that old story of the bucket of crabs and one crab is finally getting to the top about to pull himself out When one at at the bottom just reaches up with his little claw and pulls them back down and and that's how people can be People can be that when you when you have a blessing when the Lord is moving when good things are happening Not everybody rejoices not everybody says what a blessing They don't know how to rejoice with those who rejoice. They simply envy and that's what he's saying He's saying, you know, you've worked hard. You've achieved much But the only thing that you're getting is is angry neighbors. They're not rejoicing at your blessings They're they're envying you sometimes envy is what some feel when you are successful And the thing about envy envy is what I would refer to as as a petty sin It's pettiness and and this petty sin has a way of undermining love and undermining Humility envy is the wish that someone did not have Something and that they had it instead of the person who has it. It's not that They're jealous jealousy is is just a you know, I I wish that I had that Envy is I wish that I had that and you didn't It's it's it's a bad thing. It's a petty sin. It's a destructive sin And it's something that I think America is filled with today Envy steals your joy and it causes you not to be blessed when others are blessed Jesus said it is more more blessed to give than to receive But a lot of people have yet to to learn that One of the ways I saw my children Were beginning to grow up when they were small and growing older Was when it was Christmas And they actually began to go out and try to buy a present That would make their brother or their sister happy You know when there were real little They would look at what they got and they'd say oh, how come he how come why did you you know, he got three I got two. How come you know, that's what our kids were like, you know, you know, how come he got that you shouldn't have got that You don't deserve that. That's what Marie would tell me. It was very hurtful. I used to cry a lot But when they began to grow up And actually plan to get something that would be a blessing For someone else. I saw they were maturing Because that's a mark of maturity when you can rejoice when somebody else rejoices When you can be blessed on their behalf But there are those who cannot and will not because they choose not to Envy steals your joy and it causes you not to be blessed when other people are Proverbs 14 verse 30 remember this a sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones It's it's a cancer It's interesting to note that envy is the sin that motivated the religious leaders to crucify Jesus Christ In Matthew 27 18 He speaking of Pontius Pilate he knew that they speaking of the religious leaders You know the religious leaders had handed Jesus over because of envy It was that serious and is that serious a sin And so if the result of your labor is neighbors envying you This too is vanity In verse five the fool folds his hands consumes his own flesh Better a handful with quietness Then both hands full together with toil and grasping for the wind The fool folds his hands in contrast to the industrious person you have a lazy fool That's what he's speaking about here A lazy fool people who refuse to work end up with nothing and they can starve themselves to death The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh He starves himself because he's not working Proverbs 24 verses 30 following to verse 34 This is where he had said I went by the field of a lazy man And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding there it was all overgrown with thorns Its surface was covered with nettles its stone wall broken down When I saw it I considered it well. I looked on it received instruction Then he went on to say a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to rest So shall your poverty come like a prowler your need like an armed man The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh Then he goes on verse six better a handful with quietness Then both hands full together with toil and grasping for the wind Better is a handful with quietness Moderation is better than envy and laziness Again proverbs 23 verses 4 and 5 Do not overwork to be rich because of your own understanding cease Will you set your eyes on that which is not for riches certainly make themselves wings? They fly away like an eagle toward heaven. So better is a handful with quietness Moderation is better than envy and laziness He continues verse 7 I returned and I saw vanity under the sun There is one alone without companion He has neither son nor brother Yet there's no end to all his labors Nor is his eye satisfied with riches But he never asks for whom do I toil and deprive myself of good This also is vanity and a grave misfortune So Solomon observes that there are people whose whole lives Are simply work They make money But they never really use it They simply hoard it And they never enjoy what the finances will give access to They had no partner Because this individual wanted the money all to himself And yet he has no one to leave his money to Which ultimately means all his labor was in vain You see in the end we do not truly labor for ourselves We labor for others That's really an important Thing to understand We don't we don't really labor for ourselves guys We're laboring for others. It's not just My own mouth That I'm putting food in I labor not just for myself I labor for my wife I labor for my children I labor for my grandchildren I wish I didn't have them. No, I The reading up all my food. No, I That's a fact And when you understand that It's a good lesson A man had died In a small town. He had died His daughter was walking down The main street of this small town and There was a clothier there A place that sold nice suits and shirts and shoes There's the place that people who liked to dress and liked nice Suits and all ties. That's where they would go And so as she was walking by she had grown up in this town and she knew the owner and she's walking by His store and looks in and and he greets her and she walks in and as she walks in She's looking at the different articles of clothing her father had recently died at all and The owner of the store knew her father well. And so she began a conversation with him and She says you've got beautiful clothing here Nice suits and ties and shirts and socks even nice shoes This is nice And then she kind of shakes her head and she says but you know My father was a very plain man. My father would Never have wanted any clothing like this. My father never spoke about it never Mentioned clothing. He I grew up realizing my dad was a very modest dresser and never really wanted and The older man who was a friend of her Fathers letting her speak and then finally he kind of shakes his head for a moment and says you really didn't know your father, did you? She says what do you mean? He says, you know, very often you're dabbed at come walking in And he would he would touch the silk shirts And he would touch the ties And he would look at the shoes and he would look at the suits and your father Loved nice clothing But he never had any Because he made sure that you had nice clothing That's true That was my father My dad was like that He didn't buy stuff for himself He bought it for his wife He bought it for his kids And he would do it for his grandchildren You see and and and that's true everything that that that we do isn't for us and that's the way christians are to think We don't labor for ourselves We labor of course to satisfy our basic needs, but our labor is for others. It's for the benefit of others proverbs 13 22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children But the wealth of the sinners stored up for the righteous And he goes on Two verse nine are better than one Because they have a good reward for their labor For if they fall one will lift up his companion, but what do him who is alone When he falls For he has no one to help him up Again if if two lie down together they will keep warm, but How can one be warm? Alone And though one may be overpowered by another Two can withstand him A three-fold cord Is not quickly broken Two are better than one The very first thing and i've said this before you already know it i'll repeat it That is ever mentioned in scripture is not being good is that the man should be alone The first thing that is mentioned is not being good is aloneness This is not good that the man should be alone. I will therefore create for him I'll make for him a helper who's comparable to him He he it wasn't good that adam was alone He needed a companion and from the very beginning from the very beginning when you read your bible God had created community A man and a woman together creating a family creating a community that is god's intent and that's how it works And so from the beginning we see that god desires us to have relationship with him and one another And so there are benefits to that There are benefits to having relationship with other people and that's what Solomon is speaking about here When he speaks concerning a variety of things He speaks concerning the fact that in verse nine two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor Two are better than one in labor Because they do more work and they receive greater profits if one person is working on his own a particular job and And all you know if he has two he can create He can have enough work to actually produce more income. So two is better than one in labor They do more work. They make a greater profit Two are better than one in life Because one falls and the other can pick him up and the other can help him So as you're walking together somebody trips the other one's there to pick his companion up if one falls One will lift up his companion. What do him who's alone when he falls? He has no one to help him up and that's true And that happens especially even as you're growing older because You find yourself falling sometimes And that's a fact I've I've fallen more than once I fell in love with Marie. No, I have fallen You know walking on down the steps of my own house I'm just kind of thinking about something else and all of a sudden I'm at the bottom of the steps where I got here quickly It's like you do and it's nice to have someone there who can pick you up, especially if you're injured When I was doing a baptism, I shared this with you before I was doing a baptism the in the Jordan River and and a lady Uh when she was being baptized grabbed my wrist and when she grabbed my wrists both of them she pulled me hard and because the the uh Cement area there that you're standing on has moss. It's very slippery I planted my feet to try and keep from going down and And popped my hamstring and when I popped my hamstring, it's an interesting thing Did you know you can actually hear it pop? It sounds like a string And went boom and I thought oh So I couldn't move I couldn't move And so I had one of my assistants next to me. I baptized 44 other people Standing with a popped hamstring and I said you I said to them when they'd come up, you know, I just injured myself so When you go down You're on your own to get back up Because I'm not going to pop the other one And so I baptized 45 people with 44 people 45 people with a popped hamstring And it was just nice to have someone next to me Who could help me out of that water? So I know the literal reality of if one falls It's nice to have a companion who can lift him up and there's just some practical association with that He goes on to say Verse 11 If two lie down together, they will keep warm How can one be warm alone? Good question You provide body heat and you keep each other warm and that's a good thing on a cold night When I was in the army some friends of mine, and I went to a place in Virginia. It was during the winter And the area we went to was a kind of like a It was an elevated area, so it was very cold And we drove from North Carolina to Virginia took us all afternoon into the evening When we finally arrived at the place that we were going to camp We brought our our tents and all that we had that had been assigned to us by By the army But it was so late We decided not to try and set them up, but rather just to lay on the ground The ground was frozen And so you couldn't even really dig it out And so I put my bag down And I climbed into my sleeping bag and my friends were all around And froze all night long All night long it was ice cold And so the next day we said we got to do something about this And so we got our tents and each one of us had half of a tent and we actually were we you join them together So you can make the one Tent and we got some pine needles and we threw them all On the interior then we put a covering over that and then Three of us stayed in the one tent and guess where I slept In between Now my friends were real uncomfortable being too close to other guys But I'm in touch with my manhood I don't care I don't care You know, you can lay as close as you want because I was freezing I was freezing. I know the literal Interpretation of this because it's true if two lie down together they will keep warm And I had no fear at all about being warm Even if it was a guy laying close to me in his in his sleeping bag We need each other. There is just a basic thing that's related to this We need each other and then he goes on in verse 12 though one may be overpowered by another Two can withstand him a three-fold cord is not quickly broken Two are better than one Because you can be helped by those who love you A three-fold cord produces strength that is not easily overcome When we do marriages and very often We will use this scripture here a three-fold cord is not quickly broken You have the man you have the woman And you can weave your life together But you need a third cord And that third cord that keeps those two together is jesus himself And we encourage people to that Yeah, you can you can have a marriage And you can even call it a good marriage and perhaps it is by the standards of the world But is it the best marriage? My mom and my dad my mom told me this I'll use this as an illustration My mom and my dad had been married 25 years When they got saved 25 years They had been together married And my mom was speaking to us one time And she said the first 25 years with your father Were good years But the last years we've had together Are the best years And she said and that's because jesus christ is the center of our relationship And that is absolutely true Absolutely true Marie my wife My wife and I have a very good marriage and I'm not saying that because I'm boasting because if you think I am forgive me I'm not I'm making a statement We have a very good marriage But what makes it a good marriage that I'm just such a great guy? No Well kind of but no Because she's so wonderful she is I've told her you could have married genghis khan and he'd be happy You could have married a monster and he'd have he'd have been happy with you She did marry a monster. He is happy But what has made our marriage and we we've tried to communicate this It's christ It really is It's her love for jesus christ that she loves him more than she loves me That she honors him more than she honors me That she's closer to him Then she is to me and I'm closer to him than I am to her Because he's the center of our lives. I'm not exaggerating. That's true. That is what has kept us together When marie and I were dating my wife girlfriend at that time You know Was talking to me and and we were moving towards marriage and and this When I repeat it when I say it it almost sounds cruel It wasn't said in a cruel way, but it can sound cruel But I said to her this I said marie Before there was a marie there is a jesus And if marie is no longer with me there will always still be jesus He's the one that I love that will make me a good husband for you That's how it works and marie can say the same thing to me It is practical when you read the word of god and you walk in the spirit and jesus is the center You will have your your disagreements. Everybody does There's not a couple. I know that doesn't have disagreements But those disagreements are not going to divide you Why because you put those disagreements into the hands of the lord through prayer and agreement to do what god's word says And you resolve those situations and move on. That's how it works and it does work She wants to please the lord I want to please the lord together. We will serve and please the lord It is the three fold cord. It's not easily broken when jesus christ is in the center of your relationship You are going to make it You cannot lose because he doesn't ever lose jesus is undefeated You need to know that it's so practical. It really is there are christians who who are I'm not understanding that And like jesus said he said well, yeah the lord he said yes god moses through the law did permit you to have a divorce Because of the hardness of your heart It wasn't god's intent. It was not his design. He didn't say adam Here's eve and by the way, I have some spares in the event that you get tired of her after 600 years or so You know eve did say it adam adam. Do you love me and he says Who else there's only one He had no options so when When marie and I got married Our vows weren't made to each other alone And our vows were not made to the witnesses Our vows were not made simply to those attending the wedding Our marriage vows were to god I said to god I will love her every day until one day She places me in your hands or I place her in your hands But until that day, I will love her the best that I can every day Was I successful and good? Was I the perfect husband? I'm not one now Was I as a newlywed? No. I was a jerk I I was self-centered I I was I was insensitive to her as a woman I didn't care about her feelings I was terrible I was a new believer. No excuse. I didn't come from a christian background I was self-centered a druggy for years an alcoholic for years. I was south fish a rebellious angry young man Even though I was saved and learning to teach the word But I had to learn to die To die to myself To die daily To pick up my cross To learn to love someone more than I love me And I would never have succeeded if Jesus were not the center of that relationship I would not have made it. She and I would not have made it because I was not easy to live with I've opinionated strong willed unkind direct Some of you were in second service on Sunday I can be direct I can Yeah, yeah, thank you Thank you so much. Shut up. No, I I I have been dying To myself for years Because that is my propensity You don't like it Let me tell you something you really won't like that was me and so She married that She did she married that And she learned she learned to love me In spite And I loved her because She is so I I I married someone so much better than me I really did But she loves me And it's because of Jesus It is I don't know how to say it plainer than that You get into the word You pray you serve God together You raise your children to the best of your ability to love him You cry You go through stages of life We started out young and now we're growing old and The last years are so much better than the early ones Because of Christ A three fold cord Isn't easily broken And when Jesus is the center of your relationship You can't help but succeed You die to yourself And you live for him together Together You read the word of God, you know sometimes a husband and a wife are having difficulty in marriage and the husband says My wife won't submit to me And I say Join the club, bro I mean Adam said that didn't he I mean But part of the problem that I've seen in those kinds of issues Is this if you ask the husband my brother, are you reading the bible with your wife? Are you looking at God's word together? and Covenantine with one another that what he says together you will do Overwhelmingly They aren't They're not reading the word together They're not praying together. They're living as if they're not married And they're living as if they're not Christians But when you get in the word my brother And you lead your wife in it And you say what God says let us do And when she has an attitude or whatever we I have her mind. She can have hers. We have to submit that to God together And we saw God's word and it says this Let's do it Let's give God an opportunity to work in our lives Let's do that And when you choose Beyond your emotions to simple obedience Watch what God does. He changes hearts. He changes marriages And that's how it works I don't know how else to say it Keep Jesus the center of your relationships Keep him in the middle Read together pray together go to church together Serve the Lord together raise your children in christ together And god will move and bless And every day is a better day And for me every year has become a better year And it's getting better and better and better Because we're getting closer to him and closer to one another in the way god designed us And so The one may be overpowered by another to ken withstand him a three-fold cord Is not quickly broken First 13 better a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king Who will be admonished no more For he comes out of prison to be king Although he was born poor in his kingdom I saw all the living who walk under the sun They were with the second youth who stands in his place There was no end of all the people over whom he was made king Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him Surely this is also Surely this also is vanity Grasping for the wind now. This is an interesting Observation that we'll take a moment to look at Solomon Is observing the instability of power and popularity And he does this by comparing a young man who becomes king with an old king Now notice what he's saying here everyone cheers for the young man Because they're tired of this old king He's saying a young man who was born poor And it's interesting How he how he puts it verse 14 he comes out of prison. He has a testimony He has a testimony comes out of prison and was born poor. This is somebody who had very very modest beginnings if you will Rises to popularity becomes a king So he he rose from poverty and prison But his popularity is short lived because He's replaced by a successor A younger person A second youth Now that's inevitable People are fickle they change allegiance quickly The ones who love one person for what he has done often find someone new to love later on That happens all the time I can speak of that from ministry It happens in churches As somebody is Has modest beginning And it has a testimony this guy went to prison And he gets saved And he gives his testimony And people listen to him and he speaks with enthusiasm. He speaks with with energy He speaks with the youthfulness that's so attractive to so many people He doesn't have a lot of experience yet, but he certainly has a lot of potential And so the people will come to hear him and he's saying things that that they agree with them They want to hear and and he becomes very popular and as he becomes popular They'll speak concerning the fact that he's ruling that he's got a lot of authority that can happen in a church And and they'll say have you heard his testimony? I remember when rawl Reese a very dear friend of mine first got saved I remember his early testimony when I first became acquainted with rawl and all and and I heard his amazing amazing testimony of his anger and his violence and And he and I were just together a while back and he was sharing some stories with me I'd never heard and I'm just looking at him saying I'm glad I'm your friend rawl Glyne and my friend. Yeah, Dave, you know, I remember I beat these four guys up Really I had a cry that said mommy, but you you beat him up, you know, so I was teasing with him But he's telling me his story And we're just sharing his friends, right and He was a young man and I remember When Calvary Chapel was in West Covina And I remember the double services on Wednesday nights and Park parking lot that was so packed that they put three cars where two should have been Some of you were there perhaps some of you might remember Young man Filled with charisma. He still has tremendous charisma and grace But as the young man becomes the older man There's always another young man who comes up And before you know it who needs the older guy When I got the young that happens in church It happens in church Chuck Smith Was 43 years old When I first made acquaintance with his ministry. I was 20 I looked at this 43 year old as an old man So I listened to the young man Lonnie Frisbee Lonnie was 20. He was my age So I listened to the young man because I could relate to him But I never realized that that older man had wisdom that Lonnie never gained Never gained I just liked Lonnie because he was a cool hippie dude And I was a hippie too. I connected But he was shallow. I'm not knocking the man. It's just a fact How deep is a 20 year old who's only a year and a half old in the Lord? When he's teaching how deep do you really think he is? He had enthusiasm He had stories He had testimony That attracted me And Chuck 43 years old What's he know? Oh He's been in ministry for 25 years At the age of 43 probably knows a lot But I didn't respect the older man yet I grew to love him as a father And respected him as my father But I had to grow to that Because I was busy following after the voice of a younger man And sometimes the younger men They're very popular But guess what? Everybody if they live Grows older And now what used to be so cool about this person Is Heard it before Been there done that Who's the new kid in town? Who's got the new stories? You know I've had people say of me Don't go to his church anymore. I've heard his stories So you came for storytelling? Now I should have given you a pillow a bottle and put you down for your nap I'm here to teach you stories But see that's how people many people think Heard all the stories got to find some new stories Well, that's what's being spoken of here As a king Young man Poor In prison released becomes king people follow him But another young man Rises they don't need that man anymore because they want the latest that's come down the pipe That happens in society That happens in churches Where people don't realize That the longer that man walks with christ the more of christ he has to offer Keep that in mind because I spoke to my pastor chuck And chuck at the age of 65 Was planning on retiring And he didn't anybody who knows pastor chuck knows he never never retired. He died as a pastor of costa mesa So I asked him one day A few years after he said he was going to retire. I said chuck God ask you a question You said you were going to retire when you were 65 But you didn't May I ask you why you didn't He says Well, he says I was I was Raised in the society that says 65 is retirement. So because that's my society. I was raised that way. I thought well, maybe I'm supposed to retire So I said it He goes but then I began to perfectly think And I realized that every day I walk with Jesus is another day of knowing him. I can give to somebody else He said david pastors don't retire That's true That's true. My pastor never retired. My pastor went to heaven in the process of of putting together his next message He never retired. He just moved to glory See so I value the wisdom Of the aged who have walked with jesus christ And I really think the church needs to do the same Don't you the church needs to respect those who have gone before Because the stripes that they've earned the whipings and the wounds that they've gotten Protecting the sheep warrant the respect of the body of christ Because they have received those wounds in protecting the people god entrusted to them Look at the forearms of any pastor who's been faithful in the pulpit And you will see scars that he has received from the wolves who have attacked That's a fact and that person has a love and has a Faithfulness and a longevity and a strength that comes to walking with god We don't replace god's people. He just takes them home and we need to understand that tonight Keep that in mind He says I saw verse 15 I saw the living who walk under the sun They were with the second youth who stands in his place There was no end of all the people Over whom he was made king yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him Surely this also is vanity grasping for the wind eventually a generation arises that doesn't value the leader And will reject him what is the What is the remedy to concern over that seek the praise of god and not of man Matthew 25 23 his lord said to him well done good and faithful servant You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of your lord As long as that person Once again in a church context as long as that that person serving the lord does it to hear the praise of god He's safe He's safe regardless of whether people don't want to hear him anymore regardless Of whether people have begun to think that he's outlived. He's useful as he's not entertaining anymore Regardless of all that he doesn't do it to hear the praise of men He does it to hear the well done from jesus christ and that's the key to all successful christian living and especially ministry Let's keep that in mind