 Here we are, Ecclesiastes chapter 3. We'll begin by just reading verses 1 through 8, and I'll sing it to you. No, we'll begin at verse 1, Ecclesiastes chapter 3. To everything, there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to gain and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear, a time to sow, a time to keep silence, a time to speak, a time to love, a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace and I swear it's not too late. But anyway, so as we look at this, let's begin with the basic and most obvious things about it. First, these verses that I just read speak of the fact that human beings are not in control. That's what Solomon is pointing out to us, that human beings are not the ones in control. The Bible very clearly declares that God is sovereign. God is in control. God is the ruler over all things. As it says in Psalm 47 verses 7 and 8, for God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. Or Psalm 115 verse 3, our God is in the heavens. He does all that he pleases. Or again, 2 Chronicles 20 verse 6, oh Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might so that none is able to withstand you. So the Bible is filled with Scripture that lets us know that God is in control. God is sovereign. He rules over all things. And so Solomon is simply pointing out that under God's rule, everything has its season. And the wisest thing that we can do is trust God. That's because again, he is in control and we are not. In the book of James in the New Testament in chapter 4 verses 13 through 15, James points that out. He says, come now you who say today or tomorrow, we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, make a profit. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. Once again, God is in control. We don't even know what the next day will bring into our life because that's true. We are to take our lives day by day and we're to trust the Lord day by day. So this trust that we have in him rests on knowing that God has a proper time for all things. And that understanding helps us to resist the worrying about tomorrow. Now Jesus in Matthew 6.34 said, do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow, we'll worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. So when we have a knowledge that God rules these over all things, we can trust him and that's what Solomon is pointing out. Because we know that God orchestrates our life and God that God will orchestrate it in such a way as for him to produce blessings to those who love him. It says, and we'll get there in a moment in verse 11 that he has made everything beautiful in its time. And so God is going to do that which is best for us. He works all things together for our blessing. Romans 8.28, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. So undergirding this is the belief that God is good and that we have a higher purpose. And this knowledge that God is good brings comfort to us in our times of confusion. It is something that we really need to rest in and trust that God is good. One of the things I'm noticing even in my Facebook live broadcast and all is that it's important to remind those who might take the time to listen to that broadcast. It's important to remind them and remind us that our God is good and he loves us. That is so important to remember in a day filled with confusion and chaos in a day that's filled with anger and constant, constant bickering. You know as believers I can look to the God of this universe and know he loves me and he's working all things together for the good of my life because he cares about me. The Psalmist in Psalm 119 verse 68 simply said it like this to the Lord. He said, you are good and you do good. In Jeremiah 29 verse 11 we read, I know the thoughts that I think toward you say at the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. And so our God is good and he works things together for us. And our God is in control and thus we should trust him and he's in control of all things, in control of all things and thus in his time he makes everything beautiful. You see if we don't understand this and life is grasping for the wind as Solomon has said, it's filled with frustration. Well we might as well live as animals. As some have said, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. If there's no hope and there's no purpose, if there's just a mundane moving from place to place, thing to thing, a meandering through the universe if you will, then what's the point? We might as well live as animals, eat, drink, tomorrow you're going to die. But God is placed within us an awareness of eternity, a longing for a higher purpose. And that's what we'll be looking at here in Ecclesiastes chapter 3. And so in verse 1 Solomon begins by simply saying to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. So he points out that every activity on earth has its proper time and its proper season. And he does it by utilizing 14 pairs of contrasting opposites. And that's what we see as we go through this. So he begins in verse 2 by saying, a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, a time to pluck what is planted. So you see the contrasting as he goes through this. He points out that birth and death are ultimately in the hands of God. There is a time. In other words, our birth, even our death are in his hands. Birth and death are not accidents. They are actually divine appointments. I want to talk about that for just a moment. Birth and death, divine appointments. We as a nation practice infanticide. We don't refer to it that way. It's simply called abortion. But we practice infanticide. And we have abortions that are especially, if you will, especially terrible. They're called partial birth abortions, where the child is allowed to be partially born. In other words, the head is out of the womb and it's into the air and all. And then something is placed at the base of the skull and the child is killed. That is one of the most terrible things that we can imagine. And yet we have that as a nation, partial birth abortion. We have euthanasia. We have laws that permit people to kill themselves as they will. The die as they will. They call it dying with dignity, but we do have euthanasia. We have our suicides. Solomon would remind us that God is still in control of life and death. Obviously, there are things we can foolishly do that hasten our death. But the point is, we cannot prevent it when the time for our death does come. In Psalm 139, verse 16, the psalmist made this very clear. He said, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. The Lord, you're in control of my days from my birth to my death. And you saw this, even as I was in my mother's womb. Job 145 says that man's days are determined. The number of his months is with you. You have appointed his limits, so he cannot pass. And so there is a time to be born, he says, and there is a time to die. These are in the hands of the Lord, though we may hasten our death. He actually created us with an intent for us to live a certain, certain amount of time. He says there's a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted. A farmer knows the cycle of sowing seed and reaping harvest. He's presenting to us a life cycle. James chapter five, verse seven says the farmer waits for the precious root of the earth. He waits patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. And so the point he would be making here would be learn to rely on the Lord in all things. In verse three, he says there's a time to kill, a time to heal, a time to break down, a time to build up. Now, when he says there's a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to kill may refer to capital punishment. When it says there's a time to heal, that would refer to medical procedures that are intended to preserve life. In other words, there are times when a life is taken and there are times when a life is fought for. Now, let's look at that for a moment. Ancient Israel practiced capital punishment and capital punishment was actually established before Moses received the law from God. The first offense mentioned that warranted capital punishment was murder. In Genesis nine, verse six, again, Genesis nine is way before Moses was given the law. In Genesis nine, verse six, it says whoever sheds man's blood by man, his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God he made man. So capital punishment was ordained in Scripture. The Jews recognize that if a man died and say he was a younger man, not only did that man die, but all the future children that would have been born to him and through him die along with him. And so God saw that as a very grave offense. And thus he said that is what warrants capital punishment. Now later when the law was given to Moses, a list of crimes that called for capital punishment was expanded upon. And so when you read your Bible, you'll see that crimes that warranted capital punishment included adultery, included rape, included witchcraft, idolatry, it included youthful rebellion, Sabbath breaking. They were capital offenses. In Exodus 21, verses 14 through 16, it reads if a man acts with pre-meditation against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from my altar that he may die. And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He who kidnaps a man and sells him or if he is found in his hand shall surely be put to death. That's interesting, isn't it? These are capital offenses. Did you know that blasphemy is a capital offense? Blasphemy is the charge that was leveled against Jesus that resulted in his death. In John 19, verse 7, the Jews answered him, speaking of Pontius Pilate, answered him, we have a law, according to our law, he ought to die because he made himself the Son of God. To them that was blasphemous and that was the religious charge that they had against Jesus. So blasphemy was capital offense. Human government was granted the power to carry out this penalty. You see it initially in Genesis when it says, by man his blood shall be shed, that is really human government. And later in the New Testament in Romans 13, Paul said in verses 3 and 4, rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do it as good. And you will have praise from the same, for he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. And that's exactly what Jesus was alluding to when he was speaking to Pontius Pilate in John 19, verses 8 through 11, because there Pilate was saying something. He said, well, they said we have a law, by our law this man ought to be put to death and all he made himself out to be the Son of God. When Pilate heard that saying, he was more afraid. He went back into the Praetorium, said to Jesus, where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. And Pilate said to him, are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you, power to release you? Jesus answered, you could have no power at all against me, unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered me to you has the greatest sin. And so it's a capital offense to murder somebody, but there's a variety of other things that fell into that particular law. Now when it is carried out, this is something that needs to be remembered. It isn't something that's intended for a time of celebration. There are those who actually celebrate, and from a human emotional point, I can understand how some would, to be quite frank with you, to be honest with you. But it really isn't a time for celebration. What it is intended to do is to cause us to soberly reflect, and it does serve as a warning as well as a deterrent. But God doesn't encourage us to celebrate that. Ezekiel 33 verse 11, say to them, as I live saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live, turn from your evil ways, for why should you die, O house of Israel? And so he speaks here of a time to kill. He speaks of the time to heal. He speaks in verse three again of a time to break down, and a time to build up. A time to break down speaks of work of construction really, breaking down, building up. Some things need to be leveled to make way for the new. Sometimes we tear down buildings to construct new and better ones. I mean, if you had pictures we do somewhere, this property itself, it would illustrate itself well, because we've had a variety of times of construction here. In the early days, if you would have stepped out of this chapel and just stepped to the south of us, there were houses over here on the side, and those have been torn down. There was a barn, we had a red barn here, and that was torn down. We had a stable for all my horses, and we had a stable there, and the stable that we originally had, we actually transformed into our first, second bookstore. The first bookstore was a small office right there to my right, small office. That's where the first bookstore was. Then we took the stable and we made that into a bookstore. So we've seen a lot of tearing down here. I wish I thought to take pictures just to illustrate this, but present these pictures to you, because everything you see in here has been torn down and built up. Everything. I mean, we used to have this stage here, for example. This stage used to go all the way to the wall. And we used to have, if we were to tear some of those soundboards down, you would see on both sides, you would see some cheesy pretend stained glass that they had here, and we just covered them up. This whole stage went all the way to the wall on either side. Directly behind me, if we were to tear this apart, you would see that there is a baptismal back there. It's the size of a large bathtub, and they thought it looked like Israel, but it was Lake Arrowhead, and I'll never forget that. We had carpet. The carpet that we had was green shag carpet. Ugly as the day is long, and it was right there. So we've seen a lot of tearing down, and we've seen a lot of building up. The patios that we have, the cafe that we have. There's so much that we've seen in the tearing down and the building up, and that's what he's speaking about. Some things need to be leveled in order for new things to be built. He goes on in verse 4, there's a time to weep, there's a time to laugh, there's a time to mourn, a time to dance. So there are appropriate seasons for both tears as well as laughter. You cry at a funeral. You rejoice at the birth of a child. It's simply part of the cycle of life, and we learn that, and we understand that. And by the way, that's part of what life really is. In Romans 12, 15, Paul says something. He says, rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Experience fullness of life with people. There are times that you will get a phone call where somebody will say to you that they are pregnant, and you rejoice because they're going to have a baby. And then there are other times that somebody may approach you and say to you that their mama died, or their husband went to be with the Lord. And you have to be ready in all seasons for people. I have had, after Sunday services, more than once, where I've been standing in the front and in between services, and I've had people approach me and speak to me. And I've had the woman who, I'll give you an example, it's Sunday, and she says, Pastor, can you pray for me? I said, of course, what can we pray for? And she says, my husband died on Friday, and there she is there on a Sunday. I've heard that many times. Some of you have told me that yourself who are here tonight, my husband died. And you tear up, your heart is touched. And then a minute or two later, somebody will walk up after you've spent time with the sorrow, and they will come up and they will say, Oh, praise the Lord. I wanted to let you know I'm going to get married, or I want you to know we're going to have a baby. And that's just life. And there are times that you weep and then there are times that you laugh and you smile. That's just life. We share it together because life goes in those kinds of cycles. He goes on. There's a verse five. There's a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones, a time to embrace, a time to refrain from embracing, casting away stones while you just think of a field and the farmer is clearing the stones from the field that he might farm that land. So he gathers those stones. He casts away stones from the field, but he gathers those stones so that he can build walls or he can use the same stones for housing. And so he says there's a time that you cast away stones, a time to gather it. He says there's a time to embrace. There's a time to refrain from embracing. There's an appropriate time to express physical affection or to refrain from it. I'll never forget sitting in church. But our church was about a year old and it was a service and we were having worship and I was seated in I think it's the second row from the front and Maria and I are there. And right in front of me is a couple that had just gotten engaged to be married. They're right in front of me. I'll never forget this. And I think Dave and Connie, you may remember, yeah, okay. And they're looking at each other with these, oh, I'm thinking, oh no, don't do it. It's one of those looks like you can see sparks flying and I'm thinking, don't do it. But they did it. And they kissed so loudly and I am not kidding. They kissed so loudly that when they stopped kissing it popped like and I wanted to slap them on the head. There is a time that you refrain from embracing. I've been in church and I've seen guys giving their girlfriend or their wives that back rub. Keep your hands off or raise them to the Lord. There's a time for refraining from embracing and we have to remember that. That's all I've got to say. Verse six, a time to gain, a time to lose, a time to keep, a time to throw away. Acquiring things and losing things is simply part of life. And sometimes we have hoarders. Who don't want to release these things. So sometimes you just need to have a yard sale or give away your stuff. Verse seven, there's a time to tear, a time to sew, a time to keep silence, a time to speak, time to tear, sew, silence, speak. Tearing garments very often in scripture is a sign of mourning. There's a time to tear. Tearing garments often represents repentance. So there is a time for us to repent from our sins. He speaks of a time to sew. Sew, to sew obviously is repairing what has been torn. So there's a time to repent and there's a time to restore. There's a time to speak. And when he speaks about that or writes about that, when he writes about a time to speak and all of that, time to keep silence, a time to speak, that is predicated on on showing wisdom and knowing when to speak and knowing what to say. You know, sometimes it's just wise for us to keep silent. And I know that there are circumstances we find ourselves in where somebody is pouring out their soul to us. And the first thing we want to do is we want to give them advice. Job's comforters were best when they were silent because we first have to learn to mourn with those who mourn if you're going to be able to give them something that will cause them to rejoice. And there's a wisdom in knowing when to speak. There's a wisdom in knowing when to remain silent. And there are times when the best thing you can do is remain silent as this person shares their heart with you. And in ministry, I've been serving the Lord in ministry for a long time. And over time, I learned as a younger man that I was real quick to want to give the answer and the solution. I wanted to give those answers and those solutions because I had just read that in the Bible. And here's your answer. And it took a long time for the Lord to train me to put my hand over my mouth and not to speak because sometimes the silence and just the listening is more of a blessing than any advice I had for them at that moment. And then later on, they would speak to me because they trusted me because they knew that I wouldn't interrupt them in their grief and they asked for direction. And when they asked for advice and direction, they were giving me permission to give them that which I wanted to give them, but they weren't prepared to hear the first time. And it takes wisdom for you to understand that because a lot of people, especially when you're on fire for Jesus, want to give a biblical answer even when the question isn't being asked. So there's time for us to refrain from speaking, the time to keep our silence. In verse eight, there's a time to love and a time to hate. That's when you get married. And I don't know. A time of war and a time of peace. A time to love and a time to hate. Obviously, we love the things that please the Lord. And obviously, we hate the things that he hates. In Psalm 97, verse 10, the Psalmist said, you who love the Lord hate evil. And that's what we're to do, hate evil. Now, when he says it's a time to love a time to hate, we love the Lord, love the things he loves, we hate the things that he hates. He says also a time of war and a time of peace. Um, we are to live at peace with all men, but there are times when there is something called a justifiable war. There are times when violence is met with measured violence in response. I am as a Christian and as a pastor, I am one who wants to live in peace with all men. And I strive to do that even as scripture commands. And I believe that that is the way that believers are. But there may be a time and sometimes there are a time when an engagement in war is the necessary thing to do. I have never been a pacifist. I'm not a pacifist. I believe that there is a proper time for measured response. I believe that. I believe that if I'm capable of helping somebody in whatever way I may, in whatever way I may to save them from injury, that's my moral responsibility to do. It isn't my moral responsibility to see a man assaulting a woman or hurting my child and for me to fall to my knees and simply pray for his soul. There are times that you have a measured response and you do what you need to do. Even if it means that there's really little you can do, you know, when you get to be old like I am, you know, you come to realize that that when you were young, you thought you could take care of business and you could to some degree. But when you get old, you know, well, if I get involved here, I'm probably going to die. And that's what you do. That's just a fact. Or you hope you got a big friend next to you who pities you. That's about it. But there are times, you know, there are times that it is justified to enter in to war. There are times that there are wars that are fought. And there's so much argument over this, that there are times that it is justified and right to engage for the protection of the rights and for the protection of others. And you enter in. That's why I was willing to go into the military, knowing that I could be placed in a position of having to use a weapon. And that's why those who are veterans in in our in our church understand exactly what he's saying. There is a time for war. And there is a time for peace. I prefer peace. But yet there are times that war is necessary. And so continuing, he goes in verse nine, what prophet has the worker from that in which he labors? I am seeing the God given task with which some which with which the sons of men are to be occupied. And so the question he asked in verses nine and 10 is, is there an advantage? Is there a profit at all in our labor? And the answer is yes. Because God is working out his plan for us over our lifetime. God is doing something in us as we work. And I've seen, he says in verse 10, the God given task with which some the sons of men are to be occupied. He says in verse 11, he has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. And so he has made, he has put eternity in their heart. But first he made everything beautiful in its time. So God's ways are not our ways. His timing is not always in line with ours. He has made everything beautiful in its time. There are lessons that I have learned way after the fact. There's a scripture that I have memorized that of John 13 where Jesus says, what I'm doing now, you don't understand, but you will later. There are things that God is doing in you right now that you don't understand. There are things going on in your life right now that you question God about, that you wonder about. How come you allowed this in my life? Why is this taking place right now? Maybe you're not now, but you probably have in the past. If you haven't in the past, you will in the future. That's good news for you. You will have that time where you're asking the Lord, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? And the bottom line is, he's made everything beautiful in its time, that the process is not its conclusion. And you're moving towards the conclusion. And that's why you patiently wait, knowing that God is good, and that all things will work out for the good. That's where your faith steps in. Because as a parent, you may be seeing a child that's not doing well. And you say, God, I raised them to know you. I dedicate them as an infant. I brought them to Sunday school all their lives. We had home devotions every day. And Lord, they are wandering from you, and your heart is broken. Its pierced in tears just flood your eyes and drip onto the floor, because this is the child of your heart. This is what you desire. I want my child blessed by God. What are you doing? What are you doing? And the Lord says in my time, in my time, it's not that he designed, by the way, all this sin to entice your son or daughter, is that he knows the effect and impact it will have on them and how that can be used to draw them to where they're supposed to be. And he does that. And that's why you hold fast. And the Lord has his ways of working. His ways are not our ways. His timing is not always in line with ours. It's been said that life is like a doctor's prescription. Taken alone, the ingredients might kill you, but properly blended, they bring healing. And I've seen that with the Lord. In Psalm 3419, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. So as believers in times that we do not know what's going on, well, we cling to that which we do know. And I do know truly God is good. He says also in verse 11, he has put eternity in their hearts. Knowing that we were created for a greater purpose causes us to search for answers. We see that life is complicated and we desire to have an understanding of the meaning. Living produces an appreciation of time as we age and a desire to continue to live. And every passing season causes us to consider the brevity of our lives. And eternity is before us. When you're 10 years old, if you asked a 10-year-old what is old, they'll say someone who is 15. You talk to a 20-year-old and say, what is old? And they'll say, oh, somebody who's over 40. You talk to a 40-year-old and ask them, what is old? And they'll say, oh, somebody who's 60 years old. You talk to a 60-year-old and you say, what is old? And they'll say, oh, somebody who's in their 70s or 80s. You talk to somebody who's 70 or 80. What is old? And they say, I don't remember. I haven't got a clue. I don't even know how old I am now. But what happens over life is you begin to realize that you're drawing to a conclusion. He has put eternity in their hearts and awareness that your time is limited and there's something beyond what you experience now. When you're young, you think you're going to live forever. But as you grow older, you realize that you have an expiration date. And you begin to wonder what is the meaning and purpose of life. It used to be called a mid-life crisis. When you're young, you come to realize that you're really not going to live forever, but you think you will. When you're young, you're very daring. You enjoy taking chances. You think that you're invulnerable. Well, if you're not invulnerable, you know that you'll heal quickly. You know that. I mean, sometimes when you're young, you might cut your arm and then day and a half later, it's healed. And you think it'll always be that way. It's not. So as you begin to grow older, you begin to lose your friends. It awakens you to eternity. And it also can produce a sobriety in your life. We'll get to Ecclesiastes 7 verse 2 where he says it's better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all man and the living will take it to heart. It's better to go to a funeral than to a party. You go to a party and you just are wasting your time just laughing and messing around and stuff. You don't learn any lessons in a party. That's what Solomon says. He says, where you learn your lessons is going to a funeral. And that's true. Because when you go to a funeral, you realize your end. You realize as that when there, so shall I be one day. And it causes you to think. I didn't know that as a young person, but again, I began to learn it fairly early because I began to see friends of mine dying at an early age. I used to be a, when I was 18, I had the job of delivering flowers and all. And so I had to go to Rose Hills in various places like that. And one day I still remember having a funeral wreath that I had to deliver to Rose Hills. And what I would do with the funeral wreath is I would walk up to the casket prior to the funeral and I would put the wreath on the casket. And so I did that quite often. And so I was 18 and I read the name on the card and I remember looking at that saying, I know someone by this name. I know someone by this name. How odd. How often do you ever see somebody's name that's the same as a friend of yours, right? So I'm 18. I still remember walking in to the small chapel with the funeral wreath and I placed the wreath on the casket. And then I just looked to the left into the face of a friend of mine, into the face of a friend of mine that I had been partying with two weeks before. I looked into his face and I'll never forget that. I'll never forget my friend David Smith, a guy I used to hitchhike to the beach with. We'd go up from Norwalk. I'd meet him at Beach Boulevard and we'd go from Beach Boulevard and Imperial. We would go up and we'd hitchhike to Huntington. David and I would do that in high school and all. And I remember being at a tasty freeze and I was 18 and my friend Dave was there and I hadn't seen him for a while and I still remember him saying, Dave, and I looked at him and I nodded, how are you doing, Dave? And he says, good. He says, I'll see you later. And that night, he got extremely loaded, drunk, dropped some acid, jumped on his motorcycle and plowed into a parked pickup truck. A corrugated bumper. His face hit that bumper and demolished him, killed him instantly. He was 18. And I remember that. I had a friend named Ray Casada who was 19. I was 18 once again. And Ray went across the street to a party directly across the street from my house and was involved in a fight with a guy. And one of our friends, a very good friend of mine, shot. I wanted to shoot a guy named Pete, but he ended up shooting Ray in the head and Ray died two days later. I started seeing friends when I was that age who were dying. My friend Billy Coger, who was at a Tacey freeze in Santa Fe Springs near the Santa Fe Springs High School. And he was there. He'd been stabbed once before, but Billy was there, got in a fight with a guy. The guy stabbed him and killed him. His last words are, oh no, not again. And these were things that were taking place in my life when I was 18 years old, when I was 19 years old and I was starting to see friends. These are 18-year-old kids. These are 19-year-old kids. They're supposed to live forever. They're not supposed to die. Not at 18, not at 19. They have a life ahead of them. They haven't had kids yet. They've never been married, had kids. They've never done any of that. And I'm watching this one at a time, at a time. One more, one more, one more. And had several friends who were dying, violent deaths. And then I was at a party and some guys started a beef with us. And one of my friends, Ray Angel, was handed a knife, a switchblade, and he stabbed a guy right in front of me. And the guy comes and he's bleeding and he grabs hold of me and he bleeds on my shirt and I shove him away and I go home and I'm thinking, where am I going? So I've seen those things. Where am I going? Where's my life taking me? And my brother comes and looks at me. He says, where'd you get that blood on your shirt? And I said, Angel stabbed the guy tonight. They said, where are you going, man? What are you doing? And that's the stuff that was going on in my life. When I finally said, this is crazy, I got to get right with God or I'm going to end up dead. I'm going to end up dead. I almost overdosed. I drank almost a half gallon of wine. I dropped five reds and I almost died in the back seat of my car and I woke up the next morning knowing it was a miracle that I was still alive. And that's what gave me that desire to see what's really out there. What's really, because what I'm doing right now, I'm going to die. And I knew it. I knew it. In one month I went from 178 pounds to 145 pounds, dropped 33 pounds because I stopped eating. All I was doing was smoking pot and drinking. That's all I was doing for a month. I dropped 33 pounds. I went down to almost nothing because I was going crazy. I was stealing from stores and I was doing crazy things. And finally the Holy Spirit grabbed hold of me and said, no, there's more to life than what you've got. You need to get right with God. And so in the funerals that I went to and the things that I was seeing, I came to understand that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to a party because I started seeing what was taking place. And so we need to be aware of that fact that we're moving towards eternity. We need to have an awareness. The things that we see should serve as a wake up call for us. The Psalmist in Psalm 90 verse 10 said, the days of our lives are 70 years and if by reason of strength they are 80 years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow for it is soon cut off. And we fly away. In verse 12 of Psalm 90, he went on to say, teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. So as we gain a heart of wisdom, we should be awakened to the reality of eternity. What can, what has been called a midlife crisis can also be seen as a wake up call. That explains why we're not satisfied with simple achievements and we want something more. Augustine once said, our hearts are restless until they rest in you. And that's where you find your peace and the answer to your question resting in God. In verse 12 he says, I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice and do good in their lives. And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It's the gift of God. Instead of fearing the future, enjoy life. He says, it is a gift. And when you see life as a gift, you can rejoice, you can do good, and you can enjoy the fruit of your labor. Enjoying life under heaven is built on your desire to go to heaven. He says in verse 14, I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing taken from it. God does it that men should fear before him. That which is has already been and what is to be has already been. And God requires an account of what is past. God is the master. He has all power. He has all authority. Like it says in Romans 9 20, indeed, oh man, who are you to reply against God? Shall the thing form say to him who formed it? Why have you made me like this? God is the master. He says in verse 14, God does it that men should fear before him. So that's our proper relationship. We are the thing that has been created and we worship our Creator. It's calling for a proper reverence and that motivates us to do that which is good. Obviously, that is encouraging as it relates to salvation. There's nothing we can do to add to or take away from Jesus' finished work. We need to understand that salvation is a gift from the Lord and through his grace, that's how we receive it. In verse 15, that which is has already been, what is to be has already been. God requires an account of what is past. He already made that clear in chapter one. Time gets away from us. We can easily lose track of it. Years do pass quickly. We may forget what we've done, but God remembers and he holds us responsible. Verse 16, moreover I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness was there. In the place of righteousness iniquity was there. I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. I'll speak about this for just a moment here. In the place of judgment wickedness was there. As he considered life, he noted that people often do not dispense proper judgment. Instead of justice and instead of righteousness, he saw wickedness that prevailed and very often wickedness prevailed over the the innocent. I see that. Forgive me for sounding political for a moment, but I see it. I believe that this kind of attitude, wickedness in the place of judgment that we're seeing it played out right now. If any of you are watching the news and watching the Supreme Court nomination process, if any of you are spending any time watching that, you can see this is taking place right now. Wickedness is in the place of judgment. There's no doubt about it. Perhaps I'll get some of you upset. Forgive me, but here we go. There's been an accusation made concerning Judge Kavanaugh. Some of you are aware of it. Somebody stating that when he was 17 that he forced himself upon a young woman when she was 15. There's an uproar that we're hearing from the Democrats who really don't want Kavanaugh to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice because they believe his conservative values are things that they are highly opposed to, and they will do anything they can to squash his nomination. All of you know that. If not, that's what's going on right now. And so they waited until the midnight hour to come up with an accusation that our Senator Feinstein released. And to anybody with eyes, they can see that this is one of their attempts to undermine the process. And so now you have many people who are standing up saying how wrong it is for Kavanaugh to have thrust himself upon a young woman who was an unwilling participant. But the problem with all of that is there's no evidence that he did that. So in the accusation, there is the guilt today. If you're accused of something, you must be guilty. So this presupposition of innocence until proven guilty doesn't really exist. Now does it? And the thing that bothers somebody like myself in all of this is one, it's so easy to see through. It's so easy. It's transparent. It's so easy to see through what's taking place. But two, the feigned outrage of these individuals who are crying out saying that you need to believe this woman's accusation, though there's no evidence. She can't even remember where it happened, when it happened. She doesn't have any recollection of anything other than she says something happened. So I've got several granddaughters. I've got my wife. I've got my daughters. I've got daughters-in-law. I am totally supportive of women. Everybody in this church ought to know that. And yet at the same time, I'm also very supportive of truth. And just because an accusation has been made, doesn't make that accusation true. And you should not judge a man based on an accusation or a woman based on an accusation. That's just fairness. That's called justice. And you ought not to do that. But in this society, it's an accusation that will derail a nomination simply because somebody doesn't want that person to hold that office. That's what's taking place. And it bothers me and tears my heart up. And yet I remember that when Hillary Clinton recently, here we go, Hillary Clinton recently was saying, you've got to believe the woman. I remember, I'm old enough to remember when she was calling Paula Jones all kinds of names, a trailer tramp and various other things, when the accusation was against her husband. Now, it is funny how time has changed this woman. And if you really care about women, then how come you said that Teddy Kennedy was a champion for women's rights when this is the guy who left a woman to die in a car slowly suffocating because he didn't want a DUI? See, justice is very often is on the shoe of the person who wants the power. And that's what he's talking about. You're seeing it played out right now. You're seeing it played out right now. The hunger for power is beyond anything that we, in this room, really understand this desire for control. The anger that we're seeing towards President Trump is, I have to be real with you and say it. It's they didn't get over the fact they lost. They haven't gotten over it. It's crazy. They have been politicking for a Democratic president since day one. And the accusations are flying. The anger is flying. There is such a thing as fake news. There really is. Because all you got to do, I encourage you read 1984 Orwell's book. It's almost prophetic. I had to read it. They forced me to in literature class. But they'll say things like the North has been fighting the South. It's always been that way. And then in Orwell, the East is against the West. It's always been that way. And the news dictates what the proletariat believes. And it all came through the news. They just fed what they wanted those people to believe as long as they had beer and baseball games. Read 1984. It's very prophetic. And it's true. If you have the ear of the people through the news, you can tell them anything they want to hear. And they will believe. And I have people who tell me how evil Trump is and how bigoted Trump is. I have to be honest with you, I don't appreciate what I see sometimes as arrogance. I'll be up front with you about that. I don't like it at all. If you would listen to my advice, my advice to President President Trump, if you're listening, shut up. Shut up and be president. Yeah, shut up and be president. I don't need to hear your tweets. I don't care about your tweets. And I don't want to hear about fake news every day. I don't. Just remind me that you brought the remains of American's that were in North Korea that no other president was able to do. And I thank you for that. I thank you for those kinds of things. It's it's it's that simple. I did not vote for, by the way, a pastor. He wasn't running for the office of spiritual leader. But I do thank God that he, you know, he at least acknowledges that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world. I thank God for that, especially when I had a president not that long ago who who lectured me as a pastor for being a bigot, because I was not open to the Muslim ideology. Well, guess what? Error needs to be confronted. And Christian pastors aren't going to say that Muslims are going to heaven because they need Jesus Christ. That's my job. And to be called a bigot. And because I preach the gospel. Well, I had that already for eight years. And I'm thankful for somebody who says, Hey, Merry Christmas. I'm grateful for that small thing. Isn't it? But I'm grateful for it. I really am. And there are things like that now. Okay. And that's what Solomon meant. Just an application. Just just so instead of justice and righteousness, wickedness is prevailing. Isaiah 59, 14, justice is turned back, righteousness stands afar off. For truth is fallen in the street. Equity cannot enter. In verse 17, he said, I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked. There is a time for every, for every purpose and for every work. God is the final judge. Ultimately, he renders fair and righteous judgment. As it says in Psalm 75, seven, God is the judge, puts down one and exalts another. In verse 18, I said in my heart, concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them that they may see that they themselves are like animals. For what happens to the sons of men also befalls, also happens to animals. One thing befalls them as one dies, so dies the other. Surely they all have one breath. Man has no advantage over animals. All is vanity. I'll go to one place. All are from the dust. I'll return to dust. Who knows the spirit of the sons of men which goes upward and the spirit of the animal which goes down to the earth. I perceive that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works. For that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him? Ultimately, through testing, God reveals to man what man is really like. The fact is when man leaves God out of his life, he lives like an animal. He eats, he drinks, he multiplies, he survives, but he has no self-control. He doesn't appreciate the beauty of the spiritual. So he says in verses 19 and 20 what happens to the sons of men happens to animals. One thing befalls them as one dies, so dies the other. In verse 20, I'll go to one place. All are from the dust. I'll return to the dust. Now he's not equating man with animals. Be aware of that. Man is aware of the shortness of their lives. We already saw that. And they will even go through crises about it. I wrote this to myself. I don't know if it's worth reading to you, but I will. Man is aware of the shortness of their lives and goes through crises. I've already spoken of midlife crises. And so I wrote to myself, apes don't go through midlife crises. They don't go bar hopping. They don't wear gold chains. They don't put on wigs. And they don't want to be younger apes. So that's deep. Solomon meant that too. Man is aware of eternity because we're created in the image of God. So he's saying both men and animals live and both men and animals die. So with that in mind, he's pointing out that both die, their bodies do return to the dust. So when it comes to the simple fact of death, man dies, even as an animal dies. In Psalm 49-12, but man, despite his riches, does not endure. He is like the beast that perish. In verse 20 he said, I'll go to one place. That simply means they're both buried and decompose. But he goes on in verse 21 and says, who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth. So dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to the God who gave it. You'll see that in chapter 12 verse 7, by the way. So man alone is created in the image of God. And because of this, we do not have the same experience after death. And he goes on finally in verse 22 to say, I perceive that nothing's better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage, for what can bring him to see what will happen after him. His conclusion, you don't know what the future is holding, so enjoy your life while you have it. Rejoice in your work, appreciate your accomplishments, but keep eternity in perspective. Realize that you will one day die, and understand that one day you will stand before the righteous judge of the whole earth. And remember, God is in control, so trust him and live in his peace. And that is what we've been created to do.