 Alright, here we are. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. I didn't conclude our study last time, and so I'll be picking up this time in chapter 7 at verse 21. I'll read verses 21 and 22, and we'll get into our study. Ecclesiastes chapter 7, beginning with verse 21, reading to verse 22. Solomon writes, Do not take to heart everything people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you, for many times also your own heart has known that even you have cursed others. And so he's going to give us some practical advice, some instruction in a moment, but I want to begin by remembering something he had just said in verse 20, and now use that as my platform introduction, and then we'll move on in to the following verses. But in verse 20, he had said there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. So that's a very strong statement that he's making, and he's making that statement concerning people in general. He said there's not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. So this answers the question that's often asked concerning why people do evil. That's one of the most common questions that you're going to hear as a believer. Why do people do evil? Why is there evil on the face of the earth? And so the basic Bible answer is that the reason people do evil is because people have what is called a sin nature. So that's not something the average person is normally really willing to see. We learn through life that people do habitually what is evil. They don't do habitually what is good. So it's just common sense to know that there's something going on within people. It's common sense and this understanding comes from simple life lessons. All you need to do is live for a while and you're going to see that there's not a good person on earth. No, not one. You may have this beautiful idea that when you have your babies, your babies are going to be perfect. And the best advice I've ever received about parenting has always come from those who don't have children because there seems to be a philosophy within our hearts that if you do certain things all the time, good things are bound to happen. And the reason you have bad kids is simply bad parenting skills. And to some degree that's true in some ways. There are some who should really probably not have had children simply because they don't know how to parent them. And I think that there are some that I have seen over the years who really probably should have gotten a pet and even so probably shouldn't have gotten a pet either. They just don't know how to take care of something other than themselves. But by and large, we see evil because evil exists within man. It's our sin nature. That's why he says there's not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. It's because wrapped up within us as a heart of rebellion. And that heart of rebellion actually is demonstrated by the way that we live, by the things that we do. Like we saw in Proverbs 20 verse 11, even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right. So somebody can say that they're a good person, but all you need to do is watch them, not to say that we should run around doing that, you know, trying to sniff out sin in every other person. But the fact is as we see that, we know that all you need to do is hang around with somebody for a while and you'll see that everybody has faults. Everybody sins, not a single person is perfect. Not everybody's as evil as they could be. You know, there are just a certain amount of guys like Hitler and Stalin and Lenin and Mao and others of that nature, Charlie Manson and all. Not everybody is evil as they could be. There is moral training. There are social expectations and those things combined to help to restrain our natural drives and desires. There are people who would do a lot of wicked if they wouldn't get caught. If there were, if there was a guarantee that they could do certain things and get away with it, they would do it. But because they're afraid to get caught, it restrains them. Or because it's not approved by society, they resist doing. But if the society permitted it, which is by the way why laws in the nation are used to restrain evil behavior because they're saying you shouldn't do this because we as a culture and it's a legal system regarded as wrong. It's one of the reasons why laws can restrain people with a certain bit of moral upbringing. But the bottom line is if they could get away with doing certain things, they probably would. Not everybody's as evil as they could be. They don't do everything they're driven to do. But intuitively, we know that we're not what we would like to be either. We know that if we're not as bad as somebody else, we're not as good as we want to be. And if you have just an honest moment, you know that. We know that there is something within us that wars against any desire to do good. It's what the Bible refers to as our Adamic nature, our sinful nature. Paul spoke in Romans chapter 7 in this way in verses 18 and 19. The Apostle Paul said, I know that in me that that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me. But how to perform what is good, I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do. But the evil I will not to do that I practice. In Romans 7, 21, he went on to say, I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. There is a sin nature and any non-deluded person can recognize that they're not perfect. They just don't understand what is wrong with them. The reason that we're not perfect is because of our sin nature. In Romans 5, verse 12, Paul said, through one man sin entered the world and death through sin and thus death spread to all men because all sinned. In Psalm 51, verse 5, the Psalmist said, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin, my mother conceived me. Isaiah 64, verse 6 says, we are all like an unclean thing. All our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. We all fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. And so in our honest moments we will recognize, I'm not what I want to be. I am not the person I would like to be. So the Bible makes it clear that all are guilty of sins of commission as well as omission. In other words, sometimes we do what we should not do and sometimes we do not do what we should do. In James 4, 17, James said, therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. That's called a sin of omission. You know to do, but you don't do. So this sinfulness finds a way of expression in our daily lives as Solomon is now illustrating. So he says in verse 21, do not take to heart everything people say lest you hear your servant cursing you. For many times also your own heart is known that even you have cursed others. And so this reveals that all sin, because everyone has spoken badly about someone else. Again in the New Testament, James said something about this in James 3 verses 7 through 10. The writer James said all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father. And with it we curse men who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. On the one hand you're in church and you're raising your hand saying oh God you're so good. On the other hand you're pulling out the driveway and someone cuts you off and you're not saying the same kinds of things to your brother that you were just saying to God. So what is it that Solomon would have us to learn? Well one, Solomon would have us to learn that we should restrict our tongues from speaking evil of others. We should personally determine that we'll resist that. Leviticus chapter 19 verse 16 says do not go about spreading slander among your people. Proverbs 20 verse 19 says a gossip betrays a confidence. Avoid a man who talks too much. My mother used to say it like this. She said anything somebody ever says to you about somebody else they're saying about you to somebody else. Always remember that. If somebody is quick to speak to you about somebody else they are quick to speak about you to somebody else because that's the habit of their life. They're a gossip. They're a tail bearer. They spread these things and all. And we know that gossip destroys. It separates people from another. It destroys relationships. So avoid it. Don't be involved in it. Second, when gossip is spread about you and this is what he's saying, do not take it to heart. He says do not take to heart everything people say. When somebody says something about you, don't go home and cry yourself to sleep at night because guess what? You're not as bad as they say and you're probably not as good as you think. So he's usually somewhere in the middle. A long time ago I had somebody share that with me and he said to me, he said you know what? He said you're not as bad as people say but you're not as good as you think you are. So you're somewhere in the middle. Just realize that. And so if somebody says something about you, don't take it to heart. Do not take to heart everything people say because it's not something you need to know. You know there are those people who would like to know what is being said about them and I don't think that's a good idea. There was a commercial years ago I guess it's been two, three years or so as I remember it where they have something called the something ear where you put it in and you can hear things that people whisper about you. Would you really like that? And one of the illustrations, I told my wife this, one of the illustrations that cracked me up was a young woman walking on the beach in a bikini and two women are looking at one another and one woman says something like this to the other. Oh she has such a nice shape. I wish I had a shape like hers or something like that. Yeah, that's what she was saying. Would you really want to hear everything people say about you? Of course not because it could go, it could, you can take it to heart and there are things that you really don't need to know. Some people waste their entire lives, even their ministries, trying to be liked by other people and that's a waste of time because none of us can please everybody all of the time. I've discovered as you have that words can heal. There are people who can say things to you at that right moment that is really anointed by God and you know it. There have been many times and I thank God for this where people have approached me and have said that something that was said today blessed their heart and I have to be honest with you, it happened recently. Somebody had said that to me. They sent me an email and said something about a message that was given and it was just such right timing because after that message I had gone into my office as I do so many times and I thought man that just that was a bad message. That just wasn't any good and I remember sitting there and my wife can tell you the many times that I have become discouraged because I just haven't said what I need to say or said it in the right way and so somebody wrote me and said something kind to me and I wrote them and I said you know that came at the right moment in my life because I was just thinking and praying about that and I appreciate your encouragement and that's something I think we can do to one another can't we we can encourage one another say the kinds of things that encourage each other and all. They can heal but sometimes the same is true about words hurting and when you're gossiped about everybody knows it can be painful. It's been said that the favorite meal after Sunday morning services is roast pasta and that may be true and the fact is the church is not exempt from people who speak poorly of others. It happens to members of the church it happens to leaders in the Old Testament we see murmuring and grumbling from the children of Israel and the book of Numbers in chapter 16 verse 3 it says they gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them you take too much upon yourselves for all the congregation is holy every one of them and the Lord is among them why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord murmuring and grumbling from the children of Israel and Moses's response is recorded in Numbers 16 verse 15 Moses was very angry and said to the Lord do not respect their offering I have not taken one donkey from them nor have I hurt one of them so leaders very often are spoken poorly of Jesus was often spoken poorly of he was accused of being untrained having never formally studied he was accused of being demon possessed he was told that he was born of fornication he was accused of self promotion they said in John 8 53 to him are you greater than our father Abraham who's dead and the prophets are dead whom do you make yourself out to be so Jesus received these kind of verbal jabs quite often you see when you stand for righteousness there will always be those who oppose you the world will do so as a matter of course and sadly immature Christians will also the way people often work against you is through the things that they say and so words can be used as a weapon and words do bring tremendous pain Proverbs 12 18 says there is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword but the tongue of the wise promotes health so if you constantly worry about what people say about you you'll never do anything in the end the only thing that matters is what God says about you and with this in mind live in such a way that he will say ultimately well done because that's the bottom line and so verse 21 do not take to heart everything people say lest you hear your servant cursing you for many times also your own heart is known that even you have cursed others and so he says lest you hear your servant cursing you if he speaks against you it could provoke you to punish him so don't expect to be praised constantly even by those who depend most upon you he says in verse 22 many times also your own heart is known that even you have cursed others so we have spoken of others which should make us less sensitive when they speak of us he says in verse 23 all this I have proved by wisdom I said I will be wise but it was far for me as for that which is far off and exceedingly deep who can find it out and so everything he says comes from experience he says I've examined and found them to be true I said I will be wise but it was far from me in other words at one time I sought to be wise from every means at my disposal it was then that I discovered that it is too far from human effort this wisdom I sought and desired was simply out of reach you can go to school and it's not that you shouldn't you can you can go to school you can take a variety of classes and you can be taught a variety of subjects maybe you have a major of philosophy maybe you have a major in behavioral science social studies of some sort literature and you can read and you can learn and you can grow but ultimately what happens is you discover that no matter how much you know there's always something you don't know and what I discovered by going to school was not that I was growing in knowledge but that I was lacking in it I realized that there are many books written and I've only read I've only read a few and so there's so much out there I'll never be able to attain to that I'll never really through the constant searching out and reading I'll never really ever on my own attain to wisdom I just won't I can gain information but it doesn't mean I'll gain wisdom I was in London in 1975 and I went to the London Library and I still remember going through this massive library books in shelves that go stories high and and you walk into it you cannot help but just be intimidated by all of that information volume upon volume upon volume and and you go into one section and walls that are higher than these walls filled with books and then you go to another section and another section and I was there I was 20 24 years old at the time and I remember walking in there I was a second year student in college and it hit me look at all of this information I couldn't in a lifetime even read all of the books in this one section let alone section after section after section I was overwhelmed by the amount of information the thousands upon millions of pages and word upon word and it just intimidated me it really did and I walked from one section to another section to another section there were just so many books and and and as I was standing there I began to think this is this is true I I began to think all of these books all of these words centuries old many of these books were centuries old the writings were centuries old and it hit me and God knows every word in every language of every book in this one library it hit me and I thought what an awesome God I serve because he doesn't only know how many words and all of the contents but he also knows what's wrong with every one of these thoughts and as I was thinking that I walked into the center of the library and there on a stand with a glass case was enshrined the very first King James Bible right in the center of the library and I'll never forget walking up seeing it opened up looking at it I believe I may be wrong on this that I may have said in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth the first page and as I stood there looking at it I thought the book of books in the midst of all of man's wisdom they have enshrined the one book that matters God's word and so you can search all you want that's what he's saying all this I have proved by wisdom I said I will be wise it was far from me as for that which is far off and exceedingly deep who can find it out he knew wisdom's depth was more than he could ever naturally fathom wisdom ran deeper than anything he could completely search out in a lifetime in the book of Job 28 verses 20 and 21 it reads from where then does wisdom come where is the place of understanding it is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air wisdom is deep now I'm going to get corny with you I'm going to I'm going to refer to something that you probably won't be impressed with but it impresses my heart therefore I'll read it to you first I'm going to make mention of somebody that most of you probably have never heard of a man by the name of Leonard Cohen has anybody here ever heard of Leonard Cohen please raise your hand okay see you're a very deep man Leonard Cohen is a songwriter Jewish man came from a rabbinic background wrote a lot of songs one of the songs that he wrote many years ago is a song called Suzanne I could tell you the story of Suzanne I won't but it's a song called Suzanne and the song Suzanne was originally was was actually sung by Judy Collins a folk singer in the 60s and he wrote the song right around 1966 during that day spirituality was accepted and seeking for truth was desired and there were a lot of songs that were written just the other day I was asked what do you think led to the Jesus movement and the Jesus revolution of the late 60s and early 70s there was a spiritual hunger in the United States the youth were were searching for some form of answer there needed to be something and I think that there's still a search today there will always be a search but there was that was part of my generation in all and so there were people who weren't even believers who were writing songs that were spiritual again Leonard Cohen was not a Christian he's a Jewish man he ended up practicing Buddhism just letting you know but he wrote something that I thought this illustrates especially the point where it says concerning the depth of wisdom in verse 24 as for that which is far off and exceedingly deep who can find it out and the term exceedingly deep is something that rings in my heart and this is what Leonard Cohen wrote and to try and illustrate that exceedingly deep he wrote Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower and when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him he said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them but he himself was broken long before the sky would open forsaken almost human he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone and you want to travel with him you want to travel blind and you think maybe you'll trust him he's touched your perfect body with his mind now there's a lot in that this is a Jewish man who had met a young woman named Suzanne who had a religious bent and he had a romantic interest in her and she was a follower of the words of Jesus not necessarily as a Christian and that impacted him and that's why he wrote but when I've heard that song the phrase he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone that makes sense to me because the depth of wisdom because the depth of Christ is far beyond human understanding it sinks beneath anything that we as human beings might think is wise and that's basically what Solomon is speaking about here Solomon's wisdom is beyond searching out on your own the wisdom that he possesses is past fighting out you can't find it through human efforts so James tells us in chapter one verse five if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach it will be given to him so the Lord is the one who gives wisdom and you need to remember again Solomon Solomon said I spent my lifetime searching for wisdom I wanted to know wisdom but how did he receive it how did Solomon gain it Solomon gained wisdom when he prayed and asked God for it he said I'm but a child I can't govern your children I don't I don't know my left hand from the right I don't know when when to go out or when to come in and without your wisdom I'll fail wisdom comes from the Lord there there's a discipline of seeking it yes but wisdom itself really originates in the Lord he says in verse 25 I applied my heart to know to search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things to know the wickedness of folly even the foolishness even a foolishness and madness wisdom is deep but I continued seeking for it throughout my lifetime he says in Proverbs 4 7 wisdom is a principal thing therefore get wisdom all your in all your getting get understanding so he was searching for and seeking wisdom and the reason or the meaning of life and in this search the final answer would be that of knowing and fearing God that's what he says when he concludes Ecclesiastes in chapter 12 verse 13 he says let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God keep his commandments this is man's all so the key is pursuing the Lord and seeking God and doing that which he calls us to do he said in verse 25 again he goes to know the wickedness of folly even a foolishness and madness I desire to pursue with great seriousness the reason of things he says I even wanted to understand the wickedness of folly and madness in other words why does sin drive man to such terrible lengths I wanted to know God's gracious purpose to understand man's response to him and I made this the most important reason for my existence I realized that without God's guidance and without God giving to me that which I greatly desired I would really never have understanding and so my life was driven to the pursuit of understanding but I know ultimately that the way that is gained is through the Lord so as he's gaining wisdom notice verse 26 I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets whose hands are fetters he who pleases God shall escape from her but the sinner shall be trapped by her he didn't like women much did he okay after searching things out he tells us what he has found you ready for this after all this searching we're now in chapter seven this is what he has found an ungodly woman's dangerous and so I put in my notes duh this is not a new subject to Solomon when we went through the book of Proverbs he wrote this kind of warning concerning immoral women often Proverbs 2 verses 18 and 19 speaking of an immoral woman her house leads down to death her paths to the dead none who go to her return nor do they regain the path of life Proverbs 5 3 through 6 the lips of an immoral woman drip honey and her mouth is smoother than oil but in the end she is bitter as wormwood sharp as a two-edged sword her feet go down to death her steps lay hold of hell Proverbs 7 21 through 23 with her enticing speech she caused him to yield with her flattering lips she seduced him immediately he went after her as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks till an arrow struck his liver as a bird hastens to the snare he did not know it would cost his life again what is dangerous he says a woman whose heart is snares than nets and whose hands are fetters an immoral woman who will take you and captivate you and destroy you and destroy you not thinking of and this is again from Solomon's perspective a male perspective not concerning herself for a broken-hearted wife not concerning herself for children who will lose a father not concerning herself for a marriage that will be broken maybe without repair she didn't care about any of that she didn't care about you she will use you she will destroy you this is what's all I'm saying and you can end up with absolutely nothing I had a dream many years ago now when my children are still young and this church was young it was so real I still remember it to this day it was that real in my dream there was a woman who had somehow developed a relationship with me that was improper in my dream and in my dream I failed in my marriage and I still remember turning to Marie in my dream and I keep saying that just so that you know it was a dream it was a nightmare in my nightmare dream I had to tell my wife that I had failed her and I saw the brokenness of my wife's face it was real it was real it is exactly what she would actually do when I said in my dream to her honey I have failed you I have committed sexual sin I have committed adultery I saw her face the the shattered look and the tears that immediately began to stream I saw that and then I spoke to my children and they were small and I spoke to my Corrine and my David my Joseph and my Anna and I said your daddy has failed you I have been with another woman and committed adultery against your mother and I watched their faces it was so real it was exactly what my children would have done my my sons especially I still remember them looking down their shoulders slumping as I said I have failed and then I had to speak to my parents parents that I had brought to Christ and I saw their look then I stood in front of my church in my dream and I shared with the church I have failed and I felt the sorrow of heart that a healthy church has when their when their pastor fails and I awakened and oh thank you Jesus it was a dream but I have never forgotten that dream I believe that God was gracious to me to show me what would happen if I ever allowed myself to pursue a woman outside of my own wife and some of you in this room or perhaps who are listening right now or who will hear this some other time know exactly what that is from an actual event and the pain and the sorrow the hurt the death the destruction that that has brought Solomon is simply telling us what is most important to know I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets whose hands are fetters he who pleases God shall escape from her the sinner shall be trapped by her seduction occurs when something is promised that somebody else wants you can't be seduced with something you don't want if somebody said to me if you do this I'll give you as much broccoli and cheese as you want for the rest of your life I say I don't care you know you know I'm not you know I'm not seducable by broccoli though I do like it but if there's something that I have an inner desire for something that I wish I could have and somebody were to promise that to me and said the right kinds of things the right combination of things that's where seduction actually takes place so what do you do you guard your heart you love your wife I'll be doing a series on marriage in the family I'll be sharing some of these things so I'm not going to get ahead of myself on this but you guard your heart you fill it with the things of the Lord you pursue God you cultivate a fear of the Lord because that's where wisdom really originates and you become thankful and grateful and you become aware of the fact that as insignificant as you may perceive yourself to be you're a witness for Christ and your testimony when it fails has a tremendous impact on those who might have one time been open to hearing the gospel and so you guard yourself and you're aware that promises are made but they aren't kept that a relationship with somebody other than your spouse may have promise of of excitement and fulfillment and and a thrill and all of that but it all dies down and I discovered a long time ago that the things that really matter are the things that don't relate to being in a bed with my wife the things that really matter are things that are deeper than that it's the love that we share as a friend it's the love that we share as a companion it's the ability to share heart to heart of course is the other things that pertain to that in marriage but our lives have been built on deeper and more solid things than the momentary the joy of watching a child do well the joy of seeing a family member come to faith in Christ the joy of seeing people that you know coming to know the Lord or people you've prayed for as they get saved the joy of being able to put your head on a pillow at night with no guilt to be able to look eye to eye with that person every morning and to be able to say to that person I love you with all of my heart and to really mean it those are the things that have mattered over time to me those are the things that matter in life it's a real relationship with God and that spouse and so Solomon is simply telling us that going after a woman that is immoral is going to destroy you your heart is snared with nets and your hands are handcuffed and it says he who pleases God escapes from her the sinner shall be trapped by her the one who pleases God is safe but the sinner is taken so the key to avoiding sexual immorality is the spirit empowered desire to please the Lord and making a determination that you'll do that first Corinthians chapter 6 verse 18 simply says flee sexual immorality even as we remember Joseph in in Genesis 39 as he fled the advances of Potiphar's wife you flee sexual immorality in the end when we fail to avoid it many people end up hurt you end up your life with unfulfilled dreams and nothing but I wish I would have if only I would have will be your words at the end I've seen this I've seen this happen I've seen ministers had friends well known if I mentioned their name everybody knows them and I've seen what happened to them when they were trapped in this way the destruction that took place in their ministries the destruction that took place in their homes the brokenness of their children we've ministered to more than one pastor who was nationally nationally know nationally know and seen what has happened when they have done something like that flee fornication and so finally verse 27 here is what I have found says the preacher adding one thing to the other to find out the reason which my soul still seeks but I cannot find one man among a thousand I have found but a woman among all these I have not found truly this only I have found God made man upright but they have sought out many schemes this is my conclusion and and notice how he says I arrived at this by the way my conclusion has come slowly because I've looked at things one by one that's what he's saying when he says adding one thing to the other to find out the reason I've been looking at these things one at a time I've been investigating these things and he says in verse 28 which my soul still seeks but I cannot find what's interesting is what he says he says I haven't been able to find a man who is what he should be truthful and righteous because such a man is rare a man who is truthful and a man who is righteous he says in my experience is rare there are quite a number of men he knew but to find a truthful and righteous one is kind of uncommon and so as a man I pray God help me to be a truthful and righteous man help me to be one of the men that he's responding to here that he's speaking about here but he says finding a truthful and righteous man is rare but finding a faithful woman is even more difficult now what's interesting notice in verse 28 when he says one man among a thousand I have found but a woman among all these I have not found now that's interesting because the number one thousand is the number of wives in concubines that he had in that interesting because when you look at first Kings chapter 11 verse 3 it tells us that he had wives in concubines that added up to a thousand and so it would seem that he came to see the evil of his sin by living with many pagan wives when you read the story of him and his wives it's found in first Kings chapter 11 it's interesting how the Lord and I'm paraphrasing how the Lord speaks of Solomon in that way because it says that that he loved many foreign women and the women that he loved many of those wives that you see in concubines and all the many of those wives were what were called political wives they married women of various kingdoms because they produced a military alliances and so very often the king would marry a woman which would secure relationship with the kingdom that she comes out of so he had a lot of wives that were through political kinds of things and all but it numbers a thousand but the scripture says that in his old age his wives turned his heart away from the Lord and so he's saying that there's an influence that they wielded on him man may be the head but women very often are the neck turning him whatever way she wants to go I may have authority my wife has influence and I don't have the answer for this but I'll say it anyway why did Adam who knew what to do why did he follow the advice of Eve he knew you know Paul goes on and tells us when he's writing to the church in Corinth that that the woman was beguiled she was deceived but the man was not Adam wasn't deceived she was she was beguiled totally old word that they use is totally hoodwinked he pulled the wool over her eyes when Satan spoke to Eve he said things appealing to her and had a conversation with her and you don't see a covering with Adam there you don't see Adam present as this is taking place and so Paul says that the woman was deceived but the man was not and so when you read your scriptures Adam knew that he was not to take of this fruit that was forbidden he knew it yet the scripture says that that she took of it ate it and gave to her husband and he did eat also so why did he do that I don't know I'm just talking he disobeyed the Lord I wonder and I I I wonder if the fact that he had he had been created to have fellowship with God and had that fellowship as a matter of fact God had given to him verbal communication prior to him being placed into a deep sleep so that he could remove the the rib and bring the woman he had fellowship with God you'll see this I'll be sharing this on Sunday on Sunday out of Genesis he had verbal communication he'd received directions already there was something going on if a fellowship between Adam and God already and then the Lord puts a deep sleep upon Adam and he slept and God removed the rib opened up the flesh and closed it there of and then presented the woman to man and Adam broke into a song the way that he says it this at last actually has a musical cadence to it it's as if he's stepping and keeping a beat and this is at last boom it's a song he sings there was something about Eve that made him sing there was something about that woman that made him whole and something about her was so important that he would just as soon be kicked out of paradise than to be without her I can't imagine but that's what happened there was something about that relationship with that woman that he wasn't willing to let go my wife has influence she has influence I have a fellowship with my God I have the power of the Holy Spirit I have his word but my wife has influence and that's why it's so important for for me and I think men in general to have a godly wife one who loves the Lord I have a friend I haven't seen in many years now who prior to getting married had prayed this prayer he said God please give me a woman who loves you more than I do and God gave him such a woman because he asked her honey what do you want for Christmas and you know what she asked for she said give me a bullhorn because I want to stand on street corners and tell people about Jesus Christ what did you ask for Christmas huh a new husband ladies you uh you have more power than you realize more influence this is not a negative this is a positive and we husbands we value that influence and we especially I can say I especially when I have a woman in my life my wife who wants a godly husband I especially value that because it frees me to be the man God called me to be and not to be competing with anything else in her life when she wants me to serve Jesus that sets me free many years ago I was given an opportunity to go into China with the purpose of bringing in bibles to the underground church and so we came in with suitcases I won't go into the details but we came in with suitcase suitcases of bibles and delivered them to people because at that time and I think it's still true you could have a church of quite a number of people and only one Bible and what the pastors were doing is they were tearing out books of the Bible and they were giving them to members of the church because the authorities would come and would confiscate the bibles so to have the word of God they would tear the book into pieces 66 different books and they give them to members of the church they would contact them and they'd say I'm going to be teaching through Matthew chapter 10 could you please bring that chapter to me so they had no bibles so we were coming in teams were coming in delivering bibles it was not an it was not the kind of thing that couldn't have repercussions because if we were caught bringing them in Chinese law could be wielded against us for smuggling bibles because that's what we're doing somebody says then why did you do it because the word of God is necessary for the church and we took the chance of coming in bringing God's word because we should obey God rather than men and that's why we did that but I remember talking to my wife knowing full well that something could happen and I had told Maria I had said baby I feel that I I should go in and bring these bibles into the suffering church and Marie was not real supportive of that and I remember she went to a pastor's wives conference and she came home at the end of that conference and Sandy Macintosh had spoken and Marie approached me and she said God spoke to me through Sandy I need to release you to do what God has called you to do you're free to go to China and I remembered taking those bibles in and the spiritual experience of doing that and the thrill of sitting down with a man in in a park in Beijing a man that had a nick had a name that I won't even give it now he had a name and he sat down I actually met with him privately in a dark park they said he's going to be on this park bench it's kind of like one of those shows you see NCIS or this or that you know it was really that kind of clandestine thing they said you need to be in this location at this time he'll be sitting on the bench you will sit down as if you're just resting he will tell you his story and I still remember coming and sitting down next to this man and he begins to share I had eight children my wife and I had been married many years he says I was arrested for preaching the gospel and I spent over 20 years in a Chinese prison he said my seven children that were of age when I got out are serving Jesus Christ but the smallest one who never had my influence in the home has rejected Jesus as her savior and he shared his story with me and it once again it just riveted me with this this knowledge that what what we need today and you hear it in my preaching all the time is God's word is God's word because it's God's word that changes people's lives and see that is that's that's the stuff and so my wife when she came home said to me I have to let you go I have to let you go I still remember going up the escalator in LAX says I was going up the escalator my wife was waiting there and I was locking eyes because I didn't know if I'd come back I had that in my heart what if I don't come back what if she loses me but you know what I bless God for a wife who wants me to do what God has called me to do who set me free so so wives be the influence encourage pray and in some cases perhaps release so that he your husband can serve God fully because that's the end of all men and be that woman that Solomon never met I haven't found one good one in a thousand well be that one if he would have met he would say now here's one be that woman and finally he said truly this only I have found that God made man upright but they have sought out many schemes God created man righteous but he sinned instead of seeking God he sought out evil and so that's part of our sin nature God made man upright they sought out many schemes because all we like sheep have gone astray we turned everyone to his own way but that's why God sent Jesus because the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all God made man upright man failed they sought out many schemes but even so I will add but God did something about that he sent the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world and we have a relationship with God through him by sin I sought out the wrong things in Christ I seek out the right