Ecclesiastes 2024

We're gonna have our reading now from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 6, starting at verse 10. Ecclesiastes chapter 6 verse 10. Whatever exists has already been named. And what humanity is has been known. No 1 can contend.

With someone who is stronger. The more the words, the less the meaning. And how does that profit anyone? For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days, they pass through like a shadow. Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?

A good name is better than fine perfume. And the day of death better than a day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting. For death is a destiny of everyone. The living should take this to heart.

Frustration is better than laughter. Because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. But the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of falls.

Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of falls. This too is meaningless. Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit for anger resides in the lap of falls.

Do not say Why were the old days better than these? For it is not wise to ask such questions. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter. But the advantage of knowing is this.

Wisdom preserves those who have it. Consider what god has done. Who can strengthen what has been made crooked? When times are good, be happy. And when times are bad, consider this.

God has made the 1 as well as the other. Therefore, no 1 can discover anything about their future. Thanks, Ben. Well, good morning from me. My name is Rory Kanard for those who don't know me.

I'm 1 of the members of staff. At at Cornerstone, look at this. Hey? Does anyone notice this? This is the first sermon behind this lectin.

And I am the 1 who gets to preach from it, much to the dismay of others in, in, in the staff team. Tom sweetman. Okay. Anyway, let's hope, you know, let's hope that this isn't distraction, but we wanna we wanna focus our minds and our hearts on on god's word now. So let's pray as we begin.

Let's pray father. We thank you so much, for your word. We thank you so much for all the things that you have been teaching us in this book of Ecclesiastes, and we pray that as we consider life under the sun again that you will show us what it is like. You will reveal towards our world. And as a result, we pray that you will reveal towards our needs for a savior.

Help us to see Christ more because of this these this reading today, and we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well, if this is, your first time joining us or or you haven't been here for a while, we've been going through this book of ecclesiastes, and we've been following King Solomon, that the teacher, and he's been searching for meaning. He's been searching for purpose underneath the sum. And that term underneath the sun means, life without god without a revelation from god, without god speaking into this world, And as he's as he's tried various things, whether that's, wisdom or money or sex or power, whatever those things are, he has struggled to find true meaning and true purpose. And and indeed what what he's ended up finding out is that in this world, it's kind of a cyclical a cyclical world.

Things happen and and repeat and repeat and There are patterns that go on and on. I mean, if you remember, we looked at chapter 3 and there was a time to die and a time to be born, a time for this, a time for that, a time for this, a time for that. And so he seems to come up with a conclusion in verse 10 to 11 of chapter 6 that that it seems that this world is is predetermined. It seems that this world is planned out that there is a a that that that god sovereignly has has has set everything in its time. That that god is the 1 who has has put all things together.

And and you can see that in verse 10 because he says whatever exists has already been named, who named it, or god has named everything. What humanity is has been known. God has known it. And so, therefore, no 1 can contend with someone who is stronger. There is no 1 stronger than god.

I can't come to god and try and dispute with him and say, why have you done this? Why have you done that? What's going on? But the more I speak to god and try and argue with him, I realize that I'm just a a finite being who who cannot compare to a great and almighty creator gods. And so the more words, the less the meaning, it's it's vanity, it's it's meaningless, and it doesn't serve to give me any profit Well, any game.

And so he comes to verse 12 of chapter 6 with these 2 questions Look with look with me at those that verse. For who knows what is good for a person in life during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow. You can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone. The 2 questions. I've I've looked at everything and and I and I'm trying to work out what is good what is good in this in in this time that we're here that's like a shadow.

You probably if you were if you were outside yesterday, you'd have seen when the sun was there, we were in the bright light, and then a a cloud would come, and it would be there for a moment, then it would pass again. It was here 1 minute gone the next, and our lives are like shadows, and there is, is there anything good in this world? Is there anything good that we can do? And if whilst we try and do good, what will happen after it passes? What's gonna happen?

I mean, it could you could see that, well, that could be quite pessimistic. Is Solomon just throwing his hands up and going, what's the point? This is a futile thing. I've had enough. But but he's not doing that.

In fact, what he's gonna do is in chapter 7, he's undertaking to to answer those questions because if you notice there's Ben Red chapter 7, He recognizes that there is good in this world. There is good. And there are things that are better than other things. You may have noticed that the term good used or better was used around 11 times during chapter 7. Good, more good.

Something is more good than another thing. There is something better. There is something there is something good to do whilst we live in this world, whether it's a shadow or not, whether it's here and gone. In the next moment, there is something good. And so we come to a game of Would you rather, which is everybody's favorite game.

We we we love would you rather, whether it's the absurd, you know, would you rather lose your sight or your hearing or whatever it is or if it's just a plain mundane, would you prefer a Mars Boris snickers? We all love the the the questions of would you rather? Would you, what do you prefer? So let's have a game of would you rather or rather let's have a game of what's better. So here you go.

I have been to 4 events in the last 3 months. 2 of them were funerals. 2 of them were celebrations. 1 was a wedding yesterday, and then I left the wedding and made haste to a thirtieth birthday party. Which event do you wanna come with me to?

Which 1 would you rather come to? If I told you that the first funeral I went to was 1 of them was my 1 of my neighbors, there were 6 people there, including me in Jerusalem. And 1 of the neighbor. There was 3 other family members from Scotland, which was lovely to see. There was very little said about him of of knowledge.

They they said 1 thing where it was like, you know, where when in your heart you hear that voice That'll be David, which made me laugh because when we meet in Drew at home, David would often swear, and I thought gosh. But would you come to that funeral? 6 of us in a in a crematorium? Or would you rather come to the wedding? The celebration of 2 people coming together.

Would you come to the thirtieth birthday party? A celebration of the nineties? Wow. Which 1 are you coming to? Or or what person would you rather go out with?

I'm gonna give you 2 people. Here's the first 1. The first 1, he smells gorgeous or she. Yeah. Beautiful, dressed to go out.

It's exciting. It's fun. It's is it has laughter, wants to make you happy and says, we're gonna go out today, and we're gonna hit it all. We're gonna go to a lovely restaurant. We're gonna go down to watch a comedy, comedy act.

We're gonna go out of that to the best bars in town. We're gonna go to prison. I don't know if that's what you like to do. Yeah. But don't talk about anything that doesn't get you happy.

Don't talk about the future. So there's that person. Would you like to go out with him or her? Or the second person There he is dressed in a black suit or she's in a black dress. Sober faced.

Their idea of fun is not to go to those things that the exciting person is going to. Their idea is to walk right past them with you and take you to the crematorium and take you to the graveyard. When me and Drew once were in a Kentucky visiting my brother Gavin, He took us to a graveyard. Would you like to go with Gavin to the graveyard? Oh, sinister, doesn't it?

And after you go to the grave and you look at all the gravestones and you try and find 1 with the same surname as you as as you to really drum home the the reality of death, go home, and contemplate what you've just seen. Which person are you gonna go out with? What you who are you going for? What event are you going to? Well, the writer of Ecclesiastes says, he's going to the funeral, and he's going with Gavin.

Here's my first point. Your death day is better than your birthday. Your death day is better than your birthday. Now as I As I told you those things, I gave you that would you rather, what is better? I imagine that each and every 1 of us down in a heart said, we'd rather go to the party with the exciting person.

But Solomon gives us a very surprising answer. He goes the 1 that we wouldn't go for, and that's because he's wise. We are fools living in a foolish age. And so he begins in verse 1. He says a good name is better than fine perfume.

In other words, it's better to have a better, a good character than to be all about the external. It's better to to to have a a a pleasant, character, 1 with integrity, 1 with morality than just to have the external looking good. I don't know why I'm pointing at myself, like, I look good. But I do. We and and I smell nice with all the all the the latest aftershave.

Now, he's saying it's better to have good character than to worry about the external. It reminds us of Proverbs chapter 22 where he says something similar It's better to have a good name than to have riches. It is better, isn't it? Wouldn't you be rather known to have a good character than the guy who smells good? When you want people to, at your funeral to say he was a good bloke rather than he'd smell of good aftershave.

And and just as it's oh, this is the point because he goes on just as it's as it's better to have a good name than to smell nice It is better. Look at the second half of verse 1. The day of death is better than the day of birth. And surely in our hearts, we think, really? Really?

You're gonna go to the funeral over the feast? You're gonna go to the morgue over the maternity award, really. And this is our we think that's true. We think the funeral is worse. And I know that because I've talked to people, maybe in this room, I don't know, and they would go because my the second funeral I went to was my granddads.

And it was last week, and they said, How was a funeral Rory? And I would say it was really good, and they would just start laughing at me. And so only cadets could say that a funeral's good. Because we don't think that that it is good. We think that the party is better, but Solomon says the death day is better than the birth, and you think really?

I mean, for 1, the smell of of the dead is not that good, is it? It can it be better? I mean, everyone loves the smell of new babies, don't they? Apparently, all that's what women always say to you. I love the smell of new babies.

It's actually new moms. I'm like, okay. I'd rather not sniff it, but, okay. And there's so much life and it's bursting full of life, this baby, and then there's this sort of cold dead body on the on the slab. And he says that the death day is better than the birthday.

Why? Well, I think there's 2 reasons at least. Number 1, The birthday, the maternity ward, there are babies there for the first time, but there's full of potential. But at the death day, we find fulfillment, the end. But not just that.

I think the second reason is is that the birth ward is not as good a teacher as death. Death is a better teacher for us. Than birth. Death is a better teacher for us than birth. So here death comes, and he dons his Teacher's robe as they used to wear.

Well, now I'd wear a track suit if I was teaching PE. But there you go. He puts on his his teaching clothes, his teaching cap, And what is it that he teaches us? What does death teach us today? Well, look with me at verse 2 to 4.

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting. For death is the destiny of everyone. The living should take this to heart. Frustration is better than laughter because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

The house of mourning, the funeral room, the place where there is crying is better than the house of feasting, where there is a part It's better than the 3 course meal that I had yesterday. Because there I am, I'm in this this room of of of mourning, and I can see the frustration and the anguish of losing a lost 1. I can see the destruction of death. I can see that this is the end. And so it is better.

Than laughter. I'm confronted with the reality of death. I am confronted with my ultimate destiny death is the finale. I'm confronted with the deep truths of where my life is going, and so therefore, Solomon says, take it to heart because it's good for your heart. Look at the 1 who's frustrated and is is damaged by death and is crying.

Look at yourself as you go into the funeral room, and you see yourself crying, and you say, this is good. It tells me where we are headed It tells me that there is a destiny that we all face. If you see that, that for death is a destiny of everyone, the living should take this to heart. And that's the difference between the wise person and the foolish person. The wise person's heart lies within the house of mourning.

He says there is death coming, and he might be at the party, but he knows. This is coming to an end. This will finish, and so everything in this world is just temporary. Whereas the foolish person could be at the funeral. And you may have come across people like this.

When do we get out of here? Get to the pub. Get a drink down us. Let's just tell jokes about about what it was like. Let's laugh.

Let's let's drown out. What's happened? But the wise will instruct us better. Look at verse 5. It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of Falls.

And so what are we listening to? What will we listen to? Will we listen to the 1 that has thought of deep truths and has confronted death and has said that is true and so will give us harsh truths that are true. Or will we just listen to the banal songs of the 20 first century? Listen to the pop songs.

That say nothing of any substance. I mean, you just turn the radio on. You think what is this rubbish? I remember that song it's Friday. What are you talking about?

We all can tell the dates. It's useless. It gives us nothing. It tells it says it's Friday. We're gonna party basically.

Let's all party. That's the song of the fool. And are we just gonna let listen to that to drown out the reality of death, or will we listen and say, switch that music off? Let us listen. To the rebuke of the wise it says death is a reality.

What will we listen to? Will we listen to the crying. Will we listen to the pain? Will we listen? To the funeral march, or will we listen to the feasting, to the laughter?

We'll look at the laughter in verse 6, like the crackling of thorns under the pot. So is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless. See that? I don't know if you've ever burnt thorns.

Makes really loud crackling noises. Wow. Drowns out all of the sounds, but it's gone very quickly. Isn't that what comedy is? Think Tom talked about this and I've heard Pete talk about this.

You go to a comedy club. They don't just tell 1 joke. Can you imagine that? I told imagine I told you 1 joke and you were all laughing for the rest of the day. It'd be an easy job, wouldn't it?

If I could just tell 1 joke and you were all laughing, But laugh down, laugh down, laugh down, next joke, next joke, next joke, numb the pain, numb the pain, numb the reality, numb the reality, numb the reality, drown out the noise of death march. There's a song called always look on the bright side of life. The full says always look on the bright side of life. At the end, it stops saying always look on the bright side. It says always look on the right side of life.

And the right side is the end, and it is death. So which events are you gonna come with me to? Believe it or not, the funeral with 6 people is better for my heart. Than the thirtieth birthday party with loads of people there, even with Chris Maconkey, with gold trainers on. If you don't know who Chris Maconkey is right there, I don't know why you're not wearing them brother.

They are so brilliant. I've been a lot buying some and wearing them to go with this lectin. Which event? Which person? Will you go with?

Will you go with the fool or will you go with the wise person? It's interesting I am I was I was thinking through this, and I remember we we did we did, ecclesiastes, a camp that were on contagious 1 year. And we were told to go and ask people what's the point what's the point of your life? I think there's something like that. And I remember having a conversation in sixth form with a girl and said, But look, this is the end.

And she said, I don't wanna think about that. It's too depressing. I have another friend. Who was recovering from an operation, and he had to sit on his own at home. And he says, you think dark things when you're on.

I just needed to get out and fill my life with other things. And I was looking on the on on the internet for song lyrics, and I came, you know, those question forums? And there are so many question forums that say, how can you stop me thinking about death? I can't stop thinking about death. How can you stop me thinking about death?

You know that feeling when you realize that this world is not all there is when you think There is a time in this, in this space, in this world where Rory can add will not exist, and and you're saying, oh my goodness. And it, and it causes panic in me, and it causes weakness in me, causes restlessness in me, it causes a nauseating feeling in my stomach, and I think, Oh, my words, and and and and the question forums and saying, I don't wanna feel that. Drown it out. Give me the comedy. Give me the songs.

Give me the drink. Let me escape that reality. Are we gonna be fools? Or are we gonna be like the wise and confront our reality? Of death.

Your death day is better than your birthday. And the why shows that, and so this is my second point. Wisdom is better than Folly. So with that, that in Solomon's mind, with that in his in his in his at the forefront of his thought process, He says, I'm gonna try and apply now. I'm gonna try and think practically what it means to live wise in this world.

And so he comes to verse 7 and he says, extortion turns a wise person into a fool and a bride corrupts the heart. And and what he's saying is, you can be wise, and you could have thought of death, and you could have thought that will direct me, and I will realize that this world is is only temporary, but that it's so easy for even wise people to turn their eyes. And when they turn their eyes, they turn into fools. They turn their eyes and what do they put their their eyes on? They stop looking at the future of death, and they start looking at the here and now, and and and they sort of see that money is this attractive thing, and it turns him into a fall and it corrupts their heart.

Remember it was good for their heart to think about the future, but now when they think about the here and now, when they think about money, it starts to corrupt their heart. And they think, what are the quick wins? How can I get more for myself? How can I gain money? We've seen this in the news, haven't we?

Just across the border, the Scottish National Party. That man probably thought he was wise at some stage. And now embezzling funds from self. And so verse 8. The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

Don't go for the quick wins. Remember the future. Remember the end is better. Remember that the beginning is not the best. And so be patient.

Learn patience because patience is better than pride. Pride that says, I deserve everything now. There's a great song by a band called arcade fire called everything now. It says, I need it. Everything now.

I want it. Everything now. I want it all now. Give it me all now. But it's just pretending.

And I'm so entitled as I deserve it now. I deserve more. I deserve everything. And and it means in verse 9, if you look with me there, do not be quickly provoked in your spirit for anger resides in the lap of fools that that the proud person who thinks they deserve it all now who lives for the here and now, what he doesn't get is furious. You would have seen this in children if you have ever experienced them.

I deserve it. Give it me now. No. And they would murder you if they could. Anger belongs to fools.

Pride belongs for those who are living for the here and now. Or verse 10, do not say Why were the old days better than these? For it is not wise to ask such questions. Those foolish people either live for the here and now or they live for the past. Oh, Wasn't it better back in the day?

Best days of my life school much better than today. You'll never get it better than school. I'm joking. Betsy just gave me the most dis devastated face. What?

It can be worse. We even do it in church. Don't we? They don't write the songs that they used to do. I wish it was like it was the the the youngsters of today.

We weren't like that? Oh, we only had the golden Generation back. Wow. That was the days of only, and it's dissatisfied again. And it's saying that we want something that we can't have.

And and and the right is just that's foolish. No, we want to live wisely. It's better to be wise than to be foolish. And look, he says in verse 11, wisdom like an inheritance is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. In other words, It's it's a good thing.

It's like an inheritance and an inheritance. It's a good thing. And and the idea in the old testament, if you got an inheritance, that was like lamb given to you. To the land was a benefit to you, but not just to you when the sun shines on the land. It bears fruit, and it and it it bears fruit for all sorts of people that they also benefit.

And so, wisdom is so much better. Because it can benefit all sorts of people around us. But not just that, verse 12. Wisdom is a shelter. As money is a shelter, But the advantage of knowledge is this.

Wisdom preserves those who have it. See, it's a shelter. It's a defense. Wisdom. It's like money money.

We know money. We know money can help us in times of needs. We know that when we're in danger, we can just chuck some money at stuff, and it will help us. We know we can use money to buy ourselves a physical shelter. Well, just like that, wisdom is like a defense in a shelter.

Did you say it it it it seems though it's better. Because wisdom has a life giving quality. Wisdom preserves the 1 who has it. You know, we know that money can be so fleeting. We saw this kind of last week when Pete did ecclesiastes 5, it it with money seems like you you you hold it with open hands and it just all falls through through your fingers.

Wisdom wisdom doesn't do that. You keep it money. You you try and you make 1 bad investment, and it's all gone. Wisdom can benefit you and can give you life and can help you navigate this world and to think through how to do things wisely. And so, wisdom, we know I'm sure we know this.

Whisdom is better than folly. Wisdom is better than folly. Yes? Oh, good. Some wise heads nodded.

Well, unless it was just nodding off to sleep. So wisdom is better than folly. Thirdly. Wisdom leads to confusion. Wisdom leads to confusion, but with me at verse 13 to 14.

Consider what god has done. Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy, but when times are bad, consider this, god has made the 1 as well as the other. Therefore, no 1 could discover anything about their future. See this, despite despite knowing that wisdom is better than folly, despite knowing that the wise person knows the future end and that death is coming despite the fact that wisdom seems to preserve life and it makes things better.

Despite knowing that that is good, there seems to be a confusion here. Who can straighten what is crooked? I know it's better, but we still have this huge issue that when death comes, it can't be fixed. And and sometimes things are good and sometimes things are bad and and life seems to be crooked, and I don't understand why it's crooked. I understand in verse 14 that that god has made all of these things god has given the good god has given the bad.

And and and when times are good, I shouldn't be happy. I should enjoy them because I know that they might only last for a little bit because death is coming, but when when I when the bad comes, I'll I'll say, yes. God is sovereign over this. God is in control. But I can't know what the future holds.

So he seems to be able to answer the first question to a degree. Can't he? What is good? But what does the future hold? He just can't get his hand, head around.

He can't answer that second question. What will tomorrow hold? He doesn't even know what tomorrow will hold. Will it be a good day? Will it be a bad day?

Will we have good times or bad times? What is gonna happen tomorrow? And when we come to the end reality of death, is he so clearly shown us is the end what will happen after death? I don't know because because under the sun, I have no revelation that tells me how this problem can be fixed. I can have no revelation that tells me I know what happens tomorrow or what happens after death.

So Whiston brings confusion under the sun. And that's where he's left. Shall we leave it there? Yes. Okay.

Wisdom leaves us confused. But fourthly, wisdom drives us above the sun. See, the wise person has done all the right things here. He's contemplated death He's realized that to have wisdom is better than to be foolish, but he's also been driven to a point under the sun that he can go no further. He can go no further.

He he can't answer this big question about What happens after death? He can't answer these big questions. And so he must be driven by his wisdom to an above the sun revelation. He must come to the 1 who he he rightly says has planned this world and has sovereignly made it and he must come to him who is the god of life who is a better wisdom, who is a different type of wisdom and out of this world wisdom. He must come to him.

To find the the answers that he's so willingly so desires. He he needs to be driven to another teacher He is the teacher, but he needs to be driven to the teacher who they called rabbi. He must be driven to the teacher, the lord Jesus Christ who in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 is called the very wisdom of gods. The 1 who comes into this world and who affirms Solomon, but with greater clarity, he comes to the sermon on the mount, and he says in Matthew chapter 5, blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Blesser to those who, who mourn for they will be converted.

Solomon could only go to blessed of those who mourn but Jesus comes into the scene and says blessed are those you mourn for they will be comforted because he knows that there is something after death. He knows that death isn't the final chapter of the story. And so he can come with his beatitudes and a firmer but say with greater clarity, there's more. We come to the teacher, the very wisdom of god whose death day was better than his birthday, which is an amazing thing to say because on his birthday, day. Jesus, the son of god has taken on human form, but on the cross.

Wow. That is beautiful. Hey? On the cross, he comes and he defeats death for us. On a craft he hangs and he dies to be the death defeater.

The death defeater, the 1 who defeats our greatest enemy, the 1 who when we come to the grave, we say, we know death is coming. We know death is coming. And Jesus says, yeah, I'm coming, and I'm gonna defeat that death. And now, because what Christ has done on a cross, not my ultimate destiny. No.

Death is just a doorway now. And so we, if we are Christians in this room today, We can say with Isaiah and hosea as as Paul quotes them in 1 Corinthians 15 and say death has been swallowed up in victory. Where o death? Where o grave is your sting? We can say with the the the the this the songwriter, the sky.

Not the grave is our goal. And so because of what Jesus has done, that the wisdom of god in defeating death, we can come we can trust in him and we can live now. We can live in this life with all the confusion. We can live in this life. And we can see this this life is not gain.

I don't have to live with the hero now. I live in for the future. I'm living for the day when Jesus returned. Live with a day when I die and go to be with my savior. I'm living for that.

I'm not living just to gain money. I'm not living there to gain relationship. Are not living to gain all these things and laughter. I drown out everything. I don't need to drown out everything.

I can live with this world as gift. This is gift. It is gift. Christ is gift, and we can say with Paul to live is Christ. But there is gain.

There is gain. Death is gain. Wow. Death is gone from being my great opponent to being the means by which I get to see my lord and savior of Jesus Christ. To die is game, And so use this live to get ready for that.

So Where are you? Where are you? Maybe you're the fool. Maybe you're the fool here. And you're probably devastated that you came and heard a terrible death.

I don't wanna hear about that. I wanna get rid of that fear. How do I stop thinking about death? How can I drown it out? Give me the songs.

Give me You are gonna die. Switch the music off. Walk away from the comedy store. And come walk with me to the funeral and be confronted with your reality. But know that that doesn't have to be your final destination.

Comment know Christ. The doorway to heaven. And maybe you started on that journey. And you've thought, yeah. No.

Death is coming. I I really wanna I wanna know. Well, come. Come now. Come now.

Come now. Do you know what? I imagine there are some people in this room who who are like me. It is this very subject That is the reason why I have become a Christian. At 4 3 or 4 years of age, and now you're thinking, oh, what a load of rubbish?

He definitely wasn't thinking that 4, and you're probably right. Which shows you why conversion is the power of the holy spirit, really. So this dicker could get it. In 3 or 4, our mom was diagnosed with cancer, and death was a reality. That didn't happen.

She she survived, but death was a reality, and I had that feeling of nauseating a nauseating stomach I had that restlessness, and I and I got went on to have it again and again, actually. But it was this con this this fact that death is a reality that drove me to ask my mom, what happens after death? Do can we know our future? And they're what a beautiful lady my mother is. I give her a lot of flack, but she is great.

She is there able to to explain to me who the lord Jesus Christ was and why he can give me a new destination. And so Christians, that is true for us. The destination is glory. The destination is Jesus. And so I can go into my grandma's funeral last week.

And I can come out when people say, how was that funeral? I can say it was good. Cause my granddad knew the lord Jesus Christ. And do you know where he is now? He's not in the grave, but he is gazing at his savior, the lord Jesus Christ, hallelujah.

And so with that in mind, we as Christians can see the goal is the sky, is the lord Jesus Christ is heaven. And we can co, and we can live in this world. No longer to fear death, no longer to gain, but to enjoy the gift that god has given us. To enjoy Christ and to serve him. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you so much for this wonderful book of Ecclesiastes. And we thank you that it does indeed show us our world. We thank you that the teacher showed us our ultimate destination in this world is death. We thank you that it is wise to contemplate this, but we pray father for us that it would drive us, not to see that as our ultimate destination, but drive us to Christ, the true wisdom of god. Who defeated death and has opened a new destination for his glory with you.

We pray father that you'll keep this at the forefront of our minds and our hearts and our eyes. So that we see this world as gift, not gain, so that we love Christ over all, and that we serve him. We pray this in Jesus' name. Oh, man.