Ecclesiastes 2024

Okay. In a minute, we're gonna be continuing on through this series and ecclesiastes that we've been running through. It's been a wonderful, fascinating dark and yet uplifting series that we've been running through in ecclesiastes. And we're coming towards the end now. Brother Pete is back with his crutch.

And he's going to be preaching to us. But before we do that, we're going to read the word of god. So we're going to have 2 readings. 1 from Kildes 10 verse 1 to 3. And then same chapter verse 20 through to verse 6 of chapter 11.

As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. The heart of the wise inclines to the right. But the heart of the fool to the left. Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense. And show everyone how stupid they are.

And then verse 20. Do not revile the king, even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom. Because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say. Ship your grain across the sea. After many days, you may receive a return.

Invest in 7 ventures. Yes, in 8. You do not know what disaster may come upon the land. If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth, whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, In the place where it falls, there it will lie. However watches the wind will not plant.

Whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know, the path of the wind or how the body is formed in the mother's womb, So you cannot understand the work of god, the maker of all things. So you'll seed in the morning, and at evening, let your hands not be idle. For you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that. Or whether both would do equally well.

Pete. Let's pray. Father help us now to look at this passage, help us to see what it says to us, what it says to our our world, and then how we can see Christ in it, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Now see whether you can guess who this is. Okay?

She was often found on the back of roman coins. Her picture. She's holding a corny copier which is like a horn of plenty. They call it like a basket with all kinds of goodies in it. She's holding a cornucopia in 1 hand.

She's holding a rudder, in the other hand. She's a very beautiful woman She's lightly clad in sort of white and has quite a sort of, guarded coy smile on her face. She originated as a fertility goddess. She's the firstborn of Jupiter. She's honored by a festival on the 20 fifth of May.

Well, what's the date today? We've missed it. Oh, there we go. She gradually became associated with money and the advancement of life getting better things in life and love and health. The cornucopia, this basket of plenty was a symbol that she could give out wonderful gifts in life but the rudder was to say that she has power to steer you in any direction she likes and it had a more sinister sort of feel about it.

So she could give on the 1 hand from her her basket of plenty and then turn the rudder and take everything away from you. Do you know who it is? What? For tuna, for tuna, or fortune, the goddess for tuna. Yeah?

The seneca seneca, the Roman philosopher and politician warned this that we must hold the possibility of disaster in mind at all times. Every all the time you've gotta think of disasters. Then he wrote this, what is man or what are what are people? A vessel that the slightest shaking, the slightest toss of the sea will break. A body, weak and frail.

Naked in its natural state state defenseless, dependent upon another's help and exposed to all the affronts or fortuna or fortune. In other words, you step out into life, and you've got no idea what's gonna happen. Is fortunes rudder gonna steer you into calm waters and give you from the plenty of her cornucopia or is she suddenly gonna twist the rudder and everything falls apart around you? Now that's exactly what the writer of this book, Ecclesiastes, and this passage that we're in is is thinking about in this section in chapter 10 and the first part of chapter 11. He's looking to remember at life under the sun.

So this isn't a Christian look at life. He's looking at life how we can gather information without actually, a direct revelation, a word from god. So he knows this is god's world and he gets lots of things right because he knows it is god's world designed by god, but he hasn't got a revelation of what life is about. He's just dealing with general revelation just what he sees, what he observes under the sun. And that's an expression we've seen again and again.

From an earthly point of view, the world appears, and in this section, this is what he's dealing with, the world appears as a lottery. Now he hasn't used the word lottery and he doesn't use the word for tuna, for tuna because he comes from a different culture. But he's saying a very similar thing. If you go back to chapter 9 verse 11 that we were really looking at last week, and there was a brilliant sermon by Tom and recommend you hear it, It says this. I have seen something else under the sun.

See, he's looking under the sun. The race is not to the swift. The fastest runner doesn't necessarily win, or the battle to the strong, the strongest person doesn't necessarily win. Nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant, or, or, favor to the learned. But time and chance, that's the word he uses.

Time and chance happen to them all. There's just a lot of chance. You may be the best runner, but you might trip up. You might be wealthy, but you might lose all your wealth. Time, chance, fortune, life is a lottery.

The thought that life is a lottery seems to produce 2 different outlooks on life. And you get them here in chapter 10 and chapter 11. In chapter 10, There's an element of caution. I'll show you in a minute. All the way through chapter 10.

Be careful. Be calculating. Way things up before you go out. Don't be rash because life is a lottery Be very, very careful where you lay your money down. In chapter 11, it's the exact opposite.

Chapter 11, the version I'm using says cast your bread upon the waters. And they'll launch out. Get into the deep that life's a lottery you see paralyzes some people, be very careful, be sensible. But it spurs others on. You know, get out there, cast your bread out.

You know, you might as well launch out if life's a lottery and if fortune is gonna turn her rudder and you don't need to know which way she's gonna turn it, you might as well actually have a go at something in life. Now it's those 2 opposite bits of advice that we get today. I wonder what you tell your children. I wonder what which 1 you're nearest to. Be sensible.

Hold on to what you've got. Don't throw anything away. Don't be rash. Fit in with our culture. Don't haul, you know, or rather hoard stuff.

Store things up for a rainy day. When when I was a teenager, there was a famous song. It's it's still around, obviously, by a bloke called Kat Stevens. Anyone remember Kat Stevens? It's called Yoseph Islam now.

But cat Stevens. And it was father and son. Do you remember that song? And there was a father singing to the son and the son singing back to the father, and it goes something like this. It's not time says the father.

It's not time to make a change. Just relax. Take things easy. You're still young. That is your fault.

There's so much you have to learn. If you want, find a girl, settle down, and you can marry. Be like me. I'm old, but I'm happy. And then the sun returns, but but there's isn't there more to life than just, you know, just doing what has always been done.

Be sensible, says that song, but the sun says hold it. I wanna seize the day. Carpe deum. I wanna I I don't wanna hoard. I don't wanna just carry on with the traditions in life.

If there's gonna be a disaster and there might be, I might as well throw my bread onto the water. I might as well do something in this meaningless world. At least I've had a go at life. Okay. Death is gonna take away any meaning of anything, but Therefore, I have 1 life seize the day, go for it, carpe diem, or you have 1 life, be careful, be sensible, Don't do anything rash.

Which 1 are you nearest to? That's what you get here. Let's have a look at the first 1 then. It's in chapter 10. Life is a lottery.

So be careful. Look at look at chapter 10 verse 1. It's such a great lie, isn't it? As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. Look, you've got a lovely bottle of perfume there.

Keep it shut. You know? You open it up, and you might waste it because a fly might fall in it, and a stinky fly will ruin the perfume. Yeah? So don't do be so careful with the beautiful perfume in your life, the stuff that you've got, don't you you don't wanna fall up you don't wanna fall over.

You don't wanna you don't want any folly. You don't want any little flies in the ointment. Be careful. Or look at verses 8 to 9. I love this.

We didn't read it, but look at it. Whoever digs a pit may fall into it. Whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. Whoever queries stones may be injured by them, whoever splits logs may be endangered by them. There's danger out there.

Whatever you do, make sure you've thought about the dangers that could happen. This is the madness of the culture that we're in. If you run a church, you have to fill in endless risk assessment forms particularly for the youth. Mean, I've never failed 1 in my life. And I can let what is the risk we're taking the young people down to the park.

What is the risk? Well, nuclear explosion? I don't know. How do I know? For tuna might do It's mad, but that's what happens.

You've gotta think of risk assessment forms, and you gotta fill in health and safety forms. If we're gonna dig a pit, what's the danger? What's the danger? I might fall in it. If we're gonna demolish a war, what's the danger?

What's the danger? There might be a snake the other side. Yeah? If we're gonna split logs, what's the danger? Well, the the top of the the top of the ax might come off and fly up and it's a it's an aeroplane.

And I might be done as a terrorist. Look at verse 20. Do not revile the king Even in your forts or curse the rich in your bedroom because a bird in the sky may carry your words. A bird on the wing may report what you say. Be careful even in your thinking man.

Now there are many parts of the world that you you've gotta regain your thoughts. You've gotta think nice things about your governors and nice nice things about your kings. A nice thing. Make sure you smile when you see the king. Don't think bad about it.

Make sure you're clapping along with everybody else. And don't be the first to stop clapping. Yeah? Because a little bird might see you. Keep your head down.

Don't volunteer, unless everybody volunteers, then volunteer. Yeah. Stay in. Tread lightly with life. Be careful even of your thoughts because a bird might it's scary out there.

Don't do anything foolish. That's 1 way of living your life. I wonder if you teach your children that. That's 1 way of doing it, isn't it? Now what sort of person are you gonna produce if you push that way of life fully?

I read an article this week in the Mental Health Foundation. It's in a big survey recently. This is UK. 60 percent of young people, and what they mean by young people in this survey, is 18 to 24 year olds. So they are the ones that can come to your thing.

So 60 percent, they won't come, by the way, when you read this article, 60 percent of 18 to 24 year olds have felt so stressed by the pressure to succeed They have felt too overwhelmed and unable to cope. In other words, they've done nothing. They're so scared about failure They do nothing. 47 percent of young people have felt so stressed by body image and appearance that they felt overwhelmed and unable to cope. 70 57 percent of young people have felt so stressed because they fear making mistakes.

They've felt overwhelmed and unable to cope. Yeah? Be careful. Don't do anything. People are so anxious This report, 20 22 and to to 20 23, an average of 37.1 percent of women and 29.9 percent of men reported very, very high levels of anxiety.

What does this produce? Be careful. Don't go out there. It produces people with little adventure. It p produces people of no future hope.

They're just living for the now. It produces people perhaps that live vicariously. In other words, they live their life through a PC game. Because they can be a hero there and they can go on adventures there or they live their life through the heroes in the films or or through celebrities. It can produce very miserly people They hoard.

They're not gonna open their bottle of perfume for everyone to smell because a fry might go in it. It produces miserly people that keep their gifts and their perfume and their abilities to themselves. They never will want to go out and share them because it's dangerous to do that. That's 1 group of people. Now that's what he's looking at under the sun.

Here's a second 1, 1 then. Life is a lottery. So gamble. If life's a lottery, gamble, Yeah? Life is uncertain.

Who knows what will happen? So risk. Come on. Look at verse 1 of chapter 11. Cast your bread upon the waters.

For after many days, you'll find it again. Give portions to 7, yes, to 8, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. So think about that. Song of songs is coming up. That's the wrong book.

Okay? It's written by Solomon, which is true, but this is Ecclesiastes. Yeah. Brilliant. You have now stood out You have you you now are that's the end of you.

If you were in North Korea, that's the end of you. Yeah? Yeah? Thankfully, you're not. Right.

Anyway, let's get back to this. Life's the lottery so gamble. Do you see what he's saying here? Now when he says cast your bread in in the version that I'm using, it doesn't mean it's not talking about feeding the duck. Yeah.

You know, cast your bread on the water. It's talking about investment. And actually, it's the same sort of words that are used of Solomon who wrote this book. And song of songs. That he casts his ship on the water every 3 years and, they came back with all kinds of treasures.

It's talking about investment. Yeah? And I I suppose in 1 sense, feeding ducks if you're casting your bread to the duck. Here's an investment if you're gonna fatten up the duck and eat it. But it's that it's that sort of thing.

We're talking about investments here. Cast your bread that which is basic to you. You might have to go hungry a bit. You might have to give out your food and go hungry a bit because of investment, something will come back. So if life's a lottery, buy more lottery tickets, that's what he's saying.

It's like the farmer. He casts the seed onto the ground. He's throwing it onto the ground. And hoping that the ground will produce grain. It's an investment.

That's what's going on here. Now the second half of that first 1 is a little optimistic. Especially in a a world of fortuna and chance and lottery for it says for after many days, you will find it again. Now this is where the be sensible people will shout out. Yeah, that's right.

You don't know whether that's gonna happen. That's too optimistic. There's no guarantee the ship will come back. There might be a storm. There's no guarantee that the the bread will return to you.

There's no guarantee that the seed will grow. You hold on to life, but the sees the day people will say no no no no let's give portions verse 2 to 7 or 8 things. We won't put all our eggs in 1 basket, but we'll actually be generous to different things that we can invest in. So they're saying, don't be paralyzed by the lack of knowledge. Use your life, use it wisely, not eggs in all in 1 basket, not, you know, give it to 7 or to 8 different groups.

Then look at this. Life is uncertain. Who knows what will happen so don't sit on the fence say the seas the day people. Look at verses 3 and 4. If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth.

Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north in the place where it falls there it will lie. Whoever watches the wind will not plant. Whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. In other words, what he's saying is, look, what happens happens these seas the day people I can't alter the future. I can't stop a black cloud coming and bursting.

I can't really redirect the path of a falling 3. It's gonna go 1 or the other. The markets will crash. Illness will come. But if I wait around waiting for perfect weather, I'll do nothing in life, say the seas today people.

I'll do nothing. Endless rain checks to see whether the clouds are gonna burst or not will make me do nothing. Now, you know that if you've lived in Britain for any amount time. If you go on a UK holiday, you will not enjoy a holiday in this country if you wait for a wind free sunny day. You just won't enjoy your holiday.

When you go on holiday, you have to take sun cream because it might be sunny. You have to take an umbrella. You have to take wellington boots and you have to take a warm coat because you've no idea what's gonna happen. But if you sit in just waiting for perfect weather, you won't enjoy this country. Verse 4, the message, which is a paraphrase of the Bible, puts it this way.

Don't sit there watching the wind Do your own work. Don't stare at the clouds. Get on with your life. If you're wait waiting for the perfect opt-up you'll do nothing. And this is what's happening in our world.

Oh, I don't know whether I'll commit to the relationship because is she the perfect girl? Is he the perfect man? No risk. Or what about buying a house or what about moving or what about doing something a little bit more radical in my life? Life is uncertain.

Who knows what will happen? So work hard. Look at verse 6. So you'll see it in the morning and in the and in the evening. In other words, work hard morning and evening.

If life is uncertain, then you need to work harder. I mean, I don't understand it, but I sowed and some grow, and some don't. You can have a whole load of little pots, and you put your little dispersion seeds in or your sunflower seed in, and some come up and some don't. Who knows why? So the best option he's saying here, remember this is under the sun thinking, is to buy a bigger bag and put more seeds in.

Not only in the day, but in the evening. Work hard. Now that's the advice then. Life is uncertain. So risk.

Life is uncertain. Don't don't just sit on the fence and do nothing. Life is uncertain, work hard. What sort of person who lives under that dictate will it produce? What's a person?

Well, at first, probably quite an exciting person. They're going for it. You love those people, don't you? Let's go for it. You know?

They get to the British seaside. It's absolutely freezing. You know, even the seals on in the water, it's so flipping cold. But they whip off their clothes and they run straight in the water and go for it. And then you never see them again.

Or they they come out a strange blue colour, you know, you know, you love those sort of people. Yeah? They start off like that, but in the end, it produces all kinds of weird things. It can produce naive people. There is a magazine that came through the hub.

That's our church premises in North Kingston, a magazine that's sort of new age. It's all it's actually aimed at women, sort of middle class rich women. That's what the magazine's aimed at. You only get very beautiful people in it. You don't get a picture of me in there for instance.

You get pictures of lovely looking women, all very middle class, big kitchens, everything. And Margot was 1 of the writers. And I read her article. And she talks because I've heard this stuff before about this life is a magnet. You're a magnet.

And she believed that if you think good things, then the magnet will and only good things will happen to you. If you think bad things, then the magnet will attract bad things. So if a nasty thing happening to you is because you're a bit of a nasty person. But Margo has lovely things happen to us. She has a massive big kitchen and all of this stuff.

Because she thinks good things. That is a totally naive and actually horrific way to live, isn't it? It's just that if she casts her niceness to people and she says the only nice will come back or what happens when NICE doesn't come back? It it creates naive people. Investment, never certain.

You invest in people. You love people. You give them their time, and then they let you down, and they go against you. You invest in shares and the market crashes. You invest in your health.

You're the healthiest person then you get cancer. It can produce bitter and resentful people that at the end of their life, they're very pessimistic because they've lost because Fortuner gave the rudder when they were younger and starting out and it was working well, but now they're sitting under a 40 watt bulb. And no friends. Or not if they're not bitter, they're they're sort of hardened. It's case, sirrah, sirrah, what will be will be type people.

It's, or if they're not that, it's just looking back to the glory days. That's all they'd ever look back to. It can produce people who are deluded. They think they've got bread to cast on the water. They think they're very gifted You see that when you see dragons den or or or those sort of reality programs where Simon Cow is whatever it is he is on it.

You know, there's people come you you see dragons den and you'll see the the dragons who are successful. They say how much money have you put into this and they'll say I've put I sold my house to invest in it. Don't do anymore. Don't give it. This is a disaster of a business.

They said, no. I know that this will work. It won't work. You get people that think they've got bread to cast. And invest, but they've got nothing.

You get anxious people. It's interesting in in verses 1 to 6 of chapter 11. You do not know. You do not know. You do not know.

You do not know. 4 times is mentioned there. Anxious gamblers, will bitten their fingernails to the bone, hoping the horse will come in, hoping the bread they've cast out will come back with an investment. But it never does. You get workaholics for 6.

They're not just working in the morning. They're working in the evening. Because they've gotta make it work. You get manipulative immoral people because they're gonna make sure their bread cast on the water is gonna come back with an investment because they're gonna uh-uh lend with extortionate rates. They're gonna trample on people because I have no moral or no god because they will make sure that their investment will come back.

Now okay. Is there anyone here that might say this passage is now explaining me? Any of those scenarios, are you any are you near any of them? Or which 1 are you nearest to? Because the passage is intended to show us this.

What are you saying to your children? Which 1 are you nearest to? What are you pushing? There's another way of looking at this passage, thankfully. Another way, and it's through Christian eyes.

There's another way of looking at this passage, and that is that if god somehow broke down into our below the sun, If the above the sun god would give a word to our below the sun life, then everything changes in this passage. Jesus told a story about 2 houses 2 men build 2 different houses. 1 man builds a house on the sand. No foundation. Build a house on the sand.

Another man builds a house on a rock solid foundation. The 2 structures were probably similar, Maybe the house on the sand was more desirable because it was near the sea. You know, it's got an ocean view. But the structures, perhaps, were the same. 1 had a foundation, 1 didn't.

The house without a foundation, the 1 on the sand when the wind blew it collapsed. The house with a foundation on the rock when the wind blew the house stood. If you have the foundation of god, then this passage changes. It completely changes. So here's my third point.

Life is for living, and giving with god on your side. Life is for living and giving with god on your side. Look at verse 5 of chapter 11. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of god, the maker of all things. He's brought in god here.

This is the only time god is mentioned in this passage. And it has massive implications. On the 1 hand, it's showing us how ignorant we are of life, You've got no idea what's gonna happen in the next 5 minutes. You gotta learn in the next year. So it shows us how ignorant we are.

But on the other hand, it shows us that god is the maker of everything. Therefore, the ruler of everything Therefore, the controller of everything. If you reread chapter 11 1 to 6 in the light of god, If you reread chapter 11 1 to 6 in the light that god now has explained his plan to us, You can go out into the world, confident. You could sing a song, be bold. Be strong for the lord our god is with us because suddenly you're involved in the plan of god and god is the maker of everything.

And if you're involved in the plan of god, it cannot go wrong. If you give your life to the plan of god, you will step out and will always be successful in the end. It cannot go wrong. You see the difference? Life is a lottery.

Be careful. Be careful. Life is a lottery. Okay. Gamble.

Life is in god's hand that he has a plan, so you can live and give generously. Let me just go through it again. Life is uncertain to us, but god knows what will happen so risk. Be risky. Cast your bread on the water.

Jesus says, in Luke chapter 9, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself take up his cross daily and follow me. Give your life away. Who to Christ? Listen. For whoever wants to save his life, save it.

Hold on to it. It's mine. It's my life. Whoever wants to save his life will in fact lose it. You'll lose everything, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very soul cast your life onto the water. Why? Because it's not a gamble. Because the god above the sun has come down into this world and said, that's the way to live.cast your bread onto the water. How could a non Christian live a live a life more risky than a Christian?

It shouldn't be the case. If you're a Christian, you don't go for for safe, sensible, sensible life. That's not the Christian life. The Christian life is to cast your bread onto the water. It's the risk you love is to give your life away.

To the 1 who has the plan, the god who bring all things to an end. And bring fruit from every seed that died. Don't waste your life. Says this passage, through Christian eyes. Faith is spelt hell.

How do you spell faith? R I s k. Faith is is your Christian life sensible reasonable, risk averse. Then it's not the Christian life. If life is uncertain to us, but god knows what will happen, well don't sit on the fence.

Verse 4, gain the message. Don't sit there watching the wind. Do your work. Don't stare at the clouds, waiting for the the perfect time. Get on with your life, says the message.

Paul says preach the gospel in season out of season. Don't wait for the clouds to to be good. Just preach. Use your gift now. Be generous now.

Don't wait for the right conditions. Don't say, well, when I'm 25, and when I've grown up, and when I've got career and when I've made my money, commit now. Don't say when I've gone through, you know, various girls to see whether which 1 would be the assist. Well, now life is uncertain to us, but god knows what will happen, So work hard verse 6. So you're seed in the morning and the evening.

Now actually Jesus has a a sort of helpful illustration on that where he talks about a sower, you only need to sow your seed in the day and then god will do the work at night. You're not a workaholic because you trust in god, but you do work hard. Jesus says in John chapter 9, as long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no 1 can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Paul says to the Ephesian Christians. He says, be very careful. Here we are. Here's how to live your life. Be very careful.

Be very sensible. Yeah. Be very careful how you live not as unwise but as wise Well, hold it. What is the careful Christian life? What is the wise Christian life?

Making the most of every opportunity. Because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the lord's will is. Make the most. Make work.

The word make is work, effort, the most. Go for the greatest extent. Make the most of every opportunity. Cast your bread. Give your gifts.

Do something risky. Don't be paralyzed. Walk out because god has a plan. Now, what sort of person Will this produce? What sort of person?

How long have I got on Deepmar's watch? Deepmar cast his watch to me, because I forgot mine, and I'm very grateful for it. Thank you very much. It'll be used in the lord's service. What sort of person does this produce?

What now see where where you are here. It should produce an ever increasing generosity. Not miserly. Listen to Jesus. Luke 16 9.

I tell you use your worldly wealth. Use your worldly wealth. To gain friends for yourself so that when it's gone, you'll be welcomed in the the eternal dwelling. There's a lot to say about that verse, and I have no time to do it, but basically it's saying use your gifts, use your money, in this case, use your wealth, so that there'll be many people in the kingdom of god. Cast it out.

Be generous. If we know god's plan, we can be generous. Proverbs 19 verse seventeen's lovely word. Listen to this. Whoever is kind to the poor.

Yeah? The poor people, but despise people. The people you don't get anything back from. Listen, whoever is kind to the poor lends to the lord. You give to the poor, you'll lend into the lord.

And he, who, the lord, will reward them for what they've done. Not necessarily in this earth, but in the kingdom of god. So it should produce increasingly generous, not miserly people. It should produce shrewd wise people, not naive margos, People know the truth about the world that understand how the world works that although god has a plan, there is sin in the world and sin in my heart. It should produce joyful thankful people, not bitter resentful people, not people that come at the end of their life and say, oh, no.

I blew it. There's nothing future, but people that are constantly giving. Look at some of the old people in our church. They're a joy because they give and they give and they give, and they still give. Even when as we'll see next week in the last 1 of Ecclesiastes, their legs aren't working properly, even when their mind is going a bit.

They're thankful people because They've given, and the lord will never turn away from that. It should produce people with peace, not anxious people that stay inside, holding on to their perfume bottle. Just in case they make a little mistake and a fly falls in it. A peace of god which transcends all understanding would guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus says Paul in Philipp. It should produce people at work hard, not at addicts, not workaholics, but work hard and rest in the victory of Jesus.

It should produce people that do right, not manipulate people, not immoral people, not people that will lie and step on people in order to get up to the top, but people that give and love and will give knowing that in this world, there may not be any return, but to god there will be. What sort of people does this produce through the eyes of the Christian faith? People like Jesus. People with the word, here's a Greek word for you. Harpagmos.

You can write that down. Harpagmos. You get it in Philippians too. It's the only use of the word harpagmos. Harpagmos means this All that Christ is god, all that he is in and of himself, god, He used his godness for others.

All his strength and ability and wisdom and love and power and life. He used it for others. When we know god has a plan, we're not gambling. There's no gambling in giving your life to his work. It's serving a god like Christ who gave his life.

It cost him all of his life so that on the cross as he gave himself as he cast his bread on the water, As he invested on the cross, he could say for the joy set before me. I endured the cross. The cross was an investment in you. The cross was an investment in salvation. The cross was an investment in the forgiveness of sins.

The cross was an investment to bring you to the father, his precious bride. The cross was an investment as he gave himself, cast himself, invested in you so that 1 day he could say to the father. This is my bride. This is my bride. So that in all eternity, when the new creation comes, and all things are put right, then the bride is there gloriously, gleaming, loving price, knowing the father.

Living for him, and everything that we thought was a sacrifice, everything we thought was a risk. Was no risk at all because the plan of god was set in place. And was bought by the lord Jesus Christ. So this passage shows us a number of things. We go out into the world.

We're gonna be timid. Well, if you haven't got a god, I don't blame you. Yeah. You go out into the world in some parts of the world, and you're gonna keep your head down and shut up on you. But then we hear as stories of brothers and sisters that will read the bible even though it's illegal.

Even though it might cost them. And even though they might die, they serve the lord. Have they wasted their life? No way. We could go into the world and say, okay, I just gamble everything and hope for the best.

Or we could go into the world saying god has a plan. So I will give my life to that plan. How are you doing? How are you doing? Is there something you should have a go at?

You know? Is there something in church you should have a go at? Is there something you should say? Do you know what? I'm gonna have a go at something.

It's way out of my out of my comfort zone. Is there someone you should speak to about the lord? Is there something you should do? Perhaps give away a treasure so that that it would be used to the lord, open the perfume up. Let it smell.

Where are you? Let's bow our heads and pray.