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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 You are listening to Waters Church podcast. Waters Church is a multisite, multigeneration community of faith on the East Coast of America. Now for a message from our pastor.0:13 Light to the fullest part 5, when it's all said and done. And we've already read the passage from Ecclesiastes 12. Now keep your bible open because I want you to look at something with me. This0:25 passage that we read in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, the last part of the chapter, verse 8. Let's look at it here on the screen and in your text. It says, vanity of vanity says the preacher, all is0:37 vanity. Now, what you have to understand is that that is an inclusio text. Now some of you are like, what what is an inclusio? Let me bring you to 5 minute0:48 seminary. 5 minute seminary, I'll teach you what they teach me. In the ancient Hebrew, language, when you wanted to bracket a1:00 passage or section of text, you would use an inclusio. Somebody say inclusio. Inclusio. Okay. Officially, you have now entered seminary. There you go. It it's the word1:12 inclusion without the word n on the end. The letter n on the end. So an occlusio is a phrase that you would put at the beginning of a section of text and repeat it at the end of that1:24 text to tell your readers and hearers that that section was a whole section meant to be read, from beginning to end.1:35 The first place, the beginning inclusia so consider it like parentheses. You've got the back parentheses, you got the front parentheses. So this is the back parentheses of this section of1:47 Ecclesiastes. Where is it in the beginning? Well, you gotta go flip in your Bibles or scroll in your phone or even just look on the notes, you'll see it. It's all the way in chapter 1 verse 2. In1:59 chapter 1 verse 2, the very same phrase exists that we just read in chapter 12 verse 8. It says, vanity of vanity, says the preacher vanity of vanities, all is vanity. So what that is telling us2:11 according to the dictates of ancient Hebrew is this. You're supposed to look at that section from Ecclesiastes 1 verse 2 to Ecclesiastes 12 verse 8 as an as a complete whole. And what2:22 happens after verse 8 is something that I think Solomon is kind of giving to us to do in our own lives. In fact, look at verse 9 and you'll see something2:34 as well literally in the text. He says in verse 9, besides being wise, the preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and2:46 arranging many problems with great care. Okay. So now right off the bat, if you are a, English minded person, you you you're a language person, you're a grammar person,2:58 you should notice something about the writing of verse 9 that differs from the writing of verse 8 and previous to verse 8. And what happens is there's a change in tone3:10 and there's a change in person. Ecclesiastes up until verse 9 is in the first person. He's telling us what he did. We we've talked about this in the series. He pursued3:22 pleasure. He he pursued wisdom. He pursued wealth. He pursued importance. He pursued leaving a, you know, a legacy. And and then he and then he wrestled with all of those pursuits.3:33 And he came up and he said, look, without God, it's what? It's empty. It's not there's not it's it's smoke. It's vapor. Verse 9, the tone3:45 and the person shifts. It's a conclusive tone. It's a summing up tone. It's a now, all has been said and done. And it's also in the third person, isn't it? He's talking3:57 about himself in the third person. Does anybody hate it when somebody talks about themselves in the third person? Well, in the ancient Hebrew, this was very common. People would refer to themselves in the third person4:08 all time. In fact, Jesus did it all the time when he called himself the son of man. Whenever he says the son of man, he's talking about himself in the third person. And that's what it and that's what Solomon does here in4:17 verse 9. He's talking about himself. But here's what I think he's ultimately doing. He is taking a step out of his life, and he's looking at the story of his life,4:30 and he's summarizing. He's saying, well, this is my assessment of my life. And it brings me to something that I think each of us need to do at some point in our4:42 life. Each of us need to do this. If you haven't done it, I guarantee you will get to it at some point. You will take a step out of your story. You will4:54 remove yourself and and look at your life and ask what I'm what I'm calling the ultimate end of life question. I want you to write it down so that you're ready for it when it happens to you.5:06 The ultimate end of life question is, will my life have meaning beyond me? You see, it's 1 thing to have meaning for5:18 yourself. To have God involved in all of your pursuits. So that, yes, as you pursue building a family or building a home or5:29 establishing your career and your contribution to society, that there is a sense of purpose. There is a sense of value to that. But here's the ultimate question. Will what God does5:41 in you radiate beyond you? Amen. So that when your life is over, there will be people who are still being blessed5:53 because of what God did in you and through you. Amen? Amen. That is the ultimate end of life question that I think we all have to answer. And if you have not gotten there, I guarantee6:05 you, you will get there. Some of history's greatest philosophers have gotten there. Solomon gets there in this text. He is ultimately 1 of history's greatest writers, greatest contribute contributors, 1 of6:16 life's greatest philosophers. Take away all the religious aspects of Solomon, and he is still regarded even by secularists as 1 of humanity's greatest most legendary6:28 literary figures. But outside of Solomon, even some secular people, non Christians have come to that place where they take a look at their life and they say, is there meaning beyond me?6:40 I think of the great, psychotherapist Carl Jung. Carl Jung actually was born to a religious family. He was born in the Christian faith. I believe his father was a Presbyterian minister.6:52 He quickly excelled in, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and became the intellectual heir of Sigmund Freud. But Sigmund Freud, as many of you might know, was obsessed with his mom and sex, and, that's just7:04 weird. And and Carl Jung separated himself from that, and then and his career sputtered a little bit. And and in the midst of the height of his career, Carl Jung began to ask the question about life beyond this life. And7:16 he examined his his, childhood faith of Christianity and he delved into the teachings of Jesus and tried to come up with some kind of rationality for what it was all about beyond himself. He7:28 wrote a book about it called Memories, Dreams, Reflections. Examining the afterlife, examining one's legacy, examining what does life mean beyond just existing. And and as far as we know, Carl7:39 Jung never returned to the faith of his childhood, never surrendered his life to Jesus. But he did ask the question, will my life have meaning beyond me? Another 1 of7:51 history's great writers, Leo Tolstoy, a Russian author who wrote War and Peace, probably 1 of the greatest novels in the history of mankind and he became 1 of the greatest most heralded writers in in human8:03 history. Reached pinnacle fame being born to a prestigious, family in Russia and and and critical acclaim through his writings and, was was praised and celebrated by his contemporaries8:15 and by his generation. But he also came to a turning point in his own life where he started to ask the question, will my life have meaning beyond me? And he as well was raised in the Christian8:26 faith, but abandoned it later in life. And then in that quest for meaning, decided to reexamine the teachings of Jesus, the scriptures, and and examine the the the thoughts and8:38 and words of Jesus, but ultimately never really came back to Christ. He only took the teachings of Jesus, not the miracles of Jesus. He accepted the moral principles of Jesus, but he did not accept the death,8:50 burial, and resurrection of Jesus and and the divinity of Jesus. And and can I tell you that there's a lot of people in our culture, in fact, lot of them are running for political office right now, and they wanna9:02 adhere to the political or the moral teachings of Jesus, but they deny the resurrection of Jesus? Can I tell you that you can't fulfill the cure the Christian movement? You can't fulfill your calling in life9:13 by just trying to follow the moral teachings of Jesus. Have you ever tried to follow the moral teachings of Jesus? You know you've tried when you know you you when you consider9:25 yourself an ultimate failure because there is no way that we can follow the moral teachings of Jesus. You know that Jesus told you that if your eye causes you to sin, you should gouge it out.9:37 I'm looking around. I'm seeing not many people have taken that route yet. He said, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. What what the moral teachings of Jesus were not meant to be a prescription for9:49 life. They were actually meant to show you the fullest reality of God's moral law that would actually ultimately destroy your self confidence and show you that you are ultimately a sinner that is10:01 hopeless before God in your own moral performance and that you actually need forgiveness for your sins. And then then you look to Jesus and he becomes the propitiation, the sacrifice for your sins and10:13 through his shed blood, he washes your sins and he raises you from the dust and he makes you a new man or a new woman in his holy spirit. That ultimately appreciating the10:24 teachings of Jesus while denying the resurrection of Jesus is not Christianity. Leo Tolstoy ended his life there and he was haunted, later in life by the teaching of Jesus. He gave up all of his possessions. He moved10:36 out into the wilderness. He became recluse trying to search for meaning in his life beyond himself. And then I think perhaps in the Christian worldview, in the10:48 Christian community of the last century, Probably most notably, this guy by the name of Charles Templeton. Now I guarantee many of you have never heard of Charles Templeton. But in the11:00 19 forties, he's a part of a 3 man team that founded a youth movement for Christ. And I guarantee you, you've met his partner. 1 of the partners was named Billy Graham. Now Charles Templeton, Billy Graham,11:12 and another guy, I can't remember his name, were these 3 mighty preachers. And everybody, by all accounts said that Charles Templeton, not Billy Graham, was the better preacher,11:24 was more handsome, had more gifts, and was going to accomplish greater things of the 3. But Charles Templeton, around the 19 forties, at the height of his ministry, decided11:36 to enroll in Princeton Theological Seminary. I call it Princeton Theological Cemetery. Because it's where all good Christians go to lose their faith. Let me tell you. These seminaries now, they don't teach11:48 the bible, they teach critical thinking and biblical criticism and all that kind of stuff. And a lot of people go there and they lose their faith. They they literally do. Charles Templeton went there and lost his faith11:56 at the age of rationality. The the age of scientific enlightenment in this country was coming to the fore. And he and he went back to Billy Graham and he said, Billy, I just can't believe the miracles anymore. We're12:05 rational people now. I I can't believe there's there's such a thing as death, burial, and resurrection and that the blood of Jesus forgive us forgives us of our sins. We should just follow the moral teachings, but but12:13 deny all the the the the supernatural teachings of the bible. Billy Graham said, no. I can't do that. He said, Charles, I can't explain it, but when I teach that Jesus Christ is the Lord of life, when I teach the blood12:23 of Jesus Christ cleanses the sinner from his sin, when I teach that in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the body, something happens in the human heart. The Lord goes to work. The Holy12:33 Spirit pierces the human conscience, and people are born again. And they got new hope, and they got new life. And Billy Graham held onto the faith, and the rest of the story is history. Thank God for men like Billy12:44 Graham. Amen, somebody. Charles Templeton abandoned the faith, wrote a memoir called Farewell to God. He entered into, national TV broadcasting in Canada, his home12:56 country. He became a fixture on television sets across the country. Eventually, a n he got into parliament and became an elected representative and and was within a hair's breath of the prime minister my prime13:06 ministership of Canada in his day. He was successful on every level, at every industry, of every pursuit, but he aberrant in God. And a guy by the name of, Lee13:18 Strobel wrote a book called The Case for Faith. And in the opening chapter, he talks about going to visit Charles Templeton as he was dying of Alzheimer's later in his life at the penthouse apartment13:30 in Toronto back in the early late 19 nineties. And Lee Strobel went and interviewed Charles Temple talking about his early days in ministry with Billy Graham and abandoning the faith and his work in,13:42 broadcast TV and and politics. And an hour long interview went on with the tape recorder playing. And Lee Strobel finally got around to asking the question, what did Charles Templeton13:54 think of Jesus today? And the answer from Templeton's lips stunned Lee Strobel into silence. I wanna read it straight from his book. Here's how Templeton talked about Jesus. He said, quote, he14:06 was the greatest human being who ever lived. He was a moral genius. His ethical sense was unique. He was intrinsically the wisest person I've ever encountered in my life or in my readings. His commitment was14:18 total. What could 1 say about him except that this was some form of greatness? There have been many other wonderful people, but Jesus is Jesus. In my view, he is the most important human being who ever existed. Then when14:30 Templeton uttered the then Templeton uttered the words that Lee Strobel never expected to hear from him. And if I may put it this way, he said, as his voice began to crack, I miss him.14:42 I miss him. And Lee Strobel says tears flooded his eyes. And he shielded his eyes with his hand and brushed those tears away and said, but enough of14:53 that. And as far as we know, Charles Templeton died unrepentant, disconnected from Jesus. He failed to properly answer the question I'm asking you today that I believe15:05 Solomon is presenting to us today. Will my life have meaning beyond me? Now, that question might frighten some of you. It will frighten you15:17 because if you're honest, you know you better than anybody. How many think that's probably the most frightening thing that I have going for me?15:29 I know myself better than anybody. And I look at my life and I say, how could God how could God use this? Can I tell you that we preachers feel that too? There's not a preacher15:40 alive today who doesn't have some sense of insecurity about who he is to get up in front of other people and tell them what God has said. There's not a preacher alive and anybody who denies that is lying to you. Let me15:50 tell you something. We know ourselves better than you know us. And some of you, you're not preachers. Some of you have wandered from God. Some of you have spent decades wandering from God. Some of you, you're on the16:02 Charles Templeton route. You were raised in the faith. You were strong in the Lord, but you've abandoned it. Maybe not in word, but in deed. And and some of you look at the the travesties of your life, the the the the16:12 accidents, the the occasions in which you have shown yourself to be selfish and and and me centered. And you've looked at your the wreck wreckage of your bad choices and you think, how could God get meaning out of16:24 that? But can I tell you that maybe, maybe, just maybe, the book of Ecclesiastes is Solomon's narrative of all of his terrible choices? And it is enshrined in holy scripture16:36 to give anybody who's taken that same route that Solomon took hope. That though you may have made a mess into your life, it's not too late to give God the opportunity to get glory16:48 from your story. To show other people that the error of your ways don't need to be repeated like Solomon shows us in this text. To show other people that though you may have made some terrible choices, you may have lived16:59 decades away from the Lord. You learned that ultimately when it was all said and done, there was only 1 way to live, and that was to live surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and committed to his word, and to say, God,17:10 take all the stuff that I've got. Take my messes, take my triumphs, take my joys, take my wins, take my losses, and bring glory to the name of Jesus through what I have. That's17:22 how you get there. So I don't know where you're from. You might be a church choir boy. You might be from the wrong side of the tracks, but can I tell you that God can redeem your story17:34 for his glory? Starts here. Starts now with this text. And I wanna give you from this text 3 prayers for meaning that I think will17:46 connect your story to God's glory. Prayer number 1. Write this down. Lord, connect my passions to your mission. Lord, connect17:57 my passions to your mission. Now this is what Solomon does in verse 9. He is recounting his life. He's looking back on it. Here's what he says in verse 9.18:09 Besides being wise, the preacher also taught the people knowledge weighing and studying, arranging many problems with great care. Now what is he talking about here? He's talking about his story. He's talking about his18:18 life. But ultimately, he's talking about his passions. Now Solomon was David's son who was chosen to succeed David as king of Israel. By profession,18:30 Solomon was a king. But I don't know if you ever thought about this. By passion, Solomon was a teacher. By profession, Solomon was a king. But by passion,18:41 Solomon was a teacher. Why does that matter? Because for many of us, we can't always align our profession with our passion. You know what I'm talking about?18:54 You might have a passion to write books, but you gotta pay the bills. Amen. And let me tell you from experience, writing books doesn't pay many bills. But19:05 God can find a way for you to fulfill your passion in spite of your occupation. And that's what Solomon did. Because what does he say? He says, the preacher taught the people knowledge.19:17 Weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. Now did Solomon weigh and arrange many proverbs with great care? Yes. He arranged them into a book in the bible. What's the name of that19:29 book? So even though he was a king by occupation, he was a teacher at heart. And he found a way to use his passion for God's mission. And in verse 10, he19:41 says, but and this is kind of a of an admission here on his part. Look at the wording of verse 10. He says, the preacher, what, sought to find words of delight. He he sought to find19:53 words of delight and to and to write words of of truth. And I think that that word sought kind of betrays within Solomon a hint that he knows that ultimately his words were not enough.20:06 That ultimately, he he he did his best to teach other people wisdom, but at the end of the day, he knows that his greatest wisdom paled in comparison to God's great wisdom. And we20:18 see that here in verse 11 because notice what he says. He turns the tables in verse 11. He says, the words of the wise are like goads and like nails firmly fixed are collected are the collected sayings. They are20:30 given not by me, but by by what? By 1 1 shepherd. Now, he's writing in about 900 BC, 900 years before Christ. He hasn't met20:41 Christ. He has no clue what he's writing at this moment is, in fact, a prophecy that there will come a man, there will come a descendant of David, there will come20:53 1 in his lineage who will be the true 1 shepherd of Israel. And 900 years later, Jesus shows up. And in John chapter 10, he says, I am the good shepherd.21:05 My sheep hear my voice and they know me. And in John 14, he says, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No man comes to the father except by me. And the words of21:17 Jesus did what Solomon says here in verse 11, they pricked he they pricked the hearts of those who heard him. And then that shepherd look at the verse again in verse 11. That shepherd21:29 was nailed to a fixed cross and died for your sins and for my sins. And in dying, he was the living word of God in the flesh and his words are living on21:41 still to this day. Amen. It's an amazing thing that Solomon actually, in his passion, points to the mission of Jesus. Now, how does he describe the words of God? How does he describe21:53 them? As goads. What is a goad? Goad A goad was a a farmer's tool that was a long pole with a point at the end that he would use to prod and poke his cattle or oxen in the22:04 right direction. This is a picture of God's word for you. What does God's word do? God's word pokes. Amen, somebody.22:16 God's word pierces. God's word will prick areas in your life that if you're honest, you don't you don't always want pricked. You you don't wanna22:28 be told you're in the wrong way. You're drifting off the course, but but God is a good shepherd and sometimes he's good by being a bit more prickly than we'd22:40 want him to be in our lives. And he pricks us so that we stay on the course, and he doesn't allow us to wander far from him. I thank God for the times in my life when I wanted to wander and God said, I'm not22:52 letting you off the course. When I wanted to go my own way, and God said, I'm gonna prick you right back onto the right path. Because he will not just save you Christian, he will sustain you Christian, and he will keep23:02 you in the way that you should go. My faith is in him, not in my own get doing. And then he says, they're like nails firmly fixed. God's word is fixed in the heavens. Jesus said,23:14 heaven and earth will pass away, but my words shall remain forever. This book is the most significant book in human history. Do you know why? Because this book is written by almighty God.23:26 Written by men. Yes. But men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They were given words from heaven, and this book has stood the test of time. This book has survived23:38 communism. This book has survived socialism. This book has survived empires rising and falling. This book has survived burnings by the Nazis and the communist.23:49 This book has stood the test of time. Every single year, this book is still the number 1 best selling book of all time. Every single year. Authors come and go. Notable names come and go. But24:01 God's word is still a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. And when you trust that book, you can't go wrong in life. They're still fixed. Even our politicians on the right and24:13 on the left still quote from this book. They don't live it, but they quote it. Because there's something about this book. It's God's firmly fixed word. And what you wanna do in your life? You wanna find meaning?24:26 Connect your passions to God's word. To God's mission. Number 2 prayer that you wanna pray. Lord, keep my movements centered24:38 in your message. Now the word centered is in per is is is intentional in this point. Keep my movements centered. Somebody say centered. Centered.24:50 In your message. What I'm trying to tell you here is, don't move too far from the truth that is in Jesus Christ. The simple gospel of Jesus.25:02 That's what Solomon warns us about here in verse 12. Look what he says, my son, beware of anything beyond these. Well, he's just talked about the words given by 1 shepherd that are firmly25:13 fixed like nails and are like a goad that pricks the heart. Here's what he says, don't go beyond these. And then he says something that I as an author don't particularly like.25:26 He says, of making many books there is no end and much study is a weariness of the flesh. I thought I was special having written a book. I've actually written 2. But do you know how many books25:38 are written every single year? How many books are published every single year? Between 600001 million books every single year. The Library of Congress was opened with25:49 6400 volumes. Today, the Library of Congress holds 16000000 books. 16000000 volumes. There is a endless supply26:01 of human writings. And there's an endless supply. Listen to me, and I say this even as a Christian author myself, there is an endless supply of Christian26:12 writings. And can I tell you that a lot of them, you wanna stay as far away from as possible? And I and I am I'm gonna give you some of the categories. Because they draw they draw26:24 you away from the simplicity of knowing Jesus Christ as your good and true shepherd. There are some pastors who will come along and they will write a book on how to get rich26:36 God's way. Prosperity thinkers. And Paul warns us about them in first Timothy saying that godliness is a way of great gain. That we will If we do the right things and if we pray the right prayers, then26:48 God will make us rich. And we call these prosperity seeking books. Watch out for these books. They'll lead you off the course. And then there are people who would draw you into excess spirituality. 1 of them was very26:58 popular way back in the early 2 thousands called The Shack. About spirituality and new age thought intermingled with just enough Christianity to influence people away from the simplicity that is in Jesus27:10 Christ. And then there are some people who come up with the the 5 step category books on how to be a good husband, 5 steps to being a good wife, 5 steps to being a good marriage, and 6 steps to27:21 raising godly children, and all these, you know, procedural books on how to become someone better and and using God as kind of like a a launching point to the good life that you want to have. And then there are books27:32 that come along and talk about politics, and rescuing our country, and taking back America for God, and all of these kind of things that that are not really the essence of the gospel message of Jesus Christ. And then27:42 there are people who will talk about their afterlife experience, their near death experience, and they're selling you on a story to buy to get you to buy books. And and if and if and if you're not careful, they'll draw27:52 you away from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. Listen, all those things, they're fine. They're in some ways, they're they're good to to pursue certain aspects of the Christian faith in certain ways. But can you28:04 remember to stay rooted and grounded in the simple message of Jesus Christ, his death, his burial, his resurrection, for your sins, for my sins, and that through faith in him, you are made28:15 new before God, and you are a child of God, accepted in the family of God for eternity. But there's nothing better than that. It's the simple message of28:26 Jesus. Lord, keep my movements centered in your message. Now the the Olympics,28:38 man, they started with a disaster. But I don't know if you've been watching them. The American team has done us proud. They are really talented. And, particularly this track and field28:50 team. I I have been watching them and they've won the most track and field medals I think of all time in any Olympics. And that team, you should know this, is loaded with Christian brothers and29:02 sisters. 1 of them is named Cindy McLaughlin. I don't know if you have watched this lady, but this woman runs the 400 hurdles as fast as other29:14 ladies run the 400 clean track. Have you seen this? You should watch it. They did a they did a they did a graphic where they they had her as a line, overlaid on the29:25 regular 400 meter race while she's running jumping over 42 inch high hurdles. Now, friends, I have a hard time climbing up these steps. She's running these29:37 hurdles as if they're not even in the way. I have never seen anybody like this. She blew the competition away and she won the gold. But she posts on her Instagram, and this is what I'm talking29:49 about, keeping your movements tied to the message of Jesus. She posts to her Instagram, don't look at me. Every post is, don't look at me. Look at Jesus through me.30:01 And I wanna put this post here up on the screen because I I was just moved by it. Here she is writing in this Instagram post. Let me start off by saying what an honor it is to be able to represent not only my country but30:11 also the kingdom of God. Amen, Sydney. What I have in Christ is far greater than what I have or don't have in life. I pray my journey may be a clear depiction of submission and obedience to God even when it doesn't make30:23 sense, even when it doesn't seem possible. He will make a way out of no way, not for my own gratification, but for his glory. I have never seen God fail in my life, in anyone's life for that matter. Just because I may30:34 not win every race or receive every 1 of my heart's desires does not mean God had failed. His will is perfect, and he has prepared me for a moment such as this, that I may use the gifts he has given me to point all the30:44 attention back to him. Thank you, God. What a way to run your race, Sydney. And God bless her for standing30:56 for Christ and using her platform to point through her to the cross. That's what Solomon is challenging us to do here in this text. He'll make it about you. It's because if you make it about you,31:08 then only your wins will count. If you make it about you, then only your accomplishments will count. No. God can get glory from your losses. God can get glory from how you handle31:20 the difficulties of life. As somebody once said that that God gives God God doesn't give it. But God allows nonbelievers and believers to have cancer so that the world can see how a believer31:31 responds as opposed to how a nonbeliever responds. God, get glory from my story. May my movements ultimately represent your message. Amen.31:43 Psalm 34 verse 4, 1 of my favorite verses. It says, I sought the Lord and he answered me and he delivered me. We we just sang about that today. I didn't even have that lined up, but the Holy Spirit must have aligned it31:53 for us. And then verse 5, those who look to him are what? Radiant. Keep your eyes on Jesus. You'll never be ashamed. Number 332:04 prayer. Lord, mold my plans for your ultimate purpose. Lord, mold my plans for your ultimate purpose. Ecclesiastes 12 verse32:16 13, Solomon writes this. He says, the end of the matter, all has been heard. Fear God. Underline those words. Fear God and keep his commandments. If you fear God, you will keep32:28 his commandments. Here's how the fear of God works. There are 2 kinds of the fear of God. The first kind is the 1 that Solomon writes here, which I pray is part of your story.32:40 You fear God because you know he's holy. He's your creator. He's your sovereign. He's in charge. Ultimately, he's your judge. As Solomon says here, he will bring32:52 into he will bring every deed into judgment, every secret thing whether good or evil. And so you live with a sense of awe and respect and honor and fear, holy33:03 fear for God, and you want to please him. And listen to me, that's the best thing that you can do in life. Because when you want to live it when you live in the fear of God, when you want to please him, you will not be33:15 sidetracked by trying to please everybody else around you. When you seek to please God, it won't matter if other people are pleased with you. You'll be like Peter who could stand before the authorities33:26 in his day. They wanted him to shut up. They wanted him to stop preaching in Jesus' name. They warned him. They threatened him with death. What does Peter say? Judge for yourselves whether it is right that we obey you or33:37 God. But as for us, we cannot help speaking what we have seen and heard, and we will continue to preach that Jesus Christ is the Lord of life. And they could do nothing with them. The Bible says they could do nothing33:48 with these men and they released them. And the rest of the story is our story in Jesus name. See, when you live in that fear, the fear of God will keep you from all the false ways34:00 that'll hurt you. It'll keep you from the trap of trying to live up to the expectations of others, or following the crowd, person in high school or in college, or making stupid foolish decisions because your neighbor or34:10 your friend told you to do it. No. You lived in the fear of God, And you kept yourself free from all the entanglements of this life. That's the first kind of fear. The second kind of fear is the fear of the unbeliever.34:22 This is not just a fear, this is an absolute terror in their heart because they know they're disconnected from this God. And no matter how much they wanna write books about it, no matter how much they wanna deny it, no34:32 matter how much they wanna pretend that they are confident there is no God deep down inside in the other resources of their heart where nobody else sees, they know that there's a chance there is a God. And they live in34:42 that terror, And they live in that fear of judgment. No friend. Live in the fear of almighty God. And I believe that he will guide your steps and guard your ways and34:54 connect your plans and mold your plans and shape your plans for his ultimate purpose in life. 1 of the greatest passages of the bible. We love to quote the first part of the passage, but we35:06 rarely quote the second part. It's that great passage from Romans 8 28. For we know all for those that love God, all things work together for good. And usually, we put a period at the end of good.35:18 But Paul doesn't put a period there, does he? He puts a comma. And how does he finish that phrase? For those who are called according to his place. You got your notes out? Would you would you got your35:29 notes out? Would you underline his or circle the word his? Because you're not called according to your purpose. And listen to me, God is not called to fulfill your purpose.35:41 You are called to fulfill his purpose. And whether that purpose is to be great in the eyes of others or to be lowly in the eyes of others, you can know that he will use you. Whether35:52 that whether that purpose whether that calling is to be known by many or known by few, you can know that you fulfill his purpose because you're loved by God and he will coordinate all the aspects of your life. Sickness36:03 and hell, and love and loss, and hatred and animosity, and the cheers of others, and the scorn of others. He will use it all for his ultimate purpose in and through your life.36:16 In closing and thinking about the Olympics, they're in Paris in 20 24. Did you know that 100 years ago they were in Paris in 19 24? And there's a famous movie that immortalizes the 1936:28 24 Olympics. It's called Chariots of Fire. I challenge you to watch it. It's a fantastic film. It's about 2 Olympic runners who were scheduled to compete against each other in the 100 meter race, the36:40 men's 100 meter race. 1 of them was a Scotsman named Eric Liddell. He was a devout Christian. The other was a Jew named Harold Abrams, and these 2 were36:52 rivals. It was gold and silver. Was just a matter of who was gonna get what. Eric Liddell being a devout Christian found out that 1 of the heats of 100 meter race was gonna be held on a Sunday, and he was a devout37:03 Christian who believed that there was no work to be done on Sunday. So against the absolute pressure of his government, he withdrew himself from the 100 meter race, his race, The37:15 1 that he had been prepared to race his entire life. And Harold Abrams ran in that race unopposed basically and won the gold. And before the race, in the movie, Harold Abrams says about that race that37:27 he's about to run, knowing that his chief competitor won't be in the race. He says, I have 10 lonely seconds to prove my life is worth something. But will I do it?37:38 And he wins the gold and you can see it's hollow all over his face. And Eric Liddell decides to enter into the 200 meter race and the 400 meter race. Even though he didn't train, he won the bronze in the 200 and he won37:50 the gold in the 400. And he was gonna be welcomed home back to Scotland with a hero's welcome. But he had a call in his life to bring the gospel of Jesus38:02 to the people of China. Instead of going back home, he went to China with the gospel. And he taught for decades in a Chinese school, little children about Jesus Christ.38:14 And then World War 2 broke out and the Japanese occupied China. And they took him prisoner. And he ended up in a Japanese internment camp and lived there for 3 years in terrible38:26 conditions and malnutrition. And when Winston Churchill had organized a prisoner swap in the middle of the war and put Eric Liddell's name at the top of the list because he was a national hero, do you know what EricShow more
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