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#231 - When Everything Feels Meaningless: Ecclesiastes Has Answers · Brandon Fogal Evolution

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Good morning. This is Evolution. My name is Brandon Fogel, the only legitimate evolution there is.
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Today, we are going to dive into the book of Ecclesiastes.
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Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless. Have you ever thought about
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this? Well, if you have, you're in good company.
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The richest, wisest man on earth thought about these very same things about
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3,000 years ago, and he was raising these same questions, King Solomon.
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We're going to dive into the book of Ecclesiastes, there's so much going on there.
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I've heard whatever you think the most important book of the Bible is,
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whether it's Romans, the Gospel of John, whatever it is,
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the second most important book in the Bible is the book of Ecclesiastes because
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it raises the question, what's the point?
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What's the point? And we're also in this video where I'm going to take a look
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at a clip from, his name's Duncan Trussell.
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He was on Danny Jones' podcast, and he raised a really good question about wealth and being rich.
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And does that answer everything for everybody? The answer might surprise you
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or might not. I don't know.
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We'll dive into this and check this out. I'm actually going to go through the
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book of Ecclesiastes, read it, give commentary, bring up some questions.
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And I need this almost just for my soul, my spirit. I don't know about you.
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I want to hear it. And if you're a person that's not into the Bible,
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you're not into that whole religion thing or anything like that.
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It's still ancient writing, you know?
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So just maybe take it from that angle. It's an ancient writing of what people
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a long time ago thought about,
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it made the canon of what we call scripture. So it's still wise to listen to.
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I mean, I would say, I would say, all right, this is Ecclesiastes chapter one,
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the words of the preacher, the son of David, King of King in Israel or King in Jerusalem.
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Vanity of vanities says the preacher vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
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Replace that word vanity with meaningless. That kind of drives a little bit
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more, well, more home with me is meaningless, meaningless. Everything is meaningless.
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What advantage does man have in all his work, which he does under the sun?
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A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
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Also, the sun rises and the sun sets, and hastening to its place, it rises there again.
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Blowing toward the south, then turning toward the north, the wind continues
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swirling along, and on its circular courses the wind returns.
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All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where
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the rivers flow, there they flow again.
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All things are wearisome. Man is not able to tell it.
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The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing.
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That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done.
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So there is nothing new under the sun.
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Is there anything of which one might say, see, it is new?
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Already it has existed for ages, which were before us.
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There is no remembrance of earlier things and also of the later things, which will occur.
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There will be for them no remembrance among those who will come later still.
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3,000 years ago, 3,000 years ago, this guy, he is writing, this guy, he is the king of Israel.
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I believe it really was King Solomon that wrote this in his later life.
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We're going to continue on verse 12.
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I, the preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I have set my mind
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to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven.
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Is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
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I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun,
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and behold, all is vanity, and striving after wind.
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What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
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I said to myself, Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all
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who were over Jerusalem before me,
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and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge, and I set my mind
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to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.
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I realized that this also is a striving after wind because in much wisdom,
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there is much grief and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.
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Does that resonate with you? The more that you become aware,
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the more that you learn, you realize how little we know, or really we actually,
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we don't even know the things that we don't know.
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And when you, when you do get some wisdom, when you,
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you just, all you you just become more desperate
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because it's like what's the point i'm not the biggest
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questions aren't being answered the biggest things that i
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my soul is not being satisfied these
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i'm getting up going to work every day i might love my job i might hate my job
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it kind of fluctuates it goes up and down sometimes i feel good about sometimes
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i don't and then it's like you become even if you do love it you're just you're
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worried that you might lose it And even if you hate it, you're like, why am I doing this?
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Chapter two, I said to myself, come now, I will test you with pleasure.
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So enjoy yourself. And behold, it was two futility.
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I said of laughter, it is madness, and of pleasure, what does it accomplish?
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I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was
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guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly until I could see what good
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there is for the sons of men to do under heaven for a few years of their lives.
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I enlarged my works. I built houses for myself. I planted vineyards for myself.
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I made gardens and parks for myself. and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
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I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing
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trees. I bought male and female slaves, and I had home-born slaves.
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Also, I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
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Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasures of kings and
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provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men, many concubines.
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Those aren't combines. Those are concubines. That's women.
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King Solomon had a harem. He
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had women upon women. A lot of it was probably just to marry a lot of...
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Almost like peace with other countries. They are strategic just to marry the
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king's daughter of another place and just to make peace treaties and all that.
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But he had women and he had all the women he wanted. He had all the women he wanted.
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It sounds like he's living high on the hog. He's got everything that we all want.
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Andrew Hart, I flipped this, Andrew Tate, eat your heart out.
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That's what I was just, that was what I was thinking.
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But you ever have that where you just, You think a word ahead,
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what you're going to say, and you just flip it ahead and you insert it.
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Happens all the time. I hear other people do it all the time, not just me.
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Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
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My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them.
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I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because
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of all my labor, and this was my reward for all my labor.
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Thus, I considered all my activities, which my hands had done and the labor,
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which I had exerted and behold, all was vanity and striving after wind.
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And there was no profit under the sun. He did all of that. He had it all.
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I mean, I think it makes me think of Tony Montana. He got it all.
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You know, he did it by wicked means at times. You know, he killed people.
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King Solomon, he's just a king. He's got the most riches, the most women,
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the most land, and he's got everything you could want.
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And he ends up by saying all was vanity. It was pointless.
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We're going to take a look at this. This is Duncan Trussell.
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He was on the Data Jones podcast.
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And what he brought up about this was actually very interesting because it's
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in this whole context of talking about Peter Thiel's lectures over the Antichrist.
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And he was he actually was able to be a part of
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one of those one of those sit downs one of those lectures
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i didn't think there was a total of four and and it's in that context this gets
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brought up about money that that these wealthy people out there they have everything
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they want but are they satisfied are they content or have have they reached
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the point of view where they understand it doesn't really buy happiness probably
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like one of the side effects of having a lot of money is you.
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And earmuffs for anyone that cares about that. He is going to drop the F word.
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Begin to realize that like none of this is making me happy. It's not working like this dream.
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Like I've got the yachts and I have more money than I could ever spend in a
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lifetime. But I'm miserable.
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Why? What is that? It's the best question of all time.
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And until you have that experience, you might just think when you hear,
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you know, money doesn't bring happiness.
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You're like, shut the fuck up. I can't pay my rent.
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You know what that's like? That's scary.
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And so you imagine at some point when you have X amount of money in your accounts,
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all that background hum, anxiety, depression.
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All that stuff that you have attached to lack of money will go away.
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But it doesn't. Now what?
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Now what? You want to find something not so rooted in the world.
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So, and also, you know, like the shit's about to hit the fan and that's a perfect
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mind state to become a Christian.
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All right. What he said there is, that's very strong, very strong.
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And I love, he says that background, that hum of anxiety that you think that it's going to go away.
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Once I can pay my bills, once I have everything I could ever want,
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it's still there. And it's the people that are on the top that realize that.
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And I think a lot of people, if
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you're American, you're more well off than 99% of the rest of the world.
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You have more wealth. But, and if you take it in that, if you were reminded
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of that, you're not like, Oh yeah, you would say the same thing as him.
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Shut the freak up. You know what I mean? Like it doesn't help anything.
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I still got, I still got things I got. I got to keep earning.
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I still got to make money. I'm never going to, I'm never, I don't have all that
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I need. I think I need more. We always just think we need more.
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And if that more equates to happiness, or we think that it's going to equate
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to happiness, but it doesn't, it doesn't.
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And any rich person out there, and I've heard Joe Rogan say this multiple times, he'll say that.
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All you need, if you're, if you can go into a restaurant and you don't have
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to worry about the bill and not everybody even can do that, but he said,
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if you can do that, that's all you need. The rest, the rest is bullshit. It doesn't matter.
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Nothing else matters. Like that's all you need. And really, if we really dial
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it down, if we really pin it down, we don't need anything.
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The Bible even goes even further with the apostle Paul said,
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with food and shelter, with these, we shall be content.
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Food and shelter like or
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like with clothing that's all you need food
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like you like your your basic necessities but
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i mean i don't feel like that i don't
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i always feel like i i need to keep going i need more you you get a bigger garage
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you got to fill it with more cars you got you make more money you got to spend
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it on something else you get a house you got to fill it up with things you get
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you you need then you need a bigger house and then you got bigger bills.
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And then you got, and it's just like, it just keeps growing and growing.
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It's like, when does it become enough?
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When does it ever become enough? You know, if we, if we really just forget about
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this world, this, the world that we're living in and looking at everybody else,
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the Joneses over there, they got, you know, the perfect, the perfect life.
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Whereas they're probably struggling just as much as you or I am.
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And if we look at it, if we dial it down to the Bible, we see an example.
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That's why the grace of God, he gave us an example of King Solomon,
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who he had lived that life.
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He had everything we could ever want. He had all his needs met.
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You know, there was nothing else he needed at all, and he still is realizing it.
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And this is towards the end of his life, because we see through his life,
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he got led away from the Lord many times.
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And it was by the women that he married to and that he started following after their gods.
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Wedded to this woman. So I, she's a pagan or whatever.
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I guess I'll just go and sacrifice to her God just to keep the peace.
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I don't want this woman getting mad at me or her, her daddy getting mad at me.
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I'm just going to go and I'm going to do the sacrifices, you know,
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and, and he gets lured in little by little.
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And he starts just falling away from the Lord, following away,
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falling away from following God and his commandments.
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And we, and this is, That's why I would say this is towards the end of his life.
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He has experienced it all.
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He's an old man. He's reflecting. Chapter 2, verse 12.
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So I considered, says, So I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly.
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For what will the man do who will come after me, except after the king,
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except what has already been done?
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And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
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The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.
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And yet I know that one fate befalls them both.
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Then I said to myself, as is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me.
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Why then have I been extremely wise? So I said to myself, this too is vanity,
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for there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool,
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inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten,
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and how the wise man and the fool alike die.
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So I hated life for the work which I had been done, which had been done under
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the sun was grievous to me because everything is futility and striving after wind.
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Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor, for which I had labored under the sun.
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For I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
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And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?
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Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor, for which I have labored
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by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity.
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Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor,
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for which I had labored under the sun.
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When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill,
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then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them.
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This too is vanity and a great evil. For what does a man get in all his labor
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and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?
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Because all his days his task is painful and grievous.
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Even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.
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There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good.
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This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.
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For who can eat And who can have enjoyment without him?
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For to a person who is good in his sight, he has given wisdom and knowledge and joy.
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While to the sinner, he has given the task of gathering and collecting so that
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he may give to one who is good in God's sight.
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This too is vanity and striving after wind. This is from the perspective of
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just, if we just from, we say there is no God and we're just,
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we're living in this life. It's just secular mindset.
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Really? Like there's no afterlife. There's no beyond this grave.
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Why am I striving to accumulate more and more wealth, build bigger and bigger
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houses, bigger and bigger barns, create a much greater company and make it awesome
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and awesome where I'm going to die eventually.
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And it's the people that are after me, what they do with it,
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I have no control over and they could just run it into the ground and make it
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just like poof into nothingness the next day.
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So it's just a real, it's a, I know we were on this rat race.
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We feel like we just got to keep going no matter what.
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And we are forced to, we like, God has put it in us that we have to keep going.
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We, we are like just nonstop.
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Our mind is always rolling. It's always going and we have to put our energy to something.
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But it's like, if we don't get certain things right, we're going to be just driving for no reason.
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There's going to be no point at the end of the road where we're going.
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This is chapter three. There is an appointed time for everything,
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and there is a time for every event under heaven, a time to give birth and a
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time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted,
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a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build up,
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a time to weep and a time to laugh,
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a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to throw stones and a time to gather
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stones, a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing,
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a time to search and a time to give up as lost, a time to keep and a time to
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throw away, a time to tear apart and a time to sew together,
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a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate,
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a time for war and a time for peace.
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What profit is there to the workers from that in which he toils?
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I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
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I mean, I get tired. I get so tired in this life.
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I mean, just between you and me, if I can make it through this life without unaliving myself,
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sometimes I think I will be successful and I will have won the prize because
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sometimes it does get extremely tough.
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It gets, it gets very tough in this life and it's hard to keep going.
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And if, if, and I know it can sound gay. Oh, you just, you're not, it sounds gay.
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You just want to unalive yourself. You're, you're, you know,
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you're suicidal or whatever.
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I wouldn't say I'm that at all. And I would never, because I mean,
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I, there's no point because I know if I did something to myself,
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all I'm going to be doing is standing before God.
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And so I was like, I'm in this temporal time where I got to keep going.
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I have to keep going. And it's like, no matter how much it hurts and how much
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I want to just be into the next life to move forward, be done with this.
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I'm not going, I would never, I could never, I could never, honestly.
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But I know anybody can go through something, and you never know.
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But I've been in those times, and I couldn't bring myself to do anything actually
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in my life because I'm aware of God's presence.
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Before I became a Christian, I joked about that.
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I don't know if I really joked about it, but there were serious times that people
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in my life wanted to do that kind of thing. And I was just like,
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I, I didn't want to be anything of it because all I was just thinking about other people.
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You're kind of like just on a show before you become a Christian.
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You think everything revolves around you and that everybody's watching you.
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Everybody's concerned with you. And if you die, all you're going to be there
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is you're going to be there watching.
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What's how are people going to act if I'm gone?
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What are they going to be like? And it's all about you.
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Whereas, you know, now that I'm, I am a Christian, I'm aware of God's presence.
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I know if I died, it's not going to be that like, oh, I get to see how other
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people are going to react to me being gone.
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How's that? That's going to be interesting. That'll be fun. Will they really care about me?
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No, I'm going to be right in front of God's presence. And I would have done
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something wrong, very wrong, my last final act of doing that.
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It's not ours to take. We shouldn't do that, but it gets tough.
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And that can seem kind of black and dark. And it is. For me,
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it is. I'm just being honest with you. It is black and dark.
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It gets very dark and tough at times. And I don't know about you.
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If everything's great for you, that's great. But I know it's not.
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I know it's not always great for anyone.
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I know it's not. He has made everything appropriate in its time.
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He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the
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work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
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I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime.
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Moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor.
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It is the gift of God. I know that,
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Everything God does will remain forever. There is nothing to add to it,
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and there is nothing to take from it.
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For God has so worked that men should fear him.
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That which is has already been, and that which will be has already been.
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For God seeks what has passed by.
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Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice, there is wickedness.
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And in the place of righteousness, there is wickedness. I said to myself,
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God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man.
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For a time for every matter and for every deed is there.
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I said to myself concerning the sons of men, God has surely tested me in order
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for them to see that they are but beasts.
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For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same.
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As one dies, so dies the other.
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Indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for man over
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beast, for all is vanity. All go to the same place.
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All came from the dust, and all return to the dust.
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Who knows that the breath of man
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ascends upward, and the breath of beast descends downward to the earth?
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I have seen that nothing is better
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than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot.
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For who will bring him to see what will occur after him? We're all going to the ground.
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We're all going to end up in the dirt.
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We're all going to be, you know, a hundred years from now, we're all going to
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be forgotten for the most part.
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We might be in some history books, depending on who you are,
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but we're all going to die and be worm food.
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But our soul, unlike animals, it doesn't just cease to exist,
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you know? And I think the animals, they just cease to exist.
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But what human beings have, they have the spark, the spirit that God has given
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us that is going to ascend after we die and return to its maker.
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And that's the difference between God breathed into humans the breath of life
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that he did not breathe into certain animals on this world.
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That's why there's a difference between a human dying and a bear dying.
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There's a difference between a human dying and a fly dying.
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That humans have the image of God in them.
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They have the spirit that God has given them so that there is more of a holiness,
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a value aspect as opposed to other animals. We are animals. We are animals.
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We are fleshly beings, you know, meat machines walking around,
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moving around, but we have a spark of divine nature in us that God has given us.
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And that is what's going to return to him when we die.
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But he brings up the righteous and the wicked.
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We will all be judged. And it's that same age old question where he's like,
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I see the wicked, you know, prospering.
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I see the righteous, you know, and it's like the question of evil.
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And that is what trips so many people off for years, centuries,
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that like, how could an all powerful God who is good allow this evil world?
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How could he allow children to have cancer, children to be, to have AIDS and die and suffer?
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You know, these innocent beings, innocent humans.
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And it's, it's, it comes down to,
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well, as Christians, we would say it's a result of the curse of the fall.
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We live in a fallen world. There
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are results and consequences based on our parents' choices, what they did.
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We were inside of Adam and Eve, everybody, you, me included.
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We are all inside of them at that point.
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You know, metaphorically or whatever, literally, I don't know,
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but we were all there and we were, they were making the decision for us.
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They were our representatives.
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That's what happened. And their sin and whatever happened in the fall in Genesis
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3, that is the result of why sin and evil things happen in this world.
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And it all comes down to really, it's trust.
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It's trust that God is going to make everything right.
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Eventually he will make everything right. It's not this everything evil that's
24:29
done in this world will either have been paid for on the cross of Christ or
24:34
the people that commit evil atrocities will pay for them by themselves.
24:39
All right. I gotta get a drink. And I got my coffee as well. I gotta take the lid off.
24:43
Do you ever have that where you just, if you drink coffee, it's like you drink
24:46
coffee and then you immediately got, you got to drink water and it's like this
24:49
back and forth, this yin and yang of, you know, it just like dehydrates you
24:54
and then you got to drink water.
24:55
And I'm finding that the water I'm drinking, it's like almost making me more thirsty.
24:59
It's reminding me of Dasani water, but it's not Dasani.
25:03
Man, I have been into instant coffee.
25:07
This guy that I follow on TikTok, actually, I don't even follow him.
25:10
I follow him at one point, but I just watch him every now and then. And he's a news guy.
25:14
And he brought up about instant coffee. And his followers were trying to say,
25:19
you got to stop drinking that crap and drink the real stuff,
25:22
you know, and get away from that shit.
25:24
But I've actually been drinking instant coffee based on that.
25:26
I just wanted to, you know, expand my repertoire.
25:29
You know, I want to be a utilitary, utility man. You know, I got to,
25:33
for any, I got to be able to take anything.
25:35
And I, so I started drinking it and I like it a lot.
25:39
I, it's, it's Starbucks instant coffee. I, I, I could talk about coffee all day long.
25:43
You know, I, that I'm just a, I'm a connoisseur. I connoisseur.
25:47
I love, I love talking about coffee.
25:49
It's like, it's like the weather, you know, I love talking. I don't actually
25:51
like talking about the weather. I like talking about coffee though.
25:53
All right. Chapter four.
25:55
Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression, which were being done under the sun.
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And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them.
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And on the other side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them.
26:09
So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living.
26:15
But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed,
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who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.
26:24
I mean, that's some real words.
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And he's bringing up a real point that, you know, being brought into this world,
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it can be a great blessing, but it can also be a great curse.
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And the people that whose lives were cut short, if people are cutting somebody's
26:40
life short, they'll deal with the consequences of their action.
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But the one who has had their life cut short, whether, you know,
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a child that they, they, I believe they will be with the Lord.
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They will, they won't, they will be with him forever.
26:54
And they will, and he's like saying that to have never existed.
26:57
I'm, I'm, I'm just thinking like, it's, it's very tough to even grapple with
27:02
the idea that I'm coming into this world and I'm going to suffer under these
27:05
dark things that this world has to offer.
27:08
I believe that, you know, children, if they die, you know, before the age of
27:12
accountability, that they will go to be with the Lord, you know, forever.
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And so I think that there's a piece that we can all have about that.
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And I think that King Solomon and him talking about this, it's not that he's laying out like.
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Specific doctrine. He's really speaking from the point of view of somebody that
27:30
is just asking questions, a regular person looking at it, and he's seeing that
27:35
people that are suffering in this world,
27:37
it just would be better if you just never existed.
27:40
But I think there is a deeper truth that someone who does get their life cut
27:44
short, they do go into the presence of the Lord. I believe that.
27:49
And I think other places in the Bible hint at that. So that if you have lost
27:54
a child or anything like that, that you can have peace in that,
27:57
that your child is with the Lord.
27:58
Verse four, I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the
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result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor.
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This too is vanity and striving after wind.
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The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.
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One handful of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.
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Then I looked again at vanity under the sun. There was a certain man without
28:22
a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, if there was no end to all his labor.
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Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches, and he never asked,
28:32
and for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?
28:36
This too is vanity, and it is a grievous task.
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Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.
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For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion.
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But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.
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Furthermore, if two lie down together, they keep warm.
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But how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him.
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A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
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A poor yet wise lad is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows
29:11
how to receive instruction.
29:13
For he has come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.
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I have seen all the living under the sun throng to the side of the second lad who replaces him.
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There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them,
29:30
and even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him.
29:33
For this too is vanity and striving after wind. 5.
29:38
Guard your steps as you go to the house of God, and draw near to listen rather
29:43
than to offer the sacrifice of fools.
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For they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive
29:51
in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God.
29:54
For God is in heaven and you are on the earth. Therefore, let your words be few.
29:59
For the dream comes through much effort, and the voice of a fool through many words.
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When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it, for he takes no delight
30:09
in fools. Pay what you vow.
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It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
30:16
Do not let your speech cause you to sin, and do not say in the presence of the
30:21
messenger of God that it was a mistake.
30:23
Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands.
30:28
For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness, rather fear, God.
30:34
If you see oppression of the poor and denial of justice and righteousness in
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the province, do not be shocked at the sight, for one official watches over
30:42
another official, and there are higher officials over them.
30:45
After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.
30:50
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance
30:54
with its income. This too is vanity.
30:57
When good things increase, those who consume them increase, so that it is advantage
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to their owners except to look on?
31:05
The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much,
31:09
but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.
31:13
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, riches being hoarded
31:17
by their owner to his hurt.
31:20
When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered his
31:24
son, then there was nothing to support him.
31:26
As he had come naked from his mother's womb, so will he return as he came.
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He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.
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This also is a grievous evil.
31:38
Exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind?
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Throughout his life, he also eats in darkness with great vexation, sickness, and anger.
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Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting, to eat, to drink,
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and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during
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the few years of his life, which God has given him, for this is his reward.
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Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth,
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he has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice
32:14
in his labor. This is the gift of God.
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For he will not consider the years of his life because God keeps him occupied
32:21
with the gladness of his heart.
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So we keep simple lives. I would say if you have a job you like,
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and even if you don't, I think you can make whatever career or job you're at,
32:32
whatever place you are at in life, you can make it be enjoyable because you
32:38
can look at it as that you're doing it, whatever it is to the Lord and for the
32:43
Lord and doing it unto him,
32:45
as opposed to unto your employer or your boss.
32:48
You care more about pleasing God and that he's right there with you at your
32:54
job, in your cubicle or out in the field, wherever you're at,
32:58
whatever you're doing, you know, doing manual labor or whatever,
33:02
he's right there with you.
33:03
I do think that there is times where you lose sight of the presence of God based on being.
33:11
In close quarters, as opposed to be out in the world, out in nature,
33:15
out in the landscape, the forest, the trees, seeing the sky, seeing the sun.
33:22
Because it's like you can feel
33:24
sometimes more God's presence when you are not just enclosed in a room.
33:29
So even if you work somewhere, know that he's right there with you, alongside you.
33:34
You're doing the work as unto him, doing it faithfully and to your best ability,
33:39
but then even every now and then step out and go for a walk.
33:43
And you know, this life, it is a walk with God at moment by moment, step by step, day by day.
33:50
I feel like I'm about ready to start singing a song, but he is with you every inch of the way.
33:57
And sometimes it doesn't feel like he is, but he is.
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There is in chapter six, there is an evil, which I have seen under the sun,
34:05
and it is prevalent among men.
34:07
A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that his soul lacks
34:11
nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not empowered him to eat from them,
34:16
for a foreigner enjoys them.
34:18
This is vanity and a severe affliction. If a man fathers a hundred children
34:22
and lives many years, however many they may be,
34:26
but his soul is not satisfied with good things, and he does not even have a
34:30
proper burial, Then I say, better the miscarriage than he, for it comes in futility
34:36
and goes into obscurity, and its name is covered in obscurity.
34:40
It never sees the sun and it never knows anything. It is better off than he.
34:45
Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not enjoy good things,
34:50
do not all go to one place?
34:54
All a man's labor is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not satisfied.
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For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does
35:05
the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the living?
35:09
What the eye sees is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility
35:14
and a striving after wind.
35:16
Whatever exists has already been named, and it is known what man is.
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For he cannot dispute for him who is stronger than he is. For there are many
35:26
words which increase futility.
35:28
What then is the advantage to a man? for who knows what is good for a man during
35:32
his lifetime, during the few years of his futile life.
35:35
He will spend them like a shadow for who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun.
35:41
And he's going to bring up that, and we're going to come across this where he
35:45
says that money is the answer to everything.
35:48
Because in this life, when you think of just money in general,
35:52
all your problems, we all feel like money could fix it.
35:55
And really it kind of could in this
35:58
world in this in this like present like
36:01
just outward reality it could surface level fix it but it's not gonna make you
36:08
it's not gonna give you peace and it sometimes could even be a detriment to
36:13
your life because you're going to think you need more of it because that little
36:18
that little shot of adrenaline that it gave you or that little.
36:22
Facade of peace that it gave you, you're going to think that's the real deal.
36:26
And you're going to think you just need more. And it's usually,
36:28
it's just the hunger for more and more and to acquire more and more.
36:33
And I just think of sports people that like, whoever it is, you know,
36:37
the greatest quarterback out there, whether it's Tom Brady or anybody else you think.
36:41
He's never, you're never satisfied with what you just got. You're always satisfied
36:45
with what you, you want the next one.
36:48
You want the next ring, the next win, because that current win, it, it leaves quickly.
36:54
It's all, it's all like a present that you rip into, you tear open.
36:58
And it's really just the, the, it leaves you with a deflated air.
37:04
I, I bring up Tom Brady and then deflate gate, you know, but like he,
37:08
it just, it doesn't satisfy you. It just, it really just whets your appetite
37:12
and makes you more thirsty. Like I'm feeling like I'm drinking water and it's
37:16
making me more thirsty, but it's not Dasani.
37:18
Chapter seven, a good name is better than a good ointment. And the day of one's
37:23
death is better than one's day of one's birth.
37:26
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting,
37:30
because that is the end of every man and the living takes it to heart.
37:35
Sorrow is better than laughter for when a face is sad, a heart may be happy. Thank you.
37:40
The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is
37:46
in the house of pleasure.
37:47
It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than for one to listen to the song of fools.
37:53
For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool.
37:58
And this too is futility. For oppression makes a wise man mad,
38:03
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
38:05
The end of a matter is better than the beginning.
38:08
Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. Do not be eager in
38:12
your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools.
38:16
Do not say, why is it that former days were better than these?
38:19
For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.
38:24
Wisdom along with an inheritance is good, and an advantage to those who see the sun.
38:29
For wisdom is protection, just as money is protection.
38:32
But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.
38:41
Consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what he has bent?
38:46
In the days of prosperity, be happy. In the days of adversity,
38:50
consider, I just butchered that, verse 14, in the days of prosperity, be happy.
38:55
But in the days of adversity, consider, God has made the one as well as the
38:59
other, so that man will not discover anything that will be after him.
39:03
It's like, God, it just, sometimes it just feels brutal. It really does.
39:08
To me, it's tough. It's tough.
39:11
It's like, and I've really been wrangling over this lately. It's just like,
39:15
I have no control over my life.
39:18
I can't change a thing. I can't.
39:22
And I feel like that whatever I think I could do, it's just a mirage.
39:28
It's just, it's just fake.
39:30
And God is the one who is steering my life. I believe that.
39:33
I believe that God is the one. And it's like, you just feel useless and like powerless.
39:39
And I, and I've went back and forth where I, cause I know people will say,
39:42
you just gotta, you gotta go out there and make a difference.
39:44
You gotta make the change. You gotta be the change.
39:47
And it's like, really? I don't think we do.
39:51
I don't think we can. But I think we got to, we got to keep saying that.
39:55
I think we got to feel like that.
39:57
We got, but it's really God's spark that is the one directing us.
40:03
And I think that it is, it is a fable for us to think any otherwise,
40:07
to think that we are the ones controlling our destiny.
40:10
We are the ones controlling whether, how this next week's going to turn out.
40:14
Is it going to turn out good or bad?
40:15
Is, am I going to make the sale or am I not? Am I going to fail tomorrow or am I going to thrive.
40:21
Am I going to feel good tomorrow or am I going to feel sick?
40:24
It's we, I'm just, I'm aware, acutely aware of how little power I have.
40:30
And I know this is the opposite.
40:31
This is the opposite of what anybody would want to hear because the people I
40:35
admire the most don't say this.
40:37
The people that I admire the most, like a Joe Rogan or anybody else that you
40:41
got to go out there and you got to make it happen.
40:43
But the ones saying that are the ones that have made it happen.
40:47
And I don't necessarily think that it's because of them.
40:51
I don't. I believe that they're living out and carrying out what the maker,
40:59
the one behind them, is putting them through. They're going through it.
41:06
God is directing their lives. God has put them where they're at.
41:09
And they start thinking, I got myself here by my bootstraps.
41:14
I'm the one who rolled up my sleeves and did it. I think that is the biggest
41:18
lie. I think that it's...
41:20
It's not to say that we don't have, we don't need to cooperate and try to work with God and do our best.
41:25
But at the end of the day, really, what are we actually changing?
41:30
And I've been out of work many times in my life, you know, or lost my job at
41:33
different points in my life and, and tried to apply at different places.
41:37
And it's like, it doesn't matter. You can put all your energy in and send out
41:41
applications, do interviews.
41:43
And I, and the, the times that I've not had a job or not whatever,
41:47
and I was struggling or what, it didn't matter how much energy,
41:51
how much I put out there, you know, I think I still had to keep going and doing
41:55
the things, but it never really seemed like I was the one that made a difference.
42:00
It seemed like the door was either open or closed before I got there.
42:04
And it happened or happened not, irregardless of anything that I brought to the table.
42:09
And I really think that is the thing. I think that, I think that is the legitimate
42:13
viewpoint, but it's not to say that we shouldn't really keep trying.
42:18
But I just think it's an illusion to think that we're actually doing anything,
42:22
that we are actually the ones contributing or making a difference.
42:26
It's the unseen world and the God behind us and probably a lot of other evil
42:32
entities out there that are trying to steer us as well, but they're doing it ultimately from God.
42:37
He's the one that's directing our lives.
42:40
I have a really crude example that I'm going to share with you all right now.
42:43
And there was a time there was like this this a few months ago,
42:47
Out on my driveway and this is going to be like it's going to seem really weird
42:51
But there was a what is it like it was like a centipede or a millipede on the
42:54
ground and it was on our Our back driveway and I wanted it to go away from our
42:59
house I wanted it to get away from our house. I didn't want that bug around
43:02
our house. I wanted it to go away.
43:04
So, like, this is going to be very, very crude, very yucky.
43:08
And you're going to understand why when I'm explaining to this.
43:10
I felt like God, in a sense, in a very, you know, being very tongue-in-cheek saying this,
43:17
because I was standing over this centipede, and I had a staff,
43:21
this staff that I, and I was directing its course of action,
43:25
and all I would do is I would put the staff to the right of it.
43:29
And it would have to go this way, and it would start to go the other way,
43:32
and I would put the staff on the other side and they would have to turn and keep going.
43:35
And it's like the centipede is doing everything it can. It's like trying to
43:38
just get away from this weird guy.
43:40
It has no idea, but like, and no matter how much energy it's putting forward
43:44
and trying to take one step ahead of the next and trying to just go and try,
43:47
it's like the plans are in its, in its mind.
43:50
It's a little, little mind, but me above him was just every inch of the way.
43:54
Just like I was one, the one to the next, like the staff was going alongside
43:58
of it and just keeping it and directed and it's the, the line,
44:02
the course that I wanted it to go,
44:04
that I was sending it from my
44:07
house out into the, it was kind of out to my further like gravel driveway,
44:11
but just to get it away from there or whatever.
44:13
But I was wanting it to go there and, but it was just trying to go and I would
44:15
just put it to the right of it, to the left of it. And it was just,
44:18
and I was just steering it.
44:20
I could have made it go in an exact straight line and it, but it's just wanting
44:25
to go every which way it was.
44:27
And it's probably wanting to try to turn around and go back to the house or
44:29
to the other side, to the yard over there or to the yard over there and trying
44:31
to do all these things. It doesn't even know what's going on.
44:33
And it's just a representation of us.
44:36
We don't know what's going on. We're just like our heads on a swivel. We're just trying to go.
44:41
But God is the one that's above us every step of the way, along the way,
44:46
and he's directing our steps. It's going to happen one way or the other.
44:50
We're going to go where he has determined we're going to go.
44:54
This is in chapter 7, verse 15.
44:57
I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility.
45:00
There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked
45:04
man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.
45:07
Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?
45:13
Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool.
45:16
Why should you die before your
45:18
time? It is good that you grasp one thing and also let go of the other.
45:23
For the one who fears God comes forth with both of them.
45:26
Wisdom strengthens a wise man, more than ten rulers who are in a city.
45:31
Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and
45:35
never sins. Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken,
45:39
so that you will not hear your servant cursing you.
45:42
For you also have realized that you, likewise, have many times cursed others.
45:47
I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, I will be wise. But it was far from me.
45:54
What has been is remote and exceedingly mysterious.
45:57
Who can discover it? I directed my mind to know, to investigate,
46:01
and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the
46:05
foolishness of madness.
46:07
And I discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and
46:13
nets, whose hands are chains.
46:15
One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured
46:19
by her. Watch out for women. Watch out for women.
46:23
But watch out for men and women. Find the right man, and guys,
46:27
find the right woman. There's people that aren't doing right on both sexes, you know?
46:31
Behold, I have discovered this, says the preacher, adding one thing to another
46:35
to find an explanation, which I am still seeking but have not found.
46:39
I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.
46:44
Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.
46:52
Chapter 8
47:22
For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight,
47:26
though a man's trouble is heavy upon him.
47:30
If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?
47:35
No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death.
47:40
And there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it.
47:46
All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under
47:51
the sun, wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt.
47:56
So then I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from
48:01
the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus.
48:05
This too is futility, because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly.
48:11
Therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.
48:15
Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life,
48:19
still I know that it will not be well for those who fear God.
48:23
Still, I know that it will be well for those—that's a big difference—still,
48:26
I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.
48:31
But it will not be well for the evil man, and he will not lengthen his days
48:35
like a shadow, because he does not fear God.
48:37
There is futility which is done on the earth.
48:40
That is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked.
48:45
On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds
48:49
of the righteous, I say that this too is futility.
48:52
So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except
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to eat, and to drink, and to be merry.
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And this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life,
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which God has given him under the sun.
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When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done
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on the earth, even though one should never sleep day or night,
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and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which
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has been done under the sun.
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Even though a man should seek laboriously, he will not discover.
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And though the wise man should say, I know, he cannot discover. We're in chapter 9.
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There are a lot of questions. I mean, keep it from the— They didn't have all
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the things that we have now. You know, they led a lot more simpler lives back then.
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A lot more. I mean, even like before they're, I mean, pretty much everyone who
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I'm talking to right now, you've grown up in a world where there's been internet,
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there's been cars, there's been electronics.
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We've had the light bulb for, you know, who knows how long. We've had a lot
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of things that, you know, back then that they didn't have.
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And this world has sped up. It's increasing in knowledge and wisdom daily.
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We're about to eat or reach general ai intelligence the the ai is like we're on the cusp of like.
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Massive overlord of a lot of ai so things are hyping up and building up a lot
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more than back then but they still had the same issues and it doesn't matter
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if we reach ai general intelligence,
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agi we're still going to have the same problems and even if we reach where everybody
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has uh the plentiful of resources, more than we could ever handle.
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If we don't, if we don't remind ourselves of what scripture said thousands and
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thousands of years ago, we're not, we're going to come out worse and we're not,
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it's, we're not going to be satisfied. It's never going to be enough.
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You know, we might be able to start doing just what we want,
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but in the deep part of our heart,
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we're going to still feel that emptiness because it's not a matter of the resources
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you have or how much money or how much women or how much house or how much whatever
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sports or sports teams win.
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Your sport teams win and i my my chiefs they won like two or three years almost
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in a row they won two years in a row they almost you know they went pretty good
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but like they they lost this year and it's it's never enough you know it's like
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did they ever win did my team ever go to the super bowl,
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you forget about it the next day it's never enough you know whatever you have
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acquired it's never enough you never feel satisfied it's like it's always you
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just want something else,
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You want whatever else is, the other shiny object, what other else is around the corner.
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You know, we think that that's going to make me happy.
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And it's like, it never does. It never truly, fully satisfies.
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And King Solomon, like, this is the wisdom that God has given us.
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You know, however you think the Bible got put together, it has stood the test
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of time. Ancient wisdom.
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And it's like we've grown up in an age where I think the devil has rewired our
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brains to thinking whatever is new is good.
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Whatever is novel is great. As opposed to what has stood the test of time.
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That is the wisdom, the true godly wisdom that is from above. It's lasted.
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It's what matters. It's what's going to have a difference because we're going
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to come up with things new and then they're going to fade away.
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What's lasting is God's wisdom.
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And it's what we're seeing from the Bible and from what this king said thousands
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and thousands of years ago.
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Chapter 9, For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous
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men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God.
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Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred. Anything awaits him.
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It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked,
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for the good, for the clean, and for the unclean, for the man who offers a sacrifice
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and for the one who does not sacrifice.
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As the good man is, so is the sinner.
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As the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear.
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Keep in mind, he's speaking from the perspective of just a natural man.
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If you have just the natural man, it's not to say that everybody's the same.
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We're all going to end up in the same place. The same place he's talking about
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is the ground. We're all going to end up in the ground.
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So it's from just the natural secular mindset that he's speaking of.
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Verse three, this is an evil and an all that is done under the sun,
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that there is one fate for all men.
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Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is
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in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.
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For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope.
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Surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know they will
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die, but the dead do not know anything.
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Nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten.
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Indeed their love, their hate, and their zeal have already perished,
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and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.
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Go then, eat your bread and happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart.
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For God has already approved your works. Let your clothes be white all the time,
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and let not the oil be lacking on your head.
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Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your life,
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all the days of your fleeting life, which he has given to you under the sun.
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For this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.
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Always feel like the next shoe is going to drop. Does anybody,
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no matter what, no matter how many, if things are just rolling and going good,
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it's like, it's like you go ebbs and flows.
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It's like this roller coaster up and down up and it's like when everything's
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are going good, good, good, good, good, good.
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You're like, oh crap, something bad's on around the corner. Something bad is about to happen.
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Something is that I don't, I'm not aware of. It's about to happen.
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And I can tell because of how good things are going.
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But when you're in the valley, in the darkest valley, you're not,
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you're not thinking about that. you're not thinking things are about to go up.
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No, it's just all you see is my life is miserable. I want to unalive myself.
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I'm tired of this. I want to give up. I cannot keep going.
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And some people, their ebb and flow, their up and down is different.
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Some people stay at a more neutral level, but we all go through it in some form or fashion.
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But it's being aware that you're going through it. I mean, the way that you're
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going to go through it is what's going to help you the most.
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Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for there is no activity
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or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.
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I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is
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not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning
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nor favor to men of ability.
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For time and chance overtake them all.
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Moreover, man does not know his time, like fish caught in a treacherous net
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and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time
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when it suddenly falls on them.
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Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me.
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There was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it,
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surrounded it, and constructed large siege works against it.
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But there was found in it a poor wise man, and he delivered the city by his wisdom.
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Yet no one remembered that poor man. So I said, Wisdom is better than strength,
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but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.
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The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.
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Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
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Chapter 10 Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink.
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So a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.
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A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart
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directs him toward the left.
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Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking,
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and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.
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If the ruler's temper rises against you, do not abandon your position,
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because composure allays great offenses.
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There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which goes forth from the ruler.
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Folly is set in many exalted places, which rich men sit in humble places.
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I have seen slaves riding on horses, and princes walking like slaves on the land.
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He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall.
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He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.
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If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength.
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Wisdom. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.
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If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.
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Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him.
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The beginning of his talking is folly, and the end of it is wicked madness.
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Yet the fool multiplies words. No man knows what will happen,
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and who can tell him what will come after him.
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The toil of a fool so wearies him that he does not even know how to go to a city.
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Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning.
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Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at
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the appropriate time for strength and not for drunkenness.
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Through indolence, the rafters sag, and through slackness, the house leaks.
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Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry,
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and money is the answer to everything. There it is.
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I'm going to read that again. Men prepare a meal for enjoyment,
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and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything.
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You didn't think you'd see that in the Bible, did you?
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Furthermore, in your bedchamber, do not curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms,
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do not curse a rich man. for a bird of the heavens will carry the sound and
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the winged creature will make the matter known.
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So a lot of, if you don't read Ecclesiastes in the context which it's written,
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and for the purpose which it's written and from the perspective which it's written,
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you miss a lot of things and they don't make sense.
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When it says something like the money is the answer to everything,
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that really stands out to me.
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And it really resonates with me because if you're really thoughtful and honest about it,
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a lot of our problems could be answered in this natural world by money somehow
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in some form or fashion, but it still would not lead us to full enjoyment of
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life and true life. It wouldn't.
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It would deceive us to think, and it does. Sometimes the richest people can
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be the worst off people because they're so bought into, they don't need God.
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They can take care of themselves and they're further and further away from being
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in a condition that can reach out to God, to be close to God,
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to think they need him, because at the end of the day, the poorest people...
1:00:02
Can be in a better position because you understand you're dependent.
1:00:07
I have no power, so I'm going to reach to the one who has ultimate power,
1:00:11
as opposed to just thinking, I can do it all on my own.
1:00:15
And I think that's what rich people do. But it stands out to me because it is a real thing.
1:00:21
Money could answer everything in this life, but it can be deceptive at the same time.
1:00:27
Money is neutral. It's neutral, but it can also, the love of money is what's
1:00:33
evil, what just can tarnish our soul and hurt our soul. All right, two more chapters.
1:00:38
Chapter 11, cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days.
1:00:44
Divide your portion to seven or
1:00:46
even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.
1:00:51
If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth.
1:00:54
And whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north,
1:00:57
wherever the tree falls, there it lies.
1:01:00
I got to point this out because that is the verse that I've heard that R.C.
1:01:05
Sproul, who is no longer with us, he's with the Lord right now,
1:01:09
I've heard that that was the verse that he said that converted him to Christianity.
1:01:13
Let me just read it again to you and think, how could that verse convert you to Christianity?
1:01:18
The verse of verse three, it says, if the clouds are full, they pour out rain
1:01:23
upon the earth, and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north,
1:01:28
wherever the tree falls, there it lies.
1:01:31
And that verse converted one of the, arguably, one of the greatest theologians
1:01:36
we've had in a long time in history.
1:01:39
You know, I believe, R.C. Sproul is a person that has been more of an influence
1:01:44
in my life spiritually than really anyone else.
1:01:46
Him and Daniel Thomas Lancaster are probably the biggest spiritual influences of my life.
1:01:53
It goes to show that God can use anything because anything, because at any moment,
1:02:00
it's when God turns on the lights.
1:02:02
It's when God enlivens our spirit that we reach out to him.
1:02:07
It's at that moment that he does it. He calls us. He's the one who calls us, Lazarus, come forth.
1:02:13
He's the one who says it. And it's like at that moment, our spirit is made alive and we come forth.
1:02:19
So it's like God can use anything, but at the end of the day,
1:02:22
it's really him that's doing it.
1:02:24
You know, we're the one, you know, that's just, I wouldn't even say cooperating. We're just like drug.
1:02:30
We are drug. We are pulled to him.
1:02:34
We can't, there's nowhere else we can go. He does it a hundred percent.
1:02:39
It's fully him. We didn't. And if we want to try to assume like that 0.0001%
1:02:45
to ourself, it's just that much glory we're taking from him. We are, we are.
1:02:52
It's not to say after you become a Christian, we got to strive and to yield
1:02:56
to the spirit and work with God's spirit to try to, you know...
1:03:01
Our salvation and as in trying to do good things and do like do the works that
1:03:05
God's prepared before us in advance.
1:03:08
But you know, it's that, that initial calling it's him. It's him that does it.
1:03:14
He, he, he makes us alive. And I think that just goes to show with a verse like
1:03:18
that, you know, God just said, RC, you're mine, you're mine.
1:03:21
He who watches the wind will not sow.
1:03:24
And he who looks at the clouds will not reap just as you do not know the path
1:03:28
of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman.
1:03:32
So you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.
1:03:36
Wow. Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening for you
1:03:40
do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed or whether both of them alike will be good.
1:03:47
That's life. Keep sowing. Keep going.
1:03:51
That's like all you can do. But it's like God is the one who does it.
1:03:54
It's like we're to just keep scattering seed, live our life,
1:03:58
do the best we can, try to build whatever it is we're trying to build,
1:04:02
try to go and make money, take care of our family, do whatever it is in our
1:04:04
life that we're doing, you know,
1:04:06
keep going, just keep going, give it all 110%, every breath,
1:04:11
leave it all out on the field kind of thing.
1:04:14
But God is going to prosper and make alive what he wants to do, what he wants to happen.
1:04:18
That worm, you know, that I was directing, you know, he wants to go every which way.
1:04:23
God is the one saying, no, you're going that way. You're going,
1:04:26
no, you're going that way. You're going that way for his purposes, for his purposes.
1:04:29
Verse 7, The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.
1:04:34
Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all,
1:04:38
and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many.
1:04:42
Everything that is to come will be futility.
1:04:45
Rejoice, young man, during your childhood and let your heart be pleasant during
1:04:49
the days of your manhood and follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes.
1:04:55
Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.
1:04:59
So remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body because
1:05:05
childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.
1:05:08
Anyone who's above the age of 30 understands that.
1:05:11
All right. Chapter 12. Remember also your creator in the days of your youth.
1:05:16
So this is going to be the summary.
1:05:18
And the last chapter and the last verses is where he's went through everything.
1:05:23
He's reflected on everything in his life, and he's going to come to a conclusion.
1:05:27
And this is where he's going to give up these images and these metaphors.
1:05:33
And they're really things that reflect certain parts of life.
1:05:37
We're going to get to him. And it's almost like a euphemism for something deeper.
1:05:42
Like your body is breaking down. You're losing your teeth.
1:05:46
Everything, you know, you're decaying as we speak. It says, I'm going to start
1:05:51
this over verse 1 of chapter 12.
1:05:53
Remember also your creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come
1:05:57
and the years draw near, when you will say, I have no delight in them.
1:06:02
Before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return.
1:06:08
And the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and the mighty men stoop,
1:06:13
the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim.
1:06:20
It's talking about those who look through windows, your eyes,
1:06:23
you're losing eyesight.
1:06:24
The grinders, there's not many left of them. Your teeth are falling out.
1:06:29
And the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low.
1:06:33
And one will arise at the sound of the bird. And all the daughters of song will sing softly.
1:06:41
Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road.
1:06:46
The almond tree blossoms.
1:06:48
The grasshopper drags himself along. and the caperbury is ineffective,
1:06:52
for man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street.
1:06:58
Remember him before the silver cord is broken, and the golden bowl is crushed,
1:07:04
and the pitcher by the well is shattered, and the wheel at the cistern is crushed.
1:07:10
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
1:07:16
Vanity of vanities, says the preacher.
1:07:18
All is vanity. In addition to being a wise man, the preacher also taught the
1:07:24
people knowledge, and he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs.
1:07:29
The preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.
1:07:34
The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails.
1:07:41
They are given by one shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned,
1:07:45
the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying
1:07:51
to the body. Here's the conclusion.
1:07:54
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is fear God and keep his commandments,
1:08:00
because this applies to every person.
1:08:03
For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden,
1:08:08
whether it is good or evil. Every word that we have spoken, everything that
1:08:13
we have done will be called to account at one point. And that can be very terrifying.
1:08:19
But if you're in Christ, if you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ,
1:08:23
the bad things that you've done will be paid for.
1:08:26
All your sin will be paid for. You will be evaluated on judgment day.
1:08:30
When we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, Christians,
1:08:34
believers that are saved, you know, from all history, we will be evaluated.
1:08:39
And at that point, it will be just a matter of rewards that Christians,
1:08:44
the things that they have done in their life, good things that they have done,
1:08:47
will stand the fire, the final test of fire that God delivers to all of us.
1:08:53
But your sin will have all been paid for, you know? So that's the biggest thing.
1:08:58
But he sums it up well. He says, fear God and keep his commandments.
1:09:03
That's it. And what's his commandment? Trust in the one whom he has sent.
1:09:06
That is his commandment.
1:09:08
You know, of course there are all these other commandments.
1:09:12
Not everything applies to every individual, every single person.
1:09:15
It's different, you know?
1:09:17
It applies differently, but the main commandment is trust in Jesus.
1:09:20
And then you come to him, get cleaned up, and then he will wash you to walk
1:09:25
out new, to walk out, to be Lazarus who has come forth,
1:09:30
remove the bandages, remove all these things that were covering these diseases
1:09:36
or whatever we had, the suffering that we went through.
1:09:39
Remove them and we are going to walk into newness of life. And that's what it is.
1:09:44
All right, we'll leave it at this. I hope you have a wonderful day.
1:09:47
I hope you have a wonderful rest of your Sunday, a great week ahead.
1:09:51
And just know that God is with you. Whatever you're going through,
1:09:54
God is with you. Christ is with you. And have a great day. God bless you.