Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / Cast Your Bread on the Waters (Ecclesiastes 11:1-6)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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Cast Your Bread on the Waters (Ecclesiastes 11:1-6)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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You would take your Bibles now and open them
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up to the book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes
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chapter 11. We're gonna look at verses just one
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through six today. And as you turn there, you're
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probably going to see that we're getting towards
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the end of this wonderful book of wisdom, but
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we're not done. By no means. This is an important
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passage for us as they all are and So would you
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now give attention to the reading of God's word?
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Ecclesiastes 11 1 through 6 Cast your bread upon
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the waters For you will find it after many days
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Give a portion to seven or even to eight. For
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you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
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If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves
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on the earth. And if a tree falls to the south
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or to the north, in the place where the tree
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falls, there it will lie. He who observes the
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wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds
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will not reap. As you do not know the way the
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spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman
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with child, so you do not know the work of God
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who makes everything. In the morning, sow your
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seed. In an evening, withhold not your hand.
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For you do not know which will prosper, this
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or that, or whether both alike will be good.
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This is God's Word. Let us pray and ask for his
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help and understanding Father we do bless you
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and we thank you for this word But Lord as many
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of these verses and passages and chapters and
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Ecclesiastes are they can be difficult And so
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I ask you to open up our ears our hearts and
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our minds to hear from you now Give us understanding
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we pray for Christ's sake. Amen There was once
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a Bible study that was going on in the student
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lounge of a college dormitory There were two
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students at the table. They both had their Bibles
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open but there was a third Bible and There was
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a third chair and it was open and the two students
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motioned for another student to join them. Hey,
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come on that student walked over sat down and
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and looked down at the open Bible and he saw
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Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse 3, specifically
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the part about the tree that falls to the south
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or to the north and the place where the tree
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falls there it will lie. And the student immediately
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knew upon reading that verse that he was the
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fallen rotting tree just lying there on the ground.
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And the student went back to his room, and he
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pleaded with God for mercy, and God was merciful
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to him. And the young student was converted that
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night. He became a believer in Jesus Christ.
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Friends, that student was the late R .C. Sproul,
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who said that he's probably the only person in
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all of history to be converted through Ecclesiastes
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11 3. Indeed, I would imagine nobody within this
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sanctuary has Ecclesiastes 11 .3 as their life
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verse. But this shows the power of God's word.
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It will not return void. If it were up to us,
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truly up to us to convert people. Well, I would
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at the very least take them down the Romans Road
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not Ecclesiastes 11 3 actually if it were truly
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up to me I would say Jesus you must perform a
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miracle in front of this person right here and
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right now to let them know that you are real
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But that's not what God did in that situation
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actually the normal means for God to change and
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transform hearts is by his word And as this opening
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illustrations shows, his entire word, his whole
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counsel is used to convert hearts and to strengthen
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faith. Only God could save someone through a
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text like this about a fallen tree on the ground.
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But as we look at this passage, we may wonder,
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what is this all about? And so perhaps a theme
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will help us, a summary statement. And so it
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is this, since God's ways are higher than our
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ways, we must learn to trust him and serve him
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with all diligence. Let me show you what I mean.
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Look at verses one and two. Cast your bread upon
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the waters, it says. Are you imagining now a
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loaf of bread floating down the river? What good
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would that be? And so we need to figure out what's
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going on here. There are a few different interpretations
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of verses one and two. I'm going to share just
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two interpretations with you now. Some believe
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that casting your bread upon the waters has to
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do with philanthropy, of almsgiving, of giving
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to the poor. And as it says seven or eight, it's
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saying be generous with your wealth. Be generous
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in helping those in need. Indeed, I think we
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would all agree with that. We should be generous
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with what we have. But also it says that you
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don't know when disaster may happen on the earth.
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And so what some believe here is that this is
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talking about casting your bread on the waters,
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giving to the poor, because there may be a time
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when you yourself will need to be the recipient
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of somebody else's help. If that is the true
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interpretation, it's very similar to the parable
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of the shrewd manager. Do you remember that one
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from Luke 16? There is a master who has a servant,
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and the servant does the work for the master,
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but the servant has been doing it dishonestly.
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And when the master finds out what the manager
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has been doing, he seeks to fire him. But knowing
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that this is coming, the manager of the master's
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money goes to the different clients. And he changes
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their contracts. He changes what they owe. Because
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he's thinking, if I show this kindness to them,
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perhaps they'll show kindness. to me. Now there's
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something commendable and there's something incommendable
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about that passage. One, being dishonest and
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wasting your master's possessions, that's not
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good. But the part that is commended is looking
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out for your future. And so perhaps that's what's
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going on in Ecclesiastes 11, one through two.
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Be generous with your wealth, help other people,
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for you may need them to help you at some point
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in the future. But the second possible interpretation
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is that this is referring to international trade.
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So the word that's used here in the ESV, the
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word cast, it's very literally the word send.
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Send your bread on the waters. And so what many
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people believe about this passage is this is
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saying send out your grain, send out your products,
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buy ship, send them far away, dealing in trade
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and business. and then you will receive a good
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return. Now, this could be it. Indeed, I think
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this is probably the correct interpretation.
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The NIV has it very literally. It says ship your
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grain across the sea. After many days, you may
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receive a return. But there's something we should
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understand if this is the correct interpretation.
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This is actually risky business. Okay, they didn't
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have Amazon Prime two -day shipping in those
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days and so what this would be with Solomon or
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whoever it would be putting their goods onto
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a ship and sending it very far away and It could
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be months It could be years before you get something
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in return and along the way what might happen
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to the ship it could it could be sunk right but
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if you don't Go for it You don't receive a good
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return Solomon indeed I believe was engaged in
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this kind of thing because of first Kings in
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that book it says that Solomon engaged in this
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very kind of venture with his own fleet of Ships,
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and so he knows what this is like and he also
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knew that it was risky business Commentator Sidney
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Gridanus says this was a risky business, especially
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in those days The journeys were long and hazardous
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and the owners had no idea how their ships or
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goods were faring. Many shipwrecks dot the bottom
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of the Mediterranean Sea. But friends, this is
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not a message about sending your grain by ship.
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I think we need to take this and apply it to
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our spiritual lives. Philip Riken says the preacher
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invites us to handle our spiritual business the
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same way. What we invest in the kingdom of God,
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our time, our talent, our treasure is never wasted.
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God calls us to exercise our gifts for the good
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of his kingdom. Now I've already mentioned one
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parable. Here's another one for you that Jesus
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tells. Do you remember the parable of the talents?
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Within that parable there is a master who has
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to go away for a time and he's got some servants
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and he leaves them with money. The word talent
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there is referring to a unit of money, of currency.
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And so to one servant he gives five talents.
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To another servant he gives two talents. And
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to the third servant he gives just one. And as
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I said, the master goes away, but he intends
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to come back. And he intends for those servants
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to do something with what he gives them. And
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the first two do a good job with it. The first
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servant is able to multiply the five talents.
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And so he's able to present to the master 10
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talents. He's doubled what he was given. The
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second servant does the same. He multiplied his
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two through wise investment. And so he's now
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able to give back four to the master. Well, do
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you remember what the third servant did with
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his talent, with his money? He buried it in the
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ground, didn't he? He buried it in the ground.
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And Jesus speaks strongly within that parable
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when he says, for to everyone who has will more
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be given and he will have an abundance but from
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the one who has not even what he has will be
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taken away and cast the worthless servant into
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the outer darkness in that place there will be
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weeping and gnashing of teeth to our ears that
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perhaps sounds like strong language but friends
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it should because that third servant knew what
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was expected of him And yet he was too afraid
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to use what was given to him for good. He was
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paralyzed by fear, not from love and obedience
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toward his master. He knew what was expected
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of him, and yet he did nothing to accomplish
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it. Instead, he actually, within that parable,
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blames his inaction on the master himself. And
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he just hides that talent in the ground. Friends,
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We should do something with our lives. We should
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do something with that which God gives to us.
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Perhaps it's helpful to think of our lives as
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an investment. How much should you invest in
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living for God? All of it. We should invest all
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of ourselves in living for God. And so let me
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ask you, how are you investing yourselves in
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kingdom living and work? Friends, God expects
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us to use our lives for his kingdom. When Jesus
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returns, what will he find us doing? Whether
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you go on a mission trip or whether you start
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a Bible study or whether you get together with
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somebody who just needs prayer. Whether you share
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the gospel with somebody, every time you do that,
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you are investing in the kingdom of God. Why
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don't we though? Why don't we invest all of ourselves?
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I think I know why. Because we're scared. We
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are scared. We don't know. The outcome. We don't
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know what's ahead. And we're scared because we
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can't control all of the situations in which
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we find ourselves. And that's where verses three
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and four are going. Look there. It seems that
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Solomon is not just a king, and not just a wise
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man, but apparently also a meteorologist. Because
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he's talking here about the wind, right? And
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he paints this picture of a farmer looking up
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in the sky, looking at the clouds, observing
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the wind. The farmer here is endlessly assessing
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situations. This farmer is always looking at
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the weather channel. He's always reading the
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farmer's almanac. This farmer is always at Home
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Depot talking to his buddies about when is the
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best time to plant. Friends, certainly there
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is real wisdom in timing. Ecclesiastes 3 shows
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us this. There's a time to plant and a time to
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pluck up what is planted. But the one who never
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plants because the conditions are not perfect
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is the one who will never reap a harvest. And
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the person who will never plant because the ideal
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conditions are never good enough. This person
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is doing what this passage is warning us against
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he is afraid He is afraid that the situation
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is not perfect for what he needs to do And I
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think we act in this way because we just don't
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know what's ahead And we can't control all things
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a few years ago. I was in my backyard and I was
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cutting some limbs from a tree I had these two
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trees in the yard. I got more than that. But
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this this one tree fell into another tree. And
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so tree number two is holding up tree number
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one. So I climbed up in tree number two with
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my chainsaw, started cutting away the limbs.
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So tree number one would continue following.
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But at that moment, I looked up and I noticed
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the sky was getting really dark. I mean, really
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dark. And I thought I I got to get out of here.
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So I hopped out of the tree I started walking
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briskly with my chainsaw back to the house and
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I heard this loud crash and I looked behind me
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and it was like something out of just an intense
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action movie as Tree number three gets struck
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by lightning falls into tree number one and tree
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number two And a year later, Helene came and
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tree number four would fall on what was left
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of tree one, two, and three. Friends, the whole
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point of this is stay away from my backyard.
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The second point of this is you don't have control
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over some of these things, do you? You don't
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have control over the wind. The lightning did
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not consult with me first, did it? when we observe
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these things and we're petrified by them, this
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is us not trusting God. And the good news is
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that when we don't know what's ahead, or we don't
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have the control, we can trust in the one who
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does know. and who does have the control. These
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are God's incommunicable attributes, which I
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know is a big phrase. Basically what it refers
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to is God has some attributes like omniscience
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and omnipotence and omnipresence and immutability,
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sovereignty, that he does not share with us.
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We don't have those attributes, but he does share
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with us other attributes that he has, like the
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ability to love. and have knowledge and wisdom
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and to even speak, right? But there are things
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that just belong to God and to God alone. And
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this is actually good news for us because the
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one with infinite knowledge is also the one with
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infinite power. And friends, where the rubber
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meets the road here is to recognize this world
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is broken and yet we can't fix it all, can we?
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That is the work of God. Indeed, that work has
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already happened because Jesus has fixed it,
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promises to make all things new, because Jesus
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went to the cross to redeem people for himself
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as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. When we
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think about the things we can't know and can't
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do, consider this, Jesus knew exactly what he
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was getting into when he came to save us from
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our sins. Philippians 2 says it best, he emptied
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himself by taking the form of a servant, being
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born in the likeness of men, and being found
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in human form. He humbled himself by becoming
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obedient to the point of death, even death on
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a cross. Jesus knew exactly what he was getting
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into for you and for me. So you see, this is
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about trusting God. who can do what we cannot
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do, and he knows the things that we cannot know.
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And that's where verses five and six are going.
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Look there. Just as we don't know the way of
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the wind or how the bones form in the womb, we
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cannot fully grasp the work of God. Now, being
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that scripture uses the same word for spirit
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and for wind, it's a little bit difficult to
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discern exactly what verse five is talking about.
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However, consider it could be talking about both
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here. As it talks about the wind, it may also
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be talking about the work of the spirit, but
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consider also what it says about the bones in
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the womb of a woman with child. Have you really
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truly reflected on just how amazing it is that
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children are born? A few years ago, when Brittany
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was pregnant with Hazel, a good friend of mine
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texted me and he said, your daughter, is the
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size of a kumquat right now. We can know the
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stages of development within a child in the womb,
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but how does it really work? I don't know, and
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I'm married to a neonatologist. Friends, this
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is the work of God, isn't it? It really is. And
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as you look at verse five and you see this thing
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about the wind and all, actually I believe that
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what's happening here is actually gonna be picked
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up later on by Jesus himself. Do you remember
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Jesus talking with Nicodemus in John three? Nicodemus
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asks, how can a man be born again when he's old?
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And Jesus says this, which again I think sounds
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a good deal like Ecclesiastes 11 .5, the wind
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blows where it wishes and you hear it sound,
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but you do not know where it comes from or where
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it goes. So it is with everyone who's born of
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the spirit. And so Jesus does the same thing.
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He uses the word for wind to teach us about the
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work of the Holy Spirit. And friends, talk about
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something we cannot do. We cannot save ourselves.
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We cannot regenerate ourselves. The Spirit works
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faith into our hearts just as God gives us the
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physical birth, and we don't have anything to
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do with that. You cannot make yourself be born.
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You also cannot make yourself be reborn. It is
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the work of God. And Ecclesiastes 11 .5 highlights
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the work of God. Look there at the end of the
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verse. You do not know the work of God who makes
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everything. The word that's used there in the
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Hebrew for make is also the same as the word
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for do. And the point is this, God knows and
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does what we cannot. Namely, He saves us when
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we were dead in our trespasses. But friends,
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sometimes we think we bring a lot to the table.
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Sometimes we think that we're more powerful and
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more intelligent than we really are. And when
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we start to behave like that, we need to put
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ourselves in the sandals of Job. Do you remember
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towards the end of the book of Job when God finally
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speaks and he starts asking questions of Job?
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He says to Job, where were you when I laid the
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foundations of the earth? It's a rhetorical question,
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but the implied answer is, I wasn't created.
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Have you commanded the morning since your days
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began and caused the dawn to know its place?
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No, can't say that I have. Where is the way to
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the dwelling of light, Job? I don't know. Job,
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have you entered into the springs of the sea
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or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have you,
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Job? No. Can you lead a constellation, Job? No.
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Can you send forth lightning, Job? No. Then answer
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me this, who are you to contend with the Almighty?
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Friends, when we start acting like we know everything
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about God, when we start behaving like we have
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more power than we really have, friends, this
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is not strength. This is not intelligence. This
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is foolishness. God's ways are higher than ours.
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And because God's ways are higher, verse six
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gives us our course of action. Look there as
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I begin to close. It says, so in the morning
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and in the evening, for you don't know which
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will succeed by God's providence. And just because
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we don't know all things and we can't do all
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things, does that mean we just give up working
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and serving God? Of course not. That's actually
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what Solomon here is saying not to do. But some
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of us live so paralyzed by the fear of failure
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that we wait for the perfect ideal conditions
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before we'll serve somebody else. Before we'll
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trust God to do what he has called us to do.
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Before we'll share our faith or use any of our
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gifts. But friends, when we behave like that,
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when we're always looking for the perfect moment,
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it'll never come. Let's say that you work with
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somebody and they need to know the gospel. And
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you say to yourself, I'm gonna share the gospel
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with them, but I gotta wait for the right day.
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Friends, if that's your mentality, it's always
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gonna be a little bit too rainy. a little too
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windy, a little too overcast. You're not gonna
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feel it. And then one day that coworker will
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up and leave the department. The coworker may
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leave the company. The coworker may leave this
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life. Friends, God does not give us spiritual
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gifts to be hidden. And he does not call us to
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a task without ordaining. the outcome. He is
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the one who saves. Our part is to be obedient
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to share the gospel and trust him with the result.
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Christian, do not be paralyzed by the unknown.
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Recall Ecclesiastes 11 3 and the student who
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was converted through it. Proof that God's word
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accomplishes its purposes. Let us be faithful
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then. to cast our bread on the waters, trusting
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God even when we cannot see the outcome, and
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leaving the results to Him. Amen.