Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / The Vanity of the Unexamined Life (Ecclesiastes 6:10-7:14)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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The Vanity of the Unexamined Life (Ecclesiastes 6:10-7:14)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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And now if you would please take those Bibles
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and open them up. To the Old Testament book of.
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Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter 6 verse 10.
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And we're going to take it through about chapter
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7 verse. 14 as we continue where we left off.
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in this wonderful book of wisdom, Ecclesiastes
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6 verse 10. Please listen, for this is God's
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word. Whatever has come to be has already been
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named, and it is known what man is and that he
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is not able to dispute with one stronger than
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he. The more words, the more vanity. And what
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is the advantage to man? For who knows what is
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good for man while he lives the few days of his
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vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For
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who can tell man what will be after him under
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the sun? A good name is better than precious
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ointment, and the day of death than the day of
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birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning
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than to go to the house of feasting. For this
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is the end of all mankind, and the living will
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lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter,
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for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
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The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
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but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
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It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of
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the wise than to hear the song of fools. For
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as the crackling of thorns under a pot so is
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the laughter of the fools. This also is vanity
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Surely oppression drives the wise into madness
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and a bribe corrupts the heart Better is the
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end of a thing Than its beginning and the patient
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in spirit is better than the proud in spirit
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Be not quick in your spirit to become angry for
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anger lodges in the heart of fools. Say not,
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why were the former days better than these? For
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it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Wisdom
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is good with an inheritance, an advantage to
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those who see the sun. For the protection of
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wisdom is like the protection of money, and the
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advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves
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the life of him who has it. Consider the work
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of God. who can make straight what he has made
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crooked. In the day of prosperity, be joyful.
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And in the day of adversity, consider God has
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made the one as well as the other so that man
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may not find out anything that will be after
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him. The grass withers and the flower fades,
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but God's word stands forever. Let's pray. Father,
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we once again give you praise and thanks for
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the book of Ecclesiastes, but Lord, there are
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difficult statements in here, things that might
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be confusing to us. And so Lord, would you give
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us a spirit of understanding? Would you open
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up our ears and our minds and our hearts to hear
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from you now these things we ask in Christ's
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name. Amen. Maybe you have heard of the ancient
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philosopher Socrates. Socrates, ancient philosopher
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who taught Plato. Plato goes on to teach Aristotle.
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Socrates is known really for two big things.
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And I think he would be known for more things
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if we had his writings, but we don't know really
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what he wrote. We don't have his writings. Most
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of the things we know about Socrates we learn
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from his students. But Socrates said this statement
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according to Plato. He said, the unexamined life
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is not worth living. Have you heard that before?
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The unexamined life is not worth living. We should
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consider the time and the place in which Socrates
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said this. He was in ancient Greece in and around
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400 BC, and at that time there were many philosophers,
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and there were many philosophies going around.
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And it was confusing to the common man. The common
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man said, well, if these ancient philosophers,
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if they can't come to a consensus on what is
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true, how can I? And so people seemed to give
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up the pursuit. truth, but not Socrates. Socrates
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used what is commonly called today the Socratic
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method. He asked good questions of people that
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they would examine themselves to see what truth
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really is. Well, before Socrates, there was a
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greater prophet, a greater philosopher, And this
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is Solomon, the person that we believe wrote
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Ecclesiastes. And Solomon is doing something
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the same as Socrates, and that he is trying to
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get us to consider life, to consider death, to
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consider what true wisdom is. And I actually
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think that we live in a similar time as Socrates.
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As in Socrates' day, many people gave up the
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pursuit of truth. I find today that people are
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not so concerned about truth, are they? People
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are not so very much engaged with the deep things
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of God. People actually aren't engaged with the
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shallow things of life. You ever stop and talk
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to somebody about Jesus and they look at you
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like, how dare you talk to me about such a strange
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topic, right? We need to consider who Christ
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is. We need to consider the deep things of God.
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We need to use our minds better. Coming to the
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rescue is this wonderful book of Ecclesiastes
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and this wonderful passage that we have just
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read. This passage helps us to consider that
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which has eternal consequences. So look at verse
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10. Whatever has come to be has already been
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named and it is known what man is. As we look
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at this you may find yourself transported back
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to chapter 3. We've made this remark several
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times in this book that so many things that we're
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reading about in Ecclesiastes seem to take us
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back to Ecclesiastes 3 because I believe that
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verse 10 actually sounds a good bit like verse
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14 of chapter three. For there it says, I perceived
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that whatever God does endures forever. Nothing
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can be added to it, nothing or anything taken
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from it. God has done it so that people fear
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before him. There is this understanding as we
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look at Ecclesiastes that there are things that
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are high above us, things that we can't quite
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understand, right? But as our passage says, who
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can understand these things? Who is governing
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these things? The implied answer is it's obvious,
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right? It's God. Once again, we are confronted
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with the reality of the very sovereignty of God,
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that he is foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
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So when we come upon statements in this passage
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that might be difficult or when we come upon
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things in life that are very very hard for us
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Friends we are to trust God Because he is in
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control of our every moment of life. He knows
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what is good But thankfully he does clue us in
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to things about himself and about this life And
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that's really what chapter 14 is doing. It's
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giving us a number of things for us to consider
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in this life. And the way that it does this is
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these better than statements. Look at your text
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here. You can see these better than, these good
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statements in verse one, two, three, five, eight,
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and 11. And the way that it goes about doing
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this is quite literally in the Hebrew, it just
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uses the word good over and over again. It uses
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the Hebrew word of tov. But saying something
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is gooder is not good grammar today, so we use
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the statement better than. It's a little bit
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like children in school. Have you learned about
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those greater than, less than, equal to statements?
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I see heads nodding, right? 10 is greater than
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five, where the kind of sideways V is pointed
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towards the larger number. That's a little bit
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about like what's going on in the first half
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of chapter seven here. And so let's look at some
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of these greater than, better than statements.
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I won't be able to cover them all, but look in
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verse one. A good name is better than precious
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ointment. Now, you might say, well, in what way?
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I think we are to understand that this precious
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ointment is something that's costly. It's expensive.
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And so we should consider how a good name is
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better than that. Well, we already saw last Sunday
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this discussion on wealth. And sometimes wealth
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is just not all it's cracked up to be. But what
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Solomon wants us to see here is that a good name
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is what it's cracked up. to be, our reputation,
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right? Now, I know some of you women have been
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wearing the same perfume for years or even decades,
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and sometimes we get to know the women in our
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lives by their scent, right? You smell their
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perfume on somebody else and you say, hold up
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a second, that's my wife's perfume, right? Or
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that's what my mother used to wear. Well, guess
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what sticks with you longer than your scent?
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It's your name. It's your reputation. And so
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consider this. How are you known? When people
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say your name out loud, what do they think of?
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What is your reputation? Now be careful with
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this a little bit because people's opinions are
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fallible, but how are you known? And if there
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be ways in you that maybe are not the most wonderful
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ways, remember that the Lord is sanctifying us,
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right? And so as we look at these further better
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than statements, if you see some that describe
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you a little bit, take those things to the Lord.
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Be humble enough to pray about them. Be humble
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enough even to talk with a brother or sister
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in Christ for help. on these things, right? Because
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we can see something like this in the next statement.
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Look in verse five. It is better for a man to
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hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the
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song of fools. Solomon says something similar
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to this in Proverbs chapter 12 verse one. Whoever
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loves discipline loves knowledge. But he who
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hates reproof is stupid. Friends, are you humble
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enough to receive reproof, correction, even discipline?
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The fool wants nothing to do with this. The fool
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says, I don't want to hear it. You're wrong.
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I'm right. But a truly wise person can receive
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gentle and loving criticism and correction. And
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so ask yourself, am I able to receive this kind
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of correction because a fool cannot, right? And
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so once again, if you are coming short in this
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area, take it to the Lord and ask for his humbling
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work upon you such that you could receive reproof
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in order that you would continue to look more
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and more like Christ Jesus. Because you see what
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it says next. It uses this description here.
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For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so
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is the laughter of the fools. This also is vanity.
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What this is showing us here is that there are
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people who are foolish, who would rather not
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hear any kind of correction, but instead would
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rather surround themselves with foolish laughter
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and talk and chatter, right? And the way that
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it expresses this I think is important. The crackling
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of thorns. Have you ever tried to make a fire
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out of thorns? How long does that fire last?
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Usually not very long, right? But it can make
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a lot of noise here. And so that's the fool who
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makes a lot of noise but without a lot of substance.
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Those thorns will not keep the fire going. but
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the correction of the Lord will be good for the
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soul here. But also we need to be careful with
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how we address the fool. Proverbs does this again
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and again. Do you ever try and correct a fool?
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Sometimes it's a fool's errand to correct a fool,
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right? And so before we go correcting anybody,
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we need to ask ourselves, am I humble? Can I
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receive this kind of correction? Or, when somebody
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seeks to correct me in a gentle way, do I just
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get angry? Look at verses 8 through 10, especially
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verse 9. Be not quick in your spirit to become
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angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.
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A fool cannot receive correction because anger
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is in his very core. James 119 says, know this,
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my beloved brothers, let every person be quick
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to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the
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anger of a man does not produce the righteousness
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of God. And so friends, let's ask ourselves here,
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are we angry people? And specifically, are we
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angered over selfish things? Or are we angered
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over the things that God is angry about? I would
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say that most of our anger is not righteous anger.
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Most of our anger comes from, you disappointed
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me. You did this to me or that to me. We don't
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get our way. And in this way, we're actually
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starting to see something else that's in here.
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We are not patient. Look there in verse eight.
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Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.
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And the patient in spirit is better than the
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proud in spirit. When we are inconvenienced,
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when people don't get things done according to
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our timeline, then we get angry here. But a wise
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person looks beyond himself. A wise person considers
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others, right? For to be angry and impatient
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all the time, this is not a virtue, friends.
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It is not a virtue to be angry and impatient
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all the time. Why is that? Because of who the
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Lord is. God is slow to anger and abounding in
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steadfast love. And those who have the Holy Spirit
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dwelling inside, those who are receiving his
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sanctification are being made more and more into
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the image of Christ, right? And so when we exhibit
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patience, when we exhibit gentleness, what are
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we really doing? We're modeling our savior, the
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one who is gentle and lowly, right? God is long
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suffering with us. Aren't we not also to be long
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suffering with one another? And so again, If
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you're struggling with anger or you're struggling
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with impatience, take it to the Lord in prayer
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and also speak to one another. Have somebody
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that you can confide in who can pray along with
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you. You see, these are some of the traps of
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this life, the life of vanity. But perhaps the
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greatest trap that we see within this passage
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is avoiding the reality of death. Look at verses
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one through four, and this is where I'm going
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to focus most of my attention. The trap of avoiding
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the reality of death. It says in the second line
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of verse one, and the day of death than the day
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of birth. It's using that better than statement
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once again. And so we need to consider how is
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the day of death better than the day of birth?
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That sounds perplexing, doesn't it? Right? And
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so let's consider how a number of different ways
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have been proposed to understand this. Some will
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say, well, the day of death is better than the
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day of birth because the day of birth is really
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just a day of potential. We don't know what's
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going to happen with this baby. Right. But at
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the end of life at death, we know what has happened.
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And so people will say this is talking about
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potential and the end of life and all that somebody
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has done. The second view on this. has to do
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with our reward to glory. People will say it's
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better to die than to be born because when you
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die in Christ, you go to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Now, obviously that is correct. But is that what
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Solomon is talking about here? I would say he's
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not talking about either one of those things.
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Instead, what Solomon is talking about when he
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says this is that the day of death is better.
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because the day of death is a better teacher.
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We learn so much through death. Death, the death
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of others causes us to consider who we are, our
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need for Christ, and in that way, death acts
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as an evangelist, pointing us to the reason that
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there is death. for the wages of sin is death.
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And even more than that, what death does is it
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teaches us to look to the one who conquered death
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on the cross. Death is a better teacher. Have
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you ever noticed how when a popular musician
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dies, their music becomes popular again? Even
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if it's just for a matter of days or weeks, suddenly
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their songs and their albums top the charts,
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right? We go back and listen to them. Death does
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something like that within us. It causes us to
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remember. It causes us to ponder. And really
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what's going on within this section is this is
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telling us we need to take all of this to heart.
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Look at verse two. It's better to go to the house
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of mourning than to go to the house. feasting
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why because it says the living will lay it to
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heart a wise person really thinks about death
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a wise person goes to the house of mourning what
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does a fool do though a fool wants nothing to
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do with it the fool ignores death but do you
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want to know why it's foolish to do that I think
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Hebrews 927 says it best It is appointed once
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for man to die and then the judgment. It is appointed
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once for man to die and then the judgment. And
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so the point is this, friends, unless Jesus comes
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back in our lifetime, we will all die, right?
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You cannot ignore that fact. It is foolish to
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do so. And so the point Solomon is making is
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that sorrow is the point. He wants us to embrace
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this sorrow, not because sorrow in and of itself
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is good, but because sorrow does something within
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us. Sorrow causes us to examine life and death.
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Jeff Wint said that sometimes trying to cheer
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someone up is the last thing that they need.
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Sometimes we need to simply sit in the sorrow.
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I can't remember who it was. that said this,
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and I mentioned it a few weeks ago, who said,
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man's greatest problem is that sometimes we have
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failed to sit in our room quietly. We need to
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ponder on these things. We need to examine these
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things. We need to take it to heart. David Gibson
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writes, when life ends or is about to end, Absolutely
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everything comes into focus. The things which
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don't really matter, but which we gave so much
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time to, seem so empty and pointless. The lives
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we touch, the generosity we showed, and the love
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that we gave or received now means so much more.
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Friends, we need to take it to heart. Now, does
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this mean it's wrong to be in the house of feasting?
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Of course not. You've seen it so far in this
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book. The thing that Solomon talks about just
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as much as death is joy, right? And so it is
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good to be in the house of feasting. It's just
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that death and funerals and graveside gatherings
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cause us to ponder things that you don't really
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ponder at parties. If you go to that graduation
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party, If you go to that birthday party and you
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just look sad and you just want to talk about
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death the whole time, you're not going to get
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invited back to another party. You're not the
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life of the party. You're the death of the party.
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But that sort of behavior is totally appropriate
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at the graveside. It's totally appropriate at
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the funeral, right? And sometimes that's just
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where we need to be. Theodore Bezos said, it
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is better To have some sorrow of mind and to
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be grieved for things done amiss Than to be much
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given to rejoicing and laughter for of that sadness
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at length grows true gladness of mind Friends
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isn't it true that after a death After a tragedy
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so many of us pray these words that we find at
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the end of the Bible come Lord Jesus. Death causes
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us to say, come Lord Jesus, right? And speaking
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of Jesus, this section right here reminds me
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of another section of scripture. It reminds me
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of the Beatitudes that we can find in the Sermon
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on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain. Phrases
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that Jesus taught like, blessed are those who
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mourn for they will be comforted. Blessed are
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you who weep now, for you will laugh. Friends,
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if you just try to avoid and minimize pain and
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minimize heartache and sorrow, you will miss
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the fact that Jesus meets us there in that sorrow.
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You will miss the comfort that the Spirit gives
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to us. And you know what? Jesus doesn't just
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meet us there. No, he endured it himself. This
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is actually how Jesus redeems us by suffering
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in our place. He shows us then that the miseries
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of this life cannot be fixed by us. They are
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fixed by the suffering of Christ himself. And
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because of Christ, friends, we can mourn as people
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with hope. And so when you go through that loss,
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When you go through that sorrow When you go through
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that time of depression Friends, you can trust
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that Jesus knows exactly what you were going
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through He suffered through it He he sorrowed
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over his friend Lazarus and ultimately he who
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is called the man of sorrows went to the cross
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for you and By doing so Jesus does something
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we could not do Jesus make things right. Look
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at verse 13. Consider the work of God who can
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make straight what he has made crooked. Maybe
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to our minds, it would have sounded better if
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the text says that he makes straight what we
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make crooked. But again, this is showing us the
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very sovereignty of God. You cannot fix the problems
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of this life. You cannot fix the vanity, the
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hevel, the folly, the sorrow, and the death.
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But you must run in faith to the one who can.
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Jesus died on the cross to put death to death.
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He died on the cross and arose to remove death's
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sting. That through Christ, we would have everlasting
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life. You see friends in Christ, the grave is
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not the end. In Christ, The house of mourning
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gets turned into the house of feasting. Well,
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friends, as I conclude, let me take it back to
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Socrates. I mentioned that Socratic method. Let
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me ask you two important questions. You've maybe
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heard of evangelism explosion, the two diagnostic
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questions that people sometimes ask to do evangelism
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are the questions I ask you now. Have you come
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to a place in your spiritual life? Where do you
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know for certain that if you died today? you
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would go to heaven and Secondly suppose you were
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to die today and stand before God and he were
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to ask you Why should I let you into heaven?
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What would you say? If your answers to those
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questions are yes and Christ alone then Alleluia
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and Amen But if not, friends, I want you to remember
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how I began this sermon. The unexamined life
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is not worth living. Friends, you must examine
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your lives. If you are not sure what to make
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of Christ, examine who you are. And examine who
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Christ Jesus is. Because he is the only way to
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be lifted above the Hevel, the vanity of this
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life. Because he said it himself, I am the way,
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and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
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Father but through me. Amen. Let's pray.