Amen. Thank you, Brother Charles. The little things matter. Little things matter a lot. Maybe you've heard the story of the American woman who was on vacation in Paris. And as she traveled around Paris, she walked into one jewelry store and noticed this necklace with a price tag of $50,000. So that was in the olden days, as they say, where they had to wire messages back and forth. And so she went to the telegraph office and wired a message back to her husband asking if she could buy this jewelry that costs $50,000. Well, his response was immediate and adamant. He said, no. Price is too great. Unfortunately. When the telegraph officer sent the message back, he left that comma out and the message simply read, no price too great. Little things often make a big difference. Solomon here in Ecclesiastes 10 gives us an illustration about how a little folly, a little foolishness, a little bit of sin can do great damage to one's reputation or testimony. And the illustration that Solomon gives tonight is that of an expensive ointment or of an expensive perfume that has been spoiled by little dead flies. Such perfumes and ointments back in this time were a very valuable thing. They were used in medicine. They were used in ministry there in the temple. They were used for merriment among the people. This important, valuable, expensive thing could be absolutely spoiled, not by big things, but by little things. Flies are nasty little things, aren't they? You ever have one get in the house? That's awful. Because they always want to buzz around your head at the worst possible times. So when they buzz around our house, and especially if they buzz around the meal, it's a little bit chaos. Because a couple of weeks ago, Timothy got stung in the face by a yellow jacket. So now anything that buzzes is a bee. And that fly will swoop. He'll go, bee, bee, bee, bee. And we're like, no, it's a fly. But we hate him so much. The other day, the fly landed on one of the kids. And they were like, I don't care, Daddy. Get the fly swatter. Get it. Get it. They were ready for me to whack them with the fly swatter. To kill that stupid fly. Flies are nasty little things. And they get in that perfume and they ruin it. But in this analogy, Solomon is making a pretty vivid point. Our testimony is likened to a fine perfume. Our name and reputation is an incredibly precious and important thing. I love what Solomon said in Proverbs 22. He said this, riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold. In church, God desires that our name, our reputation, our testimony be sweet to Him and to those around us. In 2 Corinthians 2.15, we see this. Paul said, For we are unto God a sweet saver of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. Our name, our testimony ought to be sweet before God and those around us. But the Bible says just as dead flies cause the ointment or perfume to stink, so a little folly, a little foolishness, a little sinfulness that cause our testimony to stink as well. As you read through Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon identifies a couple of potential flies, a couple of potential follies that we must guard against lest our testimony begin to stink. Let's consider a few of these tonight. Let's start in verses 2 and 3. The Bible says this, a wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart is at his left. Yea, also when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool. What's this first fly, this first folly, this first little thing that we have to watch out for? Number one this evening, I want us to notice the folly of a hapless, a careless, a reckless heart. We have here from Solomon a contrast between the right-handed and the left-handed. How many lefties do we have in the room tonight? My, oh my, that's what's wrong with this church. Holy cow. Hold them up. I got to see that again. That is nuts. I'm pretty sure we are above average when it comes to... You guys write weird. Why do you write like that? Anyways, we can talk about that later. We have a right hand and we have a left hand. What do they represent? Now, in the Bible, lefties, don't take this personally, all right? This is Bible. This is not me. The right hand represents strength and it represents power. The left hand, on the other hand, no pun intended, represents the opposite of that. It represents weakness or carelessness. And so Solomon is drawing a contrast between the wise man who guards his heart with his strength and guards his heart with great carefulness and power and people, fools, who do not. It's football season, amen? I'll give you an example that the men and probably many of the ladies can resonate with. When that guy's got the football, when he's running, he's getting ready to get tackled, I want to see him have that ball in his strong hand. I want to see him have that ball protected. I don't want him to see it out here in his weak hand. Got to keep it protected. This is what Solomon is saying. Guard your heart. Why? Because the heart is the seat of who we really are. Our heart is the seat of our emotions. It's the real you. It's your hopes, your dreams, your fears. Now, all cultures point to an organ that they use to kind of represent the inner man. Here we have the heart, and many times in scripture it's the heart, and we resonate with that in our culture, kind of the heart being a representation of the inner man. Sometimes in the Hebrew and in the New Testament, when it talks about the inner man, it will actually reference the bowels or the guts. And the reason they do that is because, man, when you feel something, you often feel it in your gut, right? I don't like that as much. Because if I said, boy, something really moved my heart, that has a much better ring than something moved my bowels, right? And so we're going to stick with the heart tonight, amen? But we must take care, Solomon says, to guard our hearts. It's the little things. Proverbs 4 and verse 23 says, keep thy heart, guard thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. You recognize tonight that spiritual enemies are constantly waging war against our heart. You realize tonight it is so easy for our hearts to drift. I think one of the great examples of this is Lot in the Old Testament. He went from traveling with Abraham to pitching his tent towards Sodom. Really a picture of how he began to incline his heart to the world. And it's so easy for the little things to get into our heart. We let our guard down but a little. We let our guard down but an instant. It's the little things. Church, simply tonight, I'm going to tell you this, a great way to guard your heart, a great way to keep your heart inclined to the Lord, is to make sure that your heart stays Spirit-filled. I love what Paul said in Ephesians 5, 18. And be not drunk with wine where it is in excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Now, here's the problem. It's those little things, right? It's so easy for our hearts to become filled with emotion instead of filled with the Spirit. It's so easy for our hearts to become filled with desires or lusts and not be filled with the Spirit. It's so easy for our hearts to be filled with pride and not be filled with the Spirit. Oh, it's not that big a deal. Oh, it's not really doing that much damage. But the problem is, it's the little things. Verse number three, it tells us this, it says, Yea, also when he that is a fool, the person who's not guarding their heart, the person that is holding their heart in a way that is unguarded, has a hapless, a weak heart, he that is a fool walketh by the way his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to everyone that he is a fool. In other words, how he walks, it is evident to everyone. You don't even have to tell me, dude. You're a fool. And when our hearts are filled with emotion or filled with pride or filled with you fill in the blank, whatever little thing wants to rear up. I'm going to tell you, sometimes it's painfully obvious to those around us. People know. When those little flies get in, it can cause us to stink. Guard your heart and keep it spirit filled, yielded to the Spirit of God. You say, preacher, is it really that important? Oh, yes, it is. You see, it's the little things that make a big difference. the folly of a hapless heart. Here we see that the wise man will guard his heart and keep his spirit filled. We're going to jump down a little bit in this chapter and I want to look next at verses 12 through 14 because Solomon doesn't just point out the folly of a hapless or careless heart, but look what he says in verses 12 through 14. The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious. But the lips of a fool will swallow him, swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. That's great alliteration, Solomon. Mischievous madness. A fool also is full of words. A man cannot tell what shall be and what shall be after him. Who can tell him? As Paul mentions here, several of these flies, these follies we have to watch out for. The first thing we have to watch out for is the folly of a hapless or careless heart. The second thing I want to point out tonight is the folly of loose lips. The folly of loose lips. You see, your tongue has a direct pipeline from your heart. The words of Jesus make that very clear. Luke 6 and verse 45. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. An evil man out of the evil treasure or store of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil. Read this last part with me. For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Your tongue is drawing from the well of your heart. And therefore our tongues are a pretty accurate look into what is in our heart. But what we find here in verses 12 through 14 is a description of the foolish tongue. That they swallow up the speaker from beginning to end. Verse 13, they are nothing but foolishness and madness. Verse 14, they are willing to speak of things that they know not of. And they just talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk. But before we laugh at them, can we be honest enough to admit tonight this is one of the things that our culture and our churches have a real problem with? Boy, we talk a whole lot. We post a whole lot on the internet. And we feel entitled to do it. And whatever we have to say, it amazes me. Not only do we feel entitled to do it, we feel justified in it. And if we're not careful, what do we do? We talk, and we talk, and we talk, and we talk, and we talk, and we talk, and we talk, and talk, and talk, and talk. And the problem with that, Proverbs 10, verse 19, is in the multitude of words there wanteth or lacketh not sin. But he that refraineth his lips is wise. You see, loose lips are a mark of a foolish person. You ever had somebody say, well, I just speak my mind? Proverbs 29 11 tells us something about that person. A fool uttereth all his mind. When it comes to our tongue, if we're not careful, what happens? The little things creep in. Oh, it's not really gossiping when I talk about them like that. Oh, it's not really a lie. I mean, that word isn't that bad. Don't you know that I could have picked a whole lot worse words that I could have used? And the little things creep in. It's easy to forget, as Paul admonished in Ephesians 4 and verse 29, that we are to let no corrupt communication, literally no garbage talk. And that's so much more than just swear words. Let no garbage proceed out of your mouth. But by contrast, that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. But it's so easy, isn't it? To let the little flies in. You know, I think one of the little flies that we're often prone to overlook is murmuring and complaining. Friend, you could always complain about something. The problem is a lot of us engage in it. We murmur and complain, we bite and devour, we misdirect and manipulate. Man, the tongue is a struggle, is it not? Can I tell you why the tongue is a struggle from the scriptures? The tongue is a struggle because the Bible says it can literally be set on fire of hell. James 3 and verse number 6, the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. And that fire can spread and do a lot of damage, can it not? So what's the answer? Well, you got to get the flies out, amen? You gotta guard against the folly. Our tongue, like our heart, must be yielded to the Spirit and grace of God. Colossians 4 in verse number 6 says this, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. An untamed tongue It may seem like a little thing. It is a small member, after all. But I'm going to tell you, an untamed tongue can cause our life to stink. So guard your heart. It's the little things. Guard your heart. Guard what you see. Guard what you hear. Guard what you give access to your heart. Guard your heart. Guard your tongue. Solomon gives us one last folly, one last little fly that we got to take note of tonight. 15 through 18. The labor of the foolish wearieth every one of them. Because he knoweth not how to go to the city. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning. Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength and not for drunkenness. By much slothfulness the building decayeth. And through idleness of hands the house droppeth through. So we've seen number one tonight, say it with me, we've seen the folly of a hapless heart, a careless heart, a reckless heart, not guarded. Number two, we've seen the folly of loose lips. Talk and talk and talk and talk and talk. Be careful. It's the little things. Finally tonight, number three, we see the fly or the falling of a lazy life. A lazy life. In our portion of scripture here, Solomon gives us several examples of foolish labor or of a lazy life. In verse number 15, Shane, you can kind of follow along with me. We have here a weary fool because he doesn't even know how to go to the city. The city is where the work is going to be done. The city is where the business is accomplished. And we have here this weary fool because he has no idea what to do. He has no idea where to go. It's just too hard for him. He has wearied himself and done nothing. In verses 16 and 17, we see a contrast between rulers. Put it on verse 16. We have here when thy king is a child. We have a childish and indulgent king who puts pleasure before his purpose. You know what? Who cares about the needs of the kingdom? It's morning. I'm awake. Let's eat, drink, and be merry. And what really matters to this childish, indulgent person is a pleasure-filled life. He puts his pleasure before his purpose. Finally, in verse number 18, we see a homeowner who refuses to do the regular maintenance required with severe consequences. The folly of a lazy life. You know, this folly, this fly has, in particular, thoroughly infected our culture. You think about Western culture, everything is a right. It boggles my mind. I heard an ad on the TV recently, and whoever it was wanted me to know that internet access was my right. Since when? Since when has that become a right? But everything in our culture, it seems these days, is a right. Everything is entitlement. I'm going to make broad statements. You understand that this doesn't necessarily apply to everybody, but it sure does apply to the spirit of our culture today. No one wants to sacrifice and work. Everyone wants to complain. This has so infected our culture. Listen to the campaigns that are taking place. All our politicians do is pander to the different versions of entitlement that exist in their bases. That's how politics are done. This group will pander to this sense of entitlement, and this group panders to this sense of entitlement. Our culture worships pleasure and immediate gratification and despises a purpose that extends beyond itself. But here's why I say all that. Because what infects our culture often infiltrates our Christianity. I'm going to tell you, it's here more than we want to admit. In my heart, in our churches, it is here. What infects our culture will often and will always try to infiltrate our Christianity. You know, when we think of the fly or the folly of a lazy life, you know, you can always find an excuse not to work and not to serve the Lord. Proverbs 26 gives us kind of an illustration of this. Verse number 13, the slothful, the lazy man saith, oh, there is a lion in the way, a lion in the streets. In other words, this man is not going to go out and work because there might be some risk involved. I might get hurt. It might cost me something. Verse 14 says this, "...as the door turneth upon its hinges, so the slothful upon his bed." Verse 15, "...the slothful hideth his hand in his bosom." And this guy is so lazy, it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. Verse 16, "...the sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason." Here's the thing, you can always find an excuse not to work and serve the Lord. Well, I've done it for a long time. I've done that before. Well, I've never done that before. You can always find an excuse. Well, I'm not that talented, or I'm not that outgoing, or I'm not this, or I'm not that, or I'm just waiting for the right opportunity. It amazes me sometimes. We wait so long for the right opportunity, and then we find many, many opportunities are passed us by. There's always an excuse you can find, always a way you can justify in your own mind. Not to serve the Lord and love others. I will tell you. You may be able to justify it to you, but that's a fly in your life. Let me give you another thought tonight. God created us for a greater purpose than simply our own earthly pleasure. We are on this earth for a greater purpose than simply our own earthly pleasure. It's not wrong to enjoy life. The Bible says in Timothy, God's given us all things richly to enjoy. It's not wrong to enjoy life, but you better believe it is wrong to live for enjoyment. Christian, we need to be clear on our purpose. Why are we here? We need to be clear on our priorities. We need to be clear on our pursuit. So if the first one is we need to guard our heart, and the second one is we need to guard our tongue, this one is really we need to guard our goals. We need to guard why we're here, what we're living for. Because man, it's so easy to fall into that trap. I'm going to work for retirement. I'm going to work for vacation. I'm going to work for this. I'm going to work for that. Why don't we just work for Jesus until He calls us home? No matter the season, let's just work for Jesus. Amen? Do all things, Paul said, to the glory of God. Guard our goals. The folly of a lazy life. So number one, what are these flies we have to watch out for? Number one is the folly of a hapless heart. Boy, it's so easy, isn't it, for them little things to get in our heart. Number two, the folly of loose lips. Oh, guard your tongue. Number three, the folly of lazy life. It's not wrong to enjoy life, but it is surely wrong simply to live for enjoyment. Little dead flies can make a great big stink. And so we're admonished, those of us that have the testimony of God, have a reputation for honor and wisdom. Watch out for the little things because they make a big difference. A little spark can cause a wildfire. A little germ can cause a plague. A little folly can stink a reputation. But smells aren't just powerful in the negative sense. They're powerful in the positive sense. I don't know if they still do it, but it used to be when you walked into Walmart, they pumped to the bakery smell by the entrances. So you walk in and you smell that bread, or you smell them donuts, you smell them sweets, and what does it make you do? It makes you buy things you shouldn't, amen? Smells are powerful. You ever know that person that just smelled good? I'm not talking about going around sniffing people like certain politicians are want to do. But you ever know that person that just smelt good? Like, man, you could tell if they were in the room. You could tell. I know so-and-so's been here or is here. You know, that's not just true in the physical sense. That's true in the spiritual sense, too. And when we have that kind of testimony that is sweet in the sight of God, and it is sweet in the sight of others, man, you have those people you just know. Man, brother so-and-so's here somewhere, sister so-and-so's around. You know, the funny thing about smell, and we'll end with this tonight, the funny thing about smell is that we tend to be immune to our own. You ever been walking, working in the yard? Maybe you went and exercised, maybe you mowed the yard or did some gardening and you came in and plopped yourself down on the couch and everybody else, doot, doot, doot. You ever been there? Yeah. I don't think I stink. I mean, but that's the problem. You see, very often, for good or for bad, we tend to be immune to our own smell. And so tonight, as we consider the little things and how important they are in maintaining a testimony that is sweet in the sight of God and sweet in the sight of others, I think we need to take some time tonight and ask God to help us examine the little things in our own lives. We need to take some time and ask God to help us to guard what matters. And friend, we need to take some time and ask God to help us remove the little flies and the little follies that could cause our lives. to be less than sweet before Him and others. I'm immune to my own smell, and so I need somebody else to help me with that evaluation. Could we stand together tonight, heads bowed and eyes closed? Little things make a big difference, amen?