Good morning. It is good to be with all of you today. Let me tell you, I had quite the week. And I am tired. I'm beat up. I need to be restored and renewed. by the Word of the Lord. And hopefully, the same is true for you. Let's bow our heads in prayer and ask for help during this time. Please bow your heads with me. Heavenly Father, I pray that my brothers and sisters today here would be encouraged to recognize and acknowledge that You are the Sovereign over all of history. History is meaningful. And that You are working Your perfect promises out. Although we may not see them in the way You do, we may not appreciate them, and the way You've declared them. Maybe today, this moment, that we would just stop and cease our work, listen to them afresh again, hear them as though from You, expressed by Your Word to us, to speak to our hearts and encourage us in a time of great trouble in our nation, in our cities, as we come in here today to be refreshed by You, by Your Word. Empowered by your spirit and pray you help me faithfully declare your word today in Jesus name. Amen So the text today that we'll be covering As we continue our journey through Ecclesiastes will be chapter 3 verses 4 through 5 so if you'd like to turn there in your Bibles if you have them with you and And we'll read the text in its entirety, the poem, verses one through eight, to kind of gather the context to remind ourselves exactly where we're at in light of this poem that I believe Solomon wrote as a way to sort of reflect on what he has taught already and really look at all the concerns that are done under the sun. and its relationship to time. Let's read it together. and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to seek and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away, a time to tear and a time to sew, a time to keep silence, a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. So when we think about that text, there's something that really stood out to me this week as I was kind of chewing the cut of the text, if you will, kind of just trying to better understand why Solomon would refrain in this poem. Basically, everything that he's already written so far. And what stood out to me, it's really interesting, we're studying, we're doing eschatology, deep dive into eschatology. We were invited to go to Bree, the Sister Reformed Baptist Church here in town. Greg and I spent some time with them last week, or earlier this week, I should say, or last week. Now, this is the beginning of the week, isn't it? Yeah, my bad. It's the Lord's Day, bros. It's the Lord's Day. When we went there last week, we actually had a chance to present a position on post-millennialism. And I've been studying this for some time now and I had this wonderful opportunity in preparation for this discussion, this survey that we would be doing together in my time at the brewery to listen to about 10 hours worth of Ken Gentry's presentation out of the total 17 hours on an introduction to post-millennialism. And what's interesting is two themes came out in his teaching that I actually hadn't picked up on before. One of them was history is meaningful and it's gradually moving towards something. The pagans had a concept of history that was cyclical. That's interesting. I never really thought about that up until this point, but it's true. Pagans and their philosophies had an idea that history was sort of repeating itself over and over and again. It was kind of moving on. in no meaningful direction per se, there was no purpose in it, but that the sun rose and set, and as Solomon's acknowledging, everything kind of happens under the sun the same way, and there's really nothing any different about history with the exception of maybe we learn from our former mistakes, maybe we grow in particular areas, we become more accustomed with this natural knowledge. It cyclically removes and it repeats itself forever and ever. And really what Solomon's trying to identify for us is that's meaninglessness under the sun. So far, there's no meaning to be found in this cyclical pagan understanding of history. Now, the Bible presents an entirely different perspective of history. It presents a perspective that history is moving in a particular direction with a meaningful purpose. It's linear. It has an intended end. It's meaningful when it is understood under heaven. So if you notice, there are two marks that we should be paying very close attention to as we read through this study in Ecclesiastes. Under the sun and under heaven. And if you notice, as I mentioned last week in chapter 3, it's the first time ever it's mentioned everything there is a season in verse 1. A time for every matter. Where? Under heaven. Heaven. represents what? God's reign and sovereign authority over his created order. So, think about it. Under the sun, the sun is part of the celestial objects hanging in space. It's in the heavens as the Bible describes, right? But it's not the same heaven that's described here. Heaven here is God's reign and authority, His rule over His created order. And here it's noted that it's not meaninglessness as though we might observe it under the sun from a practical standpoint, from a subjective human standpoint, but that there is true meaningfulness when we understand it in relationship to what's under heaven. with a heavenly perspective, a universal, deductive, outside perspective that looks down on all matters of life and faith, when that is guided by God's Word, everything now under heaven becomes meaningful. It becomes meaningful because it's personal. God has ascribed a particular purpose to it, and it's moving towards an intended end. Totally different from the pagan understanding. And if you note, the language is very specific in verse 1, as it relates to this poem. There is a season, a time for every matter. It gives us the idea and concept that it's appointed. It's very specific. And it starts from the first few passages that we read last week, that we went through last week, from a more universal perspective, right? A time to be born and a time to die. Question, can you control that? Can you control when you are born? Can you control when you die? No, you can't. There will come an end to your life. And there was a beginning of your life that you had absolutely no control over. Planting and plucking up what is planted, as we read last week, This idea of seasons. Seasons come and go. Can you control when those seasons happen? Now, there's some out there, the climate controlists, those weirdos, think that they have some kind of control over the gases in the sky that will eventually change the seasons. So much to the extent, well, they'll eventually work to control you. and once you operate like a vehicle and other things, they may even control the population because your carbon footprint is causing this seasonality to change. Because they want to take dominion over something they can't take dominion over, can they? They can't control when the sun rises and sets, how the earth spins, how much gases are in the sky, how the ocean fluctuates, where the moon stands and hangs, none of that. They can't control how hot the sun is. They can't control how hot the core of the earth is, can they? We have to work with God's given matter. So we can't control those things. We can't control any of them. Now, we move to the granular. We move to the more particulars in the text. You notice it moves from the sort of universal perspective of all these things that are completely out of your control, and then to things that are. Killing. Healing. Breaking down. Building up. And in our text today, weeping and laughing. Mourning and dancing. casting away stones and gathering stones together, embracing and a refraining from embracing. Those things seemingly are within our control. Now, as a little sermonic footnote, I want to remind you that what I believe this text is demonstrating or providing for us is the transcendental Foundation for presuppositional apologetics. Now, let me get all the big words out of the way. Transcendental, meaning it's beyond and outside of us. God is the one that sets and ordains the foundations for all things. He has created the order and instilled it, and He has given its value. For instance, the end of Genesis 1, what does it say? When God finished creating all things, what did He make it? Very good. He observed it and said, it is very good. We live in a moral fabric. All of the cosmos, everything that we are, and cosmos itself means ordered. Chaos is the opposite of cosmos. Everything is ordered in a particular way. Let me suggest to you in the sermon's title that time itself is unavoidable. Today's titled sermon is Unavoidable Time. There are things about time and the way things are done within time that are entirely unavoidable. Time, as it were, exposes the practical implications of our beliefs. Think of that. What you believe will eventually be exposed in what? Due time. Right? What you believe about the world, what you believe about God, what you believe about everything in it, what you believe about yourself. will practically be exposed in due time. It's inescapable. It's like a freight train. You could try to avoid it as much as you want. You could try to fake the funk, as we say, as much as you want. But eventually, time will tell exactly what it is that you believe. You may have heard this statement before. Listen, I hear what you're saying, but I see what you're doing. I hear what you're saying, but I see what you're doing. All comes from what? An exposure of time. Over time, what you believe will eventually come out. And I believe that's exactly what Solomon's trying to get at in this statement. Look, I tried to pursue all these things. I tried to instill meaning and find joy and pleasure and meaningfulness and fulfillment in these things, and I didn't. It was impossible. And time told. What he's trying to reflect here is he's saying, look, after I did it all and I went through it all, time demonstrated that was impossible. It was time. that got in my way. So we need to ask ourselves, how do we perceive time and does our use of it matter? Remember last week I brought up this dash on the tombstone idea, right? You're born and then you die, but what you do in the middle is what matters most. That little dash in the tombstone is what matters most. Why? Because time, I believe, demonstrates that we live in a God-rigged world. Time shows and proves that we live in a God-rigged world. The fact that we fight against it, the fact that we try to escape it, the fact that we try to fake it, shows that we bear God's image. The fact that we have a desire to do what's right, in time, shows that we bear God's image, even in the unbeliever. So listen to these fundamental foundations that I believe Solomon is providing for us in this text as he reflects, wait a minute, everything that I do and everything that I've tried to pursue, and it's all meaningless under the sun, yet under heaven, it's meaningful. Under heaven, it makes sense. Under heaven, when defined and described, by God, provides the meaning necessary to pursue things and actually find joy. Find meaningfulness, may I add, in weeping and laughing. A meaningfulness to mourning. A meaningfulness to dancing. To casting away of stones and to gather stones together. I had to figure out what that meant. I had no idea what that meant. But there are some ideas I have I want to present today. And then finally, a time for embracing. There's meaningfulness in embracing something and refraining from embracing things. Time will tell us. See, time encapsulates us all. And what we do here matters. Why? Because God cares how we respond in certain times. He cares. Right? Think about what Solomon later says in chapter 7, verse 14. He says, In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity, God has made for the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. That's kind of confusing, right? Listen to what he says again. Listen to this. In the day of prosperity be joyful. When you prosper, be joyful. But he just said a moment ago, you can't find joy in prosperity even if you try with all your heart under the sun. Well, later he concludes, in your prosperity be joyful, but there's a particular person that can only experience true joy in their prosperity. And also, as Jonathan mentioned today, this morning, God will not give you more than you can handle, and that's not what it really means, and I encourage you to check out this morning's Sunday School. And the day of adversity, consider this, that God has made the one as well as the other. He's given you prosperity to enjoy, and He's also given you adversity. He gives you both. And He does it so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. Meaning, you have absolutely no control over tomorrow. It's the same concept that Jesus presents, to be patient. to not be anxious for anything. You can't cause anything to happen. You don't know what will happen tomorrow. Don't even boast in it, James says. Right? He put that in your heart. You can't know what will happen tomorrow. It's always this big question mark on the other side of things. There are some days that I walk into work and go, am I going to get blown up today and my family's going to be fatherless? Sorry, babe. My wife prays for that. Hopefully he doesn't get blown up today. Burned to death or something like that. crashing a plane, right? There's things like that. We have no idea what will happen for tomorrow. And so the idea is it's a matter of perspective. Not knowing what the time holds and the one who holds the time, you're to entrust yourself into the time holder's hands. To the extent that you're anxious for nothing. To the extent that you're not worried about the big question mark tomorrow. To the extent that you pursue all things and appreciate things for what you have for now. Not worrying about tomorrow. You have to entrust yourself into the one who holds tomorrow. So let's look at the passage, the first passage particularly, in light of those things, okay? So under heaven, point one, is a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance. Verse four. Paul says something very similar in Romans 12, 15 through 16. He says, Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, and do your best to what? Live in harmony with one another. And then he goes on to provide more instruction around that. Think about this. Harmony presents this idea that there is an orderliness to all things, a structure to all things. We would be out of harmony, as Jonathan mentioned today, it was very helpful. Again, we would be out of harmony to say to someone who is weeping and struggling that, hey, listen, man, God has a wonderful plan for your life. Don't worry about it. He won't give you anything more than you can handle. And to do it right in the midst of a person experiencing incredible tragedy, is that a good timing? Is that a very good timing? Thank you. Amen. That's not good timing to sit there and pat someone on the back and say, hey, it's okay, man. God's got a wonderful plan for your life. He's going to work these things all out. Everything's going to be fine. When they just lost their spouse in a plane crash or getting blown up, right? It's probably not a great time to share that. Timing matters to God, right? We all know exactly what that looks like when it's out of sync, don't we? When we're laughing when we shouldn't be laughing, weeping maybe when we shouldn't be weeping. We know exactly what that looks like. Matter of fact, we mock it and make fun of it. Let me give you an example. Sitcoms are the worst. Right? Think about a sitcom. I don't watch them anymore. It's been years since I've watched them, but they're ridiculous. Almost literally everything that the person says at the end of every sentence, a little punch, what do they have that's on autoplay and auto rinse and repeat? What do they have? Laughter. And is that laughter like real? No, it's really fake. And you can tell, even in some cases, with the night shows and other things, it's like really forced. Right? News at 11, God hates that. He hates that. It's lying, in a sense. It's bearing false witness. It's taking joy in something that you really don't have joy in. It's faking something that's really not worthy of even laughing. He hates it. He tells you not to laugh in some cases when you should be weeping and sorrowful. Think about all the texts that talk about, hey, this is not the time to laugh right now, particularly Israel. I can think of most texts, right? This is not the time to laugh. You should be sorrowful, wailing, tearing your garments, throwing ashes on your head, mourning and weeping in sackcloth for the state of the nation, for the state of your own soul. And then there's, you know, the gloom and doom Christians who cruise around thinking they're super high spiritual, who walk around as though the whole world were on their shoulders, and they hate their lives, and they're just sort of emasculating themselves, beating themselves up, right? You know them. It's out of place. By the way, news at 11, God hates that too. He hates it when you fake piety, acting all doom and gloomy, being super humble and spiritual. Oh, I hate my sin, right? Putting to death the sin. And if you had something to beat yourself with, you would. He hates false piety. Christians should be the most joyful people on the planet. But when there's really difficulty, like what Jonathan mentioned this morning in Sunday School, like Paul experienced, sometimes it's beyond bearing. And it's really hard. Job is like our prime example, right? When he's really going through it, it's not time to laugh. As a matter of fact, shut up. Don't say a word. Wait for a moment. So we know when things are out of order. We can sense it. Even unbelievers can. Do you know why? They bear God's image. Let's say you were to walk up to a believer, or an unbeliever, and you were to do the exact same thing. Something tragic happens. They lose a family member. They have a miscarriage. Something happens. Horrible, right? Think of a tragedy that comes into their life, and you come in laughing. Isn't everything great? What would they say to you? What are you laughing at right now? Are you kidding me? I just lost my son, or I lost my family in a plane crash. Something happened. Sorry, I don't keep meaning to bring that up. I'll stop using that as an example. We have a pilot in the room here. For other pilots, I apologize. Think about it, like you lose a family member, imagine something really tragic, or let's say you lost, you worked super hard most of your life and you lost your nest egg. There's some kind of crazy bankruptcy that happens or something. You work for a business, you build it up, and then you get slammed by stupid government COVID-19 policies. And you have to tie everything up after 50 years of working on building it and developing it. Something tragic. You come in laughing. It's okay, man. It's all going to work out. You know, I'm sorry. Fate. Fate in the end. You got this. Pull up the seat, you know, pull up your britches and get after it. Time to go to work again. Is it the right timing? And how would the unbeliever receive you? Why? They'd be upset and angry. Why? Because they're made in God's image. That's why. They know it's the wrong time. And so we have an obligation to respond in a timely manner the right way. And that's what I believe Paul's getting at. Weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice. We're not to weep when someone's just got a promotion. Right? They get this amazing promotion and you're weeping. Right? Because you're prideful, you're not humble, and you're not happy for the actual person who is receiving great reward for all their hard work. Matter of fact, you want a little piece of that. So you get a little covetous. You've experienced that before. You watch someone else be exalted ahead of you. Maybe at work. Maybe in a certain situation, right? Like, I totally deserve that promotion. Should have given it to me. That jerk face doesn't deserve that. Right? Maybe you didn't say it in those words, but you sure felt it. I guarantee it. Let's say you work super hard. You've been super loyal. You show up on time. You get your work done. You do it to the best of your ability. You do it well. And then some kid of the family gets exalted and promoted before you do. And they're horrible at their job. How do you feel? You're mourning while they're rejoicing. So things can be out of place. Which means we need to look at the cause and the reasoning of why weeping and laughter are important here. Some things should cause us to weep in God's world under heaven and some things should cause us to laugh. And they should not be out of place. Let's take a look at the way the wicked approach this understanding. Because remember, we're dealing with two people groups here that are being approached, the wicked and the God-fearing folks, okay? So depending on what part of America you live in, even like Colorado Springs here, it's not uncommon for folks to shun others who are weeping and grieving, to shun them, like to distance themselves, to not want to have anything to do with people who are going through a super tough time in their life, right? You might have experienced that as well. You might have done that to someone because you're uncomfortable. Think about this. Our personal happiness is really at the end, the end all be all. The reason we do that to people is because our personal happiness is what's at stake. Also, crying is often perceived in our culture as weakness. When someone's really struggling, when someone's down, I mean, and they have every right and reason to be, they're perceived as a weak person. If they're not happy, something must be really wrong with them, right? Think about it. In this be positive culture that we live in, If you're not happy, if you're not exuding happiness all the time, super positive, taking life by the horns and going after it, you're perceived as weak and out of control, aren't we? We have songs like, Don't Worry, Be Happy, and a song that everybody knows here, Will Ferrell, because I'm happy, right? Come along with me if you know happiness is the truth. Because I'm happy. Right? Think about that. Happiness is the truth. And you should be happy too. And if you're not, something's wrong with you. I just reminded. I just rapped. Not on purpose. Listen to what the morning show Elvis Duran's seven cardinal rules for life are. Number one, make peace with your past so it won't disturb your present. Number two, what other people think of you is none of your business. Three, time Heals almost everything. Give it time. Four, no one is in charge of your happiness except for you. Number five, don't compare your life to others. Don't just them. You have no idea what their journey is all about. You haven't walked in their shoes, if it were, right? As it were. You haven't walked in their shoes. Stop worrying about other people's journey. Worry about your own. Number six, stop thinking too much. It's all right not to know the answers. They'll come to you when you least expect it. And finally, number seven, smile. You don't own all the problems of the world. Just smile, right? Let's provide a little biblical critique for this, shall we? Now, I would say much of what he has to say here is true, structurally speaking. Let me say this. Let's go back through and listen to the biblical critique real quick. Make peace with your past so it won't disturb your present. Making peace with your past won't change your presence. We live in a consequential universe. Mistakes are actually consequential, some greater than others. And they have real meaning in them. And because they have meaning in them, there are real consequences to our actions, aren't there? So you could try to do everything you can to make peace with your past apart from Christ, and you'll never be able to make peace. Ever. We live in a consequential universe. Actions have consequences. Thoughts and ideas have consequences. And guess what? Time will tell, won't it? Number two, what other people think of you is none of your business. How true is that? That's very true. But in some cases, we should kind of be concerned about what other people think of us. Not to the extent where it becomes an idol of our heart, where we're so caught up and worried about what others think of us that we can't ever move forward. that we can't honor God in our lives and make really tough decisions, like having to call people out for making mistakes around us, living in a particular lifestyle that Scripture disagrees with, preaching the gospel, going to places like Planned Parenthood. We can't be that concerned about what other people think about us. That's why our church is small. I'm not concerned about what the government thinks about us. That's a good thing. Inasmuch as I'm being obedient to God, and I'm honoring them when their rules and laws are righteous. But when they are unrighteous, I don't care about what they think about me. Better to obey God than man. That's where that principle comes from. But if you are so caught up and hung up about what others think about you that you can't even share the gospel, you're worried about building a relationship with them, and then maybe kind of working it in like a multi-level marketing scheme, there's an idol in your heart that you need to examine and get rid of. Is Christ your king? Then you need to not be concerned about what other people think. But you need to walk in a clarity of conscience before him as you love others in speaking the truth in love. Three, time heals almost everything. Give it time. True, in some sense. That's true. Only when Christ heals the time. Only when Christ restores and heals you. Only when you have a right relationship and a clear conscience before the living God, because Christ's blood covers your conscience. But I tell you this, no amount of time will heal anything apart from Christ. Time will be your greatest enemy, as I mentioned earlier. It's like convincing yourself the train isn't coming. The train isn't coming. The train of time. Here comes the freight train. Nope. The freight train of time is not coming. Smack. And there it is. You can try to convince yourself as much as you want. Time's going to smack you. No one is in charge of your happiness except you. Lies. God's in charge of your happiness. And how is man happy? Where does man find his greatest happiness, Bible students? Where is man most satisfied? Hint, when God is most glorified in him. Man is most satisfied when God is most glorified in him. God ought to be the center. Christ ought to be the center of our happiness. Amen? Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. True. We shouldn't be caught in comparing ourselves. I mean, it says in Scripture, straight up, don't compare yourself with other people. They're walking out their journey before the living God, and you're walking out yours. There's a difference though. What if they're unbelievers? Is their journey a little bit different than yours? One is being sanctified to glorification, the other being condemned. That's it. But you shouldn't compare yourself, right? Don't compare yourself with maybe the successes of other people, or the downfalls of other people. You need to stand before the living God on your own. That's true, structurally speaking. We all are going to have to stand before the living God one day and give an account for everything. Remember, we're reading all of these passages in light of what? that truly man's all is to what? Fear God and obey His commandments with the knowledge that everything will be brought before Him in judgment. Every secret thing even. So this is examining the thoughts and intentions of our own heart. Stop thinking too much. It's alright not to know the answers. They'll come to you when you least expect it. Maybe. Overthinking things, analysis paralysis, that's a real thing. Right? Being overwhelmed by everything, kind of just go with it. No, no, no, no. You need to think a lot. You need to think a lot about what you're doing. You need to think a lot about it in light of who you ought to glorify in your actions. Think a lot. But think rightly. Because if you don't, if you're overwhelmed by thinking, you're caught up in your own idolatrous mindset about, let's just use the other examples, making peace with your past, worried about what others think about you, thinking that time can heal things, and you're mulling them over and mulling them over and mulling them over, overwhelmed by your own thought life. We all know what that's like. We all kind of wind ourself up, don't we? We're worried about what this other person's thinking, and nine times out of ten, they're not even thinking about you. They don't give a rip about you. They don't even care. The thing on their mind is where they're going to get a hot dog next. That just came to my mind. I don't know why that came to my mind. My point is, they don't care. The boss isn't thinking about you. No, the boss in that weird look that they made to you isn't going to now have your, you know, entire career at jeopardy because of the way that they said bye to you out the door that day. or your co-worker or whatever, you know, your friend. Stop reading into things. That's important. However, you need to be a thinking person. You don't get to dismiss everything. You need to examine all things in light of scripture. And your heart should be, our heart should be to be obedient to it in light of glorifying God. Smile. You don't own all the problems of the world. True. But we create a lot of problems in the world. And it's not always time for smiling. And smiling to cover things up is sinful. How's it going, brother? How's it going, sister? Fine? Everything's great. Bless you. No, it's not. I can tell. Your body language says it all. Everything about what you're going through. You can't be fine. There's no way you're fine. Stop smiling. It's okay not to smile. I get in trouble for saying that to people. Sometimes I do it. Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay? I'm fine. No, you're not. It's okay to say you're not okay. Did you know that? There are many places throughout Scripture where it says, what? Mourn. Weep. It's okay to have a hard time, folks. And for those who feel the need to comfort people while they're in a hard time, shut up, like Jonathan said this morning. You'd be way better off. Just come alongside them, throw your arm around them and go, I'm here for you, brother or sister. I'm here for you. Stop trying to encourage them. They don't want to be encouraged. Maybe they need to examine their own hearts, but that's between them and the Lord. They need to have a clear conscience before the living God. But sometimes there's really a time when you should not try to cover up your problems with a smile, okay? Consider the following. This is really interesting. From a scholarly article that was questioning, are believers happier than atheists? Well-being measures in a sample of atheists and believers in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico. Here we go. So these are some Puerto Rican students who were examining atheists versus believers in Puerto Rico, and they're wondering, Can believers be happier than atheists or vice versa? Listen to this. Regarding the practical implications, our study empirically, remember that word, empirically strengthens certain postulates that are worthy of reviewing. First, it suggests that in terms of psychological and subjective well-being, religiosity is useful. So for psychological reasons and maybe your subjective, your personal well-being, religiosity is useful. It's a good tool, empirically. But it is not an essential factor in the pursuit of happiness. Oh, no? Okay. What's happening here? Let's just take a moment and ask and examine that statement. There is the religious people who can use that as a tool to find some meaning and happiness personally. And then there's the non-religious people that don't necessarily have to have what the religious people have. Apologetic students out there, is there any difference between the non-religious and the religious people? Are not both people equally religious? Meaning, they have a set of fundamental beliefs that they live by. And that they religiously follow. Remember that. And remember, they're measuring what? Empirical evidences. What's an empirical evidence? What can be seen and tested? Yet, question, was this theory seen and tested in the sense, is this theory part of the physical world? This idea that psychological, wait, psychological, is that part of the physical world? Well-being, what's that? Is that part of the physical world? Does psychology or well-beingness grow somewhere on trees or is it stored in cupboards? No, it doesn't. It's not part of the physical world. This theory is not part of the physical world, is it? But they're going to, what are they going to do? They're going to empirically look for outcomes on how these experiences change people's lives, which is what? The outward expression of an inward belief or desire. This outcome going on should promote, key word, should promote respect, and equanimity between people who profess different beliefs or seek different ways of attaining happiness. Anybody spend time reading Vonsen or Van Til is dying on the inside at this sentence. Let me walk through this with you guys. Listen, this outcome should promote, it should. When you believe these things, it should promote something in the end. A respect and equanimity. The Marriage Act, which was just passed. Does that encourage respect and equanimity in society? For some, is that based on a certain set of beliefs, a religious beliefs on how society ought to operate? For some, is the demand for respect and equanimity going to impose itself on others who don't agree with it? For some, those people who profess different beliefs and seek different ways of attaining happiness, do they all agree? Define happiness, atheists. Please, do us a favor. You can find happiness? Interesting. Happiness, I know, is not part of the physical universe. You might have empirical outworkings, but it's interesting that you even want to pursue such a thing. You're acting like an image-bearer of God. What's happiness in an atheist existence? What is it? Well, they'll describe it. According to Zuckerman, 2007, some scholar, an atheist can make sense of his life, oh yeah, just by the pleasure of living it, or because it's meaningful for his or her loved ones. Meaningful, love, what are those? In an atheist world, you're talking like an image-bearer, as though those things were important. Why would those things be important for a highly involved chunk of protoplasm. Where do you suppose those ideas even came from in the first place? This idea of meaningfulness and love. Who are loved ones? Those are just protoplasmic spawns. What are those? I'm just curious where you get that from. Who defines it? Who gets the prerogative for defining meaningfulness and love? And who are the loved ones? I suppose you mean this thing you call family? Your spawns? Okay. Well, listen to what they say. Go on, say, in fact, he found that atheists find happiness and meaning in their lives through family relationships. Imagine that, when they work to destroy them, and they work to kill them, and in them, but they find meaning in those relationships, in an affinity with their community. Of course they do. Everyone finds meaning in an affinity with their community. Why? Do atheists? That's weird. What's an affinity with their community? Oh, it's just because everybody agrees with each other that, you know, now we're having a good time. It's great, but we're going to die. We could die at any moment. The question mark on the other hand, remember, time, the freight train of time is going to smack them too. It's coming, whether they want to ignore it or not. And many are very raw about it. They go on to say, well, it doesn't matter really. We're just enjoying what we have for now. Why? That should be your question. Why do you enjoy it now? And by the way, why do you keep demanding that we should enjoy it the way you do? Why? Why do you get the prerogative to tell us what to do? They highlight unique and pleasurable moments of their lives without waiting for any eschatological reward or eternal punishment after death. There's no reward in the end of this life, and I don't have to worry about judgment either. Everything's awesome. Everything is awesome. Everything is cool. When you're not worried about anything, you just get to live your life. You drink and be merry. Tomorrow you die. There's no reward. There's no punishment. Awesome. Okay. In this sense, our study provides empirical evidence against the preconceived biases that presume that atheists are miserable people, lacking meaning, are devoid of hope and purpose. Such affirmations perpetuate discrimination against atheists and promote supremacy of faith over non-traditional or non-religious beliefs." You ready? Why does that matter, atheists? So what? So what we discriminate against you? Who gives a rip? Who cares? Why is discrimination a bad thing? You're discriminating against these so-called non-religious beliefs. Who cares what you say? Who cares about your meaning? Who cares about your expression of love? Who cares about discriminating? Who cares about inequity? Why are all those things so important to you? You know why? Time exposes those image-bearing qualities, doesn't it? It exposes the reality that they care about those things. They're going to press and work towards those things. They're going to build a culture and society around those things as hard as they can. And then, they're going to demand that you bow the knee and worship their non-God. which is them and their own ideas, their vain, as Paul says, imaginations. Hey, we just want you to worship our imaginations while you worship the living God. And it's OK, we're going to go along to get along. Remember, Christians, you can't be mean and all judgy and judgmental. You have to build a relationship with us and love us while we do this the whole time, working to destroy what you call God. They can discriminate somehow, but we're not allowed to because we're those religious weirdos. They've provided empirical evidence of things that have no empirical basis. But you need to bow the knee. What has Isaiah said? There's no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. Isaiah 57, he says, the wicked are like tossing sea. It cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked. And by the way, the wicked will never allow you to have peace. They will always demand their way. It's either their way or the highway. their way or the highway. They will discriminate. They will tell you what you're doing is wrong because of their so-called empirical observations. They will tell you you're psychologically deranged for believing what you believe, yet they never critically examine their own beliefs, not realizing they have absolutely, like the wind and the wave of the sea, a rudderless boat tossed to and fro, absolutely no foundation for their beliefs at all. That's the way you need to challenge them. God fears. There's nothing better for a person, Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 2.24-26, that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also I saw is from the hand of God. For apart from Him, who can eat and who can have enjoyment? For to the person who pleases God, He has given him wisdom, knowledge, and joy. but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to the one who pleases God." Put that in your pipe and smoke it, atheists. That might sound harsh, because it is. Think about what Solomon just said. You, sir, an unbeliever who fails to repent and acknowledge the King, who laid down his own life so that we might find life, are going to gather and collect for the righteous. Everything that you put your hand to in the end will be handed over to them as an inheritance. Good day. Solomon goes on to say in Ecclesiastes 9, 7-10, Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart. That is correct, merry heart. For God has already approved what you do. Let your garments always be white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife of whom you love, all the days of your vain life that He has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol to which you are going. In the end, time exposes all. You can convince yourself as much as you want, atheist, believer, practical atheist, as much as you want, that you're okay. But I'm telling you, apart from Christ, time in the end will expose. It's appointed for man to die, and then what? The judgment. You're going to stand before the living God. And give an account for all those things, what has been done in open and in secret. Point two, there's a time to cast away stones in verse five, chapter three, verse five. Time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. What does this stones thing mean? I was like, well, I got my work cut out for me now. What is he talking about? Well, in scripture, there are stones used for building. Think about Babel, right? Stones used for building. Stones covered openings, like wells, okay? Jesus' tomb was covered with a stone. Stones are used for weapons, like slinging stones. There's laws in killing people with stones in Scripture. There are boundary stones, memorial stones. Believers are described later as living stones. Christ is described as the corner stone. There are millstones. And finally, one could also think just as well, quoting Thomas Kruger here from the Qoholeth commentary, he says, one could also think just as well, if not better, of the cultivation and protection of a field, through throwing away stones from the field and then gathering them again for the building of a wall, or its ruining in war and later restoration. Israel is known for being a very stony land. And so what they would do is they would go and when they wanted to plant a field, they would go collect up all the stones they could because it would destroy their plows and everything. And you couldn't really grow in stony ground. It's really hard. So to make the land fertile and easier for maintaining and growing, they would go throughout and pluck up all the stones. Part of during wartime efforts, you know, kind of the scorched earth policy of the time, whether burning it up and destroying it, part of destroying the land and the fields is they would literally dump tons of stones in their field. What would that be like, Willie? Be rough, huh? Be messed up. They come in and just dump a ton of stones in your field so you can't farm it. That's messed up. I think that's kind of, in some way, shape or form, the stones, I believe, is more oriented around the cultivating of land. and the protection of a field, although it could be something along the lines of a memorial stone or a boundary stone. There are some times, think about it, when you cast away those stones, a time to gather them also. So casting them away would be like removing them from the field and preparing a field for cultivation. And in other times, you would gather them and collect them together and sometimes you could do both in the same. While you're casting them away, you can collect them. I think it's interesting in the idea of the ruining of a cultivation field during a time of war and how the text is also talking about embracing and non-embracing. Think about that. Think about what Solomon got in trouble for, right? in the building and the masking of his empire, what did he do? He collected wives from other nations, embraced those whom he shouldn't have embraced. He should have refrained from embracing them. And then they erected these things called stone idols and pillars of worship made out of stone. There's a lot of things that we could align. We don't know exactly what that means, but there's a lot of usage of stone throughout the scriptures that reflects certain symbolical things. Let's think about the wicked for a moment in light of this text. The wicked, really nothing has changed under the sun. Let's consider for a moment the outcome of Babel. Okay, it's a good example of collecting stones, gathering them, burning them, heating them, making and building what we know as a brick today. What did they do? It says, the whole earth had one language, the same words. People migrated from the east, they found a plain, the land of Shinar, and settled there. This is right after the flood. They said to one another, come, let us make bricks, burn them thoroughly, And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. And they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we are dispersed over the face of the whole earth. So what's the purpose? Why are they building these things? Why are they amassing this wonderful city, if you will, to gather? They want unity. And they want to make a name for themselves. Interesting enough, isn't that exactly what the atheists said a moment ago, right? What did the atheists say? The atheists said that they want to fight against discrimination that promotes the supremacy of one faith over another over traditional or non-religious beliefs. They want respect and equanimity between people who profess different beliefs or seek different ways of attaining happiness. We want to build this one city, find unity, and build a name for ourselves. We want to become great. And we're going to exalt ourselves, what? To the heavens. We're going to put ourselves on par with God. The Creator. I believe that's exactly what was happening there. What happened in the end? We know the story. The Lord brought their plans and worked to nothing and scattered them. Scattered them over the face of the earth. We know that, like I mentioned earlier, building his own empire, Solomon made the mistake of embracing and covenanting with wicked nations, taking wives, embracing those whom he should not have embraced. Think of all the texts. There is a good time to embrace. Okay? We just heard an example of, for instance, the wife of your youth. There's a time to embrace joy, embrace these things, embrace what life brings, embrace the plentifulness of your toil, embrace these things. And then there's another time to refrain. There's tons of scriptures for refraining and embracing things all over the map. We should work to refrain diligently to guard our own hearts, from embracing certain things that will, what, bring us ruin and destroy. It will literally throw rocks in our cultivated fields. It will tear down the buildings that we seek to build up and destroy our lives because we wanted to embrace something that we knew we shouldn't. There's a time to embrace and a time not to. And by the way, it is unescapable. You can't hope to embrace these things. You can't hope to build these things, to gather and remove and to cultivate. You can't hope to do that outside of God's will and not expect ruin on the other side of it. And likewise, when you walk according to God's will and you're working according to God's will, the anticipation should be blessing. Even if he were to strip it all away from you. Which is a big part of the purpose of what Solomon's writing here in Ecclesiastes. Finally, what is the gospel application? We need a gospel application in this, don't we? The gospel application is what? We are built up in Christ. Think about in Acts 2, what Peter notes about the day of Pentecost. I was going to read the whole thing, but just summarize it. This is good for us to hear the Word of God. What does Peter say that the men, or what is noted, what does Luke know about the men's response who are from all over? They were hearing something in their own language. Parthians, Gileans, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus in Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians." What do they say? We hear them telling in our own tongue the mighty works of God. God was at work building something. What was he building? He quotes the prophet Joel. He says that the spirit of God would be poured out in a time. God would basically regather from all the nations, as we know every tongue, tribe, and nation to himself. And how would he do it? all those who call upon the name of the Lord would be saved. In essence, He is rebuilding what He had scattered from Babel. All those confused languages now could hear exactly what the will of the Lord was and exactly what He was working to build. And He was doing it through His Son, by the power of His Spirit. Matter of fact, history is so important in this nature. He said that Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and the foreknowledge of God. They crucified and killed Him. It was done by the hands of lawless men. But God raised him up, loosing the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand, that I might not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad, my tongue rejoiced, my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life, and you will make me full of gladness within your presence. Peter goes on to say, brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch, David, that he both died and was buried. And his tomb is with us today. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn an oath to him, that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, and nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted to the right hand of God, having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out on you yourselves, and you are hearing this today. David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. And it says when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles brothers, what shall we do? Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for your children and all those who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And with many others, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized, and were added about three thousand souls. Continuing on, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship and the breaking of bread and prayer. All came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common. They were selling their possessions and belongings, distributing the proceeds to all as any had need, and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes. They received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Why do I read that? Think about the implications of our faith. What is God doing and what is God at work doing in us and through us? He took people who were segregated by nations, tongues, and tribes, and made them one common people. It's Christ gathering and building in heaven by the Spirit which cannot be destroyed. Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians 2.11-22. Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh of hands, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. This is what it means to embrace Christ. This is who you are. And if you're struggling with that as you're engaging society, time will tell the outcome of your faith. Listen to this. Following Christ comes with a cost. We know that. As you come to Jesus Christ, Peter says in 1 Peter 2, 4-8, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God, is chosen and precious. You yourselves, like living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe. But for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. Two people. Those who live under the sun, who build up their own lives, who try to find pleasure in their own lives, who try to come up with their own meaning, who try to find fulfillment apart from the Word of God, are what? They find Jesus Christ to be a rock of offense. And they stumble because they disobey the Word. No matter what the empirical evidence says about the non-empirical reality, their psychology, where their heart's at, and all of their demands for love and meaningfulness and joy. And hopefully this gives you hope and encourages you. Hear this, please. Christ will accomplish His work. Christ is victorious in history. History is meaningful. It's moving towards something. He cares. He is jealous for His people and His glory. 2 Peter 3.8-13 says this, do not overlook this one fact. Remember this. Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that the Lord one day With the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promises, as some count slowness. Where is the Lord? When is He supposedly coming back? When is He going to do this thing? You believe in a bunch of myths. God doesn't care about you. Look how He's letting you suffer. We care about this world more than you do. You care about this lie that you believe. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promises, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. And then the heavens will pass away with the roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done in it will be exposed. The earth and the works that are done in it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought ye to be in the lights of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set in fire and dissolved? and the heavenly bodies will melt away as they burn. But according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." We'll wait for Jonathan to break that down for us on Tuesday night. I just wanted to include that so that you could be encouraged to know that in the end of it all, you should be encouraged. The end of it all, there is meaning and there is purpose, which is ultimately heaven and earth to be restored where righteousness dwells. Perfectly. Eternally. And with that, let's close this time in prayer. Please bow your heads with me. Heavenly Father, I thank You for this text. I thank You for the encouragement of this text. To know that one perspective can look out on the world in such a way, attempt to try to find meaning and joy in it, and never achieving it. Merely striving after the wind, and not enjoying, really, despite what the empirical evidence might point to. any kind of joy or fulfillment in it. They won't be able to find meaning in mourning and laughing, dancing, drinking, eating, the building up of things and the tearing of things down. Nothing. We know that apart from Christ, the resurrection, as was mentioned this morning in Sunday school, that we'd be meant to be most pitied, because ultimately our hope is in His resurrection, which points to our future and the new heavens and the earth being restored. Lord, give us a heavenly mindset. Help us please restore our perspective from Your Word, knowing that truly man's all is to enjoy You, to love You, to walk before You, to honor You, and to glorify You. It's there we find happiness. It's there we find meaning, and truly work that lasts. We pray for the rest of our time in worship, in Jesus' name.