God bless you, sir. Thank you for the invitation to be here. Don't you love Brother Stephen Williamson? What a blessing he is. What a privilege to be in this church. This is my first time here, and I don't know if Brother Aldridge has been here before, but I sure have enjoyed my time already and could leave right now just saying that I have thoroughly enjoyed everything that's been done. We appreciate the good singing, and thank you, choir, and thank you, special singers, for singing our songs. instead of getting something off a Gaither video and singing it, amen. I'm glad that you sang our songs, and we're sure glad to have that common connection and common denominator. We appreciate it so very, very much. And I'm so glad that the most beautiful church in Lexington is this church right here, a Baptist church. Isn't that a blessing? Amen. Beautiful place. And we're glad to hear the good words of admonition that the church is going forward with another building project. My goodness, what an amazing, amazing story this has been. And Brother Williamson, thank you again, preacher, for the invitation to be here tonight. I do enjoy preaching with Brother Aldridge and we get to do that from time to time and don't get to do it as much as I'd like to. And I'll tell you this, I have preached with Brother Aldridge and I've played golf with Brother Aldridge and I'd rather preach with Brother Aldridge. Because his and but now I do think that there's some there's some similarities that seem to be surfacing between his golfing and his preaching His preaching is getting a little bit more every day like his golf ring golfing. It is a long And to the right and Always near the hazards. Amen. I So he did a good job tonight, and I appreciate the good preaching. It's really hard to connect to a message like that after you've preached that. It's hard to connect to it, but so much of what he said is in my heart to say tonight. And so I feel like the Lord has prepared this service for a purpose when he puts that kind of message on two different preachers' hearts, that I believe God has something to say. Would you stand with us as we turn to the book of Ecclesiastes tonight? The book of Ecclesiastes chapter number one. I ran some of this by the pastor before I brought it to the pulpit tonight and just always want to get the mind of the Lord and make sure that I'm in the right place as well with the pastor. And so you pray with us as we preach this evening. I want to give you my heart. I don't think this is my number one message. I don't think it's my number five message even, but it's what the Lord laid on my heart and I believe that he put it together to connect to what Brother Aldridge has already said. And I want you to read with me in Ecclesiastes chapter 1. You'll notice that in chapter 1 we are told that the word Ecclesiastes means the preacher. In fact, you'll find that very word down here in verse number 12, I, the preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. That word is derived from the Hebrew word koeleth. That's actually the word that the derivative of the New Testament equivalent, ecclesiastical, comes from. Thus the book is called the book of Ecclesiastes. And as that doctrine makes its way into the New Testament, it's talking about a gathering. When a preacher stands, he preaches for a gathering. He preaches for those that have been called out together and thus the word ekklesia in the Greek language means the church, the called out assembly. If you know anything about the book of Ecclesiastes, you know that it was written against the backdrop of King Solomon's observation of life. Over and over again, he speaks to us directly of what he sees under the sun. As a matter of fact, he uses that terminology quite a bit and that's only trumped by the word vanity that is found in the book of Ecclesiastes more than any other substantial word. In chapter 1, in verse 2, Solomon said, "'Vanity of vanities,' saith the preacher, Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. Look down at verse number 14. "'I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.'" Look at chapter 2 and verse number 11. Solomon said in chapter 2 and verse number 11, "'Then I looked on all the works that my hand had wrought and on the labor that I had labored to do, and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit. Chapter 2 and verse number 17, "...therefore I hated life." Is that what your Bible says? Therefore I hated life, because the work that is wrought unto the Son is grievous unto me. For all is vanity and vexation of spirit." Let's follow that common denominator into chapter 6. In chapter 6 and verse number 11, Solomon said, if you have your place there in chapter 6 and verse number 11, say, Amen. Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, that is, what is man the better? Chapter 7 and verse number 15. and I make my apology tonight for running you through all of these passages, but we need to collect together a theme for the book in chapter 7 and verse number 15. All things have I seen in the days of my vanity. There is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness. There is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness. You don't have to turn there, but in chapter 11 and verse number 8, "'If a man live many years and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.'" You don't have to turn there, but also in chapter 12 and verse number 8, Solomon said, "'Vanity of vanity, saith the preacher. All is vanity.'" If that's correctly read, that's from every chapter in this book and the word vanity is the common denominator between all of the chapters that we've read from tonight. I want to preach for just a little while this evening and I'll be mindful of the time. I want to preach on this subject matter, searching for fulfillment. The search for fulfillment. Let's go to God in just a word of prayer. Father, in Jesus' name we come before you tonight to empty ourselves so that we can be filled with your Spirit. We ask, Lord, that you truly would put your hand upon us this evening. May the fullness of the Spirit of God be evident, not by the wisdom of man's word or enticing words of man's wisdom, but in power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost. We pray, Lord, that You'd give us the words that this congregation stands most greatly in need of tonight. Help us as we open the Word of God together. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear. Fill our hearts with this truth and we'll thank You for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. It appears that Solomon is searching for many things in the book of Ecclesiastes and he only finds one conclusion in the entirety of the book. Don't forget that Solomon, if you know this, you already know this to be true. Don't forget that Solomon has written three books in the Old Testament. Of course we have the Proverbs, the Ecclesiastes, and then of course the Song of Solomon. In the Proverbs we see the wisdom of Solomon on display. We glean from the book of Proverbs daily. In Ecclesiastes we see the foolishness of Solomon on display and in the psalm of Solomon we find the love of Solomon on display. And so it is that Solomon writes the book of Ecclesiastes as a kind of autobiography. I use that word with a purpose. I'll show you that here in just a little while. When Solomon wrote this book, he was living his life for his own self-interests. He was searching for fulfillment in this world. In fact, he used the terminology under the sun to describe his search over and over and over again. Time after time after time, Solomon says, I stopped my search at the sun. I didn't look any further up than the sun. And everything below the sun was vanity, vexation, and emptiness. Solomon describes his life in three ways throughout the book. It is fleeting, he tells us in chapter 1 through verse number 3. He tells us it's futile and he tells us that it's foolish. And the foolishness of Solomon on display in this book, really it surfaces through the use 37 times the use of the word vanity. That beginning all the way back in chapter 1 and verse number 2 where Solomon said, "'All is vanity.'" And you'll see that he says that these things that are under the sun have brought me to emptiness. It brought me to nothingness. So with the combining of those two things, Solomon has come to the conclusion that everything under the sun is vanity. Now I built a really big foundation and just built a little mud hut right in the middle of it, okay? So just be patient with me for a few minutes. One commentator said that the book of Ecclesiastes is the exposing of the foolishness of the wisest man that ever lived. Ecclesiastes is a book written to reveal the foolishness of a life that is lived trying to be happy without God in it. Solomon tried every pleasure that was known to man. Throughout these 12 chapters, he points us in direction after direction after direction almost like he has a compulsive disorder. His attention is drawn to this and then immediately diverted over to that and then it's something else and then it's... Another subject matter altogether, and in his compulsive disorder, Solomon says, I've been looking hard for fulfillment, but I just find vanity. It seems to be everywhere that I turn. For the entirety of the book of Ecclesiastes, he is in search of something. He is searching for fulfillment. He has a desire to find it, but he has yet to find what he's been looking for. Can I take you in seven places, and don't let that make you feel too nervous tonight. I'm going to keep it within my time limit, but can I take you in seven directions where Solomon searched for fulfillment, and then we'll find the conclusion in chapter number 12. If you look at chapter 1 verse number 5 through verse number 7, I'll trust that you'll read these things on your own maybe a little bit later. You'll notice that Solomon begins with the vanity of seeking fulfillment in nature. Something very strange is recorded in verse number 5 through verse number 7. Notice the references to the natural world that Solomon makes in this handful of verses. These are words of observation. In other words, Solomon took a great deal of time just to sit down and watch what happens in the natural world, looking for the answers to his own life. He looked toward the sun in verse number 5. He looked toward the wind in verse number 6. He looked at the river in verse number 7. In verse number 5 he describes the sun. Notice what he said. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. Notice in verse 6, Solomon looks to the wind for his search. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north. It whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. You'll notice in verse number 7, he looks to the river. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. Unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. Do you see the consistent theme that Solomon is illustrating? The underlying theme that Solomon is showing to us or portraying is even in nature there's a sense of monotony. The sun rises and it sets. The wind comes and it goes. The rivers are full and then they empty themselves into the sea. And that happens year, after year, after year. That happens season, after season, after season. With the sun, it happens day, after day, after day. And Solomon is looking... Y'all getting anything out of this? Solomon is looking for fulfillment. And even in the natural world, he said, it's just monotony. It's the same way everywhere that I turn. When you consider those religions that base their beliefs on the sun and the wind and the rivers, you'll find them to be a vagabond kind of people searching here and there for fulfillment. You'll find the people that are wanderers and unfulfilled travelers. And Solomon, he experienced that. Then you'll notice with me, not only in chapter 1, verse 5 through verse 7, he sought for fulfillment and the vanity of seeking fulfillment in nature, but then notice in chapter 1, verse 16 through 18, the vanity of seeking fulfillment in philosophy. Now I'm gonna tap into something a little bit harder right here. You'll notice with me in verse number 16, 17, and 18 that Solomon brings three words to our attention. He brings the word wisdom to our attention, he brings the word experience to our attention, and he brings the word knowledge to our attention. Look at it with your own eyes. Chapter number one, and that would be verse number 16, 17, and 18. I commune with mine own heart. He's already in trouble. Say, Amen, right there. Saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem. Yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge, and I gave my heart to know wisdom, to know madness and folly. I perceive that this also is vexation of spirit. Do you see what the Bible said, verse number 18? For in much wisdom is much grief. and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Do you see what Solomon is saying? I looked for fulfillment in the natural world and I just couldn't find it. I looked for fulfillment in the world of philosophy and I found myself coming up empty every single time. I mean, I had a greater education than any man ever had. I had more wisdom, I had more learning than any man ever had and I found out that in everything I learned, all of the universities, all of the colleges, all of the diplomas, all of the degrees, he had more degrees than a North Pole thermometer. And he found out, I haven't found yet what I'm looking for. He said, I'm going to go to Clemson. Go ahead. We got Clemson students in our church. He said, I'm going to go to the University of Georgia. Go ahead. He said, I'm gonna go to North Carolina. I'm gonna go over here to South Carolina University, and I'm gonna get me some wisdom, and I'm gonna show them people back at the church that I know more than what they knew. Man, it's getting tight as a banjo string in here tonight. You know what he did? He looked for the natural world. He didn't find what he's looking for. He looked in the world of education. He didn't find what he was looking for. I'm making this a fast message tonight. Chapter 2, verse 1 through 11. I'm not gonna read all of that. But he searched for fulfillment and he found the vanity of seeking fulfillment in nature and philosophy. But then notice with me in chapter 2 verse 1 through 11. You preachers already know where I'm going. He looked for fulfillment in materialism. I mean, when you look at chapter 2, verse number 1 through verse number 11, and verse 1 is the definitive statement, I said in my heart, go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure, and behold, this also is vanity. Don't you feel a little sorry for Solomon? Solomon sought a sense of fulfillment in every imaginable possession. Down there in verse number 3 of chapter 2, he said, I looked for it in wine. Couldn't find it. He said in verse number four, great works, I made me great works, I built me houses, I planted me vineyards. Didn't find any fulfillment in the works, or in the houses, or in the vineyards. He said in verse number eight, I gathered me silver and gold. In verse number 10, he said, whatsoever mine eye desired, I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any Joy and any pastor in this building tonight has pastored a pew load of people that are doing the same thing right now. You're looking for the answers of life in money. What you're gonna find out is the same thing Solomon found out. It's not in nature. It's not in philosophy. It's not in materialism. Notice with me in chapter three, In verse number 1 through verse number 8, he experienced the vanity. And I just told you I've got seven of these and I'll be responsible. The vanity of seeking fulfillment in fatalism. You say, I haven't got there yet. Let's see. In chapter 3, verse number 1 through verse number 8, Solomon has reached the point in his life that he attributes all things to a fatalistic idea of God. He says, Brother Stephen, he says, I've been watching all this stuff and I've just come to the conclusion that we are all deists. that God is up there, that we are down here, that we're not going to be able to ascribe to anything that He does, and everything that He does is fixed. He had a very fatalistic mentality. Everything God does is just done. There's nothing my life is going to add to it. There's nothing my life is going to take from it. My life doesn't matter. God is going to do what God is going to do. And he found emptiness in his fatalism. After all of that, he said in verse number 11, and I'm leaving a lot out, but in verse number 11, he hath made everything beautiful in his time. He hath set the world in their hearts so that, watch this church, no man can find out the work that God maketh from beginning to the end. You know what Solomon did right there, Brother Aldridge? He unplugged. He said, I've been looking, I've been searching, and I can't find it in materialism, I can't find it in philosophy, I can't find it in nature, so I'll just turn my attention to God. And the deep thinker that he was, Solomon became a fatalist and he found himself running dry in the philosophies of fatalism. Solomon was the kind of man that said, it doesn't matter if I give out a gospel tract. If a person's going to get saved, they're going to get saved. If they're not going to get saved, they're not going to get saved. It doesn't matter if I give out a gospel tract. It doesn't matter if I pray. Some of y'all need to hear me out now. Y'all get me some amens ready. Solomon was the kind of man that said, what's the matter if I pray? If I pray, God's not gonna change anything. My prayers don't do anything for me. Doesn't do anything to the will of God. I'm not gonna pray. I'm not gonna live right. I'm not gonna pass out a gospel tract. What is, is, is. What is, is. I was born in Booger Bottom, Georgia, amen. So I'm gonna have to make my way through all. What is, is. I can't change it. I can't move the needle one way or another. Everything is as it is. There's nothing new. Y'all getting this? He said, I'm just looking, and I'm looking, and I'm looking! And he tried fatalism. It didn't work out. Where did that lead him to? Verse number 15 of chapter number 3. That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been, and God requireth that which is past. He's come up dry again. Then you'll notice the fifth one in chapter 3 verse 18 through verse number 22, and the vanity of seeking fulfillment in universalism. Notice with me in chapter 3 verse 18 through 22, Solomon says to himself, he says, Well, since the answer to my life is not found in materialism and it's not found in fatalism, then surely it'll be in universalism. And that supposition was borne out especially in verse 19 and 20. Let's read that part. For that which befalleth the Son of Man Or let me restate that, "...that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them. As the one dieth, so dieth the other." Are y'all listening to the preacher tonight? They have all one breath, "...so that a man hath no preeminence over a beast. For all is vanity, all go unto one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." In verse number 2, Solomon actually lumps the origins of man and beast into the same category. The existence of a man and the existence of a beast and the destiny of man and the destiny of the beast is all the same to Solomon. Verse 19, as one dies, so die the other. Verse 19, they have all one breath. Verse 19, so that a man hath no preeminence above the beast. Verse number 20, all go unto one place. all are of the dust and all turn to dust again." Are y'all getting this? Solomon is looking for the meaning. He says, I'll just look in this thing we call universalism. Sometime ago I was given an article by a university student. I say sometime ago, this has been back several years ago now. I was given an article by a university student about Peta. I wasn't altogether familiar with this monstrosity of an organization until I read these articles. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. You've heard of these people? It's a society well known for their stance on animal rights, advancing the idea that it is wrong for human beings to own animals. that animals are really no different than humans. Peter opposes the keeping of pets. You can't have a goldfish. You can't have a dog. You can't have a cat. You can't have a son. I mean a... They maintain the idea that the life of an animal is on an equal level with the life of men. It opposes the keeping of pets. Ingrid Newkirk is the founder of PETA. I read in this periodical, PETA's founder said, there is no rational basis for saying that human beings have special rights. A rat is a pig, is a dog, is a boy. Newkirk told a Washington reporter that the atrocities, listen to this, the atrocities of Nazi Germany pale in comparison to the killing of animals for food. She said in that article, six million Jews died in concentration camps, but six billion chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses. Man, you gotta go to college to be that stupid. Us country folk, we ain't got no problem in this area. Y'all listening? Wild Earth Magazine, the summer issue of Wild Earth Magazine, which is a PETA-backed periodical, included a manifesto for the extinction of the human race. It was backed by PETA. Listen to this. The article said, If you haven't given voluntary human extinction a thought before, the idea of a world with no people in it may seem strange. But if you give it a chance, I think you might agree that the extinction of the human species would mean survival for millions, if not billions, of earth-dwelling species phasing out the human race will solve every problem on this earth." What? Maybe we should start with her. You'd be shocked how many people in this world are looking for fulfillment and they think that they're no different than the dog or the cat. or the mouse, or the pig, or the goldfish. Solomon got there in his life. He said, I'm just looking. Are y'all getting this? I'm just looking and I haven't found it. Then number six, I've just got seven of these, but in chapter number five, verse number 10 through verse number 16, and then bleeding over into chapter six, verse number one through verse number two, he talks about the vanity of seeking fulfillment and wealth. Solomon was the Donald Trump of his generation. He was the Bill Gates of his generation. He was the Sam Walton. Us gray-headed folks know who that is. The rest of y'all don't know who that is. You don't even know where Bentonville, Arkansas is, do you? Sam Walton founded Walmart. Some of y'all are like, wow. I never heard that before. Walton? Solomon was that kind of man. He had everything that a man could want. If it could be purchased, Solomon had the money to buy it. He didn't have to hold back any shopping spree that he wanted. He could buy anything whatsoever that he wanted. You know he had a lot of money because he had a thousand women in his life. Any man... I'm fitting to get myself in a Dutch, right? Any man that has a relationship with a thousand different women has got a really good job. Solomon said, anything I want, I've never held anything back. Careful now. A Roman proverb was quoted as saying, money is like salt water. The more you drink it, the thirstier you get. Solomon said in the book of Proverbs, he that loveth silver shall never be satisfied with silver. Y'all listening to me? The vanity of seeking fulfillment and wealth and philosophy and materialism. And here's another one. I want you to see this one for yourself. In chapter 11, verse 9 through verse 10. I'm well within my time here, but look at chapter 11, verse 9 and verse 10. And then I want to tap into chapter 12, verse 1 through verse 3. And the last thing that Solomon said was, and this is where the message begins, The last thing that Solomon said was, he said, I tell you what, I want to find fulfillment. I'm searching for fulfillment. And so I think what I'll do is I'll try to find my fulfillment in youth. Look at what he said about that in chapter 11. I need to show you this. You need to see this for yourself. I'll turn that in chapter 11, verse 9 and verse 10. Look at what Solomon said. You got your place there? Ecclesiastes 9, verse 11. Pardon me, verse number 9 through verse number 10. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth. Walk in the ways of thine heart, in the sight of thine eyes. But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, put away evil from thy flesh, for childhood and youth is vanity. Is that what he said? Solomon as an old man is now trying to turn back the clock. And you'll notice the failure of Solomon's body keeps coming up over and over and over again in these passages. In chapter number 12, verse number 1 through verse number 7, turn there and look at it for yourself. Solomon says, my body now is failing and I'd love to turn the clock back. He says in verse number one, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil day comes not, nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. In other words, turn to God when you're young before you get old and life becomes real hard and you've got bitterness in your heart and you've experienced a whole lot of unsavory life and you find yourself getting bitter and hard in your heart and life becomes harder and harder and harder to turn to God when you're an old man. He describes what it's like to get old. Aldrich said something about that tonight. We're all going to get old. In verse number 3 of chapter number 12, he said, In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, the strong men shall bow themselves. He's talking about his arms and his legs. The keepers of the house are His arms. They're not as strong as they used to be. He drops things that He didn't use to drop. He talks about His legs. They begin to shake when He began to get old. At the end of verse number 3, He said, "...the grinders cease, because they're few. Those that look out the windows be darkened." I'm getting depressed. He said, My grinders are ceasing. Some of y'all can laugh through your dentures. It's alright. The grinders are ceasing. My teeth aren't like what they used to be. Brother Williamson, do you remember a day when you could put a jawbreaker in your mouth and actually break it with your teeth? Now my teeth are breaking on the candy. What's happening? I wake up and I have pain in my mouth. Sometimes it keeps me up at night time. My grinders are ceasing. And then he said, those that look out the windows are getting dim. You know what he's talking about? You need glasses to be able to see out there anymore. How are you going to give an invitation to a message like this? He said, I used to be able to see just plumb across the back 40. Now I can't do that anymore. And then I try to look at things up close and I can't see things up close anymore. My grinders are ceasing. Those that look out the windows are getting dim. Look at verse 4. The doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low and he shall rise at the voice of a bird. Solomon said, I can't stay awake at night time. Just a little tweeting of a bird. Tweeting. Birds don't tweet. whatever they do anyway. Birds don't have social media accounts, but they tweet, I guess. And the Bible said that even that small sound... Man, I'm getting depressed! That small sound wakes me up. Amen. You ought to ask my wife about this stuff. I mean, my wife is a vampire. She can stay up all night long and work all day long. I've never seen anything like it in all my life. And I'm irritable all day long. If something wakes me up at four o'clock in the morning, I'm irritable about it the rest of the day. Ask my wife about it. Everybody in here thinks, oh, Sister Rebecca, she's a sweet little lady. No, I'll tell you something, she'll bite your head off plumb down to your ankles. So you come to the place where you sleep lightly, your sleeplessness. Look at verse 4. I'm in chapter 12. Look at verse 4. He said, "...all the daughters of music shall be brought low." That means your hearing is gone. Your grinders are ceasing. Your eyes are failing. You wake up in the middle of the night. Your hearing is gone. You don't hear things anymore. Everything sounds soft and muted. I find myself sitting around the table with my kids and with my wife and they're talking and I'm just enjoying sitting there and any kind of background noise whatsoever in the Mexican restaurant messes up my hearing. I can't hear anything they're saying. And I'm like, huh? What? He said, the daughters of music shall be brought low. work hard on my messages. The other day, the other Sunday night, matter of fact, last Sunday night we was at church over there and I've got Brooke with me tonight. Her and Rebecca and Madison, we all sang together and sang as a family song. We sang in the service and then I preached that night on the prayer life of Jesus. And my daughter got home that night and she said to me, she said, Dad, that was so good. And I said, Well, thank you very much. I worked on that message real hard. She said, No, I wasn't talking about the message. I was talking about the song. I said, what? You guess you had to be there. Look at verse number five. Also when they shall be afraid at that which is high. You get to the age where you don't climb up on stuff anymore like you used to. Climb on up here in the truck. What you talking about, doc? All you teenage boys got you lifted Chevrolets and Fords and riding around here like you're in a bogging contest. Man, when you get old, man, you don't care nothing about that stuff anymore. Matter of fact, give me a BMW low to the ground, I'll be fine with it. You don't care about that stuff no more. Y'all listening to me? He says, fear shall be in the way. You're constantly looking around to see if there's anything down there you're going to trip on. Counting how many steps. When I was coming up, I'm telling you the gospel. When I was coming up here tonight, I sat right there and I counted the steps to make sure that I didn't embarrass myself and trip. I ain't lying. I quit lying last Sunday. I'm not lying. You afraid you're going to fall? Notice what he said in verse number five. The almond tree is flourishing. You know what happens to an almond tree when it flourishes? It turns white at top. The grasshopper becomes a burden, whatever that means. I think I know what it means. It means no more jumping. No more jumping for me. You see, I can do everything I could do when I was 20 years old, but it takes me a long time to get over it now. You want to fight? Sure, we'll fight. I may be in the hospital three weeks, but we'll fight. My son thought he's going to get big and bad the other day. Started threatening me about a bunch of stuff down there in the basement. He said, you want to fight Buster Brown? First of all, I said, where'd you learn that word Buster Brown from? And I said, let me tell you something, buddy. I've stepped over people bigger than you to get to a good fight. And I ain't scared of 10 people just like you. And I'm so thankful that I didn't have to fight him. talk my way out of it. The other day we went golfing with Aldridge and Seth was there and Titus was there and Seth and Titus are on the cue card for getting in the PGA Tour. I mean these guys, I don't know if they give anything to missions. They've got thousands of dollars of golf clubs. I don't know if they give anything to the missionaries. They got all this time. They're single. They got all this money in the bank. They buy golf clubs and they buy a $50 pack of golf balls. No one was going to lose half of them in the first nine holes. But you know what it was? At the end of the day, they said, we beat dad. They did beat us. They beat us like a rented mule, didn't they? Me and Stephen, though, we're going to come back. We're on the senior tour. He said, desire shall fail. Look at what he said at the end. I'm just in verse number five. He said at the end of verse number five, he said, because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets. You know what they're talking about? They're talking about your funeral. What? Are they really talking about that? That's rude. I mean, if we're going to talk about funerals, don't talk about mine. Verse 6, wherever the silver cord is loosened. This is a euphemism in the Bible that speaks of the spinal cord. Verse number 6, the golden bowl be broken. That's the brain. Verse number 6, the pitcher be broken at the fountain. That's the heart. Verse number 6, the wheel broken at the cistern. That's the arteries. Somebody's going to have to take me home tonight. Verse 7, "...then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it." That all describes age. I'm amazed at these 70-year-old women in the church trying to be teeny boppers again. trying to look like a teenager again. And I'm amazed that men often try to do the same kind of stuff. I'm just telling something for him. Age is going to catch up with you. And Solomon told us that. I mean, line after line after line, he said, you better be ready for old age to come. You're not always going to be young. And for 11 chapters, he said, I've been looking and I've been looking and I've been looking and I hadn't found it. Now go to chapter 12. In chapter 12, he concludes Ecclesiastes with a proverb of immense wisdom. In fact, the entire book of Ecclesiastes is written to get us to the truth of chapter 12. After considering all things vanity, and viewing all things under the sun useless, Solomon concludes with this affirmation. And this is my theme tonight. That's all introduction. Here's my message. Look at chapter 12, verse 13-14. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments. You could say, full stop, done, shut the book. That's what He wants you to know. in all that you're looking for, in every direction that your life takes you, in whatever it is that you're hungry for, where you spend your money, where you get your education, the materialism, the fatalism, the philosophy, all that you're looking for. If you go through all of that in life, make sure that you come to a place where the fear of God is more to you than anything else you've been looking for. He said, it's the conclusion of the whole matter. Give me ten pew loads of God-fearing young people and we can change Pickens County, South Carolina. Give me ten pew loads of God-fearing young people that will keep the commandments of God and we'll see our marriages strengthened for the future of our church. We'll see giving done right for the future of our church. We'll see it all come in line if we fear God. Sometime ago I was preaching a message like this. It wasn't the same message. In fact, we were down in Florida together with a preacher friend of ours. He was telling me, reminded me of this, and I had never even thought about it. But I remember back in the 1980s when all of this came out. There was a band called U2 back in the 1980s. They had a song that stayed number one for almost two years. The name of the song was, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. I asked the preacher if I could read this. Only with permission I would do it. The world wrote this song. I have climbed the highest mountains. I've run through the fields only to be with you, only to be with you. I've run, I have crawled, I have scaled the city walls, but I still haven't found what I'm looking for. I've spoken with the tongue of angels. I've held the hand of the devil. It was warm in the night. It was cold as stone. But I still haven't found what I'm looking for." I believe in thy kingdom come. Then all the colors will blend into one. But yes, I'm still running. You broke the bonds. You loosed the chains. You carried the cross of my shame." Oh, my shame. But I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Neighbor, that is the hymn of the world. They're looking, they're searching, they're searching for fulfillment, and they haven't found it. And I'm here to tell you tonight, if you forget everything else I said in this message, you don't forget this. You will only find fulfillment in a deepening of your relationship with God Almighty, in the fear of God, and keeping His command. It is true, the truth is in Jesus. If you live for this world, you'll do exactly what Brother Aldrich preached about tonight. You'll be out. The world will draw you out. But if you'll find your fulfillment in the Savior tonight, you'll stay. Let's stand tonight.