on first hearing of Sister Mary's
passing. Ecclesiastes 7, look at verse
1. A good name is better than precious
ointment, and the day of death better than the day of one's
birth. Now, this is the Word of God.
who cannot lie, who is true. This is the truth. And he says
to all of his children, for they are the only ones that hear him,
neither of God heareth God's word. They believe God is true.
And he says to them, for our great comfort in our learning,
the day of our death is better than the day we were born. Do you believe that? Well, you
need to, for our comfort. Our comfort. The Word of God
through the Preacher. Chapter 1, the meaning of Ecclesiastes
is the Preacher. Verse 1 of Chapter 1, the words
of the Preacher. You notice it's a capital P. The words of the Preacher, Son
of David, King, small K. It shows us the value and where
the Lord puts the preeminence on a preacher over a king. Preacher over a king because
of his message, God's Word. The words of the preacher. This
is God's Word through a preacher. God does speak. He is chosen
by the foolishness, what the world calls foolishness, of preaching
to save them that believe. Save His people. Look at chapter
2, verse 22. Now here are the words of the
preacher. Vanity of vanities. Vanity of
vanities. He keeps repeating this over
and over again. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. Vanity means there
is nothing, no thing and no one on earth that can satisfy us. He goes into great detail to
talk about the eyes never fulfilled with seeing, the ear with hearing,
the mouth with tasting, all of man's labors for his mouth, but
he can't get full. And this is through the whole
book, long book, relatively, to tell us, he keeps saying,
vanity of vanity, like a father repeats himself to a child because
they just don't understand. Chapter 2, verse 22, what hath
man of all his labor and the vexation of his heart, all his
hard labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun? Verse 23, all
his days are sorrow, travail, and grief. His heart takes no
rest. It's all vanity, all empty, nothing
satisfying. We know that in our heads. We
need to learn that in our hearts. Chapter 5, look at chapter 5. Now, he would not discourage
us. He would not discourage especially
young people who are just starting out. God giveth us richly all
things to enjoy. There's no one who delights more
in giving to his children than our Father. He does not begrudge us anything. He delights. Do you delight to
give things to your children? Do you delight in them enjoying
things? That gives you more delight than
giving things yourself. In other words, in fact, the
older you get, you don't need anything. You could just say,
don't anybody ever give me anything more. I'm taking it all to goodwill
right now. Right? The Lord gives and gives
and gives, and He really gets nothing in return. He doesn't
need anything. He delights to give. The Lord
loves a cheerful giver. He's more cheerful than anybody. I'd like to give the world to
my grandchildren, but I know they don't need that. They don't
need the world. I'd still like to give to them.
Our Father gives. So chapter 5, verse 18, he says,
Behold, that which I have seen is good and comely for one to
eat and to drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor that he
takes unto the Son all the days of his life, which God giveth
him. So he's talking to God's people
who know where they got everything. They know where they got everything.
They appreciate things more because they know it was all freely given
to them from their Father above, and they didn't deserve it. But
He freely gives us all He's saying. And so they're appreciated. They're thankful. Not like the
people of this world. God's not in their thoughts.
They think that they did all this. They accumulated all this
through their strength and all of that. God's angry with those people.
God's people. He doesn't withhold anything.
good from his people. It doesn't begrudge them having
time. But remember, we just need to
remember that these things are vanity. And
not if riches increase, he said. Setting off your heart on them.
They're deceitful. The riches deceive you into thinking,
well, I'll get happiness out of this. Oh no, what it causes
really is more vexation and sorrow. Well, enjoy what's given. For those who know God gave it,
but know this, He's going to take it away. Everything and everyone. We know that, Lord. We know that. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Now, this
really starts, but it started in chapter 1. But chapter 7 should
have started in verse 11 of chapter 6. You know, scriptures weren't
written in chapters and verses. You see that little backward
P? Chapter 6, verse 11. That means the beginning of a
thought, a new thought, or a paragraph. So he says here, after all, he
said, they're seeing, or being a witness to, experiencing
that there are many things that increase vanity. What is bad,
the better. Increase vanity. Many things
increase vanity. In other words, the more we get,
the more empty we become. The more we set our heart on
this thing, or the more we have, the more vexation we have with
it, the more unsatisfied. The more we get, the more unsatisfied
we are. It does the opposite, really.
Why do you think people that have millions and billions of
dollars want more? It doesn't astound you? It astounds
me at times that somebody has more money than they could spend
for the rest of their lives if they just lavished themselves
every day with the finest of gifts, yet they want more. It's
not a good night to want more. That's my, my. He says in verse 11, what is
man to better? These things better us? No, they
make us vain. Fill us full of vanity. Make
us vain, materialistic, worldly people with just no sense. Verse 12, Who knoweth what's
good for man in this life? In all the days of his vain life
he spendeth as a shadow. Who knows what's good? He calls
this life vain life, our vain life. Who knows what's good for
us? We think we do. We think we did
it. No. This will be good for us. Well, it might be positively
harmful to us. It might. What we think is good
may be the worst thing for us. What we think is the worst thing
that could happen to us is probably the best. God's ways are not our ways.
His thoughts are not our thoughts. We're of the earth earthly. He's
of the Lord. He sees all, knows all, does
all. We don't. Brother Scott Richardson,
oh, and that man endured great trials all his life. He lived
fairly, not poor, but he lived very meagerly, didn't he, Mom
and Dad? Very much so. Name a trial he's
been through. And he said one day, I'll never
forget this, he said, if you knew what God knew, you'd order
your life exactly the way he's ordered. You think what you think
is the worst thing, God's in it. All things work together
for what? Good for them that love God.
For them that love God. Who knows what's best for us?
God does. That's the reason we need to
be seeking Him. We don't know. We don't know what's best for
us. He does. Lord, I don't know. That's who we need to seek, isn't
it? We. Lord, I just don't know. Would
you? Thy will be done. Don't let me have my will. Lord,
don't let me have what I want. Please. Because I most of the
time ask amiss to consume it on my own lusts, and it ends
up doing nothing but making me vain. Lord, thy will be done. Look at the next line. It says,
Who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun? Do
you know what's going to happen tomorrow? the most traumatic thing in our
lives would possibly happen. And things like that make you
stop. Why does it take things like
that to make you stop and say, what does any of this matter? What was I thinking? Why do I spend my time and my
thoughts on vanity when it's always going to make me sad? Why not put my affection on things
above, provide bags that wax not old, treasures in heaven
that nobody can take away? What's wrong with me? We would not choose for ourselves
what the Lord knows and what the Lord does, but thank God
He does. Thank God. Who can tell what's
coming? The Lord said you must through
much tribulation. If you're a child of His, You've got to. Why? To teach
us. To teach us. He doesn't do this
for everybody. He leaves them alone. He leaves
the world alone. Let them have it. Let them go
without problems. Like Psalm 73. David said, they're
not in trouble like I am. Here I have been following the
Lord and seeking His will and giving and supporting and all
that. And they don't have any problems. They're fat and sassy.
They grow big like the bay tree. And here I am, poor and needy
and having all these problems. I've got nothing but trouble."
He said, and I went into the house of the Lord. I understood. That's what they have. And when
it's over, it's over. But that's not my portion. When
this is over, it's just begun. Life more abundant. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High God, came to this earth
and didn't have a place to lay His head, didn't have a permanent
home. What's wrong with me? And He
was the happiest most content man on earth. Where am I going to learn? It's
going to take 70 or 80 years of it. Will that do it, Brother
Henry? 80? Roberta? It's going to take
a lifetime, isn't it? I'll tell you what it's going
to take until finally he says, well, it's over. Come on, I'll
show you. I'll show you what I've been
telling you all these years. And what will you worry about? A good name, verse 1 of chapter
7, is better than precious ointment. The day of one's death is better
than one's birth. Why does he bring up this precious
ointment? And what's that got to do with
a good name? What's in the context here? Well,
the people of this world are after the things of this... Two things, basically. Fame and
fortune. And if there's anything they
want more than fortune, it's fame. That's why multi, multi-millionaires
want to be President of the United States. They want to be somebody.
They want everybody to think highly of them. Power in them.
A name. Mr. President. What an irony that what I'm doing
this morning, God says, is of greater value and more important
than what Barack Obama does. And the world scoffs at that.
The world says that is absurd, that is ridiculous. But this
is what God sent him. A good name, a good name, better
than precious ointment, a good name. Precious ointment, back
then in biblical days, in the era back over there in the Far
East where people lived in hot and dry areas and wore sandals
and their heads under the hot sun and on and on it goes. Precious ointment or oil, it
was just one of the most valued and precious substances or commodities
around. In fact, they would barter and
sell You remember the woman with the alabaster box of ointment? It was precious, very costly
mixture of some kind of myrrh and spices and alloy in a precious
box. And it was of great value, very
precious. Oil, to have oil put on your
head and so soothing. Precious and valuable because
of its soothing quality, because of its savory quality. Even you
ladies. Ladies love oils, don't they? Love oil. I'll be honest with
you. Mandy bought some coconut oil.
And if you're bald-headed, you will need... Don't laugh! But
Riley and some of you others, you need every now and then to
know what you're burning up head. And she bought some coconut stuff
one time. Oh, man! Did that feel good on
my sunburned head, and it smelled so good? But the point being,
it was a soothing quality, it was a savory quality, the fragrance. Scripture talks about the oil
of gladness. Psalm 133. The oil of gladness. We're going to sing that hymn.
How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity, just like the precious ointment that the Lord anointed
Aaron's head and flowed down his beard even to the hem of
his garment. This is a picture and a type
of the Gospel of Christ, of the Word of God, of the fellowship
of believers around the Gospel of Christ. It's more valuable
than precious ointment. It's the most precious thing
on earth. No ointment can be paired to
this oil of gladness that is the Gospel itself. And a name?
God has given Jesus Christ a name above every name. No matter what
this world says, men curse with His name, well, God will not
hold Him guiltless who takes His name in vain, and of His
Son's name, ooh, He's going to destroy this God-hating place
and His Son-despising place. Despise the very one who died
for such a worthless creature. But God has given him a name
which is above every name, and do you know what? He's given
a number that no man can number
to his son as his bride, and given them his name. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Son of God. I'm honored. I am blessed to
be the Son of inner mayhem. But there's a name much higher
than that, much higher than that, to be
called a Son of God. We didn't take this. He gave
it to us. He adopted us. He chose us. Born
of God. Christian. I wish men didn't
abuse that term. I wish it wasn't used so flippantly
and carelessly and abused. But that's the name of our Lord.
And the disciples at Antioch were first called Christians.
And I wish, it's a glorious name to be called His bride. He called
his bride. Oh, a good name. In church history,
many names have in our hearts and minds filled us with gladness.
Abraham, son of Abraham. Joseph, what a man. Jacob, son
of Jacob. Solomon, on and on. But what they all have in common,
that comedy, is they're called sons of God. Sons of God. Disciples. The Bride of Christ.
So, a good name is better. Don't go after the fame of this world. Every name
on this earth is going to perish. Every great man is going to perish,
and you're going to forget who he is. Who's the eighth president
of the United States? Anybody. Quick. Get anybody out. Who's the king of England in
the 15th century? Quick. Come on, Jeanine. George,
what a name. Our president was named there.
People hated him, and they hated both of them, George. She thinks
it is. She's not real sure. And that's
what people aspire to. A good name is better than precious
ointment. Soothing. Soothe our fears, our
sorrows and our fears. The Son of God. It's all good. The day of death, he says, for
a child of God with a good name, disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, the day of their death is better
than the day they were born. Far better. Far better. The day of birth now is a joyous
and happy occasion. The day of one's birth. Do you
remember the birth of your your first child. Oh my, do I ever. Do I ever. That was the most
joyful. I get choked up thinking about it. It was joyful, wasn't it?
When they, Mindy called, the doctor told her she couldn't
have children. She said, no way, it's impossible. And she went to take a test because
she had a mass in her stomach. She thought it was another tumor.
She had these tumors removed. She went, called, had these tests
done, and called to get the results. And she was prepared for the
worst. It's not a mass, it's a baby. Oh, that was some day, wasn't
it? And then the day she was born. You know my daughter. You know what a child that the
Lord gave us. And I don't ever let her go. But the Lord says, The day of
death is better than birth. I'll give you several reasons.
And you know, the day of birth for many, many are born with
afflictions. Many are born in abject poverty.
Do you know how many children are born all over this world? You know. You turn the TV off
when it comes to pictures like that. You don't want to see that. You know how many die young? You know how many live in sin
and trouble? They grow up in sin and sorrow,
mingle with some joy, but then no matter how long they live,
they die. It ends as quickly as it came.
That's what this book is telling us, that it ends as quickly as
it comes. As much joy as we get from something,
sorrow is often greater at the loss of it. That's what this
book is telling us. And it ends as quickly as it
comes. But for every believer, believer, for everyone that trusts
him, this is the next message, everyone that trusts Jesus Christ,
I'm not talking about those that, well, For every believer on the
Lord Jesus Christ, the day of their death is infinitely better
than the day they were born. For all chosen of God, found
in Christ, given to Christ, all those who were purchased by Him,
all those whom He made righteous by His life and justified them
by His blood, everything He did, He did. For them, the day of
their death, is infinitely better than their birth, and I'll give
you several reasons. All right? Number one, we come into this
world with sin imputed to us, and the guilt of it, and the
propensity to it, and all that sin brings, all the troubles,
all the pains, all the sorrow. We're born guilty. We're born
sinful. But when we die, no more sin ever again. We can't even imagine that. Can't
even imagine that. Pain and suffering and sorrows
and these things, they're great trouble. But to the believer
who knows something about the guilt of sin and the vexation
of sin and sees all around him or her, that sin causes all the
evil and the wickedness. Paul said the exceeding sinfulness
of sin. And when we die, no more sin.
No more sin. With all of its troubles. No more. We're born dirty. We're born filthy. Our whole
life polluted. We just can't get it out of us.
Can't get it out of us. And we go out clean. We leave this place clean. Righteous, pure, spotless, unblameable,
unreprovable. Just like Jesus Christ. Just
like Him. We're born under the power and
dominion of sin. We're born under the power and
dominion of Satan. Captive to him. Easy prey for
him. We're born under the power and
dominion of this world. It holds us captive. We're leaving
here free. No temptations. No struggles. We're born liable
to any and all sin. We go out free. No more temptations.
We're born to trouble. Man is born of woman is a few
days and full of trouble. We go from one trouble to the
next, don't we? When one trouble is over, Another one followed,
just like Job. The Lord gave that story of Job. He piled everything on top of
him at the same time. That the worst we could possibly
think of to happen to us, lose families and all our possessions
and our health, everything that we think We need to make us happy. The Lord took it all away from
Job at one time, at one time. He doesn't do that to us. We
experience it gradually. The Lord is merciful. He showed
us that to show us, I said my grace is sufficient. I told you that I'm going to
take it away, that I am your portion. Your portion is not
here. This is not your continuing play, and I'm going to show you
through my servant Job. I'm going to show you. I'm going
to lay all this on one man at one time, and I'm going to show
you. I'm his God. My Word is truth. I uphold Him. Now here's what Job said, and
I just quoted this to many this morning. You'd think this is
the most amazing statement a human being could possibly utter. He
said, Go ye, slay me! Now trust him. We just don't know. We don't
know what's good for us. He does. That's all good. We're born to
trouble. Trouble after trouble, mingled
with sorrow. He knows our pain. He knows we
couldn't all handle it. We just can't. And He won't give
us more than we can handle. That's what He said. We're born
to untold, unknown suffering. to unknown suffering. Have you
ever thought you'd like to know what the future holds? No, you
don't either. No, you don't. No, you don't. You couldn't live
your days if you knew you were facing something horrible. You
couldn't live for fear of that, could you?
Huh? The Lord doesn't tell us. That's why he tells us today. Today. Don't worry about tomorrow. Don't boast of tomorrow. Don't
take anxious care for tomorrow. Today. Today. Live today like it's your last
day. And don't go ride a bull or a
parachute at the plane like Tim McGraw. Be like our Lord Jesus Christ. I'll be content, happy. The Lord
teaches these things. Born to unknown suffering, death. We're born into this world unto
untold, unknown suffering. But our Lord says, when you leave
this world, you're going to go into joy unspeakable and full
of glory. Unspeakable. The Lord said, you
won't believe the one told you. In my father's house, or many
mansions if it were not so, I would have told you. He said, I go
to prepare a place for you. A place? Oh my, he said, joy, abundant
life. I give them life more abundant. The things that we think we enjoy
now, the things that give us happiness now, the Lord said,
it's more abundant there. More abundant. Unbridled joy. Unspeakable. Unending peace. Unending peace. Everything here
ends. Good things you don't want to end, do you? And it goes by
as quickly as it can. You don't want it to end. Our
Lord said, it's not. Death is not the end of life,
it's the beginning. Well, how long is it going to
last? You know, it says when the Lord
comes back, He's coming from the marriage supper. He's coming
from there to get those that remain, to take them back to
the supper. So it's been going on from the
beginning, this marriage supper. And it's never going to end.
We went to David Wright's wedding down in West Virginia. And oh, so many people we knew
and loved. from all over, churches all over,
came to witness that. They knew the bridegroom. Most
of them knew the bridegroom, were friends of the bridegroom.
And we all were there. And wasn't it so happy? Food
and fellowship and laughter and dancing. Yeah, dancing. The most joyous occasion. That's
what the Lord Jesus Christ said, glory is going to beat Stephen
forever. Forever. We just went to Mary's
funeral. Everybody you could think of
was there. Hey, Ray, Coach, good to see
you. Hey, how old? It was a sad occasion. Somebody died. No. No. She's where we want to be. We're
all there. Talk about it. Hey, how are you
doing? And then when we get to glory,
look! Look! And you never have to leave.
No separation ever again. Ellen and Joe and Virgie and
Violet and Becky and it's on and on it goes. I'll leave the
bag back. What were we worried about? Why
did we want to stay down there in that cesspool? What did I
see in that place? I was on that dung heap. Now I'm sitting among princes.
I was such a fool. What a fool I was. Spent all
my time accumulating and worrying about stuff. Look at this. That's the reason he went on
to say, and I bet you wish we had looked at it, he said, through
the house of mourning, it's better than the house of laughter. The
house of sorrow, your heart's made better. If your heart's set on things,
oh, you're talking about a broken, deceived heart when it's all
over. But if your heart's set on things
above, heaven will be taken from you. It makes the heart better. Mourning. Sadness. Because, blessed
are they that mourn, they shall be comforted. That's what our
Lord said. Thank you very much.