Turn back to Ecclesiastes chapter
7. I titled the message, The House
of Mourning is Good for the Living. The house of mourning is good
for the living. And one of the wisest men that
ever walked on this earth wrote this. And he wrote it under the
influence of the Holy Spirit. This is of God. I thought about
this scripture. It came to my mind a few weeks
ago. And this morning, about 1.30,
I woke up. And this scripture was on my
mind. And it was just rolling. I just laid there and just let
it roll. I was enjoying it. I really was. It was as if the Lord was preaching
to me, and I was just listening. And when I got up this morning,
I thought, I'm going to look at that. And so I did. And I wrote down a few things.
I'll give you a few things. It starts out in verse 1, a good
name. A good name belongs to a good
person, and if he's a good person, he belongs to Christ, because
there's none good outside of Christ. When that young man came
to our Lord, he said, Good Master, and he stopped him because he
knew the heart of this man. He knew that all that man saw
in him was just a good man, was just a man. He didn't see God
in the flesh. He did not see this is the Messiah. He just saw a man who went about
doing good, and he called him good master, and he stopped him.
He said, whoa, there's no good but God. But now all those in
Christ are good. You're made what? The righteousness
of God in Christ. Now, if you are the righteousness
of God in Christ, then you've been made good. And he said,
a good name, which comes from God, Christian. They were called Christians first
of anyhow, son of God, sons of God. A good name is better than
precious ointment, whatever it is you can get in this world,
the riches of this world. It's better than that. Because
if you run out of precious ointment, you can get more of it. You burn
my house down, I'll build another one. But if I destroy a good
name by my conduct, you're not getting that back. That's hard,
hard, hard to get back. That's why he says a good name
is better than precious ointment. And the day of death, the day of death, the day of
leaving this life, is better than the day of one's
birth, the day that person came into this life. Now, we know
from this, we know from the Word of God, that he's speaking here
of one who believes God. Because the day of one's death
that does not believe God is not a good day. It's just not
a good day. But those who believe God, those
who are born of God, the best day of your life is the last
day on this earth. It's when you say goodbye to
this life, to this world. It's almost as if you take our
wings and fly on high. When God calls us out of this
life, that's a good day of rejoicing,
No more sin, no more sorrow. Could there be a better day?
Could there be a better day? I know there can't be. And then
he says here in verse 2, and this is the verse that really
has my attention, 2 and 3. It is better to go to the house
of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. For that is
the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart." No man, no natural man would
write this, would they? That's why I said you know he's
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. No one would write, even natural wisdom would not
write, it's better to go to a funeral than it is to go to a feast,
a party, a birthday party. We have these birthday parties.
So I know no natural man would write this. We naturally hate
the house of mourning, don't we? By nature, we naturally do. We do not like to go to funerals. And he's talking, that's what
he's talking about, specifically. But when we do, when we do go,
I mean, we don't naturally like to go. I've been invited to dinners. I've been invited to feasts.
No one's ever invited me to a funeral. They've told me someone has passed
away and I've gone. But when I do, and when I've
gone, and when you go, when you go, the living, the living lay
this to heart. You lay this to heart. Who are the living? Who's he
speaking about? Who are the living? Well, the
living are those who have been made alive in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's not talking about those
who are still alive in this flesh and are not the ones in the casket.
He's not talking about them. He's talking about those who
are alive in Christ. Those who are still alive in
the flesh, if they know not Christ, are dead while they yet live. Turn over to Revelation chapter
3. Revelation chapter 3. Let me
show you something here. Run to the angel of the church
in Sardis, write, These things saith he that hath the seven
spirits of God, and the seven stars. I know thy works, that
thou hast a name, that thou livest." What does he say here? That you're
dead. The life has pretty much, I believe
there were still a few believers here in this church. But it was
just about gone. The gospel was just about to
leave. He said, be watchful and strengthen
the things which do remain, those things which still remain. Be
watchful and strengthen them that are ready to die. You know,
we die, really, we die what? Gradually. Unless somebody's
in, you know, an accident or something. But we die gradually.
We grow old gradually. The heart starts to shut down
gradually as we get older, you know, the organs. You know, we
just do these things gradually. And that's pretty much how it
happens to a church when the gospel leaves. It happens gradually. Less and less attention is given
to the gospel, to the important things. Be watchful and strengthen
the things which remain that are ready to die, for I have
not found thy works perfect before God. These things happen gradually,
then before you know it, it's gone. It's gone. One of the writers I was reading
said this was one of the first churches that left, that just
turned away. I don't know, I was just reading
the history of it. Look over in 1 Timothy chapter
5. Now, she that is a widow indeed
and desolate trusteth in God and continues in supplication
and prayers night and day, but she that lives in pleasure is
dead while she lives. Those who are not in Christ may
be alive in this flesh, but are spiritually dead. Dead. that those who are spiritually
dead are dead. I realize more and more when
I talk to people outside of here, I talk to people, you know, out
at the shop and other places, family meetings and stuff going
together, I realize those who don't believe the gospel, I'm
speaking to a dead person, a spiritually dead person. And let me tell
you something, there are no degrees of dead. Dead is dead. There's no degrees of it. Now
the living, I said who are the living? The living are those
made alive in Christ. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 15.
1 Corinthians chapter 15. Look at verse 22. Verse 21. For since
by man came death, by man the Lord Jesus Christ came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all died, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive, all whom he represented.
That's what he's talking about. Who are the living? They are
those who have been made alive in the Lord Jesus Christ. those
who have been given life from the dead, spiritual life. They
are those who have been born of God, born of the Spirit, born
of the Word. Look over in 1 Peter 1. Verse 23 says, That's why our Lord said to Nicodemus,
you must be born again. And Peter says here, being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Then look down here
in verse two, as newborn babes. We start out as newborn babes,
born again, born of God and start out as newborn babes. Who are
they? Who are the living? Those made
alive in Christ, those who are born of God, those who are indwelt
by the Holy Spirit of God. It says over in Ephesians chapter
1, look over here. You know, one thing about turning
to all these scriptures, each one of them just gives you a
lot of preaching material. Each one. I've learned this.
This is one reason I turned to Each one gives you unmeasurable preaching material. Ephesians chapter one. Let me
get there. Quit talking. Ephesians chapter one. And I
know most of you already know where it's at. You're already
there. It says in verse 13, In whom
ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, God
sent the gospel to you. You believed the gospel. It came
to you in power, like Paul said to the Thessalonians. It came
to you not in word only, but also in power. The gospel of
your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, you were
sealed. Sealed. You ever do any counting? I grew up on a farm. A lot of
candy. Nine people. You do a lot of
candy. You take that and you hear it
pop. Put that lid on that jar and
you seal it. And I tell you what, you can
seal that and go back a year later or more and eat it. It's
sealed. It's protected. It's protected. You are sealed with the Holy
Spirit of God. You're protected. You're kept. Who are the living? Those who
have been made alive in Christ and born of God and dwelt by
the Spirit of God and those who believe God. I didn't say you
believed in a God. Abraham did not believe in a
God, did he? It does not say Abraham believed
in a God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham
believed God. He believed the God that is.
And it was counted to him for righteousness. And they have
spiritual discernment. You can see that over in 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. They have spiritual discernment
and when they are at the house of mourning, Most people are mingling around,
you've got family, you've got relatives, you've got neighbors,
friends over the years, and they're talking. But I tell you this,
the believer knows what's going on. They know
why this person is laying there. When sin is conceived, it's what?
It brings forth death. We have to die. We have to do
this. What will they lay to heart? When you have to go to the house
of mourning, what is it you lay to heart? First of all, the brevity
of life. My dad said one time, he said,
looking back, he said, it's not too long ago, but he said, looking
back, he said, growing up, all those kids were home growing
up, he said, it seemed like a dream. He said, it seemed like it was
just a dream. It was like a dream, probably like a nightmare. When
you've got seven kids, I'm sure that was more of a nightmare. More for mom than dad probably.
But when daddy looked back and he said, it's just a dream. Life
is swifter than a post, a weaver shuttle. I cannot believe, and
every time I look, and I'm serious, every time I look in the mirror,
I can't believe I'm 56 years old. I just, I'm like, and I
was 50 years old when we started, when this came together. And
that's been six and a half years now, and October will be seven
years. Seven years. And that's a year of completeness. It's just, if you live to be
a hundred, that won't even register. on the scale of eternity, well,
it won't even register. You know, you see these smucker
jars that, do you think Willard Scott does? He does these smucker
jar people, you know, and then that's fine, but you know,
he always asks them what they attribute their longevity to.
Now, I've yet to hear, because I don't see them all though,
but I've yet to hear one of them say, the Lord, The Lord Jesus
Christ. I would say, well, I did this,
I did that. No, I tell you what, you won't
die until God takes your life. If a bird does not fall to the
ground without your heavenly Father, how much more a human
being who is eternal? How much more a human being? You lay this to heart. Now, this
grips your heart, and it enters your heart. It's not just a passing
thought. The brevity of life, it will not be long, and I'll
be there. Not long. They lay this to heart, and all
must die. Sin is conceived, as I said,
it brings forth death. Now, natural men and women don't
want to lay this to heart. It's like preaching something
else. Have you ever turned on a religious
station, just a religious station, whether it be TV or radio, and
really hear this? I mean, you can turn TV on and
it's always, you know, you're going to be prosperous. God wants
you to be this. God wants you to be that. You
know, you're up on a mountain. But Solomon said, it's better. I'd like to hear just one of
these men stand before these large congregations and say,
it's better for you to go to a funeral than to go to a birthday
party. Because the living will lay it
to heart. You know you might be next. You
know that. And someday, it will. And to
the living, that'll be all right. Because that day will be better
than the day you were born into this world. That'll be the day,
that'll be your crowning day. That'll be your crowning day. But the natural man, natural
men and women, they don't want to lay this to heart, it's too
gloomy. It's too gloomy. It means the end of all they
know and all they have. For the believer, it's the beginning.
For the unbeliever, it's the end. And that's the way they
see it. It's the end. And I'll tell you another reason
why they don't like this, because they don't know God. And I'll
tell you what, when you're going out into eternity and you don't
know the one that you're about to meet and the one who has all
power and authority over you, that's scary. You don't know
it. That's troubling. You're going
out there and you don't know what's about to happen. You've
never been there before. But the living, I tell you what,
I've never heard of anyone, I don't care believer or unbeliever,
I've never heard of anyone that has passed away that I don't
think, but now they've met God. That's the first thought that
goes through my mind every time I hear someone passed away. They've
met God. There's no question now. The living know that God is and
they know who He is because He's revealed Himself to them through
the preaching of the gospel. You know Him. Not like you're
going to. But you know Him. You know Him. You know He's holy. You know
He's just. You know He's gracious, merciful,
full of compassion, long-suffering. You know Him. You know Him. You know Him, and you know why
you have to die. Look over in 1 Corinthians. We know over in Romans, it tells
us, by one man's sin came into the world and death by sin. We
know that. But here's another reason. Let me find the scripture.
I didn't write it down, but let me find it. Verse 51. No, verse 50. Now this, I say, brethren, here's
another reason why we have to die. And the believer knows this. In verse 50. In 1 Corinthians
15. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. This body can't go there as it
is. There's got to be a change. You
know, there has to be a new creation. That's why the Lord said you
must be born again. There has to be a new birth, a new creation,
a new heart, a new man. But there's also got to be a
new body to go with it. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, that is, go to the grave, but we shall
all be changed. This body can't inherit that.
In a moment, in the twinkle of an eye, at the last trump, for
the trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed. corruptible. This mortal, this
mortal body I have. Must put on incorruption and
this mortal must put on immortality. And the way that happened is
through the grave. We go through there unless the
world comes back right now, but I tell you what, there's still
going to be a change. There's going to be a change. He said so. In
the twinkling of an eye, that fast, but it's going to be a
change. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed
up in victory. It's finally over. Never ever will we ever think
about dying again. We'll never go to the house of
mourning ever again. O death, where's thy sting? O grave, where's your victory?
The sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is law, but thanks
be to God which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ. And the living lay this to heart. They know this. They know this. I know that I too have to pass
through that gate. But I know why I have to pass
through it. I know the sin, the sin of this
body, this old corrupt body, this old aging body, has to be
put back into the grave, go back to dust, in order for you to have that
new one. Has to, has to. Now they also know this, the
living know this, that after death is judgment. And they don't
joke about it either. They know that. But they also
know that in judgment, Jesus Christ has taken care of the
matter. He's taken care of it. The judgment of every believer
passed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. As their substitute, He took
the hell of God's wrath. that belonged to them, he took
it. He took it. My judgment is gone. There are
some men's sins, the scripture says. There are some men whose
sins have gone on before them. That's everyone whom God saved.
That's already been taken care of. Our sins have gone on before
us. They were taken care of. They're gone. But there are some
men's sins. There are some men whose sins
follow after them. When they go and they die, when
they die, when they stand in judgment, all their sins are
going to slam right into them. And the living know this. Those who have been made alive
in Christ. They know. They know that the only hope
they have is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
His blood for atonement, for cleansing, His righteousness.
his intercession, his mediatorial work, his offices, prophet, priest,
and king. Everything about him is all my
hope. Everything about him. And the longer I live, the more
I see. And I tell you what, I think
of this when I go to the house of mourning. I see the importance. of knowing
Jesus Christ. I wish I could put that into
words. I would to God I could put that
into words. The importance of knowing, being joined to the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'll tell you something else
that happens when the living go to the house of mourning and
they lay these things to heart. Once again, afresh, they set
their affection on things above, and not on the things of this
earth. Warren Buffett, I was watching
him the other night, as rich as this man is, and a lot of places, a lot of
colleges, a lot of these business schools and these colleges, they
get him to talk to their school, the business school. And he gives
them his knowledge, you know, what he's learned over the years.
And I've watched two or three, two or three or four of his things
because, you know, I'm with an interest in business. I listen
to him. And I was listening to him the
other night and I thought, what do you know about Christ? What do you know about the Lord
Jesus Christ? You're talking to young people,
22, you know, 20, 22, 23 year old. You're talking to these
young people and you're telling them how to make it in this world.
And I'm telling you what, that's not very important. Honestly,
honestly, it's not that important. What's truly important is knowing
Christ. Seek ye first. Now, this is the
Word of God. You think they would tell us
what to do first? You think if any book, you think if any word
of wisdom that would tell us what to do first, it would come
from this book. And he said, the first thing you do, seek
ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these
other things be added to you. I was reading the other night,
labor not, labor not to be rich. For those who labor to be rich
fall into many temptations. Over in Timothy, 1 Timothy, Paul's
telling Timothy, you know this preacher, labor not to be rich. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. And here's a promise. There's a promise of God, I'm
taking too long on it. Does the promises of God mean anything
to us? They mean everything to us, don't
they? Here's a promise. Here is a promise. Seek ye first
the kingdom of God. Seek ye first me. That's what
he said. You can't seek the kingdom of God without seeking the king.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God. Here's a promise. I'll add
these things to you. What do you think, if you were
asked, what was the greatest trial that you could think of
put upon somebody in the Word of God? What was the greatest trial?
I think every one of us, including myself, would say Job. But you know who I'd include
right beside of that? Solomon, the day God said, if you ask
me anything, I'll give it to you. I believe this, the
greatest trials are those where we have choices. Job didn't have
a choice. He had the greatest of trials,
but they just came upon him. The greatest trials are when
God gives us a choice. Solomon? Ask me anything and
I'll give it to you." And he asked God for wisdom to guide
his people. And then what did God do? He
gave him everything. Made him the richest man on earth.
He said, because you didn't ask for these things. And He gave
him all these things and gave him wisdom to go with it. Where am I at? I'll tell you something else
that living realize when they go to the house of mourning.
They realize that after judgment is eternity. And as a tree falls,
so shall it lie. Turn over to Revelations 22.
I'm about done here. Just about done. I laid awake a long time this
morning with this message. What did I say? Revelation 22, I'll give you the verse when
I get there. Verse 10, And he saith
unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book,
for the times is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. He which is filthy, let him be
filthy still. And he that is righteous, let
him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. Brethren, that's the way death finds us, either righteous or unrighteous. That's how it finds us. And the living know that this
life and everything about it, All the things that we can accumulate
is temporary. And they put the living now,
the living, they're the ones who put a real value on what's
really valuable. My union, my relationship to
the Lord Jesus Christ, everything else is secondary. I'm telling
you, everything else is secondary. There's not even a close race
anywhere. My relationship to Christ. He
said this, He that hates not mother, father, sister, brother
more than me, he's not worthy of me. Do you think he meant that? I
think he did. He that forsakes not all that
he has, Cannot be my disciple. I tell you what, those who forsake
all. That's what Peter said. He said, Lord, we've forsaken
all. He said, we've forsaken all. We've left everything and
followed You. He said, those who have forsaken
all follow Me. They have houses and lands. My house is your house. Mine
is yours and yours is mine. It is among believers. It is
among believers. If I were hungry, you'd feed
me. You'd do it every week. If I
was thirsty, you'd give me a drink. If I was naked, you'd clothe
me. I know you would. If you're God's children, you
will. I know you would. The one thing, or the one thing
needful, And Mary has chosen that one thing needful. Sitting at the feet of Christ,
learning of Him. Her union to Him. That's it. That's it.