Ecclesiastes 9, verse 7, Go thy
way, eat thy bread with joy, drink thy wine with a merry heart,
for God now accepts thy works, or God now accepts thy person,
thy works. They're going to look at the
last phrase first. For God now accepts thy works,
thy person. Two things, at least two thoughts
under this last phrase of this seventh verse. What it does not
mean. This is what it does not mean.
when you read that. For God now accepts thy works. It doesn't mean this. Your works,
whether they're religious or non-religious, are acceptable
with God. Or, and it doesn't mean this,
our worth or our doings, God is impressed with. John chapter
1. I could say that, But I'm going
to show you in the Scriptures. For God now accepts thy works. It doesn't mean that when we
live, just move and have our being, that God is impressed
with what we do or what we say, whether religious or not religious. But as many as received Christ,
to him gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
Ephesians 2. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9. For by grace
are you saved, or accepted of God, through faith, and that
not of yourselves, Not faith. I'm sorry, faith, because grace
does not come flow from us. Faith. People say, well, I've
got to get faith. No, faith is a gift of God. And
then he emphasizes, not of works, lest any should boast, and we
would boast. So if you are accepted now, it's not because of what
you did or did not do. It's all of God's grace. And
2 Timothy 1.9, John Sebaugh's, one of his favorite
verses, 2 Timothy 1.9, he's speaking of
God in Christ who has saved us and called us with the holy calling,
not according to our works. but according to His own purpose,
God's own purpose in Christ and grace, which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began, or before you and I were
ever born. That's how much we had to do
with salvation. It's as much as we had to do with our birth.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. So the second
point is, if that's what it's not saying in our text, for God
now accepts thy works, if that's what he's not saying, this is
what he's saying. This is what he's saying. the
works of faith, which is a gift of God. Done through Christ is
always acceptable to our great God. Or, we could say, God only
accepts those people that He places in His Son unto the saving
of our souls. Or, Ephesians chapter 2. Go back
to Ephesians chapter 2. God now accepts our works. God now accepts our persons because
of Christ. That would be the bottom line.
But Ephesians 2 and verse 10, For we are His, God's workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which incidentally
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Where's
free will in that? Where is our will? Where is our
power? Where is our authority? It's
null and void. We are dead in trespasses and
sins. So we are created. We are born
again. We're born from above. We're
born outside of ourselves. His workmanship in Christ. Ephesians chapter 1. Just look
over across the page, verses 3-6. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According, as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He, God, hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
Back to our text in Ecclesiastes. God now accepts thy person. We didn't work for it. We may
have been religious or we may have been like Abraham Booth.
The Lord chose we hated God and despised the mention of His name
and His grace. We did not and don't possess
or cannot obtain the righteousness that God will accept. This is
only in and through What Christ has done, and what did He do?
He suffered and died and rose again for His sinful people. As it says in Ephesians, us.
That's who He's talking about, us. Who is that? If you've got
to say, is He talking to me? Ask God to show you He's talking
to you. Ask God to convict you He's talking to you. He says
back in our text, he says, for God has accepted or now accepts thy works or thy person. The
third thought under this for God now section We're not born
into this acceptance to humanly speak. Speaking humanly, we were
born in trespasses and sins. Lost, dead, dying, uncaring in
the ways of God or the ways of Christ or the ways of salvation.
And I stopped right there because I was reading some of these devotions
that I read every morning, and one of them was bringing out,
and I thought, well, this was written in the 1800s, 1700s.
It's the same today. When you go to work in Jackson,
this lovely God-fearing town, people don't care much about
God. They don't really talk about God, do they? I mean, I drive
and go to different places. People, they're more concerned
about their jobs, they're more concerned about their positions,
they're more concerned about their titles, money, all these
different things. They don't think of God. They
don't think about their soul. They think about what they're
going to do the next day. It's God that gives them life
and breath and soundness of mind, but He's not in their thoughts.
And He wasn't in my thoughts. I was going to college. I had
an agenda. I didn't care. But people, you
just want to stop people and say, You know, people, oh, I
was lucky that the Lord, they don't use the word Lord, I was
lucky, that's their Lord, I didn't get in an accident the other
day. Stop and think. Stop and think. God is not before
their eyes. And what a sad situation. Your
neighbors, your moms, your dads, your friends, they don't have
God on their mind. They have something else. Or
Satan's taking their thoughts away, They don't even want to
hear about God. Except for the funeral home when
they die. And like somebody asked somebody,
a funeral director, I think, you know, we heard and I heard
from Henry or somebody that, you know, he asked the funeral
director, does anybody go to hell? He goes, not according
to the preachers. They could live their life as
they wanted to and they're going to die as they lived. And then
when it comes to the end, they're dead, and then somebody's going
to say some nice things about them. Think about, you know,
you children, think about God and Christ, heaven and hell,
now! Today is the acceptable day of
salvation. You may not have tomorrow. And
I don't look at the obituaries very often, but occasionally,
there was a 50-something year old, well, that's Sawyer, the
dentist. We don't know. We don't know
what tomorrow will bring. Everything else is there but
God. We're too busy being worldly, making money, seeking positions,
titles, self-serving, self-seeking, anything to satisfy our flesh.
But blessed be God, the Lord Jesus Christ, was sent to fulfill
for us all righteousness. He was sent to satisfy the law
of God against us. He was sent as a substitute for
us, His chosen people, His life for our life, His grace for our
lies, His worth for our unworthiness. Do we see this? Do we own this,
that we're nothing? If God ever draws you, and if
He ever draws me, we will think about this. But we will understand
what He says in John, without Him, we can do nothing. Not, I can do a little bit, that's
our problem. That's our problem. We can do
a little bit. And I will tell you this, as
you get older, you can do a little less. But still, anything of works mixed with
salvation is damnation. It's all of grace
or no grace at all. Yet our text is telling us the
truth. God now accepts thy person. Can you put your name in where
that article, thy, can you put your name in there? Look at it. Verse 7. For God now accepts
thy works, thy person. I don't know. Ask yourself this.
If you don't know, stay here. Go home, don't go see your neighbor,
don't go out and play, don't go do this, don't go barbecue,
don't watch the U.S. Open is the final date, don't
watch the U.S. Open, don't do anything. Determine
whether this is talking to you. And He does so. We're accepted
in the Beloved for reasons found only in His free, supreme grace,
mercy and truth. Really, truly accepts us. That's what I was trying to say
this morning in Bible class. He accepts half of us. No. In God's eyes, and that's why
we need to look at it, in God's eyes, that old nature, it's done.
It's gone. It's done. Now us, we struggle.
But in God's eyes, We are accepted in the Beloved. There's not a
parenthesis. That's the statement. That's
the statement of truth, reality. He accepts us, our coming ins,
our going forth, our highs, our lows, our troubles, our freedoms,
because He sees His own Son on our behalf. And that's the good
news of the Gospel. If we could save ourselves, even
the smallest, even do the smallest good work, Christ would not have
had to die. Who would murder their own son
for vagabonds and pathetic creatures, worms of the dust like us? Christ for us. We're made acceptable. Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. 12 and 13, giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son. That's why we're accepted. We
are accepted. Like I say, if we had anything
to do with our salvation, we are yet in our sins and doomed. I asked myself this. I asked
us this this morning. Are we accepted in the Savior? Are we low in our own eyes, in
our own estimation, our own esteem? Is He our all in all? Did He
suffer the full wrath of God for me? If so, if you can answer
in the affirmative from the heart, Abba, Father, His Spirit bearing
witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God. Let's
look at the first part of this verse. Go thy way. Oh, you can't preach that. You
can't preach that. You can't preach Christ, that
salvation in Christ, that free. People are just never going to
come to church. If you can do that, If you don't see a need
to gather together with those of like mind, like it's in the
whole Bible, if you could do that, as Henry would say or as
other preachers say, you don't understand what I'm saying. You
don't understand the importance of the Gospel. Go your way. Go your way. And I'll see you, Lord willing,
next Sunday. God's people are sheep. And sheep are gregarious. They like to flock together.
If they're alone... Henry said if a person is alone,
if a sheep is alone, he's either a lost sheep or he's a sheep
in trouble. I don't know of another one.
I guess you could say they're not a sheep. Go your way in peace. I don't have to control you.
I want to sometimes. Believe me, I want to sometimes. But then it's going to have the
stench of Drew Dietz on it. Paul says in Acts chapter 22,
and I looked this up, and nobody, I called some pastors, nobody,
No commentator, except for Matthew Henry, even had a word about
this. He says in Acts chapter 22, when he's standing before
in trial, and the governor says, I've purchased this, my freedom
with a great sum of money, and Paul says, I was born free. I
was free born. Historically, that's all the
commentators said. Historically, Caesars Augusta
did this, and the other part, and I didn't want that. I wanted
the spiritual application. The spiritual application is
found in Galatians 6, verses 14-18. God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision avails anything or uncircumcision, but
a new creature. You pay bills, you do things,
you do things different with your family. I do things different
with my family. Circumcision, uncircumcision,
it doesn't matter. But do you know Christ? Are you a new creature?
And as many as walk according to this rule, we're free in Christ. Peace be upon them and mercy
upon the Israel of God. From henceforth let no man trouble
me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Galatians 5, verse 1, Stand fast
therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and
be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Whether it's
your pastor, or your husband and wife, there is different... I mean, we do things different. But in Christ, but everything
is... Everything is lawful, Paul says,
but they're not expedient. You may do this and a younger
brother may be bothered by it and stumble. Then don't consider
yourselves. As Christ, He washed the disciples'
feet. Don't consider yourself. But
stand fast in the liberty. Boy, are we... Back to our text. Go your way. I think he says
in 2 Corinthians 3 something about where the law of the Lord
is, there's liberty. There is liberty. And as many
pastors that we've had in here have said this, God's preachers,
but God's people are the freest souls on the top of God's green
earth. Not bondage to the Christless
religion, do's and don'ts. We are governed by love, moderation,
and seek to glorify God in His grace, not ourselves. And you
look at it, we're married to Christ by His death and bought
us with the price of His blood. We're not our own. When somebody asks you whether
you're married, who among us runs to go get the marriage certificate? Nobody does. We're married to
Christ. The believer is going to act
certain ways. Go your way. Christ's way. He's bore our ear. And our way,
which is now Christ's way. Antioch, they were first called
Christians. Why? Because they followed. He
was gone. He was dead. The Romans thought
they won. They thought they'd conquered
them. Oh, it just got started. A force to be reckoned with.
And it's a force to be reckoned with. This little church right
here, small as it is, it's a force to be reckoned with. Because
God's among us. And God, His purpose is being accomplished.
And when that last sheep is brought into the fold, it's not going
to be climate change that ends this world. It's not going to
be man, it's not going to be science, it's not going to be
a black hole, it's not even going to be a mediator. It's going
to be God that ends this whole thing. And it will be known as
God. Go thy way, which in reality
is His way, which is life and peace and hope and grace and
on and on. And He says, eat thy bread, drink
thy wine. What does that mean? Live your
life. Bruce says it all the time up in the Bible. Live your life. Live your life in moderation.
Be a believer. Live your life. And when someone
stops you and asks you for the hope that lies within you, you
ought to be able to tell them. And if you can't tell them, give
them a card. If you can't have them have a card, come to this
little church, this little hole-in-the-wall church. Jackson, it just smears,
looks down upon, that's fine. There was nothing attractive
about the tent of meetings in the wilderness. Badger skins,
it was ugly. But on the inside, all the glory,
the Shekinah glory shone. As free men, live your life as
free men, as free women, under the shadow of God's wings, under
His care and mercy upon you and me and us. Gathering together
with those like mine in faith, glorifying God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And look at what it says, go
thy way, eat thy bread with joy. There's nothing more... Somebody's always got a sour,
not always frowning, There's something that just doesn't... We ought to be the most joyful,
and we may be the most tried, like that song, Some through
the fire, some through the blood, some through with great sorrow.
And I got thinking, that's why I was getting all emotional, I thought
about John and Betty Seaball. Sixteen years old, a diabetic. John had
three curable diseases. had smiles on their faces. And
it was tough. I had never known anybody spend
so much time in the hospital in my life. Months at a time,
a lot of time. As a matter of fact, it got so bad, they would
compare who spent the longest. Well, I was in there. Who does
that? Somebody who is quietly resting
in the Lord Jesus Christ and His sufficient work. I couldn't. I don't know how I could. But
I guess with joy I will. And he says, with a merry heart,
Drink your wine with a merry heart. God looks upon the heart. Why is your heart merry? And
you've got all this trouble. Why are you in joy? And you've
got all this trouble. Because God accepts my person.
He accepts me and the Lord Jesus Christ. Just that I didn't do
anything to get in it, and you know what? I can't do anything
to get out of it. He says He's got us in the palm
of His hands. No man can pluck us. where there's joy and there's
merry heart, knowing everything that comes our way is predestinated
for our good and for our best and for our betterment. And when
I say that, the children, it always bothers me, it's like,
well, it was good. They had missed a car payment,
they may come and repossess that. Good. Spiritual good. Spiritual. Everything is working together
for our spiritual good. And a lot of times, stuff physical. Because that's how... He's a
good father. He's a great father. He's a loving
father. He's the good shepherd, the great shepherd, who cares
for the sheep. And when the sheep wander sometimes,
from what I've read, sometimes they'll break a leg. Bring it
back. Oh, that's not... Who's saying
that's not good when God says it's good? For He, our Lord, who says this
in Ecclesiastes 9, verse 7, for He can never err or do anything
wrong, so says His eternal Word, Romans 8, 28. All things work
together for good. That's how you can be merry.
That's how you can be joyful. Because that is based upon what
He has done. He's accepted our person. He's
accepted our works. That's amazing. That is amazing
grace. And that does sound sweet in
this sinner's ear. To God be the glory. Bruce, would
you close us please?