Last Sunday morning, as he closed
our conference with his final message, Brother Rupert Reichenbach
brought a tremendous message. And in that message, he demonstrated
the fact that God's elect are accepted, saved, and shall be
judged worthy of heaven in the last day because of our union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet in that message, Brother
Reifenbach showed us from the Scriptures that all men, you
and me included, shall be judged according to our works. When
we stand before God in the last day, we shall be judged according
to our works. God will not lower His standard
to get us in. He will not bend His law He will
not violate His justice. He will not compromise His righteousness
to get us into glory. Now this is exactly what our
Lord Jesus tells us in John chapter 5. I want you to look at it for
just a moment. John the 5th chapter beginning
at verse 25. Our Savior said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as
the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to
have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute
judgment also, because he is the Son of Man." Important words. These things are given to him
because he is the Son of Man. He gives life to whom He will
as the Son of Man, the God-Man, our surety and mediator. And
this right is given to Him, not as the Son of God, but as the
Son of Man in His covenant capacity and in His covenant offices as
our mediator. Look at verse 28. Marvel not
at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in
the graves shall hear His voice. and shall come forth, they that
have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done
evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Now without question,
salvation is by God's free, sovereign, unalterable, unconditional grace
in Jesus Christ the Lord. We are not saved by what we do. Salvation is by grace and by
grace alone. Yet the scriptures repeatedly,
constantly, and plainly declare that all men shall be judged
and either accepted or rejected according to their works. Listen
to the Word of God. Shall not He render to every
man according to his works? The Lord God says, I will recompense
them according to their deeds and according to the works of
their own hands. Our Savior says, He shall reward
every man according to his works. In Revelation chapter 2, you'd
be turning to Revelation 20 if you will. He says, I am He which
searcheth the reins and the hearts, and I will give unto every man,
to every one of you, according to your works. Here in Revelation
20, where John gives us his inspired description of the great white
throne judgment. Now, I realize that this doctrine
is so confusing to men. that most people interpret everything
I've read to you thus far from the scriptures with reference
to some imaginary judgment seat of Christ when believers are
going to be judged for that which they do after God saved them
as if we did better afterwards. And they invent a system of rewards
and purgatory, a system by which men and women shall be given
a favored position if they behaved a little better than their brothers
or sisters had. But such doctrine is totally
contrary to Scripture. The day of judgment spoken of
throughout Scripture is this great white throne day of judgment
at the end of all time. Revelation 20, verse 12, I saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were
opened. And bless God, another book was
opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged
out of those things which are written in the books according
to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them. And they were judged, every man,
according to their works. We shall be judged according
to our works. That's what we have read plainly
stated in the book of God. Now let me ask you a question.
Who in this assembly is prepared to bring his works to God Almighty
on the day of judgment? The thought is terrifying. Shall
I be judged of God about what I'm doing right now. The thought is terrifying. Until, until we read what God Almighty
himself has to say about our works. After the service last Sunday,
I met Brother Rupert out in the parking lot before he drove back
to North Carolina. And we were talking about his
message. I told him what a blessing it was, how very important it
was in our day. And he responded, but I forgot
to give them my first and most important text. You've got to
show this to them sometime. I said, what was that? Ecclesiastes
chapter 9 and verse 7. Turn there if you will. Last Sunday night, just before
I laid down to go to bed, I read this ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes,
and then I had to back up and read some more, and I had to
go forward and read some more, and I've been studying it all
week. Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 7. I'm going to try to
preach to you on this remarkable, astounding statement here at
the last sentence of verse 7. underscore this next little word,
now accepteth thy works. Wow. God now accepteth thy works. These words are not addressed
to everyone. They are specifically addressed
to some folks that are called the righteous and the wise. folks
who are in God's hand, people who are the objects of God's
mercy, love, and grace, and have been made righteous and wise
by His grace. Look at verse 1. For all this
I considered in my heart, even to declare all this, that the
righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. No man knoweth either love or
hatred, by all that is before them. To these people, the righteous
and the wise, whose works are in God's hands, the Lord speaks
in verse 15 of chapter 8. Look at it. Then I commended
mirth, I commended happiness, I commended joy, because Man hath no better thing under
the sun. Now that's some statement. Man
hath no better thing under the sun. James, he says this is the
best thing in the world. This is the best thing in the
world. Man hath no better thing under the sun than to eat and
to drink and to be merry. For that shall abide with him
of his labor, of his work, the days of his life which God giveth
him under the sun. Now it seems to me that I have
read those words before. Eat, drink, and be merry. In
Luke chapter 12, you'll remember our Lord gives the parable of
the rich man who had so much and he said, let's tear down
my barns and build greater barns. And he says to his soul, soul,
thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry. And for that God called him a
fool and said this day your soul shall be required of you and
you're going to lose all this. But here in Ecclesiastes, God
speaks to those who are the righteous wise, whose works are in his
hands, and he says, a man hath no better thing under the sun
than to eat and to drink and to be merry. How come? Because God now accepteth thy
works. If God accepts my works, I have
every reason to eat and drink and be merry. If God accepts
my works, I have no better thing under the sun than to eat, drink,
and be merry, because my works shall abide with me all the days
of my life, and they shall follow me to glory. Our text is Ecclesiastes
9, 7. But I promise you, You can't
possibly grasp what this text is saying if you don't understand
the context. Let's read the context together
again. Beginning at verse 15 in chapter 8. Then I commended mirth, because
man hath no better thing under the sun than to eat, to drink,
and to be merry. For that shall abide with him
of his labor the days of his life which God giveth him under
the sun. Whatever the number of our days
are in this world, both the believer and the unbeliever, both the
chosen and the reprobate, our days are given to us by our God,
and He gives us breath day by day, and the end of our days
is determined by God's decree. There will be no altering that.
And for God's people, nothing is better but that we should
eat, drink, and be merry while we live under the sun, for this
is that which God Almighty has given us, and He accepts our
works. Verse 60, Then I applied mine
heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done
upon the earth. For also there is that neither
day nor night seeth sleep. with his eyes. Now here's something
no man can ever discover. No matter how diligently he searches,
no matter how late he stays up at night to study it, no man
will find this out. Now watch this. This defines
everything in the context. Verse 17, then I beheld all the
work of God that a man cannot find out the work that is done
under the sun. Because though a man labor to
seek it out, yet he shall not find it. Yea, father, though
a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find
it. Did you get that? The thing which
God calls for us to eat, drink, and be merry about is His work. His work that no man can discover. His work that no man can discern. His work that no man can find
out by his diligent study and by his hard work. His work of
redemption, grace, and salvation. Verse 1, chapter 9. For all this
I considered in my heart. All this, God's great work. This work that no man can discover
on his own. This work that must be revealed
and only God can reveal it. For all this I considered in
my heart, even to declare all this, that the righteous and
the wise and their works are in the hand of God. And no man
knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. What? I had this lady over here who
loves me. And I like to think I love her. But God says right here, you've
never seen love by anything in this world. That's what God said. And you've never seen hate. Oh
man, they hate each other. You've never seen hatred until
you see it in this light. Jacob have I loved and Esau have
I hated. This is God's work and you're
not going to discover it on your own. This is God's work. No man discovers it under the
sun. Yet in this world, verse two,
All things come alike to all. There's one event to the righteous
and to the wicked, to the good and to the clean and to the unclean. To him that sacrificeth and to
him that sacrificeth not. As the good, so is the sinner.
And he that sweareth, as he that feareth in oath. And it goes
through down to verse 6 and it tells us that all these things
happen alike to men of the Son. sickness and trials and heartaches
and troubles that come alike, and at last they all die. Everybody. These things alike happen to
all men under the sun. Now, look at our text, verse
7. Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine
with a merry heart, for, that is, for this reason, God now
accepteth thy works. Now remember, Solomon is talking
to us about God's work, his work of redemption and grace and salvation,
that which is hidden from the men of this world. Because as
we read in Ecclesiastes 311, he hath made everything beautiful
in his time. Also he hath set the world in
their hearts. so that no man can find out the
work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Oh, what does that mean? That means you're shut up to
God's sovereign grace if you're ever to know anything about his
work. If you're ever to know anything about his salvation,
If you ever have any light, you're shut up to God giving you light.
If you ever have any knowledge, you're shut up to God giving
you knowledge. I don't care how brilliant you are in all other
things. No man can discover God's work. It must be revealed to you and
in you. All right, let's look at our
text line by line. Go thy way. How often we're brought
low were downcast by distressing providences, by outward temptations,
by inward sins. How often, looking at outward
things, we begin to think like brute beasts. David said, I saw
the prosperity of the wicked and I was as a beast before you. He said, I washed my hands in
innocence. He said, what's the use in serving God? That reprobate
over yonder lives just like I do, and he experiences all the things
I do, and I experience all the things he experiences. Oh, bless
my soul before God for ever giving thought to such foolishness.
Here we are urged. to set our hearts on our God
and His grace, and to march through this world with triumphant joy. The word translated, go thy way,
like many of the words in Hebrew that we try to translate with
English, has many shades of meaning. It might be translated, pursue
your way. March in your own way. Vanish
in your way. I dare almost be consumed in
your way. Let me give you a New Testament
translation. Set your heart, your affection on things above,
not on things on the earth. For your life is hid with God
in Christ, so set your affection on Him. The admonition carries
with it a sense of joy and victory. ought not be too much disturbed
by things in time when things in eternity are all settled and
well. We ought not be too much disturbed
even by our struggles in this world if God himself now accepts
our works. Go your way and go your way with
joy Walk with bounce in your step as one who is victorious
over every enemy. One who is successful in every
endeavor. That's how God's people ought
to live in this world. Christ is our way. Go your way. Pursue your way. Be consumed
in your way. Christ is the way. The only way
He is the good way. He is that way by which we know
God and have acceptance with God. Go your way. He is with
us in the way. He holds us in the way. And He
carries us all the way. Our way is described by Isaiah
as a high way of holiness. A highway of holiness in which
the ransomed of the Lord return to Zion with songs and everlasting
joy upon their heads, where there is no lion and no beast to devour,
no enemy to hurt, for nothing shall hurt in all God's holy
mountain. Look at the next thing. The wise
man urges us by the spirit of inspiration to eat our bread
with joy. Eat thy bread with joy. That
admonition, of course, may refer to the bread of daily providence.
I commend mirth because a man hath no better thing under the
sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry. Believing men
and women ought to be the happiest, most cheerful people on this
earth. We ought to be the happiest, most cheerful people on this
earth. Everything we possess is blessed
to us by Christ. And our God has promised that
we shall be blessed in basket and in store. Let's turn there
and read it, Deuteronomy 28. Hold your hands here in Ecclesiastes,
but turn to Deuteronomy 28. God has promised we'll be blessed
in basket and in store. blessed when we lie down in the
evening, blessed when we get up in the morning, blessed when
we go out, blessed when we come home, blessed in time and blessed
to eternity. Deuteronomy 28, and it shall
come to pass if thou shalt hearken diligently to the voice of the
Lord thy God to observe and do all his commandments which I
command thee this day. Now let me give you the long
and short of that, Ron Wood. If you trust Jesus Christ, this
is what will happen. If you believe on the Son of
God, the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations
of the earth. And all these things, these blessings
shall come on thee. Now watch this. And overtake
thee. They'll overtake you. Unexpectedly, they'll just overtake
you. If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God,
Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou
be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of
thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy
cattle, and the increase of thy kind, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and
thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou
comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to
be smitten before thy face. They shall come out against thee
one way and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command
the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses and in all that thou
settest thine hand unto. And he shall bless thee in the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Lord shall open unto
thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land
in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand. And thou
shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. Certainly
then, this admonition may be applied and referred to our giving
praise to God and eating our daily bread of providence. with
joy. But we have other bread to eat.
And we're ever to eat that bread with joy. Christ is our bread. He is the manna from heaven for
our souls. He's the source of our blessedness. And it is by eating his flesh
and drinking his blood that all this blessedness is ours. is suitable bread. That is, he's
the kind of bread you need. He's satisfying bread. I've got
to give you my thoughts about bread. My wife, back before she
found out I was diabetic and found out I've got a little trouble
with my heart, back before I got old and had started watching
what I eat, she used to make fresh bread several times a week. Oh, I can smell it now. I can
taste it. White bread, butter just dripping
off the edge. And I could just eat one or two
pieces of that and I was satisfied. That's enough. I don't need,
that's all I want for toast this morning, all I want for breakfast
this morning, just some of your bread, fresh out of the oven.
That's enough. Now, I eat that old stuff that
looks like dirt, comes in a loaf. The crust is so hard and tasteless,
it's like chewing cardboard, and you have to cut the edges
off to even bite through it. And I could eat it all day long,
and I still want some white bread. I still want that good, fresh,
homemade bread, because that's never satisfying. Hear me, eat
this bread. and you will never want another.
He is our satisfying bread, sweet bread. Oh, I love those sweet
breads, don't you? Zucchini bread, banana bread,
all that stuff. That's Christ Jesus, our Redeemer.
Let's go our way and eat our bread with joy, for Christ is
our way and he's our bread. Read on. And drink thy wine with
a merry heart. Oh, how kind, how gracious, how
good our God must be. Rex, he makes joy a commandment. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Surely
he must be full of goodness toward his own. Bread represents that
which is necessary. Wine represents that which is
pleasurable. And I have to pause in this society
in which everybody finds something wrong with everything. They invent
laws that God never invented. And they tell you just don't
dare, don't dare drink any wine. Lots of folks want to have wine
at the Lord's table. Don't dare, dare do that. We'll have Kool-Aid
instead. Nowhere in this book will you
find a prohibition against the use of such things. Nowhere in
this book there's a prohibition to the abuse of things. None
to the use of things. You understand the difference?
And don't you dare look down your nose at somebody because
they use things you don't use and you say, well, he's not as
holy as I am because he has wine when he goes out to the restaurant.
Don't you dare. Don't you dare. Wine refers to
that which is pleasurable. Both that which is necessary
and that which is pleasurable is to be used freely and enjoyed
freely by God's people in this world. You mean, Brother Don,
it's all right to drink a glass of wine or have some rum or whatever
you want for your meal or before you go to bed? Yeah, it's all
right. Man, I used to like to drink a beer. That's all right.
That's okay. Now, I'm not saying do it. I'm
saying it's all right. I'm saying it's all right. And
it's all right not to. Now, if you're still living at
home, that depends on what your mom and daddy say. But otherwise,
it's all right. It's all right. Well, I'll give
some response to that. And as bread represents the body
of Christ, Wine represents his sin-atoning, redeeming blood. Ever drink this wine with a merry
heart. Solomon is urging us to enjoy
the bounty of God's providence, but especially to enjoy the bounty
of God's saving grace. The affairs of providence The
affairs that we face day by day, the trouble and the trial and
the heartache and the confusion is meaningless, utterly meaningless
in the light of the affairs of redemption and grace. Oh God,
teach me that. Christ is our way, so let's go
our way. Christ is our bread, so let's
eat our bread with joy. Christ's love is better than
wine. So let's drink our wine with a merry heart. Now here's the reason for it
all. For God now accepteth thy works. As we make our pilgrimage through
this world, oh, what reason we have to eat
drink and be merry if God accepts our works. I think maybe only a young child
can understand what Solomon's saying here. A one who has made
a babe in his kingdom A boy does something, draws a picture,
little child, give him some crayons. And they draw a picture, not
just any picture, they work hard on it. And when you get it, you
can't make out anything in the picture. It's just a mess. It's just a mess. But it brings
it to mama or daddy. and doesn't say anything, just
hands it to you, lays it down and watches. And buddy, if mom
or dad don't notice that picture, that child is heartbroke because
all he wants is to do something just for you, that you're pleased
with, that you'll accept. Mm. Now hear me, the Lord now
accepts your works, children of God. This is much more than an assurance
that one day He's going to. It's the assurance that as we
live in this world and serve our God, He accepts our works. Paul wrote to the Philippians
who had sent by their pastor Epaphroditus a gift for him. I don't know what it was, whatever
he was allowed to have as a prisoner in Rome. And he said that their
gift, those things that were sent from you, are an odor of
a sweet smell, a sacrifice well-pleasing to God. an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice
well-pleasing to God. Lindsay referred us this morning
to Hebrews 13. By Christ, let us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips,
giving thanks unto His name. But to do good and communicate,
forget not. For with such sacrifices... Wait
a minute now. To do good and communicate. To
do good and share what you've got. To do good and share your
bread with your friends. To do good and share your bread
with the hungry. To do good and communicate, forget
not, for with such sacrifices. Sacrifices? You mean, helping
somebody down the stairs is a sacrifice? You mean, Holding somebody's
hand whose heart's broke is a sacrifice? You mean helping a friend rejoice
along the way with his family is a sacrifice? You mean giving
a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple is a sacrifice?
With such sacrifices, God is well pleased. What works are these that God
accepts? Which of our works are accepted
now of God who accepted us in Christ before the world began?
Without question, the Lord accepts our sacrifices of worship and
praise and thanksgiving. Without question, He accepts
that which we do specifically for Him. Without question, He
accepts the obedience and the sacrifice of His Son as our mediator
and substitute. In free justification, God demands
two things. He demands perfect obedience
and complete satisfaction. He takes the obedience of Christ
as our representative and imputes that to us so that we are now
made the righteousness of God in Christ. but he must also have
satisfaction. And with the precious blood of
Jesus Christ, he washes away our sins so that now God refuses
to impute sin to us. And so there is something more
here. In fact, our text doesn't speak
about our sacrifices of worship and praise. And our text doesn't
speak specifically about the imputed righteousness of Christ
in free justification. Our text is talking about ordinary
things. The common, ordinary affairs
of the believer's life. Routine, mundane things. It's talking about things like
eating bread and drinking wine. What's that got to do with serving
God? Everything. Everything. Brother Ron, in his
prayer, asked the Lord that we might have grace to worship Him
not an hour or two on Sundays, but every day of our lives. You see, Christ did not just
save my soul. He saved me. He didn't just save your soul. He saved you, all of you. Let me put what I want to say
in shoe leather. Our lives are shot plumb full
of sin. And there's nothing we could
do that God could ever accept. Nothing. But the Lord Jesus has
washed away our sin. and he accepts our lives, in
the totality of our lives, as perfect obedience. What's that
mean? That means that God approves
of the way of the righteous, and the way of the wicked shall
perish. Everything that the reprobate
man does, his sacrifices and plowing his field, shall only
add to his condemnation in everlasting judgment and add to his torment.
But everything the righteous man is and everything he does
is accepted of God. The Lord now accepteth thy works. Brother, I believe it was Brother
Frank asked a week or two ago back in the office where this
idea of clergy and laity came from. Folks refer to the clergy
and the laity. You hear fellas say, I'm a lay
preacher. Well, you ain't much then. That's all there is to
it. You ain't much. Clergy and laity. That came directly out of Babylon.
Came straight out of hell. It came from Rome, and it's been
brought into Baptist churches all over the world, but ain't
nothing to it. In the kingdom of God, there's no such thing
as clergy and laity. No such thing. We are the servants
of God. We are the servants of God. What
does that mean? You give a cup of cold water
in the name of a disciple. God accepts that as much as he
accepts you giving your life to be burned at the stake in
the testimony of righteousness. You farm for a living. called Oscar's
Eye back there, and you go feed those cattle, or if you raise
hogs, you slop the hogs. And you spend your life trumping
through manure, raising corn, and slaughtering cattle, and
slaughtering hogs, and such things as some folks consider despicable
and wouldn't want to do, because they don't want to dirty themselves.
God accepts it if you do it for His glory. just as much as he
accepts any service from any missionary in the remote corners
of New Guinea. You build houses, or sell insurance,
or you're a craftsman, or you're a teacher, or you're a ditch
digger, or you're a garbage collector, or you're a preacher, it doesn't
matter. It doesn't matter. If you do it for Christ, do it
unto the Lord, God accepts your labor. Do you understand that?
Well, what can I do for Christ? You can raise your children,
you can keep your house, you can feed your family, as unto
the Lord. And God accepts it. God accepts
your works as that done specifically for Him, for His glory. and done perfectly. Let's see if that's what he's
talking about. Verse seven. Go thy way, eat thy bread with
joy, drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth
thy works. Let thy garments be always white. The white garments of perfect
righteousness. Ever seek Christ the Lord. Let
your head like no ointment. Seek God to pour out His Spirit
continually upon you. And live joyfully with the wife
whom thou lovest. Well, what's spiritual about
that? Everything under the sun. Live joyfully with the wife whom
thou lovest. all the days of the life of thy,
what did he call it? Vanity. I told you, in the light
of eternity, in the light of Christ accepting us, everything
here is vanity. In the life of thy vanity which
he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity
for that is thy portion in this life and then thy labor which
thou takest under the sun this is part of those works God accepts
now whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all your might do it with all your might. For there is no work, nor device,
nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest. God now accepts your works. So
whatever it is God has given you to do in this world, do it
for the glory of God with all your might and rejoice as you
do. Look at that word, accept it
for a minute. Again, it's one of those grand little words that
has such shades of meaning that you can't possibly get all of
it with one translation. God now accepteth thy works. God is now pleased with your
works. God now approves of your works. God is now satisfied with your
works. God now delights in your works. God is favorable toward your
works. God receives your works with
pardon. Maybe that comes closest to the
bark. God in heaven receives our works with pardon through the sin atoning
blood of His darling Son, all dressed up in His perfect righteousness,
just exactly as God receives His Son. And in the last day,
our Lord Jesus will say to you and me, people who are in God's
hands, people righteous and wise by His grace, whose works God now accepts.
Come, ye blessed of my Father, as he judges us according to
our works. Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. Amen.