The Conclusion of the Whole Matter

Ecclesiastes chapter 1. The words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the
preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all
his labor which he taketh unto the sun? One generation passeth
away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth
forever. The sun also ariseth, and the
sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose to make
the circuit again. The wind goeth toward the south
and turneth about unto the north, it whirleth about continually,
and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. And
all the rivers run into the sea, and yet the sea is not full.
Unto the place from which the rivers come, thither they return
again. And it keeps going that way.
All the rivers flow into the sea, the sea's not full. Sun
draws the water up and it drops down again, starts the process
all over again. And all things are full of labor.
Man cannot utter it. The eye's not satisfied with
seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. We keep seeing, we keep
hearing. And the thing that hath been
It is that which shall be. And that which is done is that
which shall be done over and over again. It has been that
way for thousands of years. And there is no new thing under
the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is
new? No, it hath been already of old
which was before us. And there's no remembrance of
former things. And neither shall there be any
remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall
come after. We don't remember what happened
way back yonder. And folks ahead of us are not
going to remember what we're doing. We were walking among
the ruins of the Mayan pyramids other buildings built in the
ninth century, almost 1,100 years ago. I can't remember whether
it was Tom or Charles said to me, I wonder if somebody a thousand
years from now is going to be walking them in the middle of
our ruins talking about what we did. And
there'll be ruins, too. I, the preacher, verse 12, I,
the preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. Where was his priority? He didn't say I, the king, was
a preacher. That's our priorities. He said
I, the preacher, happened to be the king. But I'm a preacher
first. But he said in verse 13, I gave
my heart to seek and search out my wisdom concerning all things
that are done unto heaven. I gave myself to wisdom. Wasn't
that what God gave him? Much wisdom to search out things
of science and things of nature, things in the heavens, things
about us. I gave myself to search out all
these things done under the heaven. This sore travail had God given
to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. And I've seen all
the works that are done under the sun. And behold, all is vanity
and vexation of spirit. That which is crooked cannot
be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered,
defective. And I communed with mine own
heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and I have gotten
more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem.
I know more about more things than anybody else. Yea, my heart
had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. I studied and
searched and looked into these things. And I gave my heart to
know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceive that this
also is a vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief,
and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow." Well, chapter 2, verse 1, I said
in my heart, I tried wisdom, I searched into everything, I
read all the books that could be read. I studied everything
that could be studied. I looked into everything that
had been done. I withheld nothing from myself
until I searched out everything done under the heavens. I was
the wisest man that had ever lived in Jerusalem. And I found
out that there's no peace, there's no satisfaction, there's no joy
in any of those things. I found out it's vexation of
spirit. And the more I know and the more
I looked into these things, the more my sorrow and grief increased. Well, I said in my heart, go
to now, I will prove thee with mirth. I won't take everything
so seriously. I'll enjoy pleasure. Pleasure,
laughter, social life, happiness. And behold, this also is vanity.
I found out that you can't make a joke out of everything and
find peace either. I said of laughter, it's mad. I said of mirth or pleasure,
what do it then? What's the end of it? What does
it bring? Does it bring any peace, any
joy? Well, I sought in my heart to
give myself to wine. Now, unfortunately, the word
is used here, but it's not intoxication. He's talking here of feasting.
Feasting. What Solomon has done is he's
looking for peace. He's looking for some happiness.
He's looking for some stability. He's looking for somewhere to
place his feet and to find rest and joy and happiness. And he
sought it in wisdom. He sought it in searching out
all things. And it wasn't there, so he started in taking everything
lightly. And that's the way so many people
do. Now we're living in the day of
pleasure and laughter. Everything's a funny joke. Everything has to have a retort
or some kind of lightness about it and folly. And he said, it's
not there. So I just gave myself to feasting. Feasting. Now watch
the next line. Yet acquainting my heart with
wisdom. I never left this wisdom, he
said. So he didn't give himself to drunkenness, he didn't give
himself to intoxication, he gave himself to feasting, feed the
body. Give it the richest food and
the best food. You remember this man is fabulously
wealthy and so he had feasts, he had good times, he invited
his friends, he lavishly filled his table with the finest food
and the best food and the best chef and the best waiters and
the best preparation. Just feel the body, just enjoy
all the good things that you can get. And to lay hold on folly till
I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they
should do under the heaven all the days of their life. I've
tried that. That's vanity too. Well, verse 4, I made me great
works. I built in me houses. And I planted
vineyards, I planted grapevines, I built houses and barns and
I planted vineyards. I made gardens and orchards and
I planted trees of all kinds of fruits, fig trees and orange
trees and lemon trees. I made me pools of water to irrigate
my trees, to water there with the wood that bringeth forth
trees. Can't you see his place out there? My, my, he just planted
trees and vineyards and orchards and gardens and he had the first
irrigation system, caught the water in the mountains and brought
it down and covered his fields. And I got me servants. I hired
people to work for me. I had a big operation going.
I got maidens and servants and servants even born in my house.
Also I had great possessions of great and small cattle. Got
some cattle. Yes sir, I got the best cattle
above all that were in Jerusalem before me. I just filled my fields
with cattle. Looked out there and there's
my cattle and there's my barns and there's my houses and there's
my vineyards and there's my orchards and this is the way I irrigate
it and take care of it and make it a great place, you know. In
verse 8, I gathered me silver and gold. I collected silver
and gold and the peculiar treasures of kings and of the provinces. I got me men singers and women
singers. I got some entertainers and the
delights of the sons of men as musical instruments and that
of all sorts. I just had parties and fellowship
and brought people out to the ranch. So I was great. I increased more than all that
were before me in Jerusalem, also my wisdom remained with
me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired,
I kept not from them." Sounds like some of our ladies
shopping, doesn't it? Well, that's the way he was.
Whatever my heart desired, he could afford it. Whatever I wanted,
that's what I got. my heart from any joy, for my
heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my portion of all
my labor. Then one day I looked on all
the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored
to do, and behold, I didn't find it there either. I didn't find
it there. I didn't find it in wisdom, intellect,
knowledge of all these things. I didn't find it in the jokesters
and the mirth and the laughter. I didn't find it in the pleasure.
I didn't find it in the feasting with friends. And I didn't find
it by hard work and labor and accomplishments and building
all these things. I didn't find it. but rather
all was vanity and my spirit was vexed and there's no profit
under the sun. Nothing. And I turned myself to review
all of this to behold wisdom and pleasure and folly. For what can a man do that cometh
after the king? Who's going to do more than I've
done, he said. My potential was limitless. Who's
going to try more than I tried and do more than I do or learn
more than I learned or have more than I have? Even that which hath been already
done. And then I saw, I saw this, I acknowledge this much, that
wisdom excelleth folly. That's one thing for sure. It's
better to be smart than dumb. It's better to study and be wise
than to be a fool. I know that, he said. I won't
discount that at all. It's better to be wise than to
be dumb. And if wisdom exceeds folly,
excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness. The wise
man's eyes are in his head. He sees where he's going and
knows where he's been. He's intelligent, but the fool
walketh in dumbness and darkness. But I myself perceived also that
one event happened to all of them, smart or dumb, wise or
foolish, they died. They died. He said, I acknowledge this,
it's better to be smart than to be a fool. It's better to
be wise than to be foolish. He said, wisdom excelleth folly
as light exceeded darkness. But I'll tell you this, I found
this about wise or fool, they all, one thing happened to all
of them, they laid down and died. And then said I in my heart,
as it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me. And
why was I then more wise? And then I said in my heart,
well that also is vanity. My comparison. Even that's vanity. I know it's better to be smart
than to be a fool, Ronnie, but he said even that's vanity. Even that's vanity. Verse 16,
there's no remembrance of the wise man any more than the fool. Seeing that which now is, in
the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how doth the wise man? Like
the fool. He shuts his eyes, and his heart
stops, and he's buried. And that's my conclusion, he
said. I tried it every bit. And I come to this conclusion,
verse 17, I hate life. Was he the first one that said
life is a bitch? That's what he said, I hate life. As all that is, I hate it. Your wisdom, your mirth, your
folly, your feasting, your laughter, all these things, your buildings,
your accomplishments, I hate it. I hate it a lot. Because
the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me,
for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. And I even came, verse
18, to hate my labor. Here's a man that has gone out
there, and with the wisdom God gave him, and intelligence, he's
improved his community, he's improved his town, he's improved
giving jobs to people, he's worked, he's labored, he's built great
buildings and vineyards and cattle, and he had to have servants and
men servants and took care of families, and he said, I came
to this place, I even hated my labor, I hated my accomplishments,
which I had taken under the sun, because I should leave it unto
the man that shall be after me. That bothered me. I built all this. I built it
with my strength and my labor and my sweat and my blood and
my tears, and I'm going to die like the fool. He leaves nothing.
And I'm going to die just like him. As it happened to the fool,
it's going to happen to me. And he leaves nothing, and here
I've done all this, and put my very life into it, and I leave
it to somebody after me. And who knows, verse 19, whether
he'll be a wise man or a fool. Who knows what he's going to
do with all I've built. You know, I spend time concerned
about who's going to stand in this pulpit when I leave. By God's grace, and you have
30 some odd years to preach in the gospel here. I want it to
grow on me and preach. And this is what he's saying,
I'm going to leave all this. And who knows whether the man
that follows me and inherits everything I've got, who knows
how he's going to handle it. He's going to be a wise man or
a fool. And yet shall he have rule over
all my labor wherein I have labored. And wherein I have showed myself
wise under the sun. Now this is vanity. This is vexation. Therefore I went about to cause
my heart to despair of all the labor which I took under the
sun. For there is a man, or here is a man, whose labor is in wisdom,
here is a man whose labor is in knowledge, in equity. And
yet to the man that hath not labored therein shall he leave
it, for that man's portion. Now this is vanity, and he says
it's not right, it's evil. I've done all this work and labored,
built all these things, and I'm going to leave it to somebody
who hasn't lifted his hand. That's vanity. That's vexation. For what hath a man of all his
labor and of the vexation of his heart wherein he hath labored
under the sun? I'll tell you what he has. For
all his days of sorrows and his travail of grief And yea, his
heart taketh not rest in the night. He lies awake at night,
troubled about these things. He can't even get any rest at
night, struggling with these things. Now that also is vanity. He can't even sleep, being concerned
and troubled about what's going to take place after he's gone. And all this is the thinking
of a natural man. Now here's my text, verse 24,
and here's the conclusion of the whole matter. Now you listen
to me. This will be helpful. If it was to me, it will be to
you. There is nothing better for a
man than he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul
enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw that it was from
the hand of God." He's thinking differently now. He's been thinking
like a natural man. He's been thinking like a carnal
man, and we are subject to that very same thought. Now he's thinking
like a man who knows God. He's thinking differently. For
example, these young people study. They go through school, and then
they go to college, and then they go to their undergraduate
work, and they become teachers, or they become musicians. Mike
and Dan, Carolee, Martha, Daisy singing, that's taken work, that's
taken study, or they become a businessman. Some of you men out here, work
in business, you've studied, you've worked, you've become
an engineer. Or some of you men join a company.
Some of you have been with a company for many years. You're very proud
of serving 25, 30, 35, 40 years with a company. You became a
foreman. You did a good job. You helped build this steel mill
or this oil refinery. Your wisdom has helped you come
up with new things. And your labor, you've given
your labor to accomplish some unusually good things. And then
people get married, these young couples get married, and they
build a house, or they buy a farm, and they plant trees, and build
a driveway, and the wife gets out there and digs in the dirt
and plants flowers, and they build fences, and they labor
to pay for it and enjoy it, and they put nice furniture in it.
And then they have a family. They have children and grandchildren
and friends in and the fellowship's joyful and they enjoy their place.
They walk out there in the yard and look at the beautiful trees
and they go and pick their apples and their pears and their peaches
and other things have grown and they're happy and they're rejoicing
these things. And I built a home over there
and we built a church here and we've met here for thirty some
odd years and we enjoy these things. Is it wrong? Is it wrong? No, sir. And that's what he's saying here.
It's not wrong. It's not wrong. Because he says,
look at verse 24, if you get this thing in the right perspective,
if you can remember the means are only means, they're not the
end. If you can learn to use and not
abuse, if you can learn to use and not be used, by these things. If you can remember the fashion
of this world faded, that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness
thereof is not yours and never has been. It's all borrowed. And if you can get it in the
right perspective, you can enjoy it, and God means for you to
enjoy it. He says here, there's nothing,
verse 24, there's nothing better for a man than that he should
eat good food. You men raise gardens, I do. I love to go out there in my
garden. I love this. I enjoy it immensely. I enjoy
that home over there. I enjoy growing my tomatoes and
my broccoli and our zucchini and our peppers. And I enjoy
bringing it in, putting it on the table, and eating it, and
inviting others to eat it with me. And I enjoy having friends
over and sitting in a nice comfortable home. I enjoy driving about the
countryside here and seeing where we live. I enjoy the fall. I
enjoy coming over here to this building. I thank God for it.
I enjoy this fellow. I gladly enjoy living. There's
nothing I'd rather do than sit out there on the patio with somebody
I love and have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake. There's
nothing I enjoy better than on Sunday after we leave church
here, we go home and there's my son and his wife and my daughter
and her husband and my grandchildren and I can just sit there all
day. I enjoy it. Don't you? Flat enjoy it. Is that wrong? No, sir. He says
there's nothing better For a man that he should eat and drink
and enjoy his, let his soul enjoy the good of his labor. Enjoy
it. Stand back there and look at
that house that you built with your own hands. That garden you
planted. And enjoy it. Take your children
for a walk on your place there. Show them the tree you planted.
Old dad planted that. Nice yielding fruit. Nothing
wrong with that. Because this also is from the
hand of God. I tell you this, God gave it
to me. God gave it to me. A man can
receive nothing except it be given him from above. You talked about we are the most
blessed people materially, financially, and spiritually on the face of
this earth. But where did it come from? God
gave it to us. God gave it to us. Who maketh
thee to differ? What is thou that thou didst not receive?
Every good and perfect gift is from the Lord, and to be received
with thanksgiving. Now look at verse 25. For who
can eat, or who else can hasten thereunto more than I? Solomon
said, Who ought to know this more than I? Who ought to know this more than
I? God's blessed me above all men, and I'm grateful. And some of you can say the same
thing. So don't be at all reluctant to enjoy living, to enjoy your
family, to enjoy the fruit of your labor, to enjoy the fruit
of your work. Just remember one thing, God
gave it. God gave it. God gave it. Am I getting through? God gave
it. Now look at verse 26, and here's
the key. For God giveth to a man. that
is good in his sight. Now hold it right there. God gives to a man who's good
in his sight. But, preacher, there's none good,
no, not one. I'm confused. Oh, yes, there
is some good, too. They're righteous in Christ.
They're good in Christ. They're in His sight. Holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in His sight because they're in Christ. That's why
our Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth. He came down here
to save sinners. He came down here to seek and
to save the lost. He became flesh. He took upon
Himself bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. He walked this
earth in obedience to God's holy law and imputed to us a perfect
righteousness in the sight of God. He made us holy. We're a
holy people. We're a holy nation. He gave
us sanctification, righteousness, and redemption in Himself. We're
holy in Christ. We're good in God's sight in
Christ Jesus. And God gives to that man who
is good in His sight three things. Three things that enables him
to rejoice in his labor. in a right manner, that enables
him to rejoice in this earth in a right fashion, that enables
him actually even to rejoice in that which he know is but
temporary and is passing away. But God gives to that righteous
man in Christ Jesus, that spiritual man, that regenerated man, that
born-again man, God gives him something. that enables him actually
to enjoy life, knowing that it will soon end. To enjoy his family,
knowing that it shall soon be divided. To enjoy the fruit of
his labor, knowing that God gave it to him. But he gives him three
things, and here are those three things. And remember this, God
gives it. Right here are those three things. This is what the
worldly man does not have. This man back here that was filled
with such jealousy and bad spirit, Solomon was acting out the part
of this man. I gave myself to wisdom and I
didn't find any peace. No, there's no peace in natural
wisdom. I gave myself to working and I got jealous over leaving
it to somebody else. I couldn't enjoy it for remembering
I'd soon leave it. But this man of God, this regenerated,
righteous, sanctified man in Christ Jesus, God gives him three
things. He said, I'll give to him wisdom. Wisdom. What is that wisdom? That wisdom is Christ. That wisdom
is Christ. We know that Christ is the wisdom
and the power of God. We know that Christ has made
unto us wisdom, and this wisdom enables him, first of all, to
understand the mysteries of God's grace in Christ Jesus. Would
you turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 2? God gives him wisdom. This is true wisdom. This is
God-given wisdom. This is spiritual wisdom. In
1 Corinthians 2, this is wisdom that the natural man does not
have. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 6, listen, how be it we speak wisdom among
them that are mature, not the wisdom of the world, not the
philosophy of the world, nor the princes of this world that
come to naught, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world. unto our glory, which none of
the kings and leaders and princes of this world knew, for had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written, I have not seen the natural eye nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
that God has prepared for them that love him." What do you know
about that? Well, he said, God hath revealed
them unto us. This is the wisdom I'm talking
about. God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the mysterious things of
God, the deep things of God, the covenant mercies of God,
the sure mercies of David, and God hath revealed them unto us.
When a man knows Christ, he has divine wisdom. He has the wisdom
that enables him to understand in his heart the mysteries of
God's grace. And then secondly, this wisdom
enables him to understand what true riches really are. Turn
to Ephesians 1. We know that these material things
are not true riches. We know that material possessions
are not true riches. That a man can have everything
this world has to offer and be very poor. And a man can have
very little in this world and be very rich. You met some rich
people in Mexico that didn't have a chair to sit on. You see,
that's the wisdom God gives his people, is to understand that
these are not the true riches. Here's the true riches, Ephesians
1 verse 7, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sin according to the riches of his grace. Those true riches,
his grace. That's the reason it really doesn't
matter whether I abound or I'm abased, I'm rich. Look at Ephesians
2, 7, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
See, that's the wisdom that enabled Moses, by faith, to leave all
of the treasures and and power of Egypt and turned to the desert
because he counted the riches of Christ to be far greater than
the treasures of Egypt. He had wisdom. The natural man would have never
left that. But Moses got along all right there and he got along
all right here because he was just as rich when he left as
when he stayed. Because his riches were not in
those things that were in Christ. That's wisdom. Oh, I've lost everything. You've
lost everything? You mean God left you? Oh no,
God didn't leave me. I lost my possession. That could
be the best thing that ever happened to you. Wisdom. And this wisdom enables
a man to understand what true riches really are. True riches. And then this wisdom enables
him to always remember that a man's life does not consist in the
things he possesses. Saul of Tarsus went from Mr. Everything to Mr. Nobody. And
yet he said, I count all that but dumb that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. Now that's wisdom. He went from
one of the most powerful, influential, intellectual, accepted friend
of the high priest to a man haunted and hunted by everybody who was
anybody who turned their thumbs down on him. But he said this, I count all
this but loss, rubbish for the excellency of the knowledge of
my Lord Jesus. That's wisdom. If you can pick it up and enjoy
it and lay it down and not be any different. And this wisdom enables him to
look on things which are not seen. Turn to 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians 4. This is the difference. 2 Corinthians
4. Verse 18. Look at this. While
we look not on the things that are seen, but at things which
are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal. The things which are not seen are eternal. Now
there's the wisdom I'm talking about. So Solomon, what you're
saying, there's nothing better, nothing better than for a man
to eat and drink and his soul to enjoy the fruit of his labor,
because God gave it. But he has enough, but God along
with those gifts gave him wisdom to know who gave it, to know
to whom it belongs, to know that it's all temporary, and the wisdom
to hold lightly to it, and be ready to give it up. And I've
said this so often, don't make God break your fingers to get
a possession out of your hand. Don't make him do it, because
he'll do it. Don't do it. Just hold it lightly. Whatever
it is, enjoy it. If it's a fruit of your labor,
it's a fruit of your loins, whatever it is, O lightly to it. If it's a gift, if it's a talent,
O lightly to it. Because the Lord giveth, and
the Lord taketh away. And the wisdom of Christ says,
Blessed be the name of the Lord. Huh? That's right, you can enjoy
it. Enjoy it. Abby, see your trucks
out there and rejoice in them. See them rolling down the highway
and rejoice in them. But if one goes off the mountain
rejoicing, that too. That's right. That's what I'm
talking about. Because the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and
all they that dwell therein. Don't ever forget it. For me to live is Christ and
for me to die is gain. I've got to show you this. He
gives, look back at the text, Ecclesiastes. He said He gives
him wisdom and He gives him knowledge. He gives him knowledge. What
kind of knowledge? Well, listen, I jotted this down,
just from my own experience and own feelings. I know whom I have
believed. I know whom I have believed. I know Christ. I rejoice
in Christ Jesus. Secondly, I know where these
blessings come from. I'm aware of any, and I know
where trials come from too. My trials come from the same
place my blessings come from. Same place. And they come ordered
by the Lord, according to His purpose, and both those trials
and those mercies were for my good. I may not know it, but
they're for my good. I talked to Todd Nybert this
afternoon before I came to church this evening, and he's doing
so much better. And we agreed on one thing. And
he said it too. He said, through this trial,
I'll be a better preacher and a better pastor. That's good,
isn't it? That's good. You mean all that
suffering is good? It's all good. It accomplishes
God's purpose in our good. It's all good. And thirdly, I
know this. I know the fashion of this world
faded. I know it's everything that I'm
beholding right now, every relationship, every possession has got to go.
I know that. And I know how to use these things
and not be used by them. We've got to learn that. They're
not the end in themselves. They're simply me. That's all
in the world now. Please, that's all in the world
now. Don't let them use you. Don't
let them grab hold of you. Don't let them dominate you and
control you. When you see that they're dominating
and controlling you, lay them down. We know how to be good
stewards of that which God has given us. Oh, remember this,
it's more blessed to give than to receive. If you've been a
recipient, be a giver. If you've received mercy, show
mercy. If God's been gracious to you, be gracious to others.
Be a good steward. After all, it's not yours. It's
not yours. It's His. And then I know, Paul
said, I've learned in what service state I am to be content. Do
we? Have we? And I know the earth
is the Lord's, so what does it matter what becomes of it after
I use it? You know, over here he was complaining
about he'd built this house, now somebody else is going to
live in it that didn't build it. He was complaining about
he'd accumulated all these things, going to leave somebody that
didn't labor. What difference does it make? I'm going to move into glory. What do I care who gets my little
red wagon? When I ride on the chariot of
fire, I ain't going to be riding along there wondering who's riding
in my wagon. When I walk with Him in the dwelling
places of glory and behold the Lord Jesus Christ You think I'm
going to be wondering who's walking on that cement walk I built down
here in the backyard. You know, we're taken up with
that. Several years ago, there was
an individual quite well and blessed, a lot of money. And
this individual called me on the telephone. They live in another
state. And this person said, I'm very old and I've got some
money. And I'd like to leave it to your
church and to your elders. And I want to leave it in such
a way that they don't touch the principle, but they use the interest. You and the elders use the interest
to support missionaries. And you draw that up. So I thought
that sounded pretty good just off, you know, right off the
bat, sounded pretty good to me. So I got in contact with a lawyer
and started drawing up all the papers, and it fell through. And you know I'm glad it did? Because that's not a good arrangement
at all. You see, what this person was trying to do was to control
their estate after they left. They wanted to stamp their name
on it, their influence on it, and still control what happened
to it. And I learned the hard way on
that one. I'll never do that again. If
you've got anything to give, give it. Don't put any strings on it.
That's not giving. Don't leave your name stamped
on it. That's not giving. See what I'm saying? If you read the book of Psalms,
there's one over there that talks about how men want their names
to continue. and they want their monuments
to continue, and they want their legacy and all, forget it. God gives us wisdom and knowledge
to use what He gives us alright, and then when we leave here,
leave here, leave here, lay her down, put it away, and forget
who's got it. Isn't that right? That's knowledge.
Oh, he gives them the third thing. He gives them joy. Joy, rejoice
in the Lord. Christ is my joy. Christ is my
joy. I rejoice in Him. And if He is
my joy, if He is my joy, I joy in Christ Jesus through whom
I've received the atonement. If He is my joy, if He truly
is my joy, I can rejoice in riches or poverty. I can rejoice in
health or sickness. I can rejoice in life or death. I can rejoice in Christ Jesus. So, beloved, there's nothing
better for a man or a woman if they have that wisdom from above
and that knowledge of God's grace and that joy in Christ Jesus.
to enjoy and to rejoice in their labor and to eat and to drink
and to fellowship and enjoy life. Just enjoy. Just enjoy. And then when it comes time to
put it down, if you're holding lightly to it, you can put it
down and go to a better enjoyment, to all that rejoicing within. All right. Mike, come lead us
in a song, please.

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The Conclusion of the Whole Matter

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