1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:04,700 Oh man. Now look, I just gotta be honest 2 00:00:04,700 --> 00:00:07,900 with you that song at all of our locations. 3 00:00:07,900 --> 00:00:11,700 Hope has the name. If you were into that song of 4 00:00:11,700 --> 00:00:15,000 that song was affecting, you already heard the sermon today 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,200 so you can probably just get up and leave be okay because no 6 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:20,800 don't do that. I worked really hard on this 7 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,900 sermon so I don't I don't want you to miss out but boy that is 8 00:00:24,900 --> 00:00:29,200 the message that you're going to hear today is that hope has a 9 00:00:29,208 --> 00:00:32,400 name and that name. Is Jesus, and we're going to 10 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,200 find it in the Book of Ecclesiastes. 11 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:39,100 Before we get into that, I just want you to be praying hard for 12 00:00:39,100 --> 00:00:44,200 what's going on at Camp right now, because high schoolers are 13 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:50,700 there, and I was there yesterday afternoon, and I was hearing 14 00:00:50,700 --> 00:00:55,100 testimonies being given and people sharing from their heart, 15 00:00:55,700 --> 00:00:57,900 high, schoolers sharing from their heart college, students, 16 00:00:57,900 --> 00:01:02,500 sharing from their heart and and God is working in a powerful 17 00:01:02,500 --> 00:01:04,599 way. There, right now, he's moving in 18 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:07,100 the lives of those high schoolers and that's what that 19 00:01:07,100 --> 00:01:10,500 camp is all about. It's about life change. 20 00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:14,500 It's about seeing the Holy Spirit, work in young hearts and 21 00:01:14,500 --> 00:01:17,700 developing those hearts into fully devoted followers of 22 00:01:17,700 --> 00:01:21,600 Christ Disciples of Jesus that are going to follow him all the 23 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,100 days of their lives. So you be praying for them. 24 00:01:25,100 --> 00:01:26,400 Okay. Would you do that? 25 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,700 What a welcome, all the campuses that are joining with Today, 26 00:01:30,700 --> 00:01:34,700 everybody inside everybody online and I'm going to totally 27 00:01:34,700 --> 00:01:41,000 date myself, all right? I'm a Billy Joel fan. 28 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,300 How many of you even know who I'm talking about, okay? 29 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:51,300 I'm a Billy Joel fan and I can't help it because it's my age and 30 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,700 the, and like, when his like big albums came out as my senior 31 00:01:55,700 --> 00:01:59,700 year in high school and Billy Joel came out with the album, 32 00:01:59,700 --> 00:02:03,700 The Stranger, and it was an incredible. 33 00:02:03,700 --> 00:02:07,100 Incredible album had songs like moving out. 34 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,400 Only the Good Die Young. She's Always a Woman to me, just 35 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:13,700 I love you. The way you are because I'm in 36 00:02:13,700 --> 00:02:17,800 every single song on that album was a hit. 37 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:24,000 It went platinum 10 times over. I want you to think of just for 38 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:25,900 a second, like, you know, you're dating me. 39 00:02:25,900 --> 00:02:29,800 But I want you to think how many artists do you know that had 40 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,300 number one songs in three different decades? 41 00:02:33,700 --> 00:02:37,100 It's pretty short list, Billy Joel's one of them. 42 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:42,300 So that was in that was in 78 and 83 that was the year. 43 00:02:42,300 --> 00:02:46,000 I got married, he came out with another incredible album called 44 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,800 an innocent man. Once again hit after hit was all 45 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,900 inspired by Christie Brinkley. He'd married right Uptown Girl 46 00:02:55,100 --> 00:02:58,800 tell her about it. Keeping the Faith the longest 47 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:00,300 time. And of course the innocent man 48 00:03:00,300 --> 00:03:03,400 had just hit after hit. It went platinum, 70. 49 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:08,100 Times over. The last major album that Billy 50 00:03:08,100 --> 00:03:12,600 Joel released was in 1993, 10 years after that. 51 00:03:13,100 --> 00:03:16,800 And it was called River of Dreams and the title track on 52 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:17,900 that album. I don't know. 53 00:03:17,900 --> 00:03:26,300 It might be familiar to you just listen to it, you'll get a How 54 00:03:26,300 --> 00:03:29,200 many of you remember that? Oh yeah. 55 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:37,200 Just an incredible song. Lot of great songs on this album 56 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:41,600 as well. But so I mean just he just kept 57 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,500 on pumping out the hits and the interesting thing about River of 58 00:03:44,500 --> 00:03:48,700 Dreams, that album used the afterlife. 59 00:03:49,700 --> 00:03:54,600 As an as the inspiration for the the album. 60 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,700 But there's only one problem with that using that as 61 00:03:57,700 --> 00:03:59,800 inspiration, Billy Joel's an atheist. 62 00:04:01,900 --> 00:04:04,100 So, he writes a whole album about the afterlife, does an 63 00:04:04,108 --> 00:04:06,400 incredible job and he's an atheist. 64 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,400 Hey, grew up in a Jewish home and he dabbled with 65 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,400 Christianity, early in life, but that's where he ended up Landing 66 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,000 as an atheist and that's all well and good for Billy Joel. 67 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,000 Except when his seven-year-old daughter at the time. 68 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:24,800 Alexa asks him, this question is she's getting ready for bed, 69 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,300 Daddy. Where do we go? 70 00:04:27,300 --> 00:04:34,100 When we die? Billy Joel didn't have a good 71 00:04:34,100 --> 00:04:40,000 answer for that. But he put down his thoughts in 72 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,200 a song that's on that album, a lullaby. 73 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:51,200 And it's I don't know you decide what you think about his idea 74 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:55,100 because his response was given in a 2016 interview with Sirius 75 00:04:55,100 --> 00:04:58,800 XM. And this is his quote, I told 76 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:05,000 her that after you die, you go into other people's hearts and 77 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,300 they take you with them through their lives. 78 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:09,900 And then you pass that on to your children. 79 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,800 He went on to describe the question is daughter, gave him. 80 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:21,200 As a scary question. Hmm. 81 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,500 Some of you may have heard the name of Stephen Hawking great 82 00:05:25,500 --> 00:05:28,400 physicist passed away not too long ago. 83 00:05:28,500 --> 00:05:35,600 He was renowned for his theories but he was also an atheist and 84 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,700 he was quoted saying this it is my view that the simplest 85 00:05:39,700 --> 00:05:44,100 explanation is that there is no God, no one created the universe 86 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,900 and no one directs our fate, this leads me to a profound 87 00:05:47,900 --> 00:05:51,500 realization. There is probably no heaven and 88 00:05:51,500 --> 00:05:56,600 no after I've either we have this one life to appreciate the 89 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,600 grand design of the universe. Isn't that weird? 90 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,600 They talks about a grand design with no designer. 91 00:06:04,300 --> 00:06:07,700 We we have this one life to appreciate the grand design of 92 00:06:07,700 --> 00:06:12,200 the universe and for that, I am extremely grateful. 93 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:17,000 Hmm. Well, there in the vast minority 94 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,900 about four percent. According to a Pew research poll 95 00:06:20,900 --> 00:06:26,100 about 4% today of the American population is atheist, another 96 00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:29,300 5% would call themselves agnostic. 97 00:06:29,500 --> 00:06:32,600 That's a little harder word maybe to Define, but what it 98 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,400 means is that they really don't have or think there is an 99 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:39,800 explanation for our existence, it's a question without an 100 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:45,600 answer Psychology today. The magazine says about Force of 101 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:50,300 Americans believe in an afterlife and the other 25% 102 00:06:50,300 --> 00:06:53,900 really don't believe or don't know, they just, they just don't 103 00:06:53,900 --> 00:06:58,800 know. some might say that these beliefs that we carry with us 104 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:03,500 about about an afterlife about heaven or hell or you know, this 105 00:07:03,500 --> 00:07:07,000 Reckoning, they're not scientific, but their religious 106 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,300 superstition But I have to tell you, there was a long list of 107 00:07:11,300 --> 00:07:17,800 scientists who did believe, like, Copernicus Francis Bacon, 108 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:22,300 Kepler Galileo, Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Isaac Newton, 109 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:28,100 Robert Boyle, Max Planck Albert. Einstein Louis Faraday, Pat 110 00:07:28,100 --> 00:07:32,800 Louis pasture, K many more, a lot of scientists. 111 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:37,800 I recognized that there was a grand design and a grand 112 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,300 designer. But that's not really the point. 113 00:07:42,500 --> 00:07:46,500 The point is are the question is what do you believe? 114 00:07:47,700 --> 00:07:52,100 And why do you believe whatever it is that you believe? 115 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,600 And if you're looking for the answers to the deepest questions 116 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,500 and this is definitely one of them, the deepest questions of 117 00:07:58,500 --> 00:08:02,400 life and you turn to your Bible, I'm going to say something 118 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:04,900 that's a little out of my personal character and that is 119 00:08:04,900 --> 00:08:07,600 this it's probably a good idea to stay away from The Book of 120 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:12,800 Ecclesiastes. Because Solomon. 121 00:08:14,900 --> 00:08:20,700 In this stage of his life is a man with no Rock to stand on in 122 00:08:20,700 --> 00:08:22,400 the middle of water over his head. 123 00:08:23,500 --> 00:08:28,000 Now, make no mistake. It is true that God gave 124 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,400 Solomon. This Incredible Gift of 125 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:35,000 practical wisdom. And we can use that practical 126 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:39,500 gift of wisdom, as we read what he has written like for all the 127 00:08:39,500 --> 00:08:44,400 things that we deal with, in our lives, in the lower story 128 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,900 component of our lives. And we do know that Simon 129 00:08:47,900 --> 00:08:50,700 believed in God. I mean you can read Ecclesiastes 130 00:08:50,700 --> 00:08:52,500 and you can see. Yeah, he definitely believed in 131 00:08:52,500 --> 00:08:57,500 God, he wasn't an atheist and you can even say that he 132 00:08:57,500 --> 00:09:01,100 believed that we would have to answer to God for whatever we 133 00:09:01,100 --> 00:09:03,000 did. Because the very end of the He 134 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:07,400 does say that but there is nothing that gives me the 135 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:11,100 impression that he actually believed that he would ever meet 136 00:09:11,100 --> 00:09:14,600 God. Or have any kind of a meaningful 137 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:19,300 relationship with God or experienced an Afterlife with 138 00:09:19,300 --> 00:09:23,700 God? I, I see him kind of as a Proto 139 00:09:23,700 --> 00:09:26,300 sadducee. So like, you know, during the 140 00:09:26,300 --> 00:09:29,700 time of Jesus, there were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 141 00:09:29,700 --> 00:09:33,400 Those were like, the two religious governing bodies that 142 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,200 came together to form. What was called the Sanhedrin 143 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:40,200 and the major difference between the Pharisees and the Sadducees 144 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,500 as the Pharisees believed in the Of the Old Testament and life 145 00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:48,400 after death, and the Sadducees, did not believe in the prophets 146 00:09:48,700 --> 00:09:51,100 of the Old Testament, or they did not, and they did not 147 00:09:51,100 --> 00:09:54,000 believe in life after death. And that's why I kind of see 148 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,400 Solomon as a Proto sadducee before, you know, like hundreds 149 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,500 of years before they were ever a thing. 150 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,700 Why do I believe that? Well, I believe that because of 151 00:10:03,700 --> 00:10:08,900 Solomon's own words, let's look at Ecclesiastes 8, 14 and 15. 152 00:10:09,100 --> 00:10:12,400 There is something else. Meaningless that occurs on Earth 153 00:10:13,100 --> 00:10:18,200 The righteous who get with the wicked deserve, and the wicked 154 00:10:18,300 --> 00:10:20,000 who get what the righteous deserve now. 155 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,600 That's true, isn't it? You've seen that you've 156 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,900 experienced that and it's probably frustrated you before 157 00:10:25,900 --> 00:10:29,900 how come there's they seem to be and I am, you know, this too. 158 00:10:29,900 --> 00:10:33,900 I say is meaningless so I commend. 159 00:10:33,900 --> 00:10:36,300 Listen to this, the enjoyment of life. 160 00:10:37,100 --> 00:10:42,700 Because there is nothing better. For a person under the sun, then 161 00:10:42,700 --> 00:10:47,700 to eat and to drink. And to be glad. 162 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:55,700 Kind of reminds me of a story. Jesus said about a guy who tours 163 00:10:55,700 --> 00:10:59,400 small Barnes down, he built bigger Barns, and he said, now, 164 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:06,200 let's take life, easy and eat and drink and be merry. and, God 165 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,200 came to him that night and said, you fool. 166 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:13,100 This night, your soul will be required of you and then who 167 00:11:13,100 --> 00:11:15,200 will get all that you've stored up for yourself. 168 00:11:17,900 --> 00:11:21,700 But when I look at Solomon in Ecclesiastes 8 I see a man who 169 00:11:21,700 --> 00:11:25,800 has no little or no regard for the upper story makes me 170 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,700 question. Did he even believed that there 171 00:11:28,700 --> 00:11:32,300 was life after death? Look at Ecclesiastes, 3, 19 to 172 00:11:32,300 --> 00:11:36,400 21, surely the fate of human beings is like that of the 173 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:39,700 animals. The same fate awaits them both 174 00:11:39,700 --> 00:11:43,900 as one dies so dies the other I'll have the same breath 175 00:11:44,300 --> 00:11:48,800 humans, have no Advantage. Listen to that over animals. 176 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:54,900 Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place all 177 00:11:54,900 --> 00:11:59,900 come from dust and to dust all return, who knows if the human 178 00:11:59,900 --> 00:12:04,100 Spirit, listen that, who knows? That means it's a question. 179 00:12:04,100 --> 00:12:07,400 If the human Spirit Rises upward, if the spirit of an 180 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,000 animal goes down into the Earth, he has no idea. 181 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,900 This is a man with questions, but no answers, Answers doesn't 182 00:12:13,900 --> 00:12:17,500 look like it to me. Look at Ecclesiastes 6:12 for, 183 00:12:17,500 --> 00:12:20,800 who knows what is good for a person in life during the few 184 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:25,200 and meaningless days that they pass through like a shadow who 185 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:29,300 can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are 186 00:12:29,300 --> 00:12:31,000 gone. Again questions? 187 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,500 No answers. Huh. 188 00:12:36,700 --> 00:12:38,500 How did he come to this conclusion? 189 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,600 What do did anyone before him believe in an afterlife? 190 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,400 Or was that just kind of the general consensus? 191 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:48,900 A thousand years before, Jesus was born? 192 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,900 Now, that's not true. His father did David believed in 193 00:12:52,900 --> 00:12:55,400 an afterlife. Let me show you a few passages. 194 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:57,800 In Psalm, starting with 16 9 to 11. 195 00:12:58,700 --> 00:13:02,900 Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices my body will 196 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,000 rest also, rest secure because you will not abandon me to the 197 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,600 realm of the Dead. Nor will you let your faithful 198 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,600 ones cdk? You will make known to me the 199 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:18,300 path of life. And you will fill me with joy in 200 00:13:18,300 --> 00:13:23,100 your presence with eternal Pleasures at your right hand, 201 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,200 even though that's prophetic about Jesus, this is what David 202 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:36,100 believed. You look at 4915 some 4915 but 203 00:13:36,100 --> 00:13:38,700 God will Redeem Me from the realm of the Dead. 204 00:13:39,100 --> 00:13:41,200 Buy me back is what redeem means. 205 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:45,100 He will surely take me to himself. 206 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,100 Look at chapter, 73 verses 23 to 26. 207 00:13:49,300 --> 00:13:53,300 Yet, I am always with you. You hold me by my right hand. 208 00:13:53,300 --> 00:13:56,200 You guide me with your counsel and afterward. 209 00:13:57,300 --> 00:14:01,200 See that you will take me into Glory. 210 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,400 Whom have I in heaven but you the Earth has nothing. 211 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:12,700 I desire besides you. My Flesh and my heart May Fail. 212 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:17,500 But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 213 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:24,100 So Solomon had a conclusion, but it wasn't the same conclusion as 214 00:14:24,100 --> 00:14:26,900 his father. As a matter of fact, you can go 215 00:14:26,900 --> 00:14:30,900 all the way back, the very first book written in the Bible, not 216 00:14:30,900 --> 00:14:34,500 the first one that you see in order that's Genesis, but the 217 00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:37,900 first one written in the Bible, the oldest book is the Book of 218 00:14:37,900 --> 00:14:42,500 Job. And if the it's the oldest Old 219 00:14:42,500 --> 00:14:45,700 Testament book, what did job think about the afterlife? 220 00:14:45,700 --> 00:14:48,900 Well, let's look at Job, 19:25 227. 221 00:14:49,100 --> 00:14:53,800 I know that my redeemer lives and that in the end he will 222 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:58,900 stand on the earth and after my skin has been destroyed yet in 223 00:14:58,900 --> 00:15:05,700 my flesh, I will see God. I myself will see him with my 224 00:15:05,700 --> 00:15:09,600 own eyes. I and not another how my heart 225 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:11,900 yearns. Burns within me, you know, jobs 226 00:15:11,900 --> 00:15:15,700 got no idea how God's going to do this, but he believes in his 227 00:15:15,700 --> 00:15:22,500 heart, that somehow God is going to raise him from the dead, not 228 00:15:22,500 --> 00:15:25,800 awesome. Through it all. 229 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,600 And he went through a lot job maintained that God was right. 230 00:15:29,700 --> 00:15:33,500 Even though it seemed like God was allowing job to suffer for 231 00:15:33,500 --> 00:15:37,100 no reason at all. But the only way for God to be 232 00:15:37,100 --> 00:15:42,400 right, that made sense to job, was that there had to be A 233 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,900 resurrection. Just job. 234 00:15:45,900 --> 00:15:48,800 No. Abraham did lived a thousand 235 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,900 years before Solomon. Abraham said that he believed in 236 00:15:52,900 --> 00:15:58,600 a city with foundations and also a specific resurrection and a 237 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,800 general Resurrection. We know that because of Hebrews, 238 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,300 11 10 and 11, 19 says, this is talking about Abraham. 239 00:16:06,500 --> 00:16:10,700 He was looking forward to a city with foundations, whose 240 00:16:10,700 --> 00:16:13,400 architect and Builder. Is God, that's talking about 241 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,800 heaven. And in Talking about sacrificing 242 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:20,600 his son, Isaac, Abraham reason that God could even raise the 243 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,900 dead, he thought he was going to kill his son on that mountain. 244 00:16:23,900 --> 00:16:26,100 And then God was going to raise him back to life. 245 00:16:26,900 --> 00:16:32,700 So and so in a manner speaking he did receive Isaac back from 246 00:16:32,700 --> 00:16:35,200 death. Abraham believed in an 247 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:41,400 afterlife, so did Moses? 14:46 BC, almost 500 years 248 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:46,400 before Solomon Moses was at the burning bush and God spoke 249 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:48,500 through that burning bush to Moses. 250 00:16:48,500 --> 00:16:52,600 And he said, these words, I am the god of Abraham. 251 00:16:52,700 --> 00:16:56,200 I am the god of Isaac and the god of Jacob, by the way, 252 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:58,800 Abraham. Isaac, and Jacob had been dead 253 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:03,400 for hundreds of years, Before Moses was at that bush. 254 00:17:06,900 --> 00:17:10,099 When Jesus was arguing with the Sadducees and they were saying 255 00:17:10,099 --> 00:17:14,500 there was no afterlife Jesus reminded them of this scripture 256 00:17:14,500 --> 00:17:17,200 and said you remember at the burning cuz they did believe in 257 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:20,200 Moses and the law and the burning bush and he said you 258 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:23,300 remember that. He said I am the god of Abraham, 259 00:17:23,300 --> 00:17:26,700 the god of Isaac and the god of Jacob because you see what the 260 00:17:26,700 --> 00:17:29,500 sadducee said was that God is not a god of the Dead. 261 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:33,300 He's a god of the living. and so, he used their own scripture 262 00:17:33,300 --> 00:17:39,400 against him and said, look, When God said that, Abraham, Isaac 263 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,300 and and Jacob, even though they were long dead to the world, 264 00:17:42,300 --> 00:17:44,900 they weren't dead. They were still living because 265 00:17:44,900 --> 00:17:51,800 he was still that God. In Exodus 32, 32 Moses says 266 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:57,100 this, he says, but now, this is when he's pleading for the life 267 00:17:57,100 --> 00:18:00,400 of the Israelites in the wilderness, please forgive their 268 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,900 sin. But if not, then blot me out of 269 00:18:04,900 --> 00:18:08,100 the book, you have written, he's referring to the Lamb's Book of 270 00:18:08,100 --> 00:18:11,200 Life. He goes, let me pay for them. 271 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:19,600 Erase me from your book. So Solomon had plenty of great 272 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,800 examples if you really were one to discuss the afterlife but for 273 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,500 some reason he just didn't get it. 274 00:18:27,500 --> 00:18:31,900 Why is that? You see Solomon over and over 275 00:18:31,900 --> 00:18:35,600 and over. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, not 276 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,400 only says this is meaningless. He also uses this other phrase 277 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,800 and that phrases under the sun. Under the Sun. 278 00:18:45,100 --> 00:18:48,800 So Under the Sun is descriptive term of the lower story. 279 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,700 It's that the life that you live where you're just grinding it 280 00:18:51,700 --> 00:18:55,100 out every day. And Solomon's wisdom is great 281 00:18:55,100 --> 00:18:57,600 for the lower story. If you're wanting to do well 282 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,700 under the sun, then Solomon's got a lot of stuff to share with 283 00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:03,800 you, right? But you know there's an upper 284 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,300 story and it's not under the sun, it's over the Sun. 285 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:13,100 Solomon believed in God, but he had little understanding of his 286 00:19:13,100 --> 00:19:15,700 relationship. God's relationship to people. 287 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:20,600 And it's pretty clear to me, that he saw death, pretty much 288 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:23,500 as the end. I mean we see this in 289 00:19:23,500 --> 00:19:26,700 Ecclesiastes 9 verses 1 to 10, look at this. 290 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:31,200 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and 291 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:35,300 the wise and what they do or in God's hands but no one knows 292 00:19:35,300 --> 00:19:39,900 whether love or hate, awaits them all share a common Destiny, 293 00:19:40,100 --> 00:19:42,100 the righteous and the Wicked, the good, and the bad, the 294 00:19:42,100 --> 00:19:45,500 clean, and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those, 295 00:19:45,500 --> 00:19:48,300 who do not as it is with the good. 296 00:19:48,300 --> 00:19:51,500 So it is with the sinful as it is with those who take Odes. 297 00:19:51,700 --> 00:19:56,600 So, With those who are afraid to take them, this is the evil in 298 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:58,400 everything that happens Under the Sun. 299 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:04,200 The same Destiny over takes all. It's like, he doesn't have like, 300 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,500 heaven hell. Good bad, huh? 301 00:20:06,500 --> 00:20:07,500 No. It's the same. 302 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,500 It's all the same. And basically, you're dead. 303 00:20:11,300 --> 00:20:14,000 The hearts of people. Moreover, a full of evil, and 304 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,600 there's a Madness in their hearts while they live in 305 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,900 afterward, they join the dead. Anyone who is among the living 306 00:20:21,700 --> 00:20:24,800 Has hope we just sang a song. Hope has a name. 307 00:20:26,300 --> 00:20:28,700 Anyone who's living has hope good question. 308 00:20:28,700 --> 00:20:34,000 If they really do, even a live dog, is better off than a dead 309 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,100 lion. For the living know that they 310 00:20:37,100 --> 00:20:39,700 will die, but the dead know nothing. 311 00:20:41,100 --> 00:20:46,300 They have no further reward. And even their name is 312 00:20:46,300 --> 00:20:49,700 forgotten. Their love their hate, their 313 00:20:49,700 --> 00:20:52,700 jealousy have long since vanished never again, will they 314 00:20:52,700 --> 00:20:57,300 have a part in anything that happens Under the Sun? 315 00:20:58,100 --> 00:21:01,100 Go eat your food with gladness. Drink your wine with joyful 316 00:21:01,100 --> 00:21:05,200 heart for God has already approved what you do like okay 317 00:21:05,300 --> 00:21:09,600 whatever you want always be clothed in white always anoint 318 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:14,400 your head with oil enjoy life with your wife whom you love all 319 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,600 the days of this meaningless life that God has given you. 320 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,800 To the sun, all your meaningless days for this, is your lot in 321 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:27,100 life in your toilsome labor under the sun. 322 00:21:31,500 --> 00:21:34,400 Boy, if that isn't cynical and fatalistic, I don't know what it 323 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:39,400 is. So the real question isn't what 324 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,200 Solomon didn't see? The real question is what you 325 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,100 see? What you see right now. 326 00:21:48,700 --> 00:21:52,400 I can't tell you what, you see. Only you can tell yourself that 327 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:57,900 but I can tell you what, I see, I see a man paying a debt for me 328 00:21:57,900 --> 00:22:00,300 on a Roman cross, so that I can be free. 329 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:05,400 I see that I see a dead body coming to life again to prove to 330 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,000 me that he can do the very same for me. 331 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,700 It's what I see. I see a broken person healed in 332 00:22:12,700 --> 00:22:16,700 places that no physician can reach except for the great 333 00:22:16,700 --> 00:22:20,300 physician I see. Person that is filled with 334 00:22:20,300 --> 00:22:25,500 purpose and hope as he looks at an unknown future. 335 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:31,100 I see a relationship available to every person right now. 336 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,300 No matter what they've done, that is greater and more 337 00:22:34,300 --> 00:22:37,900 long-lasting than any other relationship that we can 338 00:22:37,900 --> 00:22:41,300 realize. I see the burden of my sin 339 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,800 falling away and being carried away. 340 00:22:44,500 --> 00:22:48,700 And I can see a person lit up with Holy Spirit fire. 341 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,600 Number of years ago. I'd say about 11 or 12 years 342 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:59,700 ago. I was in Colorado Springs at a 343 00:22:59,700 --> 00:23:02,100 retreat with some friends of mine. 344 00:23:02,100 --> 00:23:04,800 Jim Putman I was going to have an opportunity to speak with 345 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:06,100 him. David Platt was there. 346 00:23:07,100 --> 00:23:09,500 I was really looking forward to meet a guy that was going to be 347 00:23:09,500 --> 00:23:11,200 there. His name was Avery Willis. 348 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:17,500 Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to meet him because two 349 00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:20,100 weeks before that conference he died. 350 00:23:22,900 --> 00:23:26,000 And that was a sad day for that conference in the eye, you know, 351 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,000 and the opportunity that I wanted to have but Avery Willis 352 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:35,300 was describing his life and his eternity and he wrote it down 353 00:23:35,900 --> 00:23:38,400 before he died, and this is what he said. 354 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:43,300 This is a quote. I am part of the Fellowship of 355 00:23:43,300 --> 00:23:47,400 the unashamed. I have holy spirit Power. 356 00:23:48,100 --> 00:23:51,900 The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. 357 00:23:52,300 --> 00:23:55,600 The Vision has been made. I'm a disciple of his. 358 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,600 I won't look back. Let up, slow down back away, or 359 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,000 be still. My past has redeemed. 360 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,300 My present makes sense. My future is secure. 361 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,600 I'm finished and down with low living site walking, small 362 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:15,000 planning smooth, knees, colorless dreams, tamed Visions 363 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,400 mundane talking, keep living and dwarfed goals. 364 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,500 I no longer need prominence prosperity. 365 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:26,200 Position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. 366 00:24:26,300 --> 00:24:31,700 I don't have to be right first, tops recognize praised regarded 367 00:24:31,700 --> 00:24:35,200 or rewarded. I now, live by faith, I leaned 368 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:39,300 on his presence, walk by patients, lift by prayer and 369 00:24:39,300 --> 00:24:44,300 labor by power, my face is set. My gate is fast. 370 00:24:44,300 --> 00:24:47,700 My goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my way is 371 00:24:47,700 --> 00:24:49,900 rough. My companions are few. 372 00:24:49,900 --> 00:24:52,500 My guide is reliable. My mission is clear. 373 00:24:52,700 --> 00:24:55,100 Here, I cannot be bought compromise. 374 00:24:55,100 --> 00:24:59,600 Detour lured away, turn back, diluted or delay. 375 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:04,700 I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice hesitate, in the 376 00:25:04,700 --> 00:25:08,500 presence of the adversary negotiate at the table of the 377 00:25:08,500 --> 00:25:12,400 enemy Ponder at the pool of popularity or Meander in the 378 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:16,400 Maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, let up 379 00:25:16,500 --> 00:25:21,100 until I have stayed up prayed up paid up and preached up for the 380 00:25:21,100 --> 00:25:25,500 cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. 381 00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:29,600 I must go until he comes. Give till I drop, preach, till 382 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:34,000 all, no work till he stops me. And when he comes for his own, 383 00:25:34,100 --> 00:25:38,400 he will have no problem. Recognizing me, my banner will 384 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:40,600 be clear. Amen. 385 00:25:41,100 --> 00:25:45,100 Amen. I couldn't have said it that 386 00:25:45,100 --> 00:25:50,200 well, but I'll say this someday. I will open my eyes in heaven. 387 00:25:51,700 --> 00:25:54,500 And my vision will be filled with the face of Jesus. 388 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,000 I will walk on the streets of pure gold. 389 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,600 I will eat from the Tree of Life and drink from the river of the 390 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,100 Water of Life. I will see my mother. 391 00:26:06,900 --> 00:26:11,900 My father, my brother. And the actual people from the 392 00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:15,700 bible stories. I've taught for all these many 393 00:26:15,700 --> 00:26:19,000 years. I'll have a new body it's 394 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,600 smaller than this one. I'll glorified body and a new 395 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:27,000 mind to go with. I won't send any more. 396 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:32,700 I won't get sick anymore, I won't hurt anymore. 397 00:26:33,500 --> 00:26:37,800 I want more nor weep anymore every dark and awful thing. 398 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:42,400 If this world will be swallowed up in the overwhelming light of 399 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,800 my heavenly father. You know. 400 00:26:47,300 --> 00:26:53,400 I really like Billy Joel's music. but when it comes to the 401 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:57,300 afterlife, Billy. Joel got it wrong. 402 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,000 Way wrong. You see, it's not about whether 403 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,300 or not you're in someone else's heart. 404 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,600 It's whether or not Jesus is in your heart. 405 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:15,600 Because hope. Has a name. 406 00:27:19,700 --> 00:27:25,500 Solomon. He had a lot of answers to a lot 407 00:27:25,500 --> 00:27:33,400 of Earthly questions. but when it came to heaven, all he had 408 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:37,900 was questions. And the only needed one answer. 409 00:27:40,100 --> 00:27:46,100 He only needed one name. And that's the name you have. 410 00:27:48,100 --> 00:27:49,800 And that's a name that you can call on. 411 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:56,500 Because the name of Jesus. Is the name of the son of God, 412 00:27:57,100 --> 00:28:01,100 who came to this earth? For the purpose of dying for 413 00:28:01,100 --> 00:28:06,000 your sin and mine. Being buried Rising again on the 414 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:10,900 third day to prove once and for all that, he has the power to 415 00:28:10,900 --> 00:28:16,900 raise you from death to life and give you hope not just for 416 00:28:16,900 --> 00:28:19,900 today. But for all eternity. 417 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,000 We're moving to a time of decision. 418 00:28:28,100 --> 00:28:31,400 You know. I know that there's people in 419 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,300 this room. Right now, people online right 420 00:28:35,300 --> 00:28:38,800 now. You know about Jesus. 421 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,300 You couldn't listen to this sermon without knowing more 422 00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:48,600 knowing about Jesus. The question isn't whether or 423 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:53,100 not know about him? The question is whether or not 424 00:28:53,100 --> 00:28:56,800 you knowing Wouldn't you agree with me? 425 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,200 There's a big difference between knowing about a person and 426 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:05,000 knowing a person personally, And God's not inviting you to know 427 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:09,000 about Jesus. He's not inviting you to know 428 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,900 about a savior. He's not inviting you to know 429 00:29:12,900 --> 00:29:19,100 about a lord. He's inviting you to know Jesus. 430 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,400 To be in relationship with Jesus. 431 00:29:26,300 --> 00:29:31,500 To know that he's your savior. To know that he's your lord. 432 00:29:34,100 --> 00:29:39,800 Right now, what God wants? Is he wants to take that? 433 00:29:42,500 --> 00:29:48,300 That place in your heart. That's empty or dark. 434 00:29:50,500 --> 00:29:54,600 That's full of questions. And he wants to fill that empty 435 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:59,800 place with hope. He wants to fill that empty 436 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,100 place with the presence of his son. 437 00:30:05,300 --> 00:30:08,100 And there is nothing in this world. 438 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:13,900 Nothing in the spiritual world. Nothing in eternity. 439 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:17,900 That has the ability to keep you. 440 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:23,200 From receiving that to yourself except one thing. 441 00:30:25,500 --> 00:30:30,300 You. In this moment right now you're 442 00:30:30,300 --> 00:30:34,300 the only one. That stands in the way. 443 00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:40,400 Of being able to receive. The Eternal hope. 444 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,500 That comes from knowing Jesus Christ personally. 445 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:51,200 So, maybe the prayer today for you. if I'm speaking to you 446 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:58,100 right now, Is. I need to get myself out of the 447 00:30:58,100 --> 00:31:02,500 way. And let God give me the thing. 448 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:09,100 That he paid for so dearly. There's going to be someone 449 00:31:09,100 --> 00:31:10,900 standing right over here by this baptistry. 450 00:31:11,100 --> 00:31:14,800 If you're online, there's a button that you can press and 451 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,200 you can talk to someone. They'll pray with you right now 452 00:31:18,100 --> 00:31:21,700 because we would love nothing more than for you to make this 453 00:31:21,700 --> 00:31:26,800 day, the most life-changing important decision-making day. 454 00:31:28,700 --> 00:31:31,200 Of your entire existence on this planet. 455 00:31:35,500 --> 00:31:38,900 And Heaven Will Rejoice going to tell you right now. 456 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,400 God has his angels. Standing. 457 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,800 It guard all around this building. 458 00:31:49,100 --> 00:31:51,800 And he is protecting this moment for you. 459 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,700 So that you can have this Moment of clarity. 460 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:04,100 Where you can say? I want that. 461 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:11,500 And if you do, don't hesitate go right up to that person, talk to 462 00:32:11,500 --> 00:32:14,700 him. You'll never regret it. 463 00:32:17,100 --> 00:32:19,800 Many of you here today, have made that decision for Christ. 464 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:25,400 And I appreciate that. Just the thought of knowing that 465 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,700 we'll see each other in the glory of Heaven. 466 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,200 We're in all this other stuff is just gone. 467 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,300 And that will have that unfettered access. 468 00:32:37,300 --> 00:32:41,700 Not only to God, not only to Jesus, but to each other and 469 00:32:41,700 --> 00:32:44,800 experience, a Oneness, I mean, you could experience a little 470 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:51,200 tiny taste of it here, but it's nothing like what we're going to 471 00:32:51,208 --> 00:32:56,900 experience together in eternity Right now if you're struggling, 472 00:32:56,900 --> 00:32:59,100 maybe it's you, maybe it's someone, you know, someone that 473 00:32:59,100 --> 00:33:02,000 you love, you're carrying a burden right now, that burdens 474 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,100 weighing you down, you're feeling the weight of it. 475 00:33:04,100 --> 00:33:06,800 On your shoulders, I invite you right now whether it's your 476 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:10,500 issue or someone else's issue to come up here to these steps. 477 00:33:13,300 --> 00:33:17,400 And lay it down. Talk to the Lord. 478 00:33:18,500 --> 00:33:22,300 He'll hear you. Leave that burden here. 479 00:33:22,300 --> 00:33:29,200 He'll take it. I wonder this is just for this 480 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:31,700 room, right? I wonder how many of you have. 481 00:33:31,700 --> 00:33:37,500 Come up here to these steps in the past and shed tears. 482 00:33:38,300 --> 00:33:41,600 What the carpet? With your tears. 483 00:33:42,900 --> 00:33:50,600 Later burden down. There's going to be a change up 484 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:53,300 here next week. It's going to start actually 485 00:33:53,300 --> 00:33:57,300 right after second service. This this stage is going to 486 00:33:57,300 --> 00:33:59,100 change. Its going to be it's going to go 487 00:33:59,100 --> 00:34:02,000 from like kind of a squared stage to a rounded stage. 488 00:34:02,300 --> 00:34:04,300 It's going to have all new steps and everything. 489 00:34:07,700 --> 00:34:11,199 Kind of like Billy Joel here. There's a lot of nostalgia. 490 00:34:12,300 --> 00:34:13,900 A lot of memories on these steps. 491 00:34:15,900 --> 00:34:19,699 Some of you Believers. Maybe say one last time. 492 00:34:20,900 --> 00:34:23,600 For they, take these steps away and replace them with new ones. 493 00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:29,500 I just want one last time. Come up here. 494 00:34:31,900 --> 00:34:38,100 Pour my heart out to the Lord. Would you stand with me? 495 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:46,800 Heavenly father in Jesus name. I thank you that we have a place 496 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:54,400 to go when we feel powerless. When we feel broken, we hurt, 497 00:34:56,300 --> 00:34:58,600 whether it's for ourselves or for someone else. 498 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:02,700 That we don't have to walk through this life by ourselves 499 00:35:02,700 --> 00:35:06,500 and we don't have to shoulder our burdens alone that you're 500 00:35:06,500 --> 00:35:10,600 right here with us that you don't leave us or forsake us. 501 00:35:13,100 --> 00:35:15,800 And I pray father that our hearts would just be open to you 502 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,200 now. And I pray, father. 503 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:24,200 I will just take this moment. Take it captive. 504 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:29,400 And share it with you and your son. 505 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:33,600 In Jesus name, amen. In Jesus name, amen.