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Good morning. 
Hey, so good to have you here. 

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If you have your Bible, we're 
going to be in Ecclesiastes 

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chapter 2. 
We're going to be landing at the

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tail end of some of the 
discoveries that Solomon has 

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been making. 
We're still on a journey. 

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As Ross said, we'll find some 
conclusions, but not the 

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ultimate conclusion this 
morning. 

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But for those who are visiting, 
if you haven't picked up 

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Ecclesiastes in Bible college, 
they always told us, never read 

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Ecclesiastes on Mondays. 
So if you haven't gone anywhere 

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near it and when you try it, you
think, Oh my gosh, I don't know 

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what's going on. 
Well, welcome me too, even me. 

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But when it comes to 
Ecclesiastes Chapter 2, where we

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had left off last weekend, 
Solomon has basically decided, 

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you know, he's seen a whole lot 
of stuff that's meaningless. 

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And, and he focuses on that in 
Chapter 1. 

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Chapter 2, he starts asking if 
all of this is meaningless, then

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then where do we find value? 
What what is good in life? 

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You know, how, how can I make my
life and build my life in such a

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way so that it will count, that 
I'll make a difference, that 

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I'll glorify God? 
And so he he tries what I 

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suppose every bluff I would try.
He verse 3 says I tried cheering

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myself with wine. 
Verse four, he built houses and 

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planted vineyards. 
Verse 8, I messed silver and 

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gold and treasures of kings and 
provinces. 

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And verse 10, maybe you've given
this a go. 

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I denied myself nothing my eyes 
desired. 

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So that's what he's been up to, 
you know? 

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What was your weekend like? 
And then we get to verse 17 

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where he now tells us one of the
conclusions that he's come to, 

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and you'll be surprised he 
doesn't say so. 

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I had a fat jaw instead. 
Verse 17 says so. 

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I hated life because the work 
that is done under the sun was 

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grievous to me. 
Look at these words. 

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All of it is meaningless. 
So chasing after the wind, I 

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hated all the things I had 
toiled for under the sun, 

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because I must leave them to one
who comes after me. 

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And who knows whether that 
person will be wise or from the 

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bluff, if they will have control
over all the fruit of my toil 

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into which I've poured my effort
and skill under the sun, This 

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too is meaningless. 
So my heart began to despair of 

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all my toilsome labour under the
sun, where a person may labor 

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with wisdom, knowledge and 
skill, and then they must leave 

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all their own to another who's 
not toiled for it. 

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This too is meaningless and a 
great misfortune. 

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What do people get for all the 
toil and anxious striving with 

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which they labor under the sun? 
All their days their work is 

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grief and pain. 
Even at night demands do not 

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rest. 
This too is meaningless. 

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This too is why we don't read 
this on a Monday, because what 

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on earth is going on? 
Like seriously, bro, you got 

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issues, but my voice is in there
too, and possibly yours as well.

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What what is going on here? 
So when I, when we first found 

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out that we're going to go into 
the book of Ecclesiastes, I read

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through once or twice and then I
thought, Hey, I properly need 

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some help. 
So I went to the Bible project. 

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I thought, you know, if I could 
get an overview of the book of 

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Ecclesiastes really helped. 
Just, you know, before you start

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sinking roots, just kind of know
what direction you're going in. 

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And when I Googled it on the 
website, what was very 

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interesting in the first one I 
looked at, the first little 

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video clip that they showed 
wasn't on Ecclesiastes 

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specifically. 
It was actually on the wisdom 

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books that we find in Scripture.
And Ecclesiastes is considered 

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one of them. 
But what is very interesting in 

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the video is basically it 
started off, it had like a 

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couple of picture frames on the 
wall, and then they put a 

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picture of what each book of the
wisdom literature kind of looks 

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like. 
And so they started with 

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Proverbs and Proverbs they 
described as a bright eyed, 

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bushy tailed young teacher. 
And she's all about wisdom. 

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She's basically trying to win 
you over to the attributes of 

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God, which is wisdom. 
And essentially the Ground Zero 

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is all about if you use wisdom, 
you can build a successful life.

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So not just live the good life, 
but actually live good at life. 

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And so that's the picture that 
that paints this young teacher 

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trying to impart her wisdom to 
you and I. 

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And then they went into 
Ecclesiastes. 

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And then things changed because 
the the picture of what they're 

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presenting, Ecclesiastes, 
Ecclesiastes as in terms of an 

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overview, is a much older man, a
little crusty, slightly cynical.

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And he's actually standing there
with a pipe and, you know, blows

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out some smoke and looks at the 
the lady, the Proverbs, the 

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woman of wisdom and says, OK, 
but what do you do? 

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I'm here to ask the question, 
what do you do when wisdom 

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doesn't work the way you thought
it should? 

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And it's a little dark, but it 
cuts to the chase because you 

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know, what do you do? 
You're building your life on 

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wisdom. 
It's Scripture, It's in the 

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Bible, it's God breathed. 
And it says in there, in all 

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your ways, acknowledge me and 
I'll direct your paths and crown

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your efforts with success. 
Now, what do you do when you're 

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doing that and you get fired 
because you are acknowledging 

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God? 
And so when your boss said, 

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listen, I want you to do a 
little bit of creative 

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accounting and you said, no, I 
said, fine, I'll find someone 

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who can. 
What do you do when wisdom 

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doesn't work the way you expect 
it to? 

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Or maybe you and your fiance, 
you decided, you know, the word 

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is very clear, but not sleeping 
together unless you're married. 

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And so you kept yourself pure, 
got married as virgins, but now 

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she's not able to fall pregnant.
What do you do in when wisdom 

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doesn't work the way it ought 
to? 

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Or what happens when you're 
living a godly life? 

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You're looking after your 
children. 

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And like we had in our life 
group this week, the lady 

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pregnant with twins and she lost
both of them this week. 

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And it's on the other side. 
You got that Lady drinking and 

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smoking to hot content. 
And the babies are perfect. 

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And so it gets rather close up 
close and personal. 

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And we have to ask these 
questions because this is the 

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question that Ecclesiastes asks.
It looks at life. 

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It says, what do you do when you
come across heaven? 

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I discovered something recently 
that psychologists say the 

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greatest wound that your soul 
can endure is the wound of 

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rejection. 
Not like being battered to the 

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friend zone or, you know, put 
your proposal together and 

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busted and approved. 
Not that like when rejection 

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gets underneath your skin, that 
spirit of rejection. 

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I want, I want to read to you 
some of the downstream things of

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encountering rejection. 
It leads to low self esteem, 

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attachment issues, emotional 
dysregulation. 

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That's when you're overly 
sensitive and can't control your

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behaviour. 
Impulsive when someone from life

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group doesn't greet you and you 
all you lose your stuffs. 

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A decreased capacity to trust 
people, harmful coping 

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mechanisms, increased 
vulnerability to mental health 

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issues, hypersensitivity. 
What they actually said here is 

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you either become rebellious or 
religious. 

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So rebellious is don't put your 
stuffs on me. 

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Don't you tell me what to do. 
Religious and you become a 

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workaholic. 
You're driven to please people 

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because of the rejection in your
past social isolation. 

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And then this one caught my 
attention. 

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Intergenerational effects. 
Rejection can influence 

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generations. 
And This is why it's so 

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important that we stop the bus 
and we deal with the book of 

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Ecclesiastes. 
Because if your worldview and 

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your understanding of your 
journey with Jesus is only bound

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by the principles found in 
Proverbs, as soon as something 

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falls outside of that purview, 
you feel rejected by God, 

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abandoned. 
Where was God when? 

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When I was fighting for the life
of my twins? 

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Because it doesn't fit in here. 
So we have to have a good 

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understanding of Ecclesiastes. 
Because by not having it, what 

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I've seen is 99% of the people 
who walk in through my door and 

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sit with me and do coffee, 99% 
of them are grappling with a 

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Proverbs world view that God 
stepped outside of. 

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And so it is so helpful for you 
and I to understand what was 

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going. 
What did Solomon discover? 

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How do we guard our hearts? 
Because something like this can 

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literally have an 
intergenerational effect for the

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good when we can navigate life. 
See, the the best way I've been 

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trying to explain it to friends,
the best way I can describe it 

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is like Proverbs is, is the road
signs, the roadways, the 

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markings on the road. 
But Ecclesiastes says, yeah, but

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you're also going to be aware of
the fact that you're going to 

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face some potholes and taxis and
women drivers. 

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And you need to know, you need 
to know how to keep the faith 

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because it can have an 
intergenerational impact. 

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Now that I have your attention, 
so he shows us two things in 

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chapter 2 that I want to lift 
out of scripture for you. 

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The first one is essentially he 
says you need to understand 

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Proverbs is neat and Tati, you 
need to understand that. 

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There's also this thing called 
hevel, a meaninglessness to 

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life. 
We need to understand, we need 

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to just not just understand and 
acknowledge the fact that some 

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stuff is meaningless hevel, but 
also we need to learn how to 

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discern what is hevel. 
So hevel is the Hebrew word that

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we translate meaningless. 
But it's such a rich word. 

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Just meaningless doesn't quite 
cover it, you know, because it's

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not that it has no meaning. 
I loved what Roar did when he 

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had those, those candles and he 
blew them out and tried to try 

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to catch the smoke. 
It's sort of, it's there, but 

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you can't quite hold it. 
But it's more than that. 

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It's it has no eternal value. 
So I don't know if you know 

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this, but I'm rather fancy. 
I've got to, I carry dollars 

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with me everywhere I go. 
Yeah, yeah. 

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Mega church pastor, you know 
what I'm saying? 

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So I don't know if you've ever 
seen a dollar. 

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My kids, my son was like, oh, 
it's like in the movies, you 

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know. 
But what's interesting about 

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the, the dollar is because it's 
green on the back, it's 

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colloquially referred to as a 
greenback. 

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I don't know if you've ever 
heard that, but I don't know if 

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you know this, but the American 
greenback at one stage wasn't 

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the only currency that the US 
had back in the 1860s. 

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They also had a greyback. 
So I'm sure you're all up to 

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date with your American history,
but in case you missed that 

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class, in the early 1860's, the 
whole issue with slavery, 

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whether or not they should 
abolish it, literally divided 

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the nation into the North and 
the South. 

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The North just became a union. 
Some of the states down South 

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formed the Confederacy. 
And it got so heated that in 

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1861, they declared war on one 
another. 

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And so you had the North and the
South at each other. 

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And So what the South decided to
do, it's kind of like a 

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propaganda plan, was they 
thought, you know, you can take 

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your greenbacks and we're going 
to we're going to actually use a

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new currency. 
And so everyone in the South 

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converted to greybacks. 
And So what they did was they 

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said, you know, one day we're 
going to have the victory over 

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the North. 
We're going to declare our 

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independence from those peasants
up there. 

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And then we are going to trade 
only in greybacks. 

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So if you're in the South, 
basically get rid of those 

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greenbacks before the greyback 
becomes the currency of choice. 

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But if you know your American 
history, Friday May 26th, 1865, 

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Confederacy surrendered to the 
North. 

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And with that, because there was
no victory, because there was no

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independence, the currency lost 
all its value from Thursday, 

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where you could buy and sell, to
Friday, when it had absolutely 

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no value. 
The Greyback became meaningless.

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And what Solomon is trying to do
is he's trying to help you 

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discern, you know, this looks 
fantastic in the east of 

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Pretoria. 
Another car, another holiday 

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home, another ski holiday, 
another set of Botox injections.

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But Friday is coming, and he's 
saying to you and I that 

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eternity is what measures the 
value of what is meaningless. 

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But when eternity is on your 
doorstep, it is too late. 

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And we do not like to think 
about eternity. 

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Martin Luther when he studied 
the book of Ecclesiastes, he 

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says, I only have two days in my
diary today. 

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00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:15,840
And that day, that day when 
everything that I have built 

225
00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:20,600
will be tested by fire. 
And that day I will find out 

226
00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:25,880
just how much meaninglessness I 
pursued and built my life on. 

227
00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:28,160
But you know what? 
Here's the crazy thing. 

228
00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,400
If on Thursday you had to take 
all your Gray backs and you had 

229
00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,600
to convert them, even if it's 
just one to one, you would have 

230
00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,480
been the richest man in the 
South when Friday arrived. 

231
00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,200
You would be being able to buy 
property like we buy penny 

232
00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,080
stocks. 
And this is essentially what he 

233
00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:46,880
calls us. 
He says the first thing you need

234
00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,960
to recognize there is hevel. 
There is meaninglessness and you

235
00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,640
cannot build on meaninglessness.
You cannot hang on to it. 

236
00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:58,680
It will let you down, if not in 
this life, most certainly in the

237
00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:01,200
next. 
And it says this is the first 

238
00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,680
thing we need to lay a hold of. 
We need to acknowledge that so 

239
00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:08,880
much of what you and I are sold 
on a daily basis is meaningless.

240
00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:13,080
So much of what you and I are 
preoccupied with and give our 

241
00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:18,400
lives to is meaningless. 
And so Gardner's Grace is coming

242
00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:20,960
to tell us Friday's coming, 
Friday's coming. 

243
00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:23,800
It's considered the 
meaninglessness of our lives. 

244
00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:25,280
So that's the one thing that he 
touches on. 

245
00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:29,520
The second thing that he touches
on is we need to recognize and 

246
00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:31,920
understand, like, like you said 
in chapter 1, if there's all 

247
00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:35,000
this meaninglessness and he 
delves into that in chapter 2, 

248
00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:39,400
then what is meaning? 
The Hebrew word here is tov. 

249
00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,560
So he begins, he actually says 
right in the very beginning, the

250
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,440
first verse in chapter 2, he 
said, I said to myself, come 

251
00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,480
now, I will test you with 
pleasure to find out what is 

252
00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,680
good, what is tov. 
So he's starting to recognize, 

253
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:54,600
because we're on a journey 
through Ecclesiastes, it's 

254
00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:57,360
starting to recognize that 
actually everything that I've 

255
00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,840
been giving myself to is 
meaningless. 

256
00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,240
But now what I want to do 
instead is I want to find out 

257
00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:05,920
what is tov what what what gives
God pleasure. 

258
00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,160
Actually, what Ross said last 
week, this was his definition 

259
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:12,280
Tov is the absolute pleasure of 
God. 

260
00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,120
So right in the very beginning, 
the first page of your Bible, 

261
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:16,640
God is creating the heavens and 
the earth. 

262
00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:20,240
And it says that he looked on it
and to God's eyes it was good. 

263
00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:25,160
It was tov so that and it gave 
him much pleasure. 

264
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,840
So it's not that it's not works 
and it's not that it's not going

265
00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,920
and and you know, studying and 
it's not that it's not looking 

266
00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:39,120
after your relationships. 
It's within that there are 

267
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:43,520
elements of meaninglessness, but
also if you just look, if you 

268
00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:46,600
learn to discern, you'll find 
these things that give God 

269
00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,320
pleasure. 
And so actually what he goes 

270
00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:53,000
through when you look at chapter
2, he touches on a whole series 

271
00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:54,920
of things. 
Essentially what he begins to 

272
00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:59,440
say from here on out is he says 
what we need to know is that you

273
00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:05,000
don't have to master everything 
to glorify God. 

274
00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,240
You just have to master that 
which is tov, that which is 

275
00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:11,480
good, that's which glorifies 
God. 

276
00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:15,280
That undiluted pleasure of God 
says you don't have to know 

277
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:19,400
everything, you just have to 
know what is tov and pursue 

278
00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,280
that. 
And so he starts throwing out 

279
00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,080
the baby and the bathwater. 
You know, he says it doesn't 

280
00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,160
matter, but your IQ or your EQ 
doesn't matter what school you 

281
00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,160
went to or what what clothes you
wear, your dress code doesn't 

282
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:31,600
matter what rugby team you 
support. 

283
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,960
He goes on to say it's not about
pleasure or power or or wisdom 

284
00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,200
or woman. 
He says it's not about silver or

285
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,600
gold. 
He says it's about tough. 

286
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,880
And I think once we get through 
Ecclesiastes, once we begin to 

287
00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:48,640
understand, we start getting a 
feel for what is meaningless. 

288
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,840
We have to start then going 
like, OK, what is what is tough?

289
00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:57,720
If not that, then what? 
So I know we've got a whole 

290
00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,600
bunch of children in the 
audience this morning. 

291
00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,440
I've got some contraband on me. 
We might need to edit it out of 

292
00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,720
the the live stream and you 
might need to have a 

293
00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,240
conversation with the kids when 
you get home. 

294
00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,040
But I have spoken to the 
relevant authorities and they 

295
00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,319
didn't allow me to bring a 
cowrie into the auditorium. 

296
00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:21,119
A cowrie? 
Cool. 

297
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,079
Yeah. 
For for integrity. 

298
00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,200
This was in my home, no? 
Way. 

299
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,880
Yeah, he collected it. 
No, my mother-in-law. 

300
00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:35,000
I'm convinced that this is my 
mother-in-law collected. 

301
00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,760
This one in particular. 
I can either confirm nor deny if

302
00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:41,320
I had any involvement in the 
collection of shells. 

303
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,680
Never before for those who've 
been coming to three CR during 

304
00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,880
the Ecclesiastes series. 
Never before as collecting 

305
00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,600
shells caused such stir in such 
a community. 

306
00:17:55,600 --> 00:18:01,800
Actually, once before, in 2000, 
John Papa got up and addressed 

307
00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,440
the collecting of shells. 
He was talking to a room full of

308
00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:12,400
40,000 students and he was asked
to address the difference 

309
00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:16,760
between meaninglessness and tov,
between hevel and tov. 

310
00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:21,080
And he began like this. 
He started reading some of the 

311
00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:23,320
the accounts from his church and
he picked up on one He said. 

312
00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,680
Three weeks ago we got word at 
our church that Ruby Elias and 

313
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,200
Laura Edwards had both been 
killed in Cameroon. 

314
00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:35,560
Ruby was over 80, single all the
life as she poured out her life 

315
00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:41,320
for one great thing, 112 thing 
to make Jesus Christ known among

316
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,040
the unreached, the poor and the 
sick. 

317
00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:48,760
Laura, her friend, was a widow 
as a medical doctor, pushing 80 

318
00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:50,840
as well. 
She was serving at Ruby's side 

319
00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:52,920
in Cameroon when the brakes gave
way on their car. 

320
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,800
And they went over a Cliff and 
they died, killed instantly. 

321
00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:02,040
And he said he announced this 
news tragically and on a Sunday 

322
00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,560
morning and told the people 
about them. 

323
00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:06,120
And, you know, they were praying
for the families. 

324
00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:09,480
And he said what captivated him 
was everyone that spoke to 

325
00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,400
afterwards wanted to know a 
little bit more, kept using the 

326
00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,480
word tragic. 
It was so tragic that this 

327
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:19,160
happened and that kind of threw 
him a little bit because he, he 

328
00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:23,040
went on to say that the word 
tragic is it's got to do with a 

329
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,720
disaster, but it's the 
regrettable side of a disaster. 

330
00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,280
And he started asking his 
friends, like, do you think this

331
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,520
was regrettable? 
Is, is this tragic? 

332
00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,040
What happened? 
And he goes on to say 2 lives 

333
00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:40,360
driven by 1 great vision, 2 
lives spent, poured out to the 

334
00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:43,520
very end, and unheralded service
to the poor for the glory of 

335
00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:47,400
Jesus Christ, two decades after 
almost all of their peers had 

336
00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,560
retired to throw their lives 
away on meaningless trifles and 

337
00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:53,760
empty days. 
No, that is not tragedy, he 

338
00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:55,680
said. 
That is glory. 

339
00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:02,000
That is glory, that is tov. 
And then he says, I'll tell you 

340
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,600
what is tragedy. 
And he leaned over and pulled 

341
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:06,680
out a Reader's Digest from the 
suitcase. 

342
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:09,520
So I'll tell you what is 
tragedy. 

343
00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,880
Bob and Penny took early 
retirement from their jobs five 

344
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:16,440
years ago. 
When he was 59, she was just 51.

345
00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:23,080
Now they have great tans as they
cruise about on their SU PS play

346
00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:30,120
tennis and collect shells. 
That is a tragedy, he said. 

347
00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,080
And then he went on to say, 
people today are spending 

348
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:37,400
billions to persuade you to 
embrace the American dream. 

349
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:39,080
And I get 30 minutes to plead 
with you. 

350
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:43,880
Don't buy it. 
This is tragedy, it's all 

351
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,240
heaven, he said. 
With all my heart I plead with 

352
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,520
you, and with all our hearts we 
plead with you. 3 CR Don't buy 

353
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:55,560
the American dream of a nice 
house and a nice car, a nice 

354
00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:58,320
job, a nice family and a nice 
retirement. 

355
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,680
Collecting shelves As the last 
chapter before you stand before 

356
00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,600
the Creator of the universe to 
give an account for your life. 

357
00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,480
Here it is, Lord, my shell 
collection. 

358
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,240
And then he leaned over that 
pulpit with fire in his eyes to 

359
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,920
those 14,000 people said don't 
waste your life. 

360
00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:25,280
Don't waste your life on what is
meaningless. 

361
00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:31,600
Instead find out what is tov 
that which glorifies God. 

362
00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:38,760
So what does that look like? 
I don't know yet. 

363
00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:43,120
Rather should I say Solomon 
doesn't know yet. 

364
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:45,640
It's amazing the way he writes 
it. 

365
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:49,720
He's he's still on a discovery, 
but he's come across something 

366
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:54,760
in this wrestle and he says this
this is verse 22 of chapter 2. 

367
00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,320
He says what do people get? 
He's busy wrestling over the 

368
00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:59,920
toil and everything. 
What do we get for the toil and 

369
00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:04,040
anxious striving all their days 
our work is grief and pain. 

370
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:07,040
Even at night, our minds unrest.
This is meaningless. 

371
00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,840
And then he says a person can do
nothing better and that's the 

372
00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:16,400
word tov than to eat and drink 
and find tov satisfaction in 

373
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,000
their toil. 
Says a person can do nothing 

374
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:21,360
better. 
If you want to know what tov 

375
00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:24,800
looks like, he says start here, 
eat and drink and find 

376
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:30,600
satisfaction in your toil. 
Find tov in the toil, not apart 

377
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,600
from the toil, but in the toil. 
Those two I see is from the hand

378
00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:36,840
of God. 
Verse 25 For without him who can

379
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:41,680
eat to find enjoyment to the 
person who pleases him tov God 

380
00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,120
gives wisdom, knowledge and 
happiness. 

381
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,320
So it's almost like the New 
Testament. 

382
00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:48,960
Jesus says seek first the 
Kingdom of God and all these 

383
00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:50,920
things will be added. 
Seek first. 

384
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,720
Tov. 
If we go after tov, all the rest

385
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:57,000
seems to come behind. 
But to the Sinner, the one who's

386
00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,720
wanting to throw it all the way 
gives the task of gathering and 

387
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,760
storing up wealth to hand it 
over to the one who pleases God 

388
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,960
tov. 
This too is meaningless, that 

389
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:10,800
you'd go after emptiness. 
Gray backs are chasing after the

390
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,800
wind now. 
The series is called Finding 

391
00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:19,640
Sophia for a reason. 
It's not called We've Found 

392
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:21,680
Sophia. 
It's because actually this book 

393
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:26,400
of Ecclesiastes needs us to 
slowly dismantle and in this 

394
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,840
place begin to rebuild. 
But that verse there a person 

395
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:33,640
can do nothing better than to 
eat and drink and find tov in 

396
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:37,920
their toil is key right here. 
This is like the first 

397
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:39,440
discovery. 
While he's been throwing 

398
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,400
everything out, the first thing 
he suddenly begins to realize is

399
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,600
actually, you can find tov in 
your toil. 

400
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,880
I don't know if you know this, 
but you cannot. 

401
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:56,080
Your brain cannot process 
negative anxiety as well as 

402
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,080
positive gratitude at the same 
time. 

403
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,880
It is physically, 
physiologically, biologically, 

404
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,120
scientifically, whatever the 
word is, impossible. 

405
00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,040
You cannot do both of them at 
the same time. 

406
00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:12,080
I found it very interesting that
RAW said put your hand over your

407
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,880
mouth. 
Profound. 

408
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,120
For those watching online during
the service, RAW said, put your 

409
00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:20,680
hand on your mouth. 
Did you know that throughout 

410
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,200
Scripture we find those who 
praise go first, those who 

411
00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,240
criticize walk in circles. 
And if you're wanting to move 

412
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:31,480
forward Tov, one of the first 
things you need to recognize is 

413
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:33,120
that you need to find that Tov 
in your toil. 

414
00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:36,760
You need to actually find that 
that gratitude in the midst of 

415
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:39,760
all this meaninglessness. 
And this is interesting because 

416
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,880
this is where he starts. 
What I find fascinating, because

417
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,160
you look at the science, the 
fact that I cannot process 

418
00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:51,760
anxiety and gratitude at the 
same time leaves me with 

419
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:53,960
wondering, OK, maybe that's 
where we start. 

420
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,520
Maybe Tov is just that place. 
When you look in all the heaven,

421
00:24:57,520 --> 00:24:59,720
all the meaninglessness, you 
actually start scratching to 

422
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,040
find that which is good, that 
which is Tov, that which is 

423
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:04,720
pleasing God in the midst of all
this hell. 

424
00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:09,720
So I discovered last year that 
you and I, we have a bias 

425
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,720
towards what's the negative. 
They say for a negative 

426
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,160
experience to become a long term
memory, you only have to focus 

427
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:22,160
on it for two seconds. 
For a negative experience to 

428
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,880
become a long term memory just 
takes 2 seconds. 

429
00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,880
But for a positive experience to
embed itself in your long term 

430
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,320
memory, you need to spend 12 to 
14 seconds drinking it in. 

431
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,040
And we wonder why we're 
struggling with anxiety and 

432
00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,280
depression and stress. 
So you have this sympathetic 

433
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,280
nervous system where they call 
it fight or flight and on this 

434
00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:45,520
side, the parasympathetic 
nervous system, which they call 

435
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,040
faith and favor. 
How beautiful is that? 

436
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:53,320
The scientist is telling you and
are and actually got us wide in 

437
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:58,040
US, not only the discernment 
between meaninglessness and tov,

438
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:02,400
but a way to get ourselves out 
of this place when our world is 

439
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,560
outside of the purview of 
Proverbs and we don't quite know

440
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:09,240
what to do before we push it all
on God as rejection. 

441
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:15,520
So no, no, if you're able to 
find gratitude in the toil, tov 

442
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:22,520
in the toil, what it does is it 
begins to colour your world and 

443
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,720
also gives you handles for 
understanding God. 

444
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,280
And so I had a friend of mine 
who was actually saying this 

445
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:31,240
week, you know, the reason why 
he doesn't share his faith is 

446
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:34,560
because he's not on the side, 
you know, he doesn't have 

447
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,640
anything to sell. 
You know, he's not extremely 

448
00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,440
wealthy, doesn't have a jet and 
a house with a Seaview. 

449
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,680
I'm like, OK, but now you're 
back on the meaningless side. 

450
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,240
When you share your faith, 
you're not sharing like, well, 

451
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,400
look how well I've done with 
meaninglessness. 

452
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,400
Now, when you're sharing your 
faith, it's actually in the 

453
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:59,240
midst of all this mess. 
We have a God who's good, a God 

454
00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:02,720
who pursues us, a God who's 
looking after us, who loves on 

455
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,920
us. 
That is the axis, not this. 

456
00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:10,200
So if you're looking for a 
handle, a place to start here, 

457
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:15,240
He starts by encouraging us to 
find tov in the midst of toil. 

458
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,640
But I want to end by also 
encouraging you to find Tov in 

459
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:23,640
the midst of trouble. 
Yeah. 

460
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,000
This, this week has really, 
really been hard with a friend 

461
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:31,360
losing her twins. 
And when that photo she posted a

462
00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:37,080
photo of one of the boy's foot 
sort of holding his foot in her 

463
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:39,760
hand like that with the 
announcement that she passed 

464
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:44,200
away, it's like PTSD. 
All this stuff with nearly 

465
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:47,080
losing my daughter a few months 
ago just came to the surface. 

466
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:49,960
I was eventually I went for a 
walk. 

467
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:51,600
I don't know what to do with 
this. 

468
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,280
What do you do? 
I mean, how do you find Tov in 

469
00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:59,600
the midst of trouble? 
You know, in a few months ago 

470
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,800
when we nearly lost my youngest,
I remember there were times when

471
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,720
people would come to me, how is 
she doing? 

472
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:10,120
And I let them know there was a 
stage when, you know, when the 

473
00:28:10,120 --> 00:28:13,240
nurse has got fear in her eyes 
and the doctors saying like, oh,

474
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,760
we need to move her because I 
don't want her to die on your 

475
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:16,800
watch. 
You know, it's not the most 

476
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,040
encouraging thing to hear. 
And I thank you for coming. 

477
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:20,200
I can't believe I'm paying for 
this. 

478
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:24,200
And then people would come to me
on a Sunday and I told him this 

479
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,080
because this is my wrestle. 
And they'd say no, no, no, no, 

480
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,080
no, you mustn't even say the 
disease. 

481
00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:33,000
Don't don't speak that word that
we cut it off in Jesus name. 

482
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:34,920
You know, you're the head and 
not the tail. 

483
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,280
She will be completely healed. 
And I eventually I was, I had to

484
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,000
ask these people, please, can 
you, can you stop? 

485
00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:44,200
And what I've come to realize 
this week, the reason why that 

486
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:48,640
was so hard to hear was because 
I was actually grappling with a 

487
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:50,560
guard. 
It doesn't quite fit in a 

488
00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:55,200
Proverbs world view. 
And they were coming saying no 

489
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,240
Proverbs, Proverbs problem line 
by line. 

490
00:28:57,240 --> 00:28:59,320
You just need to pray more. 
You just need to believe more. 

491
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,320
And I'm saying, actually, I 
might lose my daughter. 

492
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,000
And if I lose my daughter, not 
only do I have to care for a 

493
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,920
family who's lost our cute 
little bundle of joy, but then 

494
00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,360
I'm also going to have to look 
after you, whose faith is going 

495
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,440
to be completely rattled because
this is outside of those line by

496
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:15,800
lines. 
Just pray harder. 

497
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:17,440
Make sure you don't skip your 
quiet time. 

498
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:19,520
Stop smoking and it will all go 
well for you. 

499
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,600
And so I politely asked them to 
keep that to themselves. 

500
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:30,920
But it only got worse. 
It eventually got to the place 

501
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,480
where the thing that irked me 
the most and was the hardest to 

502
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,880
hear was when people said, oh, 
but God is good all the time. 

503
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:46,200
All the time. 
Because I knew you were saying 

504
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,080
God is Proverbs all the time, 
all the time. 

505
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:56,120
And I was going through 
Ecclesiastes, meaningless 

506
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:58,560
meaning. 
How do you face this? 

507
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:04,800
God doesn't make sense. 
And eventually after that very 

508
00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,640
deep dark hole, I think the 
lowest that I've got eventually 

509
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:12,680
got to the place where all I 
knew I believed was that God is 

510
00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:21,520
swallowed. 
God is and in that place I came 

511
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:29,040
to realize God is enough. 
If God is, it's enough. 

512
00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:32,760
And I don't know what you're 
facing and what you're going 

513
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:33,880
through. 
I don't know what this year will

514
00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:39,520
hold. 
I know we love 2020 Thrive 

515
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,040
because it's got that beautiful 
Proverbs ring to it. 

516
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:50,520
But if it's just a fight to 
survive, if it's more 

517
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:55,600
Ecclesiastes than you'd like it 
to be, know this when you look, 

518
00:30:55,680 --> 00:31:00,400
you will find Tov, you will find
God in the midst of the mess. 

519
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,600
So I close the way that John 
Piper closed. 

520
00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:10,200
He said, just know this. 
God is most glorified in us when

521
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:15,720
we are most satisfied in him. 
God is most glorified in US over

522
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,600
here when we are most satisfied 
in Him. 

523
00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:32,840
Thank you. 
Barry, Barry. 

524
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,360
Now put your hat on and look 
decent. 

525
00:31:45,580 --> 00:31:48,420
I just want you to pray for all 
the women drivers in the church.

526
00:31:48,420 --> 00:31:58,490
Let me sit here. 
You're a beautiful man. 

527
00:31:58,490 --> 00:32:04,560
Stephen is a beautiful man. 
One of the great joys as I've 

528
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,880
been understanding this word 
Tov, is to do church with you. 

529
00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:12,800
I'll tell you about this man. 
I have a 50 year relationship 

530
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:14,520
with him. 
Many of you don't know him. 

531
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:19,280
His name is Barry. 
Barry Pretorius, one of the best

532
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,280
worship leaders this country has
ever known. 

533
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:24,680
We came from a church, all of us
here. 

534
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:27,200
We came from a church called the
Invisible Church. 

535
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,320
It was called the Invisible 
Church because we were sick of 

536
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:34,720
doing church corporately with 
rich pastors and American 

537
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,080
prosperity Gospels. 
So we started a church called 

538
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,400
the Invisible Church where we 
would not be seen and God would 

539
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,960
be honored. 
And he trusted God with his 

540
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:48,040
family and came to Pretoria to 
plant a church and lost his 

541
00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:50,640
family and lost his children 
through that process. 

542
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,000
And I had the privilege of 
growing up with his sons and his

543
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:56,600
sons. 
And I travelled around the world

544
00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,040
leading worship. 
His sons got his mantle. 

545
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:01,480
It became some of the best 
worship leaders in the world. 

546
00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,720
I remember once I went to to 
Holland in Germany and one of 

547
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,320
the sons said, there's a girl 
over there that I fancy, can I 

548
00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:11,400
travel with you and maybe meet 
my future wife? 

549
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,320
And so he came with me and we 
preached in Holland. 

550
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,240
He met the girl. 
I was going to Germany, said you

551
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:17,800
might have us stay behind in 
Holland. 

552
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:23,720
And then he got sick in Pretoria
with no family, got sick. 

553
00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:28,440
And Adrian, who leads the church
in Stellenbosch, had a next door

554
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,440
neighbor called Liesel, and 
she's here today. 

555
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,680
And Liesel and Adrian and 
Antoinette became friends. 

556
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:38,520
And Liesel bought Adrian. 
Andre brought Liesel to church. 

557
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:42,360
And then Liesel met Barry and 
brought Barry to church. 

558
00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:47,160
And so all of us have lived 
lives, some of them broken, all 

559
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:51,080
of us have made mistakes. 
But every now and again, from 50

560
00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:56,160
years ago, from the invisible 
church, every Sunday I walk in 

561
00:33:56,160 --> 00:34:02,720
and I see this beautiful man. 
And I want to say to you, Barry,

562
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:07,960
if you can look into my eyes, 
this is tough for me. 

563
00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:11,000
This is good to serve God with 
you. 

564
00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:15,080
It's an incredible privilege to 
serve God with you. 

565
00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,040
And to know that after all these
years, he's just written a book.

566
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,040
He gave it to me, said, I don't 
know if you'll read this. 

567
00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,600
I sat down and I read every page
of your book and I sobbed my way

568
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:29,360
through it as I realized, you 
know most parts of God better 

569
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:33,000
than I know parts of God. 
And you just sit, yes, in the 

570
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:37,320
8th or 9th or 10th row. 
And I want to say we are not 

571
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:39,920
trying to build a corporate 
venture. 

572
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:42,920
We're not trying to build the 
big church in Pretoria. 

573
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:46,960
We're just trying to build 
meaningful relationships that 

574
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:51,159
after 50 years, with all that 
we've been through, the mistakes

575
00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:53,880
that we've made, the 
disqualifications that I've 

576
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:59,280
participated in, we can still 
have. 

577
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:14,830
Tov, I love you. 
I love you and I thank God that 

578
00:35:14,830 --> 00:35:21,870
50 years ago you brought your 
wife here to start an invisible 

579
00:35:21,870 --> 00:35:28,190
church, that people would not be
glorified, but God would be 

580
00:35:28,190 --> 00:35:30,190
honored and the ways of God 
would be honored. 

581
00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:36,840
And the fact that you come here 
every week, this is how we build

582
00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:41,360
the church. 
One beautiful encounter with 

583
00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:45,920
human being after the next. 
This is meaningful. 

584
00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:53,480
Thank you, Liesel. 
Thank you. 

585
00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:11,720
Maybe just put your arm on the 
person next to you. 

586
00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,160
Stephen walks into my office 
most weeks. 

587
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:41,920
We are so different, but we 
found Tov. 

588
00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:44,760
I love you Stephen. 
I love you. 

589
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:49,360
I love talking to you. 
I love our fellowship together. 

590
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:58,760
Tov Maybe you haven't told your 
mum, sitting on your right for a

591
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:04,720
long time, that you love her. 
Tov, 

592
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:22,080
Butch and Yvonne, 50 years ago 
you were leading churches in 

593
00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:28,000
Pretoria. 
You still come every week, sit 

594
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:34,040
in the 2nd row full of faith, 
trusting God, Tov. 

595
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:38,760
It's good. 
It's good. 

596
00:37:50,190 --> 00:37:54,990
What's really important? 
What's really really important? 

597
00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:18,240
Father, bless every single 
person here today. 

598
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,000
Let your hand of grace be upon 
them, and your kindness, your 

599
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:35,340
generosity and your peace and 
your love and your goodness 

600
00:38:35,700 --> 00:38:47,590
Tough be upon these people in 
Jesus name, Amen.