Living a Life That Matters | Doug Sauder | Ecclesiastes 6-7:10

Good morning, everyone. We have the opportunity to worship our Heavenly Father this morning, so I wanna invite you to stand if you're able. We are going to do what David does in the Psalms. We're gonna follow his example. We're gonna speak to our own soul this morning, despite our season or our circumstance, and we're gonna speak to our soul and say, praise the Lord. So if you would, would you lift your hands, lift your voice? We are gonna bless our Heavenly Fathers together this morning. Join with me. ♪ There is a sound I love to hear ♪ ♪ It's the sound of the Savior's robe ♪ ♪ As He walks into the room where people pray ♪ ♪ Where we hear praises, He hears faith ♪ ♪ Oh, we give You our hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, we give You our hallelujah ♪ Come on, let's sing this to Him. Awake my soul. ♪ Awake my soul and sing, sing His praise aloud ♪ ♪ Sing His praise aloud ♪ Speak to your own soul this morning. ♪ Awake my soul and sing, sing His praise aloud ♪ ♪ Sing His praise aloud ♪ Come on, let's put our hands together. He's worthy of our worship. ♪ There is a sound that changes things ♪

♪ The sound of His people on their knees ♪ ♪ Awake up, you slumbering, it's time to worship Him ♪ ♪ Awake my soul and sing, sing His praise aloud ♪ ♪ Sing His praise aloud ♪ ♪ Awake my soul and sing, sing His praise aloud ♪ ♪ Sing His praise aloud ♪ This is what He's done. ♪ And when He moves, and when we pray ♪ ♪ First to the wall, now stands the way ♪ ♪ Where every promise is amen ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ And when He moves, make no mistake ♪ ♪ The powers of hell begin to shake ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord, all hail the King, yeah ♪ ♪ Hey, oh, oh, let the King of glory enter in ♪ ♪ Hey, oh, fall down on your knees and worship Him ♪ ♪ Hey, oh, let His praise rise up, don't hold it in ♪ ♪ No, don't hold it in ♪ ♪ Awaken my soul and sing, sing His praise to You, yeah ♪ ♪ Sing His praise aloud, sing His praise aloud ♪ ♪ Awaken my soul and sing, sing His praise aloud, sing His praise aloud ♪ ♪ Sing His praise aloud, sing His praise aloud ♪ Hallelujah! So Calvary Chapel, how many of you know that the name of Jesus has power? The power to heal, the power to redeem, the power to restore? So let's sing the name of Jesus in this place. Make Him the center of your worship. Come on, say, I know.

♪ Oh, I know a name that can silence roaring waves ♪ ♪ I know a name that can empty out a grave ♪ ♪ I know a name, come on, sing ♪ ♪ It's the only name that saves ♪ ♪ And it's worthy of all praise, I call you Jesus ♪ ♪ I call you, I call you King ♪ ♪ I work, something comes out of the grave, oh ♪ ♪ Every time I call you, yeah, I call you, I call you ♪ ♪ Worthy of glory forever, something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, yeah, I call your name ♪ ♪ I have a king with dominion over death, he holds the keys, oh ♪ ♪ In his holy nail scarred hands, he is the healer, oh ♪ ♪ That has crushed the serpent's head, our resurrected great God ♪ ♪ I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you, healer ♪ ♪ Risen and reigning in power, something comes out of the grave, oh ♪ ♪ Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you, Savior ♪ ♪ Worthy of glory forever, something comes out of the grave, oh ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, chains break, trials awake ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, the gates of heaven open, see ♪ ♪ I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you, Savior ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, chains break, trials awake ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, the gates of heaven open, see ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, every time I call your name ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Where, oh death, is now your sting? And where, oh grave, your victory? ♪ ♪ Where, oh death, is now your sting? And where, oh grave, your victory? ♪ ♪ And where, oh grave, your victory? And where, oh death, is now your sting? And where, oh grave, your victory? ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive. ♪ On the living testimony, say it, Dead Things Come Alive.

Oh, Dead Things Come Alive in the name of I call you Jesus. I call you, I call you, keep raising it, raising it high. Something comes out of the grave, oh. Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you Savior. Worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of the grave, oh. Every time I call you, night, strife, strife, strife away. Every time I call you to make the gates of hell shake. Every time I call you, dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive in the name of Jesus. Oh, Dead Things Come Alive, Dead Things Come Alive, Dead Things Come Alive in the name of Jesus. Oh, God, if you know that Jesus has made you alive, would you just lift up a shout of praise in this place today? God, we worship you. There is no one like you. You have all of our gratitude today. And so we sing with confidence. That all my words fall short, I've got nothing new. How could I express all my gratitude? I could sing these songs as I often do, but every song must end, and you never do, oh. So I've thrown my hands and praised you again and again, tell them, because all that I have is of you, yes. Hallelujah, and I know it's not much, I'm nothing else fit for a king, except for a I've got one response, and I've got just one move, with my arms stretched wide. I will worship you. So I've thrown my hands and praised you again and again, because all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah, and I know it's not much, I'm nothing else fit for a king, yeah, yeah. Except for a heart singing hallelujah, oh, hallelujah. And would you just in your own words just say hallelujah to Jesus? We thank you, God. You are the name that is above every name.

Your name has the power to save, heal, and redeem. So we remind our soul as we sing, oh, come on, my soul. Oh, don't you get shy on me. Lift up your song, because you've got a light in it. Silent all the sounds. Get up and sing. Oh, I'm going to remind my soul. Come on, my soul. Come on, my soul. Oh, don't you get shy on me. Lift up your song, because you've got a light in it. Silent all the sounds. Get up and praise the Lord. Oh, sing, come on, my soul. Come on, my soul. Oh, don't you get shy on me. Lift up your song, because you've got a light in it. Silent all the sounds. Get up and praise the Lord. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. So I blow my hair to praise you again and again. Because all that I have is a light. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And I know it's timeless. I'm nothing else without a key, yeah. Except for a heart singing hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah.

Hallelujah. It's your breath in our lungs, so we pour out. Pour our praise, pour our praise. It's your breath in our lungs, so we pour our praise to you. It's your breath in our lungs, so we pour our praise, pour our praise. It's your breath in our lungs, so we pour our praise to you. Holy Jesus, great are you, Lord. There is no one like you. Oh, oh, oh. Great are you, Lord. In every season, I can trust, I can trust you. Great are you, Lord. There's no one like you. Oh, oh, oh. Great are you, Lord. That's why we're here today, to declare that you are great and greatly to be praised. Because there is no one like you, Jesus. There is no one who saves like you. There is no one who makes things new like you do. Only you have the power to bring the dead to life. And so, God, whatever we came in with this morning, if we are feeling lifeless, the promise of scripture, you say that I am the resurrection and the life. That nothing is lifeless when it's found in your presence. Everything comes back to life, that situation, that relationship, whatever we may be going through, God, we can trust you to bring it back to life. Making things new is in your nature.

And so, we trust you, King of kings, Lord of lords, the one who lived the life we could not, took the cross, went to the grave, but did not stay there. You rose again, defeating death, hell, and the grave. Sin and its power no longer get the last word. We are alive because of what you have done, Jesus. And for that, we just say thank you. Can we just take a moment and just say thank you to our God? Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for new life. Thank you for resurrection power. Thank you for hope. And spirit of God, we just pray that you would soften our hearts, continue to do what you are already doing. Help us, prepare us to hear the preaching of your word. So that when we do hear it, it goes in deep, and then we leave this place different. Because we've said that we've had a moment with you. We had an encounter with you. That's why we're here. We're not here to check a box off of our Christianity. We're here to meet with the King of kings and the Lord of lords. His name is Jesus. You are the center of our attention. You are the center of our worship. We lift you up. We lift you up because there's no one like you. And there will never be anyone like you. We love you, Jesus.

And to the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Calvary Chapel, we said amen. Can you give God praise one more time? Thank you, Lord. How can I live a life that matters? That's not just a Christian question or a question we ask in church. It's a human question. Everyone is looking for a sense of why am I here and what can I do that matters? How do I find purpose and meaning in life? How do I find joy in moments of life? Because it seems like as I go on in life, I keep missing it. And this is what the book of Ecclesiastes is all about. Solomon is our guide. He's the preacher. He's the one taking us on this search. And he said, you know, I've been looking for meaning and purpose in life. And I tried everything. And it still seems to be elusive. It seems to be out of reach. That life under the sun isn't what we expected. It's more uphill than downhill. It seems like there's more obstacles than there are green lights and open road. And I sometimes wonder, like, that sense of why can't I find that thing I'm looking for? In every part of the 12 chapters of Ecclesiastes, as Solomon goes on this existential search, from searching to discovering to finding

that's not it, he gets more discouraged. Like, what's the point? To the point where his favorite word in Ecclesiastes is the word hevel. Everyone say hevel. Life is hevel. 38 times he says life is hevel, that life is like a vapor. It's here, and then it's gone. And it looks like in life that you can see it and you can grasp it, but by the time you grasp it and you open your hand, there's nothing there that life under the sun is beyond grasp. Vanity. sanity, meaningless. Have you ever felt the hevel of life? No matter what you accomplish, it seems like there's something missing, something more. Or maybe you're chasing and you're young, you don't know yet that once you get the promotion, once you get the house, and once you get the kids, and once you get the degree, and once you get all the things you want for that, that you're not gonna be ever fully satisfied under the sun. And this is raw, and it's authentic, and it digs into the realness of life. And so we are going to let Solomon be our God. He is the most powerful, the richest, the smartest, wisest man of his time. And he's gonna take us on this existential journey, and it's gonna be discouraging. And sometimes when you read what you read,

you're gonna go, huh, that's in the Bible? But know that Ecclesiastes is pointing us forward, and we're gonna see how that points us forward to Jesus in a moment. But let's look at Ecclesiastes 6, verse one. And you can feel the burden in Solomon's voice. I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind. God gives some people wealth, possessions, and honor so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them. And a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil. A man may have 100 children and live many years, yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness, its name is shrouded. No, it never saw the sun or knew anything. It has more rest than does that man, even if he lives 1,000 years twice over, but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place. Solomon is perplexed. He is weighed down. It's like, what would happen if a man, if a woman got everything they desired, wealth and prosperity and influence,

what if it, their life, when you looked at it, they had, they lived 100 years, they had 100 children, they had millions of dollars. Their life looked full, but actually on the inside, they were empty. That it's possible to get everything you've ever wanted in life and not be able to enjoy it. And Solomon says, then what's the point? What's the point of life if you chase and get all these things, but if you can't enjoy them, well, that's the worst thing in the world. And if you don't get a proper burial, you're better off if you would have died in childbirth, that your life shrouded in darkness that never was. And you can see that these questions are leading Solomon to despair. Life under the sun. And then in verse six, and who knows what's gonna happen after you die. Now, you're like, wait a second. Solomon doesn't know what's gonna happen after you die. You see, starting in chapter six and moving on in Ecclesiastes, he's gonna be thinking a lot about life after death, and he doesn't know what life after death is like. There's moments where he says there's eternity in people's hearts. There's moments where he say, there's no one who's righteous before God. There's a sin that separates us from God,

but he can't see clearly what happens after death. And so we don't wanna take his questions as, well, maybe there is no life after death. No, he's on the search. And here's the crazy thing. Solomon at the time of this writing is the wisest man who ever lives. He prays to God for wisdom. And the Bible says in 1 Kings chapter four, this description of Solomon, that God answered his prayer and gave him wisdom as measureless as the sand on the seashore, a depth of insight, that made him wiser than all the men of the East and all the men of Egypt, and that kings would come from miles around to see for themselves the legend of Solomon's wisdom and wealth. In fact, maybe you know the story of the Queen of Sheba. She traveled over 1,500 miles, a two to three month journey, to see if all the rumors of Solomon's wisdom were true. And when she saw what Solomon was doing and how he spoke, she said, I haven't even heard the half of the wisdom that God has given you. And yet he can't see clearly. What happens after death? And you're like, well, if Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived can't figure it out, how in the world am I gonna figure it out? And it creates a sense of angst in us,

like the tension of all these unanswered questions and all the feelings that we have. And what do we do with all that stuff? But aren't you thankful for Jesus? So check this out. Jesus is talking to the people of his day about Solomon. And he talks about how God granted Solomon wisdom and how people traveled for miles to hear him talk. And then he says this, but one greater than Solomon is here. And what Jesus is doing is he's answering the question that Solomon couldn't answer. What happens after you die? Jesus is answering and resolving the tension of all the pages before him, all the questions, all the prophecies that make us go, well, how is all this gonna work out? What is God's plan? And Jesus says, one greater than Solomon is here. Let me tell you that for thousands of years, the human tension of how do you live a life that matters? What's the point? How do we answer these questions? Why do good things happen to bad people? All the questions we ask, well, are revealed in Jesus coming to earth, dying in our place, making a way for us to be in heaven with him. And here's how the apostle Paul describes it, that for centuries, this wisdom was hidden,

but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The question Solomon's asking, he doesn't have the answers to, but Jesus says, I am the answer. I am the way and I am the truth and I am the life and I can resolve every question. I'm the answer to every question. I'm the fulfillment of every prophecy and every desire. And if you wanna live a life that matters, then look at Jesus. And so as we read some of these very depressing moments and questions about the afterlife and immortality, know that this was hidden from Solomon. It was hidden from the prophets. It was hidden from angels until it was revealed in the perfect time of Jesus. And so Solomon is feeling the weight, the despair of life where there is no eternity. There is no life after death. And in verse seven, he continues, everyone's toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied. What advantage have the wise over the fools? And what do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others? Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite.

This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Whatever exists has already been named and what humanity is has been known. No one can contend without someone who is stronger. The more the words, the less the meaning. And how does that profit anyone? For who knows what is good for a person in life during the few meaningless days they pass through like a shadow, who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone. You feel the weight. What's the point of learning? What's the point of many words? What's the point of all your strength? What's the point of all your money? What's the point of any of it? It all feels heavily, meaningless, beyond grasping, beyond figuring out. Solomon understands that work is hard and doesn't always bring you the fulfillment that you've desired. I mean, how many of you feel the tension of work is not always what you want it to be? Come on, if your boss is next to you, just. There's frustration at work and it's not because of your boss or the job you have or the place you work. It's because of the curse of sin. The curse of sin makes the labor.

We were designed by God to work, but the curse of Eden. The sin of man has made work difficult. Thorns and thistles and sweat and frustration and futility. And Solomon says, you're gonna feel that when you work really hard, it's not always gonna feel good. And as you accumulate money or look for pleasure or power, it's not gonna satisfy. It's like trying to fill this void inside you that nothing else can fill, but people pour themselves. And if you see this verse seven, the appetite is never satisfied. In verse nine, the roving of the appetite, the desire for more, the desire to say, I wanna live a life that matters and I don't feel it right now, so I'm gonna see if I can figure it out. And some people try to figure that out in work. I'm gonna work my way to meaning and purpose. I'm gonna wake up early. I'm gonna stay up late. I'm gonna get the promotion. I wanna be running the company one day and I'm gonna be on the more, more, more. I'm gonna chase this idea of. Satisfaction, Solomon says, don't do it because you're gonna find that it is out of reach. Some people try it through education. If I learn more, then those things that I learned, the knowledge I have will help me to feel better about my life as I lay my head on my pillow at night.

And as I look in the mirror in the morning, Solomon says, many words don't make your life better. They can also make your life more frustrating. You're not gonna find an education. Maybe if I can't work my way to satisfaction, maybe I can buy my way to satisfaction. If I just bought this, or if I just bought that, and this is one of the greatest temptations of the world we live in today. I can't be bored for more than a minute. I need to entertain myself. I saw this latest new thing. I was happy until I saw that, and now I'm not happy. I used to love my life, my house, until I saw my neighbor's life and my neighbor's house. Maybe you've heard this phrase before, that comparison is the thief of joy. You're happy until you see someone else who has something you don't have. And you're like, oh, now I'm not happy. And now you drive to get more. And then you get what your neighbor had, and then you're happy for a moment, and then someone else gets something else, and now you're not happy anymore. And you find yourself, your appetite is never satisfied. Your eyes are never satisfied. The moment you get something, you're satisfied, but then it lasts just a moment. Your eyes, your appetite, Psalm says, are never full.

So think about this for a second. When was the last time you ate so much food that you said, I don't wanna see food or eat food for like a week? All right, for me, the last time it happened, I went to a Brazilian steakhouse. And as a good German, you gotta get your money's worth. So you gotta eat as much as you can. And I ate so much at that Brazilian steakhouse that when I got in my car, I was sweating. You ever eat so much, you sweat? Two other gluttons that are honest, three. I was sweating, and I was like, I ate too much. And at that moment, if you would ask me, hey, Doug, you want any food? But I don't wanna see food for like a month. And then three hours later, I was hungry again. That's Solomon's point. Solomon says, no matter how much you think, if I did that, I will be fully satisfied. He goes, that's a lie you're telling yourself. That's the futility of more, more, more, more. And the more you pursue more, the more empty and the more isolated you will become. Think with me. Solomon is trying to get us to think. And in a Western culture, listen, in a Western culture where we have more wealth, more convenience, more comfort than any group of people who have ever lived ever on the planet,

are we satisfied with what we have? We are exhibit A. We have more than Solomon. And yet there's this insatiability in us. There's always more. And Solomon says the pursuit of more will lead you to be empty and isolated. Why empty? Because the thing we're pursuing, that more is subject to something called the law of diminishing returns. Novelty wears off. The thing that you get when you get it, that you love it. Well, the first time you eat that meal, you love it. It's the best meal you've ever had. The second time you eat it, it's good. The third time you eat it, it's good, it's okay. The 37th time you eat it, meh. What happened? It's the same meal. What's happening? It's the human appetite. If you continue to follow it, we experience this. So here's another way to ask this question. How many of you right now, you love, love, love the car you drive? Raise your hand. Oh, okay. More than I thought. Now, all of us probably loved the car we drive

the day we bought it. The new car smell or the new to us car smell. We don't smell the burning oil from our old car. The AC works. And we're excited about our new car. But over time, we're like, oh, this car. Or we just take it for granted. Or we see someone else's car and now we don't like our car. That happens to everything in life. And so Psalms say, the more you try to do more, the actual more empty you're gonna feel inside. It's a paradox. It's beyond grasp. It's vanity. It's chasing after the wind. In fact, there's a moment where the people of Israel are not content with what they have, even though God has brought them out of Egypt, taken them to the Red Sea. And God is literally feeding them with bread from heaven, manna from heaven. And they say to God, we want more. We want meat. And so God decides to send them meat. But look at what happens when they get what they asked for. Psalm 106 says this, and God gave them their requests, what they asked for, but sent leanness into their soul. What does that mean? They fed their appetite and they lost themselves.

They fed, they got what they wanted, but their soul became more disconnected from God and from themselves. The pursuit of more, getting what you wish for, getting what you want all the time, it has a danger. And in the wealthiest society that the world has ever known, this is a prophetic warning for us, for the thing that we're chasing, that it might lead us to a greater emptiness once we look fuller on the outside. Jesus would say it this way, be careful you don't gain the whole world and lose your soul. And this is what Solomon is saying when he sees under the sun that the pursuit of more will lead you a deeper sense of emptiness. And not just that, but isolation, because when you're living all for yourself achievement, I can't be average, I have to be exceptional. So I'm gonna work hard and I wanna provide. I wanna provide for my family and my friends. I'm gonna work really hard, but now I'm missing all these moments because it's during dinner with my family that I gotta answer this question, because I gotta answer this, because I gotta make this deal, because I gotta make this deal, because I gotta feed my family and provide all the things they need.

And then I start to get resentful because I'm working so hard and they don't say thank you. And now I'm in my own world all the time. And Solomon's like, what's the point if you can buy dinner for everyone in the restaurant, but no one wants to eat with you? And he says, this is the grieviest burden I see. You can get all the stuff, could buy whatever your eyes see, and you can still feel empty on the inside. Jeff Cook says it this way. The more I make my life, my wellbeing, my enlightenment, my success primary, the farther I step from reality. Thus the hell bound do not travel downward, they travel inward, cocooning themselves behind a mask of vanity, personal rights, religiosity, and defensiveness. An obsession with self is the defining mark of a disintegrating soul. And so we have to stop and pause and let Solomon's words rest on us, the weight of it. He says, it's a heavy burden to have things that you can't enjoy. It's a heavy burden. It's a futility to chase, chase, chase, chase, chase what's driving you, and at the end, you might feel more empty and be more alone than when you started.

And so here's a question for us. This is where the Bible becomes a mirror, where we ask ourselves this question, God, what is driving me? What am I working so hard for? And will it matter in the end? And as we think like I'm working so hard because I need to get this degree, I gotta get this promotion, I gotta raise this family, I gotta get a bigger or better. And is that because on the inside, you're fighting that voice from that person who said, you're never gonna be anything and you wanna prove something to them. Maybe it's your own voice that being average is not acceptable. Maybe all of your effort and thoughts are about your own personal kingdom and you've neglected the kingdom of God and what God's doing. And so your drive is really, if you're honest, if you're really honest, and you look in the mirror, your drive is all about you in the end. And Solomon says, I just wanna warn you, if you live this way, you will feel empty at the end and you'll live a life that didn't matter

like a stillborn child. It would've been better if you were never born. And these words are heavy and sobering. You can see the discouragement in his voice. And then Solomon, who's looking at you, looking for clarity, he's looking for hope, he's looking for perspective, is gonna find it in a place that you won't expect. He's gonna find clarity and wisdom at a funeral. Look with me at chapter seven, verse one. A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It's better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house to feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone, and the living should take this to heart. Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. It's better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than listen to the song of fools. And like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools, this too is meaningless. Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. And the end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. So do not quickly be provoked, and your spirit for anger resides in the lap of fools.

And do not say, why were the old days better than these? For it is not wise to ask such questions. Solomon is searching for meaning. And he says, you know, you're not gonna find meaning at a party where people are singing their songs, and they're laughing, and all the conversation is about a half inch deep. But if you wanna find out the perspective and wisdom of life, go to a funeral, because a funeral reminds you of your future. You see, there's a certainty about death, we're all gonna die. The uncertainty is when we're gonna die. All of us know we're gonna die, but we don't know when we're gonna die. And a funeral provides us a moment of clarity where we can go, wait, that person I knew, they died suddenly, and now people are sharing about them. And they're talking about what that person meant. He says, this good reputation is like an aroma, like perfume, and when you go to a funeral, and you hear people talk about it, when you go to a funeral, and you hear people talk about someone who's died, and it's a good word, there's something that's instructive about that. Psalm's not being morbid, like, hey, the best thing you could do is go to a funeral.

No, he's saying a funeral can make you a person of depth. It can make you ask questions beyond the surface about the score of the game, or the weather, or your investments, or your golf game, or what you bought on Amazon. Because at a funeral, most people aren't thinking about those things. They're thinking about, where am I at with God? Where am I at with the people around me? Is there anything left undone? Any promises I have made, but I haven't kept? Any grudges that need to be healed and made whole? A funeral makes you a wiser person if you're paying attention, and allows you to reshape your goals. Because if you go to a funeral, and then you imagine yourself being in the casket, and imagine who's gonna say what about me, and you don't like what you think they would say, you have a chance to change that, to allow your life to be reshaped by that moment. And so he says, this is the house of wisdom. Now, look at verse one for a second. He says, the day of your death is better than the day of your birth. Is Solomon saying that death is better than life? No, in the context, he says, you know, the end of the thing is better than the beginning. So let's think about this for a second. Have you ever been to a hospital maternity ward

and seen a brand new baby, anybody? Now, here's the question. Solomon's asking this thing about this question. What can we say about this baby? This little beautiful baby girl? Not much. Maybe she looks a little like her mother, like her grandmother, like her father, like her grandfather. We don't know much about this little baby. But now fast forward 80 years, and that little baby girl has grown up and lived a full life. And now it's her funeral. What can we say about her now? Oh, all kinds of things. You see over here, it was all about her potential, but over here, it's all about the way that she lived, the fulfillment of that potential. And Solomon is saying, when you're 80 and at a funeral, there's so many things that we could say about you. Oh, she loved Jesus. Oh, she always opened her door to strangers. She always offered a wise word. She was such a great listener. She was so generous. And at that moment, the end of that little baby girl's life is better than the beginning because she has lived out her life. in a life, in a way, that's mattered. And that should cause us to think,

because we were once that baby, and we're between the day of our birth and the day of our death. And if we wanna be people of depth, if we wanna live a life that matters, we should pay attention. So yesterday, there was a memorial service here for one of our best, John Begginaro. He led in our kids' ministry. You know, when you drop your kids off and you wonder, will they be safe? Will they be loved? Will they be cared for? I mean, John led all that. He loved Jesus. He loved his wife. He loved his kids. He loved his team. And yesterday, this place was full of people who remembered him. And I just paid attention to some of the words that were shared. And I wanna share them with you because they could be instructive, and they could make this a house of wisdom. Someone said of John, I'll always remember him as a steady, involved, giving, fully present person in the lives of those around him.

He had the rare ability to lift the whole atmosphere of a place. Think about that. This person says, you know what I remember is when he walked into a room, the atmosphere lifted. Would someone say that about me? He wanted me to succeed. He worked hard to make sure I did. And I'll be turning 12 in a few days. And I wanna make him proud. That eight-year-old or nine-year-old that's watched John's life, that's looked him in the eyes, wants to make him proud. That is a life that matters. What about this? He always stopped to thank me for serving, and he always remembered my name. Or this one, he simply couldn't help himself from stepping in wherever he saw a need. His goal was always to help us, to make our jobs easier, and to teach us along the way. Never too much in a hurry to notice people, to see what they needed, to speak into their life. My favorite came from his son, Mark. My dad was the greatest man I've ever known. You know, I think in life,

if you wanna live a life that matters, the goal would be to be the most loved and most respected by the people who know you best. And Mark went on to talk about his dad, the quiet example from home, the public example from work, and the way that his dad lived his life. And now the question is this, how do you live a life that matters to you? And now the question is this, Solomon's asking us, if yesterday was your funeral, who would have stepped up, and what would they have said? And Solomon says, think about that, because that'll make you a person of wisdom. It'll make you a person of depth, because death is the destiny of every person. And so we want that wisdom to lay on us. And in verse seven, he says, there's lots of shortcuts to a life of integrity. You could take a bribe and give up your integrity. In verse nine, you can give way to anger and reveal that your desire is to control people. You can live in the past, in nostalgia that the old days were better. You could live in partying and escapism, that leads to numbing yourself and not thinking deeply about life, just going from high to high, from thing to thing.

You can, these are all counterfeits to a life that will matter in the end. But death itself is a preacher. Death itself is an evangelist. And if we stop and think, he will give us wisdom. And this is, where Solomon just stops and gets us to think. Now, how do we apply this to our lives? Two or 3000 years after it was written. So I have two things I want us to think about. The first one is this. If you want to live a life that matters, practice, enjoy it, and live a life that matters. And if you want to live a life that matters, practice, enjoy it, and live a life that matters. Enjoying moments. All of chapter six is about living life and working hard and getting more and not being able to enjoy what you have. And sometimes when we think about enjoyment, we're like, wait, am I allowed as a Christian to enjoy things? I feel like a lot of Christianity is don't do this and don't do this and don't do this. But if you've read the Bible as a series of don'ts, don't enjoy, I just wanna remind you, what is the root word of enjoy? Joy. And in the Bible, we are commanded to be joyful, not because God is a cosmic narcissist,

but because he has given us good gifts and that when we enjoy those good gifts, we connect to him in a spiritual way. This is not positivity or hedonism or optimism. This is recognizing that God gives the best gifts and when we receive them with joy, it draws us close to him, this spiritual connection. You see, you have a choice when you're given a gift. You can either receive the gift or you can reject the gift. Those are your only two choices. And you think about the original sin of Adam and Eve. They rejected the gifts of God. God gave them all this stuff and they're like, no, we want that. We want more. So all you've given us, God, is not enough. We reject your gift and we're gonna find our own way. And so we wanna be thoughtful. You know, Jesus knew how to enjoy the gifts of his father when he was on earth. I mean, if you look through the gospels, it's shocking how often Jesus and food are mentioned together. Jesus is always eating at a table. He's always at a party. One commentator said, it's like Jesus ate his way through the gospels. Jesus was a foodie. He loved a good dinner. He loved a good party.

He loved a good conversation. He was fully alive. And so we can learn from Jesus just by the way that he lived his life and practice, enjoying the good gifts of God. If I'm being honest, I'm a hard person to buy gifts for. Because if my wife at Christmas, my birthday, father's day, what do you want? I'm like, nothing. If I have coffee and dark chocolate, I'm happy. That's all I need. And yet my wife disregards what I ask and she always gets me something on a mask for. You know what I'm talking about? That person that's hard to buy gifts for, like, ah. And those gifts are always surprising. Now, imagine she puts all this thought into buying me a gift that I don't think I need or never thought about. And I open it and I'm like, meh. What'd you buy this for? How is she going to feel? How much more does God feel when he's given us all these beautiful gifts? And we're like, meh. And we're not enjoying them. Psalms says this is one of the worst burdens that people experience in life, is they have all these things and they don't enjoy any of them.

That's not the way to live a life that matters. So how can I learn to receive the good gifts of God? Listen, again, this is not positivity or hedonism or optimism. There's something deeply spiritual about this. This is what happens when you receive the gifts of God. You actually experience the presence of God in tangible ways. David, the psalmist, would write it this way. You make known to me the path of life. You fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Some versions of the Bible say in the presence of God, there is fullness of joy. So David says, when I experience the pleasure and enjoyment of the good gifts God gives, I realize these pleasures are also eternal. They come from his right hand. And in those moments, I can experience his presence and fullness in a way I can't if I choose not to enjoy something. Which means every meal, every bite of really good food, every satisfying drink, every sunsets, actually a glimpse of something that's not temporary, but something that's eternal. When you read references of heaven, sitting down at a table, eating the best meat and the best wine, you get these images of this feast that's coming before us.

And that means every bite is an appetizer for eternity, reminding you're in the presence of God. So how do we practice? Enjoying life. First, just a question. Scale of one to 10. Scale of one to 10. Ask yourself this question. How much am I enjoying my life right now? Important question. All of chapter six is about living a life you're not enjoying. Now, some of you are like, I'm seven most days. Some of you are like, I'm like a three. Some of you are like, I would be a seven if I got a raise. I would be a nine if I could actually retire. So like my enjoyment is in the future. But Psalm would ask the question, how do you know you're gonna live till retirement? You're saving all of your enjoyment for some point in the future that you may never experience. Why would you do that? You don't know how long you're gonna live. Why not practice enjoying your life today? Again, Solomon's making us think. God's invited us to enjoy every moment. Rejoice, I say it again. In the presence of God, there's fullness of joy. We live lives of gratitude and thanksgiving.

And listen, if we live this way, we will be the most attractive people on the planet. If all of us were living in the nine or 10 phase of life, then people are like, what is it? But why are you smiling right now? Don't you know there's a war and economy and all these things are happening? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but God is good. I've tasted and seen that God is good. So how do we practice this? Because maybe, maybe the best days of your life are right now. Again, because all of us think like tomorrow, it'll be better, but not necessarily. When I get that promotion, well, that promotion will come with more pressure and more problems. So enjoy the moment you're in. So let's talk about practicing enjoyment. Practicing enjoying God's gifts is a simple practice. It takes a few seconds, a few moments. So I'll give you some, because I've been practicing all week. So you got to preach the sermon to yourself first. That's how it goes. So last couple of days, when I wake up, I take a breath, a deep breath. And I enjoy the breath. My lungs work. And that breath brought me to life. And God, you're good.

And then, and then I walk into the kitchen and I grind some fresh beans of coffee. And before I put them in the Breville, I just do this. Fresh ground coffee beans. God, you are so good. You make coffee beans and the smell is so good. And I'm just going to enjoy that you are a good God and you give good gifts to me. And this is so good. I'm not, I'm not done yet. Hold on. And then you open the Bible and you see God's word. You're like, you wrote this for me. And you want to talk to me today. Your word is sweet like honey. Help me to enjoy what I'm about to read. And then I get in my car. And it starts. And I realized for thousands of years of human history, people have walked. And I don't want to walk to work. And then as I thank God that my car starts, that cold AC blows on me. Oh, thank God. God, you are good. The coolness and refreshments of Mazda technology. And then as I back out of my driveway, that first song comes on. God, thank you for that worship leader. Thank you for their voice.

Thank you for the skills of the way they play. Thank you for the words of that song that are bringing me to life and courage for today. God, you are so good. You created music, you created them, you created this moment. And I'm just going to soak it in just for like 10 seconds. God, I'm enjoying this car with this air conditioning, with this music, and you are so good. That's just the first few moments of your day. Just practicing, stopping, enjoying, thanking God, rejoicing God. You give good gifts. I receive these good gifts and they remind me. This is just. It's an appetizer for what heaven's gonna be like. What would happen if we did that every day? Maybe for you, your life has gotten just kind of monotonous, like summer, la, la, la, every day's the same, la, la, la, la, feels meaningless, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, I gotta work the next day. Okay, so try something new. Try a new restaurant. Go watch a sunset. Go out to Sawgrass and watch the sun set over the Sawgrass. Go to a place you've never been before. Try a new hobby. You're my wife and I, my wife looked at me, she's like, get me out of South Florida, it's so hot here. So we're like, what's cold?

We went all the way to like Washington State, where it was like 55 in the morning and 65 in the afternoon. And we went to places we'd never been before. I mean, as we drove around this beautiful country, well, we saw these spruce trees, like an 1,000-year-old spruce tree. We couldn't see the top, it was just massive. And we just soaked in like the cold air of the forest. You could smell the coolness of the air and all the leaves. And you're like, God, you created this beautiful place. And then we went to the beach or what looks like the beach there, which is the cliffs and sand and haystacks and starfish and all kinds of stuff that you don't see here. And you're like, God, you are so good. And you're experiencing all this beauty, but then how many of you know that life happens? That even when you're on vacation, things don't work like you think they're gonna work. And when that happens, you're like, oh, man. So we built this whole trip around Mount Rainier, this beautiful mountain. We hike all around Rainier and we get there and it's like just clouds everywhere. You can't see it. And it wasn't just the day we got there or the day after. The whole week was like, hey, the reason you came here, you can't see it. So we're sitting in a lodge.

We drove all, we flew all this way. We drove all this way. I wanna enjoy this, God, show it to me. Nothing. What do you do in moments like that? Moments your car doesn't start. Moments you're out of coffee. Part of it's like, God, okay. I wanna be curious. I wanna reframe. This is the day you've made. So I'm gonna rejoice. I know you have a surprise for us because you're good. So help us to find it. And so after being depressed for a little bit, sitting in the lodge, what are we gonna do? We go on this random hike, thinking I don't know if we're gonna see anything. It's not on Rainier, it's on the mountains behind Rainier. And after an hour of hiking, we come across this landscape. And it was like this beautiful Alpine Lake, these beautiful mountains. You could hear streams. We saw like a baby deer that was just born and the mom teaching this little Bambi baby how to nurse. And I was with the wife of my youth in this beautiful space where God allowed us to reframe. And even that night, our accommodations that night weren't great. It was a little 10 by 10 little shack.

And we ate our little, we ate our little ramen bowl. You know, the ramen bowls when there's nothing else to eat around and we sat by the fire. And honestly, that was the best day of our trip. Because even when things go wrong, God has a surprise for you. There's always a reason to rejoice. Paul and Silas in the prison singing songs, Jesus on the eve of his crucifixion, singing songs, breaking bread, thanking God. There's always a reason to rejoice. So we wanna be the people who practice enjoying moments. And then finally, the lesson of Ecclesiastes 7, pursue what lasts. If you wanna live a life that matters, you have to pursue what lasts. What is eternal? What's eternal in your life? It's the people in your life. If you look at the Bible, what is eternal? It's the word of God and souls, people. And so how am I investing in someone in a way that's gonna last? And that should make us curious. Like of all the things I'm doing, notice at John's Memorial, they didn't say, well, he bought this kind of house, he drove this kind of car,

he has this much net worth. Those things don't come up at a funeral because they don't matter in the end. It's the human relationships you build. So how do I practice pursuing what lasts? Well, who are you praying for right now? And how might those prayers affect someone's eternity? Who have you invited to church or shared the gospel with in the last few weeks? Start thinking about these moments. Who have you pulled aside and said, hey, I wanna meet every week over lunch and I wanna help you understand the Bible like someone helped me? I want to open up my home to couples, to talk to them about marriage. I want to begin to serve. I might still remember the conversations. This last week I celebrated 38 years of following Jesus, right? Yeah, July 8th was my spiritual birthday. And I still remember some of the conversations I had a couple of weeks before I became a Christian. People who were asking me questions, challenging my thinking, listening to my objections, and patiently lifting up God's word to me. Those men and women made an eternal investment in me. And there's fruit that lasts there. And so how can we be those type of people? And maybe it's people we don't even know.

Like this week, a couple texted me and said, hey, we want to make sure that every high school and middle school student who want to go to Y.E., Youth Encounter, but can't afford it, can go. So how many scholarship requests do you have? And I'm like, I'm gonna call the team. We have 106 requests of kids who want to come to Y.E. who can't afford it. Some are full scholarships, some are partial scholarships. And he's like, I'll call you back. This is my wife and I. We decided to provide scholarships for all those kids. Right? Now, he said, don't tell anybody. Don't tell anybody my name. So I don't want people to know who it is. But here's what I imagine. When that couple passes on and they get to heaven, I imagine the scene where someone comes up behind him, taps him on the shoulder. Hey, hey, I just wanted to say thank you. Because the summer of 2026, I really wanted to go to this church camp, but I couldn't afford it. And you provided a scholarship for me to come. And I came to know Jesus and it changed my life and it changed my family, changed the trajectory of my life. And I just want to say thank you. That's what it means to pursue the eternal.

And so as you think about your life, is my drive and my effort all about my life or am I thinking broader, thinking about something that lasts? I'm thinking about the vulnerable, caring for kids and foster care for single moms, for kids in other countries who are hungry. When I think of food share, people are hungry in our neighborhood. Have I ever dropped food off to feed someone else? Have I dropped off school supplies or I'm only thinking about my own kids or I may have my past kids, that's not my thing. You see, all those physical investments, the way that you give, the way that you serve, those things have a way to ripple into eternity in ways that we can't explain. And it actually changes us. Even though Jesus was a foodie, there were moments where he was hungry but didn't allow the physical hunger to stop him from doing what God wanted him to do. There's a day where all the disciples are so hungry, they go into town in Samaria and he has this conversation with this woman and changes her life. And the disciples are like, aren't you hungry? And he said, my food is to do the will of my Father in heaven. There's a way that you can be satisfied

in a spiritual appetite that you can never be satisfied in a physical way because we don't live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And this changes us. Pursuing what lasts isn't just about the people that we change or that God uses change, it's about how we change. Because there's a moment you're gonna offer yourself to God in heaven. Here's who I am. Here's who I became as I gave, as I became more generous, as I didn't make it about myself. And that's something we don't think a lot about. Who am I becoming? What will I offer to God as a result of the work of His Holy Spirit in my life over the decades? And so maybe you begin to invest in the eternal by just reading the Bible every day and asking God, how do I do one thing I've read today? Maybe as you read, you get convicted because you haven't served. You've just been receiving, consuming, and God convicts you. Hey, serve two hours a week. Find a way to serve in the church, out the church. Find a way to do something that's not about you and watch your heart become more generous, more expansive. Watch the gospel rescue from that toxic self-absorption

that our world feeds. Maybe you forgive a family member or a friend because the grudge has been so long, it's like an old shoe, you just keep wearing it. And everyone who sees you is like waiting for the gospel to take root in that part of your life where you can do something that's gonna be really hard for you to do, but it's gonna make you free in the end. Whatever it is, all those things are eternal. And so Solomon is saying, the gospel is saying, if you wanna be a man, you gotta be a man. Want to live a life that matters. If you wanna be a woman, you gotta be a woman. Practice enjoying moments. If you wanna be a man, you gotta be a man. Pursue what lasts. If you wanna be a man, you gotta be a man. If you wanna be a woman, you gotta be a woman. And Solomon, he couldn't see everything we see now. We have a benefit of having more wisdom than him because of the gospel. And something he didn't get to see, if you turn to just the few last pages of the Bible, Revelation chapter 21, I'm gonna show you something that Solomon didn't see, that we have the benefit of seeing. And John gets this revelation in the last days of his life. This is what happens after death. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. And he was seated on the throne and said, I am making everything new. That's gonna be a really good day. Aren't you excited about the future that God has for those who are in Christ? Now think about the difference between what Solomon showed us and what Jesus is showing us. Solomon says, eat and drink and enjoy life as much as you can, because pretty soon your life will be over. Jesus says, one day, you're gonna eat and drink in the kingdom of God, and death will be over, right? Right? No more death, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears. He makes all things new. And this is the gift of Jesus. Joy uninterrupted, death swallowed up in victory because of what Jesus did in the coming from heaven to earth

and his death on the cross and his resurrection. This revelation is available to us today to live a life that matters and look forward to death, not as the end, but as a door into eternity. And just another glimpse of how good this will be. Revelation 22. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and the lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him and they will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads and there will be no more night. And they will not need the lamp, the light of the light of the sun for the Lord God will give them light and they will reign forever and ever. Because of Jesus, this is our future. This is our hope. And we long for that day when Eden is restored, when all the sad things of this world become untrue. And this is the gift of God.

And so as his grateful people, can we just respond in thanksgiving to God for his goodness and his grace and his love and his power? And I pray this week, you can live with eternity in mind, you can enjoy these moments as a foretaste. But I know there's some people in this room who don't have that relationship with God because maybe you're asking the question like, does everyone go to heaven? I wanna show you one more verse in the book of Revelation. It says, nothing impure will ever enter heaven. Nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Again, this is where the Bible makes us think, not everyone goes to heaven, what? Wait, wait, only those people whose names are written in this book? Like, how does that happen? And that would be an important question. If heaven is not our default destination, then how do we get our name in that book? The Bible tells us, by acknowledging that you're a sinner, that you live in a sinful, broken world, and that sin separates you from God, but that Jesus came from heaven to earth to restore you back to God, to pay your sin debt, to cover your shame and your guilt, and to make you a new person, and to provide an adoption for you into the family.

of God so that you can receive the gift of salvation. He's already paid the price. But as I said earlier, you can either receive a gift or reject a gift. And this decision, this choice is given to every human being who's ever lived through the history of the world. And today it's gonna be given today. If you don't know Jesus, if you don't know that if you died today, you would be in his presence in heaven, experiencing eternal life. We wanna give you the opportunity to decide, I've tried it on my own long enough. I'm gonna go all in with Jesus. I'm gonna put my faith and trust in him. And here we do that by just an expression of faith. We play a song and say, if you wanna start a relationship with God through his son, Jesus, if you're ready to believe the good news of the gospel, this revelation that maybe is just making things quick for you today for the first time, we're gonna ask you to get up out of your seats and come and stand right here. We're gonna pray over you and celebrate what new life looks like. If right now you feel the longing because you felt the dissonance, God is allowing that to draw you to his love.

If that's you, stand and walk this way and we will celebrate with all of heaven as you come. Come on. ♪ Are you hurting and broken within ♪ ♪ Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin ♪ ♪ Jesus is calling ♪ ♪ Have you come to the end of yourself ♪ ♪ Do you thirst for a drink from the well ♪ ♪ Jesus is calling ♪ ♪ Oh, come to the altar ♪ ♪ The Father's arms are open wide ♪ ♪ Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Oh, come to the altar ♪ ♪ The Father's arms are open wide ♪ ♪ Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ ♪ We are so glad that you're here today. We celebrate this decision of faith. We're excited for what God's gonna do in your life as you make this confession. He's gonna forgive your sins. He promised us to take away the guilt of your sin and the shame of your sin and begin the work of new creation. I'm smiling because this is a reflection of God's smile over you and the joy that's in this room right now. It's a beautiful reflection of heaven, of God's love for you. So I'm just gonna offer some simple words that you can say to God.

He's gonna hear you make this confession and he's gonna answer this prayer in your life. So just say this to God right now. Say this out loud. Say this, Lord God, I open my heart. I invite you inside. Forgive my sin. Today I repent. Now fill me with your spirit and I will walk with you all the days of my life. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Guys, congratulations. Welcome to the family of God. We're so glad you're here. If you could just give us a few moments, I would love to shake your hand person. So if you can follow Tony to that open door, we'll give you a Bible and give you just a few moments of conversation back with your friends in a moment. Let's give them a hand as they go this way, church. And let's stand together and respond and worship to Jesus, our King, who has conquered sin and death and made us victorious. Let's lift up our voice in praise. Come on, we sing together. ♪ God, take this trouble out in the name of...

♪ I call You Jesus ♪ I call You, I call You healer