Standing in Awe of God | Javan Shashaty | Ecclesiastes 5

Good morning, Calvary. We're so happy you're here with us to worship our King Jesus. Let's remind our hearts that He has been good to us. Let's sing this together. ♪ You've been good, good for all my life ♪ ♪ So nothing could ever change my mind ♪ ♪ You never break Your promise ♪ ♪ You're constant in all You do ♪ ♪ Yours is the way, the truth, the life that I will choose ♪ ♪ Oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Every road, every heart, You are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Faithful all the time ♪ ♪ I taste it and I see You've been so, so good to me ♪ ♪ God, I know that I know You're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I won't look to the left or right ♪ ♪ And I will keep Heaven on my side ♪ ♪ No, I will not be shaken and nothing is broken me ♪ ♪ I've got a faith that's sure of things I cannot see ♪ ♪ Oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Every road, every heart, You are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ I taste it and I see You've been so, so good to me ♪ ♪ God, I know that I know You're faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I won't spend all the words of men, God I'll spend on Yours instead ♪ ♪ All of my hope, all of my faith, all of it's in Your name ♪ ♪ And the world cannot deny all the union in my life ♪

♪ All of my days, all of my praise, all to live Jesus' name ♪ ♪ I won't spend all the words of men, God I'll spend on Yours instead ♪ ♪ All of my hope, all of my faith, all of it's in Your name ♪ ♪ And the world cannot deny all the union in my life ♪ ♪ All of my days, all of my praise, all to live Jesus' name ♪ ♪ All of my days, all of my praise, all to live Jesus' name ♪ ♪ Oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Every low, every high, You are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, I know that I know You won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Every low, every high, You are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ I taste You and I sing, You have been so, so good to me ♪ ♪ You have been so, so good to me that I know that I know ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time... ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time... ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time... ♪ ♪ You're faithful... You're faithful all the time... ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time... ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time... ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time... ♪ Come on, put your hands together. Jesus has been good to us. If you are grateful for Jesus in the house today, would you give God a shout of praise in this place today? Sing, Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever. Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever. Oh, when people from every nation, people from every nation come. From generation to generation, we worship you. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. We worship you, we worship you. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah.

We worship you for who you are. Oh, sing. You are good, yeah. Oh, yes, you are. Yes, you are. Sing, Lord, you are good. Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever. Sing, Lord, you are good, yeah. Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever. Oh, when people from every nation, people from every nation come. From generation to generation, we worship you. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. We worship you, we worship you. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. Yeah. Sing. You are good. Oh, yes, you are. Yes, you are. Yes, you are. Yeah. Come on, a few notes. Sing. Sing, you are good all the time and all the time. You are good. Sing, you are good. All the time. All the time.

I know. You are good. Sing, you are good all the time. All the time. You are good. Yes, you are good. All the time. All the time. You are good. Everybody clap. Come on. Hey. Hallelujah. Yeah. Yeah. Say, Lord, you are good. Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever. I know somebody knows something about the goodness of God in the room today. Say, Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever. Sing it again, sing it again, sing it again. We say, Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever. Oh, I've seen it with my own eyes. Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever. Oh, we're people from every nation. People from every nation. It's us from generation to generation. Sing it out, sing it out. We worship you. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. We worship you for who you are.

We worship, we worship you. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. Come on, sing it loud. Say, we worship you. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. We worship you. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah. We worship you for who you are. For who you are. For who you are. For who you are. For who you are. Yeah. You are good. Come on, would you give Jesus a shout of praise in this place this morning? In the darkness we were waiting, without hope, without light Till from heaven you came running, there was mercy in your eyes To fulfill the law and prophets, to a virgin came the world From a throne of endless glory to a cradle in the dirt Let's sing praise the Father Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings To redeem the kingdom coming and to reconcile the lost To redeem the whole creation, you did not despise, thank you Jesus Even in your suffering, you sought to the other side Knowing this was our salvation, Jesus for our sake you died Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings

In the morning that you rose, all of heaven held its breath Till that stone was put for good, for the Lamb had conquered death And the dead rose from their tombs and the angels stood in awe For the souls of all who come to the Father are restored And the church of Christ was born, there was fear and lived of fear Now this gospel to the world shall not kneel, shall not faint By His blood and in His name, in His freedom I am free For the love of Jesus Christ, who has resurrected me Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings Praise forever to the King of kings We're so honored and thankful to be able to worship with you this morning, but this 4th of July is something that I think is monumentous and special, because our country is celebrating 250 years as a nation. And listen, we realize that on monumentous moments like this, it's important to pause and to reflect and to celebrate and rejoice all that God has done. He's been faithful to our country. He's been faithful to us. And we're so grateful to be called His kids and to live in this place. We also want to remember and celebrate the fact that we live in freedom, but we know that that freedom is not free. And so over these 250 years, there's been many men and women in uniform that have given their lives to protect our liberties. And we should never take that lightly. That's something for us to be thankful for, because it's a gift from God. And finally, we also stand as a nation with humility, because we realize that it's important for us to know that every generation needs the goodness and the grace of God. The Bible says in Psalms 33, verse 18, that the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him. And so it's important for us to keep our eyes away from any human accomplishment, any human authority or power in any political system, and keep our eyes on Jesus. He is the King of kings. He is the King of all kingdoms. Where else should our eyes be but on Him? And so as we celebrate this weekend, this special, wonderful blessing that we have as a nation, we want to give all that glory back to God, so that we can use our liberties and our freedom to continue to be open-handed as a nation and bless others, to bless our neighbors, and to spread the love of Jesus across this world. Amen? So let's pray. Let's pray. Let's ask God for His blessing over our nation and over our families. God, we are truly humbled and grateful to be able to celebrate with the rest of America these past 250 years of Your faithfulness to our people, to this nation. And we're grateful, God, because without You, none of this could have been possible. God, we're grateful because there are so many pieces of Your grace spread across our stories and the generations of stories of our family, of our friends, of this place.

And so, God, we just offer all of this back to You and say, thank You, God. We have hearts full of gratitude for what You've blessed us with. We are such a blessed people. So often we can forget it. We can maybe operate and move in such a way where we've forgotten that without You, God, without You, none of this could be possible. Our very breath and our lungs depend upon You. And so this morning, we worship You and give You thanks and praise for all that You've done in our lives. God, we just lift our country up to You. We give it back to You afresh and pray, have Your way through America. God, would You work through our executive leadership, our president, vice president, and all of the branches of government underneath them? God, would they wake up this morning with a fresh reminder, that healthy fear of who You are and awe of Your presence? God, You work in mysterious ways. And so we ask for each executive leader, God, and their families and their spouses, God, would You minister to them this morning? And would this warm, cool air that we woke up with this morning be a reminder of the warmth and the wonder of Your presence? God, we pray for our local leadership as well. God, whether it be for mayors, for governors across our nation, whether it be for police, Lord, every symbol of authority, God, we just give them back to You because You are the ultimate authority. And God, we pray that with every ounce of authority that's within us, those in the rooms that are business owners, God, those in the rooms that are moms and dads, husbands and wives, influencers, God, we pray that we would carry what You've blessed us with, with grace and wisdom as well. God, help us to be right examples of who You are. God, we are mere images of You, and when we do that well, we represent You. But when we do that poorly, God, forgive us. Help us, Lord, to be men and women filled with Your Spirit and ready to be impactors across our areas of influence for Your great namesake. We are image bearers of You this morning, God, so we offer ourselves back and pray, God, be within us instruments of grace, that we can be instruments of grace to others. We're so grateful, God, we give You praise for what You've done and what You have done through us. We celebrate all that you've done, all these gifts. We give them back to you in Jesus' mighty name. All of God's kids said. Amen. Amen, amen.

You may be seated. Hey, this morning we have the special privilege to have the Word of God taught to us by one of our campus pastors all the way from East Boca. Please give a Calvary warm welcome to Pastor Javin Shishadi. Thanks, bro. Good morning. Well, today as we continue our study in the book of Ecclesiastes, we're gonna talk about something called reverence. Say reverence. Reverence. Reverence simply means a deep respect for something or someone. And all of us inherently know there are certain environments that require our reverence. You know, you would never see someone laughing loudly at a funeral. You don't crack jokes while the bride is walking down the aisle at a wedding. You don't stroll into a courtroom with flip-flops and put your feet up on the desk. It doesn't work that way. Why? Because there are places and moments that require reverence. You know, I've loved watching the World Cup with my kids, just watching these moments of brilliance on the field. But what I love is before the game starts, all the teams, arms around each other,

singing at the top of their lungs, their national anthem. And even if it's not the anthem of your country, when you see a group of people in patriotism with their arms around each other, singing at the top of their lungs, you can hear a pin drop, can't you? There's such a powerful moment of reverence where people are united together, focusing on something. And here's what we know to be true. The greater the place, the greater the reverence that we show. So how much more, if there's reverence in a courtroom and on a soccer field, should we show reverence in the house of God? How much more should we treat God with the level of respect and honor that He deserves to? And today in Ecclesiastes chapter five, it's exactly what this text is going to teach us. I pray that the Lord would speak to us today, that He would shift some things in us as we go through this text. He would give us that reverence for Him, that we'd walk out of this room with an even greater respect for the God that we serve than when we walked in. So we're gonna begin reading Ecclesiastes chapter five, verse one. If you're at verse one, say, I'm there. I'm there. Here's what it says. Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.

Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools who do not know that they do wrong. Stop right there. Chapter five begins with a warning about how we enter the house of God. And what does Solomon say? Guard your steps. That word for guard in the Hebrew has the idea of intention. Verse one could read like this. Be very careful about how you enter the house of God. Think carefully before you walk into God's house. I love what commentator Alexander McLaren said. He said, fruitful and acceptable worship begins before it begins. Listen, the approach to our worship matters a lot more than most of us realize. And what's the right approach that we're supposed to have? The first thing that Solomon says, two words in verse one, go near. It says, guard your steps when you enter the house of God. Go near. Pause for a second just to acknowledge how cool that is. Even in the Old Testament, the invitation of God was to go near to his presence, to go near into his house in order to meet with him. That invitation's repeated again in the New Testament. James 4, eight, it says, come near to God and he will do what? Come near to you.

The invitation that was on the table for the people in Solomon's day and James' audience is also on the table for us. You can draw near to God. You can come near into his presence, but there's a purpose. There's a purpose for why you come near. What does Solomon say? Guard your steps when you enter the house of God. Go near to what? Speak. No, go near to what? Listen, the purpose for why we guard our steps, the purpose for why we go near is to listen. This reminds me of what Paul said in Romans 10, 17. Faith comes from what? Hearing the message. And the message is heard through the word about Christ. You know what that means? The way that faith becomes a reality in your heart is by listening to the message of the gospel, by hearing it, by coming near to God's presence and listening to the message about Christ. That is how faith forms in your heart. You think being in the house of God is a serious thing? It absolutely is. We draw near in order to listen. Church, we are not here today to check some spiritual box. We are not in the room this morning. to play some Christian game to make ourselves feel better, we are here to listen to the voice of Almighty God.

We're here to listen to our Father. Something powerful happens when God's people gather to listen. It was true back then, and it's also true today. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen though. People don't always enter with an expectation to hear from God. Solomon says, some people enter God's house to offer the sacrifice of fools, and even worse, they are completely oblivious that their sacrifice is foolish. He says, they don't even know they do wrong. So the question is, well, what's the sacrifice of fools? I'm glad you asked because Solomon's gonna tell us in verse two. He says, do not be quick with your mouth and do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be what? Few. A dream comes when there are many cares and many words mark the speech of a what? Fool. So Solomon seems to indicate the sacrifice of fools, the opposite of listening in the house of God is speaking. The sacrifice of fools has a lot to do with their words. The warning he gives to his readers in verse three, do not be quick with your words. That word for quick in the Hebrew,

it means rash or hurried. He says, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. What Solomon is addressing is the prayers of God's people. And these days, just like it was back then, we are far too casual in the way we approach God in prayer. Now, don't get me wrong. God wants our authenticity when we pray. Absolutely he does. You don't have to use big words. You don't have to sound all formal. When you pray, you don't have to say thee, thou, God in heaven, thou dost bless us this thou day. You don't have to do that, okay? That's not what Solomon is talking about here. What he's talking about is addressing God with reverence. And I'm afraid in the church today, our prayers sound much more like we're talking to Siri than we're talking to a holy God. It's not like we're talking to a buddy, a friend, and absolutely God is a friend and wants our authenticity, but he is holy and he is righteous. Solomon says, we don't even know that we do wrong. There should be a reverence for how we pray. Why is that? Why is there a reverence when we address God in prayer? Look at what he says at the end of verse two. God is in heaven and you are where? On earth. There are three reasons why we show reverence in prayer.

Location, location, location. God is in heaven, you are on earth. Our reverence has everything to do with where God is and where we are. And because God's in heaven and because we are on earth, what's Solomon's solution? Let your words be few. This is Solomon's polite way of saying, shut up. God's in heaven, you are on earth, so shut up. Let your words be few. And some of you are like, Javin, come on now. This is the Old Testament. This is talking about the temple and the synagogue. This is Old Testament stuff. What about now in the New Testament, in the age of grace? This can't possibly be true, can it? Well, the New Testament I read seems to reiterate this same point over and over and over again. Jesus himself says this in Matthew 6. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their what? Many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you even ask. You think Jesus is saying the same thing that Solomon said? God is in heaven, you are on earth. Let your words be few. Now let's be clear. There is nothing wrong with praying prayers for a long time. There's nothing irreverent about sitting in the presence

of God and praying for hours. The problem is when you pray for a long time, just for the sake of praying for a long time. You're not actually talking to God. You're doing what Jesus calls babbling in your prayers. I love what the great D.L. Moody said. He said, some people's prayers need to be cut short at both ends and set on fire in the middle. Cut off the beginning, cut off the end, and set the middle part on fire. And let your words be few. Charles Spurgeon said it like this. It is not the length of our prayers, but the strength of our prayers that makes the difference. Just by praying for a long time, God isn't up there like, all right, after the 20 minute mark, then I'll start. Now, he's listening to your prayers right now. How much more so because of what Christ has done, the access that you have to God, he hears you. He's listening. Be quick to listen and slow to speak. Not be quick with your words or hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. Instead, let your words be few. Then in verse three, we get this interesting line. A dream comes when there are many cares. You think, what does that mean? Well, the dream that Solomon is talking about is not the good kind. It's the dream that keeps you up at night,

the dream where you can't sleep because of the many cares that are on your mind. And he says, and many words mark the speech of a fool. You know how to identify a fool in a crowd? It's the one talking. I know that's ironic for me to say right now, but stay with me for a second, okay? Stay with me, all right? Some of you are like, oh, I know, Jabin. No, no, no, hey, just stay with me for a second, all right? Too much talking is one of the clear signs of a foolish person. You know, Solomon said it himself in Proverbs 17. He said, the one who has knowledge uses words with restraint. And whoever has understanding is even tempered. Even fools are thought wise if they keep, what? Silent and discerning if they hold their tongues. You know, you might know in your mind that you're a fool, but if you talk too much, everyone else is gonna know too. God is in heaven, you are on earth. Many words mark the speech of a fool. So let's let our words be few before God. Let's keep reading, look at verse four. It says, when you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow

than to make one and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into what? Sin, and do not protest to the temple messenger. My vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are what? Meaningless, therefore fear God. You know, Solomon brings up a topic that we don't often talk about in church. It's a topic of vows. A vow is simply a promise to someone that you're going to do something. You make a promise. You give them your vow or your word. This is what I'm going to do. We see vows happen all throughout the Bible. Think of Samson. Samson took what's called the Nazarite vow. He promised not to drink wine, not to touch anything that was dead, and not to cut his hair. Think of Hannah in the Old Testament. Hannah made a vow before God that if God gave her a child, she would dedicate that child back to the Lord and he would serve in the temple for the rest of his life. And she fulfilled that vow. Even in the New Testament, Paul makes a vow in Acts 17

and it leads him to cut his hair off completely. We don't know exactly what that vow was, but we see vows and promises that are made all throughout the Bible. And it might sound strange to make a vow or a promise to God, but we do this a lot today too, don't we? We say things like, God, if you get me out of this, I promise I will serve you the rest of my life. And then the trial goes away and we completely forget about our vow. We say, God, I will go wherever you send me within a 10-mile radius. Just send me, Lord. I'm ready to be a missionary in my neighborhood across the street. Say, God, if you open the door, I will serve in youth ministry. And then he opens the door and you're like, God, open another one. God, if you bless my business, I'll give generously. Remember back in January when you said, God, I promise, I vow, this is the year where I read the Bible consistently. How's that been going? Seven months in. We make vows before God all the time. What did verse four say? When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. We are so quick in our culture today

to make promises before a holy God that we never intend to fulfill. That's why Solomon says in verse five, it is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. You know what that means? It's better to just do it. If you have intentions to do something, just go and do it instead of making an empty promise that you're not able to fulfill. Now, I know it might seem strange to talk about vows in church in 2026, but we have to talk about this because this applies to our lives in so many ways. And our irreverence for God is what causes us to make these empty promises that we can't keep. Our low view of God, where we've placed him on the same level as us instead of on the throne in heaven where he belongs, causes us to promise things that we never follow up on. One of the best examples of how we have degraded vows in our culture is the vows of marriage. Listen, if you're married in this room, when you stood at that altar, you made vows to each other. You made vows in the sight of God, but the world has convinced you that those vows were just a suggestion. Oh, you didn't really mean those things.

Everybody says that. Those are just words that people say on their wedding day. They don't actually mean much. And if you fall out of love, or the person isn't meeting your needs like you thought they would, all of a sudden you can just leave and abandon the vows that you made. Sadly, this attitude has also crept into the church. This has crept into our hearts as Christians. Some of you right now, you're struggling in your marriage. Things are tense. Feels like an argument could break out at any second. Let's just say, it's not what you thought it would be when you stood at the altar and made those vows. Listen, just because things are difficult, just because it's not what you thought does not give us the liberty to go back on our promise, to break a vow that we made before God. I am amazed at how many Christian couples are so quick to jump to divorce when things aren't going their way. I'm amazed at how many Christian marriages, when one little thing goes wrong, are so quick to go back on their vow. Listen, you made a vow, not just to that person. You made a vow before God, in riches and in poverty, in sickness and in health, for better or for what? Worse.

That means if it gets better or if it gets worse, fulfill your vow and do not delay. You made a promise before the living God. You fulfill your marriage vows, not just because you love that person. You fulfill your marriage vows because you love God, because you love Jesus, and you have such a reverence for him and his word that you are willing to stay. And in that day, people were looking to get out of their vows, in every way they could. They used the classic excuse of, just kidding. Or, I didn't really mean it. They would say things like, I was just emotional that day. I didn't know what I was saying. In Solomon's culture, apparently they would run to someone called the temple messenger. Now, scholars debate who this was or what this role actually accomplished, but it seems like there was someone in the temple who would take account or would have reference to different vows that were made, but regardless of who this was, the point remains clear. Your word should mean something, especially before God. Jesus says this, Matthew 5, verse 37. All you need to say is simply yes or no. Anything beyond this comes from the evil one. So Solomon says, when you make a vow,

do not delay to fulfill it. Jesus says, be so full of integrity that you don't even need to make a vow. You don't even need to make a promise. You don't have to preface anything by saying, you can trust me. I promise you, I promise. Jesus says, why do you have to say that? Is your word so low that people can't trust you where you have to preface it by saying, I promise over and over again? Let your yes be yes and your word and your no be no. Solomon seems to indicate there are consequences when we break our vow. Look at verse six. The end of verse six, he says, why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? That doesn't mean God is gonna wreck your business or your company if you fail to fulfill your vow. But disregarding vows without repentance like this is a serious thing. You know what the Bible calls going against a vow? Sin. That's why Solomon says, do not let your mouth lead you into sin, which is why verse seven ends the way it does. Look at the last three words of verse seven. Solomon says, therefore, meaning in light of everything we've talked about so far,

therefore, fear God. The problem itself is not making vows or promises. This is an issue of reverence. This is an issue of respect for the God that we serve. And I think those two words there at the end of verse seven are the basis for everything else that we've read so far. Because you know, if you fear God, you will guard your steps in his house. If you fear God, you will go near to listen rather than to speak. If you fear God, you will not offer the sacrifice of fools. If you fear God, you will not be quick with your mouth. If you fear God, you will not be hasty in your heart. If you fear God, you will let your words be few. And if you fear God, you will fulfill your vow. All of this stems from a healthy reverence for the God that we serve. God is in heaven and we're on earth and he must be revered above all things if we were to walk in obedience to him. Let's keep reading. Look at verse eight. Solomon says, if you see the poor oppressed in a district and justice and rights denied, do not be what? Surprised at such things. For one official is eyed by a higher one and over them both. Are others higher still?

The increase from the land is taken by all, and the king himself profits from the fields." You know, there are a few times in the scriptures where the Bible tells us not to be surprised at something. I think about what Peter says. He says, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come to test you. So we shouldn't be surprised when we experience trials. John tells us in 1 John not to be surprised if the world hates us, which we act surprised all the time as a church. Like, why does the world hate me? And John goes, you're surprised about that? It hated Jesus, it's gonna hate you too. Jesus himself said this to Nicodemus when he was explaining the gospel. He said, you need to be born again. And Nicodemus said, Jesus said, why are you surprised? You should not be surprised to hear me tell you that you need to be born again. Bible talks a lot about not being surprised by things. And here Solomon says there's three things you shouldn't be surprised by. The poor oppressed, justice denied and rights denied. Unfortunately, injustice and oppression has existed in our world for centuries. There've always been high officials and people in power that have hoarded all the power for themselves and they've abused it to put other people down.

And in order to stay on top, they oppress those that need the power to serve them. Unfortunately, we shouldn't be surprised when these things happen. Solomon says, don't be surprised when the poor are oppressed, when injustice happens. However, not being surprised doesn't mean we just sit back and accept it either. Because Solomon says this in Proverbs 31, verse eight, speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly, defend the rights of the poor and the needy. Look at me, leaders in this world will act unjustly. There will be oppression. There will be people in power who take advantage of that power to abuse the weak. We should not be surprised, but we also have a responsibility to stand for what's right. What Solomon is saying is don't be shocked when it happens, but also don't be part of the problem. And then verse nine, we get one of the most difficult verses in all of Ecclesiastes. I say it's difficult because the wording in the Hebrew is very ambiguous, which means a lot of different translations, they translate it different ways. We're not a hundred percent sure

what Solomon is trying to say in verse nine. Look at verse nine again. It says, the increase from the land is taken by all and the king himself profits from the fields. Now, this seems to suggest that no matter how powerful someone is, that at the end of the day, they depend on God's provision for everything. So even a king who uses their power, someone who's an authority, who uses the power that God's given them to oppress others, at the end of the day, they are still dependent on God. And that should bring us comfort and relief that even those who have the greatest power are still dependent on the work of the fields, that God is ultimately in control. So here's what we can take away from verse nine. Even if it seems like evil is winning, even if it seems like oppression and injustice are happening all over the world and we can't control it, God ultimately has the final word. God is the one who will return one day. Jesus will make all wrong things right again and will restore justice the way that it was meant to be. Let's keep reading verse 10. We'll read through verse 17. Solomon says, whoever loves money never has enough. And whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.

This too is what? Meaningless. Verse 11, as goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? The sleep of the laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much. But as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. I've seen a grievous evil under the sun, wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners or wealth lost through some misfortune so that when they have children, there is nothing left for them to inherit. Verse 15, everyone comes naked from their mother's womb and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. This too is a grievous evil. As everyone comes, so they depart. And what do they gain? Since they toil for the wind. All their days they eat in darkness with great frustration, affliction, and anger. Ah, if you missed depressed Solomon, he's back. He says, all their days they eat in darkness with great frustration, affliction, and anger. You think, yikes. How does someone get that low? How does someone become that hopeless? You know what Solomon's answer to that is?

One word, money. It's interesting. You know, money has a way of capturing our heart. like few other things can, because it makes us feel powerful, right? We feel unstoppable, almost immortal, like nothing can hold us back. And because we feel like the most powerful person in the room, you know what happens to our reverence for God? We think that we're on the top. We're in control. We're seated on the throne because we have all the resources and all the power. But Solomon says that life, it's meaningless. Think about this. We live in the wealthiest nation the world has ever known. And praise God for that. Never has there been another country that's possessed more abundance than the United States of America. And it's amazing with all this abundance, with all the wealth and all the possessions, everyone's happy, there's no greed, there's no envy, everyone's satisfied, and things are completely great everywhere you look, right? We wish. The reality is that what Solomon says in verse 10 still rings true today. Whoever loves money never has enough. And whoever loves wealth

is never satisfied with their income. Wouldn't it be great if that verse was written on every currency around the world? You pick up a $100 bill and you're like, oh, this is great. Whoever loves money never has enough. Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. You can have this. It would change our perspective a lot, huh? Now, let me be clear. The Bible never says that it's sinful or wrong to have money. That's not the issue. The key here is in the wording. It doesn't say whoever has money never has enough. Whoever has money is never satisfied. What does it say? Whoever loves money never has enough. Whoever loves money is never satisfied. Sounds a lot like what Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, 10. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. And some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. This verse has been misquoted more than many others. People will say money is the root of all evil. That's not what the Bible says. It says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. There's a big difference between having money and loving it. Did you know that? There's a big difference between having money

and your money having you. You can have money and not love it. You can also love money and not have it. That's why there's credit card debt. The issue is not money itself. Money is amoral. It's neither good nor bad. It's what you do with it that actually matters. And you know who knew this more than anybody else? The guy who's writing these words. King Solomon is pretty widely recognized as the richest king who ever lived. He had more wealth, more possessions, his palace, all of the things that he owned, his livestock, his gold, his silver, everything. Solomon among historians is recognized as one of, if not the wealthiest rulers in the history of the world. And it's that same King Solomon who's gonna give us his observations about wealth. And you know how he does it? He gives us five side effects of loving money. Think of this as a commercial. Love of money. Talk to your doctor today. Side effects may include. And then he goes through the five side effects of what it looks like to love money. You ready? All right, three people are ready. You ready?

All right, here's the first one. The first side effect of loving money is discontentment. Say discontentment. Discontentment. Solomon says, whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. It doesn't matter how much you get. If you love money, it's never gonna be enough. It's just gonna drive you to want more and more and more. Anyone in the room feel that? Any honest people willing to admit it? That's what money will do to you. It just drives you to want more, to chase after wealth. And you get to the end of it and you're like, why am I more miserable now than when I started? I gained all this success. I got all these possessions and all this wealth and I still feel so dissatisfied, still feel so discontented. It's because that was never meant to satisfy you. Many people have looked for fulfillment and satisfaction through the love of money. Don't make that same mistake. The second side effect of loving money is consumers. Say consumers. Verse 11 says, as goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? Solomon seems to be speaking from experience, isn't he? He thinks the more that I get as goods increase,

so do those who consume them. Meaning the more money I make, the more possessions I have, more other people want from me. They just expect things. Solomon goes, every time I go to Cheesecake Factory, they expect me to cover the bill. Every time, without fail. He says, this is one of the side effects of wealth. And listen, if you love money, that will drive you absolutely crazy. You're like, there's all these people that want something from me. And I'm not saying that's a good thing, but listen, if you love Jesus more than you love money, you will see money as just a tool to be used for the kingdom of God. And it will give you a heart of generosity. That doesn't mean you always cover the bill at Cheesecake Factory, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is when you have a heart that's generous, you're looking to bless people. You're looking to fit the needs of others, to meet their needs, to help them, to help them to move forward in life. The second side effect is consumers. Number three, the third side effect of loving money is sleeplessness, say sleeplessness. Verse 12, it says, the sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.

I picture Solomon late at night, 1 a.m., he just grabbed a couple Oreos and a glass of milk, and he's walking on the roof of his palace. He's looking out over his whole kingdom, and everyone's sound asleep. It's completely quiet. And he's thinking to himself, why is it that all these peasants can sleep fine, and I'm here up walking around the roof of my palace? And you know his answer? Because those laborers, those who work hard, they don't have the same cares on their mind. They've discovered something called contentment. They're not up late at night thinking about the market, they're at peace. And if you're honest, some of you here today, you relate a lot to Solomon. It feels like every night you're walking on the roof of a palace, looking over your kingdom and your empire, and you think, what's all this for? I try so hard to sleep, but every time I put my head on my pillow at night, my mind is racing and racing and racing, and I can't seem to rest. Listen, I pray that the Lord would give you peace, that he would give you rest, that he would give you rest in your heart, that just like Paul, you would discover the secret of what it means to be content,

that whether you have a lot or you have a little, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength, and that you can go to sleep. Listen, that even with all the worries that are on your mind, running your business, running your company, even with all of the cares, that you can sleep knowing that the God you serve never does. He neither sleeps nor slumbers, and you can go to bed dependent on him, that when you wake up, all that time that you were asleep, he took good care of your kingdom. He took good care of the resources that he placed in your hands. You can do it with the power of God's help. Number four, the fourth side effect of loving money is greed, say greed. Verse 13, it says, "'I have seen a grievous evil under the sun, wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children, there's nothing left for them to inherit.'" And then verse 15, he says, "'Everyone comes naked from their mother's womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from the toil of their hands that they can carry with them.'" You will take nothing with you in your hands. The empire you've built, the storehouse's worth of possessions and wealth,

Solomon says, naked you came into this world and naked you're gonna leave it. This reminds me of a parable that Jesus told in Luke chapter 12. Listen to this. "'The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. And he thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. And then he said, this is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. And there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself,' which he's talking to himself, probably a bad idea to begin with, "'You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry.' But God said to him, you what? Fool, this very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you've prepared for yourself? And this is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves, but is not rich towards God.'" See, the problem is not storing up things for yourself. It's storing up things for yourself at the expense of your relationship with God. It's what Solomon said. You brought nothing into this world and you will show up at the gates of eternity

with nothing in your hands. What did Jesus say to the man who built bigger barns for all his possessions, bigger warehouses for all of his companies? And he was not rich toward God. What did Jesus say to him? You fool. You fool. At the expense of your relationship with the God of the universe, you've chased after wealth and possessions and you've only grown more frustrated. Which leads us to the fifth and final side effect of loving money, frustration, say frustration. Verse 16, he says, this too is a grievous evil. As everyone comes, so they depart. And what do they gain? Since they toil for the wind, all their days they eat in darkness with great frustration, affliction, and anger. Some of you can relate a lot to those words. You work like crazy, you've built your empire, you've experienced great success, praise God for that. But you stay up late at night, walking on the roof of your palace and thinking, all this for what? My life is just full of frustration. It's full of affliction. I'm more angry now than when I started. And you realize that when you die,

you can't take that empire with you. It won't cross over into eternity. And the frustration keeps building in your heart. That's why Solomon says, all their days they eat in darkness. It's a pretty depressing way to end the chapter, isn't it? And if it just ended there, that would seem hopeless. But thank the Lord, it's not the end of chapter five. We're gonna close in verse 18. Solomon says, this is what I have observed to be good. That it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink, and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them, for this is their lot. Verse 19, moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and to be happy in their toil, this is a what? Gift of God. Verse 20, they seldom reflect on the days of their life because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart. How does Solomon end? He says, this is what I have observed to be good. In other words, as I look around at the world, this is what I see to be a good thing. This is my conclusion for how to make sense of all of this. You ready for his conclusion? It's appropriate for a person to eat, drink, and find satisfaction in their labor because they have a few days that God has given them

and that's it, that's their lot. So when God gives you wealth and possessions and the ability to enjoy them, do it. It's a gift of God. He says, they seldom reflect on the days of their life because God keeps them occupied with gladness in their heart. Sounds a lot like the American dream to me, doesn't it? Eat, drink, and find satisfaction. If God gives you wealth and possessions, enjoy them. Stay occupied for as long as you can with gladness of heart. Make the most out of a bad situation. And to some extent, what Solomon says is absolutely right. Any enjoyment that we have, any possession, any wealth, is it a gift of God? You believe that? Is it a gift of God? Absolutely it is, 100%. If there's anything that God has given you, any resource, it is absolutely a gift from him that we should enjoy. However, Solomon's premise is this is life under the sun. This is everything that we can see, the things that are not eternal. And the world has convinced you and I that enjoyment is the meaning of life. We spend our days using wealth and possessions to accumulate experiences and things that will bring us happiness because we think that staying occupied with enjoyment

is the answer. While all the while, the cares of this world, look at me, the desires of this life, wealth and possessions and enjoyment has lured us to sleep where we refuse to focus on the things of God and the things that actually matter. We are so occupied with gladness of heart. We're so occupied with enjoyment that we seldom reflect on the days of our lives. We seldom pause. We don't stop to think about what's actually happening. You know what that phrase seldom reflect actually means in Hebrew? It means will not remember. So that verse could say the people who spend their days with gladness of heart, focusing on enjoyment, you're gonna get to the end of it and you won't even remember it all. You'll get to the end and you'll think, what was all of this for? The answer to life is not found in enjoyment. The answer to life is not just accumulating more stuff to get more possessions and to do more fun things while you have time on this earth. Yes, enjoyment is a gift from God, but there is so much more. And there are times in our lives where we just need to stop and reflect, to stop and think about what life really is. What is all of this actually about?

And when you have a moment like that, to reflect and to make a decision, to focus on the most important things, I pray that you would take it. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you for your grace. God, thank you for your word. Thank you for the way that it challenges us, the way it encourages us. God, you are in heaven and we are on earth. So we will let our words be few. Give us greater reverence for you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. You know, even the great Socrates said, the unexamined life is not worth living. Reflecting on life, thinking about all the things that have captured your heart and distracted you and brought you away is actually a really good thing to do. For some of us here, we've been so occupied with gladness, so preoccupied with fun that we seldom reflect. If you're honest, there's some of you here, it's been years since you've reflected on your life. I believe God's given you this moment right now, this opportunity to actually reflect, to think about the things that truly matter, to put aside all of the cares of life, the wealth, the possessions, the experiences, the enjoyment. Listen, you're gonna get to the end

and realize none of that was the answer. Right now, you have an opportunity to reflect on your life and to hear the greatest message in the history of the world, to hear the message that God loves you. Look at me, God loves you. He created you for a perfect relationship with Him. And the reason you're trying to find satisfaction and wealth and possessions is because there's a hole in your heart, there's a void that you're trying to fill. God created you for that void to be fulfilled with Him and Him alone. But here's the problem. Our sin, our rebellion against God, it separates us from relationship with Him. There's a barrier, there's a gap between us and God. But God didn't just leave us here on this earth to figure it out. The answer of life, it's not just what Solomon says. Make the most of it, have fun, enjoy. God knows that we could never do enough to restore the relationship with Him. God is holy, that gap of sin, it cannot just be filled by doing enough good things. When you stand before the throne in heaven one day, the question isn't gonna be, do your good deeds outweigh your bad? That's not it, that's not the answer. God knew that we could never get back to Him on our own. So you know what He did?

He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to die a criminal's death on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin. The Bible says, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Someone had to die to pay the penalty. The wages of sin is death. And Jesus went to the cross instead of you. He paid the price for you. And three days later, He rose again, proving that death is not the end of your story either. And because death isn't the end, we don't just live life for enjoyment. We don't just live our lives trying to have as much fun as we possibly can, distracted by gladness and simplicity of heart. That's not the point. Because there is hope in Christ, because there is eternity, we spend our lives for Him alone, for Jesus. He rose again so you can have relationship. And here's the truth. Here's the message of the gospel. If you repent of your sin and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and you choose to follow Him, the Bible says you will be saved. You confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. You know, people in Solomon's day, they seldom reflect.

Today's the day we're gonna reflect a little bit. And if that's you and you know, you've been chasing after all the wrong things and Jesus is calling you home. If you stay up late at night trying to figure out what the answer is to life, listen, this is it. This is it. It's found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. There is no other way. No other way. So if that's you and you know, you need to do something about this. You have to make a decision to say no to the world and to say yes to Jesus. Here's what we're gonna do. The worship team's gonna lead us in a song. And as they sing, if you know you need to make this decision, I'm gonna ask you to do something bold, to actually stand up out of your seat while the song plays and walk forward right here to the front of the stage. The reason we do this here at Calvary, one of the reasons it symbolizes something. You're saying, I'm leaving my life of sin behind and I'm walking towards Jesus. I'm walking towards his redemption and his hope and his healing.

No one's gonna force you to do this. You have to say yes. You have to willingly admit, I'm done chasing after enjoyment and the pleasures of life. And I know I was created for a relationship with God in Christ. Before this song plays, can I offer you one warning? Count the cost. Jesus said, you should never start to build a tower, get halfway through and realize you don't have the resources to finish. He was talking about discipleship. Count the cost. Are you willing to say, I'm leaving my life of sin behind and I'm choosing Jesus? If you are, his grace and his love are inviting you home today. So if that's you, as this song plays, stand up and walk forward now. Let us pray. ♪ We fall down when we lose our crowns ♪ ♪ At the feet of Jesus ♪ ♪ And greatness of his mercy and love ♪ ♪ At the feet of Jesus ♪ ♪ As we cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ We cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ We cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ It's the lamb ♪ ♪ Oh, we cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ We cry holy, holy, holy ♪

♪ We cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ It's the lamb ♪ Let's do this one. Listen, if you're still walking up, we'll wait for you, come on. I know some of you have tears in your eyes. Listen, the world can beat us up, can make us think that life is hopeless. But today is about finding hope in Jesus. Finally surrendering to a relationship with God through Christ. So in a minute, we're gonna pray the most powerful words that will ever come out of your mouth in prayer. It's gonna sound something like this. God, I open my heart. I invite you inside, forgive my sin. Today I repent. You're gonna ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit, which the Bible says happens in that moment of salvation. And you will commit to walk with him all the days of your life. But before we pray, I just wanna wait one more moment. We're not gonna delay just for the sake of delaying. But if you're here and you know you need to do this, you're sitting in your seat right now, your hands are shaking and you're thinking, I know I need to be up there. That's not emotion. Listen, that's the Holy Spirit of God drawing you.

The most important vow you will ever make is the one that's about to happen right here. Don't delay. We're not gonna play another song, but I'm gonna wait one more moment. If there's anyone else that says, I know I need to be up there. Listen, he loves you. If you forget everything else, remember, he loves you. He loves you. And he's gonna keep pursuing your heart too. He's gonna keep calling you home. Yeah, come on. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm proud of you, young man. All right, guys, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna ask you to repeat this prayer out loud after me. Okay, say this. Lord God, I open my heart and I invite you inside. And 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. Amen, amen, amen, amen. Hey guys, before you go, here's what we wanna do. We wanna spend just a couple minutes with you.

We would love to give you a Bible and some next steps in your walk with the Lord. I would love to shake your hand and meet you personally also. You see the red exit sign over here? We're gonna go to the room that's right next to this one. Five minutes, we'll have you right back in with your family and friends, okay? Go ahead and head this way. Church, can we give them a hand as they go? Praise the Lord. Hey, we're gonna close by celebrating all that God has done, rejoicing in his goodness and his love for us. So church, let's stand together and let's close by singing worship to our Savior. Come on. Let's sing together, church. ♪ I won't stand on words of man ♪ ♪ God, I'll stand on yours instead ♪ ♪ All of my hope, all of my faith ♪ ♪ All of this in your name ♪ ♪ And the world cannot deny ♪ ♪ All that you've done in my life ♪ ♪ All of my days, all of my praise ♪ ♪ All of them Jesus made ♪ ♪ I won't stand on words of man ♪ ♪ God, I'll stand on yours instead ♪ ♪ All of my hope, all of my praise ♪ ♪ All of this in your name ♪ ♪ And the world cannot deny ♪

♪ All that you've done in my life ♪ ♪ All of my days, all of my praise ♪ ♪ All of them Jesus made ♪ ♪ All of my days, all of my praise ♪ ♪ All of them Jesus made ♪ ♪ For I know that I know you won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Every low and every high, you are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ For I know that I know you won't ever let me go ♪ ♪ Every low and every high, you are faithful all the time ♪ ♪ You are faithful all the time, I taste it and I see it ♪ ♪ You really don't draw good to me, but I know that I know ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You're faithful all the time, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ Our God is faithful. It has been such a pleasure worshiping with you all this morning. We hope that you have a great rest of your week. If you need prayer, we're gonna have our prayer team down here to meet with you and to pray with you. If not, we hope to see you back here next week. Have a great rest of your day. Bye.