The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 6: The Kingdom of God and Satisfaction

Episode Date: February 27, 2022

Christ is the secret to solid, satisfying contentment. "Be happy in him, O my heart, and in nothing but God, for whatever a man trusts in, from that he expects happiness." - Arthur G. Bennett, The Valley of Vision

Amen and amen. Church finished this sentence. If the tomb is empty? Amen. That's right. All I know is my man got diagnosed. And then we showed up at church. Our church prayed.

Doctors do what they do. Nurses, technology, all of that. And then a few weeks later, he was cancer-free. Amen? Amen. Praise God. And then even after chemo and radiation and brain surgery, he still got better hair than everybody here.

I don't understand that. Hey, if you got your Bibles, you're ready to go to work. This is like the epilogue of a six-week series, okay? And I didn't know this was going to hit like it did, and especially last week. I thought we were just going to have a nice little time together last week. Everybody could relax, and the Spirit of God punched us in the nose, did he not? So this is like part two of that. So get ready. If you got your Bible, it's go to Ecclesiastes, chapters one and two. We're going to cover two chapters. It would be three or four hours. We'll be right out of here, all right? We're going to pick up basically where

we left off last week, and just in case you forgot, because I know you went to sleep a couple times and you forget stuff. Last week, we asked this question, what would you do for the glory of God if you knew it wouldn't fail? And the moment you know that answer, the next question is, then why aren't you doing it? We studied the parable of the talents, and what a bunch of people have done is God gave them a talent, a calling, a gift, a resource, a ministry, and out of fear, you went and you dug a hole and you hid that thing, and a whole bunch of you came down to the altars

at all of our campuses, and you poured it out and said, all right, Lord, help me, help me, help me. I'm going to go dig that thing up and risk it all for the glory. of God, and I know that you felt all the fields, I know that you did. And you promised Jesus who were going to do some stuff. Remember Mary gives the best advice in all of the scriptures, I think, when she says to the servants, when they run out of wine at the party, and she said, all right, boys, do whatever he tells you to do. And last week, that's what we were going after.

What has he told you to do? And I know what happens, man, I know. I know the Spirit of God, if you really lean in, he will answer that question. You ask God to show you what to do, and he will answer it. But then what happens is, as we've been studying, this upside-down kingdom, we live in these two kingdoms, man. And there's the kingdom of this world. The Father of Lies rules it, and he lies to us, and he whispers to us. And as believers, he cannot attack us like with a full frontal attack.

Because when the enemy does, we have already been given the weapons of war to stand firm against the enemy and his evil scheme. So what he does, man, he lies. It's a misinformation campaign. And one of the things, one of his tactics in the kingdom of this air is to just lull the believer to sleep. So today we're going to talk about the kingdom of God in satisfaction, comfort, contentment. I told you this, when we started off the series, the first week of December, I was hosting about 10 or 12 pastors of the largest Acts 29 churches at our retreat center. And so there's a bunch of guys that you know there.

Pastor Leon's, Crump was there, Ryan Kwan was there, Matt Chandler was there, a bunch of our buddies. And one of the breaks, I leaned over to Matt, and I said, hey, man, what do you think the biggest hurdle that we have to face in pastoring the current American church? And he said this, man. He said, it's not the full frontal attack against us. It's that the enemy uses this culture to lull the church to sleep. Like a pacifier, you remember like if you're a parent and you're putting your kid to sleep? Remember those moments we'd stay up late at night? And you would do virtually whatever it takes to get that thing to shut up and go to sleep, right?

Pacifier, you know, whatever, man. Like, dip it in NyQuil. You didn't care. You were like, hey, shush, shh, shh. And then when they were starting to come back up, you were like, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, don't wake up. Don't wake up. And what the enemy of God does not want the church to do is wake up from its slumber. And I think this series, this upside down kingdom, the spirit of God has awoken in some of us,

and we start to wake up. And then the enemy comes along. It's like, no, no, shh, shh, shh, go back to sleep. Here, here, here. Just get that raise. Listen to one more Joe Rogan podcast. Ooh, Netflix. Whatever it is.

Whatever the thing is to you. It's that thing. Oh, just one more drink. No, take a ride on the boat. Whatever it is, just go back to sleep. And so what I want to do is if you've fallen asleep, if you've been walled to sleep by the things of this world, I want us, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ,

to be gripped by a greater affection, instead of being numbed by the pursuit of the things of this world. Paul's going to say this, from a jail cell. He writes these words in Philippians chapter 4. He says, I have learned the secret of being content in any situation. Can you imagine that? I have learned the secret of being content.

And his situation was not awesome. He was in prison. Spoiler alert, the secret is Jesus. That's what the secret is. So no matter what, that little verse that is real popular around here, thanks to Timmy, I can do all things through Christ who strength as me. nothing to do with scoring touchdowns. And it's not what he means when he's talking about it either.

It's whether you put me in jail or you cut me loose, I can do all things. The all things is to live as Christ to die as gain, that he was so on mission for God, regardless of what was happening in his current circumstances, he had this secret of being content because he did not live for this world. He lived as if his permanent address was somewhere else, and he wanted to sort up treasure somewhere else, and the only thing you can take somewhere else in heaven is other people. and he said, that's what I am all about. And so, in Ecclesiastes, one and two,

what I want to take a look at in our time together is this, is the things of this world that are like the pacifiers that just tend to distract us and lull us to sleep. And this is why the enemy is so good at his job. He's so good at his job, because the thing is, for the average believer, you don't even know that you're being tricked. Now, there's two ways to learn.

You can learn by wisdom or experience. And trust me, man, you can either learn this by your own first-hand experience and get your tail kicked along the way, or you can learn by wisdom. And what wisdom is is when you learn from somebody else's experience. And so Solomon's going to write these words down. And he says this in Ecclesiastes, one. He said, the words of the preacher. The Hebrew word is cholel. right the son of David the king of Jerusalem so that's Solomon now here's what you need to know

about Solomon Solomon is the richest most influential man in the world so if anybody can find meaning in this world is this guy I mean you think Bill Gates is rich because he buys houses this dude bought a country all right he is the wealthiest most famous smartest the Bible says he's the wisest man to ever live save Jesus but Jesus was God man so you know you could put asterisk by his and so he is going to set out on this satisfaction quest. And then what he does is he gives us the thesis statement at the very beginning of Ecclesiastes. Here's that it goes.

He says this in verse two, vanity of vanity, says the preacher. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. That word in Hebrew, vanity is Havel. Some translations translate it meaningless, but that's not what it means. It means like vapor or cloud. It means empty or shallow. that he looks at life and he goes, my conclusion is it's like a vapor or like a cloud.

It's Havel. It's all going to Havel. That's what he's saying, okay? And it reminds me of I used to have these boxer dogs and I would feed them cotton candy because it was so fun. And when I would give them cotton candy and they'd be like, oh my gosh, so good, right?

But there was nothing to it. It was so sweet. It may be while they died of heart attacks at 10 years old, but I don't know. It's not a problem. Okay. And that's what he's saying. What all that this world has to offer is like cotton candy.

It's sweet for a second, but if that's all you live on, you'll die. Vanity of vanity, says the preacher. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Verse three, here's his quest. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils? And here's the key to understanding it under the sun. And what he's saying is this, I am going to go on this quest, and I am going to try to squeeze all the life out of this thing that we call life.

If my freshman biology teacher is right, and if Richard Dawkins is right, and then you and I are nothing but a clump of cells that just accidentally appeared one day, and you don't actually love your wife, that's like some kind of the pituitary gland doing something in your brain, okay? And we're just here. We only live once, and it's from now to when you're dead, and then you're done, then what on earth am I here for? That's what he's asking. And now he's going to set the stage for the condition in which we live. And it does not sound very positive. Here is his description of our world. Ready?

A generation goes and a generation comes. But the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south, goes around to the north, and around and around goes the wind. And on its circuits, the wind returns.

All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full. To the place where the streams flow, where they flow again. In other words, what he is saying is, this world is just like a big old machine, just chug-a-lug-a-chug-a-chug-hug-hug-hug-chug-and-chug-and-chug-and-it-all. And you were just like a little cog in this machine, and it goes around, and it goes around, and it goes around.

You're just on the merry-go round of normality, and that is it for your life. Coach Bull-Lee, the guy that led me to Christ, when he coached football, he used to say this. He'd be like, boy, you want to know what a big deal you are, put your finger in a cup of water, pull it out and look for the dent. With no snowflakes on our team, you understand what I'm saying?

He was like, that's how replaceable you are. Now, he was talking about linebackers, but this is also true. He keeps going. All things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be. And what has been done is what will be done.

And there is nothing new under the sun. Here we go again. Another wrap around the sun. Is there a thing of which it has said, see, this is new? My 12-year-old daughter came home with some jeans the other day and said, look, mom, at my jeans, and they were mom jeans. And Gretchen was like, I had those when I was in high school. Here we go again.

How many of you have been through the third round of bell bottoms, if you understand what I'm saying, okay? It's not new. It has already been in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of the former things, nor will there be any remembrance of the latter things yet to be among the moment. those who come after. Here's what this is saying.

If this really is just the third rock from the sun chugging along and you play your role and then you die, that's the world we live in. And then there will be no remembrance of it. I mean, think about this. How many Thanksgivings after you die

do you think your kids are going to talk about you? Do you talk about your great-grandparents at Thanksgiving? Nope, you were dead and forgotten. Selah. That's what it has to say. This is life under the son. So if that is all we have, if we only live once, which is dumb, you don't only live

once, you only live forever, so you better make the most of it. Then he says, all right, well, I'm going to go on, first of all, a knowledge quest, because maybe if I get an education, then I'll be fully and finally satisfied. That's what he does. Verse 12, it says, I, the preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. In other words, I have access to everything. I can afford the student loan, so I'll go get a degree or two or three. And I applied my heart to seek and to seek, search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. Again, if I get educated, then maybe I'll be satisfied. And then here's his conclusion.

It doesn't take him long. In one year, he gets his degree, and here's his conclusion about his degree. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a striving after the wind. Well, that didn't take long. one year in school he learns all he needs to learn and he thinks well I have no more meaning or satisfaction in my life here's his assessment what is crooked cannot be made straight and what is

lacking cannot be counted here's what he's saying now I'm still dissatisfied I'm just more aware of it now I'm not anti-degree man okay I've been to school a bunch I've got more degrees than Fahrenheit I'm into it but when you begin to try to connect your meaning and satisfaction with that little piece of paper you get is very overpriced from the school that you decide to go to, you're going to be here. Well, what's this worth? Well, it depends on your degree. And a bunch of you, I got really bad news for you. Your degree and a bus ticket are going to get you a ride on a bus. That's what it's going to be worth. Don't believe me. Here's what he says. I said in my heart, I have acquired great wisdom surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart

has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge, and I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly, and I perceive that this also is but a striving after the wind. And you think, huh, I mean, let me ask you this. Let's say the average 20-year-old today, do you think they're more educated or less educated than 200 years ago? The answer is more, okay? Do you think we're doing better? Hmm. So this is what Solomon figured out. Three thousand years ago, folks, right? And so he says, okay, that didn't work. He says this, for in much wisdom is much vexation. I love that word, vexation.

That's like angst. It's like aggravation. In much wisdom is much vexation. And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. Can I get an amen from the college kids? All right, there it is. So he goes, that doesn't work. Now I'm smarter and just as miserable.

That's what he figured out. So now he's going to go on to Quest 2. He's like, well, and honestly, man, this first part, it's kind of like freshman year. You know, remember you showed up freshman year, and you're like, I'm going to ace this thing, I'm going to make A's, and you had trapper keepers, and you don't know what that is. Google it. It's a cool thing. And you had like, you read the syllabus and you'd shower before class. You're like, I'm going to finish this in 40 years. All right, remember that? And then after your freshman year, you're like, nope, you're joining fraternity, and this is what you do, okay? Chapter 2, verse 1, he said, I said in my heart, come now, I will test you with pleasure. Enjoy yourself. But behold, this was also vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad, and of pleasure, what use is it? That is his conclusion. I searched with my heart, how to cheer my body with wine,

my heart still guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during a few days of their life. So he partied like a rock star, he took a trip to Vegas. Turn out, he just wakes up with a hangover, regret, missing a finger with a face tattoo. He's like, this ain't it.

I mean, how many 30, 30s do you have to watch to realize that the rock star life just doesn't do it for you, all right? How many VH1 when I, it's not own anymore, but we used to watch these VH1 behind the music and you're like, what? Motley crew wasn't just living the life? Are you kidding me? Crazy. Solomon figured it out 3,000 years ago. So that doesn't work. So he said, I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to pour myself into work because that'll give me meaning and I'll get me some stuff. That's what I need. I need stuff. Verse four, I made

great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I've got this like eternal itch in here that I can't scratch. I know what'll do it. A home improvement project. That'll do it. They look happy on the TV. There's an entire network dedicated

to this. How could it not be, how could it not work? So here's what he does. I made myself gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools. Not like I put in a pool, pools. Well, Mr. Solomon, would you like the kidney shape or a triangle? Yes, please.

Put one over here, one over here, one over here. You got it? He's got parks and pools and trees and gardens. I made myself pools from which to water to the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves. Let me just one little aside right here, okay? Let me just say this. When Solomon talks about buying slaves,

it's not the kind of slavery that happened in America in transatlantic slavery. When the Bible talks about, like in the New Testament, the word sometimes translated slaves in the ESV is due loss. We would understand it best as bond servant. It wasn't a racial thing. It wasn't. You could buy your way out of it. You could lend yourself to somebody for a bunch of years and be like a bond servant.

There is no way anybody with even a normal IQ could read this book cover to cover and come away with an idea that God's word supported transatlantic slavery that happened, which was an unbelievable atrocious sin against humanity. The only thing close to that in the scripture is what the Egyptians did to the Israelites there. And it was Christians reading their Bible in the West that said, wait a minute, something is not lined up here. Now, there's always been Christians that misused the Bible to do whatever they want to do,

but the Bible itself teaches us that every single human being is an image bearer of God. So when you see that word, don't think about that sin from our past. No, no, no. And this is a big reason while here we're a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. So that word just doesn't mean that. So he bought like employees. He bought like bond servants is what they would be.

Male and female servants. And I had servants who were born in my house. And I also had great possessions of herds and flocks more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. And I also gathered for myself silver and gold and treasure of kings and provinces. and I got singers. We're going to do karaoke. This is cool. I got singers, both men and women and many cockypons.

Whoa, well, that escalated quickly. The delight of the sons of man. In fact, we go on to find out that this brother had 700 wives and 300 cacomans. What in the world? Now, listen, if you single, you think, oh, that'd be awesome. Every married guy is like, good gracious, man. That ain't it. I ain't it.

And here's the thing, man, Solomon knew the Lord. Solomon knew the Lord. It's crazy where your life can go when you begin to build your life around you. That's what he's doing here. If you see the personal possessive pronouns used in here, everything is me and mine. Me and mine. It's all about me.

And when all you do is focus on you and worship you and serve you, then one day all you have left to satisfy is you. And that's why you're so dissatisfied. And that didn't work. Verse nine. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. So now he's going to go after status. Also, my wisdom will remain with me.

And whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. This is Hebrew for Amazon Prime. That's what he did. Yeah. And we laugh at him. but who among us hadn't been sitting around bored and just started like swiping through some stuff and be like, buy now. And it does a little thing in there.

You're like, hmm, right? That's what he did. Whatever he saw, he just clicked and it showed up. I kept my heart from no pleasure for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. He began to convince himself. I worked hard. I deserve this.

This is going to do it for me. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it. He looked at all of his stuff that he had acquired for himself that he thought would satisfy. And behold, it was vanity and a striving after the wind.

And there was nothing to be gained under the sun. This guy had more access to more stuff than any other human being on the planet in the history of humanity. And he bought it all, and he gained it all. And it did nothing for his soul. You see, he figured out quicker than some of us around here, we lovingly call this the cul-de-sac of stupidity. And again, not because stuff is stupid, because you are stupid. Bro, me too, me too.

I mean, if you saw my Camo situation, you would be like, it's weird, man, it's weird. And then I go on those websites and I'll be like, I didn't even know I needed this until, like, what? Are you kidding? And Gretchen makes fun of me. Shouldn't do it. It's a little drippy, but whatever. All right, she's not here.

She's like, babe, why are you more concerned about your camo situation than your normal clothes that, like 100,000 people a week watch your sermons and you don't even care. You wear the same flannel shirt and jeans every week, but you don't want to mix-mask camo. I'm like, baby, you never know. I might kill a world record one day and be on the front of like hunting magazine. and you can't be have a real tree of mossy oak mixed up. Can I get a witness? So anyway.

Because you look at a guy like Solomon, and you'd be like, man, who would do this? And I tell you who would do this, everybody that could afford to do it. That's what we all do. Every single one of us begin to justify to ourselves. No, no, no, no, no, I'm not greedy. I just like nice things.

Well, everybody thinks they like nice things, right? I mean, some of you are drinking Camus, and my cousins are PBR because it's award-winning, but they're like, I like nice things. You understand what I'm saying? That's what he's doing, man. Just buying and buying and buying. And then he begins to reflect on how his satisfaction quest is going.

He says, so I turn to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. And then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than folly. And there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head. I don't know what that means, but... If your eyes ain't in your head, you've got a problem.

I don't know. You got more problems than just your stuff, okay? The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness, and yet I perceive that the same event happens to all of them. Here's what he's saying. He's like, all right, listen, given the option, it's better to be smart and dumb. It's better to work hard and be lazy. Happy is better than sad.

That is what he's saying. but speaking eternally he says and yet i perceive that the same event happens to all of them then i said in my heart what happens to the fool will happen to me also why then have i been so very wise and i said in my heart that this is also vanity for of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance seeing that in the day to come all will have been long forgotten how the dies just as the fool. So I hated life because what is done under the sun was grievous to me for all is vanity and a striving after the wind. Here's what he's saying. I've shared this with you before. I just rechecked the stats on it. The death rate in North Florida and South Georgia

this year is hovering right around 100%. I hope that's not news to you, except we live as if it is. and here's what he's saying man whether you're rich or poor smart or dumb right-handed or left-handed whatever every single one of us are going to die

and then and here's the thing here's where the enemy is so slick man if the enemy can just keep us busy can just keep us distracted can just keep us going for the next thing wanting the next thing whatever it is whether it's that degree or that next job

or that next thing or whatever that thing is then we don't have time to actually sit and be quiet. And I'm going to tell you, one of the greatest tools of the enemy is this, because this thing, we can't sit alone anymore, right? If you pull this out at a stoplight, because that's too long to sit with yourself,

he's winning. I'm just telling you he's winning, man. He's winning. Well, Solomon doesn't have a smartphone, and so he's kind of left along with his own thoughts, and he's beginning to evaluate these things. He's laying his head on the pillow, at 90s begins to ask this question.

He's like, is this it? I mean, I've achieved all that this world has to offer. Is this it? And he knows deep down in here, this ain't it, man. This ain't it. Verse 18, I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun. He's asking this question, have I wasted my life? And the answer up to this point is, mm-hmm,

this is not why you were put on this earth to just accumulate more stuff and status for you. he says seeing this is his conclusion that I must leave it to the man who will come after me and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool so you realize that there will come a day

for every single one of us they're going to dig a hole put us, dress us up put us in it throw dirt in our face come back into the church eat potato salad and talk about how good you looked he looked so good he was dead you realize that and then all your stuff

is still here all the things that you strive for, all my camo. Somebody that I don't even know is going to be wearing my camo. Can you believe that? I just thought about that. That's sad. Yet he will be a master for all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This is also vanity.

Think about this. Everything we have will be in somebody else's hands one day. Everything. We leave it all. And when we try to hang our hopes on it, it will always let us down. Everything you have one day will be somebody else's. your kids are going to go through your stuff, take what they think is valuable, everything else. They're going to drop off at holes in the glory of God, and we're going to sell all your stuff.

Somebody, somebody is going to be walking around one day in your pants. The pants you are wearing right now are going to be on some other person, and they're going to look better than you, and they don't even work out as much as you do. That's just true, man. I'm just telling you. These are just facts. Somebody's going to have your golf clubs, and they're going to be better than you, and they don't care nearly as much as you do.

Listen, mama, somebody is going to move into your house, and they're going to put up rooster wallpaper on in your kitchen. They are. We need to cover this subway towel. And rooster wallpaper, they'd be like, get these dated silver refrigerators out here. We need a lime green one. I'm telling you, you know what these floors need? Shag carpet.

They can put shag carpet. Oh, now this is better. That's it. And some of you'd be like, no, I'm going to leave it to my kids. You have no idea how your kids are going to turn out yet. they might be the fool that Solomon is talking about because his kid was okay I'm just telling you man that that's what he that's what he comes down to

so why am I putting my hope and all this stuff here's why because the enemy takes that pacifier of Amazon Prime or Netflix or whatever the thing is that you go to and the moment the spirit of God wakes you up to God's call in your life to take the talents that he has given you, the opportunity, the education, the money, the relationships, all of those things. And the enemy just gets that pacifier.

It's like, shh, shh, shh, just go back to sleep. Go back to sleep. Come on, no. Don't pay attention to this. So then he asks, well, is life pointless? And so in verse 20, he says, so I turned about and I gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun. That's the key phrase here.

because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave, what's that next word? That hurts a little, doesn't it? Everything. Must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. And so here is his conclusion. So if all of life under the sun, then here's his conclusion.

verse 22 what has man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun for all his days are full of sorrow and his work is a vexation that's what he says if all there is to this world is the merry go round of normality again which this world spends billions of dollars a day to get us to hop on to the merry-go round of normality Find our seat, sit down, shut up, and just lap after lap, after lap until you die. Just wake up in the morning, eat something, watch a little something, drive something, go sell something, come home, eat something, go to bed. And your biggest prayer of your week is, thank God, it's Friday. And it's begging us to do that. And if that's how we live, it is a vexation. And again, vexation means this. It means annoyed.

It means frustrated. It means worried. It is the opposite of what Paul says in prison, I have learned the secret of being content in any situation. The opposite of that is you look around and your situation's awesome. You got the car you want, the clothes you want, the job you want, the girl you want, you got all the things, two and a half kids, everybody's doing fine, and yet something in here you just can't turn happy on, that's what vexation is.

So then he says, even in the night his heart does not really. rest. This is also vanity. This is that moment when you lay down to sleep but you can't go right to sleep. You ever do that? And there you are, just along with your thoughts. It hardly ever happens to me. I have the spiritual gift of sleep, okay? I wish I could show you. I do. Like, on the way to the pillow. And the way God makes it work out is he always, somebody that's got the spiritual gift of sleep and the spiritual gift of I can never sleep no matter what. They love each other and they get married and they just, as iron sharpens iron for the rest of their life. Okay, my wife every time I breathe out, I was like,

she was like, what was that? Like, good, okay, that was me. I hope to do it any more times tonight. If I, you know, just can you relax? And then it makes her mad that I sleep so easy. She's like, hey, you sleep so easy? I'm like, it's like this, just watch. Boom, right back to sleep, no problem.

But occasionally when you lay your head down and you just begin to think, is this it? Is this it? Now, I know we got a bunch of millennials and Gen Zs and all that here. And, you know, I make fun of y'all a lot because you're the easiest group to pick on

in the history of all of humanity, okay? So that's just a fact. I will give you this about your generation. You are asking this question before you get in the rat race. Most of you are. You're like, is that it? I mean, that's it?

Am I going to spend my whole life trying to climb up this corporate ladder only to be like my dad or granddad or granddad or grandma or mom and get to the top of it and realize, oh, I have spent my life climbing up the wrong hill. Because if you're climbing a ladder that's leaning on the wrong wall, with every rung you climb,

you're moving away from how God would define success in your life. So at least you're asking that early. But what you can't do is just tap out and say, well, I'm not going to do that, so I'm going to be really good at Fortnite and just stay there. That is not what God has called you to do. You've got to get in the game. But this is what Solomon is getting to.

Even in the night, when he lays his head down, at night, he's like, there's got to be more to life than this. You see, we can all get lulled into this in a second, man, in a second. Years ago when I moved here, 2003, I've shared this with you before, but it's been a little while. I heard there were dog tracks in Florida. And I know, you're at church, you're supposed to be like, there is, okay? So, and I thought, I want to go, but I couldn't get myself to go until I hired Pastor Ryan Stone. He came on staff with me when we were back at Beach, and he ran middle school, okay? So I was like, Stone, you've got to come with me. And you have never seen a more uncomfortable human in your life.

Okay, Stone grew up in the church. I'm talking about, I think he was birthed on the altar, and his first words were praise the Lord. Okay, that's him. I mean, bro, like Southern Baptists. Like, his parents would not let him, you ever get a fountain drink and you would like get them all? We called that a suicide when I was growing up, you know what I mean? A little Mountain Dew, a little Dr. Pepper. You put them all in there. His mama wouldn't let him drink that because it was a mixed drink. That is not a lie. Straight up, straight up. You know that one root beer that came in like a beer bottle?

Nope, not in the Stonehouse. Might cause someone to stumble. Okay, so he was like, we walked into this dog track, and he was sweating. One time I took him to a casino. He almost lost his salvation right there. He's like, I gotta repent. Pastor Britt was with us too, way too comfortable. I just wanted to tell you about that too.

He was like, they were calling him by name, so we had to pray about that at the end. Anyway, so we go to this. dog track. And I knew it was going to be awesome. And I knew it would be a great illustration. Should we go in? I don't know if you ever been. Just pretend like it hadn't if you have. And so we go in and, you know, people are betting money. And it was crazy because it seemed to me the people that had the least amount of discretionary money were the ones betting all the money. But that's a different sermon, all right? And they put these little dogs on the TV and they all look the same to me. You know, they all look the exact same. They're all

skinny and they got their little jersey on with a number and a muzzle. And you've got to pick one. They have these great names. And so you pick one. I think we put a dollar just to play along or whatever. And then every week, the same thing, okay? Every week they prance them out, everybody picks their dog, and then they bring the dogs into the kennel. And the dogs know what is about to happen. And you can tell, man, they're getting a little, like, antsy.

And then this announcer comes on, and this little fake rabbit is going to appear before the dogs. And the name of the rabbit is rusty. And so every time they go, here's rusty. And the moment that guy comes on, These dogs are losing their mind, man, they're like, let's go, let's go. And then the gun goes off and the doors open, and then every week, same thing. Boom, and they take off and they reach a pull, reach a pull, they go as fast as they can, fast as they can,

and they go around the deal, and then Rusty disappears, and they're like, I was so close. I was so, I almost had him. I was better than you, and I was better than you, but I was this close to Rusty. And they spend their whole life chasing after this fake rabbit. And you look at that dog, and you're like, what a stupid dog! What a stupid dog. And you lost me a dollar. And then the next morning the alarm clock goes off,

and the enemy goes, here's Rusty. And every one of us goes, like a stupid dog. Chasing after something that's not even real. Vanity of vanities. Now, one of the guys that the dog track told us that sometimes Rusty breaks down, because it's mechanical, it just breaks down.

And the dogs will be like, my lucky day. He pulled a hammie. I got him. And the dogs will chew through their muzzle and dive into this fake rabbit thing. And it's just like a pillow. And they will tear it to pieces and think, hey, wait a minute. And those dogs will never run again.

So I'm not sure which one's worse. To spend your entire life chasing after something that's not even real. Or to catch it, sink your teeth in it and realize you've been duped. Who's the dummy now? This is what Solomon is getting at. You see, he says vanity of vanities. Even in the night, his heart does not rest. This is also vanity.

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find his enjoyment in his toil. And you're like, hey, where did you get this from, Solomon? And he tells us in the next sentence. He's like, you've got to lift up your eyes above the horizon and you've got to understand that we were not created to just live under the sun. But there is someone above the sun who has,

created us and purposed us and called us to be about his business and not just our business. This also I saw is from the hand of God. When we then begin to realize that we have a good, good father that invites his children to go to work with him every single day and the ultimate goal of his work is the great commission that we would therefore go and make disciples everywhere we are, then we can begin to enjoy the work we have and the school we have and the neighborhood we live. live in and the friends that we have. This also I saw is from the hand of God.

For apart from him, who can eat or who can have enjoyment? Answer, nobody. It's about a chasing after the wind. But with him, with him, Christian, do you realize that we should be the ones that enjoy life more than everybody else? Because our enjoyment does not terminate on the gift. Our enjoyment rolls up into worship to the giver. of the gift. Whether it's your house or your car, your friendships, the food, God gives you

whatever it is, you're not living for those temporary things, but you're using all of those temporary things to leverage them for the kingdom of God. He says, for to the one who pleases him, God will give him wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to the one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after the wind. You see, rooted right in here, even way back, in the book of Ecclesiastes, we see the gospel. We see the gospel. For the one who pleases God, he will find this kind of satisfaction.

Well, how do you please God? Well, the command of God is this, be holy, for I am holy. That's how you please God. Be perfect, because he is perfect, to which you go, uh-oh, well, there's a problem. Yeah, there's a big problem. You know what the problem is? Me and you. But God, being rich in mercy, sent his son on a rescue mission for you and I to live the perfect life,

to fulfill every prophecy, to fulfill every promise, to fulfill every single law. And then he went in our place, died on the cross, on our behalf, and whoever would believe that when Christ died on the cross somehow, that counted for you? than you. Not only does he take all of our sin, but we get credited or imputed with his perfect life, with his perfect righteousness. So for whoever is in Christ, you are the one that pleases him. Not because of what you do, not because of what you have done, but because of what Christ did on your behalf. John's going to say this. This is love. Not that we love him, but he loved us and sent his son as the propitiation for our sin. Propitiation, we know this,

around here. It means a payment that satisfies, which means that if you were in Christ, Christ fully satisfied the law of God, the justice of God. Therefore, if you were in him, you cannot dissatisfy him because he knew exactly what he was getting when he bought you when he paid for you. Now here's the problem. We should know these things, okay? We should know these things. That's what we were made for. We were made to live on mission for God, for his glory, and leverage everything that we have, all of our talent, all of our treasure, every opportunity, the job that you have, whatever it is, every single one of us are on mission for God. And yet we've got this enemy that just lulls us to sleep.

And there's no satisfaction there. There's no contentment there. There's nothing but vexation. And from a jail cell, the Apostle Paul writes this. He says, I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. Imagine that. that verse means this. Imagine when you lay your head down on your pillow, you breathe in, you breathe out, you know that he's a good father, you know that he is pleased with you

because you are in Christ, and you know that he has a mission for you, and you can say regardless of your circumstances, it is well. It is well in my soul. And because of that, he says I can do all things through him who gives me strength. You see, the point is this.

Christ is the secret to solid, satisfying contentment. That's it. It will never be found in this world, ever, ever, ever. And the enemy uses all these things. He uses education, and he uses, honestly, anything temporary he uses us to try to pacify us, take us off mission, and loll us right back to sleep. I'm going to read you four quotes and then close.

John Piper says this, and don't waste your life. You should read that book if you haven't already. Piper says, I am wired by nature to love the same toys that the world loves. And I start to fit in. I start to love what others love. I start to call earth home. And before you know it, I'm calling luxury's needs and using my money just the way unbelievers do.

And I begin to forget the war. I don't think much about people perishing. Missions and unreached people drop out of my mind. I stop dreaming about the triumphs of grace and I sink into a secular mindset that looks first at what man can do, not what God. can do. It is a terrible sickness, and I thank God for those who had forced me again and again towards the wartime mindset. C.S. Lewis said it this a few decades ago. He said, if I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world. He also says, God cannot give us peace and happiness apart from himself

because there is no such thing. He also says, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are like half-hearted creatures fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us like an ignorant child

who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. You see, after Solomon writes all these things about the world, It's just Havel, Havel, vanity of vanities. When you get to chapter three,

he begins to walk through all kinds of emotions that God gives us to navigate life. And then he lets us know in Ecclesiastes 311, where real satisfaction comes from. He says he has made everything beautiful in its time, and God has also set eternity in the heart of man. That's that thing in there. The only, the reason that the temporary things of this world

can't satisfy you is because you were created with this insatiable desire that only the almighty king of the universe can satisfy. That's it. And then the moment, the moment you realize that, the moment you realized that we were lost, that we were dead and Jesus came on a rescue mission for us, the moment we're rescued, we become a part of the rescue team. And you want to live the life that God has in store for you, then you get involved in the rescue team. Last week when we were doing the Deep in podcast, Pastor Britt reminded me of an event that he and I were a part of. This is years ago.

All kind of runs together now. We were in Brazil with Compassion International and with Act 29, and we were planting churches. We all together were planting churches where we were going to rescue children from poverty in Jesus' name. And there's a guy in our church named Washington that's from Brazil, and he said, if you go to Rio, you need to go to this place called Crackland. And I thought, well, that doesn't sound like Disneyland.

What is it? And he's like, yeah, that's what it is. It's the land of Crack. So we get down there, and one of our ministry partners there does ministry in Crackland. So he's like, you want to go? We're like, let's go, man. I'm into it, all right? And so he gives me a one-liter phanta.

I didn't even know they made one-leaders, but it's a one-liter fana. And he gives Pastor Britt a thing of butterbread. And we go walking into Crackland with this pastor. that's been doing ministry there and a couple of other people. And as we're walking in, the streets are like detonated and dug out. And I'm like, what's up with the road? And they're like, well, they dig out the roads so the cops can't get the paddy wagons in here and load up all the drug dealers to take them out.

And I thought, well, that's, okay, that's where we're going in, okay? And so we turned this corner. I've never seen anything like it before. Okay. There are these card tables. There's like six or eight card tables all over the place. and there are mounds of crack. And I'm not super familiar with drugs,

so all I know is these little baggies with stuff, but since it's called crackland, I'm just, boop, I think that's the crack, okay? And, bro, there's, like, oozy's. Like, everybody has, like, Miami Vice, 1980s, like, crock it in tubs, oozy's. And little bandanas, and everybody looks at us, all of them.

I mean, we stuck out a little bit. And so we come walking in, and all the heads turn and look at us, with their Uzzies, and I had a Fanta. I've never felt more. Got a little bogo on the cracking fana. Anybody wants something? I didn't know what to do.

Now, just to decide, Pastor Britt pointed this out. He goes, here's what's crazy. There was only one thing keeping all of these drug dealers from killing us. It was the people we were with. We had done nothing to earn their respect. We had done nothing to deserve to be able to just walk up on their crack deals and, hey, how are you doing? It wasn't our intellect, it wasn't our dashing good looks, it wasn't our power, it was none of that, it was because it wasn't what we knew, it was who we were with.

And these pastors we were with had earned a relationship with these people, and we got credit because we were with them. Do you see the gospel there? And so we walk up and the main guy is like, all right, we're going to shut down the crack dealing for just a second. We're going to preach. And when he did that, the main, like the head-hunch old crap, guy, whistled, like one of those, like, I can't do it.

But he did it real loud and everybody looked. And then he was, he made a nod. He didn't do this. That means something different there, I think. But he's like, made everybody chill. Everybody moved. The crackheads all let, kind of moved off to the side. And this lady, man, this Brazilian girl, she's just slinging the gospel.

And a guy next to him is translating. And it ain't nice. It's not like Jesus has a better life for you. It is like, you're a sinner. God's going to judge you. Repent. Come to Christ right now. And then she said, let's pray.

And I'm telling you, every head bowed, and they did one eye. They just closed one eye. It was like one eye for Jesus, one eye on the crack. We did do easy. That's what they did, okay? So we see all this. And after we see this, there's these railroad tracks, super muddy, and we go down these steps to these railroad tracks, and this is where the people that are using the crack live. I've been in a lot of places, man.

in Africa, lots of different places. This is one of the darkest environments I've ever seen in my entire life. The power dynamic and the people hooked on crack and they had these little water bottles that they give out there, honestly, kind of like the communion cups we use and stuff was a little bit bigger

and that's how they would use to smoke the crack. I'm not exactly sure how I'd work but they would like put it on top and light something. And if there was one of those little cartons on the ground, there were 10 million. but you couldn't even step on the ground.

It was just crunchy the whole way. And there were dozens, if not a hundred people just laid out in the mud, half-dressed, high. And we were coming in with this ministry to bring them some food. And I'm telling you, my gospel antenna was as high as it could be. I'm going person to person, just praying for them.

I don't care if they can hear me or not. Jesus can hear me. And I'm praying for every person. And then there weren't even how. there, there were like these little lean-toes, you know, people kind of live in cardboard and get a two-by-four and leaned it over here. And we would go and kind of knock on the door and people would come out and this mom comes out. We're giving her some food. We're praying for her. And the ministry just helps those people get into a recovery program and get out of hell. In fact, Britt looked at me one time and he said, he can be like real descriptive. And he said, if you go to hell, you hit your head on this favela right here on the way.

that's how dark it was. And so this family comes out. I'll never forget this little nine-year-old boy walks out. J.P. was nine at the time. And Britt looks at me and goes, the only difference between that kid and your kid is where they were born. I'm like, you're right.

We pray for them. We pray for the parents. I'm talking about I'm tuned in. I'm sharing the gospel. I'm praying for everybody. We all get together. We pray. Since then, we support that ministry.

We do a lot to try to rescue people out of that out of crackland. And then what was crazy is I was meeting. is I was meeting a friend at a restaurant right after that. So we get in this taxi, and they drive us over this restaurant, and we're at one minute, I'm in crackland, and the next minute I am in the nicest Italian restaurant I've ever been in my life. It's at the Copacabana.

I didn't know that was the actual place. I just thought it was, God, Copa. I didn't know. I didn't know. I ain't ever been there. Like, oh, it's like a place. Wow, that's cool. It's unbelievable. and we're overlooking the beach at Rio.

And here's the thing. Here's why I share that with you. I am dialed into ministry. I am dialed into the loss of the man. I am dialed into the severity of sin in our lives. I'm dialed into God's call in my life to share the gospel wherever I go. And then I walk into the finest Italian restaurant into my life. And if I was still dialed in, what I should have done is looked at these people with the same shock and all and think,

oh no these people need Jesus every bit as much as everybody else on this planet does too maybe I could share my faith but I didn't I sat down ordered my chicken palm and the enemy went sh shh shh go back to sleep and in seconds you can just forget now here's the thing here's why I share that with you it is not hard for me to get you in here and get you all stirred up about the things of God before you get home the things that come out of your phone, the things that come out of your radio, the restaurant that you go to, and there's nothing wrong with any of those things.

But may we not be lulled to sleep by the tricks and the pacifiers of the enemy. Back to what we talked about last week, Mary grabs the servants, brings them next to Jesus, they're out of wine, they need a miracle, they can't do anything about it on their own, so she gives them the best advice in the whole Bible. Boys, do whatever he tells.

you to do. So let me ask you, what is he telling you to do? Again, some of you need to change it all, man. Some of you're about to retire and you don't get to retire from the Great Commission. You just graduate into kingdom work. Some of you need to go to work tomorrow and you need to, you need to have your gospel antenna up. You need to pray tonight, dear God, tomorrow, tomorrow, would you give me an opportunity to share your gospel? Whether it's like full on, sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ or it's sharing a burden or it's sharing an invitation or is sharing a cup of coffee to build a relationship

with somebody that you know needs Jesus? But church, whatever we do, may we not be lulled to sleep by the kingdom of this air and not even realize we've been taken out of the game because we're so comfortable in this world. All I can tell you is this. Our only chance is to take our eyes off of the things of this earth.

the shiny trinkets, the comforts, and to turn our eyes upon Jesus. That's why it's so important for us to gather, for us to worship. Worship is war. And a part of what we do when we worship is we declare it. It ain't about me. We ain't singing about me. It's not about me on my little throne in my little kingdom. It's about you on your throne.

And so I'm asking that the spirit of God just stir us up. And I'm asking that he would give us, he would give you, he would give me. me the courage to do whatever it is that he is telling us to do. And the only way we're going to stay on the game is consistently, constantly turn our eyes upon Jesus. And we're going to sing it as a reminder. We're going to sing it as a prayer at all of our campuses. We're singing the same thing at the same time, same words. Because the enemy, as he's trying to just pacify us, God's going, no, no, no, no, look up here, look up here, look up here. Fix your eyes on. Jesus, the author, the perfector of our faith. Because when we do that, the things of this world

that grow strangely dim. And when we do that, the chains hit the floor. And when we do that, it's easy for us to hear the clear call of Jesus in our life. And then by the power of the spirit in us, we just do whatever it is that he calls us to do. Would you please stand? Let me pray for you. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father God, you're so good and you're so gracious. And Lord, we need your help because we're at war. And those words mean something tonight. They do. They mean something today.

And Lord, we know that the one that we fight against, we don't fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of this present age. And it's a dirty war. It's a war of misinformation in our mind. It's a war of whispers that we are condemned, unfit for use. It's a war where we are law. to sleep by the comforts of this world. And Lord, I pray by the power of the Holy Spirit inside

every single believer that this church would be awake and that you would give us the courage, you would give us the wisdom, you would surround us with a band of brothers and sisters, that we might step boldly in the direction that you have called us to. God, that we would not be satisfied with so little that this world has to offer. But we would open up our soul, knowing that you and you alone can satisfy us. God, would you please, once again, teach us the secret of being content in any and every situation so that we would be well equipped

to go out and proclaim your good news wherever you've called us to? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So, church, we respond to the gospel. It's what we do. And it matters, man, it matters. If the Lord has stirred anything in you

throughout this entire series, this is the moment that matters more than anything. This is the moment where we, We sing. We join our voices together to say we will fix our eyes on Jesus. This is the moment where we bring. We tell this world, no, no, no, man, you don't tell me who I am and what I do. I bring to the king my first and best as an act of worship and a declaration of war that these things that I hold on to do not have a hold of me. And we pray, and we pray. If the Lord started something in you, I want to invite you to get down here and don't do it alone. Don't do it alone. Don't do it

alone because this is not the kind of thing that we go out and fight on our own. The enemy will take you out when you're isolated. Being a follower of Jesus is a team sport. So grab somebody. If you came here by yourself, 11-2-2-2ers are crazy. Just grab some rando, and they will come down here and pray with you. You think I'm kidding? I'm not kidding. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's respond.