Ecclesiastes 7:15-29

Thank you very much, Rynn. We have a bunch of people sick today. Christy Shambora was going to do the announcements and Rynn stepped in at the last minute. Brian Porter was going to lead worship and Andy stepped in at the last minute. At least one elder is sick, and other people are sick. So please pray. My own personal theory is it's part of the spiritual warfare for tonight's meeting because it is a beautiful step forward tonight and I deeply appreciate everyone who's been willing to step in here and do stuff at the last moment.

So, on the back of your bulletin outlined today, there's some resources about Bible study which are. Very robust, very helpful, very accurate, and they're free. I wish I'd had them when I was a seminary student because I would have done a whole lot better. But in any case, that was before the Internet, so that's why I didn't have them. Great resources. Please take advantage of them and we would love for you to have those today.

A critical truth: The Bible must always be interpreted in light of the Bible. Always interpret unclear passages in light of the clear passages.

Example: There is one NY verse that seems to teach salvation through baptism. There are 62+ verses that clearly teach salvation through faith.

●    We are going to need that principle today for verses 15-18.

First, Qoheleth goes into full secular mode, and cynically advises the use of religion as superstition (v. 15-18)

We're going to read Ecclesiastes 7:15 to 29. And I'm going to read out of the New American Standard Bible. It's a joke. I'm better. New American Standard Bible 1995 updates and people may ask you what Bible I preach out of. I used that Bible for personal reading, personal study and for preaching because it is quite an accurate translation and it to me is quite readable. And in addition to that, the Apostle Paul used it. So that is probably, you know, don't need to say any more about that. But if you want to follow me on your phone, you can get down to New American Standard and see. Exactly what I'm doing.

So Ecclesiastes, please, we're going to do today, Chapter 7:15. “I've seen everything during my lifetime of futility. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

‘16. Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

17. Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

18. It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other. For the one who fears, God comes forth with both of them. If that doesn't sound to you like the rest of the Bible, you're right. (We're going to talk about that verse)

19. Wisdom strengthens a man more than 10 rulers who are in a city. Indeed,. 21there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

20, Also, do not take seriously all the words which are spoken so that you will not hear your servant cursing you for you.

22. Also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others.

23. I tested all this with wisdom and I said I will be wise. But it was far from me. 

24.What has been is remote

and exceedingly mysterious. Who can discover it?

25. I directed my mind to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness.

26. And I discovered more bitter than death, the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape her, but the Sinner will be captured by her.

27. Behold, I discovered this, says the preacher. Adding one thing to another to find an explanation, which I am still seeking but have not found.

28. I have found one man among 1000, but I have not found a woman among all these. Just a heads up.

(I'm going to ask Steve Walker to come up and take care of that verse. Are you here, Steve? Yeah, I'm not here. I'm not here, Steve screamed. OK.)

29. Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright and they have sought out many devices.”

This should be fun house friends.

Father, thank you for this good day. Thank you for this good book. Thank you to the man who tried it all, did it all, and found out that it doesn't work. I pray that his whole book would be a cautionary tale to us. I pray that we would be people who submit our hearts to you, our wills, our minds, People who are deeply dedicated to you and to what you said. Thank you for our time together this morning. Thank you for these good people. Lord, I know there are some sick, there are some discouraged, there are some confused. We're casting all of us, all of ourselves on your mercifully help us. We're very grateful for your

compassion for us. We pray in the Lord Jesus name, Amen.

So friends, there's a critical truth in the Bible which is that it is always to interpret unclear verses in the light of clear verses. Let the Bible interpret the Bible. So we're going to be into a set of verses here at the beginning, which really needs some interpretation from the Bible. Because they don't sound like the rest of the Bible versus 15 on down to verse 18. I want to give you an example of this issue of letting the Bible interpret the Bible.

So in Acts chapter 2:38, there's a verse that seems to teach salvation through baptism. Here's what it says. “Repent. Each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” So if you read that one verse, you say OK, well. Salvation is through baptism. But the problem with that is there are 62 clear verses that say salvation is through faith. I don't get saved by getting baptized, I get saved by trusting Christ. The most famous one, Ephesians 2:8 & 9 “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, not as a result of works. It's a gift of God, lest any person should boast.” So those two verses, Acts chapter 2:38 and Ephesians 2:8 & 9, just don't agree with each other. So we have to interpret Scripture through Scripture. So God, you know, he's a brilliant being. Obviously sometimes we don't see what he's doing, but Acts chapter 2:8 & 9 seems to say, “ I'm saved through baptism.” But if you drop back to Acts Chapter 19:4, there is an identical statement that says this. John baptized you with a baptism for repentance.

So these are these two verses, chapter 3 and then dropping down to chapter 19, four are identical in structure and identical in words except one of them has repentance, baptism for repentance and one of them has salvation, baptism for salvation. So whatever one of them means, the other one

has to mean. They can't mean two different things with identical wording and identical structure. So the question we have to ask is. When John baptized people with the baptism of repentance, did that baptism cause them to repent,

or was it a sign that they had repented? Clearly didn't cause them to repent. You can't 'cause somebody to repent by dunking them underwater. Repentance is an interior heart issue. It's not a mechanical water issue. And because

that one clearly means it's a baptism to signal that I have repented. I heard the preaching of John. I'm standing on the shore. I'm standing on the Bank of the River Jordan. I hear his preaching. God convicts me. I repent.

I go down, He baptizes me because I repented. And so in this case, in Acts 2:38, I got baptized not in order to cause my salvation, but as a sign that I had been saved. Let Scripture interpret Scripture. Now, friends, if water baptism caused both repentance and salvation. Here's what we should do. We should make some baptism vigilante gangs. And start kidnapping people in Boise. Get them to the Boise River, dunk them once for repentance, dunk them again for salvation. Go about your day. We'll save the whole valley. It means nothing to it if physically dunking underwater could do that. I told you all of that to say we have to let the Bible interpret the Bible. Look at the clear verses to interpret the unclear verses. And we need that principle right off the bat in this.

Because in Chapter 7, verses 15 to 18, Qoheleth goes into full secular mode. He cynically advises us to use religion as superstition. If you read those verses, you say to yourself, it doesn't sound like the rest of the Bible. And the reason it doesn't is because it's not like the rest of the Bible. What Coheleth does in these verses, it reduces God to sort of the status of a rabbit's foot. He reduces God and religion to an indemnity clause. Just do enough to get yourself saved and safe. Don't do so much that you wear yourself out. A little wickedness is fine. A little foolishness is fine. No problem, but just make sure you've

covered your bases. You know, religiously speaking. So here's what he says in verses 15 to 18. “Be a little righteous and a little wise, but don't knock yourself out. Then he says be a little wicked and a little foolish, but not so much that you risk your life. Just use religion to kind of cover your bases but not to ruin your fun. There is an entertainer whose name I'm not going to mention. If you want to go look on the Internet, you can find it. But this man was a singer, a songwriter and an actor. He was active from 1929 to 1993, for a very long span, had a very resonant baritone voice, very distinct voice and he sang country songs, kids songs, folk songs, and he also was an actor. And he was a man who retired in Anacortes, WA, built a massive house on the waterfront. And in that house he had a room dedicated to Christianity, and a room dedicated to Islam, and a room dedicated to Buddha, and a room dedicated to every major world religion. He clearly had eternity in his heart, as Coheleth said in chapter 3, verse 11. But he wasn't willing to commit to anything. Even though he had been raised as a Christian, he wasn't committed to it. He was just going to cover the waterfront, you know, cover all your bases, do what you can do. His house was one massive collection of room size rabbit feet. It was just saying I'm going to cover my bases on this, using religion as superstition, as fire insurance. That's the kind of thing that Coheleth is tongue in cheek, cynically arguing for here, he says. “The crazy, righteous and the good can die young. There's some benefit in being good and righteous, but you can still die young. You could be just knocking yourself out and get run over by a bus. Be good enough to look good and not draw suspicion, but don't overload yourself. Don't give it too much energy.

Secondly, he says the crazy evil can live long and prosper. Yes, the pun was intended. Live long and prosper. He says, listen, I know guys who are filthy evil who live to be 100 years old. They're clever enough to not get caught. They're just having a century of pleasure. And why not? Why not? All the drug dealers are driving Escalades. All the pimps are driving Mercedes. The smart ones don't get caught. Go ahead, go ahead. Just be smart about it, is what he's arguing here. Don't wear yourself out being overly religious or wise. Be wicked enough to have some fun. Not wicked enough to get bumped off in a drug deal? If you give too much effort to righteousness or wisdom, you're going to wear yourself out. You're going to miss a lot of pleasure. You don't want your conscience to work on you too hard, but you also don't want to be a prude who's missing all the fun. Here's his argument, he says.

Secondly, don't worry about being a little wicked and a little foolish. Don't be too uptight about it. Foolishness is fine if you're having fun, but you don't have to pay too many consequences. Foolishness is fine if you don't get hurt. Lighten up a little bit, throw off your puritanical upbringing, have a little fun. He argues for us saying why don't we just turn religion into a rabbit's foot?

Let's make it an indemnity clause. Let's just get a little fire insurance. Now

this is in your face what he's arguing here and this other man, you probably look at him with a house full of rabbits feet and say that's just stupid.

Here's the problem. It is so easy for all of us to do. It is so easy to say, hey, God's time is 11:00 AM to noon. And he's got my full attention. 11:00 AM to noon, unless my team's playing, and then we're going to have to wait till next week. But from noon on Sunday until we get back to 11:00 AM the next

Sunday, that's my time. And I'll do and be who I want to be. Now, some people modify that by going to confession on Saturday night. Go in the booth, say the priest. Hey, sorry about that. The priest says, yeah, don't do it anymore.

Knowing you'll be back next week and so then he's fine. Or the person who goes down front and gets saved every Sunday morning because

The Lord knows I wasn't acting like a Christian last night. Now, this is not a shot. Friends at Catholics and Nazarenes. This is a shot at us.

To what degree am I giving God an hour on Sunday but basically saying the rest of the time is mine?

Qoheleth is forcing us to ask this question. The fear of God, friends, doesn't involve walking the tightrope between a little bit of evil and not getting caught. That's not where the fear of God is. The fear of God is in the reverence of God, the trusting of Christ, the loving God, the pursuing God. The selling out to God, the submission to God, making disciples, loving God, loving others. That's where the fear of God is. I want to read you a verse that Jesus said 2 verses

Luke 9:23 and 24 and see if they sound to you like what Qoheleth has just said. “Jesus was saying to them all, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake.” He is the one who will save it.” In other words, I am called by Jesus to get up every morning and say, Lord, my answer is yes. Whatever your question is, yes, I will do it. I don't know your question yet, but today as every day, my answer is yes. I'm not going to tiptoe the tightrope between a bit of wickedness and not getting caught. That's not the definition of the fear of God. I'm going to be a person.

Who understands he was in full cynical mode here. This is not the way to go about it. No rabbit's foot, no, no indemnity insurance, no fire insurance. I'm going to be a person who's taking Jesus' words out of Luke 9 and not Qoheleth’s words out of this paragraph.

Second, wisdom is a towering asset to those who acquire it. (v. 19-22)

Now in my outline, I put first of all, how do I get wisdom that's wrong. We're going to drop it into the bottom. I'll get to it, but verse 19 says here the kind of things that wisdom does for us. It gives us long haul strength. In a fallen world, as one writer said, it gives me the ability to have a long obedience in the same direction I get on this path of pursuing Christ and I keep after it day in, day out, year in, year out. I keep after it because I'm just as said, I'm going to use wisdom to have a long haul obedience. What does it do for us? It gives us strength. It shows us cautionary tales of the people who did it wrong. It tells us about the tar pits up ahead of us in life. It explains to us that the truth of God is more precious than gold. When I gathered wisdom, then I began to understand. I know the nature of God. I know the nature of man. I can live well in this world. It's what it does for me.

Verse 20, Wisdom also sees that everybody sins. When I submit myself to this book, I understand I have sinned and I do sin. We're under the condemnation of sin because, number one, we have a sin nature #2 we have chosen to do acts of sin, and #3 We're under the condemnation or the judgment of God. It's strike three on our sin problem because we've violated the character of God. Wisdom understands that separates me from a perfect God. I can't be with him. He could be with Adam and Eve because they hadn't sinned. He was walking with them personally in the garden. He can't be that close to me until something's been done about my sin. What should I do? I know I will crawl on my knees to a mountain shrine till my tendons hang out. Then I'll be forgiven. God says don't bother, don't bother. Jesus already paid for it. Jesus is my substitute. He died in my place. Just says to me, put your hope in Him, put your trust in Him. Give up on the mountain shrine stuff, give up on giving money to orphans, give up on all that nonsense. Just put your hope on what Jesus already did. He paid a price you could never afford and so therefore accepted his gift. Wisdom helps me understand I have a sin problem but he did something about it.

Verse 21-22, Wisdom knows that some words are words for the wind. Words for the wind. Have you ever heard somebody talking about you, that they didn't know you were listening? They said something really ugly about you. Or maybe you heard your child say I hate you, I never want to see you again, I wish you weren't my parents.

All these kinds of extremely ugly things that you just say, that's horrible, Qoheleth says. If you overhear your servant cursing you, yeah, well, just let it go because you have also cursed other people.  We have heard stuff that we probably didn't want to hear. I'm on a couple of text chains where people put stuff in there that is just in my face in a certain way and they know it is. It's horribly belittling to me. And I can obsess on it, I can get angry about it, I can fire back some capital letter nonsense. I can give my whole life an energy to it. No, it's just foolish. Leave it alone, let it go. I don't have the time and energy to deal with it. I've said ugly things too, and about other people. Why do I all of a sudden become so self-righteous when somebody says ugly things to or about me?

That's Qoheleth's argument here. I want to read to you verses 21 and 22 again. In this particular passage where it says, do not take seriously all the words which are spoken. So that you will not hear your servant cursing you for you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others and then back in Job a book full of words chapter 2:9. “Then Job's wife said to him, do you still hold fast your integrity, curse God and die.” So his kids are dead, his money's gone, his house is blown away, he is personally sick. He's sitting on this pile. He’s just a mess. And his wife said just curse God and die. Why are you doing this? And Job says to her. You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept from God? And good from God and not accept adversity in all of this, Job did not sin with his lips.

Now here's the critical verses. Friends chapter 6, verse 26 of Job.

Job's friends have been giving him grief about stuff he said, and Job responds and says this. “Do you intend to reprove my words when the words of one in despair belong to the wind?” When I say stuff in despair or pain or anger or discouragement. Job says their words for the wind. Let the wind take them.

Haul them down to the middle of the Nevada desert, drop them down a deep Gopher hole, and forget them. They're words for the wind. Don't obsess on them. Don't say, oh, well, she said this to me. He said that to me. I'm going to be angry because when I'm angry and when I'm in pain and when I'm seeking retribution, I say all these ugly things that are just words for the wind, Qoheleth says.

Forget them, leave them alone. When you hear somebody say something when they don't think you heard, you must say they're words for the wind. I can't become their judge, jury, hangman and just be sure that I I take care of everything about them. This is not my business, because sometimes I speak words for the wind. In my anger, my pain, I say ugly things. What do I do?

I own them, I apologize, I ask forgiveness, and I drop them down a Gopher hole in Nevada. I just forget them. And if I overhear words for the wind from somebody who says something ugly about me, what do I do? I forgive them. I drop them in a Gopher hole in Nevada, and I move on. I don't have the time and emotional energy, nor the responsibility. To obsess on words for the wind.

Leave them alone. If I obsess on them, it's a fool’s game. I'm a fool.

So he then says to us basically, I'm a little extra, no charge.

How do I get wisdom? Wisdom helps me with all these things. Wisdom tells me some words are for the wind. How do I get that? Well, clearly, obviously, I spend time with the one perfectly wise being in the universe, God himself.

I speak to him. I listen to him, particularly in his book, the Bible, particularly in the Proverbs. Particularly in the Gospels, because when I look at the Gospels carefully, I see how Jesus went about it.

And I see all these situations and I know how to go about it because I've looked at that. I hang out with wise people. I reflect on my day and say, what did I do and how did it go? And was I wise or was I foolish? I'm a person who reads great Christian literature. I have to be pursuing it with great effort. Proverbs 16:16. How much better it is to get wisdom than gold and get

understanding is to be chosen above silver.

It would be better to be wise. Then to have a truckload of gold it would be better. God makes it clear. Third issue, verses 23 to 26. Wisdom helps.

But some things are just too remote and some things are just too mysterious for us to really understand. It's hard to get wisdom. There's ways to do it, but I have to pursue it. I have to commit myself to it.

There's so much communication in our world, there's so much noise in our

communication system that it's hard to find, it said in verse 25 I dedicated myself to know, to investigate and to seek. He said I am going to go after this like you cannot imagine you ever lost something extremely valuable and everything else was set aside until you found it. Like you lost your wallet or your glasses, you lost your keys, You're going to just be at Walmart until you find them.

You lost your child. I had a child when my granddaughter got away from me in a grocery store and it was full blown panic. Leave the cart where it is and go find her. We had a granddaughter walk out our front door a couple of months ago and leave everything and go find her. You just get in this mode that says that's what I'm going after. Qoheleth said. “I was in that mode with wisdom. I was going to do whatever it takes to get wisdom and to go after it. There's so much white noise in our communication world, let me tell you. Step in wisdom.

Delete Instagram. No charge.

Third, Wisdom helps but somethings are just too remorse and mysterious (v. 23-26)

Wisdom has a great deal it can help us with, but it can't fix everything. Some things are too remote. They're too mysterious. They're too much above us. They're too much beyond us. We can't. We can't know them. What happened to DB Cooper? Who knows that name here? Some of the more mature people. Yeah. DB Cooper. You don't even know Jarvis. Don't even start on me, buddy.

DB Cooper steals a bunch of money, hijacks an airplane, bails out over Washington. Nobody ever saw him again. What happened to him, we don't know. We don't know what really happened to John Kennedy's shooting. We don't know what really happened in Malaysia Airlines 370, just disappeared off the map.

Wisdom doesn't fix that. And more problematically, wisdom doesn't fix some stuff that happens in our lives. You know, we had a relationship dust up 10 years ago with a great friend and you don't know why it happened. You don't know why they were so mad. You don't know why it was so egregious. You don't know why they checked out. It's beyond us. We can't figure it out. It's better to be wise. But please don't understand.

Please don't think if I'm wise, I can fix stuff. I can have great wisdom. I can seek an answer and the answer comes back without a ghost of help. There's nothing there because there are some things it can't fix. But here's one thing it does fix. Verse 26 wisdom helps avoid. Predatory people. Now most predatory people in the world are male. I'm certain of it. But there's also predatory females. And Qoheleth is talking here about the predatory woman. She's the woman who sees a man she wants and she goes after him. She doesn't care if he's married. She doesn't care if he's married. She just wants him. And she will do whatever she can to whatever means to get this man. And women have means. Women are alluring, of course. Men have means also. Let me give equal time. We all have means and means that we should not be using.

But if I give in to a predatory woman, the Bible describes that in these ways. Bondage, going down to bitterness, death, being captured by snares and nets like an ox being led to slaughter and then having me later on lament and say why did I not listen to my counselors? My mentors tried to tell me. Why didn't I listen? My best friend in the world was the president of a large Christian organization at one time. He is a retired pastor now, but when he was president of this organization, he was well known in his city and he would go to speak in advance. And he started to notice this one woman came to everything he spoke at, whether she really fit in the group or not. And one day he's in a coffee shop before he went into the office and this woman comes in with her girlfriend and she says to my friend. Boldface out loud in front of her friend and my friend and all the people listening. You're going to be my next husband.

Right out loud. And my friend said it was not true. And he gathered up his stuff, stuffed it in his briefcase, and left. He ran. That's the wise thing to do with a predatory man or woman. Run like Joseph, he said. You can have the coat. I'm getting out of here. Just run if someone comes, if someone begins to pursue you in that way.

The thing to do is make Usain Bolt look like a teetering old man. Just poo, you know, make Usain Bolt look like Dave Gibson and Justice. Get out of there. Whether it's a man or it's a woman, this is a warning that Qohelelth gives to us. This is a warning. We need to be careful.

Fourth, wisdom knows God made men upright, but they look to the other devises (V, 27-29)

Wisdom knows that God made man upright, but they look to other devices.

He says this in this section. I found one righteous man in 1000, but not one woman in 1000. It might be more accurate to say I found one trustworthy man in 1000, but not one woman in 1000. Now you're all sitting there thinking, yeah, he's toast. This is Gibson's last day here. What's he going to say to get out of this? Interim pastor indeed. He is very interim. It's just got a real interim local pastor tarred and feathered. Don't bet against me too quickly, friends.

Number one, Qoheleth is saying this was his experience. This is not a dogmatization. There is no righteous woman in the world. I know a bunch of them. I've been married to a sterling righteous woman for 50 years. The Bible is full of righteous women, all kinds of women who were upright and courageous and did the right thing. Let me give you the shortlist. Ruth, Naomi, Lydia, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Mary, Esther. There's all kinds of them. And so this clearly can't be a dogmatic state statement that there's no righteous woman in the world. It's Qoheleth's experience.

Second thing, the statement is probably more of a commentary on Qoheleth than on women. Because he found one trustworthy friend in 1000. For men, that's a pretty low average. He found 0 trustworthy women in 1000. That's a horrible batting average. I bet I could do better than that. He is making a commentary partly on himself, not so much on women #3, if a man has 1000 wives, which one of them is going to be happy?

Not going to take it any further. That's it. That, you know, maybe that's why you had a problem, Qoheleth, I don't know. I love you, darling.

Maybe, I don't know Ecclesiastes 9:9.  Let's get back on task here. A few chapters later he says, enjoy life with a woman whom you love, all the days of your fleeting life which you have been given unto the Son, for this is your reward in life and in your toil, which you have labored under the sun. In Ecclesiastes 9:9, Qoheleth says, enjoy a life with one woman all your life. Pick out a girl who loves God. Stick with her and love her well until one of you dies.

Now friends, I don't know all of you. I know some of you are sitting here with your second wife. This is not meant as any condemnation of that. God redeems everything. God redeems stuff in my life. He redeems stuff in your life. There is no condemnation from God or from FCBC or from me. But the argument is, pick out a girl who loves God, stick with her the rest of your life, love her well, cherish her, build her up, be the kind of husband that God would want you to be. Then, it ends with this very seemingly innocuous verse, which is actually a combination of a gut punch and ridiculous encouragement. Verse 29, a very sobering commentary on the existence of man.

He says this. “Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.” God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices. The entire human existence is summarized in 11 words. This is the whole arc of human existence. He says to us, We were

created Adam and Eve upright. Innocent, they could walk with God because they weren't sinners. That's what God did. That happens in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. He makes these people innocent. The fall comes after the creation.

Our choice to rebel against God comes after we were created innocent. So Eve was deceived and she began to doubt the goodness of God toward her. And she

thinks God's holding out on some of me. So she eats the fruit. Adam in full willfulness, not deceived. Chose to eat the fruit in rebellion against God. And really a statement that says I would rather stay with the woman.

Then with God it was his full willful sin. So the fall of man is on man. It's not on God. God created, created us innocent, but the sin, the evil and all that that's on us. So Jeremiah chapter 2:13 puts it this way. For my people have committed 2 evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters.

To heal for themselves. Cisterns. Broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

God says I'm the source of perfect, cool, clear, clean water. And we said no, I'd rather dig a well with dirty, stale water in it. And besides that, it's a well that's always leaking. It always has to be refilled. I would rather go after this than go after God. Derrick Kidner says, “there's a belief in everyone before they know Christ. And to some degree we wrestle with it even after we know Christ.

That to be upright is naive and less than adult. That suspicion and that view, we're reminded here, goes back to the fall, but not back to the beginning. Our many schemes are clouding moral issues. Our refusal to go the straight way is our fault, but it is not our fate. Since futility was not the first word about our world, it no longer has to be the last word about our world.

Friends, I want to close by telling you the the key words of the Bible, the first

words of this. In the beginning God created heaven and the earth and he said it was good. Then he created man, male and female. He created them, He put them together and he said it is very good. Those first words are good.

 Here are the middle words, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Here are the final words. Behold, I am making all things new. Amen. Come

quickly, Lord Jesus. Sin was our fault, it is not our fate. Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for this man, for the stuff he wrote, for the ways it helps us these millennia later. Praying for myself and each one of us. I don't know exactly what you are convicting each person of, but I pray for each one of us that we'd be people who submit ourselves to your book. Thank you so much for your compassion. Thank you that there is grace in the Lord Jesus.

We confess to you sin, Father. We know that sin is our fault.

And we give you thanks that it is not our fate. We pray in Christ's name, Amen.