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Where does your satisfaction come from? Just pause for about 5- 10 minutes before you answer this question. What are the thoughts that came to your mind when you considered the question?
King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes tackled this question of satisfaction and I would like focus on some key verses in this book that give us a glimpse into what it means to be truly satisfied
Scripture References:
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
Ecclesiastes 6:1-4
Ecclesiastes 3
Psalm 37:4
Hebrews 11:6
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hello good morning this is taiva at
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hives.com
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and today we are going to be talking
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about something that's very important
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for
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all of us and the topic of my uh
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contemplation this morning is
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uh where does your satisfaction come
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from this has been something that has
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been on my mind for
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quite some time i've been thinking about
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this uh
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subject of satisfaction how do you find
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satisfaction in life
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and um today i wanted to talk about what
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king solomon
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uh tell us in the book of ecclesiastes
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because i think he
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it answers like a lot of the questions
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that we may have
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so i will invite you to uh to uh really
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pay attention this morning because this
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is really important
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okay so we are going to jump into my uh
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introduction real quick
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and again the first thing i want to ask
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you guys is this
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where does your satisfaction come from
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just pause for like five
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to ten minutes and think about it give
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it some thought don't just
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race through it take some time and think
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where does your satisfaction come from
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okay before you answer the question
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don't just
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rush on to it okay through it
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and and the things that i want i want
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you to consider
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is what are the thoughts that came to
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your mind when you
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consider the question and when you pause
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and thought about it
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i want you to really do that this
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morning pause for like five and ten
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minutes and allow
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your thoughts to tell you
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what can come to your mind like
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what gives you the greatest satisfaction
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and where does it come from
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once you do that i'm going to um
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go to the next thing and we're going to
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look at the book of ecclesiastes
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because in that book king solomon
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tackled
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on this question of satisfaction and i'm
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going to focus on some key verses in
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this book
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and it gives us a glimpse into what it
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means to be truly satisfied
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so we are going to start with
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ecclesiastes 2 verses 24
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to 26 so i'm gonna go and i'm gonna read
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that if you have a bible i'm reading for
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the esv
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english standard version you can read
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from any other version
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okay now this is what the verse says if
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you can follow
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my screen there is nothing better
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for a person than that he should eat
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and drink and find enjoyment in his toil
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this also a soul is from the hand of god
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for apart from him meaning apart from
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god who can eat
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or who can have enjoyment for to the one
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who pleases him
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god has given wisdom and knowledge and
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joy
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but to the sinner he has given the
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business of gathering and collecting
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only to give to the one who pleases god
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this also is vanity
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and is striving after wind
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you can clearly see that solomon is
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really being a little bit cynical while
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same time he's like
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in a state of despair when he wrote this
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book
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okay this book is really intense like if
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you want to really
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grasp what it means to be satisfied i
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would encourage you to read that book
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but i'm going to try to give an
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explanation of verse 24
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um to 26 of ecclesiastes 2.
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so here's what solomon is saying like
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the greatest gift in life
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is to be able to find fulfillment in the
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most mundane
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activities we do like eating
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drinking and working okay solomon does
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that on purpose
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like these are the most like ordinary
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activities eating
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and drinking water or drinking whatever
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okay
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and working but solomon realizes that
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even enjoying the most
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mundane or common activities cannot be
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done
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apart from god okay without god being in
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it
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eating drinking and working can't bring
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any satisfaction
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and he says to the one who pleases god
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and we know from hebrews 11
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6 that without faith is impossible to
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please god
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but to the one who pleases god god
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grants
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wisdom knowledge and joy for this to the
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sinner
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to the one who rejects god's authority
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in his or her life
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god has given them the activity of
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gathering and collecting
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only to hand it to the one who pleases
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god and most people
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say that's unfair that is not fair
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well let's face it who in the first
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place has given
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us the abilities that we possess see the
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one who rejects god
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thinks he's self-made or she self-made
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yet god allows him
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to believe the lie but god doesn't allow
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him or her to enjoy the fruit
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of their labor now this i want you to
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just really pause and think about it
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read that verse again and i hope that my
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explanation made some sense to you
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basically solomon is saying that
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there is nothing better for a person
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than that he should eat and drink and
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find enjoyment
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in his toil and his work but he says
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this also i saw
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uh realized it's from the hand of god
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for apart from god
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who can eat or who can have enjoyment
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because god is the one that produces the
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the desire
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to enjoy those things okay and we're
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going to go
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to another chapter in ecclesiastes now
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we're going to look at verse
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18 of 20 of chapter 5. now
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solomon said again behold now behold
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okay listen behold what i've seen to be
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good
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and fitting and i put that in red for a
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purpose is to eat
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and drink and find and enjoyment in all
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the toil with which
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one toils under the sun the few days of
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his life that god has given him
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for this is his lot everyone also to
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whom
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god has given wealth and possessions and
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power to enjoy them and to accept his
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lot
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and rejoice in his toil this is the gift
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of god for he will not much
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remember the days of his life because
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god keeps him occupied with joy in his
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heart
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now solomon reiterates his point again
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this time he's saying that
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what is fitting and good is the ability
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of a man or woman to find enjoyment in
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all their toil
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for that is their lot a lot is
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considered a portion of lane that has
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been handed to someone
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so solomon is saying that once
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inheritance lies in the ability to enjoy
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work and verse 19 explains it better
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god is the one who gives wealth
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possessions and god is also the one who
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gives the power
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and the ability to enjoy wealth and
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possessions
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god is the one who gives the power to
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accept one's lot
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or inheritance and god is the one who
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gives the power to enjoy
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work solomon is saying that the ability
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to enjoy possessions
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wealth and to accept one's lot and to
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rejoice in one's work
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is a gift of god
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in other words apart from god true
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satisfaction is impossible and verse 20
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shows what it means to be truly
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satisfied for the one who pleases god
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doesn't reminisce on the so-called good
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old days because
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god fills his heart with joy because god
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has become the object of his
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satisfaction
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and psalm 37 5 4 says it best
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delight in the lord and he will give you
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the desires of your heart
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now people misunderstand this verse it
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doesn't mean that if you
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begin to find pleasure in god he will
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give you what you want that's not what
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it means
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it means god will begin to plant
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his desires in you in order to keep you
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occupied with joy in your heart
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in a sense that when you when god
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becomes your
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ultimate satisfaction where all that you
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want is god
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he begins to plant his desires in you
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and your life
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becomes a life of joy because god is the
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source of your joy
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in the sense that whatever you do
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whether you eat
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or you drink or whatever you do you
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always do it for the glory of the lord
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and this is what solomon is getting at
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eating
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drinking and working can't be enjoyed if
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god is not in it
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if god hasn't planted those desires in
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you all you're doing
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is just doing mundane things and life
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becomes a painful ordeal
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okay i'm i hope that you're getting it
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okay and now let's go to the next
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uh verse ecclesiastes 6 verse 1
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4. now he goes to talk about he
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he talked about the the good things now
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he's going to talk about what is bad
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okay and i've already alluded to that in
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my
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last sentence now let's see what solomon
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say here
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is an evil that have sinned under the
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sun and he lies
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heavy on mankind brace yourself
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and he explains it a man to whom god
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gives
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wealth possessions and honor
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so that he lacks nothing of all that he
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desires
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yet god does not give power
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to enjoy them but a stranger enjoys them
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and he goes this is vanity it is
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egregious evil
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and he adds on to that if a man fathers
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a hundred children and lives
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many years so that the days of his years
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are many
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but his soul is not satisfied with
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life's good
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things and he also has no burial and say
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that a stillbornish
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child is better off than this man for he
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comes in vanity
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and goes in darkness and in darkness his
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name is never covered
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his name is covered now solomon
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describes the worst thing that can
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happen to a man or a woman
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okay to have wealth possessions
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honor or lacking in nothing that one
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desires
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yet god doesn't give that person the
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ability or power to enjoy
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those things what could be worse than
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life than that
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and many are false like many of us fall
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under one of these categories
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to make his point clear solomon gives us
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another vivid real life example
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a man who fathers a multitude of
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children he lives many years
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but he's not satisfied with life's good
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things
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like eating drinking work possession
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honor
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children you fill in the blanks
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according to solomon
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even if stillborn child is better off
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than that man or woman
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and i don't think i could explain it any
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better the word of god is sufficient for
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this matter
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i could go on and on with these verses
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but you see the big picture
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apart from god there is no satisfaction
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in life
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okay because god is the ultimate
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satisfaction
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he gives us those created things
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to enjoy him so the more you are
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satisfied in those things in the sense
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that the more
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you rely on god to bring those desires
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in you
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then the more he is glorified so your
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satisfaction
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turns to god's glory because he plants
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those desires in you
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he plants you he plants in you the
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ability to enjoy work
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he plans he knew the ability to eat and
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enjoy it
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he plenty knew the ability to drink and
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enjoy it
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he plenty knew the ability to have honor
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and you enjoy it
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he planted you all those desires and
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gives you the power to enjoy them
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and as you enjoy them you turn to god
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you don't allow those things to become
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idols but every time you enjoy those
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things you remember the one
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who gives it to you it's almost like
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going to a restaurant
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and being in the kitchen i've been out
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not being in the kitchen but you
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order some food and as you eating the
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food the food tastes so good
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so good as you're enjoying it you give
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glory to the cook
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because the cook is the one that put all
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these things together so
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you don't turn the food into an idol you
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don't go where i just want
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you just want to say what is the cook i
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want to say thank you to the cook
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because
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he has allowed me to enjoy this food
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because he cooked this
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he cooked it to perfection and every
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bite that i think
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takes me back to the cook because i'm
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thinking oh my goodness this cook is
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amazing
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and i want to praise the cook and in
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turn the cook wants to give me more food
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because i'm enjoying what he's preparing
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so the more i eat it
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the more the cook gets glory and the
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more he wants to give me the food
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because the food that he's given me
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leads me back to him i'm gonna go back
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to the same cook again because the cook
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is so amazing
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now this is the picture here okay i hope
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you're seeing what i'm saying
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now let's go to the next slide
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and this i'm talking about here the
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cynics objection like
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some of you may listen to me and go i'm
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okay i'm enjoying my life
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i'm enjoying what what i'm doing in life
12:47
life is great
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but so did anthony bourdain i don't know
12:52
if you remember the guy
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he was americans top chef he was
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traveling everywhere
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went to all kind of countries ate with
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even the president
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you know went to exotic places and
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he said that his body was an amusement
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park
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and he defied the word of god because
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god said
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your body is the temple of the holy
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spirit
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okay now you know what happened to him
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he ended up dying
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and i think he took his life so you want
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you have to ask yourself
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what happened to this man that's because
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the amusement park runs out of
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uh it breaks down okay when you you
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when you say to yourself that your body
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is an amusement park you've defiled
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the holy temple of god and god won't
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have that
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okay now solomon has these people in
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mind in chapter three of ecclesiastes
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and we're going to read
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chapter three because i want to uh make
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some point here
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let's read chapter three real quick okay
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solomon says here for everything there
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is a season
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and a time for every matter under heaven
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there's a time to be born and a time to
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die a time to plant
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any time to pluck up what is planted a
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time to kill and a time to heal a time
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to break down
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any time to build up a time to weep any
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time to laugh
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a time to mourn any time to dance a time
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to cast away stones
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and a time to gather stones together a
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time to embrace
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and a time to refrain from embracing a
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time to seek
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and time to lose a time to keep
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and the time to cast away a time to tear
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and a time to sow
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a time to keep silence and a time to
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speak a time to love
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and a time to hate a time for war and a
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time for peace
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and then he follows that with this what
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gain
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has the worker from historia i have seen
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the business that god has given to the
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children of men to be busy with
14:52
he has made everything beautiful in its
14:56
time
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also he has put eternity into man's
15:00
heart
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yet so that he cannot find out what god
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has done from the beginning
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to the end i perceived that there is
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nothing
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better for them than to be joyful and to
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do good as long as they live
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also that everyone should eat and drink
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and take pleasure in all this toil this
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is god's gift
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to man okay i'm gonna stop here
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and i'm gonna go back to the slide
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because i want to show you something
15:27
important here
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okay what solomon is saying in those
15:30
verses basically is this
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god has created everything beautiful in
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its own time
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in the sense that nothing is everlasting
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all pleasures and satisfactions are
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temporal
15:42
but what god has also done is that he
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has wired us to long for that which is
15:46
eternal
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yet we haven't fully grasped what god
15:50
has done and we end up chasing
15:52
after temporary things that will never
15:54
fulfill us
15:56
you see that let me read that again god
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has wired us
16:00
to long for that which is eternal yet we
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haven't fully grasped
16:05
what god has done and we end up chasing
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after temporary things that will never
16:10
truly fulfill us
16:12
god has created us so we can find our
16:14
identity and true joy in him
16:17
but the sinful nature or the flesh has
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corrupted our thinking so we long
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after the created things instead of
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longing after god himself
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yet those temporary fixes always leave
16:30
us dry
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empty and unfulfilled which is going
16:34
back to solomon's earlier
16:36
sessions in chapter 2 verse 24 26
16:39
chapter 5 18-20 chapter 6 1-4
16:43
and that takes me to my last point the
16:45
rest of god
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the rest of god okay now the rest of god
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now whenever performance becomes the
16:54
driving force behind
16:55
any actions that i take you forfeit the
16:58
joy
16:59
grace and peace of god and you become
17:01
rather unproductive and fruitless
17:04
the solution is to live by faith but
17:07
living by faith
17:08
requires surrender you seize resistance
17:12
scripture says that god's commands are
17:14
not burdensome for the one
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whom god loves task masters
17:20
put a heavy yoke on us a pressure to
17:22
perform and achieve results
17:24
in order to feel fulfilled god
17:27
creates what he commands but the task
17:31
master
17:31
expects what he demands of us without
17:34
lifting the finger to help
17:35
only to leave you dry and empty
17:39
focus on those phrases now the lord made
17:41
the seventh day holy and blessed
17:44
and we are still in the day of rest and
17:46
those that are blessed are those that
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enter
17:48
the sanctifying work of the seventh day
17:50
those on whom the spirit of god
17:52
rests those have been called
17:56
and sanctified by god himself those are
17:58
the ones
17:59
that enter god's rest and rested vessels
18:02
are holy vessels any unholy vessel
18:05
is not in a state of rest so whoever
18:09
has entered god's rest has rested from
18:12
his own works
18:13
the same way god rested from his works
18:15
in creation
18:17
in the sense that god completely
18:18
finished and no longer
18:20
creates in the sense of the works of in
18:22
creation
18:23
now god has made the seventh day holy so
18:25
god is in the work of sanctification
18:28
not to make a holy people for himself
18:30
and to enter that rest
18:32
i must surrender my will and my tendency
18:35
to want to be a creator
18:37
trying to be a little god you must give
18:41
up your right to be
18:42
your own god or my own god and let god
18:44
himself make me holy
18:46
is not in me to create anything for i
18:49
can create
18:50
nothing all he brings is frustration
18:54
emptiness and more fruitlessness so
18:57
my exhortation is stop trying to be god
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and submit to the sanctifying work of
19:02
the holy spirit
19:04
and i'm gonna say this thing
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you can't actually stop trying to be god
19:10
because
19:11
the sinful nature loves to hate god
19:14
and the sinful nature loves to try to be
19:16
a little god
19:18
so if these words that i'm speaking i
19:21
are speaking to you now
19:23
my question to you and my exhaustion to
19:25
you is
19:26
pray that god himself enables you to
19:30
repent
19:31
of your desires to want to be like him
19:35
because god absolutely hates that
19:39
those that say to god i don't need you
19:42
i'm my own man you see
19:45
god says scripture says god
19:49
hates the proud but give grace to the
19:51
humble
19:52
so if those words that i'm speaking are
19:54
speaking to you now
19:56
my prayer to you is humble yourself
19:57
before the lord so that he may exalt you
20:00
himself because if you don't
20:03
then you are like the one to whom
20:07
you have everything yet you are empty
20:10
okay and you may not feel like where
20:12
life is good but again it's gonna catch
20:14
up
20:15
at some point so delight yourself in the
20:18
lord
20:18
and he will give you the desires of your
20:20
heart in a sense that
20:21
look to him for your satisfaction
20:25
i'm really encouraging to to do that
20:27
because i am in that same state myself
20:30
and by the holy spirit we put to death
20:32
the deeds of the sinful nature
20:34
and this is the exaltation look to god
20:38
because scripture says also
20:41
man does not live by bread alone
20:44
but man lives by every word that
20:46
proceeds from the mouth of god
20:49
and this is how you live by faith asking
20:52
god
20:52
why shall i do lord and he begin to
20:54
plant his desire in you
20:56
and as you enjoy the things that he's
20:58
doing he's being glorified and he gives
21:00
you more grace
21:01
even more grace more grace margaret's
21:04
so my exhortation again is if you are
21:07
listening
21:08
and the holy spirit is talking to you do
21:10
not harden your heart
21:12
because the rest of god still remains
21:15
strive to enter that rest okay
21:19
and have a wonderful day i'll see you
21:20
next time thank you
#People & Society