January 8, 2012 "The Facts of Life" Pastor Howard-John Wesley

as we prepared to listen to the lesson from the Lord today I want to invite you out of the norm of how God usually speaks in this place to partner and parallel to passages of Scripture with me this morning good news is they come from the same pen of the same author and they're found in books that are located right next to one another invite you to turn first of all with me to the book of Ecclesiastes that's in the Old Testament job Psalms proverbs Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and as we hear what the Lord speaks in the first chapter in the first two verses of the book of Ecclesiastes I'm also going to invite you to rehear a passage of scripture that all be familiar to you that is penned in the third chapter of the book of proverbs Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and then going backwards one book two proverbs chapter three when you found either one of those passages would you if you're physically able stam that together we might reverence the reading of God's Holy Word from Ecclesiastes chapter 1 beginning in verse number one then journeying backwards to proverbs chapter 3 beginning in verse number five Ecclesiastes chapter 1 declares the words of the preacher the son of David King in Jerusalem vanity of vanities says the preacher vanity of vanities all is vanity then going backwards to the third chapter proverbs some of you don't even need your Bible or your iPhone for this one trust in the Lord with all your heart lean not into your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path do me a favor goat 1980s on your neighbor and give them the subject of today's sermon tell them neighbor these are the facts of life you may be seated in this place now if you're under 25 you just missed all of that one of the things I think every child of God should have in their repertoire of understanding and faith is at least a fundamental and rudimentary understanding of how the Bible came to be since our faith is rooted in the teachings of Scripture I think it's very critical that you understand how the books of your Bible were collected and collated to become the sacred Canon of Scripture that you now know as the Holy Bible going home in Google the history of the canonization of the Bible stopped by LifeWay bookstores and Springfield and pick up how the Bible came to be because you need to understand what went into the discussions that shaped the books of the Bible when you do a little homework and research on how the Bible came to be you will see that in an effort to unify the teaching of our faith to solidify the Canon of sacred scriptures that the early church leaders prayerfully came together to deliberate discuss debate discern and ultimately decide on which writings they believed had been inspired by the Holy Spirit and were full of the truth of God and therefore worthy to be counted as sacred scripture they gather together to prayerfully decide which of the writings of the world by different authors and Peter and Paul and the Old Testament writers which one of them's really have the authentic hand of on it to form what we now know as our a Holy Bible when you research the history of the canonization of the Bible you will find that there are several books of the Bible because of either their content or their character were highly debated by those who are making the decision and much to your surprise some of your beloved books of the Bible almost didn't make it in go and teach faster there are several books of the Bible that sat on the fence before they got in the the book of Esther almost didn't get in why you ask because if you read the book of Esther in its entirety there is no mention of the name of God anywhere in the book of Esther and there were those who thought Esther's book was not worthy to be included because God is not mentioned in Esther shouldn't surprise you that the book of Revelation almost didn't make it in because the profundity of apocalyptic imagery and the Beast and Armageddon and the Antichrist there were those who thought Revelation was too controversial to be included in Scripture anybody who's ever read the Song of Solomon knows that book almost didn't get in Solomon is pg-13 at best and there were those who thought because of its sexual and sensual nature it did not belong in the Bible some books were a highly controversial I need you to know that that if they had elected me to sit on the council that voted on the books of the Bible your Bible would not have 66 books but 65 because I would have voted no on the book of Ecclesiastes ecclesiastes in my mind is a dark a depressing and even a dangerous book please yeah cease being v-8 for new beginners in Christ it's not for those who are just beginning to study reading the Bible if you got some struggles in life let me help you don't read Ecclesiastes if your faith in God is wavering don't read Ecclesiastes if all hell is breaking loose don't read Ecclesiastes and I need you to make me a promise that if God ever brings somebody in your life who is struggling in their walk and needs a word from God do me a favor don't send them to Ecclesiastes there's no good news in Ecclesiastes when you read it you'll come to the end of the twelfth chapter and ask is that it there's no inspiration in Ecclesiastes there's no thank God in Ecclesiastes there's no shouting in Ecclesiastes as a matter of fact you ain't ever heard a good sermon from Ecclesiastes matter of fact the only passage you know from Ecclesiastes is chapter 3 for all things there is a time and a purpose that there's a time to be born in a time to die a time to labor and a time to rest and you only hear that at a funeral this is not a joyful book and we find out how dark it is in the very introduction when the author of Ecclesiastes says this all is vanity that word vanity is a Hebrew word that means absurd it means futile it means frustrating it means nothing is worthwhile the author is telling you from the beginning that light don't make no sense light has no rhyme or reason light has no sense to it there's no purpose life is absurd life is frustrating matter of fact the most repeated phrase in the book of Ecclesiastes is this that live in life is like trying to grasp of the wind you a fool to try and it will never accomplish anything this dark book of Ecclesiastes is written by a man who is looked back over some of his life lessons and let me give you the cliff note version he says that when you look in life life dr. gun can be boiled down to four fundamental facts of life says if you look at what you've learned why you've lived this thing called life you will find there are four fundamental facts that anybody over thirteen ought to be able to say a man - he says first of all if you live long enough you found out life is fickle let's church say fickle that means there's there's not much you can count on life goes up and life goes down that the only constant thing in your life is change that you can be living large one day but but just let time come and life has a way of flipping on you in the middle of light and moving you in a direction you never thought you would walk in life is fickle like that life will change on you as a matter of fact somebody you know there been some seasons in your life when things were going well everything was sunshine huh and all it took was one phone call at two o'clock in the morning for your life to move in a different direction cuz life is fickle like that you don't believe like your life is fickle just put your trust in some folk around you and you will find out that folk you thought you could count on when you needed them the most they were nowhere to be found cuz life is full of fickle folk who are not real Iowa land cannot be counted on life is funny like that author says that life is so fickle that there's no formula that works here's what he says I have found out upon living that evil folk get good and good folk get evil yeah that's how I backpacked somebody you can week a man because you know what that's like here you are trying to get your life right with God you surrendered to Jesus Christ you joined church you read your Bible every now and then you pray a little bit more than you used to pray you know slap folk like you used to you don't drink like you used to you're trying to get right with God and it seems like the better you do the worse you wind up with and on the flip side you know some Joker's that can't spell Jesus that don't own a Bible that don't go to nobody's Church and it seems like everything is always alright with them cuz life is fickle like that he says not only is life fickle but he says I live long enough to find out that life is fragile somebody say fragile oh y'all come by to tell you things fall apart no good thing lasts forever the things you thought you could count on and invest in and build your life upon can come crashing down cuz life is fragile like that matter of fact not only are things in life fragile but life itself is fragile in it funny you can be here one day baby you can be gone the next let me drop this on you folk are dying who ain't never died before because life is fragile it it doesn't always make some sense to us that the folk die who we don't think should die and folk live and we can't figure out how they're still living all of us know so me young folk that work out everyday they're vegetarian they don't eat fried pork chops and they die young and then you know some wretched senior citizens they've been smoking all their lives and they still kicking Debbie and I have an uncle they went to visit and went to visit him took me down in the basement and he wanted to offer me some libations and Debbie told me said watch watch out going downstairs went downstairs and he pulled out a mason jar filled with some clear liquid he's a son have a sip it is that all you can't drink that data kill you he said have been killing me 83 years life is fragile there's no guarantee you will make retirement there's no promise you'll see Social Security there's no guarantee that you will make it to Medicare years in your life because life is fragile and all it takes is one drunk driver all it takes is one stray bullet all it takes is one somebody running a red light because they were texting while they were driving and you will find out how fragile life is life is fickle life is fragile and the right Ecclesiastes says and guess what life is fleeting let the church say fleeting y'all the days of our lives pass by like a blink of an eye oh it just seemed like yesterday you were in the gospel inspirers and now you're in the Senior Choir it is amazing how fast your life passes you by you were young a minute ago and now you're older in life and it happened at the blink of an eye I wish I had paid attention to my mom and daddy when they said enjoy your college years cuz they would be the best years of your life and they pass by in a blink of an eye and I don't want to grow up now my Toys R Us kid and growing up ain't all it's cracked up to be you you get old whether you like it or not here's his here's a key to let you know how you getting old you ready write this down you know you can know when what you used to do all day takes you all day to do I used to do this all day now it takes you all day to get it done you know you're getting old when stuff that used to live upstairs moves downstairs you you you know you're getting old when stuff you used to eat at 3 in the morning you can't eat and all anymore Marla when I was in college I used to look at 40 and folk there were 40 and shake my head and say there is old but in four months I'm gonna turn 40 and I Got News for You 40 ain't as old as it used to be a caveman thought it looked pretty good to me life is fickle and fragile and fleeting and this one he says finally and I found out this fact that life is futile somebody safe you don't here's what the Rite of Ecclesiastes is come to learn he says I've lived long enough now to realize you really are never in control doesn't matter how big and bad you are how much money you earn what degrees are on your wall how many folks say how high when you say jump at the end of the day none of us are really in control of our lives you may think you are in control but life has a way of proving that you may have power but you don't have control you may have money but you don't have control you may have influence but you don't have control if you think you are in control i double-dog dare you to say what you ain't going to do going write it down get attacked to declare to yourself I am NOT going to do this but life will prove to you that you will wind up doing some things in life you never thought you would do because you are not in control the book of Ecclesiastes brings to us one of the most miss quoted scriptures in all the Bible that's why you come down the street to learn that there's something we say that is not in the Bible we always say the race is not given to the Swift nor the battle to the strong but to what those who endure to the end you've heard that that ain't nowhere in your Bible there is no scripture that says the race is not given to the Swift nor the battle to the strong but to those who endure it in gold and google it on your phone you'll find out that ain't in the Bible here's what the Bible does say in Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and 11 the race is not given to the Swift nor the battle to the strong but time and chance happens to everyone that no matter how bad you are no matter how big you are no matter how brave you are no matter how Swift you are no matter how good you think you are time and chance have control over your life because life is fickle it's fragile it's fleeting and it's futile and the write of Ecclesiastes says now how do you choose to live life when you realize that life is funny and fickle how do you get by day to day when you realize that your life can be snatched in any given moment how do you make it when you realize that life is passing you by at the blink of an eye how do you handle the fact that you don't have any real control over your life right Ecclesiastes says add that most folk in life deal with the fickle fleeting futile fragile nature of life by one of two options he says most of them succumb watch this to carnal istic hedonism that they reach a point where they realize you know what life is passing by I ain't got no control my life is fragile life is funny like that and so the only philosophy that makes sense to them is to drink and be merry a fact you know a cup of folk that fit that description that light is so futile and life is so fragile that they come to the decision that you gotta carpe diem you gotta seize the day you just got to do what you got to do to get by that you got to enjoy life why you got light and so they eat drink and be merry that that's what for those who are in my generation that that that's what nas was talking about in his album Illmatic when he began to talk about why they drink and why they smoke and why they get high and I said it like this because you never know when you're going to go up and since you don't know when you're going to go and you ain't got no control you might as well just enjoy eating drinking and being married right Ecclesiastes if they don't succumb to cardenal sick hedonism he says secondly that there are many people who succumb to the dark side of depression that they realize life is fragile and fickle and futile and fleeting and they make a decision that life just ain't worth living they give up on life hope dies in their hand they expect nothing good in life everything is always bad everybody is always bad nothing good is ever going to you know some pessimistic people like that life has taught them that there really is no control and that life changes on the blink of a dime and therefore they've developed a protective mechanism that says no expectation no disappointment you know folk like that that have succumbed to the dark demon of depression and decide that life is really not worth living so how do you live with this fickle fragile fleeting futile thing called life I'm so glad that the writer of Ecclesiastes didn't just stop in Ecclesiastes but he wrote another book called proverbs and it is there that the same writer by the name of Solomon gives us some advice on how to live in this funny thing called life when you realize that light is fickle and life is fragile and life is fleeting and light is futile this is what he says here's a recipe that'll get you through here's a formula that'll hold you together here's what to wake you up in the morning and carry you through your day trust in the Lord with all your heart lean not into your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path this this is how you make it in a fragile life number one trust God that that's so simple you can't shout trust God trust God I know life is fragile trust God I know you're not really in control trust God I know things and people change trust God I know everything and stabling your life so this what you ought to do trust in God hmm trust in God y'all you've heard me say this time and again and I will keep saying into the Lord then let me say it anymore then life boils down to one question no matter what you're going through there's only one question you got to ask no matter how bad it gets there's only one question you gotta ask no matter how many folks don't stand with you there's only one question you have to ask no matter how broke you get there's only one question you have to ask no matter how bad it gets there's one question you have to ask and the question is simply this do you trust God when the bottom of your life drops out do you trust God when all hell breaks loose around you do you trust God the doctor says it looks like cancer do you trust God huh when folk don't love you no more do you trust God when friends have betrayed you do you trust God when your money is running out do you trust God when you don't know which way to go do you trust God when it seems like you're sinking lower and lower do you trust God when your heart has been broken do you trust God when you ain't got a dime to your name to your trust on when you get enemies all around do you trust God do do you do trust God let me tell you why you got to learn to trust God it's real simple coz life is too short for drama light is too short to be caught up in other folk mess life is too short to stress over every bill that comes in the mail light is too short to try to deal with every crazy co-worker ano job light is too short and at some point you gotta give it to God and trust that God will handle your life as a matter of fact can I give it to you like this here here's the Twitter quote of the day already if you look at the world you'll be stressed if you look in yourself you'll be depressed but if you look to God you'll be at rest pause rewind hit play if I'm looking at all this going on in the world I'll be stressed if I look at my own limited self I'll be depressing but if I can lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help I can be addressed the Bible says be anxious for nothing but in all things with prayer and supplication and Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God I wish had some Bible readers and the peace of God will guard your heart and mine let me prove it to you is there anybody here that's ever been stressed out and made a deliberate decision to give it over to God and when you gave it over to God you able to step back and find joy and peace and rest coz God will care of you nothing about tell them trust God now now let me tell you what you can trust two good things imma let you go you can trust number one that God's promises are true that God will do what God said he would do you can trust that heaven and earth may pass away but the Word of God is true for eternity you can trust that the grass may wither and the flower may fade that's Isaiah 40 but the Word of God will stand the test of time you can trust that God is not a man that he should tell you alive nor the son of man that he should repent if God said it it will be done I mean y'all remember a few years ago there was a popular bumper sticker it said God said it I believe it and that settles it anybody ever see that bumper sticker God said it I believe it that settles it and that sounds pretty good but it's wrong cuz that middle passage I believe it is irrelevant if God said it whether you believe it or not it shall come to pass so I trust that all things work together for my good I trust that no weapon formed against me will prosper I trust that God will take what was meant for evil and use it for my good I trust that weeping may endure for a night but shine we'll come in the morning I trust in the word of God Marley you can trust his promises are true and here's something else you can trust it and I'ma move you can trust that prayer will make everything better I don't know who I couldn't appreciated a but your problem is prayer that that's what it boils down to you you don't pray like you need to pray you don't pray like your oughta praying you don't break daily like you should pray listen you can't get out of some stuff with a microwave jesus wept middle of the shower prayer there's sometimes you got to scram to do on your prayer closet and lay yourself out before the Lord and call on God until God answers you I knew everybody wouldn't stand up on that cuz y'all like convenient prayer y'all like easy prayer but there's some times that you gotta realize that the only way to get through it is to fall on your knees and call on the name of God I got a friend who could took a job at FedEx and he hurt his back and got put on disability when I called him to ask what had happened he said he didn't follow the training he'd been given said what do you mean he said well they told us when the package is too heavy don't lift it from your back but lift it from your knees that when it's a heavy burden you can't lift it from your back but you gotta lift it from your knees their cup of folk that called it that when life's burdens are heavy the only way not to hurt yourself is to fall on your knees and lift it to the Lord and cry father I stretch my hand do me a favor would you know somebody tell them lifted from your knees here here's here's what he says Jason trust God except I'm two watches here here's how you deal with a a fickle fragile fleeting futile life don't just trust God he says number two try God watching us in the text trusting the Lord with all your heart watch this and lean not to your own understanding don't live life doing it your way try God's Way now couple folk early on in this sermon you can wink at me and admit that when you were doing things your way you mess your life up following your own decisions got you in some bad predicaments but when you learn to surrender and try doing it God's Way that God's Way is the best way and when your tripod you'll find out how good god is here's here's what scripture says taste and see that the Lord is good if you want to see that God is good you got to try God and when your tripod you'll find out that God is good that God will make a way that God will see you through you gotta try God for yourself now now let me tell you why church got real quiet right there real quiet real quiet real quiet and because y'all listening all here it is because there are many folk in church who have never really tried God come on come on come on let me talk about you uh you come to church you got a good Bible in your hand you look mighty Baptist this morning you're gonna shout at the right time you know all the words to Amazing Grace but have you really truly tried God have you surrendered your will to God's will have you given God the problems in yours have you surrendered to God the desires of your life have you really tried him for yourself now now let me tell you just as a word of truth and I'll move on and stop meddling with you God does not have in-laws God does not have grandchildren God does not have associates which simply means this you are not in relation to God simply because you're related to somebody else that's related to God just because mamma believed in God doesn't mean that you've tried God and just because your husband believes in God doesn't mean that you have tried God the question is are you a child of God have you put your all on the altar have you surrendered everything to God have you tried him found out the kind of God he really is listen I come by to tell you this that every now and then life will put you in a place where it is fickle where it is fragile where it is fleeting it is futile and in that moment faith is all you have life will put you in a place where the only thing you can do is try God but how about witness if you're trying you'll find out how good he is the proverb says trust God try God and then watch this last one and he says and in all your ways acknowledge him let me give you another tea after your trust God and try God the third way to make it through a fickle fleeting futile fragile life is to thank God he says in all your ways acknowledge God which means whatever my way may be I can acknowledge that God is in the middle of it that whatever I'm going through that God is right there with me we've got to believe that no matter how bad the situation may be no matter how much we brought it on ourselves then we serve a God who is declared I will never leave you and I will never forsake you that God is there with us okay okay some of y'all slow at 11:00 um I told you I was raised in an old schoolhouse by some old school parents who who didn't mind whipping out the Bell who taught you the only appropriate response to me is yes ma'am and no man Oh school later our old school it was my daddy used to say you may not get straight A's but you won't get perfect attendance let me help you the grade maybe on the child but the attendance is on the pair my dad used to say you go go to school every day if you got up said you didn't feel good here's what that was saying we're going to get dressed you'll feel better when you get to school because you go get perfect attendance now let me tell you how you get perfect attendance whenever the roll is called you have to raise your hand and say here when the teacher calls your name on Monday you have to raise your hand and say here which it calls your name on Wednesday you had to raise your hand and say here when nobody else was in class if she called your name you had to raise your hand and say Here I am right here let me tell you about a god that has perfect attendance cuz whenever you call on the name of God God says Here I am in your sickness Here I am in your heartache Here I am he's with me he walks with me he talks with me God is right here and so the writer proverb says so thank God thank God in every situation if you're up thank God if you're going down thank God if you got a lot thank God if you're running on empty thank God huh if you got a bin thank God huh if you're pushing a Buick thank God huh if you're living in a six-bedroom thank God huh if you got a studio thank God huh cuz whatever you got ha God gave it to you and you ought to thank God for what the Lord has done isn't anybody here that can count your blessings and thank God for what God has done thank God for what God is given thank God thank God thank God yeah yeah yeah yeah hey hey is whether ah I thank him for my mountains and I thank him for my dollies I thank him for every trial he brought me through coz if I never had a problem I would know God could solve them and I would not know what faith in God can do that's Andre Crouch through it all through it all I've learned to trust in Jesus through it all I'll learn to trust in God isn't anybody here that can say through it all through it all I trust God through it all I try God through it all I thank God yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you somebody say trust God somebody say try God somebody say thank God here's what the Word of God declares if you trust him if you try him if you're thanking he will direct your path he will lead you through this fickle thing called life he will save you in this fragile thing called life he will fill you in this fleeting thing called life and he will order your steps in this futile thing called life trust him tryam thank you you

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

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Keywords: Pastor Wesley

Id: K7VzTT3wVjI

Length: 42min 20sec (2540 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 27 2013