We’re in Ecclesiastes tonight. If you’ve got a Bible, please do find Ecclesiastes Chapter 3. We’re coming up on Easter. As James said, our Good Friday service commemorating the death of Jesus is going to happen this week. Next Sunday is Easter Sunday and, in the meantime, we are going to continue our study in Ecclesiastes because it actually really fits. The last few weeks, we’ve hit the issue of death. This week, we finish Ecclesiastes’ great investigation of this concept and theme of death, which leads into Good Friday and the death of Jesus quite naturally. So, I will pray and we will get to work in this great section of God’s Word.

Father, again, we thank you that you are not a God who has left us to ourselves, but instead, you have not only revealed yourself to us, but you have actually come for us. God, I thank you for sending Jesus to die for our sins and as we lean into Good Friday and Easter, may we be ever mindful of his work on our behalf. And we thank you as well, Holy Spirit, for inspiring the writings of Scripture so that we might know who our God is and what he has done and how are we to trust him. I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would come this evening and you would illuminate our understanding of the Word that you have inspired so that we might love Jesus and trust him and that our lives might be tethered to him by grace. God, we just ask this in Jesus’ good name. Amen.

Ecclesiastes 3. Where we looked at last week is two overarching principles. One, is that God is in ultimate control of everything. We do sin and make decisions and choices throughout the course of our lives, but God is in ultimate control of everything and that he makes everything beautiful in his time. Those are the two principles. That the good God is ultimately in charge and everything is going to be beautiful when he is done with them. Now, the problem is, Solomon says 29 times in the book of Ecclesiastes that we live under the sun. We live on the earth and we see sin, injustice, oppression, wickedness and death. And it is very hard if you live on the earth with eyes open and any sort of honesty that is in you to then believe, just from the information you have available to you in this life, that God is really wonderful and God is truly in charge of human history. And so, Solomon addresses this issue head on and he actually doesn’t deny that life on this earth is painful, and is arduous, and is toil. But, he walks right through it.

And he begins here, in verse 16. And here is what he has to say. “And I saw something else under the sun.” Chapter 3:16. “In the place of judgment, wickedness was there, and in the place of justice, wickedness was there.” This is one of our great problems on the earth. People are sinful, selfish, bent and crooked. And they do terrible things to each other. Deplorable things. Everyone in this room has scars that they have received from someone else. Everyone in this room has also given scars to someone else. We’re all victims and perpetrators of these great crimes. And what he says is this. That we come together as societies, and nations, and communities, and we organize in such a way that we can bring about some measure of justice. That’s why we have laws. That’s why we have elected officials. That’s why we have police officers. That’s we have jails. That’s whey we have wars. That’s why we have capital punishment. That’s why we have threat of retribution. If nothing else, we at least impose a fine to try and keep people in order. To try and keep people from doing the most deplorable and despicable things to each other.

And what he says is this. That even though systems and institutions, those means by which we try to restrain evil, those are a failure because the system is only as good as the person who is in charge of implementing its policies and procedures. What that means is this. Sinners don’t bring about ultimate justice upon sinners. We can’t. We’re imperfect. We’re flawed. Sometimes, we have mixed motives and selfish intentions. That’s why none of us believes that all of the criminals are actually in jail and, actually, the innocent people are all on the street. We know that there’s innocent people in jail and we know that there’s crooks who get away Scott free. And we know as well as he says that there’s supposed to be justice. We love and hate justice. We all do. We have this interesting relationship with justice. When someone sins against us, we want justice. You stole my car – I would like it back. You stole my identity and spent all my money – I would like it back. You have harmed me. You’ve injured me. You’ve wronged me. You’ve broken contract. You’ve breached faith. I want justice. I want recompense.

But, at the same time, we also hate justice because if we do those things, if we steal, if we run the intersection and t-bone your car, if we accidentally embezzle your money, then we don’t want justice. We want mercy. And this is the double edge that is very painful with justice. People love it for the other guy and they hate it for themselves. And what Solomon says is this. Because of that situation, what invariably happens is that there is no justice. There is no justice. And you know this as well as I do. Even in our system, which is one of the best, I would submit to you, in the history of the world, our justice system, it has, often times, less to do with your guilt or innocence than it does with your income and your litigator as to whether or not you will be found guilty.

In this life, anyone who loves justice, anyone who wants to see those who are wicked dealt with rightly, is going to be perennially frustrated because it will never happen as it should. So, Solomon takes comfort, in the next verse, verse 17, that while maybe this life we don’t see justice. Maybe God doesn’t deal with all sin immediately, but there will be a day. This day of ultimate recompense. He says in Chapter 3:16, “I thought in my heart” – he’s meditating about this issue – “God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked for there will be a time for every activity and a time for every deed.” He echoes back to the beginning of a chapter. Chapter 3:1, that “There’s a time and season for everything.” What he says is this. That now is the season of grace whereby God allows people to live their lives in freedom, but there will be another season, another time at the end of the age, where God will judge everyone. That we will come before him and he will open our lives to us and he will render a verdict as to our guilt or innocence and our conduct. What we have done and failed to do. What we have said and what we should not have said.

And Solomon takes comfort that maybe in this life there is not justice, but that does not mean that justice will never come. That it will come and that God will have to be the one to bring it. Because the institutions, and the organizations, and the policies, and the procedures that we have, whether they are good or bad, are still being implemented by imperfect people who are making mistakes, either intentionally and willfully and volitionally, or accidentally. We’ll have to wait for God to show up. We’ll have to wait for him to bring about justice. Well, here’s the problem. We die before we ever see that. We die before we get to see justice. We die before we get to see God render his verdict. This is what he says in verse 18. “I also thought as for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.” He does not say that we are animals. What he is saying is this, though. Human beings, when separated from God, in fear of God, they end up acting like animals. They do. They run in packs. They do despicable things. They kill. They are blood thirsty. They are perverse. They are crooked. They are deplorable.

I can understand where evolutionary theorists came to the conclusion that we came from animals because sometimes, when we give ourselves over to our base nature, our fallen, crooked humanity, we end up descending to the place where we no longer look like image bearers of God. But, we look like mere animals, conducting ourselves in beastly and ghastly ways. We didn’t come from the animals. We came from God. And God embedded in us this dignity, and this value, and this worth. We are to rule over the animals and steward creation. But, so often times, we descend in our sin and we look like animals and we act like them too. And that’s what he’s saying. That it is so sad to see the image bearers of God, people that God made, people that God made for dignity, and for beauty, and for goodness descend into ugliness. And into sin. And into folly.

Some of you have committed such egregious and such disgusting acts in the course of your life that, at that moment, you felt somewhat like an animal yourself. Others of you have seen it firsthand. And it’s sickening. Because of that, they tell us that we, therefore, are the same as animals. We’re not. We’re not. If we were the same as animals, the animals would have coalitions and they would raise money to come out and rescue us. It’d be “Save the stupid Americans” instead of “Save the Whales” is what it would be. But, the fact that we have a desire to work for the betterment of our environment, we have a desire for humane treatment of animals, we have a desire for the oversight of lesser creation, indicates that we are still above the animals. But, in our sin, sometimes, we are much like them.

He goes on to talk about this sort of parallels between us and the animals. Verse 19, “Man’s fate is like that of the animals. The same fate awaits them both. As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath and man has no advantage over the animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place. All come from dust. And to the dust, we all return.” What he says is this. Human beings and animals are not the same, but when human beings sin, they look like animals. They act like animals. And, in addition, there are two things that we do share in common with animals. One, God made them from the dust of the earth. And God made us from the dust of the earth. And one day, we’re gonna die and go back into that dust.

Now, you and your golden retriever, right now, you have advantages over your golden retriever. But, when you die, you don’t. You’re both dead. You’re both in a box. You’re both in a hole. You’re both decomposing. And, at that point, your position is about the same as your golden retriever that’s buried next to you. There’s no real advantage in being a human being because once you’re dead, you’re dead. As soon as an animal dies, it’s gone. As soon as a human being dies, they’re gone. What we share in common with the animals is that we’re going to die and I’ve said this before and I’ll say this again. He says this in Ecclesiastes 7:2, that “Death is the destiny of everyone.” That we’re all gonna die. Now, many of us never contemplate that. We never think of it. We never consider it because it is a terrifying prospect to us.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, that “Death is a great enemy.” We don’t like to think about this enemy of ours because, so far, no one has found a way to beat him. Death comes for us all and he finds us. And he finds us. What he says is this in verse 21, “Who knows? Who knows if the spirit of a man rises upward or if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” Here’s his point. He talks about under the sun. He’s working through a scientific empiricism here. He’s using his five senses. He’s using his three pound fallen brain. And he’s using all the information and data that he can collect from life on earth. And he says, “Just surveying the facts, the brute facts as we have them, you have no clue what happens to you when you die. You can’t prove a thing.” Who knows? Maybe all dogs do go to Heaven and all people go to Hell. Who knows? Or maybe all people go to Heaven and all dogs go to mulch. Who knows? No one knows. And we have different theories. Some people say, “Well, when you die, you go to a better place. Everybody goes there.” “Can you prove it?” “No. That’s my guess.” Well, when you die, good people go up, bad people go down.” “Can you prove it?” “No, it’s a guess. It’s speculation.” Some people say reincarnation or karma. Well, if you’re good, you come back as something wonderful, like a golden retriever. If you’re bad, you come back as a French Canadian. You know, there’s something terrible.

(Laughter)

“Can you prove it?” “No, I can’t prove it. It’s a guess. It’s a total guess.” Now, the one thing I’ve never seen is people who believe that when you die, everybody goes to Hell. That’s the one I’ve never seen. That would actually be, probably, the easiest sell. It makes the most sense. No one likes it, though, so they don’t vote for that. There’s no big movement or religion where we all rally around the fact that we’re really sinful and we’re gonna die and go to hell. And there’s no hope. That would be consistent with the way we live our lives, but we don’t like that. And what I’m saying is this. That philosophy is a guess. Even atheism is a guess. “You die, you’re nothing. You’re done.” “Can you prove it?” “No.” It’s a guess. Philosophy is a guess. Religion is a guess. And that’s what Solomon is saying. We don’t know where we came from. We weren’t there. We don’t know where we’re going. We’ve never been there. None of us has ever died and then seen what’s on the other side and come back to give a report. Now, some people like to read books and write books about near death experiences. The key there is it’s near death experiences. Nobody died for three, four, five days, was definitely dead, and then came back to give us a report, “This is what happens.”

Solomon says, “If all you have is life on the earth, you’re banking your eternity on a pretty decent guess.” If you’re here tonight and you don’t know Jesus, that’s all you’re doing. You’re taking a shot. You’re taking a gamble with your eternity. You’re taking a gamble with your soul. And you can’t prove a thing. You’re just rolling the dice and hoping, and wishing that the way you want it to be is the way that it truly is, which is pretty silly and pretty risky.

I had one of the most peculiar weeks. This whole issue of death, what happens when you die, Solomon says that – a couple of times in his book, he says, “I thought in my heart”. That’s meditation. He’s taking these concepts and he’s thinking about them as he’s walking around in his life and living and I was thinking about these concepts of death all week. Well, what happens when you die? What happens on the other side? How come we do die? Scripture is the only thing that has ever explained to me why we die. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes earlier that God has set eternity in our hearts. We hate death. We wanna live forever. We want our relationships and our joys and the fruit of our labors to endure forever, but we die. It’s very frustrating. Death gets in the way of everything. It’s the big road block in the middle of life.

And the Bible says, “That the wage for sin is death. That God is life and when you sin, you separate yourself from God.” And that apart from God showing up and telling us what’s on the other side, we have no idea what’s going to happen to us once we die. And I was just meditating and contemplating on all of this this week, walking around. And three things happened that just really got me thinking pretty deep.

The first was on Thursday, there’s a couple in the church that got married here. They love the Lord. They’re very sweet people. And the wife was pregnant with their first children. She was pregnant with twin boys. And she had complications through the duration of the pregnancy, but was determined to see this through in hopes that the children would live. She gave birth on Thursday morning, bright and early. I got a call from the father at about 6:30 or 7:00, and I got dressed, and I rushed to the hospital because there were complications. And there were two twin boys, Joshua and Caleb. One was something like two pounds, three ounces. The other was like one pound, nine ounces. Just the smallest little guys you could possibly imagine. And I remember praying with the father and the mother and I remember going into the intensive care unit where they have the children and praying for the boys. And as I was praying for Joshua, the older, I got the strong impression from the Lord that he was going to make it. And I as prayed over the Caleb, the smaller brother, I got the strong impression from the Lord that he was not going to make it. And I’m not saying that’s surefire proof, but what I found is this. As your pastor, God often tells me things before they happen so that I can be ready to help you. I need to get prepared.

And I just remembered this sadness and this heaviness of heart, looking at this one pound, nine ounce little boy on a respirator, fighting for his life on the day of his birth. And I left there and Caleb died. It was the first death of a child we have had in the history of this church – of a born child. There have been miscarriages. And I was thinking about it this week, there was just this heaviness upon me. The saddest thing you have ever seen is a tiny coffin. That’s the saddest thing you’ll ever see is a tiny coffin. And I was just contemplating on it this week. Man, if this child would have lived, who would they have become? What would they have done? What would their life be like? You know, here’s Joshua. They took a photo of Joshua and Caleb before Caleb died. And they’ve got a photo of Joshua and Caleb together. And I pray, and you should pray, that Joshua makes it. He’s still got a lot of fighting ahead of him. Months in the hospital. But, if Joshua makes it, what is it going to be like for him as a young man and as a man to see a photo of his little brother next to him when they were babies that didn’t make it?

And you think, “What do I say at the funeral? What do I say to the parents?” This is where bumper stickers and platitudes just fall short and ring hollow. Just pithy, trite statements. “Oh, it’s all for best” or “They’re in a better place.” Just sort of seems stupid to say those things. That’s what Solomon is saying. When you look at life, it’s painful. People suffer. People die. And apart from Jesus, we have no idea what happens next. It just seems like a brutal short run, and then the end. That’s all we can see. That’s all we can see. And so, he works backwards. He says, “Well, as long as we’re alive, we should probably”, verse 22, “live.” He says, “So, I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work because this is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will after him?” He says, as long as we’re alive, you may as well enjoy it because no one can bring you to the other side of your life and show you what happens after death. So, as long as you’re breathing, fear God, live your life, take the joy that God affords you and each opportunity that he provides. That’s all you can do.

But, this is hard. It sounds good in theory. Okay, well, as long as you’re alive, be happy. Make the best of it. But, that, in and of itself, too, is very difficult because he says in verse 1 of Chapter 4, there is an additional series of problems. “Again, I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun.” That’s the problem. There’s oppression. “I saw the tears of the oppressed and they have no comforter and power was on the side of their oppressors and they have no comforter.” What he’s saying is this. That in the world, in an effort to bring order and stability, in an effort to bring goodness and beauty, certain people are entrusted in positions of power. And those people have authority, and they have the opportunity to determine whether your life is good or bad. This could be anyone from your father to your pastor to your elected officials. People that have authority. People have authority that is supposed to be used in a benevolent way to make our life better. The problem is this. Those people that hold power, do they use it for your good or for theirs? They always use it for theirs. That’s the problem.

People who become powerful have the propensity if they are not fearful of God to turn themselves into their own little God and to use their power to harm everyone else so that they will be benefitted. And they laugh while everyone else cries. And they live in luxury while everyone else lives in poverty. That’s what he says. You even think about it. Next to God, according to the Bible, the person in authority over you that is supposed to be the most helpful, loving, gracious, is whom? Your dad. Your father. If anyone has authority and power that is to be used in a beneficial and beautiful way, it’s your dad. It’s your dad. Do fathers, just as an example, use the authority and power that they have as a general rule to bless and encourage their children to oppress them? How many fathers rule like cruel dictators over a small nation?

Many of you, your deepest wounds, your most painful memories, they come from your dad. The guy who was supposed to use his authority and power in a benevolent way to love and care for and encourage and protect you. But, because he’s a crooked, fallen, sinful man, probably didn’t. Statistically, 40 percent of kids tonight go to bed without a father. They don’t even have a dad. In addition, those that have a father, how many of them have a father who does not cause them tears, as Solomon says? Who does not cause them oppression? Who does not cause them grief? How many women have a husband like that? A man who does not bring about injustice and tyranny? But, brings, actually, grace and love and mercy and life? And he uses his authority, he uses his power in a beautiful way?

It is so rare that we see someone – a boss, a teacher, a coach, a pastor, a parent, a spouse, in a position of authority and power that uses it rightly and beautifully that we are actually a culture that now has a disdain for power and authority. It is rebellion against the parents. It is rebellion against the teachers. It is rebellion against the police. It is rebellion against the government because we have lost any faith that someone with authority and power could use it in a right and a good way.

And so, what we opt for instead is, basically, an anarchy, whereby, as Isaiah says, “Everyone does whatever they think is good for them. Whatever’s right in their eyes.” And all that is, is that is me oppressing myself, by my own folly, rather than having you impose it upon me from the outside. Do you see oppression? I’m not just talking far away and other nations of the earth. It certainly exists there. You ever seen a wife oppressed by her husband? You ever seen a child oppressed by their parent? You ever seen an employee oppressed by their employer? Solomon says the consequence of that is tears. It’s grief. It’s despair. It’s depression. And what he’s saying is this. Life is short, then you die. Apart from Jesus, you have no idea what comes next. In the middle, you’re trying to be happy, but everyone who is supposed to have the opportunity to help you, they don’t. They don’t.

And so, here’s the conclusion that he comes to in verse 2, Chapter 4:2. “And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living who are still alive.” He says, dead people, good for them. Good for them. Good for them ‘cause they don’t have to see it anymore. They don’t have to feel it anymore. They don’t have to endure it anymore. It’s over. It’s over. The dead are better off than the living because the living are still suffering and for the dead, they are done.

Do you think that death is a gift? Now, it tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that, “If we don’t know Jesus, death is an enemy.” But, it also says in the Psalms, that “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” God seems to see, if we love him, our day of death as a great gift that he has given to us. God is the one who put death into human history. God created us to live and to live forever. And the story of Genesis tells us that we obtained our life through the partaking of a particular fruit from the tree of life. This tree doesn’t show up again ‘til the end of the Book of Revelation whereupon our entrance into his kingdom, we can partake of that. You and I who love Jesus, we will eat of that fruit of that tree together. And we will live forever with God. But, the reason we don’t eat of it today is because God separated us from this opportunity for life. Set an angel there with a flaming sword is what Genesis says. Basically, it’s off limits. We’re not allowed to live anymore. We’re going to die because the wage for sin is death.

And some people look at this as a great travesty and a great tragedy and a great injustice that was burdened upon us by God. I would submit this to you. Death is a gift that God has given us. Many of us have this naïve myth that we would love to live forever. I would submit this to you. Contemplate a world wherein everyone does whatever they want with no threat of death and they live forever. If you knew that you would not die, would you live differently? You would. Would you live more recklessly? You would. Would you live more selfishly? You would. Would you cause more pain? And more injustice? And more suffering? And more oppression on others than you do now, if you knew that they could not kill you or that your sin would not lead to death? You would.

Contemplate living in a world, then, where everyone sins and nothing happens. There is no motivation or incentive to stop. In addition, contemplate a world wherein that if you get sick, you could be sick forever. If you were in pain, you could be in pain forever. That if you are injured or if you fall into poor health, that you will be that way forever. Chronic suffering without any hope of an end. Do you wanna live there? I don’t wanna live there. That’s Hell. That’s Hell. Hell is life that has not been redeemed, but continues forever. That’s Hell. And God enables us to go through death as a great gift is what Solomon says. That those people who have already died, they are better off. They are better off. Because at least the seeing of injustice, the seeing of wickedness, the suffering of oppression, it’s come to an end.

He says that, “Better yet”, verse 3, “is he who had not yet been born. He who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.” He says, “You know what? The kids that haven’t arrived yet, they’re the most fortunate of all. Those of us who are alive, life is marked by pain. Those of us who die have it better because at least the pain’s over. Those that have not yet been born, they are the most fortunate of all because they haven’t seen what we do to each other and they haven’t experienced it themselves.”

My wife’s pregnant with our fourth child. She’s due sometime in October. Around that time, five children are born – slated to be born – in this church. Solomon was saying that the child, the son or daughter that is in my wife’s stomach tonight, is better off than me ‘cause it hasn’t come forth to see this world.

This is one of the most depressing text in the whole Bible, right? Some of you are saying, “We should pass the plate now. We shouldn’t put money in. We should take pills out. That’s what we need to do.”

(Laughter)

“This is depressing.” The reason it’s depressing is because it is painfully honest. Solomon strips away all the naivety. Strips away all the optimism. Strips away all the philosophy. Strips away all the theology. Strips away all of the religion. Strips away all of the speculation and just says, “You’re gonna die and in the meantime, you usually act like an animal.” That’s it. Apart from Jesus, that’s it. That’s all you got. There’s no other information to factor into the equation.

I had two other instances this week in addition to the death of Caleb. I’m trying to figure out what I’m gonna say at his funeral. Two other things come up this week. My father in law, whom I love, he’s been a pastor for 40 years. He’s usually at the 5:00 service. Comes to visit and encourage me and pray for us as a church. This week, he went in for surgery. Now, his recovery is going slow and it’s painful, but he’s 72 years of age and I was thinking about it this week. My father in law’s gonna die. And mom just had her 53rd birthday. At some point, my parents are going to die. I’m going to preach the funeral of my mom and dad. I’m gonna preach the funeral of my father in law, my mother in law. But, death is the destiny of everyone.

And it was really interesting ‘cause then on Saturday my son, Zack, he just hit me with all kinds of questions about death. It was really curious. He’s three years old. He’s a bright kid. Every morning he gets up, and he runs out, and he gets my newspaper out of the yard before I can even get it because he’s completely infatuated with the war in Iraq. And he brings the newspaper in and he lays out the sections on the floor and he’s looking at all the pictures to see all the pictures of the war. And then, he’s got lots of questions for me. His questions on Saturday, after he’s looked at my paper, he climbs up on my lap. He says, “Daddy, I have more questions.” “Okay, what are they? Fire away.” His first question was, “Did they get the bad guy?” His world is black hats, white hats. That’s his world. I say, “Well, they haven’t gotten the bad guy yet. They might have, but they can’t tell ‘cause they dropped a bomb on him and it’s really hard to figure out whether or not he’s still there ‘cause if he is, he’s scattered pretty far and wide. So, it’s hard to tell.” And he says, “Okay, well, why are they fighting?” So, I’m trying to explain to him why our nation’s in conflict. And then, he looks at me and he says, “Well, have any of the good guys died?” And I said, “Yes. Yes, people have died on both sides. Lots of people are dying.” And he looks at me and he says, “When are you going to die?”, my three year old son. I said, “I don’t know.” I said, “But, someday I will. Someday I will.” He said, “Yep.”

(Laughter)

He wasn’t as disturbed about it as I was hoping.

(Laughter)

And he said, “But, that’s okay ‘cause you’re gonna go with Jesus.” And he said, “Then, someday I’ll die and then I’ll go to see Jesus and I’ll see you.” I said, “That’s right.” He has an attitude that Heaven is like California. You just move there.

(Laughter)

So, I’ll just pack up and go somewhere else. And it was curious to me because then he saw the – one of the photos in the paper had a bunch of Muslims bowing down in prayer. And he says, “What are they doing, daddy?” I said, “They’re praying.” He says, “Who are they praying to?” I said, “Well, they’re praying to their god.” He said, “Is their god Jesus?” I said, “No, their god’s not Jesus. They pray to a different god.” He says, “Well, who do they think Jesus is?” I said, “Well, they think Jesus was a good teacher, but not God.” He says, “Jesus was a good teacher, but he’s God, right, dad?” I said, “Right.” And he says, “Well, what are we gonna do?” I said, “Well, what do you think we should do?” He said, “We should pray for them that God changes their hearts” and he says, “When I get big enough, I need to go there and preach to them and tell them about Jesus.” He says, “Otherwise, when they die, they won’t go to be with him.” And I said, “That’s right.” At three, my son’s thinking about his mission trip.

(Laughter)

So, I started talking to my son about death ‘cause his grandfather being in the hospital this week for surgery. In the middle of a war, daddy goes to the hospital because a young baby, who’s even younger than he is, dies. He’s got all these questions about death. And I’ll take you to the place that I took my son. That’s John Chapter 5. That’s where I took my boy. Solomon comes to a right conclusion. With our five senses and the information we have on planet earth, what happens when we die is a guess at best. We need more information. So, 900 years after Solomon comes Jesus. Comes Jesus. Now, there has been a debate through the last, basically, hundred years as to whether or not Solomon actually lived and the Biblical account is true. And did he actually live 900 years before Jesus? If you read The Seattle Times yesterday, there was an article off the – I think off The Associated Press newswire that said, “Oh, my goodness. We found all these artifacts in a geological dig in the Middle East and Solomon really lived and he was really rich and he lived 900 years before Jesus. And the things in the Bible are true. So, I guess that means the Bible’s true because The Seattle Times says it is, but –

(Laughter)

− it’s just kind of interesting how we read the Scriptures. Then everybody denies it until they get artifacts that say that it is, indeed, accurate. So, 900 years after Solomon, Jesus shows up. And again, had Jesus not shown up, we would not have any idea exclusively what was to happen to us after death. So, Jesus shows up. Beginning in Chapter 5, I’ll read real quickly beginning in verse 18. “For this reason, the Jews tried all the harder to kill him. Not only was Jesus breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, which made him equal with God.” Jesus came to the earth. Jesus said, “I’m God. I’m God.” Some people say, “Well, he never said he was God.” Yes, he did. That’s why they killed him. They killed him because he said he was God and they thought he was lying.

So, what he goes on to say about this issue of death, in verse 19, Jesus gave them this answer. “I tell you the truth.” As you read John’s Gospel, you see that this is something that Jesus says frequently. You’re not going to hear this very often from religions or from philosophers. They will never say, “This is the truth.” They’ll say, “Well, I think” and that’s about as far as they’re able to go because they have speculation, but they don’t have revelation. They have what they see, but they don’t have what God said. And so, they’re in this middle ground of having to guess, which is unfortunate because people stake their life and their eternity on these guesses. And Jesus shows up and is emphatically clear on multiple occasions, “I tell you the truth.”

When it comes to what happens after you die, you don’t need a guess. You need the truth. That’s what you need. So, he says, “I tell you the truth. The Son”, that’s Jesus, “can do nothing by himself. He can do only what he sees his Father doing because whatever the Father does, the Son does also. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he does. Yes, to your amazement, he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives lives to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to” whom? “To the Son.”

Solomon, Ecclesiastes 3:17, says, “There will be judgment for the righteous and the wicked or the unrighteous. Jesus says, “I will take care of that. I will be the judge.” Many people don’t like that. They say, “Well, who are you to judge me?” We can’t see that to Jesus. “Who are you to judge me?” “I’m your maker. And I’m God. So, yes, I can judge you. I know every action. I know every word and I know every thought that you have ever had. I’m fit to judge. Now, maybe you could fool the police officer that pulled you over or maybe you could work around the judge when you came up for trial, but you can’t fool me. I’m the God who sees and knows everything and I’m your judge. I’m your judge.”

The promise that Solomon gives about there being a day of judgment and justice is fulfilled, Jesus says, in him. In him. He goes in verse 23, “That all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Father – excuse me – the Son, does not honor the Father who sent him. I tell you the truth.” He says it again. “Whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me”, that’s God the Father, “has eternal life and will not be condemned. He is crossed over from death to life.” Jesus says, “You know what? Life doesn’t have to end. There’s eternal life. This is a quality of life that begins here and now and it is a state of life that endures forever.” And to cross over death to life, you need to trust Jesus and what he said. You need to trust him.

And there’s a reason we can trust him, he goes on to tell us in verse 25 again, third time in the section. “I tell you the truth. A time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself and he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of man. Do not be amazed at this for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good will rise to live and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself, I can do nothing. I judge only as I hear and my judgment is just for I seek not to please myself, but him who sent me.”

Jesus is the perfect judge because he’s not in it for his glory; he’s in it for the Father’s. Everyone else with authority and power in the history of the world, quite frankly, had mixed motives, at best. Not Jesus. Pure hearted. All he wants is the truth, justice and all glory to the Father. That’s all he wants. Now, here’s the beauty of it. Jesus Christ is your judge. Some of you say, “I don’t like that.” It doesn’t matter if you like it. It’s true. It’s true. He says, “I tell you the truth. I tell you the truth. I tell you the truth. I’m your judge. I have authority. I’m your God. Trust me. Trust me.”

There are two judgments. Everyone in this room will face one of them. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed once for a man to die, then for judgment.” There’s no reincarnation. There’s no karma. There’s no cycles of progress or regress. There is just death and then you’re looking God in the eye and a verdict is rendered and that’s it. That’s it. Some of you have given yourself to a guess. You have guessed that if you’re a good person or if you mean well or if you’re kind of spiritual or believe in some God, that everything will be fine.

Some of you have assumed a guess that you’ll just die and it’ll all be over. It’ll just come to an end and that’s a guess. For anyone who does not believe Jesus’ words, that he is God who has come to judge us and has all authority and power to do so; if you do not believe that now, you will believe that the moment you take your last breath because you will see him and you will be exposed. And you may cry, “This world was sinful. The world was evil. I was oppressed. I was hurt. I was a victim.” And what he will do is he will show all the times that you oppressed someone else. And all the times that you harmed someone else. And he will count all the tears that you have caused someone else to shed. And he will just state the plain, obvious fact that you are not just a victim of this world, but you are a contributor to it. That all the oppression, and all the sin, and the wickedness, and all the injustice wasn’t just all those people impinging upon your joy. That you are also guilty as charged.

And forthcoming will be all of the witnesses that then testify about the things you have done to them. And the things that you have said to them. And the things that you failed to do for them. And the things that you failed to say to them. And you will be guilty. And Jesus Christ will judge you. And you will suffer forever, separated from God, in that place where you will live forever and want to die, but there’s no gift of death.

Some of you, right, now, that’s where you’re going. I tell you that, not because I hate ‘ya. I tell you that because I love ‘ya. Until I was 19, that was where I was going. Some of you say, “I don’t believe it. Can you prove it?” Do you have anyone more trustworthy than Jesus that you’re banking on? You got anybody of finer character? You got anyone of more selfless devotion, who’s written a book, taught a class, given a seminar, that you trust? Why in the world would you trust them more than him?

For the rest of us, there is another day of judgment where all of your sins, past, present, and future are numbered. And where this is punishment and justice from God. When was that day? That was 2,000 years ago. That was 2,000 years ago. This is why the crucifixion of Jesus, what we’re going to celebrate on Good Friday, is the most important thing in the history of the world. Something amazing happened on Good Friday. First, God comes down to the earth as a human being. Stunning. Because Solomon said, “All I could see is what’s on the earth. I don’t have the information that I need to be connected to God.” So, God says, “I’ll take care of that. I’ll come to you. You’re never gonna come to me. The sin’s too great. The distance is too far. I’ll come to you. I will come in a way that is humble. I will speak the truth. I will reveal myself. I will invite you to me.” That’s Jesus.

What happens, though, is that rather than loving Jesus, we judge him. “You’re a liar. You’re a fraud. You’re a false teacher. You’re just a mortal person. You have no right to pronounce judgment on the rest of us.” And we kill him. And something amazing happens on the cross at Good Friday – we’ll celebrate it here at 7:00. And that is this, Jesus Christ goes to the cross and he is punished and judged for all of my sins. This is the heart of the Christian faith. All of my sins, past. All the things I’ve done that I’m so grateful they’re not up for the screens for you to see. All the things that I’ve said that I’m so excited aren’t up here and pounding out through the sound system. All the things that I failed to do. All the things that I failed to say. All the things that continually haunt me in my mind with regret and remorse and disdain and disgust. Is your pastor, by nature, a good guy? No. Some of you say, “Even redeemed, he’s still not that good. It must have been terrible.”

(Laughter)

One of the holiest men in the whole Bible, Paul, says that he’s the chief of sinners. And the beautiful thing is Jesus goes to the cross and he dies. The wage for sin is death. “Well, why did he die?” He didn’t sin. Hebrews says, “He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.” Why did Jesus die? He shouldn’t have died. He didn’t do anything. Even the crook hanging on the side of him says, “Why are we killing this guy? He’s not done anything.” The crook knows that Jesus hasn’t done anything. And here’s the beauty of it – 2 Corinthians 5:21. “God made him who knew no sin to become sin so that in him, I might become the righteousness of God.” Ecclesiastes 3:17, he said there would be a day of judgment for the wicked and for the righteous. My day of judgment was at the cross of Jesus Christ and there, he made me righteous. He died for all of my sins. Sins I haven’t even gotten to yet ‘cause I’ve been so busy with the other ones.

(Laughter)

Things I haven’t even done yet, Jesus already died for, paid the penalty for. He was punished in my place. He died in my place. He suffered in my place. What happened to Jesus should have happened to me and it won’t. That’s why Paul can mock death in 1 Corinthians 15 as a believer. “Death, where’s your victory? Death, where is your sting?” Goes from being an enemy to a great friend and a gift. It happens on the cross. Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And in that moment, the Father turns his back on the Son. The Father should have turned his back on me instead. And he didn’t.

Jesus says something amazing from the cross. He says, “Father, please forgive them.” He’s talking about me. He’s talking about me. “Father, forgive Mark.” And he cries out, “It is finished.” It’s all done. I don’t need to reincarnate as something less than to get punished. To pay back my sin to some invisible checkbook in the sky who’s keeping notes. I don’t need to be a good person that earns God’s favor through morality or spirituality. I don’t need to die. And face judgment. And go to hell. And suffer torment. And be separated from God. And live forever, wanting just to cease to exist because it’s so terrible to look at the human condition untethered from God. It’s all finished. I don’t need guilt. I don’t need shame. I don’t need despair. I don’t need good works. I don’t need religion. I don’t need morality. I just need Christ and it’s all finished.

And then he says, “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.” The Son is reconciled to the Father. I am reconciled to the Father. And now, when God sees me, he sees me through the finished work of Christ. Perfect. Holy. Forgiven. Righteous.

They wrapped Jesus up. A hundred pounds of spices and burial clothing. He’s laid in a tomb. An enormous stone is put over. Three days later, as he promised, he comes back to life. That’s Easter. That’s what we celebrate next week. I went to church for years and I still wasn’t sure what Easter was all about. It’s about Jesus. And it’s about the fact that he is not dead. That, actually, he did die for my sin and he was in the grave three days to make it obvious that he was very dead. And then, he came back to life. He’s the only one that’s ever crossed over and seen the other side. He’s the only one that knows what awaits me at the moment of my death. And he has told me that he’s my God. He’s told me that he is my judge. And he has told me that he is just and he has the authority to execute the necessary punishment to bring about justice for me. Not only that, he took it upon himself. And he invited me to himself. And he loved me. And he forgave me. And he redeemed me. And he healed me. And he showed me what my future is. My future’s not death. My future’s eternal life.

Daniel 12:2 says, “That in that day, the multitudes that sleep in the dust of the earth will arise. Some to everlasting joy. Some to everlasting contempt.” My prayer, my pleading with you is this. Trust him. Trust Jesus more than your guess. See, what I’m looking forward to is in that day, he promised here, just as he spoke Lazarus’ name and Lazarus came out of his tomb, he’s going to say my name. And I’m going to come out of my grave. I think the reason that Jesus said the name Lazarus because if he hadn’t, he would have emptied the graveyard that day. One at a time, the Bible indicates that God will say your name, and he will say my name, and he will call us forth out of our grave and we will rise together.

For those of you that hate oppression, if you love Jesus, you will be going into this kingdom that has no oppression. For those of you that hate injustice, you’ll be going into this kingdom that has no injustice. For those of you that hate sin, you’ll be going into this kingdom that has no sin. For those of you that hate death, you’ll be going into this kingdom that has no death. For those of you who are sick of shedding your tears, it tells that you’ll be going to this kingdom where Jesus himself will wipe every tear from your eye. My beautiful wife will be there. My sweet kids will be there. Solomon will be there. All of who have died with faith in Jesus will be there. The Bible explains it as the greatest party that has ever been thrown. A day filled with feasting with feasting, and joy, and laughter, and that it goes on forever. And that death becomes for us that gateway through which we past this great gift, for we are unshackled from the bondage of sin and folly and death and Satan and the crooked world that we live in. And we are liberated to walk into the presence of God and see him face to face “and know him”, Paul says, “as we are fully known.

We gather every week. God’s opened up a $5 million building. He’s brought you here to meet him. That’s why you’re here. And tonight, he’s just calling your name. And his desire is to see you accept his judgment for your sin, on his cross, rather than dying and hanging on your own. At that point, we respond. If you’re not a Christian, you need to respond by owning the fact that you are a sinner. That you have violated God’s good decrees and laws. And you need to thank Jesus for dying for all of your sins, past, present, and future. You can do that in prayer quietly. You can do that afterward by speaking with a pastor. You can do that in a moment of silence at your chair.

For those of you who are Christians, you do belong to Jesus. You have repented of sin and trusted in his death for your sin and his resurrection for your forgiveness of sin. The habitual course of our life now is also one of repentance. That as we sin, we come to Jesus to be forgiven and then empowered to walk in newness of life as imitators of him. And we call you to respond tonight through repentance. That is your first act.

We call you, then, to respond to God in communion, which is remembering Jesus’ body as shown in bread and Jesus’ blood as shown in drink, shed for your sin and for mine. If you’re a Christian, you’re welcome to partake of communion. If you do not trust in Christ, communion is not something that we ask you to participate in. And I want you to think of this as we take it. We have you stand up and we have you come forward as a people because that is what is going to happen at the end of time. All of God’s children will rise together and we will walk to Christ together. And so, as you take communion, I just want you to see all of the sin that Jesus has forgiven. I want you to see all of the people that Jesus has loved. I want you to see all of the work that God has accomplished. And everyone who stands up and partakes, they are part of that great witness and that great multitude.

Lastly, we ask you to respond by giving of your tithes and offerings, and your life, and your resources. We are not just consumers of God’s grace and God’s work. We are participants in his ministry on the earth. And we participate in the preaching of the Gospel. The planting of churches. The teaching of the Bible. The building up of relationships. The encouraging of those who are hurting. And the instruction of those who are wayward. And you participate in that through your prayer and your service and your giving.

So, I’m gonna call the band forward at this time. And this is your opportunity to respond to Jesus. He’s our God. And I pray that you would enjoy responding to him because as painful as life is, Jesus is sufficient to forgive what we have done. To heal what suffering we feel. And to call us out of our graves into newness of life whereby there is a day that it all comes to an end.

Lord Jesus, I thank you that you are the one that is greater than Solomon, just as you said that you were. And, Lord Jesus, I thank you that, unlike Solomon, we are not stuck in a time where we have no idea what happens after death. Thank you that 900 years after Solomon, Lord Jesus, you humbled yourself, took upon human flesh, and came to this earth for us to seek and save those of us who are lost. I thank you so much, Lord Jesus, that you spoke the truth. That you told us that you were God. That you promised us that you would die and rise. I thank you that upon the cross you cried out for our forgiveness and you died for our many sins. I thank you that you rose from death and that you have conquered our enemies of sin and death. And I thank you that you give us forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life as a free gift. That we simply need believe and trust in you and your work and not our own.

Lord Jesus, it is my prayer tonight that you would open the hearts and the minds of all whom are here. That none would leave here without responding to you in repentance and trust. And, Lord Jesus, as we come forward for communion, may we remind ourselves of that day where, as a multitude, we shall rise with all of your people. As we take communion, remember your body and blood, as we give of our offering, we remember that we are participants in your work on the earth until that day when we shall see you face to face. And we shall walk into your kingdom free of Satan, sin, death, folly, and the curse, to be a people of joy, singing, and dancing, and enjoying one another in your presence. We love you and we long for that day. Amen.