Good morning, welcome to the service this morning here at West Park. I do apologise in advance, we have a slight hiccup in that the sound is being picked up on the tie mic, the pulpit mic, but also bizarrely the microphone attached to the computer at the back of the room, so I do apologise for that. It's good to be able to come together around the Lord's Word and in prayer and in fellowship. And as we begin, I'd like you to turn with me in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4, and we're going to read from verse 8 to verse 20. Philippians 4 verse 8. Finally, my brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again, though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well that you shared in my distress. Now, you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed, I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Let's come before our God in prayer. Our Lord and our God, we thank you and we praise you this morning that we are able to come into your presence, for we recognize that you are holy. You are unchanging and varying and altering. You are eternally holy, therefore. you have not become more holy you have not adopted holiness you are holy you are righteous and pure you are the one who for all eternity is holy and who are we therefore to come before you Were we to come in our natural state we would be utterly consumed. We could not enter your presence for you are a Consuming fire of holiness so that all that is sinful Will ultimately be judged and burned up as the dross that it is under your wrath Oh lord, we confess that our sin Our sin was that which was an eternal affront against your holiness It wasn't merely a moment's rebellion in our life, but it was a statement of utter rebellion, of eternal rejection. Lord, we have sinned against you, and we thank you, therefore, that it is only by your grace that we are able to come, not by our merits, for we have none, we could have none. But we thank you that by your grace and your mercy, Father, you've sent the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this world according to your plan and purpose. We thank you that he came into this world and died on the cross in our place, paying the penalty for our sin. We thank you, therefore, he took our sin. And when we have repented by your grace and exercised that gift of faith that you have given us in him, then Then his righteousness was accounted to us And oh how we rejoice this day that as we come before you it is not By our own merits, but in the merits of our savior your son the lord jesus christ We thank you that we come by the indwelling holy spirit who you father and son have sent into the world into the church into your children so that this day we come with heads bowed and we worship you By the spirit because of the son and oh father according to your eternal purpose which you father son and spirit the eternal triune god Have purpose from all eternity We thank you that we come and worship you who are but one god Yet we thank you that you are father son and spirit and there is a distinction in persons while there is an absolute unity in god We thank you for that We confess we don't really comprehend and fully grasp that, but we thank you for the wonderful truth. We thank you there for the assurance that as we come to you, it is before one who has truly loved us from all eternity, and it is to have real fellowship with you. And so we rejoice that we can do that this morning. Not just we here, but your people around the world. We thank you that there will be churches and companies of your people around the world. Lord, most having to meet in a fashion similar to ours, some having more freedom than we have. But we rejoice in the more, Lord, where your people who are called by your name meet to sit around your word, to seek you in prayer, to raise you in their praises. We thank you and we glorify you that we are part of that great number, your church. We think particularly of our brother Rupert and the Fellowship in Utty. We pray that you will keep Roop and all of your children there in Atti and indeed in that land of India safe, that they will be wise and obey the law and that they will have a good reputation with the local law enforcement agencies. We pray, Lord, that the openings that have been gained for the gospel, the hearing for the gospel in these days, that that will bear fruit, that many will be converted and saved as a result of this time. We thank you and praise you that you alone can do this. So we look to you to honor and glorify your name by building your church there. Lord, we pray for our own land that we as your people would have an influence for the gospel upon many in our day and our age. You would help us even in the small things of life to take those opportunities. So now, Lord, we ask that you will be with us. We pray that those who are struggling this morning with matters of the mind and the emotions, that you would be with them, strengthen them, comfort them, grant them peace, Lord. Those who care for them, that they would too know peace and they would know a strength that only you can give. Lord, those who are coming this day to worship and they are struggling with physical ailments, have your hand upon them. Lord, may they know your presence, and Lord, may they know that touch of your hand as they recover. And Lord, for all your children amongst the fellowship this morning, many of whom will be struggling, will continuing to be shutting, Lord, we pray that you will have your hand upon them, that you will strengthen each one of us, and that you will bless this time together we ask for your name's sake. Amen. Well, our first hymn this morning is 470. This is the choice of our sister Wendy, Wendy Stidwell, 470. Come, let us sing of a wonderful love, tender and true, out of the heart of the Father above, streaming to me and to you. Wonderful love dwells in the heart of the Father above. Jesus, the Savior, this gospel to tell, joyfully came. Came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell, sharing their sorrow and shame, seeking the lost, saving, redeeming at measureless cost. Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet. Why do they roam? Love only waits to forgive and forget. Home, weary wanderer, home. Wonderful love dwells in the heart of the Father above. Come to my heart, O thou wonderful love. Come and abide, lifting my life till it rises above envy and falsehood and pride, seeking to be lowly and humble, a learner of thee. So throughout the hymnus, may that be the prayer of our own hearts this morning as we continue to worship the Lord. Well, this morning we are looking at Ecclesiastes chapter five. So if you will take your Bible again now and turn with me in your Bible to Ecclesiastes and chapter five, we will read this chapter. Walk prudently when you go to the house of God and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools for they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God, for God is in heaven and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few, for a dream comes through much activity, and a fool's voice is known by his many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it. for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed. Better not avow than devour, not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity, but fear God. If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter. For high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them. Moreover, the profit of the land is for all. Even the king is served from the field, He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase. This also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them. So what profit have the owners except to see them with their own eyes? The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun, riches kept for their owner to his herd. But those riches perish through misfortune. When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother's womb naked, shall he return to go as he came. And he shall take nothing from his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a severe evil. Just exactly as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he who has labored for the wind? For all his days he also eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow and sickness and anger. Here is what I have seen. It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him, for it is his heritage. For every man to whom God has given riches and wealth and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor, this is the gift of God. But he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him with the joy of his heart. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men, a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires. Yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction. So reads the word of God to us this morning. Let's bow our heads in a moment of prayer as we come and consider God's Word. Let's ask Him to help us. So Lord, we thank You now for Your Word. We thank You for its relevance. We thank You for its truthfulness. We pray that we will have hearts that are still and quiet, teachable and obedient. May our minds be switched on. May we examine and search Your Word so that we too will be those who will know of a surety that these are the things that you have said. Deal with us we pray and be magnified and glorified for your namesake. Amen. We are looking at the verses we've just read under the heading reality. In the last, well, it's two and a half months, nine, 10 weeks, They've had something of an unreality about them. Nobody alive today has ever lived through anything like this. The history of humanity is littered with examples of plague and epidemics and pandemics, but never before have we had the understanding we have today, nor the ability to isolate ourselves as we have Even if you lived through the Second World War, you would not have experienced the sort of lockdown that we are still going through. And for many, it might seem as if life has just been suspended. Shopping centers closed, cinemas closed, theaters closed, concert halls closed, libraries closed, schools closed, churches all closed. People who have planned to get married have to remain single for the moment. Marriages are not being conducted. There are now job losses that are slowly beginning to mount. And through it all, many have died and gone into eternity. Some, perhaps some of you this morning, will be struggling with feelings of isolation, of boredom, being frustrated and not being able to go out, missing seeing friends and family, missing being able to go to work. And we long for things to return to normal. The talk has been consistently of the new normal, whatever that will be. Well, into all of that, God's word comes this morning with a single word, reality. It's a word that we all need to pay attention to this morning. First, reality in worship. You'll remember that Solomon has spoken particularly at the end of chapter four about the brevity of life. Life is short. Now he says very simply to us, walk prudently when you go to the house of God. Life is short. How are we to live? Well, with a dose of reality in our worship. The way we approach coming to the place of worship requires great care to be taken, says Solomon. It's not to be approached casually. Solomon saw the emptiness here in these verses of those who went up to worship at the house of the Lord. He talks about the sacrifice of fools, those who don't know that they do evil, those who are rash with their mouths, who utter things hastily before God, who have so many dreams because they're talking so much, who make vows when they don't mean to keep them. They went to give this sacrifice of the fool because instead of coming on the Lord's terms, Instead of obeying God's word, listening and obeying him, they thought they could come and offer their own sacrifice in their own way without any reference to God at all. Verses two and three expands on it in poetic format. Solomon saw people coming, but not with the word of God, not in obedience to the word of God, but with their own words, with their own wisdom. with these rash mouths with hearts that said things without thinking and they came from their busy lives living life by their own wisdom in their own strength living for the failing empty things that solomon has already spoken of they came to the place where god's presence was especially manifested amongst his old covenant people israel the temple And though their thoughts are running over with a babble of religious words and high-sounding phrases, and they've got themselves all worked up and excited. They've got all sorts of religious promises and hollow religious worship practices. They're all generated by the human mind. They've worked themselves into a frenzy with high-sounding religious words and religious practices. So they were having these wild dreams. i've seen that in a in a meeting many years ago people coming in with this wound up feeling they weren't coming with a heart that was humble before the lord they were coming they were so high they had wild dreams and so they made these promises promises verse four and five not only they wouldn't keep but they couldn't keep And it was sin. Verse five says, better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Don't say to God you're gonna do something if you're not gonna do it. It is utterly sinful. And so what they do, they foolishly came to the place of worship with their mind full of words, their mind full of dreams and their mouth full of words. Look at verse seven, in the multitude of dreams and many words, There is also vanity, emptiness, utter emptiness, to think that we could go to the house of God and produce only emptiness, vanity, grasping for the wind. The 19th century Scottish minister James Hamilton said this, it is the house of God But man has made it a nest of triflers, a fair of vanity, a den of thieves. Solomon here is making it very clear that to approach the worship of the Lord in such a careless, thoughtless, self-centered manner is wrong, it is empty, it is sinful. It's certainly not something that is pleasing to God or acceptable to God. Now I need to say this to you and to myself as Christians, the worship of the Lord is not for our entertainment. We don't worship the Lord so that we are entertained. Sometimes we approach worship like that, don't we, if we're honest? Is the preacher entertaining enough? We don't ask whether the preacher is preaching truth and whether we need to sit up and listen and apply it to our own hearts, the Holy Spirit helping us. We ask whether we've been made feel good. Did we like the hymns or were the hymns a bit dour? Or for some, perhaps a bit too exciting? It's not about our entertainment. Nor is the worship of the Lord to necessarily appeal to our personal fancies or the passing fashions of society. They change. You only have to look back over the decades at clothes. The bottom of your trousers have gone from as wide as you can get them, to looking like they're glued on, to riding right up your legs, to right down your shoes, and in and out all over again. And we're exactly the same with our fashions in worship. If we follow them, you will change by the year, by the decade. Worship of the Lord is not about fashion or fancy. Nor are we to think we can come and say and do what we like. So long as it makes us feel good, it's okay. No. You see, true saving faith is not about making a person feel good. It's not about affirming a person in what they say and think. It's about making a person right with God. God is in heaven, you on earth. There has to be a center perspective here. God is sovereign, he is almighty. We need to beware of using the worship of the Lord only to make ourselves feel good. The antidote then is given right at the end of verse 7. Having described the situation and issued the various warnings, Solomon gives this antidote. Three words in English, but fear God. It's a little phrase that comes with a devastating force. What it's ordering is a real deep and lasting reverence of God. No passing fancy here. no light momentary emotion to lift you up. This is a reverence that is deep rooted by the Holy Spirit through a life that is within because of the indwelling of the spirit of adoption. We are in fellowship with God because of the presence of the Holy Spirit within. Because of his person being in our lives we can pray says Paul in Romans 8 father So that we are in a real and vital relationship This isn't something that's created by the right type of building With the right kind of atmosphere and the right kind of music and the the appropriate clothing to impress people or anything else. I This is a reverence that is deep in the inward person. It's not sloppy. It's not slack. It's not lazy. It's not indolent. It's not self-satisfied or self-centered. It's a love and an adoration and an awe of God. An awe of God that there is balanced by love for Him because of His love for us. It's been described as a heartfelt and abiding reverence. That's what those three moods mean. Bad fear God. You don't work your way up to this. It's the indwelling spirit that brings that heartfelt and abiding reverence. We ought to be those who are To prepare ourselves carefully therefore for the worship of the lord Praying about the service is essential Praying that the lord would make His presence among his people known especially at a time like this where we are meeting through the means of the internet That we would know the presence of the lord with us that we would know the spirit of work amongst us that in all our worship the lord would be glorified among us And as you pray for the blessing of God on the worship, especially pray for the word that is preached. How so? Well, pray for the preacher, pray that he will be prepared, but pray also for yourself to focus every faculty of your being, your heart, your mind, your hearing, your sight, everything. Every faculty will be focused on the worship of the Lord as you listen to the word preached. There are some cultures where when you come into the house, you leave your shoes at the door. You leave the dirt of the street outside because you respect the cleanliness of somebody else's house. When it comes to worship, we ought to leave the shoes of our worries and our fears and our hopes and our dreams at the door and focus only on the Lord. You see when we come to worship the lord we need to be deliberate in what we do and what we say We need to take time to search ourselves out regularly before the lord and deal with any sin that we find that confess it Deal with it first and then come to worship And when you're in worship be careful what you say before the lord you're in the presence of the king of kings You meet a member of the royal family who just can't say what you want and chat away. It's not your place to demand their attention. How much so should we be careful when we come into the presence of the King of Kings to measure our words with care and to be clear and sure in what we say in the presence of the King? Paul says it in romans chapter 12. He says that we are to present ourselves a living sacrifice Holy acceptable to god, which is your reasonable service. This is not something that's unreasonable christian This is something that every christian should do with reasonableness Nevertheless, of course we are children of the king And we offer our worship and we speak to the king as his children We don't come with a fear that's knee knocking trembling and terrified. This isn't a terrified fear We come with boldness We come with sureness because of our lord and savior jesus christ we come in his righteousness in spirit in the truth And we worship with joy But also with awe We rejoice to worship the Lord, but we don't cheapen the worship of the Lord, and we don't make small of the person and the presence of the sovereign and eternal God. We come with awe and reverence. May our private devotions be marked this way, our family devotions, and therefore our fellowship devotions together before the Lord be so marked. reality in worship. The other thing that Solomon confronts us here with is reality in life. Remember the immediate context has been that life is short therefore what's important well let's have a bit of reality in worship now says Solomon let's have a bit of reality in life. And it ought not to surprise us, he says from verse eight, to find corruption and oppression at times from those in authority. We are living in a fallen world. If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, do not marvel at the matter. We are living in a fallen world. The nature of every person outside of Christ is to sin and rebellion against God. It shouldn't surprise us. And yet, and yet, even the king is fed from the work of the humblest farmer. So Solomon again considers something of the state of the rich. You know that dream that the world sells to us. Riches and wealth will make your life so much better. But you see, Solomon knew that riches weren't the answer. Yes, the powerful oppress the poor, but to be rich is not the answer. That's not reality in life. Those who want to be rich will never be rich enough. Look at verse 10. He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase. There's never enough. If all you love is money, you'll never have enough of it. Isn't that an empty pursuit? Wealth for the sake of wealth? It's the dream of so many people this morning. It might be your dream. It's certainly the dream of many people around us. How many people will be going out day after day to buy their lottery tickets? Not just the national lottery now, but the NHS lottery or whatever it's called, the postcode lottery. And how many others are there out there? With the dream that they'll win millions, that that will make life better and happier. It's an empty pursuit. Solomon says there's no security in wealth. None at all. Look at verse 12. Sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats much, eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. The more you have, the more you feel losing. And so you get your security lights and your upgraded alarm systems and your internet doorbell so you can see who's there and talk to them from far away. and you get your infrared beams and you get your security guards and you get your barbed wire and your electric fences and your electric gates and on and on it goes. Riches don't last, you see. Even the richest leave this world as they entered, verses 14 and 15, with nothing. Riches perish through misfortune. He gets a son, there is nothing in his hand. He's poor and in poverty. A child has nothing when they're born. And as he came from his mother's womb with nothing, naked he shall return. To go as he came, he shall take nothing from this labor, which he may carry away in his hand. When we go and death calls us, we take nothing with us. Even the richest leave as they entered. endless the rich works hard to become richer to what end asks solomon in chapter in verse 16 what profit has he who has labored for the wind all the rich gain at the end is sorrow and sickness and anger Oh, maybe they're sorrowful and sick and angry on a fantastically big ocean-going yacht. But what have they gained? So riches kept for their owners to his hurt, verse 13, are a severe evil. The world around us tells us that the more that our great need is to have more. That's what will be in Seoul. You need more. You need bigger. You need better. You need quicker. You need easier. So more money. You need a bigger house. You need a better car. You need a higher job with a higher pay grade. You need more exotic holidays. And on and on it goes. No, there's anything wrong with any of those things in their own place. But if we swallow that pill that those things are what we need, that they are important for our life, we'll never be satisfied, we'll never be content. And we will pass our years in this world ultimately with sorrow and sickness and anger. In short, we will experience disappointment over and over again. Jesus warned us in Luke chapter nine. He said, for what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, but is himself destroyed or lost? What if you went to the top 10 of the world's super rich, but you lost sight of who you are and of what really matters. You will go to the end of your days with nothing because you will leave this world as you entered penniless. The world tells us what we need is more and the Bible says that's not the answer. That's not reality in life. Reality in life is to be content as a Christian in the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you content? We read about Paul at the beginning of the service there in Philippians 4. He had much to say there about contentment. Key amongst it is in Philippians 4 verse 11 where Paul could say, I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. It's always challenged me. A bit of pain, we become discontent. A bit of hunger, if food presented us we don't like, we become discontent. Somebody speaks to us in the wrong way, we become discontent. But also if we fly so close to the world and its desire for more, all we'll be left with is being discontent. What will it profit you? To gain the world. and yourself be destroyed or lost. You see, as a Christian, you and I, we've been saved by what? By grace, the overwhelming grace of God and deserved and sought for. We couldn't have bought it if we'd tried. We are saved by grace. We are kept by grace. And it's by grace we'll be presented before the Father's glory without fault Don't we need, therefore, to learn in this world to be content in the Lord, in His will and His provision? You see, reality in life isn't about the insatiable drive to more, bigger, better, best. nor is it necessarily the hair shirt approach either where you give everything away and you live in enforced poverty neither will ever satisfy we read that in verse 10 don't we those who love silver they're not satisfied those who love abundance not satisfied with their increase ah but in contrast verse 12 the sleep of a laboring man is sweet whether he eats little Now, certainly Solomon means that to be taken literally. If you work hard and you're out in the air all day, you generally won't have much of a problem going to sleep. Those who work hard and are prone to sleep well. Those who are living a very ordinary lifestyle. Considered amongst those who are the relative poor of this world, they haven't the worries that the rich and the powerful have. Shakespeare put it this way when he put these words into the mouth of King Henry IV. How many thousands of my poorest subjects are at this hour asleep? Sleep, gentle sleep, nature's soft nurse, how have I frightened thee? that thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down and steep my senses in forgetfulness." Shakespeare has Henry IV say, my position, my power weigh me down, I can't sleep and yet how many of my subjects this night without power and wealth sleep well? And yet when you move down to verses 18 through to 20 we see that Solomon means more than just those who work physically hard will know how to sleep look at what he says in verse 18 here is what i have seen it is good and fitting it is good and fitting for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life and there's a bat at the end if you will It's good to do that only because we recognize what that it is given to us by god It's the same as at the end of verse 7 where the antidote to false worship is to fear god What's the antidote in life? It's to recognize that all we have however much however little comes from god It is his heritage or as the esv reads our lot it's what we are given In other words, what Solomon is speaking about here is not party time, living it up. Rather, it's living with our eyes fixed on the giver of all good things, on God. It's recognizing everything we have is from God. The ability to be able to enjoy fellowship over the internet ultimately is the gift of God. Food we will enjoy after the service, it's the gift of God. We're to be content in his giving. Wealth and power, verse 19, are given by God. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor, this is the gift of God. Comes from God, just as the wage of the laborer, verse 18, to eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labour, given him by God. Wealth, power, the wage of the labourer, it all comes from God. You see, it's not wealth or the lack of wealth that will make a person content. If you've got a lot of money, please don't think that giving it away, if you've got a good job, please don't think that resigning and taking a much more poorly paid job will make you content, it won't. It's what's in here, not what's out here that makes us content. Look at verse 20. Those who live this life in the reality that all things come from God. What of him? But he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life. Why? Because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart. It's in the heart that reality and life is grounded. It's in the heart that is changed by the saving grace of God. Christian, when the Lord Jesus Christ saved you, he entered your life by the person of the Spirit, and you had a whole new life, a new outlook. And it's not about whether you're wealthy or poor. It's not about whether you sit under a great feast or ordinary fare. It's God's presence, it's God's provision that should delight us. It's in Him that we are to be content. And the person that's content in the Lord will do all that the Lord has put in front of them to do with joy. They will dig the garden, sweep the streets, lock the building. They'll attend the business meeting, advise the prime minister, and they'll do it to the glory of God because they rejoice to do that. knowing that all they have has come from God. Wealth or no wealth, power or no power, the person who is right with God knows that all things are in His hand and that He gives us what we have. It's the gift of God. It's His good giving. And in Him and His good giving, we rest content. Cure then is the cure for discontent. Here is reality in life. It's the gospel. It's Christ redeeming me and the Spirit indwelling me so that I may one day be presented without fault before the Father's glory. It's the gospel. Ours is an age of discontent in many ways. We're never quite happy with anything, are we? We always want more. We always want to have the best. Our hearts are never at rest. We're never content. We need to have the newest phone, the newest tablet, the newest TV. We want to see the newest film and have this, that, and the other. We're never content. We've been in lockdown now for some an approach in 10 weeks. And yes, Christian, there is much that you and I miss. We will miss coming together as a fellowship in the Lord's presence in this place. We will miss the ability just to speak to one another, to encourage one another, to pray with one another. And yet, haven't you found at times in your own home, when you've sat in the stillness, that you have found that the Lord has been good to you? If you've not considered it, consider it now. Consider all that you have. Hasn't He been with you? Isn't He with you now? Yes, your situation has changed. What you can and cannot do has changed, but He has not changed. And if you don't see that, then you are the one who's changed and you are not content in Him. He blesses you with his presence. He is with you now and blesses you with all you have. Is he not enough for you, Christian? Is he not enough? Some of you, and I've spoken to you, you've humbled me when I've heard how the Lord has helped you and how at times he's blessed you through the ministry of the word over the weeks. And yes, these are difficult times for many of us. but the Lord is always with us as his people. You see, God is not self-isolating. His good giving has not stopped. His keeping grace hasn't ceased. His comfort and his blessing is still with us. And it's when we realize all we have and are is his good giving. And when we look at him and focus on him, then we know the joy of heart that we should know. Our contentment, you see, is not dependent upon our situation and circumstances. It doesn't come from our ability to go out and spend money. There are those who claim to be Christian ministers who will say, and they will preach, you're going to have your best life now. They promise you great things. Well, they live in their great houses, drive in their great cars, and fly around in their private jets. What does God say here? Be content with what you have. If God gives you more, be glad, not in the extra, not because you've got more wealth, but because of God's presence, God's power, God's purpose, God's provision, be glad in that. Because when he is first in your life, then you will be satisfied and content, knowing the best is yet to come in his presence, in his presence. Even we are told here the length of days will matter less than the assurance that he is with us and that all we have is from his hand. How different in the first two verses of verse six, the wealthy person who doesn't recognize that all he has has come from God is. The end his life is described as a vanity and an evil affliction. But, O Christian, the reality for us, when life comes to its end, is this, absent from the body and present with the Lord. When faced by death, we know that we are going to be with the lord until the day of resurrection We will be in his immediate presence and on that day of general resurrection We will be with him in glorious heavenly bodies We will be physically then with the lord forever in the immediate presence of the glory of the triune god You know, what you and I do and do not have today is far less important than resting content in that. There is nothing in the Bible that says it is wrong to become better off. Indeed, the Bible says that the laborer should be paid a fair wage. The Bible tells us that if we do become richer, where those riches come from? They come from God. And yes, the Bible does tell us how best to use those riches, to use them for the glory of God. The Bible does tell us not to abuse the gifts that God gives us. And yes, we are saved from worshiping self, from worshiping things, saved from worshiping money, to worship the one true and living God. And yet God gives us things and money and tells us to work well. He tells us to support one another, the brothers and sisters, to support the widow and the orphan. It is a blessing of God then to have something that you can use to support another, to give to another, to give it well to the glory of God. and for the cause of the gospel. That, Christian, is reality in life. Reality in worship is fear God. Reality in life, it is the gift of God. Christian, your treasure is in Christ in glory. That's the reality of this life. How much you do and don't have is not important. God gives you what you need. He is with you and he will keep you. Use what you have well and use it to his glory. And so you will be content and glad in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord, therefore again I say. Rejoice and to God be the glory. Amen. As we close, I want to read number 783. It's another hymn by Charles Wesley. We had two last week and we have another one this week. Charles Wesley wrote these words, 783. Thou who camest from above the pure celestial fire to impart, kindle a flame of sacred love on the mean altar of my heart. There let it for thy glory burn with an inextinguishable blaze and trembling to its source return in humble prayer and fervent praise. Jesus, confer my heart's desire to work and speak and think for thee. Still let me guard the holy fire and still stir up thy gift in me. Ready for all thy perfect will, my acts of faith and love repeat till death thine endless mercy seals. Make the sacrifice complete. Reality in worship, reality in life, and yes, reality in death. Christ is all. To him be the glory. Let's pray. So Lord, our God, we thank you now at the end of this service for your word. We thank you for the encouragement. We thank you that you show us that in worship and in life and yes indeed in death, we are to fear you our God and we are to be content in you for all we have and all we will be comes from you. Oh Lord, grant that we will fear you, be in awe of you and so love you that we will be content with you and you alone. Help us, strengthen us, comfort us, be with us now we ask for your glory's sake.