Let's turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 7 for our sermon text as we continue our exposition of this book. And as mentioned last week, or two weeks ago rather, this has now come into the second portion of the book of Ecclesiastes, starting with this chapter. The first half surveyed, as it were, all the vanities under the sun. And we have seen that everything that we have seen thus far is vanity, whether if it is going to be what we live for. But now we come into a consideration of a life lived for God. And we begin, even as our Lord Jesus did, with his beatitudes to see a blessed morning. So we take up chapter seven, verse one, down to verse six. Once more, God's word. A good name. is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one's birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity. Thus far. reading of God's word. May he bless it to our hearing and especially bless the preaching of it now. Sorrow is better than mirth. is what the Bible says at this place. That's a striking statement that the Lord delivers. And it's not one that in the flesh we are often ready to receive. But this is the counsel of God. Sorrow is better than mirth. Sorrow is better than laughter. And sad to say, naturally speaking, even in the Church of Jesus Christ, we might be ready to reject that kind of doctrine. What are you talking about? Sorrow is better than mirth. And in fact, it has been in the last, certainly last century, the trajectory, especially of American Christianity, would reject much of that statement. In fact, all of that statement. You might know historically some developments, especially in the 1950s. In the middle of the 20th century, there was a man in the Reformed Church of America named Norman Vincent Peale. This is a man that our president claimed or said was as his pastor to him. And he wrote a book called The Power of Positive Thinking. And it was quite popular, quite influential, and in many ways transformed the trajectory of American Christianity in a direction of positivity. It is really the precursor in some ways of the name it and claim it or the popularity of the name it and claim it movement. He had in many ways, this is a man in the Reformed Church of America, had replaced God with positivity. So right, you think of something positively, and then you will have that thing. And he said that there is a power there. Don't think of negative things. So don't think of mourning. Don't think of sin. Don't think of judgment. Some of the basic nuts and bolts of Christianity. And you see his influence. When I was in Texas, there was a huge mega church in Houston. Joel Osteen is the pastor. Never once would he ever dare speak about sin or judgment. Never once think about topics like mourning over sin especially. Fill the congregation with positivity and mirth, but never with mourning. Yet there is a basic blessing in the Christian life. There is a basic blessing that the Lord Jesus Christ himself delivered on that sermon on the mount. You remember, children, the very first two Beatitudes, what's the very first one? Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Okay, now that doesn't sound very positive at first. Secondly, blessed are they that what? Mourn, for they shall be comforted. You see, even the entrance into the kingdom of God is predicated on a blessed kind of mourning, and that is non-negotiable for every Christian. Every Christian is called to mourn over their sinfulness. To mourn that for what they have done in the body, they will give an account to God. And they recognize themselves as a sinner before the Almighty. And when they are truly converted, when they are regenerated, they weep. It doesn't matter the volume of tears, but there is certainly a mourning in the soul over the fact that I have offended a holy God. And it is through that mourning, that blessed mourning wrought by the Spirit, that we find the comfort, don't we, of the Lord Jesus Christ coming into our soul, consoling us, that as far as east is from west, he has taken our sin from us. But that mourning is part and parcel of our being reconciled to God. And as we examine our souls in this walk in this life, we do find many occasions to mourn before God, that we continue to sin before Him, that we continue to come short of the glory of God. And if we wouldn't, we would be, as Solomon says, a fool. We are yet so many of us are addicted to mirth, looking away from those things that would cause us to mourn if we would look deeply into our soul. And yet that would be a foolish thing. And so in view of these truths, God would have us tonight meditate on a blessed morning. He says, in effect, before you can visit the house of feasting, You know, the house of wine, as we've considered in the Song of Solomon, the banqueting house, you must first visit the house of mourning in order to get to the house of feasting. And so as we consider the wisdom of the Lord, let's consider that theme under three heads from our text, and the first will be a good name, a good name. Verse one, a good name is better than precious ointment in the day of death than the day of one's birth. Now, Solomon speaks of a good name here, and the rest of the text is actually predicated on us understanding what it is that he means by a good name. We have to understand it. And we begin by seeing how he links it, or rather compares it to, precious ointment. A good name is better than precious ointment. Now, what's the ointment then? The ointment is the clue to understanding the good name. What's the ointment he speaks of? Well, in the ancient world, as you might know, children, ointment was very expensive and it was very precious. It was valued and treasured. Do you remember, boys and girls, how Mary took a pound of ointment and anointed Christ's feet? What was the reaction from Judas? Outrage. He said, this is worth 300 pence. It's costly. It's precious. It was costly in the old days. The spices and oils were a luxury. It was often a refreshment in that world and used sparingly. But we remember why Jesus defended Mary from Judas. What were his words? Let her alone. Against the day of my burying hath she kept this. She'd kept it to anoint him for his death. It's that anointing that is particularly in view here then. You remember that these oils and perfumes had a religious use. In the Old Testament, the high priest was anointed. This is signifying and pointing to the work of the Holy Spirit and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which is why they were not allowed to make a counterfeit version of that oil. And you take that forward and you recognize, of course, the Hebrew for Messiah means anointed one. And that's where we get Christ in the Greek, anointed one. And you remember from the Song of Solomon, we're just making some connections that you're probably aware of, in the Song of Solomon, how the church speaks of Christ. Because of the savor of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth. Therefore do the virgins love thee. Song of Solomon 1.3. Christ is that great anointed one. And because of the savor of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth. Right, the name of Christ, there's a reflection of his anointing. And when the child of God, by faith, considers Christ's name, it is as good ointment to our soul. So you can see all these connections are made in the scripture. And that's why we praise him in the 45th Psalm. God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia. And in the final analysis, right, it is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that is far elevated over all this precious oil. All that oil, right, is meant to point us to the anointing of Christ. And so this precious ointment that Solomon speaks of here is spiritual. And when you consider that anointing, right, there's a link made to the believer from Christ, isn't there? The believer, you know in the Bible, is anointed by Christ through the Holy Spirit. 1 John 2.20 says, ye have an unction that is anointing from the Holy One. So in view of all this, right, and I know we've had to go through that rather quickly to get to the point. In view of all this, what is the good name to be prized? Well, it is not the name that the world would prize, but rather it is the good name of being a Christian, of having this unction, having this precious anointing from the Holy One. Because if you think about it, there are multiple ways in which you might consider a good name. One would be completely worldly and carnally. You think contrary to the thesis of Ecclesiastes thus far, there is a good name in this world that is full of those who have power, fame, fortune, the politically correct right view on something. There are many in this world who have a good name in the world. But that's not what Solomon is speaking of here. That's not what God is speaking of here. This is a good name in the eyes of God. This is a name that God would savor. This is a name that doesn't chase after a striving after the wind. In fact, in comparison to such things, Solomon says in Proverbs 22, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold. Even as you remember Proverbs 22.1, Solomon brings the anointing oil here in Ecclesiastes and then loving favor in Proverbs 22. So it is ultimately favor with God that is better than troves of silver and gold. This is the good name here that is commended to us. And so this good name is spiritually good. It is spiritually healthy. That is the name to be prized here. And it is the name that God considers good. You even think of the name Christian. Why, it is a name that signifies the anointing of God. It's a reflection of Christ's own anointing, isn't it? When you are born again, Christian, I speak to the true Christians here, you were anointed with the Holy Spirit. And so there's this anointing that is on you. And so this verse then speaks of those who are converted, who have faith in Christ. And that is, and you think about this, what is the only basis for a good name before God? That's it. That's it. Now, as we are converted, we need to develop and grow that good name. After all, name reflects character, and our desire ought to be to grow in this name before God, that we would be further sanctified, and that the Lord would delight in us as we grow in holiness. And for your encouragement when you consider this, you might have a name that is despised by the world, and yet treasured by God. And what we need to do is we need to cultivate the precious name, the name that is precious, the precious character that is precious to God. You know, your name might become a reproach among unbelievers. They may even hiss at it. But we have to ask, you know, as we suffer the reproach of men, is this how God sees my name? And if God is pleased, then let me suffer the reproach of men. That's not the name I'm after, and brethren, there is a great temptation, isn't there, to have a good name among unbelieving and sinful men, and not one that is good in the sight of God. And we must be encouraged to cultivate what is good in the sight of God, even if it causes us to be of reproach among men. This is what we need to strive after. In fact, you must say, as we find other beatitudes that reflect this, let me embrace the reproach of men because the Lord has said I am blessed in that. There's a blessing in that. So what would you rather have, brethren? A good name before a sinful man or a good name before God? The apostle said, for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. So let us be known for a name that is known for being filled with the Holy Spirit and the fruit of it, a name that is savory to God, that His Son's ointment, as it were, would waft from our soul as we are sanctified. The world may despise all of that, but let us say instead, I will seek to please God and be the servant of Christ. Well, in view of that, That could be a sermon in itself. See where the remainder of this verse then would make sense to us. Solomon adds to a good name and the day of death than the day of one's birth. Now that makes no sense at all, unless what we considered about the good name is true. Because for the unbeliever, the day of their death is not better than the day of their birth. For those without a good name before God, those outside of Christ, the day of their death is far, far, far worse than the day of their birth. What comes on the day of their death? Judgment for all their sins. Judgment for their unbelief. Coming before the bar, as it were, and a recitation of all their sins that they have committed, of all their secret thoughts against God, all their actions, the things that not only they had done, but even as one of the brothers prayed, even the things they have left undone, God will show them. And God will show them that they are justly condemned for all eternity. How in the world can their day of death be better than their day of birth? For it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. Without the washing of regeneration of the Holy Spirit's application of Christ's work, received by faith alone, the day of your death is the worst day of your life. It really is the very worst day, because it is the first day for the rest of eternity, which is nothing more than torment and burning and judgment, rightly deserved, for the sins you have committed. And let that sober all of us up. Let that grab all of our attention this day. Let us think of the end of every man or woman outside of Christ. And it would be a weighty thing to us indeed. If we would think of that, and we would think on it, our churches would likely be filled with more conversions as ministers would preach such a thing. We would evangelize with more fervency. We would send missionaries into the ends of the earth. Our children, as they hear such a thing, would flee into the merciful arms of Christ, whom God gave us in love to be the propitiation for the sins of the elect. And we who believe, who have been given the great gift of faith, totally undeserved, would find worship flow out of our souls more readily. We would find ourselves more fully embracing the worship of God. And we would say with no sense of pride, but with great humility, for but the grace of God, there go I, as we watch unbelievers die. And they go into the pit, into perdition, into hell. And because we don't meditate on death much, and what death delivers us unto, we find that there is very little blessing in our congregations anymore. The philosophy of a Peel or an Osteen who followed him will never produce this blessed effect, this blessed meditation. That positive thinking of theirs will positively send souls to hell. But let's rejoice as well about the inverse. For those of you who have a good name, meaning you have been given the gift of faith and you have been put into a right standing with God solely because of Jesus Christ, praise God the day of your death is better than the day of your birth. And I wonder if you've had much occasion to think on that. That the day I die will be my very best day. It's my very best day. There is truly positivity in the gospel, isn't there? But it first comes with a recognition of the negativity of what we are before God. But for you who are washed and cleansed by Christ, robed with his righteousness, forgiven by his blood, and have received all these benefits solely by grace through faith, the day of your death is better than the day of your birth. I might order your days this way, and I believe this is biblical. The very best day you will have is the day of your death. The second best day of your life has been the day of your second birth. Those are the two greatest days of your life, Christian. All others pale in comparison to them. And what the Bible says for you who believe is that Christ, therefore, has removed from you the fear of death. In fact, that is a kind of bondage that the unbeliever has, this bondage to the fear of death. After all, the Bible says in Hebrews 2.15 that it was the work of Christ to deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Praise be to God. If you are a believer, then you think on death and you think of Christ's victory over it. In the death of Christ, he destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. As Owen's famous work is titled, it is the death of death and the death of Christ, as we think of his atoning work. For this we are glad. And for you, Christian, as you think on death then, you need to think of a foe that has been transformed to friend. only because Christ took the sting in his bosom. And because of that, right, death is now transformed for you, the believer. On the deathbed, you think on this, the Lord is going to send death to me so that he may deliver me to himself. Right, it is the chariot, it is the doorway for you to come face to face with Jesus Christ. Because he has taken that sting upon himself. And so the Christian's best day is his last day. And I don't know anything more positive to say to you than that. Well, this then sets us up for our second heading. Verse two, it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men and the living will lay it to his heart. So what's the house of mourning? It is, as it were, the funeral home. It's the funeral home. What's the house of feasting? Well, that's the banqueting hall, the place of parties, and the place of mirth. And it seems at first, and natural man would probably recoil from this, it seems strange to say that the funeral parlor, the funeral home, is better than the place of parties. But that's what the Bible says. Now, I'll come back to this, but that's not to say there is no place in the Christian's life for the house of feasting. After all, in chapter three, we have heard that there is a time for every purpose. There is a time to mourn at the funeral home. There is a time to dance at the wedding. But why is it then that Solomon says it is our wisdom to favor the funeral home? Now, he uses the word better, right, basically. Well, it's because the house of mourning teaches us wisdom that so few have. And the wisdom here is that it is the end of all men, all of you here, to end up in the house of mourning. You will all end up in the funeral home. Each and every one of you. Children, listen to that. You will end up in the funeral home yourself. That is the end, as Solomon says, of all men. That's the end of all men, to end up in the house of mourning. Whether you like it or not, you will be there. And because they do not consider it, because many men will not lay that up to their heart, many will not be found ultimately in Christ's house of feasting. Because they have not prepared themselves for death. In other words, it is far better for you to visit the house of mourning before you die so that you might think on what death is, and your own death in particular. A profitable visitation to the funeral home will prepare you for the inevitable final visit when death takes you. But you have to have a profitable use of your time in the funeral home. Not all do, actually few do. When you go to the house of mourning Friends, think on it this way. One day my body will be laying there and I will be dead. I will be just as cold and without my body will be just as cold and without life as the body in that coffin that is laying there. And you need to ask, why will I die? Why did this man or this woman die? You know how few have even asked the question? It's not just because natural processes have ceased in that body. Why do we die as a race? Why do all things die? Well, the answer is in Romans 5, sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. You have to make a profitable use of the cold and lifeless body that is laying there. You need to think on why that person has died and you go back to the very beginning and you say it is because of sin. It's because we are a race of sinners. And because of Adam's rebellion against God, we justly and rightly are liable to death. You know how few think that way? How few will look at a dead, cold, lifeless body and how few will say it is because we have rebelled against God. That is why there is no life in that body. It is because we have rebelled against God. You won't find that in the news story when one is deceased. Don't leave the funeral home without thinking of the fall of man. man's rebellious, fallen nature, and then on top of it, every man's liability to God for what we have done out of that corrupt nature that we have inherited from our first parents. Then, children, when you are in the funeral home and you see the lifeless body there, you say, oh my soul, I see the body of the deceased, but where has the soul gone? Where is the life of the person gone? There's no need to guess. Solomon already mentioned it in Ecclesiastes chapter three, all go onto one place, all are of the dust and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward? You say that person, that soul has gone upward to God, but what happened when the soul went upward? It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. The body is there, but the soul has already been judged by its maker. That should sober us when we go to the house of mourning. Now, if they are in Christ, we say, praise God, they're in paradise, but if not, They're already in torment, even before the body goes into the ground. That soul is in torment, awaiting the judgment day. Every death, every visit to the funeral home is a testimony from God of his judgment on sin. And not just on sin abstractly, but on sinners. Every death is a sermon from God to you through a dead man or a dead woman, if we would but have ears to hear. And how few hear the words of such sermons. Well, if the wages of sin is death, we can praise God that the rest of the verse, as you full well know, children, says, but. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 6.23. So we see the wages of sin there preached to us in the dead body, but you know that there is a free gift of salvation to those who would come to God through Christ by faith, eternal life as a gift. And the child of God knows the scriptures, remembers that Christ himself died for this reason. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, Hebrews 2, 14. And so if our meditations in the house of mourning, in the house of death, lead us in this direction, is it not a better house to visit than the house of feasting? Is that not the point that is made here? That if we would have the gravity of such things impressed upon us, not only the wages of sin being death, but there is a free gift, the offer of the gospel to them who would come to Christ by faith, Then there is a blessed morning here. I am a sinner I deserve to die and I deserve that my soul be judged and then on the judgment day that body also United with my soul tormented forever That is what I justly deserve But praise God that a Redeemer was sent into the world through the love of God by which I through his death might be saved Better is that house than to you, than the house of senseless and carnal mirth. The living will lay it to his heart. Those who are made alive in Christ think on it. Some will even be converted. And so we ought to have sermons preached whenever death comes and results, that there would be those who would consider it with God's help and be made alive to God in Jesus Christ by the Spirit working through such a word. And because we don't meditate on death, sad to say many even in the church haven't fled to Christ for mercy. But we who have, how joyful we ought to be that we don't have to fear death in Christ. This is the joy that wells up that is far better than the laughter of fools. This is that deep abiding joy that causes the soul to be filled and lifted up with the marrow and fatness of the gospel. We mourn in the house of mourning then if we are Christians, but not as those without hope. But it is an occasion for those of us who are Christians to go into the house of mourning and once again think about the heinousness of sin. Even if I'm delivered from all of the penalty that is due for my sin, yet as I still sin against my God, I think upon the gravity of what sin is when I see a man or woman dead there. And if I would mourn my own sin in that way, blessed am I, for I shall be comforted. Well, verse three. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better. Though there be an external sadness in the countenance, even as we come before death and we weep, the heart is made better as we meditate on such things as we have meditated on. Salvation, especially in Christ, the wages of sin, death, and I see that and I mourn it, and yet there is a free gift, there is a gift from God in Jesus Christ, and the heart is made better. such that for the Christian the sadness of the death and the wet cheeks, which in themselves are the product of a gracious heart, can yet be thankful to the Lord for his salvation. The countenance is sad, and yet the heart is made glad that Christ himself died in the place and in the room of sinners. And I think on even my Savior, who wet his own cheeks before the tomb of his friend. As we read that one single verse, Jesus wept. There's a profound kind of gladness that comes in the heart of the Christian over such things. Verse four, the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. So the heart of the wise, their heart is in the house of mourning and these blessed things. The heart of fools is in the house of mirth. Their heart is never in this place of mourning. Instead, their heart is amongst those who never want to reckon with death. They never want to deal with anything of gravity or significance. All they want is laughter. These are fools. They would rather, even if they thought on death, what would their response to that be? The Bible would say, let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. They just want mirth. They won't want to have to deal with the reality of death, or they want to push it away, and they just want mirth in their life. And this is foolishness. And yet the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. Now, I want to say this much as far as the heart of the wise being in the house of mourning. There is something rather sweet about a loved one or a friend, a brother or sister who has died in the Lord. And we go into the house of mourning. The Lord has brought that person home, as it were. And for that we can be glad, right? All their travails in this life, over, all they have before them is that beautiful beatific vision that they are ever blessed before God. And we mourn their loss, and yet we are so glad for them. We rejoice, right? We are happy for them. They are now beholding the face of their Savior, waiting for the resurrection day. And they were taken out of the house of mourning by the Savior through death, and now they are in the house of feasting before God. And his banner over them has been manifest to be shown. It is love. They're in the banqueting house. And so for that, as well, we go and we look in the house of mourning when a loved one dies, and for us, in fact, it's transformed into a place of gladness. Well, with all that, and I know time is short tonight, let's briefly consider our final heading, which is the Song of Fools. Verse five and six, it is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the Song of Fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity. This is perhaps one of the most memorable phrases in the book of Ecclesiastes, the Song of Fools. And in a book full of memorable phrases, that's quite a thing. This is the song, as it were, found in the house of mirth. This is the song of the unbeliever, the song of those who are not filled with the fear of God, who say, let us eat, drink, and be merry. See, mirth. This is the song of fools when you hear such a word. But let me warn you, Christian, even as a believer, you can be allured by the song of fools. You can be unsanctified in certain areas and sing it yourself. And I'll warn you, it is a siren song. It draws your flesh, but as that song in mythology, it will lead you to your death if you're not careful. What's the song? All is well. Live for ease, live for pleasure, live for the love of the world. Don't think on the heavy and weighty things of eternity and why it is that we die. Instead, distract yourself with many things that will cause you, with a very shallow kind of laughter, to just simply laugh all the time in this world and not set your mind upon God. To be filled with shallowness, emptiness, vanity, as Solomon would say. It's a siren call that is attractive to your flesh and it is really the song of the world and the song of fools. But I don't know if you know your Greek mythology children, but you remember what Odysseus did when the siren song comes and allures him to his death, as many of his men were allured to their death. He puts beeswax in his ears so that he won't hear. He has himself tied to the mast of his ship so that he will not go, right? And so in the Song of Fools, which is the song of the world, which would have you think on light things, and think on distractions away from God, away from His holiness, away from death, away from sin, you are to shut up your ears and you are to restrain yourself with God's help from following it. Now it's interesting, the early Christians would use the sirens, right, these mythological creatures, as a warning, seeing the allure of the devil, seeing the allure of the world in it, that these things are so attractive to our flesh that it would cause us to run and apostatize from God. Though it is mythology, I'll fable, of course. What an illustration of the warning of what the world is like, so tantalizing, so pleasing to the flesh, and yet it is luring us to our death and destruction. You can even make a very simple application of this in terms of literal songs. Think of the world's songs and think of secular music then. Look at the content of the songs that you hear and you listen to, secular things especially. Worldly music is often the product of the song of fools. It often glorifies that which God hates And yet, how many even Christians are lured by it, catechized by it, as it were. Whatever you sing, and this is why we sing the Psalms, one reason, other than God has told us to sing them, because what you sing is what you are catechized by, what you store up in your heart. And you think about the, even if the lyrics weren't banal or blasphemous or ungodly, just think about how light even inoffensive things are in the world. How little things of weight and substance are sung of. Much of it though, glorifies what the Lord absolutely despises, especially as the decades have rolled on. The things that I listened to as a child, and even much of that was ungodly, the things that are being released today are far, far worse. And we have to be on guard of even the music that we listen to, so be careful. what you take into your soul. But generally speaking, right, that's just an example and it's a very potent one, media of all kinds is often the song of fools. We have to be discerning, we have to be thinking, we have to ask whether or not this is something that is distracting me from God or is even something that the Lord hates. How many songs glorify and use blasphemy? How many songs will even will glorify things like adultery and fornication, all things the Lord hates. But anyway, that's just one particular application. The Song of Fools is really anything that the world will bring forth to you that will allure you, especially concerning mirth, mirth. But what is better than, I'm gonna return to mirth in just a moment, God willing, but what is better than the Song of Fools here? Hearing the rebuke of the wise, There's gravity to that, isn't there? It's not something your flesh likes. But there's a striking parallel in Psalm 141, verse 5. Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness. And let him reprove me, it shall be what? An excellent oil, which shall not break my head. And so you see this here, to the flesh, the song of fools is alluring, but a righteous rebuke sounds absolutely terrible. And yet the Lord says, one is a kindness, one will lead you to destruction. Receiving the rebuke of the righteous is a kindness. More than that, receiving the rebuke of the Lord is a kindness and something to be desired. Now, a righteous rebuke sounds terrible to us, that's pride. Of course, that's obstinacy speaking, but it is a grace from God. And yes, it will make you mourn when you see that you are a sinner. And yet, when you find that you are in sin and you hear, thou art the man, thou art the woman, and you mourn your sin, you will find it will be an excellent oil because Christ himself will comfort you as you repent and you turn to him. Times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord as you repent and you find Christ is there in the repentance and you will find the sweet release and the restoration as we sing in the 51st Psalm of the joy of his salvation. Now, what is the mirth of the world like in comparison to that? Right, to those of you who know your God, the rebuke that Solomon speaks of here is far, far better than the song of fools. And yet all we want, naturally speaking, in the fallen condition is mirth, that's it. You find here that there is this desire to be found in the house of mirth and you find the laughter of the fool here. All that we want is just light trivialities and just want to laugh because it is a way for the flesh to in many ways distract itself and to make itself feel better about itself. When I was growing up, It was, and now I think on these things, and I don't even know what's out there these days because we don't have television, but when I was growing up, right, what was constantly advertised and what people would constantly talk about is the sitcoms that would be on television one after another. And if it weren't enough that these terrible things, because many of them were blasphemous and many of them glorified ungodly things or ungodly situations, they also, in order to stir up the people over banal jokes, they would have laugh tracks to try to cause you to laugh. Now all of this is the song of fools. What is all of that trying to do? It's to distract you from the true human condition. Let me just laugh my cares away. And I don't need just 10 minutes of that. I need 30 minutes. I need an hour. I need to do that into the late night shows until I fall asleep with the television on. In order to distract myself from what reality is, our society is geared around the song of fools. Everything must be mirthed. to distract us from the glory of God, that there is sin, that there is misery, that my expiration date is inexorably coming minute by minute, day by day, hour after hour, and these fools on the television and at every other place, right, are trying to distract me from the appointment that I have with God Almighty. The whole society is geared around this. And now you can spend all the rest of your day just sort of scrolling around on this phone, on YouTube, on social media, and go from one reel, one story, one thing after another, full of levity, full of mirth, and distract yourself to death. There are far better things, brethren. far better things. To consider God, to consider your soul before the Lord even as a Christian, to spend time with the Lord and to spend time with those made in His image and to speak of deeper and weightier things. The book of Remembrance and the book of Malachi and other things that we could be speaking to one another of. No one, though, today seems to want to consider the deeper matters of life and the soul. And because now we come out of this society, even our pews are filled with those who desire the song and laughter of fools. And so now the preaching of the Word is no longer preaching the Word, but really it is a minister getting up here to give you a 30-minute stand-up comedy routine. Because even in church, we don't want to hear of the glory of God anymore. And so we have a generation that has been patterned to think that all there must be is mirth. At least a couple of us recently went to a conference where the topic was the glorious Holy Trinity. And the speaker doesn't need to be mentioned, but the speaker who comes to deliver a certain orthodox point of theology cannot go without speaking every other sentence of a joke. And you forget at times what the conference circuit is like, and that is what it is often like. Even when men are speaking of the gravity of the glory of God, they have to crack jokes. What an astounding thing, brethren. This is how much this kind of foolish thinking has entered into the Christian church. Now, laughter, as you well know, is not a bad thing, brethren, in its right place, but the alluring nature of just wanting a life of mirth needs to be reckoned with. Whenever it takes your mind and your heart off of the Lord and the weightiness of true religion, There is joy in the Christian faith, but it comes in view of the gravity and the glory of God. All we want is shallow laughter, though, to distract us from God. And that's the problem. To distract us from our standing before God, or lack thereof. But in the Christian religion, there is something better. There is deep, abiding joy that we find in having the wellspring of life. that causes that great and rich and precious joy that I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. Take the sitcoms away so I can think on that. And because the laughter of fools and the song of fools cannot sustain your soul, you are addicted. You are addicted to it. In the hopes, like the drug user, one more hit, Maybe this will do it. But you turn the television off, and I'm using concrete examples. The examples are many. I'm just using examples that you might know in your own life, but you turn off the television or you fall asleep in front of it, and has any of that mirth changed your life? But an encounter with the living God, yes. Yes. And Solomon has a great image, therefore, here for you, a great illustration. The laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns under a pot. Now, if you ever made a campfire and you found some thorns and you throw it into the fire, you know, children, that it just sort of rushes up, they catch fire quickly, and then they burn out. That's it. You can't cook anything under them. There's nothing there to sustain the heat. This is what the Song of Fools is like. There's nothing here to sustain your soul on its pilgrimage to heaven. It cannot warm up your soul. That's what the laughter of the fool is. It has a temporary effect. It is vanity. And so you have something to consider here for your own life. A blessed morning. is better than perpetual, Christless, senseless mirth. But you, who are blessed mourners, you have a greater satisfaction and a greater gladness than the fool. Psalm 30 says it well. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing. Thou hast put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. That's the abiding joy and gladness that those who are reconciled to God in Christ have. That is what you have. But first, what is the direction in Psalm 30? First there is mourning, then comes the dancing. First there is sackcloth and repentance, then there is gladness. Because without the mourning of sin, you don't have the beatitude. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. But how happy. How blessed you are if you have mourned your sin and turned it over to Christ. He has comforted you, Christian. You're not to refuse that comfort. If he has poured the love of God into your soul by the Holy Spirit, shown that you are forgiven as far as east is from west, your sins are removed, that he has taken away your sackcloth, he has given you gladness, that he has removed your mourning and your tears and given you a sight of Christ in whom you have total blessing. These are the things that the song of fools, the house of mirth and levity cannot do and produce. And so it is better if you mourn in this way to have visited the house of mourning than to go to the house of mirth. So let's spend some time in the house of mourning so that you might be prepared to be taken to the house of wine. that house that Christ has prepared for you. And may we bless his own word to us tonight. Amen. Let us stand for prayer, if able. O God in heaven, help us to be cut to the heart as those who heard the apostles preaching at Pentecost were cut to the heart over sin. and over the death of the testator Christ. May we focus our soul's energies on the weighty things of religion and of God. Help us to ignore the siren call of the fool who would make us to focus only on mirth. Help us to consider the weighty things of religion. Help us to see the grace that is found in a godly rebuke over our sin. And may we desire that. May we say, let the righteous smite me, for it shall be a kindness. Let us be grateful for the smiting of Christ through his word, that we would be turned to God. And may we then, seek to put away that kind of worldliness, especially worldly mirth that is so alluring to the flesh, that we would focus not on the giggles and the laughter of the foolish men and women of this world, particularly in those things that offend thee, our God, but instead that we would have joy in our soul over meditations of Christ, and yes, godly laughter and conference with brethren over good and wholesome things. but never over the things that would offend thee. And may we not self-medicate over the things of the world, seeking to put away thoughts of our own sin, that we would not feel badly upon our own self, even as Christians, but instead, having found the rot in our own soul that still remains, that we would bring it with sorrow to our God, and that thou wouldst give us the blessing of the beatitude, blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. In addition, may it be that our children, even here, would consider death, that they don't have forever to live. and that tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us, that one day each of us will have visited the house of mourning. And may it be that all of us are prepared for that visitation that comes, that our souls would flee to the Savior Jesus, for we pray all of this for thy glory and in his name, amen.