So, Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 10, and then we'll go through 11 through 13 probably in one shot. And then it looks like we'll be in sections again. Ecclesiastes, as you recall, is I mentioned it to Rachel again, you know, and a lot of people actually from when Rachel and I were talking about this, she said that when the Lord first saved her just this past September, it's interesting, she just opened up her book and she happened to be in Ecclesiastes chapter seven. And people asked her, well, where are you reading? And she says, Ecclesiastes. Wow, that's a really depressing book. And Ecclesiastes is a depressing book if you're not saved or if you're saved and looking at it without Christ being the center. of all Scripture. When we see it, we see Christ, and it would be depressing were it not for Christ. And the solution is Christ. These things drive us to Christ when it seems down or whatever. It is vanity. Everything is a breath. It's a vapor. It's vanity. It's futile apart from Christ. But in Christ, the futility is the futility itself is vain. It's vanity. It's a vapor. In Christ, he makes all things new. And so I don't see the Ecclesiastes as a depressing book. I see it as now from a different lens. I see this is how the world thinks. This is the doldrums of a life that's hopeless. But in Christ, we have great hope. And the things that the preacher has to say, because we talked about that today too. Who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes? Was it Solomon? Could have been, but I don't know. Because there's some things that really point to Solomon, but there's other things that point to someone else. So when I give the answer, I just give it in Hebrew. Kohelet. which means preacher, that's who wrote it. There are subtleties in the scriptures that we notice, like the Song of Solomon. It says, which means the Song of Songs that is of Solomon, or that is from Solomon, or that is to Solomon. It doesn't say, it doesn't specify, and when it has an ambiguity like that, It tells me that I should spend less time on trying to figure out the original context and more time in what God is trying to tell. all of us through the ages because it's not given directly. Brother Mike. So is this one of the books of Hezekiah? Hezekiah has been given as a reference, but there's some things that seem like it's earlier than Hezekiah. So I don't jump on that. It could have been, and he writes from maybe a, you know, a past tense kind of look as someone who's more ancient. Yeah, whoever has written Ecclesiastes is knowledgeable about life. And that's pretty given. So the Holy Spirit is really ministered to the writer here. And I wanted to give that today just to, you know, kind of give you really an understanding. Since the writer, it's unclear who the writer is, it's hard to find an original context, which means that we're blessed since Christ has come. The only context that we can give it is Christ. So it's not a depressing book. It's actually a joyful book because I'm not stuck in the doldrums. I'm lifted up in Christ, Brother Mike. who wrote it unless somebody wanted to keep it. And I believe that the Lord did. I believe it's ambiguity like we didn't cover that in Sunday school. But I was thinking about that, especially with Rachel and I having a conversation at home today concerning the scriptures. Hebrews, some people think Paul wrote it. No, that's OK, because I could be wrong. I used to think it was Paul. The more that I study it, though, the more I think it wasn't Paul that wrote it. But I still could be wrong. We all agree that it was the Holy Spirit that wrote it. And because it's ambiguity, it causes us to bring attention to the matter at hand, the subject matter. And clearly Hebrews is all about Christ, which is a wonderful book. In fact, One of my favorites, because it does amplify Christ. And since it's the writer isn't really known, like certainly the epistles of Paul that are Paul's by his signature. Yes, we know that's Paul and we know the context and we know his travels. And so we kind of know the time frame of when it was written. But Hebrews, we get these hints. I know it's before the temple was destroyed, but the subject is Christ, Brother Mike. You know, the fact that certain Church Fathers like Irenaeus or somebody else didn't know who it was, in the case that it kept a secret, it would indicate it. Yeah. Just because, you know, they don't know really, they are guessing even in the 4th century, Irenaeus and so forth, those ancient Church Fathers, that it tells us that, well, the subject matter is very important. They thought, they see how it must be included in the canon of Scripture. But that's, you know, and so Ecclesiastes, likewise, we know that the Jews revered this as Scripture by the Holy Spirit and that this is included in the Old Testament Bible, the Hebrew Scriptures. And so that's what we look at in Verse 10, the first part of that sentence, The good old days. Why were the former days better than these? The King James Version says, say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these? Just the first part. And then the Jewish Publications Society, don't say, how has it happened that the former times were better than these? I challenge you, and you don't have to say yes or no on this, but it's almost like, especially anyone that's older than 30, hasn't thought this if they haven't said it out right. The good old days. But when you get to the second part of the verse, for it is not from wisdom that you ask this, boom, there's the rebuke. Because I can tell you, I've thought this myself, both as a non-Christian and even as a Christian, not getting to Ecclesiastes right away. And I read Ecclesiastes and I, okay, I'm under conviction. I've not only thought this, I've spouted it out loud. Oh, we only had the good old days. If only so-and-so was president, or only, We had things going on like those days. In fact, when I was on Facebook, we have a friend, Lisa and I have a friend that's down in California and he posts a lot of these very funny posts that have some truth to it. But sometimes he posts some things concerning like, you know, back in the 60s, you know, we ate dirt. Which we did, and it didn't bother us any. You know, and little Zane was out here playing in the snow, and here he is. He just grabs the snow, and he just takes it and puts it in his mouth and starts eating it. And Grammy's going, Zane, don't. I said, leave him alone. He's fine. I've already given the instruction. Don't eat the yellow snow, and don't eat the brown snow. And then we discussed it, and he knows why the yellow snow is off limits, and he knows that the brown snow is dirty. I didn't get into a lot of details about the brown snow. But he knows not to eat that, and he was fine. And so were most of us who ate dirt when we were, you know, four, five, and six years old. But those days had their problems. I grew up in the 60s, and although it seemed like it was kind of nice for somebody who was, you know, in his five, six, seven, eight years old, even into the late 60s at nine, I didn't know of all that flower child stuff that was going on. That was wicked stuff. As I look at it in the history books, wow, that that's not stuff that you really want to have because it's not conducive to holy living. We had in that generation, we had our evil, wicked stuff going on. And so when we look at these things, the good old days, keep in mind this very first thing, Jesus always looked ahead. Jesus wasn't looking back at things of, well, you know, it was better in the garden before Adam sinned and then after Adam sinned, you know, it was still pretty good. No, it wasn't. It was terrible. Right after Adam sinned and they're kicked out of the garden, then Cain killed Abel. And it gets worse and worse. God destroys it with a flood. Oh, well, then it could be better. No, right away they build a tower and Babble and we're gonna reach that we're gonna reach up to the heavens. We don't need God anymore We'll just build this thing because we're one people It there were never any good old days Because that wasn't the purpose and that's the thing about Ecclesiastes the preacher gets us right where we live Oh, there's no good old days Jesus always looked ahead we see this that he marched to the cross in his ministry forward and Even from the beginning of his ministry, John chapter 2, destroy this temple, he says in John chapter 2 verse 19, when they said, why are you turning over the money changers? Destroy this temple and in three days I shall raise it up again. Chapter 18, verse 37, he says, for this reason, he says to Pontius Pilate, for this purpose I came to the earth, always looking forward to the truth of the cross. In his instruction to others, Jesus instructed us to look forward. In Luke 9, verse 62, he says, no man who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is worthy for the kingdom of heaven. We need to plow straight furrows. So if you're going to do some work, if you're going to serve God, then you need to have your eyes forward. You look back. And I had, I, uh, I wasn't in the car, but when I went through driver's education in California back in the mid-70s, early 70s, there was a fellow, a classmate of mine who was in another car, and when he was looking over his shoulder, he went like this and went up the embankment. When you start looking back, you remember, when you turn your head, you're not, you're tempted not to go into a straight line. Paul was always looking forward in his life. Paul looked forward in his life for Christ. In Philippians chapter 3 verse 13 he says, I don't look backwards. Those things that have already passed. This is the apostle now. who is filled with the Spirit and ministering the words of life even in his letters by the Holy Spirit to convey to us. I don't look back at those things. I look forward. I look ahead to the things of Christ. In verse 14 he says, I press forward toward, I press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I'm looking forward to Christ and not looking back. And then Colette reminds us the reason why we shouldn't look backwards in those things. The preacher reminds us of what he said earlier in Ecclesiastes 1 verse 9. 10 and 11 really, but you remember what he said at the beginning? What has been in verse 9 of chapter 1? What has been is what will be. And what has been done is what will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun. The evil that has happened today happened yesteryear. And in verse 11, he says, there is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of latter things. Yet to me, yet to be among those things, excuse me, latter things, yet to be among those who come after. In other words, let me read that again. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of latter things, yet to be among those who come after. Now he's not talking about the people that are thinking of the good old days in Ecclesiastes 7 later on. Oh, I Change that. He says those things that were former, they're not, he's actually telling us they're not remembered. And that's why in Ecclesiastes 7, you start thinking of the good old days. Brother Mike. We whitewash them. We only think of the good things. And it's not bad to think of the good things, but to think that that's all that was going on is actually rather foolish. It's unwise. That ought to be in scripture. Wait, oh, wait a minute, it is. Yeah, we fail to remember it was just as bad then as it is now. The author of Living Life Backwards, a commentary, or actually a series of, he preached a series on ecclesiastes, David Gibson, who's a, a Presbyterian pastor in Scotland, Dr. David Gibson, he says this, quote, often when we think this, it's because we are blind to the good things of the present and ignorant of the evil of the past, end quote. And before that, he actually said, Quote, if you think you're living in a world where things are getting worse all the time, then cheer up. At least you'll be dead before things get really bad. End quote. I love, I was going through and finding some, you know, really helpful stuff in his book. I've read it three times. But that quote was one of my favorites. Cheer up. You'll be dead before things get really bad. With this, we draw some conclusions. It's self-deception to think the good old days were all good. Because we forget that they were pretty bad then, as Ecclesiastes 1.11 tells us. It's misdirection to take our eyes off of Christ's kingdom. For one, a paradise past destroyed in the flood, according to Genesis 6, 5. And Jesus speaks of that. It'll be like the days of Noah in Matthew. He says in Matthew 24, verses 38 and 39. It's coming again. So by his telling us it's coming again, like it will be as in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. It must tell us it was pretty bad back then. It wasn't good. And we should be, we should be looking ahead, not back. And I give that as a warning because I've heard some preaching over the years where they were very well intended. They see our progress is, as they say, steps going back to Eden. No, that's not it. We're going forward to something greater than the paradise of God. Going to some place better, or in fact, some truth better, I should say, more than just a place. It is the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and fellowship, unbroken fellowship with him. Much better than the garden before the fall. It's better than the patriarchs who have not yet received the promise. We remember that from our Sunday school lesson, Hebrews 11 verse 13, that here they had been given a promise, but they hadn't received the promise physically. That promise was all wrapped up in the truth of salvation, redemption, salvation, and sanctification in the Lord Jesus Christ, and ultimately the kingdom in reality when he returns. So everything else is misdirection. When we start yearning for the good old days, it's taking our eyes off of Christ. Our eyes should ever be on Christ who is the eternal King. It's misapplication is to forget we serve a sovereign God and Savior. We are denying the reality of God's presence, presence, oh, I'm quoting also again David Gibson, we are quote, denying the reality of God's presence in the present. If you think things are worse, do you think God is no longer in control? Well, that's a sobering sentence right there. His quote continues, do you think he hasn't brought you to the point where you are now and that he no longer loves you or has plans or purposes to you? To ask the question in verse 10 is unwise because it forgets about God." If you've never read the book or if you don't have a copy of the book and like to have one, I do have a copy that you're welcome to have and read. It's well worth your reading. It's a very good book. Rachel has read it. I think Sister Vicki has a copy. I don't know if she's read it and so does Sister Etta. It's called Living Life Backwards. It is a commentary on the, kind of a commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes, but basically compiled together from notes and then written, expanded from sermons that David Gibson had preached a few years ago. I think it was, it's published in 2017, so I think he preached around 2015 or 2016. Yeah, did you have something, Brother Mike? When I think of the things I did, sin, I think now I look back at them and I say, I'm sure glad that's forgiven. I say, I'm glad that's taken care of. Yes. You know, I think that's a good way to look at the past. I'm glad that's under the bread. I'm glad that, yeah, you can look at those things and say, I never want to do that again. Well, even the even the the thought of the good old days, the thought of why were the former days better than these? Sorry, folks, we're all almost all the way at the last note on E4. Even the thought of that is is forgiven in Christ. So, you know, whereas I Opened it up with who hasn't thought well, you know, we kind of yearn for the good old days when uncle Ronnie was the president of the United States and he had Gorbachev by the you know Had him by the collar mr. Gorbachev tear down that wall and You know, I was serving in the military under Ronald Reagan and we thought yeah, we got a commander-in-chief here the movie star The, excuse me, the B-movie actor? Yeah, he's the president. The actor, yes. And then we got George H.W. Bush right after that. And we think, oh, yeah. A thousand points of light coming together. Yeah, a thousand points of light. But there were the times that we thought were good. were not as good as we thought they were. And that's forgivable because we all have that tendency to think, because we look on the good things, because the preacher told us in Ecclesiastes 1.11, the former things, the former times have been forgotten. And so all the bad things from those former times we'd forgotten about, especially as as Christians, we kind of tend to look on the brighter side of life. But from this application, we have its blessed anticipation to look for the best that is yet to come. And that's what causes us. That's what helps us through the Holy Spirit to understand the book of Ecclesiastes as one that gives us a better life now, not our best life now, but a better life in this world that's full of turmoil, surrounded by the darkness of wickedness and evil. We have a better life because Christ is with us. And this is why Ecclesiastes is really a book that's not daunting. It's a great book of hope. Because I see this is the, you know, when before the Lord saved me, my eyes were closed to the the futility of the things of the world. But now that I'm saved. And I see a writing like this from the Old Testament, man, the preacher really has it down. That's what I was living in. And that's what Jesus saved me out of. And so the wisdom of it, when we get like this here in chapter seven, that's why we slow down a little bit to gain the wisdom of that. So as we start moving on again with looking at the world, we have the hope of Christ. And so we see things from our New Testament perspective, 2 Corinthians 4, verses 17 to 18, where Paul says that our light, our affliction that we experience right now, it's light and momentary, not to be compared with the eternal weight of glory. Those things that we're experiencing won't drag us down. They'll be actually a not merely not detrimental to our lives, but they're really actually uplifting. They forge our character to be better Christians, better men and better women, better mothers and fathers, better husbands and wives, better sons and daughters. Or as Philippians 3.14, where I mentioned 3.13 before that Paul says, I forget the things. Those, I can count them lost. They're nothing. Those former things, I look ahead. And then in verse 14 of Philippians 3, he says, I press toward the mark of my high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Always looking ahead, forgetting what's behind. Even my own good works, the things that I've looked at. Sometimes I have a tendency to say, wow, The Lord has actually blessed me because I look at something that I'd written, say, 10 or 15 years ago, and I said, Lord, did I write that? That's pretty good. It seems like I've gotten worse, because I wish I'd said something that smart then, now, that I said back then. So that must have been you. So I don't really don't even want to look back, because I find I seem to be smarter 10 or 15 years ago than I am now. So, I really don't want to look back. I don't know. Actually, having... Honestly, since we've been back, I do feel a lot more appreciated having been gone. I have been gone and the welcome that we've had coming back. Oh, Brother John, we really are thankful. I mean, I know that I talk to Brother Jack about every two weeks. He'd give me a call or and we would talk. And I and I've heard, too, that he just did a wonderful job and filling the pulpit and all. And I appreciate him. And I told him so since we've been back, I've talked to him on the phone. But Even Hebrews 12 verse 2, which we haven't gotten to in Sunday school yet, it says, we look forward, we look ahead, we look to the author and finisher of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, who for the joy that was set before him, despising the shame, endured the cross. And so we look to him. We don't look to what Although we do remember and we see and we read all that he's fulfilled from scripture, we see what he's done on the cross, but we look to the victor of Christ. And that's what we have to look forward to, that since he's been crucified, resurrected and ascended into heaven. 1 John 3, 2 says that when he returns, we shall see him as he is, for we shall be like him and we'll be able to glorify him. and praise him in the manner that he deserves. And so I wanted to actually, I should have had my place there. I thought I did before, because we've been in Hebrews 11 where it says, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter, in the English Standard Version, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. That's, rather than looking at the former days, we look at He who is seated upon the throne and rejoice in that. And I can't wait till we're in Sunday school when we get to that part, despising the shame. So, I won't give it up. I won't give you a spoiler alert on that one, but that's a really important phrase concerning Jesus. Just rounds out even a little bit more of what Christ has done for us. So, that's it. Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verse 10. Any questions or comments? on anything. It doesn't even have to be on Ecclesiastes. Brother Teagan. Yeah, it means preacher, really. Ecclesiastes comes from the Latin. That's where we get ecclesiastical, meaning that which has to do with ministers and the clergy, or even having to do with the church. From the Greek, ecclesia means it's used in the Greek as the church. But Ecclesiastes is a Latin transliteration of a word that means preacher. Because it takes it from the Hebrew title, Kohelet, which Kohelet means in Hebrew, it means preacher. Yes, sir. Good question. Anything else? Brother Mike. Well, you know, I was thinking this week about a couple of verses. But one was, it's the father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And therein, Isaiah says, ye have pleased the Lord that brews him, that put him to grief, and thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. So it was to enlarge the kingdom. Yes. Isaiah 53, to me, one of the holy of holies, really, of the Old Testament because it's about God's suffering servant, the Christ of God. Oh, it defines His work on the earth. Yes, it does. And culminates, really, Isaiah 53, what He went through on the cross. And so, sometimes I can't read that passage, the passages in Isaiah from 50 to 58 without weeping because it's just there's so much there it speaks so much of Christ Anything else Well, he is risen I Let's pray. Our most blessed and gracious Father in God in Jesus name and for his sake we thank you Lord for the opportunity we can gather together tonight and look into your word and enjoy the truth that Christ has lifted us out of a world that is full of depravity and disdain and darkness and brought us out of that darkness into his marvelous light. And Ecclesiastes reminds us of that. There's great wisdom in this Old Testament book. As long as we see Christ in it and from it, we'll be on a path that is blessed and we will have truly a better life now. on our way to the best life that is yet to come. We love you and thank you in Jesus' name. For His sake we do pray. Amen.