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Ecclesiastes 2, WHAT REALLY MATTERS WHEN MAN'S PURSUITS COME UP SHORT. Cross City Church 1000 W Airport Fwy Euless, TX 76039 Ron Yamamoto, David Ingram
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Ecclesiastes 2, WHAT REALLY MATTERS WHEN MAN'S PURSUITS COME UP SHORT. Cross City Church 1000 W Airport Fwy Euless, TX 76039 Ron Yamamoto, David Ingram
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Ecclesiastes 2, WHAT REALLY MATTERS WHEN MAN'S PURSUITS COME UP SHORT. Cross City Church 1000 W Airport Fwy Euless, TX 76039 Ron Yamamoto, David Ingram
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Solomon is seeking wisdom and understanding in life. He questions whether new philosophies or new knowledge can provide answers and satisfaction. He concludes that true knowledge and wisdom can only come from God's revealed truth. Science and wisdom alone fall short in providing fulfillment. The pursuit of pleasure, even in good and legitimate things, does not bring lasting satisfaction. Laughter can have therapeutic effects on the body, releasing serotonin and endorphins. The importance of understanding and appreciating historical truths is emphasized. Thank you so much for this study and now we get to look at your wisdom and the philosophy of the world and see how that works in regard to how Solomon is trying to figure life out. And I pray that you would help us to receive your wisdom and your word with our hearts. And most importantly, Lord, we pray that you would help us to trust in you with all our hearts. Help us to lean not on our own understanding, but in all our ways, we pray that we would acknowledge you and you would direct our path. We pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. All right, well, thank you so much again for coming and this is going to be a mostly a question and answer session. I've given you all the answers for our study today, but in quick review, you know, we want to just remember that everything that Ecclesiastes and Solomon is trying to talk at this time is the fact that he's looking for something new, something new under the sun. But he's saying there's nothing new under the sun. And the question is, is a new philosophy or new wisdom going to answer our questions, you know, for life. And he's come up with saying that everything comes up like an empty balloon. It just pops and there's nothing left. And I think that that's the that's the important thing. But I think that we have to realize that when he says like at the end of chapter one, he's talking about the fact that is there something new on the horizon? And he's talking about the fact of there being a new birth in regard to a life. And he's saying that is he's saying, is there satisfaction in something that's new and wonderful new knowledge, for example. And he's looking at science as the answer to life's dilemmas. And the question comes up at the end of chapter one is science. Does that give satisfaction in regard to the search for something that's more, more, more information or more knowledge? And so he and that came up short. So science is not the answer. And also is wisdom the answer? And he said time at the end of chapter one, he's saying, well, is is studying philosophy and philosophy, philosophy is love, which is a little love and Sophie, meaning wisdom. So the love of wisdom, does that really satisfy? And the thing is that he comes up again short, because basically, the really important thing is that you cannot know God by man's wisdom and man's philosophy. And so the knowledge that we have through science and knowledge that we have through wisdom and philosophy only can come through a revealed truth in God's Word. Okay, so there's where we were starting to open up the floodgates of chapter one, we're just reviewing right now. So now that you notice in the notes, that all the answers are given, okay, so now we can have fun with all this. And so the answer to life's dilemmas, because it comes through revelation, through revealed truth of God. So God's Word, in its entirety, contains the answers to life's dilemmas for Solomon. Okay, so we came up with that conclusion at the end of chapter one. So we have to remember that education, which is based upon experimentation, that's science. Now science came from four men that were the foundation to do the experiments. In other words, God in His sovereignty, created the earth and everything in it. And so these four guys, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton, these guys were deists. But they found that if you did the experiments to test out God's truth, that it would come out true. So that was the basis for the scientific methods, inductive and deductive reasoning. Okay, so now we found that this is a scientific method, but that takes us a long way. Because today, we're doing the same methods. The problem is, there's always a problem with all this new stuff called science. And the problem is, some of the material is fabricated. Now we have to have, it's a challenge now in medicine, because about 30% of the new information coming across the library desks in medicine is fabricated. So therefore we have to decide which things are not true and not, okay. Now we gave up the example the last time we talked about the issue of Darwinism, okay. And we found out that Darwin wrote a wonderful treatise called The Origin of Species. And he drew some diagrams in there. And the diagrams were drawn exceedingly well by a guy named Heichel. And Heichel, it was just brilliant also. But the thing is, is that Heichel fabricated it. And Darwin knew that he fabricated it. So it looked like there was a, you know, connection between the species. So now The Origin of Species now became a reality. And The Origin of Species is one of the major players in all the biological texts today. So we still believe in the Big Bang Theory, okay. Essentially it comes from the Darwinistic philosophy and teaching. Now the question is, now is that been found out to be false? And the answer is yes. We did photomicrographic studies on the progression of the embryonic development of each of these different species. And they found that phenotypically they're different. And so therefore embryologically they're different as well. So ontogeny does not recapitulate ontogeny, okay. That's basically what it is. So you can see the progression of development. So now we see that science falls short. Now that leaves us with the decision that, well, what is the essence of wisdom that Solomon is giving? He says, with much wisdom and knowledge comes much greece, as we know, okay. That's right. That's true. Because it's not that we're stupid, it's just the fact that we just don't realize that there are historical evidences in the past that we've tended to ignore, okay. There's a book called The Closing of the American Mind, and it's by a guy named Alan Bloom. He's a professor of history at Yale. And what he did was he looked and examined the incoming freshmen of these major schools like in New York, at Harvard and also Yale. And he looked at what they were reading, he looked at the movies they watched, he looked at the music they listened to, he looked at the art that they appreciated, et cetera, with all these parameters. And he found out that, to his alarm, that what they had done is that they had forgotten the historical past of what the foundational truths of this nation were based upon. That's a very cornerstone of Harvard. It says, we, this school, and the education that is done at this school is for the purpose of preparing men who can teach God's word accurately. That's on the cornerstone of Harvard. Now, unfortunately, they've forgotten that. So that's what Alan Bloom is pointing out. Alan Bloom is brilliant. He has done the best translation from Greek to English of the Republic by Plato. The very best translation. So the problem that we have now is the fact that we have this idea of changing the historical past, that we have forgotten our historical past. So now what we, and so what Alan Bloom has said, is that we have become barbaric in our thinking. That sets the stage for Chapter 2 of Ecclesiastes. So now we see what really matters in life, what really matters. So let's start with the pursuit of pleasure. We're reading Ecclesiastes Chapter 2, 1 through 28. So, Jimmy, would you mind reading this first section, Ecclesiastes Chapter 2, 1 through 3? So the first question is, what is pleasure? And you know, now that definition there is good, the gratification of the senses or of the mind. So now we see that what we want to do with pleasure is that this is for self-gratification. And so how do we do this? I say it of laughter, it is madness, and of pleasure, and what does it accomplish? So how do people that do not know God pursue it? Amen. Amen. In together with your buddies and carousing around, I mean. Right. And I mean, it's got all those things there, but also, what I was thinking about when I asked that question was sometimes it can be necessary, whether it be you're pursuing it legitimately or illegitimately. Yes. Yes. Amen. Any other thoughts? You're all right. Whatever you're thinking is right. Because it's all good. Yeah. Even good things, like family, you know, careers, you know, things that are good that we can feel like we've accomplished something or that makes us more acceptable can be considered pleasure. Absolutely. Absolutely. And there's a, you know, there's a thing called the laughing, it's called laughter. It's a type of therapy. They call it laughter therapy. There's this guy that was told he had an incurable disease, he's going to die in pain very shortly. And there's no cure for it. And so, basically, what he did was, what he decided to do was he decided to watch different kinds of funny cartoons, like Evidence Costello and the Three Stooges and, you know, you just have to laugh at that. Hi. Hi. Thank you for coming. So, basically, we felt like, he felt like, if I just laugh, can laugh for an hour, I'll have 20 minutes free of pain. And it worked. So then he started trying two hours and three hours of laughter, you know, and then he found that it gave him an hour of no pain. And so he kept on with this, with this process. Okay. Now, the physiology of this is the fact that what we do when we laugh is it produces a thing called serotonin in our system. We take it in the form of Prozac. Okay. This is synthesized serotonin. It's something that gives us a feeling of well-being. So that's probably the most prescribed medicine that we have today, pharmaceutically speaking. So that's how this particular process became a therapy that's being done. And also, what happens is when you release serotonin, which is a dopamine, it also leads to the production of endorphins. Okay. Now, those of you that are bodybuilders, we have some here that do exercises and stuff like that. Okay. So what that does, that you lift, you know, for 20 minutes or 30 minutes or so, you find that the endorphins that are in your system causes you not to hurt so bad, bad when you're lifting all these, like 300 or 400, 500 pounds. Okay. So it doesn't hurt as bad. So you have an endorphin effect as well. So let me see, we can do this by work and we can do this, you know, cognitively. Now, the question now is, do all these things that work for the human body, do they work for the heart? What we're doing now is we're trying to say, well, it really matters for us to transform not only our thinking here, but our thinking here. Okay. Because it's a both and now. It's not an either or. In other words, some people will say, oh, if you're not a Christian, there's no way that you're going to be pain free in life. Okay. And that's not right. Because now we realize that there's a whole lot more interplay. Right. Because those of us who are Christians have had a lot of barnyard fertilizer, right? Barnyard fertilizer stinks. And what stinks in life is the fact that it drives us into thinking not just this way, but this way. See? So now we see that now what Solomon says now is that what is it that when we seek things that for the pleasure of things, is that walking by sight or is that walking by faith? Yeah. Okay. Everybody gets an A plus. Okay. Everybody's pointing to their eyes. We're walking by sight and that's a problem. Because 2 Corinthians 5.7 says, don't walk by sight, walk by faith. And the reason for that in 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, we are new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. The only thing that becomes new to us is not a new pleasure-seeking goal that we have. And the thing is, is that God is saying, okay, when you walk by sight, it's only temporal. It's temporary. It's just a fleeting moment. Like the Super Bowl. Some of us rooted for the right team and some of us didn't. I rooted for the right team because whoever was a quarterback, I was rooting for. Both quarterbacks played a great game. So yeah. So neither team should have lost. But I figured out that the team that had the ball last was going to win. Yes. I read something a while back, maybe something y'all did. When the Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl, the reporter, I can't remember when that happened. Somebody told me it happened. Somebody told me it happened. But they asked him, he said, what do you think about the ultimate game, the Super Bowl? He sat there a minute and he said, well, I think it can't be the ultimate game because we play it every year. That was a great answer. The first time they won the Super Bowl was in 1977. Before you all were born. Not the year. We got married. Oh, was that the year? Oh, then you do. Then Roger Staubach and those guys. I got to be one of the team doctors for that year. And then the year before they got to the Super Bowl. And then I worked for the Denver Broncos that year also. So they met in the Super Bowl. The Broncos and the Cowboys met in the Super Bowl. And I got to know all those players. You know, I mean, not really well because none of them got hurt. But the thing is that. Darn. Yeah. Hey, hey, listen, I really worked hard. They said, hey, Doc, my son has a runny nose. Can you give him something for that? That was my job. Okay. Which was not bad at all. But, you know, but see, that's a temporary thing, isn't it? See, the whole idea is all temporary. Now, what we want to do is want to seek something that is more permanent. Something that's eternal. So we're going to get into this as we're going along in our study. Because now we see that, you know, what good. I see good. I could see that what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven. A few years of their life. In other words, we're only here just temporarily. Right. The life that we live is four score and ten. You know, so we live here. Maybe we're here. Maybe 80 years at the most. Maybe 90. Yes. Right. So much have family members that are over 90, which is amazing. My mother was over 100. Oh, my goodness. See, that's a blessing. Grandmother. Wow. Okay. Well, this is great. We're going for a long time. Yeah. But see, when we're alive, you know, we can smile about that. But see, the point is we're all going out to the box. Right. All of us end up in the grave. You know, my wife and I had the privilege of officiating a wedding for a medical student. But after that wedding, which was marvelous, we had to go to four or five memorials. And that was just a couple of weeks ago. But you see, the end of life is death. And so now Sal is making the strong point. What about death? And when that happens, is that it? Is that all there is to life? Is it just the death? Because he's upset at the fact that, well, let's go on here. We talked about the laughter therapy. You know, it doesn't accomplish anything. See, and I disagree with that. Huh? I disagree. That's what he said. I know, but I disagree with that. Yes. Come on. You're going. Let's go. You know me. I'm going to go. No, no. Let's go. The thing is, it's like, if all your pursuit is feeling good all the time, yes, I would agree. But there's a reason why they say laughter is the best kind of therapy, or laughter is the best medicine. Because there are, I mean, I babysat a nine-year-old girl the other day, and we were laughing, playing this ridiculous card game. And it just lifted my spirit. So it does accomplish something. Yes. Under the realm of things, but if all I'm doing is wanting to get wasted and laugh, you know, yeah, I'm not accomplishing anything, pretty much. Yeah, you see, but that's true. See, exactly what you're saying is absolutely true. Yes. You choose whose words you're going to believe. I mean, man, all the guys and stuff that I work around, their whole thing about happiness is how much money you make, and how quickly can I get up and go party, and how many hunting guns. But, you know, it's all about something, and it's all temporal. And the difference between what we have and what they have is that even death, you know, it's not nearly as terrible. The older you get, it's not nearly as terrible thinking about death when you've seen all that God has done, and believe where you're going. It's not nearly as stressful. But you choose your attitude. The thing I've been working on the last year is choosing my attitude, deliberately saying something good about God, or deliberately, when I'm frustrated, going to Him, and not waiting until later itself. And I think we choose whether or not we're going to buy into the world, because that's how the world says. Party, get off party, make a lot of money, do fun things, and it's not about anything that is... It's all temporal, I guess is what I'm saying. You're not going to find happiness. I've tried, but it doesn't work. Yeah, and I'm the oldest here, so I've tried too, and it doesn't work. No, you're not. But the thing... All right, all right. Here, here's a point. How old are you? Eighty-seven. Oh, my gosh. You're really old. You're really old. I think he's the oldest. We need to talk to him. Yeah, that's right. We've got to get there. Yeah, yeah. See? I was just saying... Obviously, you did talk... I keep talking about diversion, if this is what I remember. Even good things can be a diversion. A lot of times, good things diverge, and they're good things, but they keep you from thinking about the things that maybe make you laugh all the time, and it might not be good. Yeah. See? I think... See, both of you are right. All of you are right. Because, you see, what God wants us to do, it's a both and. He wants us to be in the world, but not of the world. All right? So how does that happen? By being... Yeah. By being in the world, you do the laughing. You find that laughing and having a smile does release endorphins and dopamine, so it makes you feel good, and you're enjoying life for what it is, in spite of the barnyard fertilizer. Okay? Now, obviously, living 87 years, you did something right. And I know you and your wife and several other friends and buddies, but when you live life right, what is it about life that you've found that even in the midst of barnyard fertilizer, you can still walk away still smiling and still realizing that there's something... Yes. Okay? So what is the end of it? When you pass from this life to eternal life. Amen. That's the hope we have that the world doesn't have. No. You look through, you look through whatever it is that's happening to you now and think, this is only temporary. Yeah. That's right. And when you grow older, if you don't do that, you will be crazy. Yeah. Because as you just go from... This past year, I've just gone from cancer to back problems to not hearing, and I'm just wondering what the next one is. I'm trying not to think about it. As you grow older, you'll find out that growing old is not for wimps. That's well said. Because you see what the thing is that God is preparing us for something better. The best is yet to come. In other words, what is to come after this? Because we realize that when we look at the book of Romans, it gives us the pathway to heaven. Romans 5 talks about that really well. It says in Romans 5, to be thankful in your suffering because suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance produces character. Character produces hope, which never disappoints because of the love of God that's bountifully poured into our hearts by the power of God's Holy Spirit. See, the triune God is actively doing what he does best in our lives. What the triune God is, see, God the Father initiates his love and grace and wisdom. God the Son mediates it by going to a cross, and then God the Holy Spirit makes it real. Because there are times when you say, hey, I think I'm ready. But you see, the point is that we let God do that decision. Because we realize that when life comes up short, we realize that it's my pursuit that comes up short. In other words, we strive ever to strive for happiness, right? Some of you have heard this talk on the four levels of happiness. The first level of happiness is the happiness at this level, the happiness of the physical aspects of life. You know, if you're hungry, you go find food, consume food, you're happy one. Right? So the problem is, but if you consume food for any other reason than to satisfy your appetite, that's called an eating disorder. You know, eating too little, eating too much. And I eat too much, okay? So I have proof. But you see, so you have to go to happiness two to overcome that. Happiness two is to say, I can discipline myself so that I can control my appetite. But you have to find a friend to help you to do that. Okay? It's one of your best friends, though. Not to remind you by beating you over the head, but telling you that, hey, we need to prepare our bodies for something better. For example, playing football. Not that you girls play football. But see, the thing is that if you train your body and you discipline yourself to eat appropriately, okay? Then what happens? You're training your body, discipline your body so that you can play the game well. And when you play the game and you win, happiness too. But if you lose the game, it's unhappiness too. All right? So now you have to say, okay, what's next? And that's to say there is good in and of itself. Because as you were speaking, there is good in laughter. There's good in having time to be with friends. There's good in all these things. And one of the major things that we do is in regard to life is to have a wonderful relationship with family and kids. You know, for example, you know, you have a family. You raise the family. The family then becomes mature. You train them up well. They leave home and they're off to a career. They leave home, happiness free. That's right. That's happiness free. Yeah, I was about to get rid of them. Yeah, you get rid of them. So happiness free. But it ends. See, when it ends and you're done, you know, raising them, you know, then you, of course, then you realize, hmm, that's not so happy. So now we realize now there's something beyond that. But the thing is, is that when we deal with happiness, the pursuit of happiness, as the preamble to the Constitution talks about, you know, the whole idea is the fact that it's a pursuit. You're ever working hard to achieve these goals in your life. But happiness for is not something you pursue or achieve. So that's why it is politically incorrect to tell you what that is. Because it has to go beyond the temporal. And that's what Eugene was talking about. It goes beyond the temporal. Because this has to do with eternal issues. It has to do with the heart issue. So happiness for is a gift. And you girls know what that gift is, don't you? See, it's called joy. So happiness is a pursuit of this world. But joy is a gift from God from heaven. See, so the only way that you can enjoy life is to move it from here, which is the pursuit, to here. It's a both and, actually. Because really, when you know God here, you want to know Him here. Because that brings it to reality. I want to know Him, like Philippians 3.10 says, I want to know Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering, the conformity to His death, burial, and resurrection. When you know God here, you see, then what happens is you now understand what joy is. It's a both and. And this is where Solomon is saying, you know, life without God then becomes, you know, it's an empty thing. You know, next week we're going to be talking about when Solomon says, you know, God has made everything beautiful in its time, and He's placed eternity in the hearts of everyone. And Pascal says this, God has placed a God-shaped vacuum in every heart, and only God can fill that vacuum. Now that's going to be a miracle, right? But what's impossible with man is possible with God. See, Luke 1.37. Now we realize it's a both and. Because the thing is, is that when we start to think in terms of life this way, like Solomon, it ends up empty-handed. It's like those bubbles that were blowing the other day. They're all popping. And what's left? Nothing. See, and that's what Solomon is saying, and he's right about that. Life can be just very frustrating because if that's all there is to life, then what? And God is saying, that's not all that there is to life, just what you're saying. So now we see that if we pursue a temporal aspect of life, in other words, the way of life, happiness 1, 2, 3, is to look good, feel good, make good, do good, or you know good. Everything is built upon your performance and achievements in life. And so he's saying, that's not it. God wants you to be really good at what you do. He wants you to earn a good living. He wants you to work hard and diligently, work with excellence at what you do. But it's a both and. Because if you do that just for yourself, you see, building your own domain, your own wealth like Solomon did, Solomon calls it right. It's empty. Because I'm going to leave it to someone who doesn't deserve it. My son. And he was absolutely right. Because Rehoboam and Jeroboam, Solomon's son, messed things up big time. They ruined the kingdom that went for many, many years. And so Solomon was right in making that assessment. So true enjoyment then is a both and. But you have to do this with God. Yes. And to me, every day is a struggle. I want to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. And I want Jimmy Dale, that's me, to do that. It's a struggle. I ask the Lord to anoint me with the Holy Spirit. And I've found that I love telling jokes, but I've found that when I do that, I have humor and laughter. It's not at the detriment of somebody else. Because so many times, humor and laughter is at the expense of hurting someone's feelings or putting their race down or something like that. But every day, when I pray, I ask the Lord to fill me and anoint me with the Holy Spirit. Every day. Because it's a struggle between me and the Holy Spirit. But I want that power of the Holy Spirit through. It gives me joy. It gives me comfort. It gives me peace in times of struggle. We've all had struggles. And it gives me more empathy for people who have struggles. That's just me. I could be totally off base, but I don't think I am. That's A plus insight. Because we have to realize that we can be rich by taking advantage of people. I look at you and I look at Brother John. I think you smile when you sleep. I think the joy is right there when you sleep. Same thing with Brother John. They just radiate joy. You want to be around those people. I associate those people. I associate those people who have lumber or cheese under their lips. I appreciate what you're saying. But it's true of all of us. What all of us have is something called grace. That's the thing that puts that Winston smile on your face. It draws people into conversation. We all have it. Sometimes there's a guy that doesn't want us to show that. His name is Satan. The devil. He wants us to take that and erase that. That is one of the most probably most significant struggles in life. I think that's her name. The room can be completely dark and she'll go in and it lights up. She radiates that. It's her red hair. I agree. All of us are smiling because now we realize that there are people all around us that help us to radiate that. Satan doesn't want that. Satan says hey I want you to just be Mr. Gloomy and just spread gloom around the room. Sometimes he does that. Now we realize that the only way to get out of that rat hole is God gives grace only to one kind of person. God gives grace to the humble. That's in Proverbs 3.34 It's also in 1 Peter 5.5 God mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble. Peter then steps forward and says therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he will lift you up in due time casting all your care upon him because he cares for us. But be alert. 1 Peter 5.8 Be alert because the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking whom they devour. He's after us. He doesn't want us to be smiling in this terrible world. This is a dark world, isn't it? It's full of darkness. The thing is that God is saying I want you to be in it but not of it. If you're of it, then you're going to have a gloomy face. But then he says in verse 9 but resist the devil. Stand firm in your faith in Jesus Christ because this is the struggle that all believers have that they're dispersed to the world. But then he gives a promise. But the God of all grace who has called us to his eternal glory that after you've suffered a while he'll restore you. He'll perfect, complete you and make you firm, strong, steadfast in him. See the idea is to realize that the in him refers to the eternal perspective. The best is yet to come. And when we're here on earth we shouldn't like it. It's awful here, okay? But the point is that God's making to be in the world but not of the world is to say I don't belong here. And God says, yeah, that's right, you belong with me up here. See? See where we're headed? That's the eternal perspective. So as we go on, see the pursuit of labor. Now, we've already answered this question, but Noel, would you go ahead and read this Ecclesiastes 2, 4 through 11? I enlarged my works, I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself, I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in all kinds of food trees. I made ponds of water for myself for which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves. I had home-bound, home-born slaves. Also, I possessed cloth and herbs larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and measure of kings and providences. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of man many confines. Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. Although my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor, and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I consider all my activities which my hands had done, and the labor which I had exerted, and behold, all was vanity and striving after the wind, and there was no profit under the sun. Well, just what we were talking about is just what's still needed here, right? Now, Solomon, remember when he became king in 1 Kings, chapter 1-3, God asked Solomon, what is it that I can give you that will help you to lead this nation Israel well? And Solomon asked for wisdom. So God said then, because you asked for wisdom, I'm not only going to give you wisdom, but everything else thrown in. But then, in chapter 4-7, he said, no, there's several things I do not want you to do. I do not want you to collect wives. 700 wives and 300 concubines misses the mark a bit. I don't want you to collect horses. Stables of 20,000 horses misses the mark a little bit. And I don't want you to collect gold. And having gold shields on his palace wall that weighs, in today's economy, a million dollars per shield. Now that's a lot of opulence. Now he's saying that if you do that, you're going to be of the world. And he did that. So then he comes out and says midlife crisis. It's all vanity. It's all empty. Because he's going to leave it all behind. See? And that's the same thing with the physicals. You know, we can accumulate a lot of things. And, you know, and we've had some really, really good friends who have passed on to be in heaven, but they've left a lot of stuff behind. So... I've seen people take this and interpret it as, well, it's bad. Like, everyone should live a very impoverished to mediocre type life, versus, you know, having nice things. Even there are people who look at the things that we've done in our church and go, oh, that's capitalism. Oh, that's you know, them being irresponsible. And so I don't... I can agree with excess to a certain extent, but I don't necessarily think God is against wealth. It's that kind of stuff. Makes sense. You get an A plus for that insight. Why do you think that? I mean, you're right, but why do you think that? I mean, I don't know. I'm a low-key kind of girl. But, like for me, the stuff I work for is for my next generation to pour into my kids and leave a legacy behind. You know, I had a very... I didn't realize it, but I had a very wealthy uncle. And to me, he was just my uncle. It wasn't until I was an adult and understood money that I realized that his wealth and he was always very generous with his resources. But he also lived in Italy, so it was kind of like, you know, he had a very wonderful lifestyle, but at the same time, you know, he was very giving. So I don't think it's one or the other necessarily. Well, you know, the issue is talk about money is brought up in 1 Timothy chapter 6. You know, this is one of the first verses here. Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things in joy. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
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