Five kinds of men who lose in life
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ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Welcome!
Vacation
I will begin a two week vacation tomorrow. My family and I are headed out in the morning to Florida. And I’ll need another week after that to recover from the trip. So a young man named Dakota Garret will be preaching in my absence. Please make plans to attend and support him. Attendance is a great encouragement for a preacher.
God’s open door testimony. I’ve been switching things over this week from Eastview to New Beginnings and I am amazed at how smooth everything has gone. We have not had any issues, Jim and Darlene have been fantastic in helping move things along. It is just another piece of evidence that the Lord’s hand is in this this.
My experience has been, when God opens a door things move right on along. And that certainly has been the experience here.
Honor Fathers
I also want to recognize our fathers. The world needs good fathers. Fathers are absolutely necessary to s a stable family. They are the protector, the provider, the one who enforces discipline, the one who guides the family along.
Some things My dad taught me growing up:
Number one, he taught me to be tough and to be a man…..and if you know my Dad he has always been a man’s man.
He taught me how to fish
he taught me how to run a trout line
taught me how to hunt
Taught me how to field dress any living creature on earth and to eat it (been encouraging me for weeks to skin the moles my dog Moose brings up to the house)
taught me to love Mt dew (I still drink it to this day)
taught me how to work on vehicles
He taught me that if you grow a beard (and you should) you never shave it off. That is now who you are forever
He taught me that men are to be men and women are to be women and anything outside of that is not right
taught me the necessity of hard work
taught me how to make it on my own
Taught me the gift of your children and no matter how annoying they may be at times they are a gift and to be enjoyed
There certainly is much more, but I am grateful for his influence in my life.
Who would we be without our dads? They are an essential piece to us all.
~Prayer thanking God for the Dads~
SERMON: THESIS: In man’s quest to gain preeminence in this world, he loses himself along the way
INTRODUCTION:
INTRODUCTION:
Men, this is a sermon for us. If you are here today and you are a father, or you are a young man who will be a father one day, I hope you will listen to this message.
NO ONE will have a greater influence on your family than YOU. You kids, your spouse, they are designed to follow your lead. And what we run hard after, they will almost always replicate. You just a take a look at your children, and you will see a piece of yourself in them. Your characteristics, your attitude towards others, your passions, your priorities, they are learning how to live from us.
And ladies there is gospel golden principles in these passages that will bless you today as well.
The sermon title is “Five Kinds of Men Who Lose in Life”. It will come straight out of the fourth chapter of Ecclesiastes and we are going to see five different personalities who try to get ahead in life by one way or another only to lose themselves along the way.
FIVE KINDS OF MEN WHO LOSE IN LIFE:
1) THE OPPRESSOR: This is the man who has been granted some form of power and abuses it
Ecclesiastes 4:1–3 (NASB95)
Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.
Here Solomon is reflecting on “all the acts of oppression which are being done under the sun”. That is one person who has been given power on this earth and uses that power in some kind of way to oppress others.
The word “oppress” means to cause trouble or hardships for another.
These people can be found in about every walk of life you could imagine. From the school system all the way into the church house you can find examples of abuses of power. People in positions of leadership who desire power and use it as a weapon rather than for its intended use.
There is nothing wrong with being in a position of power. God has designed creation in that way such as kings and the government and leaders. This verse is talking about an abuse of that power.
Examples:
THIS HAPPENS IN THE WORKPLACE:
When I worked at the fire department, I was blown away by the way officers and chiefs and people in leadership position treated others. I had never been around anything like that. I was never in the military or anything like that.
There was this unspoken code there that any officer was supposed to treat the new hires like dogs. Now I came from a factory where all the hourly workers were equal, and I had not been walking with the Lord very long at all so I didn’t take too well to getting treated that way. So what did they do when you didn’t accept their program? Punish you. Send you downtown to ride the ambulance all night for about 6 months.
Tyrants in the workplace dishonor the name of Christ. It does not matter what environment you are in. It doesn’t matter how much power you have been given, if you use it to oppress others, you are doing harm the name of God.
THIS HAPPENS IN THE HOME:
Husbands who talk down to their wives or who mistreat their children because they are physically stronger or are in a dominant position are oppressors. Men who speak to their wives in derogatory ways, treat them in ways that make them feel inferior, do not give them the honor due to to them oppress them.
Ephesians 5:28–29 “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies.
Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
I think this is the most common way men become oppressors because it’s behind closed doors and they may have even been taught that it is ok.
Men who lead their families like this do far more harm than good. And I have seen it over and over that family resent them for the rest of their lives once they get out from that home.
POWER ABUSES IN RELIGION: I have been in ministry for about 8 years, and it is shocking to see how much of this goes on in the church and in denominations. People who get in some kind of position of power and immediately use that power to fulfill their selfish motives and oppress others. btw I have seen both men and women do this in the church.
Being a pastor, being a deacon, being a teacher, being a denominational leader does not give one power to press other people down.
Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
How should we be in the church?
Philippians 2:3“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;”
What does God think about men who oppress others?
(v 3) “who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun”
God calls oppressors evil. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the workplace, it doesn't matter if it’s in the military it doesn’t matter if that’s how we have been brought up, it doesn’t matter if it’s in the home and no one sees it, it is evil in God’s eyes.
This is the first kind of man who loses in life, for to oppress other people is to make himself an enemy of God.
2) THE ENVIOUS MAN: This is the man who sees what his neighbor has and his envy of that man guides his life
I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
The NLT says: “Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors”
That is what drives some people to become successful….it is not for the reward of success, it’s not to make a better life for their children, but because they covet the success their neighbors have. They see what other people have: nice car, pretty wife, good looks, a farm, and that envy of those things motivates them to strive for that same success. The old saying is, “keeping up with the Jones’s”
Solomon says, “this too is meaningless and striving after the wind”. In other words it has no real value in life.
Envy is just another word for coveting
What does it mean to coveting?
Kevin Deyoung said, Coveting is not just saying, “I want something.” There is nothing wrong with that. We all have things that we want.
Coveting says, “Why did you get that? I wanted that!! I am angry because you are happy, and I’d be happier if we could trade places.” Coveting wants what other people have.
COVETING IS TO NOT BE SATISFIED WITH WHAT WE HAVE
It in its root is a form of discontentment
It is saying to God, what You have allotted me is not good enough
Its an attitude that God still owes me what is due us
Thomas Watson gave is very helpful here in identifying an envious man. He has listed six characteristics that identify a covetous heart:
When a person’s thoughts are always about this world
A fancy new house, More money in the bank, a better looking spouse, a new job with better pay, vacations, pleasures, stuff, always thinking about the things of this world
When a person is willing to endure more pains for getting earth than heaven
In other words, when someone will go through all sorts of trouble to get the things of this world. Drive hundreds of miles, spend countless hours of hard labor for something, but will grumble when they must drive 15 minutes for something related to Jesus, or spend a couple hours in service to the kingdom of God.
When all we talk about is this world
A covetous man uses up all his words on worldly things, while ignoring the greater conversation about heaven.
When a person is willing to part with heaven for the things of the earth
When a person begins to pursue Christ, yet falls away in pursuit of the things of this world
Money
Material things
Popularity
Relationships
Etc
When a person overloads themselves with worldly business
When one’s earthy demands cause him to not have time for Christ, he has covetousness in his heart
When a person is willing to sin to get what they want
The envious man loses in life
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
Envy is to the bones what sin is to the soul
If it is envy that drives you, you will never be satisfied.
All the days of your life you will crave and never have, while all the time your life is decaying away
3) THE LAZY MAN:
The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.
“The fool folds his hands”
That is he refuses to work. We’ve all seen these kinds of people, if you’ve worked a public job. There will be people working away at something and there will be one or two standing in the back with their arms folded under them.
Lazy people think they are getting by with something. They think are exempting themselves from any real labor, any hard tasks, any kind of responsibility, and just skating through life without the toil of labor
But look what this verse says:
“The fool folds his hands, And consumes his own flesh”
This verse is not just denouncing laziness, it’s explaining the consequence for being lazy
The thing about laziness is it’s a sin that includes it’s own punishment. It’s like when someone gets mad at themselves, and punches themselves in the face. So it is with laziness. The sin itself is also the punishment.
“The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh” meaning that by the act of folding one’s hands and refusing to work, he ends up with nothing to eat but himself! His own laziness brings him into financial hardships and poverty!
“A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest”— Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.
Men are made to work. A MAN WHO WON’T WORK IS LIKE A FISH WHO WONT SWIM. One of the first things God did with Adam was put him in the garden to till the ground and keep the garden. And Eve was named Eve because she was the mother of all living.
I have never seen such a day when so many men refuse to work. I do believe in all my heart it was always God’s plan to be the bread winner and the mother the mother of the children.
Now I understand some women have to work, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that, I am simply speaking of the sin of laziness.
Some of the must satisfying parts of God’s creation is the satisfaction that comes from working and being able to provide for your family.
Now here’s the answer to both the envious man and the lazy man:
One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.
Don’t you just love the balance of the Bible
Solomon says don’t go too far one way that you become a sluggard and idle person with no discipline.
And then don’t go too far the other way so far that everything your eye sees you think you need to be happy
One full of rest (and the other labor) is better than two hands full of labor
The answer is to have balance in your life! Don’t waste it by spending 12 hours in the bed
But also don’t waste your life by working all you can!
Have balance in your life, that is the key!
4) THE SELF-CENTERED ACHIEVER: This is the compulsive money maker
Then I looked again at vanity under the sun. There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.
This is the man who works and works, yet without any real reason. He has no dependents, no wife, no children, no one to support. Not only that, but he has no one to receive his treasure that he has worked for all his life when he dies (For he has no brother nor a son).
He works simply because he has been taught his entire life that is what you are supposed to do as a man.
And I have met many people just like that. They are like a machine, they work all they can, as if that is the end goal in life. It is production that drives him, it is accumulation that drives him.
AND in this pursuit he loses himself: “For whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure”.
It’s often these men who wind up all alone. They’re not working to support a family, or another, but working for the sake of work. And so much time in absence away from the family or friends is a recipe for loneliness.
To think that this life is all about work is to a certain recipe to lose in this life.
Proverbs 23:4–5 “Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.”
Imagine a man who had been given a great gift of life. And included with this gift was an opportunity to work all he wanted and to make all the money that he wanted. But that was only meant to be a part of his life, never his whole life. And the man misunderstood the purpose of life and worked it all away, only to die and end up with absolutely nothing in the end.
Money is a tool, not the purpose to love. If work characterizes your life, then change it, or you too will lose in this life.
5) THE LONESOME MAN: This is the man who says he needs no friends or companions.
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
This man has an attitude that he needs no one. To him, people are a burden, people hold him back, and people are not worth the trouble. His life is too busy for people, and he believes he is better off that way.
Friends are work, relationships are work, marriage is work, People are hard, there is the risk of getting hurt if he lets people in. It’s just easier to be on your own and have nothing to do with people this man says.
But what he has failed to understand is that relationships have the greatest value in life.
“But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to life him up”
It may seem like when you’re young that you do not need people. But there is not a harder kind of life than the life lived all on your own. It lonely, it’s dark, and there is no one there to lift you up.
Two are better than one
IF PEPAW IS NOT THERE!
Some of the most miserable people I know are the ones who have aged and now live all alone. They have no one. They have no one to pick them up. They have no one to keep them warm. They only have themselves.
And they would be willing to trade everythign they thought was important to get back those relationships they ruined by their own self centered ness.
People who only think about themselves all their lives usually end up with just that: THEMSELVES
The man who ends up alone has LOST in this life. Nothing outside of Jesus CHRIST will add more value to your life than relationships with others.
They is worth the occasional disappointments.
They are worth the headaches
They are worth the pain that they sometimes bring
Genesis 2:18 “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone”
The sixth kind of man who loses in life: the one who dies outside of Jesus Christ
The sixth kind of man who loses in life: the one who dies outside of Jesus Christ
Now I know I said there were five kinds of men who lose, but there is one that towers over all the rest.
Let’s say you get all five of these right:
You do not abuse power given to you
You balance work and rest
You understands that you need people and cultivate relationships
You do not allow envy to drive you
Even if you do all of these perfectly, you will still lose in this life if it is not a life lived for Jesus Christ.
Illustration: Let’s suppose you’re on a luxurious cruise ship and everything is beautiful. You say, “This is the best vacation of my life.” Then the captain says, “I have an announcement ladies and gentlemen. We’re going to continue the entertainment. The cooks are going to do an even better job than normal with the meals. The crew is going to go all out to give you the best trip possible.
Then he says, “But there has been one change in plans. We’re not going to sail to any port. Instead, we’re going to go out in the middle of the ocean and sail around in circles until we run out of food, fuel, and water. And when we do, we’re going to empty the ship and sink it."
At that moment, you realize no matter how much you’re enjoying the cruise, it really doesn’t matter because it’s all coming to dreadful ending
The only way we win in this life, is to die in Christ. You may be the most successful, or have the balance just right, or treat people the way they should be treated, and have a really, really, good life. But if you die without Jesus, you lose it all.
That is why Christ came and died for our sins. That is why we proclaim salvation and hope and eternal life in the name of Jesus Christ.
Here is the plan of salvation that if you will need and follow today, He will save you and give you true life. Repent of your sin, all of them, and trust Jesus with your life. No speaking in tongues, no sinners prayer, no confirmation from a pastor, no baptism will save you. It is responding to Jesus by repentance and faith. And you can come and do that right now.
~PRAYER~
