“Therefore, Remove sorrow from thy Heart”...the Wayfarer 5/13/14

“Therefore, Remove sorrow from thy Heart”
  5/13/14

“Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity”

(Ecclesiastes 11:10)

Today, I return once more to a favorite book of the Old Testament, and a favorite author as well, one who called himself, merely, “the preacher.”

“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”

(Ecclesiastes 1:1 & 2)

That “Preacher” was none less than Solomon, King of Israel, the richest, and, considered then, and now, to be the wisest man of his time, and, for that matter, all of time prior and after.

Ecclesiastes draws me regularly to return to its pages, not just because of the beauty of the words found there, though I find its passages quite poetic and beautiful, but because it attempts to impart a wisdom that transcends the ages of when it was written and is so applicable within my own life and the times in which I live as well.

From the first verse of the first chapter until the very last verse of the final chapter, it contains advice given about life from one who experienced all the things written about for himself, asked himself all the questions recorded, found the answers to those questions and shared them with me and any others willing to look for those same answers.

As I finished the treatise I worked so diligently on for yesterday’s message, and filed it along with the others to be preached at some point in time, my bible fell open to this 11^th chapter of Ecclesiastes, just as I pondered the disquieting news of the day; both that of the world, and news received, via the phone, of yet another church to be closed because of a lack of money sent to its “Sponsoring division”.

This led to the thoughts of the vanity of that particular organization, and the impudence of those it employs to serve that “Division” whose gage of the success for the sponsored “churches”, is measured in the amount of money returned to that organization by the individual “churches” sponsored by it.

The measure of a church, the measure of an individual, the measure of the effectiveness of that church, or individual may not be found in the financial return from either one.

“Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days”

(Ecclesiastes 11:2)

Financial returns are not the purpose of a church! Spiritual returns are the purpose and responsibility of any church.

The spiritual wellbeing, and needs of those who choose to band together as a “church”, should be the primary concern of those placed in authority over those bound together in Christ Jesus, for the sake of those people, the edification of those people, the guidance of those people, whose own success in meeting the requirements set forth by Christ, should be the PRIMARY reason for that unification with each other to begin with.

Numbers of congregants are less important than the actual purpose of those congregants, claiming to meet to worship in Spirit and in Truth.

“Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

(Matthew 18:18-20)

No organization can shut down a church! It can easily shut down a portion of its social organization; that exists for the sole purposes of a social organization, but, THE CHURCH is not a social organization, subject to the will of men placed in authority over it.

THE CHURCH is subject only to the authority of Christ Jesus, and exists only through the presence of His Holy Spirit, unmovable, despite any financial consideration, immune from the need to present itself as anything other than the followers of Christ Jesus, it purports to be when viewed by the rest of the world!

This having been said, it is the responsibility of the church to provide for itself, and to provide any excess for the purposes of those children of God in more need than themselves.

That need does not extend to the fine clothing, affluent housing, expensive transportation to be provided to those using God’s money for those purposes, instead of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering those without shelter, in short, the needs as specified by Christ, not the wants of those using Him as a means to gain riches for themselves, in a temporal and temporary world devoted to treasures of that world instead of being devoted to the purpose intended by God!

“Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.”

(Ecclesiastes 11:2)

A “church” should remember wherein the priorities lie for its existence.

It is not for the teaching of men or organizations that any such assemblage should strive, but to meet that requirement given by Christ to:

“Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

(Matthew 28:19 &20)

In order to teach those things, and meet that requirement, they must be studied and understood. Once understood and comprehended they must be shared and taught through LIVING those things, living for those things instead of for the abundance of wealth sought by organization and division created for men by men more interested in the teachings of men than those of God.

If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there shall it be.”

(Ecclesiastes 11:3)

Just as the clouds must empty themselves of the rain, so too must people empty themselves of that which they are full.

What fills them will either be of Christ Jesus, or of themselves! What they are full of is made apparent by their actions, not by their words.

Just as a tree, having once fallen cannot change the direction in which it is pointed, neither can man change the direction of his life once that life is completed, that direction having been determined while he yet lived in this physical body.

“He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.”

(Ecclesiastes 11:4)

Visual effects and the perceived magic of magicians is only misdirection of attention, directing that attention to something false. It is quite entertaining, and, is quite useless for anything other than entertainment.

Entertainment sows no seed to nurture, and reaps nothing in return, except the enrichment of the entertainer.

A church is not established for entertainment, but for worship. That worship must be in Spirit and in Truth, not for the entertainment of those attending, but for the spiritual enrichment of those, and the ones they are meant to reach.

“As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

In the morning sow thy seed, and in in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.”

(Ecclesiastes 11:5&6)

We have been shown and given the Way of the spirit through Christ Jesus.

Still too few recognize what is, and are not, God’s works, and what is actually the opposite of those works intended to be done through the use of the tools supposed to be used for those works.

Too few recognize what those tools are, and refuse to be the one tool intended them to be, never accomplishing the purpose of that tool as intended, often only marring the work to be done instead of enhancing and improving that work.

Just as a sander has its purpose in smoothing wood, when properly used, that same sander improperly used will forever demolish the intended product intended to have beauty and precision, either by leaving a rough surface when the wrong paper is used, or when so much pressure is applied that too much of the wood being shaped is removed.

Jesus is capable of the shaping and finishing of the product, tools used by him are used properly.

Satan uses those same tools to destroy, if possible that intended product.

The effort required, whether in growing a plant, or shaping a project in wood, must be the effort of those intending the outcome to be the proper outcome of what is being Planted or grown, or being shaped to God’s purposes.

“Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:

But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all: yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many, All that cometh is vanity.”

(Ecclesiastes 11:7 & 8)

The appreciation of the light may only come with the recognition of the darkness that exists in the absence of that light.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And life shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

(John1:1-5)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

(John 3:16-19)

The light brought by Jesus is still shining as brightly as ever for those who want to see and recognize it.

The requirement to believe in His name goes a bit beyond just the recognition of Jesus as a historical character, or prophet, but requires true and abiding belief in Him as the Son of God, whose commandment to love one another takes precedence over the teachings of organizations devoted to enriching themselves.

The ability to see that light requires a belief in the teachings taught by Him and especially in the promises left by him among those gathered in His name.

That gathering must BE in His name, not in that of division, denomination, or other man made creation that gathers in the name of that creation of man alone.

That gathering must be devoted to the treasures intended for us by Him, found where he said to look for them, instead of where the magicians would direct our attention.

The darkness when forgotten becomes the norm and the light is also forgotten. There is a difference, and it will be measured in each of us.

“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

Therefore remove the sorrow from thy heart, and put evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.”

(Ecclesiastes 11:9 & 10”)

Yep, I truly love the writings of that old “Preacher”, for he wrote about what is important, when the things chased for value in youth become transparent in the worthlessness they hold, and the things which retain their value beyond the temporal and temporary world where children play at being adults.

 Some actually grow up to be the adults intended by God, and accept the responsibilities of that adulthood.

Others will remain the same selfish self-centered children preferring play to the reality demanded of us by God.

I remain that same simple sinner saved by the grace of that God through faith in His Son, standing and basking in the light of His love, extolling it to others above the remembered darkness preferred by so many.

I remain also the soldier chosen long ago to stand fast in the face of that darkness in the knowledge of the light in existence and that yet to come which forever banishes that darkness as has been promised, compelled to repeat and remind all of the warning and the glory of the promise left us by Christ Jesus. 

"Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen.
the Wayfarer