Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire. Here's what's coming
up in today's edition.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Because you know that if you get out there and
win a bunch of souls, he that winneth souls is wise.
The Bible says why, well, because souls need to be saved.
But beyond that, there is a crown that is given
as a reward when certain people get to glory for
winning souls. So no doubt in my mind. For instance,

(00:27):
Billy Graham will get this crowd crown.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Are rejoicing.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
But you know what, I hope Jeff gets one too.
And what about you? How many people have come out
from the dark side to the light side because of you.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Is there a greater sign of your devotion to Jesus
than helping lead someone to him. There are millions of
people out in the world today searching for answers to
the questions burning deep in their souls, and God is
waiting for someone just like you to plump the seed
in their hearts that will lead them to coming to
know Him. Pastor Jeff wants you to feel that ambition
in your heart to realize that winning souls for Christ

(01:03):
should be the ultimate goal of the true believer. That
is a great commission. Well, let's join Pastor Jeff in
the Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter six as he begins his
message the power of Wisdom.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Now we're going to talk about the value of wisdom.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
I love this book, of course, I've always loved the
proverbs and just the kind of thing I like, you know,
just these little truths that are sort of bite sized nuggets.
And so Ecclesiastes the same man was used of God
to pen this, as was most of the Proverbs. Now,
last time, in chapter five, we left off with Solomon

(01:42):
encouraging us to enjoy what God has given, practicing contentment
rather than greed. And if you decide to be to
practice contentment, you've got to do it on purpose. You've
got to say, I really am going to practice being
thankful and being content because in this day and age,

(02:04):
contentment doesn't come and put you in a headlock and
say be content.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
Okay, You've got to practice it. Now.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Remember Solomon is in his old age here, and he
has backslidden away from God. It's hard to believe that
when Solomon built that temple, that incredible wonder of the world,
the Solomonic Temple. It's hard to believe and imagine that
what the Jewish people went into and practiced their religion

(02:34):
and their faith toward God and all the sacrifices. It
was the touch point of the Jewish faith for four
hundred years. But after four hundred years the Babylonians came
in and tore it down. This incredible structure because of
the sin of Judah goes to show you nothing is

(02:56):
sacred if you sin. Put it another way, what God
gives you, you.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
Can lose it through sin.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Because four hundred years, four hundred years, four centuries, and.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yet they swooped in and took it. Well. The decline
began with Solomon himself.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
The builder of the temple, because he broke the word
of God. He married a bunch of pagan wives. Seven
hundred wives, i believe, or seven hundred concubines, three hundred
wives or vice versa.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Whatever. That's enough to give.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Any man a total nervous breakdown, right, A thousand women
to keep up with? What did he do on Valentine's Day?
I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. That would be an
expensive day, wouldn't it. Thousand of them? Now, this king
who backslid. His The foreign wives that he married led

(04:00):
him off into idolatry. He went off into a level
of idolatry that's really really hard to believe, because he
actually built altars finally and ultimately where children were sacrificed
in burning flames to the god Molek. Solomon made that available.

(04:21):
Solomon well, when he died, a divided king with a
divided heart, left a divided kingdom. His son Ria Boem
had no wisdom whatsoever. And when he really could have
gathered around himself the entire nation of Israel, Israel not.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
Being split into Israel and Judah.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yet he could have gathered all of Israel around him,
they would have loved him if he had just done
a couple of things like lower taxes. I don't wonder
if anybody's watching in Washington when I said that, lower
taxes and just do a couple of things that he
was asked to do. But Ria Boham listened to his

(05:05):
young peers instead of the wisdom of the older men.
And when he did that, they said forget. He said,
I'm gonna make it harder on you. I'm gonna make
it You're gonna wish Solomon was still over. You're you're
gonna wish my dad was still over you. I'm gonna
make it so hard on you, You're not going to believe it.
And right then the kingdom split and the ten tribes

(05:28):
went off to the north, two tribes to the south,
the northern tribes of Israel, southern tribes of Judah, and
there the decline began. And the decline marched on through
the centuries until four hundred years after the building of
that temple, it was brought down, destroyed, decimated by the Babylonians.

(05:49):
And what a tragedy just goes to show you, no
matter who you are, no matter how great your charisma
or wealth or intelligence or pedigree or anything, if you sin,
you're going to pay. Okay, you're blessing me so far,

(06:10):
pastor Jeff Well, I just wanted to throw that out.
We need to be wise, don't We don't ever take
sin lightly. Now, none of this was in my nose.
That just came right out on the top of my head,
because I wanted you to understand that now, in his
old age, having really messed up, he's writing this book

(06:31):
and he's on a search and he's trying to find
truth and meaning. But a lot of the disillusionment you
hear in his voice is because he departed from God.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
So his whole view is under the sun thinking, which
means life without God.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
I am viewing life through the lens of the natural eye,
not through the lens of faith in God. Okay, now
this time in chapter six, he's going to focus on.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
The value of wisdom.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
But first he repeats some of his former complaints. He's
a broken record. I don't say that disrespectfully, but he
repeats a lot. Ecclesiastes six, first two verses. There is
an evil which I have seen under the sun, and
it is common among men, a man to whom God
has given riches in wealth and honor, so that he

(07:21):
lacks nothing for himself of all that he desires.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yet God did not give him power.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
To eat of it. But a foreigner consumes it. This
is vanity, and it's an evil affliction. Now notice what
he's saying. Here's a rich man, wealthy man. He's done
very well for himself, but he dies and he doesn't
have children, he doesn't have a distant relative, he doesn't
have a friend, he doesn't even have an acquaintance to

(07:48):
leave it to. But a total stranger enjoys all the
good things that he has saved and worked for. A
total stranger gets it. Now, this does an number one him.
He says, this is too much. I get all this wealth,
and yet I'm so alone. I'm so lonely. Though I
got all this money, I've got nobody to leave it to,

(08:11):
not anybody. So when I die, somebody who didn't even
work a minute for any of it is going to
get it. So like now, when we hear about our government,
is you get whispers in the wind that they're going
to be going after our four oh one k after
retirement funds. They're going to go after that, because, after all,

(08:32):
when you're in seventeen trillion dollars of debt, how do
you pay that off? You have to rob the folks.
But that's another story. But here you got Now see
he's saying this, Really, this does at number I make.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Because I've got all this wealth.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
But wow, the very thought of a stranger enjoying it,
a squatter in essence, taking all of my money. This
isn't evil under the sun. Now, I gotta tell you,
I haven't seen this in my own experience I've pastored
over thirty years, and my experience has been that at
the death of a person of wealth, the family swoops

(09:17):
in to take it. The family goes in to take it,
and a lot of times it's ugly, and the family
is torn apart by everybody wanting their slice of the pie,
and everybody requiring and demanding a bigger slice of the
pie than the others.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
Here's one of the tragedies I've seen. This is free.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
A decent will, more times than not, has not been
written to make things clear that things can be divvied
out without a battle. If you're in here and you've
never written a will, do it. Just put together a will,
say I'm leaving this and this and this to this one,
this one, this one, lest they kill themselves after you're gone,

(10:03):
or kill one another, I should say, And it really
becomes a mess. But if Solomon says he saw this,
that a wealthy man died and then nobody was there
to get it, that he knew, and a stranger took it,
then I believe that Solomon saw that and he wrote
about it. Now next he forges ahead with yet more

(10:23):
things that he considers evil under the sun.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
Look at verses three through six.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
In chapter six, Now if a man, he says, if
a man begets one hundred children and lives many years,
so that the days of his years are many, but
his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he
has no burial. I say that a stillborn child is
better than he for it. That is, the stillborn child

(10:50):
comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name
is covered with darkness verse five. Though it has not
seen the sun or known anything. This stillborn child has
more rest than that man, even if he lives a
thousand years twice but has not seen goodness. Then look

(11:12):
at this question at the end. Don't all go to
one place? And that's not talk about heaven or hell.
Let's talk about the grave. Don't all go to one place. Yeah, eventually,
unless the rapture happens, we're all going to go to
the grave. Anybody in here wondering if that's going to
happen to you. Everybody in here know that you will
die one day. If you don't know that, raise your hand.
I want to pray for you.

Speaker 3 (11:32):
At the end.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Because they say there is one, there's certain things that
are certain taxes and death.

Speaker 4 (11:40):
Thanks for listening to Hardwired. We're exploring the wisdom of Solomon.
Solomon entertains thoughts related to the futility of life. Something
that stands out is that without God, you're left in
a place of emptiness and potentially despair. Instead of that,
let's navigate the complexities of life with wisdom and peace.

(12:01):
Each sermon is complemented by a devotional designed to help
you as you relate to the things written in this book.
If you're seeking a deeper understanding about this series, text
the word edge to eight one seven four eight four
four seven sixty seven. Join us as we explore the
edges of life's mysteries and find guidance for today's world.

Speaker 3 (12:25):
Now, several things are mentioned here.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
First, the man who earns riches but he's never happy.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Now, Solomon talks about that.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
This harkens back to the thoughts that were in chapter five,
but even before chapter five, and this whole issue of contentment,
that you can be very, very rich but not be content,
not enjoy life, not be happy. Now that's not always
the case, But how often do we read about some
movie star and we read about our rock star or

(12:59):
somebody that just has all this money, but you read
that they're popping the pills and smoking the dope and
shooting the dope, and they're going into counseling and they're
doing everything they can to deal with all these different
depressions and problems. And you go, wait a minute, you're rich,
you're not supposed to be experiencing this.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
But the whole deal is this money can't buy you happiness.
It can't. It won't.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
Now I make it take some pressure off, you know,
no more worry about the bills and so and so
on and so forth.

Speaker 3 (13:32):
But money.

Speaker 2 (13:34):
Here's the richest man on planet Earth talking here, and
he's saying it is a vexation. Is something I've seen
over and over again. And you think he's not being
autobiographical here, of course he is. You can have all
this money and not be happy, because where's happiness come from?
Watch this happiness is an inside job, nothing out here.

(14:00):
You know where happy comes from. It comes from a
Latin root meaning happening, And what it means is something
has to happen out here to make you happy in here.
The whole idea, this is the American view, the Western
view of happiness, that if the right things happen out here, right, job,

(14:21):
right house, right relationships, and so on and so forth.
Then I'm going to be happy on the inside. I
need a happening to make me happy. But joy is
not happiness. Joy springs from within, and it comes from
getting right with God.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
That's where it really comes from.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
And I'm going to tell you get right with God
and you don't have to have a happening.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
To make you happy because you have come home.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
And when you come home to Him, then your spirit,
aligning with God's spirit, coming back into fellowship with God
is the source of joy, unspeakable and full of glory.
So you either are after happiness from a happening or
you're experiencing joy from getting right with God. Now, I

(15:18):
would choose living in a wrapped up in a cardboard
box on the street right with God over living in
a mansion separated from Him, because.

Speaker 3 (15:31):
You won't enjoy that mansion. You won't enjoy the money,
you will not enjoy life.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
That's what he's telling us. And remember this is inspired
of God. God is speaking to us through this disillusioned, backslidden, disenchanted,
disconnected man, if you're content, I want you to stay

(15:57):
with me. If I'm content, I am rich. If I'm content,
I'm rich. I'm telling you this is the fact. If
you're content, you're rich. And contentment it comes from getting
right with God and being a thankful person. Okay, for

(16:20):
many rich people, not all rich people. I'm not making
a blanket statement, but many rich people are neither happy
nor content. Now, Second, he mentions a man with riches
who has no burial. Now again, my guess here is
that Solomon must have had a particular person in mind,
for that would really be rare to be rich and
die and have no burial. So I think here he

(16:42):
had in mind somebody that he knew that this had
happened to.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
Now.

Speaker 2 (16:48):
Third, he talks about the stillborn child, and he says,
the stillborn child is better off than such men, men
with wealth who can't really be happy, men with wealth
that don't have any joy, that aren't enjoying life. This
stillborn child, who never sees the light of day, never
sees his first sun rise, he's never named, He departs

(17:14):
in darkness. And I want you to notice now Solomon
is engaging in classic under the sun melancholic thinking on
his part, as he has throughout this book Solomon is
not looking through the lens of faith in a redemptive
God who works.

Speaker 3 (17:33):
All things together for our good.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
He's only looking at life through his own natural, despondent eyes.
Now here's the fact. For the child of God. Our
reward is with God. Okay, so you can never say
I wish I'd never been born. You don't say that.

(17:57):
That's what suicidal people say, and they're not thinking clearly.
The stillborn child is not better off than you. No
matter how people treat us, our ultimate outcome is to
dwell with the Lord in glory, no matter what people
do to us or don't do, whether they're thankful to

(18:19):
us or not, whether they betray us or faithful to
whatever people do. And people are going to do you good,
and people are gonna do you dirty. In this life,
you're gonna experience both. God never promised that life would
be fair, but he did promise that he would be
there when it's not fair. Now we will receive rewards

(18:39):
from the Lord at our home going. Now you know
what the Bible calls them crowns. Now, before I show
you the crowns, there's five of them. I want to
make clear. A crown is a reward.

Speaker 3 (18:51):
It is not.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
Something that comes to us because we got saved by
the blood of the Lord, the blood of the Lamb.
It's not something everybody's going to get.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
In other words, the.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
Fire crowns are crowns given as rewards for certain things. Okay,
so let's look at them. First, there's the imperishable crown.
The imperishable crown found in first corinthing is nine twenty
four to twenty five.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
Is the reward for winning the spiritual race. What did
Paul say?

Speaker 2 (19:25):
I have finished my course, I have fought a good fight,
and I have kept the faith. What is he saying there? Hallelujah?
I was triumphant. I ran the race and I won.
I walked in the spirit. I did the.

Speaker 3 (19:42):
Will of God.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
Though I stumbled, some messed up some, I got up
and kept on going. I broke the tape at the
finish line. At the end, I ran to win. I
walked with the Lord, never forsook him. And therefore there
is for me an imperishable crown.

Speaker 3 (19:59):
Amen.

Speaker 2 (20:01):
Then there's the crown of rejoicing. I like this one.
That's the crown for soul winning. Did you know that
if you get out there and win a bunch of souls.
He that winneth souls as wise the Bible says, why, well,
because souls need to be saved. But beyond that, there
is a crown that is given as a reward when

(20:22):
certain people get to glory for winning souls.

Speaker 3 (20:27):
So no doubt in my mind.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
For instance, Billy Graham will get this crowd crown of rejoicing.

Speaker 3 (20:32):
But you know what, I hope Jeff gets one too.
And what about you?

Speaker 2 (20:35):
How many people have come out from the dark side
to the light side because of you? How many are
walking with the Lord now who weren't before because of
your witness, your testimony.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
You're reaching out to them.

Speaker 2 (20:51):
He that wins souls is wise, the crown of rejoicing.
And then there's a third crown, the crown of righteousness.
Now apparently this is for guarding the faith. Guarding the
faith second tenthy four to eight. Now that's where in

(21:12):
the end of Paul's statement Ary he said, I've fought
a good fight, finished my course. I have kept the faith.
Now I believe that has a twofold meaning. I think
it means he kept his own walk with God, he
kept the faith, he didn't go off into's own weird religion.
He didn't embrace another God, he didn't defect from the

(21:35):
Christian faith. But I also think it means that he
kept the faith. That is, he was true in his
testimony of the faith. He didn't say, well it might
be the way, there's many ways. Just find your own
way to God. He kept the one and only faith. Now,

(21:58):
what did Jude say? Jude said, earnestly contend for the
faith once delivered to the saints. Well, what is the
faith that there's only one way, that only one Messiah,
Jesus Christ died on the cross, shed his blood on
my behalf, that there is no other way to be

(22:19):
forgiven but through him, That he was born of a virgin,
that he lived a sinless life, that he died on
a criminal's cross, though he was not guilty of anything.
And then he was put into the grave, and after
three days he rose again from the dead.

Speaker 3 (22:35):
And then he assented back into.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
The Father, back under the Father, and now he ever
lives to make intercession for the saints according to the
will of God. Now that is the faith. And let
me tell you something, Church, I have a burden on
my heart. I want to take the faith, not any faith,
not some optional faith. I want to take the faith,
the faith I has told you about, once delivered to

(22:59):
the Saints, to the whole world. I want to take
it to as many as we can, in as many
ways as we can, as fast as we can the faith.
And I believe if we will stay true to the
faith and not bend, bow, break, or back down under
politically correct pressure.

Speaker 3 (23:20):
But we will stay.

Speaker 2 (23:21):
True to the faith, all of us together will get
a crown of righteousness on that great day the faith.
And I can't tell you how that burns in me.
I'm about to have a holy ghost moment. It just

(23:42):
burns in me. I am so angry at what is
being done to the faith, how they're twisting it, skewing it,
misrepresenting it, diluting it, polluting it. I'm sick of it.
I want to take the faith to the world. That's
the only faith. It'll save your soul.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
Following the true path of Jesus is it meant to
be an easy path through life. In fact, you will
more often than not be walking against the flow of culture,
and you may face opposition even from those you call
friends and family. But Pastor Jeff implores you to take
this seriously. The Kingdom of God is more important than
any human institution. The truth of the Gospel must go

(24:28):
out into the world to reach those who have not
yet heard the good news of Jesus Christ. We have
more information for you about Hardwired.

Speaker 4 (24:36):
Wouldn't it be great if everyone had access to hearing
these messages from Pastor Jeff. We're asking our faithful listeners
to be willing to donate to this ministry. Does this
type of impact interest you? If so, there are a
few really simple things you can do at pray dot com.
Do you see Pastor Jeff's profile. If so, you'll notice
a gift button that will take you to where you

(24:57):
need to go to donate something financially. Also, just tap
on your present icon, which will direct you to the
Hardwired giving page. As we close, here's what's coming up
on Hardwired.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
Mankind was created to do God's good works upon the earth,
starting all the way back with Adam and Eve and
the Garden of Edith. While there are people who would
like to try and get through life without having to
work for their own benefit or the benefit of others,
there is an element of worship when you do good
work Pastor Jeff will show you next time on Hardwired
how your work don't matter, how mundane can bring glory

(25:30):
and honor to God. Thanks for taking time to be
with us today as we studied God's word. If you'd
like to hear more teachings from Pastor Jeff, visit hardwired
dot org on behalf of Pastor Jeff and the entire
production team. We invite you to join us again right
here on Hardwire