What we need to do is find out WHO IS CAUSING ALL THE TROUBLE! For example, we constantly hear about the TROUBLE we are having in our schools in America. Consider the shootings, cursing, fighting, rebellion, and low academic achievements.
This may sound simplistic, but anyone with common sense can solve the trouble we are having in our public schools.
For example, when a school has trouble they should seek to find who is causing the trouble and get rid of them. When you get rid of the TROUBLEMAKERS you get rid of the TROUBLE.
If they allow these TROUBLEMAKERS to remain in the school, they will not learn anything, and they will make sure that no one else does either.
You may be thinking, “If this is the solution, then why don’t the schools do it?” Again, it is very simple; they do not want to get rid of the TROUBLE! Why? Because if a school is functioning like it should be, they can’t go to the taxpayers and say they have a problem and need more money to solve it. As long as they have TROUBLE, they can keep coming to the taxpayers, year after year, saying “We still have LOTS OF TROUBLES, and we need LOTS OF MONEY Mr. Taxpayer.”
And guess what, WE KEEP GIVING IT TO THEM!
• All the discipline problems in the schools could be solved if they would get rid of the TROUBLEMAKERS. If a child wants an education, is it asking too much to ask them not to cause TROUBLE?
• All the academic TROUBLES in the schools could be solved if they would get rid of all the incompetent teachers, who can’t pass a national teacher’s exam.
• Some of the teachers can pass the teacher’s exam, but they do not know how to teach: they need to be removed.
But like our schools, we live in a society that has a lot of trouble, such as:
(1) This nation is in TROUBLE when it comes to our FAMILIES.
We were shocked when shows like the Jerry Springer Show appeared on national television, but many felt this would not be on television that long because there were not enough weird families around to be guests on the show.
But these pundits were wrong, because there are so many messed up families in this society, that they could have shows like this on twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, and still have families waiting in line to get on.
(2) This nation is in TROUBLE when it comes to MORALS.
Look at the abortionists in our country. Some of the liberated women on television act like the worst thing in the world that could happen to them would be to take away their right to kill the baby in their womb.
They want to live a promiscuous life, and when payday comes, they want the poor helpless baby in their womb to pay the ultimate price.
The fact that millions of babies in this country have been killed is bad enough, but now we have partial-birth abortions that make the Nazi concentration camps look like a Girl Scout troop.
(3) This nation is in TROUBLE when it comes to the ENTERTAINMENT WORLD.
The biggest hits at the box office are the most violent films.
• The dirtier they make these movies
• The more violent they make them
The more people come out to see them and the more money they make.
Some of the scum of the earth, actors and actresses, are making millions every year because the society in which we live craves such evil. There is no limit to what these evil actors and actresses will do, because the evil world in which we live craves such wickedness.
(4) This nation is in TROUBLE when it comes to the GOVERNMENT of this nation.
President Bill Clinton looked the American people in the eye, and with a straight face, he pointed his finger in their faces and swore he never had sex with Monica Lewinski.
When Hollywood passed out the Oscar Award for the best actor of the year, they should have given it to him. Because no actor in Hollywood has ever done a better acting job than he did. He looked so convincing, that he would have gotten away with it if it were not for the DNA stain on her dress.
Our government leaders are involved in scandal after scandal until hardly anyone even pays any attention anymore.
Lying to the public is the rule of the day in American politics. Honesty, morals, integrity are gone and few seem to even care.
(5) This nation is in TROUBLE when it comes to our CHURCHES.
Today the cults are going from house to house, spreading their damnable religion, while Christians are sitting home watching “How To Become A Millionaire!”
The mood today for the average church is to forget sound doctrine, ignore the Bible, put aside doctrinal differences and let’s all come together to serve God, with all our programs and activities.
Someone needs to stand up and tell this crowd that once you throw the teachings of this Bible away, there is nothing for us as Christians to gather around anymore. It is the teachings of this Bible that draws us together.
(6) This nation is in TROUBLE when it comes to the BIBLE.
The Bible is under attack, and almost every day a new version is published, that is supposed to make the Bible better than last year’s model.
They are selling Bibles today like they sell cars.
There are different bibles for: the GAYS, the FEMINISTS, for those who deny the blood atonement of Jesus Christ, for the Promise Keepers ... and one to accommodate every false and corrupt idea of the liberals, and all who reject God's Word.
And what is absolutely astounding is that all across this nation, as the Bible is being ripped to shreds, preachers who claim to be Bible preachers never open their mouths about what is taking place.
There is no doubt about it; we live in a society that has LOTS OF TROUBLE.
WE NEED TO FIND OUT WHO IS CAUSING ALL THESE PROBLEMS!
Now the lost world has always decided that it is people who believe what this Bible teaches that are CAUSING the problem.
For example, when Paul and Silas were here on earth, they were considered to be the problem.
Look at Acts 16:16-23. “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, DO EXCEEDINGLY TROUBLE OUR CITY, And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:”
Notice, the Bible shows us the trouble. Look at verse 16. “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, WHICH BROUGHT HER MASTERS MUCH GAIN BY SOOTHSAYING:”
This poor damsel was making her master a lot of money, and when Paul and Silas came to town preaching the gospel, she came to know Christ as her own personal Saviour, and her master was out of business. And he did not like it a bit!
Listen Christians, we cannot take a stand:
• Against this Hollywood crowd without them taking a stand against us. This is why they are always trying to make fun of God’s man, God’s Word and God’s Church.
• Against the beer and liquor crowd without them taking a stand against us.
• Against the abortion crowd without them taking a stand against us.
• Against the homosexual crowd without them taking a stand against us.
• Against the cults without them taking a stand against us.
Bible-preaching, Bible-practicing Christians are not the TROUBLE, they are the solution to the TROUBLE that surrounds us.
If all people were living according to the Word of God, we would not have all the TROUBLE we have in our government, schools, entertainment, and in our homes.
All the TROUBLE we have can be laid at the feet of the Devil and the Devil’s crowd.
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon faced all kinds of TROUBLE because of sin in his life. But when we come to the last chapter of Ecclesiastes, he had finally discovered the solution.
Look at Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. We read, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
These two verses of scripture could solve the TROUBLES that we are facing today in America, and in every nation on the face of the earth.
They reveal TWO things we need to consider. Solomon said, “Hear the conclusion of the whole matter…”
WHAT IS THE CONCLUSION SOLOMON HAD REACHED?
I. THERE IS SOMETHING WE MUST DO
WHAT IS IT THAT WE MUST DO?
Solomon said, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: FEAR GOD…”
We all have different ideas about FEAR.
Illus: One summer evening, during a violent thunderstorm, a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?" The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't, dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room." A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice as he said, "The big sissy."
But the kind of fear our text mentions is not the kind of fear produced by a thunderstorm, but by the FEAR OF GOD.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEAR THE LORD?
Have you ever invited someone into your home or office, and they took liberties you never gave them? This is exactly what has happened to mankind on earth.
The Lord created mankind and invited him to live on this earth, and now men live like it belongs to them. In fact, they want to push God out of their lives completely. They want to push God out of the schools, government, Christmas and Easter. Today, anything that has God written on it, or relates to God, is under attack by the ungodly.
Their attitude is: “WE ARE TAKING OVER! We can do AS WE PLEASE, WHENEVER WE PLEASE.” The fear of the Lord is recognizing that everything you CAN SEE or CANNOT SEE is the Lord’s. And the only reason you have anything at all is because He has been gracious and kind enough to let you live here.
When we conduct our lives here on earth like we can do however we please, WE ARE TAKING LIBERTIES GOD NEVER GAVE US. To put it into a language that we all can understand; WE ARE GETTING TO BIG FOR OUR BRITCHES!
I do not know any better way to say it than to say it like this: IT ALL BELONGS TO GOD, and evil men are trying to live their lives like it all belongs to them.
Look at Colossians 1:17. “And he is before all things, AND BY HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST.” He makes it clear. He created everything and it all belongs to Him. Even we mortals belong to Him.
Look at 1 Cor. 6:19-20. We read, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
Illus: Every time we read that verse, we can’t help but to think of the little boy that made a little sail boat. One day as he was playing with it in a large lake, a puff of wind came along and it went beyond his reach and he lost it. He later saw the same little sailboat in a garage sale and he bought it for a quarter. As he walked away, with the little boat in his hand, he said, “You are mine twice, I made you and now I paid for you!”
That is exactly what the Lord Jesus has done, and if you are living your life like you think you are here on planet earth today because of an evolutionary process that occurred 20 million years ago, you are mistaken!
GOD IS YOUR CREATOR!
One day, you are going to stand before Him and give account to Him (Your Creator) for everything you have done or said.
Solomon had lived his life trying everything the world had to offer him, but he finally came to his senses and said, in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: FEAR GOD…”
Recognize that He is the Creator of everything, and it all belongs to him.
This is SOMETHING YOU MUST DO, or else you will be part of the TROUBLE this society has.
But recognizing that GOD PUT US HERE IS NOT ENOUGH.
II. THERE IS SOMETHING WE MUST OBEY
Look at Ecclesiastes 12:13. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS: for this is the whole duty of man.”
Notice, Solomon said we are to RECOGNIZE THAT GOD PUT US HERE, but also we are to recognize WHY HE PUT US HERE.
WHAT IS THE DUTY OF MAN?
The Bible says, “…and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS…” He said, “…this is the whole duty of man.” And if you do not recognize this, you are going to be in some serious difficulty one day.
Illus: This reminds me of a little boy who watched a plumber cut a large hole in the wall, and he said, “Mister, I can tell you right now, when my daddy comes home you are going to be in LOTS of trouble!”
The same thing is true for many people. When they stand before the Lord, and give account for all the bad things they have done by disobeying the HIS COMMANDMENTS, they are going to be in lots of trouble. They are the ones who are TROUBLING the society in which we live, and around the world.
The people of God who FEAR GOD and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS are the solution to the problem.
Conclusion:
I want to ask you something: “ARE YOU CAUSING THE TROUBLE THAT OUR SOCIETY FACES, OR ARE YOU THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM?”
Illus: Nearly 200 years ago, there were two Scottish brothers named John and David Livingstone.
John had set his mind on making money and becoming wealthy, and he did. But under his name in an old edition of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica", John Livingstone is listed simply as "the brother of David Livingstone."
And who was David Livingstone? While John had dedicated himself to making money, David had knelt and prayed. Surrendering himself to Christ, he resolved, "I will place no value on anything I have or possess unless it is in relationship to the Kingdom of God." The inscription over his burial place in Westminster Abbey reads, "For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize." On his 59th birthday David Livingstone wrote, "My Jesus, my King, my Life, my All; I again dedicate my whole self to Thee." ( Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no. 6.)
I. THERE IS SOMETHING WE MUST DO
II. THERE IS SOMETHING WE MUST OBEY
