The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: Jesus said, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. In other words, what Jesus said, what your money goes after is a signal of what your heart goes after. What are you trying to buy? What are you spending your money on? That's where your heart is. That's what Jesus said.

Guest (Male): Welcome to The Healing Word. Here's Pastor Jack Morris with today's message that will grow your faith in God and lead you to a closer walk with Jesus.

Pastor Jack Morris: The title of the message in pursuit of life. Friend, this is what I have discovered in my brief time here on the earth. And I'm going to share just a little bit of it with you. As long as I have had a dream, a goal, something I am reaching for, I'm alive. I feel alive. I feel charged. The adrenaline flows. Now, I believe in the present. I don't want to go too fast. I want to see what's going on around me and I want to enjoy the present. But I have found that as I look ahead, as I have something meaningful out there, that God-given goal, that God-given dream, that God-given urge within me.

Friend, I want you to hear me today. Listen to me. I'm not talking about age at all. What I'm talking about is for the young and the old. You're never too old to dream, to believe, to have faith, and to move forward. You're never too young. Let's believe God, trust him, and truly pursue life and be alive all our life long. That dream, that goal, it can be so small. It can be uh the designing of a new quilt. Although I don't know that that's too easily done. That might not be too small. That might be pretty complicated.

Or it might be the designing of a new office building. It it could be planning a vacation. It could be putting new windows in the house. But but you have a plan. You have a dream. You're looking ahead. You're not just sleeping, eating, working, sleeping, eating, working, sleeping uh Your life is going somewhere. You're born by God's design and purpose and each person has a purpose. No person is an accident of nature. God put certain aptitudes and abilities and potentials and plan for your IQ. Uh God had a wonderful plan. Now, when we move into that plan, our lives are going to excel.

We're going to soar. We're going to experience life and we're going to be alive all our life long. I don't want to die before my time. You know, I saw a movie advertised dead man walking. I thought, oh boy. No, I want to be a alive man walking, a alive man soaring. Some of my happiest memories have been when I have been pursuing a goal. From the time I I began reaching for that goal, pursuing that goal, couldn't wait till I achieved that goal. The adrenaline pumped. Uh I felt charged. And then I reached my goal and I was happy.

But you know, every time I reached a goal, there was a little bit of a let down. I'm there. You know what I did? I dreamed a new dream. I set a new goal. I'm going forward. God has a plan for me and there's something beautiful out there. Otherwise, he would take me on to heaven. I'm alive for a purpose. I want you to turn to your individual sitting beside you and say, you are alive for a purpose. Go ahead.

Guest (Male): I'm alive for a purpose.

Pastor Jack Morris: Yes, you are. Alive for a purpose. Now, I have met people who have given up on life. It wasn't but oh just a week or two ago, a man talking to me so discouraged, so down, and he he began to enumerate. It it was a litany of things, problems, difficulties that had happened in his life and disappointments. And he he sighed and he said, I've just given up. I've just given up. I felt so sorry for him. But I tried to encourage him and I think I I had some success in encouraging him. And I want to encourage you and I I hope I have some success this morning that you will be encouraged to believe that God has a plan, a beautiful plan, and it's out there and he wants to dream it through you.

Pursue life and be alive all your life long. Now, there was a man in the Bible, and we read about him here in Ecclesiastes chapter 1 who pursued life without God. He left the greatest, most important ingredient of all out of his life. Now, if God put uh potential in you, an aptitude in you, and you try to work it and use it independent of him, well, you're going to be very disappointed. But here was a man. He wanted life, but he wanted it well, he began with God, but then after a while, he went ahead and left God out.

He thought he knew how to make himself happy. And he went after life and he really pursued life, but he never reached it. His conclusion was a chasing after the wind. Here here's the amazing thing about Solomon. In 1 Kings chapter 3, Solomon prayed to God for wisdom. Now, Solomon is the third king of Israel. There was Saul, then David. David was Solomon's father and then Solomon. Solomon was the second child born to David and Bathsheba. They had David Bathsheba had a child. It was conceived out of wedlock. The child died regardless of how he David prayed and fasted, the child died.

Well, now he's David is married to Bathsheba. They have a second child and the second child is Solomon. Here's the man that wrote Ecclesiastes and the man we're talking about, the Renaissance man. He was a great man, a great king as long as he followed God and obeyed and did what God wanted him to do. So, he prays now Solomon does. He's king of Israel. And this is what he says in his humility. He says, God, I'm but a child. Hey friend, don't ever grow up, will you? Don't ever grow up and think you know it and you can do it and no.

Solomon Solomon confessed. He said, God, I'm but a child and you made me king over Israel and I'm now to shepherd these people and I don't know how to go in and out among these people and help them with all of the decisions that I have to make and they have to make. He said, God, I need wisdom. See, God came to him just as God is coming to us this morning through this message. This message, I pray, is not for not but for purpose. God came to Solomon and said, Solomon, what what would you like to have?

And Solomon said, I need wisdom. God, I need wisdom. You know, that prayer so pleased God that God said, you didn't pray for wealth, but you're going to get it. I'm going to give it to you. You didn't pray for longevity and long healthy living and and life, but you you're going to live to be an old man. I'm going to give it to you. You didn't pray for to get riches and to get wealth, but I 'm going to give it to you. You prayed that I would give you wisdom so that you could bless my people.

And because you have a desire to bless others, I'm going to bless you. I'm going to bless you greatly. Well, God gave him that wisdom and he was the wisest man who ever lived with the exception of Christ, naturally. The wisest man, the richest man who ever lived in all the world, in all ages including this age. He was a great man. Now, here are some of his interest. Something happened to Solomon along the way. Friend, let me tell you something. You can start out right and end up wrong. If you get your eyes off of the Lord, and that's all Satan wants is to for us to get our eyes, our attention, our affection off of Jesus onto ourselves or something else.

Well, he had all of this wisdom, all of this ambition, all of these desires, and he decided I'm going to be the smartest man on earth. And he achieved his goal. This this man studied zoology, botany, architecture, psychology, political science, law, and philosophy. And if they were giving out PhDs back then, he would have had a PhD in every one of those disciplines. And he studied it all. He knew it all. He was the smartest man on earth and he said, I am still empty. My head is full. My heart is empty. There's nothing wrong with the study of philosophy, psychology, zoology, botany.

I I want to study. I want to learn. It was all of this good stuff. He would say, well, you know what I I don't drink and I don't use drugs and I don't commit adultery. Look, the devil knows he can't get you that way, but he can get you so busy with a selfish interest that you'll be so caught up with it that you'll just put God over here and said, oh And it doesn't happen immediately. It doesn't happen quickly. It's almost imperceptibly. It begins to happen. Solomon said this. He said, I applied my heart.

Now, he said this repeatedly. Notice he said this is what I did. I didn't it wasn't what I let God do, but he said, I applied my heart or I applied my life to these other things. Oh Solomon, you had God. You were the wisest man on earth. You're the shepherd of Israel. Solomon, what happened to you? Now, that same statement can be said said of so many godly people, Christians today. You had it all. You were in God, so happy with God, so excited with spiritual things. What happened? You didn't do something bad. You did something good, but it was the good that did you in.

You see friend, you and I decide like Solomon did where we're going to apply our heart, where we're going to apply our time, our energy, our resources, our intellect. Everything you have and I have, God has given to us. God gave Solomon all of the wisdom, all of the pleasure, all of the wealth. God gave it gave it all to him. Now, whatever you and I have, God has given to us. God said, now here it is. It's yours. It yours. It's all now. I've got it here in my lap. God backs away and said, now what are you going to do with it?

Am I going to bless myself with it? Only myself? Be very selfish. You you decide what you're going to do with your intellect. You decide what you're going to do with your wealth and with all other resources. It's entirely up to you. And you know, God will back away and let you do it. We usually do what we want to do, don't we? And God always allows us to do what we want to do. Notice what Solomon said. I applied my heart. And then Solomon said with all of my wisdom, now I'm an old man.

And he's speaking to Israel and he says, I it was like chasing the wind. He said, it's just like a dog chasing his tail. He said, I had it all. The smartest man on earth. And he said, I ended up with nothing. I still was smart, but my life was empty. Now, the second thing, what is the second thing he he asked for? Pleasure. Everybody say pleasure.

Guest (Male): Pleasure.

Pastor Jack Morris: Okay. Just want to make sure you're following the outline and following me. Now, notice in Ecclesiastes 2:1 Solomon says, I thought in my heart. There he said it again. Here's his own reasoning. I thought in my heart. Now, he's he's going to talk to himself. Listen listen to him talking to himself. He said, come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good. But that also proved to be meaningless. Laughter, I said, is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish? What does it accomplish? Verse 11, a chasing after the wind. And the third thing that he had was what?

Wealth. The richest man who ever lived. He amassed silver and gold. He said, I became greater by far than any. The queen of Sheba came to see him and she saw his mansions and his servants. He had so much gold that he would he made it into dust and he would sprinkle gold all through the servants' hair and their hair would just glisten. I mean, he had more money, more more more wealth than than any man could possibly have. There's not a man or a woman alive today that is as rich as Solomon was back then.

But he tried to replace God with things and he ended up disappointed. Now, I want you to pursue wisdom. I I want us all to be wise and intelligent. But we're never more wise and intelligent than we're serving God and putting God first in our lives. Everybody of everybody here can say, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added. All these things all these things will be added. Solomon had it all. Now, notice he said in verse 18 concerning wisdom, for with much wisdom comes much sorrow. The more knowledge, the more grief.

Now, this is what he meant. He said wisdom without God is nothing. Wisdom without God is nothing. Life without a knowledge of God is nothing. In Psalm 115 it says, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God, what does that mean? It means God means what he says and he says what he means. The fear of God, reverencing God, listening to God's word, obeying God's word, worshiping God. This is what the fear of God is. Many people we just live life and for sometimes days, sometimes weeks, sometimes even months, God can take a powder that all of a sudden, oh I got to get back in church and I've missed too many services.

Got to get God back in my life again. The fear of God. You can't play God like you do a yo-yo. Now, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. You are not even beginning to be a smart man or a smart woman until you put God in your life. And that's the most intelligent person in all the world. God, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And the greatest wisdom of all is to know God, have a knowledge of God, obey God and have God in your heart. So, young and old, put God in your heart, put God first, do his will, love him, reverence him, obey him, and I'll tell you your life will be blessed.

You only have one life, friend. Let it be blessed. Let it be blessed of God. God will greatly bless you. And then pleasure. Solomon Solomon thought life is a good time. I've got to get all the gusto I can get out of it because I'm only going to go around one time. And so his life was so empty. He had all this wisdom. His life was so empty that he thought I'm going to I'm going to pleasure myself. I'm going to do fun things. I'm going to I'm just I'm just going to do it. And this is exactly what he did.

Now, I read this scripture a moment ago, but let me read it again. He said, he thought in his heart. Friend, sometimes we think things and we're thinking things wrongly. But this is what he said. He said, I thought in my heart. And he's talking to himself. Come now and I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good. But that also proved to be meaningless. Laughter, I said, is foolishness. He entertained himself. He laughed. He laughed his head off. He just had a wonderful time. Friend, have you ever had a good laugh?

And when it's over, it's over. It doesn't last and you can't carry it very long. And he just kept laughing. He kept doing things. He had the clowns and the the gestures and the dancers and he had them all and he just grew half and grew half and grew half and laughed. And then he said, hey, that didn't satisfy me. That didn't fill my emptiness. You know, only Jesus can provide you with joy, eternal joy, lasting joy, joy that won't go away, but joy that will abide forever. Even Moses decided that he was going to cast his lot with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

Friend, let me say something. Sin is seasonal. Sin is seasonal. It it only lasts for a little time. Now, now listen to this. I'm not saying that there are not pleasures in the world and a good time out there. When you go out and you can kick up your heels and just have have a great time and all that diversion and all of that laughter, there are pleasures, but it's seasonal. It won't last. It's temporary. But God gives something that's permanent. And when you give your life to Jesus, Jesus is permanent and he'll make your life permanent.

He'll make your life his life. With Jesus, there is pleasure. The psalmist said, you have made known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand, eternal pleasures versus seasonal pleasures. Do you get it, friend? Seasonal pleasures or eternal. The choice is mine. The choice is yours. Solomon chose the seasonal. And he said it was like chasing the wind. And then wealth. God wants you to have everything you want. I really believe that. He does. He wants you to be blessed with material things.

He wants you to be blessed financially. But I I read this and I I copied it down. It comes from a dear friend who's now in heaven, Dr. Richard Halverson, who for like 23 years pastored Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda. He later became chaplain of the US Senate for many years. He was the chaplain. And when we were dedicating that chapel over there years ago, you know, I've got a lot of nerve, don't I? I called Dr. Halverson and I I'm Jack Morris. I've got a Congre I didn't say a little congregation. Maybe I did.

Largo Community Church, 1701 Enterprise Road in Mitchellville. And we're going to dedicate a little wooden chapel. Only cost 100 8 187,000 to build it. You can't buy a house for that now hardly, can you? I said, would you sir, would you come over and dedicate that? And do you know he came that man, a spiritual giant, humble as he could be. He came and dedicated it. He was chaplain of the Senate when we built this sanctuary. I called him Dr. Halverson. Here's Jack Morris again. And I had to leave a message. He called back. He had to leave a message.

He said I he's old. He's very old man at that time. And he should he died shortly after that, but he would talk to his family and he would ask his family, come on, you you reason with me. Do I have the time, the energy? Should I go over there? And before he could get over here to dedicate this building, he passed away and went to heaven. But listen to what he said. I said all I said too much already, but listen to what he said about wealth and about money. Dr. Halverson said, Jesus Christ said more about money than any other single subject because when it comes to a man's real nature, money is of first importance.

Money is an ex Oh here here this friend. Dr. Halverson, money is an exact index into a man's true character. All through scripture, there is an intimate correlation between the development of a man's character and how he handles his money. You know, we think money, we talk money, we handle money all day long. We're always spending, buying, going to the bank. Money money seems to be almost everything. Solomon said it's like chasing the wind. Like chasing the wind. Jesus said, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. In other words, what Jesus said, what your money goes after is a signal of what your heart goes after.

What are you trying to buy? What are you spending your money on? That's where your heart is. That's what Jesus said. Oh Jesus, you're wrong about that. No, Jesus isn't wrong about anything. And he's not wrong about the blessing he wants to give to us and to bestow upon us, give to us.

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