Sermons by Founders Ministries

Pastor Tom Ascol continues his series on the book of Ecclesiastes with a message centered on Chapter 5, Verse 8 through Chapter 6, Verse 9, entitled “The Love of Money.” Money and wealth can easily become too important in our lives. Jesus tells us “No one can serve two masters . . . . You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). In today’s passage, the Preacher warns against, and shows the pitfalls of, chasing after wealth. In fact, his main lesson teaches we should guard against pursuing riches by learning to enjoy God’s daily gifts. We find three main points the Preacher uses in his argument. First, setting our hearts on riches robs us of joy and contentment. While oppression and injustice are wrong we should not be shocked to find they exist. Still, money will never satisfy the person who loves it, oppressor or oppressed. We were not designed to love money. We were designed to love God. We need to exercise care as are being discipled by life, by ads, by others, to love money and things. However, with more wealth come more need to spend and more worries. At the end of today’s passage (6:7 – 9) the Preacher reiterates, even expands, this teaching. Physical appetites cannot be finally satisfied. Rather, satisfaction is found by the poor man who has seen things as they really are rather than by allowing his appetite(s) to run after more and more things. Money is not the problem; the love of money is the problem. Rather than filling a vacuum, it makes a vacuum that can never be filled. The second point teaches failing to enjoy life is an evil tragedy. God is for our joy. Hence, He speaks plainly about pathways leading away from our joy. Hoarding wealth does not bring joy. Riches kept by their owners lead to their hurt as they trust their riches. Riches cannot be taken with the dead. Trust has been misplaced. Even though the world’s standard may find a wealthy life to be good, Verses 1 – 6 of Chapter 6 describe a tragic life. Having this world’s goods is of little value after the brevity of physical life. What good are they? Setting our heart on riches robs us of joy and contentment in God’s provision and leads to a vain striving, chasing after the wind. Point three shows learning to recognize God’s gifts leads to a life of joy and contentment. All of life is grace. God has given all anyone has, and he gives the power to enjoy them. Without that specific power no one could be satisfied, always wanting more. Recognizing God as the giver of all sets us free, leading to real joy and contentment in God’s provision. Recognizing this enables us to come to God on God’s terms. Jesus said, “guard against all covetousness” (Luke 12:15) and to be “rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). We are to live for Him, not for money. Chase after God, not wealth. This sermon was given by Dr. Tom Ascol on December 4, 2016 at Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL. Join the FAM at press.founders.org/fam to support and enable Founders Ministries to continue producing free content. Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/ Subscribe to Founders Ministries: https://founders.org/enews/   All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries.

Pastor Tom Ascol continues his series on Ecclesiastes with a sermon on Chapter 5, Verses 1 through 7 entitled “Worship God Reverently.” Worship matters to God, He cares what we think of Him and how we act out those beliefs. Unfortunately, true reverence is often lacking in today’s worship. In today’s text the author shifts from giving his own observations about life in a fallen world to instructing us how to approach God in worship. The Preacher, the author of the book, gives four specific warnings. First, we are to be careful how we enter worship. God’s holiness demands reverence not a casual approach. As we “guard our steps” we should also “draw near to listen.” This is one reason why a church should put so much emphasis on preaching the Word of God. Worship is not to be a matter of convenience but rather a thoughtful commitment. The second point made is again practical. We are to be careful what we say in worship. God’s word is full of warnings about the misuse of our tongues; this is especially true in our worship. God, for example, does not measure our prayers by their length or use of big words. He knows our needs before we do; He is God. In our worship, we should work at focusing on Him, remembering what He has done for us, and not letting our minds wander. The third warning concerns vows. While the Bible does not forbid vows, we are to exercise care and wisdom in the making of vows. We are not to misuse vows for sinful purposes or to attempt to relieve ourselves from legitimate responsibilities (Mark 7:11 – 13). Once made though, vows should be completed for it is better not to make a vow than not to keep a vow. Ultimately, the point here is that God expects integrity and honesty in His people, particularly in their worship. Finally comes the Preacher’s fourth caution. Worshippers are to be careful to fear God. Approaching God on our terms leads only to futility and emptiness; it is a vanity. God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Fearing God is to remember who He is and who we are. We are to revere Him. Throughout the centuries God has made known to man the way to approach Him. In the Old Testament (OT) it was clearly a costly experience centered on God’s absolute holiness. The reason for the OT sacrifices was to signify the only way of approaching God required atonement. Ultimately, all the animal deaths in the world could not provide sufficient atonement for men. That atonement came by way of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. True worship now can be effected only through relationship with Christ; it is through Him that we can come to God and be joyfully accepted into His family. This sermon was given by Dr. Tom Ascol on November 27, 2016 at Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL. Join the FAM at press.founders.org/fam to support and enable Founders Ministries to continue producing free content. Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/ Subscribe to Founders Ministries: https://founders.org/enews/ All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries.

Pastor Tom Ascol continues his series on Ecclesiastes with a message on Chapter 4:7-16 entitled “One Is the Loneliest Number.” American culture often makes heroes of rugged, self-reliant individuals. While it is true that individual effort overcoming obstacles may be ennobling, individualism eventually leads to a lonely, empty life. It is not a scriptural prescription. God has designed us for community. Ecclesiastes teaches a person who has “no other…[is] never satisfied” (v. 8). Working by and for yourself is self-defeating. Furthermore, it is shortsighted. Continuing, the loner does not ask “for whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure.” Where is this man’s focus? He has not set a purpose or goal except to work for more and more. Again, the reader sees the obvious, this is “vanity and an unhappy business.” Rather than this toil for self, believers, having been reconciled to God ought to be living for Him, for His glory not for the glory of ourselves. Rather than living for self, the Preacher shows that living in community provides great blessing. When it comes to relationships, more is better. Two are better than one. When one falls the other can pick up, when one is cold the other can warm, when one is attacked the other helps defend (vv. 9 – 12). God created man for friendship. This became obvious as early as the Garden of Eden when God said “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18). The Preacher continues with a proverb indicating three is better yet; there is greater strength and it is more productive! Here is great application for the church. Though Jesus calls His followers individually, and though they have a relationship with Him, they are not called to follow individually. We are called to follow Christ together with others. In so doing there is help, comfort, strength, and productiveness. We need others to help us grow. We need to be available to help others grow. Life in Christ is a community effort. Still, as hard as we work together the Preacher tells us that everything in this fallen world will come to an end. Even successful accomplishments will not last (vv. 13-16). The author spends time contrasting a king that will not take counsel and one who will. The wise one, taking counsel rules well, and has a happy constituency. Yet even that ends and a time comes when no one remembers even the good king. Without God in our lives “Surely this is also a vanity and a striving after wind” (16). To trust Jesus Christ is to become not only His follower and to know Him as only your Savior, but to be adopted into a community, His very family so that He becomes your older brother. Unlike the good king’s kingdom, Jesus’ kingdom never ends, it is eternal where is no vanity and striving after the wind. Hear Him calling to you today; turn from your sin and be united with Him through faith.   This sermon was given by Dr. Tom Ascol on November 20, 2016 at Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL. Join the FAM at press.founders.org/fam to support and enable Founders Ministries to continue producing free content. Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/ Subscribe to Founders Ministries: https://founders.org/enews/   All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries.

Pastor Tom Ascol continues his series on Ecclesiastes with a message centered on Chapter 3:16 through Chapter 4:6 entitled “Work and Wealth in a Fallen World.” Injustice, oppression, and hopelessness have characterized the life of countless numbers over the centuries. It remains the lot of many today. The Preacher observes this theme in today’s passage. Without God, the Preacher’s point in his use of the idiom “under the sun,” men can hope only to enjoy their work and its fruit. Injustice is so rampant we sometimes fail to take notice. Siblings intentionally hurt each other, employers are less than fair in dealing with employees, marriages fall apart, people are wrongly convicted of crimes they did not commit, and the list goes on. Even in the places of justice and righteousness (v. 16), courts and churches, there is injustice. Christians must ignore these injustices. We should face up to these evils and try to remedy them, recognizing a time is coming when God will render judgment. On that day every injustice will be exposed and righteousness will finally prevail. Jesus spoke about this judgment in Matthew 25:31-46. Making it personal the Lord indicated judgment for the righteous and the evil. There is only one remedy for our evilness. It is wise to remember that the remedy, the provision of God, is available. Verse 20 emphasizes the inevitability of our coming death. Mankind needs to turn to the work of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary to be saved and to be given the righteousness of Christ against which there will be no judgment; God freely offers salvation. The author of Ecclesiastes continues. The early verses of Chapter 4 teach the world is a place of oppression and abuse. People abuse power. Greed exercising dominion over some. The oppressed have no one to comfort them, “under the sun.” Despair sets in, as Preacher notes, it is better to have never lived than to be born to such abuse. He goes on. The world is a place of toil and envy. He generalizes the futility of life but notes all man’s striving ultimately is “vanity and a striving after the wind” (v. 4). All the envy (4) leads to the impossibility of a contented life. Finally, Ecclesiastes turns to three attitudes toward work. The fool opts out of the workforce, a path Scripture teaches against: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). The second attitude is one of workaholism, two hands constantly busy striving for more, indicating a life out of balance. Psalm 127:2 teaches, “It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil.” Finally verse 6 encourages us to a hand at work and a handful of quietness. There ought to be a balance between work and enjoying or resting in the fruit of one’s toils. The world is indeed fallen. The believer in Christ, understanding this, should seek to live quiet, productive lives in balance between work and enjoyment “according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).   This sermon was given by Dr. Tom Ascol on November 13, 2016 at Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL. Join the FAM at press.founders.org/fam to support and enable Founders Ministries to continue producing free content. Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/ Subscribe to Founders Ministries: https://founders.org/enews/ All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries.

Pastor Tom Ascol continues his series on Ecclesiastes with a message on Chapter 3:1 – 15 entitled “God Rules Our Times.” Time is a fascinating concept. It unfailingly moves on, people can remember the past but not the future. Things happen and cannot be changed back. Time passes, seasons change. Ecclesiastes invites us to consider these things so we can learn to live wisely, and see in the broader context that God rules our time. There are three questions today’s text helpfully answers as it seeks to assist us in fearing and understanding God. The first asks, “What is true of time.” This chapter describes life as it is, there is a time for everything. The list in vv. 1 – 8 contain both good and ill. We are not told all that happens in time is necessarily good but rather, just that these things do happen. There is an undeniable reality to the revolving seasons of human life as one time, birth for instance, is canceled by another, death. There is no gain from human toil, at least none “under the sun” (v. 1:3), that is without God. Question number two is, “Who is responsible for time.” While God is not mentioned within the chapter’s first eight verses, in subsequent verses we see God rules everything. Yet, though God has put “eternity into man’s heart” (v. 11), people cannot make sense of the world apart from God. It is God who rules our times and without light from Him humankind “cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (v. 11). In fact, the words of Ephesians 1:11, “the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,” indicates God has purposed all that has come to pass and has a purpose for all He does. The fact that God is providentially and meticulously ruling in our lives should lead us to both comfort and humility. “Why does God rule our times” is the third question. Verse 14 answers, “whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.” God’s purpose is for men to fear Him, that is, to be in awe of His majesty, His love, His care. Because of sin men do not fear God as they ought. Romans 3:10-18 correctly sums up mankind’s estate, “‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ ‘Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ ‘Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’” God recognizes our need for a savior and has made provision for that need in Jesus Christ. It is only a holy, reverential fear of God that enables mankind to recognize their need and turn to the Savior. This sermon was given by Dr. Tom Ascol on November 6, 2016 at Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL. Join the FAM at press.founders.org/fam to support and enable Founders Ministries to continue producing free content.   Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/ Subscribe to Founders Ministries: https://founders.org/enews/ All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries.

Pastor Tom Ascol continues his series on the book of Ecclesiastes with a message entitled “A Meaningful Life in a Fallen World” centered on Ecclesiastes 1:12 – 2:26. Ecclesiastes takes an honest look at things people do in order to make their lives work addressing head on the cultural complaint heard decades ago from the Rolling Stones, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” The author proclaims all is vanity. This is true in a life without God. However, the author recognizes God is good, gives all gifts to enjoy, and, for His own people, eliminates the apparent futility of life. At the end of today’s passage Solomon (assuming he is the author of Ecclesiastes) draws this conclusion: in a broken world real joy can be found in God’s provision. He reaches this conclusion after unsuccessfully trying to find meaning living by wisdom (1:12 – 18). The world is so fundamentally flawed we cannot fix it. Wisdom alone cannot be the answer since those that live by wisdom and those by folly all ultimately come to the same end. The benefits of wisdom, genuine as they may be, are limited since even the wise understand “what is crooked cannot be made straight.” Neither wisdom nor folly prevent death. At this point the reader must pause and ask himself if all die what is to become of me. Solomon saw the futility of life without God. In fact, the closing verses of the book indicate the only meaning in life is coming to God, establishing a relationship with Him, and living life in obedience to His commands. Though Ecclesiastes never mentions Jesus Christ, it clearly points to the futility of life without Him. It points to a coming time when, rather than looking forward to salvation, people will look back to the work of the Cross as the one means of establishing a salvation relationship with God and finding meaning rather than futility in life. Living for pleasure is also meaningless. With the vast resources at his command, Solomon claims to have denied himself nothing, riches, slaves, concubines, wine, creativity, only to again find meaninglessness. Solomon, however, is not done. He finds working hard to get wealth is also meaningless. All our possession will go to someone else. Not only will your wealth go to someone else but according to vv. 22 – 23 working without proper regard for God inevitably diminishes the quality of life. What has been lacking in the author’s search for meaning through wisdom, pleasure, and work is God. A meaningful life recognizes and embraces God’s grace. There is joy in the routines of life, joy in the provisions of God, and a right relationship with God results in real blessings (v. 26). Solomon concludes that the meaninglessness and futility of life can only be overcome by a right relationship with God. Life “under the sun,” that is without God, living only horizontally not vertically, is vanity, a chasing after the wind. And yet, God’s Word tells us we can draw near to God in faith and enter into a relationship that puts meaning into life, even today, and can eliminate the sense of futility present without the Creator. This sermon was given by Dr. Tom Ascol on October 30, 2016 at Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL. Join the FAM at press.founders.org/fam to support and enable Founders Ministries to continue producing free content.   Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/ Subscribe to Founders Ministries: https://founders.org/enews/   All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries.

Pastor Tom Ascol continues his series on the book of Ecclesiastes with a sermon entitled “No Profit from Toil” explaining Ecclesiastes 1:3 – 11. “All we are is dust in the wind” is the theme to a popular ballad of the 1970’s. That theme echoes the theme of Ecclesiastes which seems to be vanity, all is vanity. Knowingly or not, both reflect the futility of a life without God. A life without God is described as being “under the sun.” That is, there is no inclusion of things above the sun. It is a life without God, the very God who rules over all, above and under the sun. The preacher, Ecclesiastes’ author, sets out to prove the futility of life without God. First, toil without God is futile. Generations come and go but the fundamental things of earth just continue on. The “War to end all wars” did not. The war on poverty provided no fix. Things continue on basically unchanged as generations come and go. Nature also proves the futility of life without God. The sun continues on just as it always has. The winds come and go, man can only chase it. Even the rivers flowing to the seas never fill it. And all continues as it has. All this points to the futility of life “under the sun,” life without God. The contrast between this perspective and claims that creation is a theater for God’s glory is stark. The constant activity the world sees as being in a rut when seen through the perspective of a believers shows the beauty of God’s handiwork: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). First toil, then nature, and now human experience demonstrates the futility of life without God. The observations of vv. 9 – 10 bear this out. On a fundamental level nothing seen, felt, heard, tasted or smelled have any lasting merit or benefit without God. These sensory perceptions, like all else in the world, come and go. Without God they are futile, they have no eternal worth. Humans don’t change, we have been broken since the Fall and no effort of our will change that. Verse 11 continues the despair. In a few short generations all memory of us will be gone, just as dust in the wind. Jesus makes this same point. He asks “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). What Jesus and the preacher are both warning against is living a life without regard for God. A life “under the sun” is meaningless and futile. But there is hope. A life lived in relationship with the God of Creation, the God offering salvation, brings meaning to life. The way to this relationship is through the work accomplished on the Cross by the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone has defeated sin, death, hell, and the futility of this world. This sermon was given by Dr. Tom Ascol on October 23, 2016 at Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL. Join the FAM at press.founders.org/fam to support and enable Founders Ministries to continue producing free content.   Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/ Subscribe to Founders Ministries: https://founders.org/enews/   All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries.

This panel with Dr. Voddie Baucham, Dr. Tom Ascol and Pastor Travis Allen was on January 19, 2022 at the IOPT Pre-conference on Calling and Vocation, preceding the 2022 National Founders Conference in Southwest Florida. All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries. Join us for our 2023 National Founders Conference: What is Man? | https://founders.org/2023conference/ Become a part of the F.A.M. https://press.founders.org/fam/ The Institute of Public Theology: https://www.instituteofpublictheology.org/ Wield The Sword: https://founders.org/wieldthesword/   Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/

Pastor Tom Ascol begins a series on the book of Ecclesiastes. The message, entitled “Real Life in a Fallen World” based on Ecclesiastes 1:1 – 2, provides both an introduction and first lessons. A main point of the whole book is that life is complicated. Everyone sees life a bit differently due to their individual experiences, temperaments or circumstances. Ecclesiastes is a book that looks at life as it really is in a fallen world. The book’s author opens with an expression of frustration; life without God is meaningless. It may be helpful to understand who the author is. He identifies himself as the “Preacher,” a translation for the Hebrew word “Qoholeth.” He is a leader and teacher of God’s people. The “son of David, king in Jerusalem” as well as the exercise in wisdom in the book leads to the likely conclusion that Qoholeth, the preacher, is actually King Solomon. Further, Solomon’s wealth and lifestyle enabled him to search and experience all the book claims of the author. The book seems to have been written later in Solomon’s life after having sought meaning in pleasure, work, wisdom, and wealth. He found all lacking and desires his readers learn from his experiences. He recognizes, as we shall see later throughout the book, that apart from God all is meaningless. Since we, like Solomon in his pleasure, work, wisdom, and wealth, tend to view the world superficially, that is without much thought and reflection and certainly without an emphasis on God, we need exactly this type of biblical book. We need the message of this book today particularly give the “vanity” about which Solomon speaks. The original word translated vanity literally means “breath” or “vapor.” This metaphor is used by Solomon to emphasize life’s meaningless without God; life is but a quickly disappearing vapor or breath. Since we typically do not think this way we tend to think neither of the brevity of life nor what follows death. Yet, throughout the book the author uses the expression “under the sun” to articulate the vanity of life without God. Indeed, vanity under the sun would be people’s natural understanding without a godly interpretation of life and its events. This is especially so since our fallen world brings circumstances which, without an understanding of God, would leave one to misinterpret events as random instead or God-ordered. While it is true that the world is broken it is equally true that the world will be fixed. The conclusion of the book, still 12 chapters off, tells the conclusion of Solomon, the duty of mankind is to “fear God and keep his commandments.” Only then can we have a true understanding of life. Only then can we enter into a relationship with God that offers joy for this life and hope for the future. Only then can we obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We ought, therefore, come to God through the work of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary. This sermon was given by Dr. Tom Ascol on October 16, 2016 at Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL. Join the FAM at press.founders.org/fam to support and enable Founders Ministries to continue producing free content. Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/ Subscribe to Founders Ministries: https://founders.org/enews/   All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries.

This sermon was given by Dr. Voddie Baucham on January 19, 2022 at the IOPT Pre-conference on Calling and Vocation, preceding the 2022 National Founders Conference in Southwest Florida. All Founders Ministries resources are copyrighted and any use and distribution must be approved by Founders Ministries. Join us for our 2023 National Founders Conference: What is Man? | https://founders.org/2023conference/ Become a part of the F.A.M. https://press.founders.org/fam/ The Institute of Public Theology: https://www.instituteofpublictheology.org/ Wield The Sword: https://founders.org/wieldthesword/   Follow Founders Ministries: Website: https://founders.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundersMin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoundersMin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersministries/