1 A good name is better than good oil, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every person, And the living takes it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For when a face is sad a heart may be happy. 4 The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure. 5 It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise person Than for one to listen to the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool; And this too is futility. 7 For oppression makes a wise person look foolish, And a bribe corrupts the heart. 8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than arrogance of spirit. 9 Do not be eager in your spirit to be angry, For anger resides in the heart of fools. 10 Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this. 11 Wisdom along with an inheritance is good, And an advantage to those who see the sun. 12 For wisdom is protection just as money is protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom keeps its possessors alive. 13 Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what He has bent? Ecclesiastes 7:1-13 Chapter 7 1 A `good' name is better than precious oil; and the day of death, than the day of one's birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made glad. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity. 7 Surely extortion maketh the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroyeth the understanding. 8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; `and' the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry; for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. 10 Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this. 11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance; yea, more excellent is it for them that see the sun. 12 For wisdom is a defence, even as money is a defence; but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom preserveth the life of him that hath it. 13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? Contentment & the Crook in the Lot (Part 4 of 4) - Pastor Patrick Hines Podcast ▶️Reformed Presbyterian Pulpit Supplemental (Pastor Hines' YouTube Channel): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClW5Qzh27Zx7HO2fKkCcR5g ▶️Bridwell Heights Presbyterian Church http://www.bridwellheightschurch.org/ ▶️Pastor Patrick Hines (PLAYLIST): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzOwqed_gET2vqbY_shSW0MfXtYGSoCnT From church website: We subscribe to the Westminster Standards as our doctrinal statement. It consists of the following documents: The Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Larger Catechism The Westminster Shorter Catechism We also believe that Christian Worship is to be regulated and defined by God's Word, the Bible. Our worship services are designed to please and honor the Triune God of the Bible. We place Scripture reading and the preaching of the word of God at the center of worship along with Baptism and the Lord's Supper. These are God's gifts to His church and ought to always be at the center of Christian worship. We are a congregation that loves to sing God's praises, recite His Word back to Him, and actively engage in hearing and learning from God's Word. We embrace and promote a comprehensive Christian world and life view. There is no area of life which is not under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is to God and His law which all people, including governments and civil rulers, will answer. The Word of God embraces and informs the way we view marriage, the family, children, education, politics, worship, law, government, war, the church, missions, evangelism, and worship. In the world today there is a battle of opposing worldviews. There are basically only two positions: God's Word and man's ideas. We stand positively for Biblical truth and negatively against man's ideas which are opposed to Biblical truth. Thomas Boston playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=41DF02B831A428DA Puritans (playlist): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL147B764889A13CCA Born in 1676, in the town of Duns, in the Border country of Scotland, Thomas Boston learned through his childhood experiences to sympathise with the Presbyterian cause. His father, John Boston, was a strong opponent of Prelacy; and for this Nonconformity, he suffered a period of imprisonment. In 1707, Boston was transferred to the parish of Ettrick. Boston stayed at Ettrick and witnessed a great work of grace in what had been a spiritual wilderness. It is noteworthy that whereas at his first dispensation of the Lord's Supper there, only some 60 persons communicated, at his last communion, in 1731, the number of participants was 777. It was during his Ettrick ministry that his Fourfold State was first published, and by it his ministry was extended far and wide. But the doctrinal content of those discourses had been greatly influenced by his discovery, in a humble home in Simprin, of Edward Fisher's treatise The Marrow of Modern Divinity. This little book had the effect of giving Boston a fuller insight into the grace of God as the sole cause of salvation; and it immediately "gave a tincture," as he put it, to his preaching. Boston was a man of scholarly attainments, a first-class Hebraist, and a theologian of such eminence that Jonathan Edwards judged him to have been "a truly great divine." Never a robust man, he had a full share of tribulation, as his Autobiography so touchingly shows. The two books which did most to extend his ministry throughout Scotland, and even England and America, were The Crook in the lot and Human Nature in its Fourfold State.