ECCLESIASTES 11-122007 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ecclesiastes 11-12

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2007.

Ecclesiastes chapter 11.

Solomon, as he is writing, this is really he's on a journey. He's in the middle of this process that he's going through, trying to determine what is the purpose of life and how do I find meaning and fulfillment and happiness and satisfaction? He's trying to search for these things, but he's doing it really all the wrong ways.

He has thrown out his upbringing and the things that he has known of God and the revelation that God has given in his word. He's disregarded those things, although he speaks about God. It's not based on God's revelation, but instead, because he had this great wisdom, he's trying to figure life out by his own understanding, by his own calculations, by his own methods of understanding and figuring out what life is all about.

He's tried all kinds of things. He's sought for satisfaction and fulfillment in wisdom and understanding. He's sought for it in riches. He's sought for satisfaction in pleasures. He's sought for fulfillment and happiness in multitude and multitude of relationships and wives and and and all.

Everything you could imagine. He says there in the early part of Ecclesiastes that there was nothing that he withheld himself from. Now, if you can imagine for just a moment, if you could have anything you wanted, anything you could imagine and instantly it was yours. That was the life that Solomon had. Whatever he decided that he wanted, whatever he could imagine, he immediately gave it to himself. He had everything that you and I could imagine.

In this world, in this life, he was successful on every front.

And yet he could not find he was we find in his writings here in Ecclesiastes, a very cynical and depressed attitude in Solomon. He's frustrated because in all of his wisdom, with everything that he's tried, all the things that we often say will make us happy and will make us fulfilled. He's tried them and he's just found emptiness or vanity, which he continues to repeat throughout the book.

Over and over again. Everything is vanity. It's emptiness. We've defined that word vanity as what is left after a bubble pops.

Right. A good graphic image for us to remember. It's emptiness. There's nothing there. It's what the word vanity means. But he's limited his search to under the sun. Another phrase that we see some 30 times throughout the book, because Solomon is not considering God or what God has revealed of himself, but just the things of this life. He's trying to figure it out. And it's left him unsatisfied, unhappy, unfulfilled, disillusioned.

frustrated, cynical, and he can't figure out why because he has everything that he could possibly want.

Now, as we're entering in now to chapters 11 and 12, he's winding down the book. He's continuing on with some observations that he began in the previous chapters, just talking about general principles of life, again, trying his best to figure things out. And it's not till the very end that we hear something from Solomon that we can wholeheartedly agree with, that we know is the truth. It's not really till the end. The last couple of verses say,

that he gets right in his understanding. He gets right with his understanding of who God is and what the purpose is for us in life. So let's start off with his foolishness and all of his wisdom in verses 1 and 2 of Ecclesiastes chapter 11.

Solomon says, cast your bread upon the waters for you will find it after many days. Give a servant to seven or give a serving to seven and also to eight. For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

As I said, Solomon is continuing his observations about life. And here he begins to share some observations about generosity, or some would say it's on the importance of investing or saving. But the idea here is give now to others generosity.

And after many days, it will be given back to you or you will you will find your reward after many days as you cast your bread upon the waters. In other words, cast it out there, help as much as you can and provide as much as you can for others, because then there's going to be a time when you may need it. And that's why he says in verse two, for you do not know what evil will be upon the earth.

You know, serve seven, even serve eight if you can, if it's possible, because then later you might need to come back to that eighth one or those people that you served and there might be a need that you have. And so in order to ensure that you'll be taken care of in those times and those difficulties and those evil days that may come, be generous now, invest now, save now and apply those things now so that you'll be taken care of later on when those things happen.

Kind of going along with that same line of thinking, he continues on to talk about diligence in verses 3 through 6. It says this, Verse 5,

Same line of thought.

Be diligent. Prepare now because you don't know what lies around the corner there in verse three. He's talking about the clouds being full of rain and he's talking about this tree that falls. What's he talking about? Basically, he's saying this. Look, there's these natural events and and they cannot be stopped or changed. They will take place when the cloud is full of rain.

or full of water, it's going to rain. There's nothing that you can do about that. It's going to take place. If a tree falls, it's going to fall. And there's nothing you can do about it. It's going to take place. Things will happen in the course of life. There's things that are going to happen that you can't avoid no matter how much money you have or what you've tried. There's going to be

things that take place no matter how well prepared you think you are, but they're going to happen. So better to be prepared and be prepared for taking care of the effects of that thing that may happen rather than forget about it and be unprepared. And he says in verse 4, he who observes the wind will not sow.

I get the picture here of someone in the field. You know, he's supposed to be sowing the seed, but he's like, whoa, look at the trees blowing. Oh, look at that cloud flying through the air. That's moving fast. Oh, I see a puppy dog in that cloud. You know, just kind of la la land. Not not sowing, but just caught up, you know, by by the things of the wind, observing the wind, trying to figure out what's going on. He goes on to say he who regards the clouds will not reap. You know, he's not going to get to work because he's not being diligent because he's lazy, but he's

It's not good to be lazy because there's things that are going to happen and you can't stop them. So be as prepared as you can be.

Don't observe the clouds. Don't get caught up in the wind because you won't get anything done. He goes on to say, you know, even if you try to observe the wind, you don't know the way of the wind. Just like you don't know how a baby grows in the mother's womb. You can't understand that. You don't understand the word, the work of God. And so Solomon's point is get to work.

You can't wait till you have everything figured out to start working. You don't know what's going to prosper. So work in the morning, work in the evening, work all day because you need to, well, you need to be in as much as possible, involved as much impossible because you don't know what's going to work out. You don't know what's going to be good. Perhaps corn is going to be good or maybe it's the wheat this year. You don't know. So do both and do as much as you can so that you are diligent and prepared for what may take place

later on.

Now, again, this is Solomon's understanding based on his wisdom, his outlook on life. And there's some wisdom in here in being diligent and being prepared and being generous and giving. Jesus told us to do that in Luke chapter 6, verse 38. He said, Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, press down, shake it together. Running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. The principle is true that as a person,

As we give, as we invest, as we are generous, as we share, then God won't leave us indebted to him. I don't think he said that right. He won't leave us with a debt to us from him. He will make sure we will be repaid for what we give to him and what we give in his name.

And so the principle is true. You reap what you sow. And that's what Solomon is observing in this life. Going on in verses seven and eight, it says, truly, the light is sweet and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun. But if a man lives many years and rejoices in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. And all that is coming is vanity.

Here Paul uses that word vanity. Again, emptiness. What is left after a bubble has popped. Now he's talking about life. Making the most of this life because your time here is short. In verse 7 he says, When he talks about the light being sweet...

He's talking about it's a reference to life. He's saying that life is sweet. It's pleasant to be able to see the sun as opposed to the days of darkness. Now, if light is life, what does darkness refer to? Go ahead. You can. Yes, there you go.

Light speaking of life, darkness speaks of death. And what Solomon is saying here is it's it's good to live. Life is pleasant. It's sweet. It's much better than death in his estimation, because, again, he's not considering what God has revealed of himself and what God has revealed about eternity. He says, if a man lives many years in the light, well, that's good and it's sweet and that's great. But.

After that, there will be many years of darkness. In fact, the darkness or the years of darkness will be many more than the years of light, Solomon is saying. Why? Well, because he's not taking into account that man has been appointed to

Once to die and after this, the judgment. After this, we enter into eternity. And whether we spend that with God or away from God is based upon the decision that we make of Jesus Christ and who he is and if we have a relationship or not.

But Solomon is not taking eternity into account. He's just figuring life is over when when this life is done. There's nothing beyond that. And so there's much more darkness. There's much more nothingness after death than there is life in the life that you have. If you consider the amount of time that we have in this life compared to eternity, it's

It's just an instant. It's not very long at all. And that's what Solomon is frustrated with. See, Solomon has it backwards. He's referring to life as that which is sweet and death as that which is not sweet. He's referring to life as light and death as darkness. And it needs to be the other way around. See, this is what you get when you try to figure things out without taking into account what God has revealed to us.

Life is darkness. Eternity is light. You remember the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. He's talking about love and the importance of love and how love will endure and love is eternal. But he says there in verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 13, he says, for now we see in a mirror dimly or darkly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I am known. The idea being when I enter into eternity, I'm going to see clearly the light's going to be turned on. I'm going to see face to face as opposed to what I see right now, which is darkly. I don't understand everything. I don't see what's really going on. But then I will.

This life, in many senses, is darkness in that we don't understand what's going on and we can't see the full picture. There's much that we do not understand, but then we will have the fullness of understanding. Eternity is light. Remember Revelation chapter 21, verse 23. As...

Heaven is being described. It says that the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it. The lamb is its light, just as Jesus is the light of the world. He will be the light of eternity. Eternity is light. Eternity is what sweet eternity is, what we're living for.

Like Paul said, I make reference to it often in 2 Corinthians 4. We don't look at what is seen because these things are the temporary things. But we look at the unseen because those are the things that are eternal. What Solomon is right about in these verses is how short life is. We only have a few years here. And in comparison to eternity, those years are almost as nothing.

And yet God has given to us this time, the time that we live in this life to prepare for eternity. We have this life to sow seeds that we will be able to reap for ages and ages to come. He has given us this life to store up treasure in heaven. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter six, don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth.

Instead, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth does not destroy and rust does not corrupt, where thieves don't break in and steal. Our focus, our heart needs to be set upon the things of eternity. And so we should be generous and we should be diligent. But in the things of God, because as we invest in the things of God for eternity, we will be reaping the rewards of those things forever.

For the rest of everlasting life. And that's a long time. God has given us this opportunity and this life is over. And once it's over, then our time here is done. Our opportunities to store up treasure in heaven is done. And that's why we need to live this life to the fullest for the things of God, because time here is short. Let's continue on in verses nine and 10. Solomon says, rejoice, oh, young man in your youth and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

Here Solomon begins now to speak to the young people.

Encouraging them to take advantage of life now. Now, this discussion will continue as well in chapter 12, verses 1 through 8. We'll continue to look at these things. But he begins now to speak to the young men and he says, Rejoice, O young man, in your youth. Rejoice. Now, basically what Solomon is saying here is that you should take advantage of youthfulness. You're young.

Take advantage of it. There's much benefit there, Solomon is saying, because when you get older, things get tougher. He will describe for us the older part of life in chapter 12. We'll get to see a hint of what lies in store for us. But for now, he says, rejoice, be cheerful. You have your youth.

Don't take it for granted, but take advantage of it and use it to the fullest. He says, walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these, God will bring you into judgment. A very foolish counsel that Solomon is giving here. He says, go ahead and do whatever you want. Do what you want. Do what your heart leads you to do or tells you to do.

Just remember, you know, that God's going to bring everything into judgment, but go ahead and do it. He's kind of saying, you know, hey, count the cost. You know, you might be punished for this. There might be some judgments involved in this, but go ahead and do what you want. Now, he'll go ahead. I'm sorry. Solomon will talk about judgment again at the end of chapter 12. And so we'll get more into it there. But.

Understand that this is not a right attitude towards judgment. It's not the biblical attitude that is given to us. A person who really recognizes the judgment of God and what God has laid out for us does not have the attitude that Solomon has of just go ahead and do it and understand that, you know, you may be judged for it or you may give an account to God for it. The biblical understanding, we could look in many different directions here.

But the one I want to point out to you is found in Acts chapter 17. In Acts chapter 17, Paul is giving out the gospel message. And as he's sharing the gospel message, he's warning against idolatry and chasing other gods and worshiping other gods.

And as he's talking about idolatry in verse 30 of Acts chapter 17, Paul says, truly these times of ignorance, that is the times of idol worship, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

Why? Well, he tells us in verse 31, because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. Here's what Paul is saying. Jesus raised from the dead. It's our assurance that God has given to him the task of judgment.

And we're going to stand before him. He's going to judge. There's an appointed day. It's going to take place. And so therefore, repent. Solomon saying,

Yeah, God's going to judge. You're going to have to give an account. So, you know, take that into consideration. But go ahead and do whatever you want to enjoy your youthfulness. Live it up now because, you know, one day you will have to face God. But but you might as well do all that you can now while you have the opportunity, while you have your youth, while you have the ability. But it's not the appropriate attitude. It's not the right heart. No, the right heart and understanding. Hey, we're going to stand before God. The right command.

Then is to repent and you're going to stand before God and give an account. So repent, turn from your sin, walk in according to his ways, turn from the things that destroy, turn from sin and follow the ways of God. Solomon closes the chapter telling the young person to remove sorrow and anxiety from their heart and put away evil. He's basically saying, don't cause yourself more problems. Enjoy life while you can.

Because childhood and youth are vanity. They pass quickly and then you don't have anything to show for it. Again, such a bleak and distorted look on life. Live it up now because it doesn't mean nothing later. You won't have anything to show for it. Understand that many people have done much for God in their youth. And we could have a discussion, I'm not going to, about what does that mean and what age is youth and young.

We still have life. We're young. There's much life ahead of us in eternity. We're very young. So you can do many things. You can do much for God in your youth.

You can do great things for God. Think about David and what he did in his youth and the worship of God and really preparing the way through the Psalms of all the ways that we are able to express our hearts to God and the defeating of Goliath and so on and so forth. Jeremiah, the prophet, was very young when he was called and commissioned by God and he was used by God to proclaim his word to all of Israel.

Think about Daniel, the young man who decided in his heart, he determined, I'm not going to defile God. And God used him for many, many years as a prophet to the nation of Babylon, as the counselor of kings, the representative of God to the leaders there in Babylon. Even as we're studying through the book of Timothy on Sunday mornings, God can use the young man.

To be a missionary like the Apostle Paul or like Timothy, who joined with the Apostle Paul and and went forth proclaiming the gospel and being used by God and then left there in the church of Ephesus to to minister and pastor the church there as a minister of the gospel. And so.

And Solomon's determinations and his conclusions, yeah, they're not entirely accurate. They're not accurate based on what God has revealed in his word. But we can use them as a reminder. Hey, time is short. And God has given me this life and this time to live for him, for his glory, to be pleasing to him.

And so let us do that. Let us not live for the pleasures of this life, trying to find fulfillment in the things under the sun, but let us live for the son, Jesus Christ, for his pleasure, for his will, to use our time and our strength and what we have left to accomplish the will of God.

That is what we're here for. And that is our purpose in life. In fact, you will never be fulfilled in trying to satisfy yourself. That's why Jesus said, hey, if you want to follow me, if you want to find life, you must lose it. If you lose your life for my sake, he says, you will find it. That's when you'll be satisfied. That's when you'll be fulfilled. That's when you'll experience the fullness of what God has for you.

When you live for him by losing your life and putting him first in life. It's so important that we learn this and that we put it into practice. Solomon now will continue to talk to the youth of the day and to our day. In chapter 12, verse 1, it says, Remember now your creator in the days of your youth before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them.

Here Solomon begins or continues the warning. Hey, you're young. You have this time. It's not very long. So live it up. Use it to the best of your ability. Do all the things that you want to do. You will have to give it a count, but just live it up because you won't be able to go back and do some of those things that you can do now. Remember your creator in the days of your youth, he says, before the difficult days come.

Before the difficult days come, and I don't know if you're like me, but I always think I'm in the difficult days. And I don't want to hear that there's more difficult days in store for me, that things get worse, things get harder. Oh, yes. As you get older, as you progress, ask any older person than you, they will say, oh, yeah, I used to think I had it hard too. And then I came, you know, to this next stage of my life. And then there was these difficulties and it was more difficult than what I thought was difficult earlier in life.

So he says, remember your creator while you are young. Now is the time. I heard a statistic recently that 85% of Christians made their commitment to the Lord during their early years or during their teenage years. It's so appropriate then for us to remember the creator in our youth because it's when people are most likely to make a commitment to Jesus Christ.

It's when we're most open to the things of God. And so the time is now. It doesn't get easier as we get older. Ah, you know, when I hit the 20s, then I'll really be committed to the Lord. Or once I'm married, then I'll really be committed to the Lord. Or once I have kids, then I'll really be committed to the Lord. Or once the kids are out of the house, then I'll be committed to the Lord. It doesn't get easier as time progresses, as life progresses. The time is now. Remember him now. Commit your life to him now because the difficult days are over.

are still yet to come. Things get harder in life, not easier. And you need the strength of the Lord by drawing close to Him now. He'll go on now to describe the difficulties of old age. Maybe you can relate to some of these in verses 2 through 5. It says...

While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are not darkened. Now, remember, he's saying, remember the creator in the days of your youth. And the days of your youth are while the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are not darkened. And the clouds do not return after the rain. And the day, bless you, and the day when the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men bow down, when the grinders cease because there are few and those that look through the windows grow dim.

When the doors are shut in the streets and the sound of grinding is low, when one rises up at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of music are brought low. Also, they are afraid of height and of terrors in the way. When the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is a burden and desire fails. For a man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets.

Now, I'm sure most of us first reading that say, what in the world is he talking about? It doesn't make any sense. Well, this is some poetic language for you to prepare you for the Song of Solomon. He's speaking poetically about what it's like to get older and what you will experience as age comes upon you. First, he talks about your eyes failing.

Where does he talk about that? Well, there in verse 2. While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are not darkened. He's saying, hey, take advantage of it now while you can still see clearly. While light's still bright and things aren't darkened, while you still got your eyesight, take advantage of life. Remember your creator in your youth. He goes on to say in verse 3, those that look through the windows grow dim. The eyes grow dim. It's a picture that's often used in the scripture.

It's used in reference to Isaac in Genesis 27, verse 1, where it says that his eyes were so dim. You remember his eyes were so dim that he couldn't tell if it was Jacob or Esau before him when he was going to give the blessing. And Jacob later in his life, or as he was called by God, Israel, his eyes grew dim as well. In Genesis 48, 10, it says that his eyes were dim with age. Eli, the priest there at the temple as Samuel was growing up,

So it tells us in 1 Samuel 3, 2, that his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see. And so that's the picture. That's the language that's used to describe the failing eyesight or the losing of eyesight. And Solomon saying, look, hey, when you get older, you know, things aren't as good. You don't get to see as clearly. Things grow dim. And so take advantage of what you got now.

But he doesn't just talk about eyesight. He then begins to talk about strength that leaves. He says that there in verse 3 when he talks about the keepers of the house tremble.

You know, sometimes when you get older, you start to tremble. You don't have the motor skills that you once had and the control that you once had. And so there's the shaking or the trembling that you're not able to control. And he says, and the strong men bowed down. What used to be strength and where you used to have strength, now there's weakness. And so now there's the bowing down or the submission where there wasn't before because the strength has failed.

Not only does your eyesight go and your strength fail, but now he says your teeth fall out because he says the grinders cease because there are few. What a great picture that is, right? The grinders, which you use to grind down the food that you eat.

And the grinding ceases because, well, the teeth are too few. You're not really able to grind properly. You're gumming the food and, you know, it just changes a lot of things. And so they didn't have the dentures and capabilities we have today. And so it just begins to cease. So your eyesight goes, your strength leaves, your teeth fall out, the hearing goes. So go on to say in verse four, the daughters of music are brought low. But at the same time, your hearing goes, but...

Small sounds awaken you easily, he says, when one rises up at the sound of the sound of a bird. So there's just a little bit of a sound or you're easily awoken out of sleep. And so you don't get much sleep. But at the same time, you can't hear like you used to. And then verse five, he goes on to talk about the fear that comes in old age. Now, I don't experience much of these, so perhaps you can relate. But he begins to talk about the fear of heights again.

You don't want to go where you used to because, well, you're more feeble and more subject to, well, things might get broken or things might get hurt. Royce is raising his hand saying, I'm old, I feel these things. So he's afraid of heights, if you don't know. The terrors on the way began to be more frightening and more intimidating. But again, you can see the poetic language here as Solomon exaggerates to make the point. When the almond tree blossoms.

That's something to be fearful of, right? Oh my goodness, what happened? What's taking place? Or he goes on to say, the grasshopper is a burden. What am I going to do? There's a grasshopper in the field. It's like, I think it was Bugs Life, maybe, or maybe it was ants. I don't know. The ants are walking and, you know, the path gets blocked by a leaf. And they go, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? And the elders of the ants, you know, have to come and lead them around the leaf because they're too freaked out by this path being blocked. And that's the idea, you know, the old person,

Oh, there's a grasshopper. What am I going to do? Or the grasshopper lands on him. It's too heavy. It's too much of a burden. It's too great. It's too difficult. And so he's describing somewhat exaggeratingly the fear that comes with old age. It reminded me as I was reading through this of an article that I saw a while back

Headline says, Granny finds grenade in groceries. Kind of a scary thing that happened in Italy. It says a 74-year-old Italian grandmother who bought a sack of potatoes at her local market found a live grenade among the spuds. I found a bomb in the potatoes, she said.

In a telephone interview. I went to the market to buy some potatoes, and that's where the bomb was. But this bomb was covered in dirt. And I put it in water and got all the dirt off, and then I realized, it's a bomb! So she got freaked out, which I probably would as well. But they found out it was a bomb that was used by the U.S. soldiers in World War II. And so this farm in France was some battle territory, and they're farming potatoes, and they uncover potatoes.

a grenade, but they think it's a potato because there's dirt stuck all around it. And they put it in the sack and she gets it. And then they began to fear or consider what would have happened if she had cooked that, if she hadn't noticed. And they were able to detonate a good. So sometimes there's rightful, you know, reasons to have fear. But what Solomon is describing here is not that it's the exaggeration of, you know, things. Well, you can't you aren't like you used to. So things terrify you that did not used to.

And then finally, he goes on to say there in verse five that death approaches. Death approaches in verse five. He says, for a man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the street. Solomon's points here. Again, remember, verse one. Remember now your creator right now. Take advantage of what you got because you're not going to have it for very long. You're going to get old.

You won't be able to do what you can do now. And then you're going to go into eternity and your chances to do anything here on earth will be over. Going on verses 6 through 8.

Solomon says, remember your creator again before the silver cord is loosed or the golden bucket is broken or the golden bowl is broken. I'm sorry. Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Vanity of vanity, says the preacher. All is vanity.

Here Solomon now makes reference to the death that comes. There in verse 6, all these references are to death. It's phrases that they would use or metaphors that would indicate that a death has taken place. You know, we use, they kick the bucket, they kick the bucket.

cashed in the chips, bought the farm, you know, various things to describe death. But this is what they use at that time. The silver cord is loose. The golden bowl is broken. The pitcher shattered at the fountain. The wheel is broken at the well as a reference to, well, life is ended for this person. And so he's talking about death. And in verse seven, he says, then the dust will return to the earth as it was.

The dust will return to the earth as it was. Now, this was part of the curse that God pronounced as a result of sin in Genesis chapter 3, verse 19. God told man, for dust you are and to dust you shall return. And so Solomon's recognizing that this indeed is taking place as a result of sin, that the body returns to dust. But then he goes on to say that the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Here Solomon could be saying that you go into the presence of God in the sense that we understand, the biblical sense that we enter into eternity and stand before God to give an account. But I really don't think that that's what Solomon is making reference to here. I'm not that certain that this is what he is talking about because of his explanation again in verse 8 where he goes on.

Crying out again, same thing he's been crying out since the beginning. Vanity of vanity, says the preacher. All is vanity. See, I don't believe he's talking about going to be in the presence of God and how great and wonderful that is because he says, OK, we die, we go back to dust and

Then it's all vanity. It was all nothing. You have nothing for it. There's nothing to show for it. There's no meaning. There's no purpose behind it. Understand the flow of what Solomon is saying. He's been telling the young people, hey, enjoy life now while you're young, because as you get older, things get more difficult.

Things begin to break down. You can't enjoy life like you used to. And then you're going to die and it's going to be all over. Your body is going to go back to dust. Your spirit is going to go back to God in the sense that it's not yours anymore. You don't get it. It's gone from you now. And so once again, everything is vanity because, well, it was for nothing. You just went through life. You endured. You died. And then now there's nothing.

And so vanity of vanities. It's all nothing is Solomon's conclusion. Because again, he's basing life, he's basing his understanding upon what he can figure out on his wisdom, on what he knows, on what he believes or on what he has come to understand. And if you base life upon that,

If you base life upon your understanding and your intellect and your wisdom or what the world has to say, well, you're going to come to the same conclusion that there's nothing worth really living for. You're never going to be satisfied. You'll never be fulfilled. You'll never experience the joy, the fulfilling joy that comes from walking with God and living for his purposes.

Solomon here, he comes to a conclusion again, as he has many times throughout this book, and he decides it's all meaningless. It's worthless. It's pointless. And he's frustrated by it. He finishes off the book saying,

In the next few verses, let's look at verses 9 through 12. He says, And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find acceptable words, and what was written was upright, words of truth.

The words of the wise are like goads and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails given by one shepherd. And further, my son, be admonished by these of making many books. There is no end and much study is wearisome to the flesh. It's kind of the wrapping up of the book. Now, Solomon is not entering the discussion like he was and

Trying to figure out life, trying to come to, you know, find what brings fulfillment or joy or satisfaction in life. But now he is coming to the end of his book. And in conclusion, he says,

Because the preacher was wise, that is himself, he had great wisdom. So he still taught the people knowledge. So even though he was struggling through these things and and dealing with these things and and could not figure out what the purpose was in life, he still taught the people knowledge. He still brought his truths to the people. He he said in order many proverbs.

We know that Solomon wrote many, many proverbs. I believe the accounts in the Kings and the Chronicles say that he wrote over 3,000 proverbs.

The preacher goes on to say he sought to find acceptable words and to impart these to those around him. He describes the words of the wise as being very beneficial, like well-driven nails. It's those things that really just hit the spot and really make the point exactly where they need to be made. But he concludes the book. This is where we'll spend the last few minutes of our time. He concludes the book in verses 13 and 14.

He says, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Solomon here is at the end of his journey. He's tried everything in life. All the things that we could think and that the world thinks will bring them fulfillment,

that will help them to be satisfied, he's tried them. He's been there. He's done that. He's tried every avenue, sought out everything, and had the resources to fulfill his, well, his every imagination. And he's come to the conclusion every time, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. And so, at the very end, he realizes, he recognizes, what I knew at the beginning was

What I knew before I threw all the things of my childhood away, what I knew then was the truth that there is a God, that I will stand before him and give an account, that there is an eternity, there is a hereafter, there is purpose and meaning to this life. There is fulfillment found in a relationship with God. It takes him to the very end of his search. And we don't know how far towards the end of his life this was.

But he finally comes to the conclusion and he says, this is the conclusion of the whole matter. This is the conclusion of everything I've been talking about. Solomon is saying the conclusion of all that I've written here, the conclusion of all my searches. I found the truth. And here's what it is.

Fear God and keep his commandments for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. This is the conclusion. This is the truth. This is the reality that you and I must receive.

Now, you don't have to receive this conclusion. You can search for it like Solomon did. You can try to find out on your own what the purpose of life is and how to be fulfilled. You can try to find happiness apart from God. You have the freedom to do so. But if you do that, the warning is you'll discover vanity of vanities. It's all vanity. It's empty. It's worthless. It's meaningless. It will not satisfy you.

Because the things of this life cannot. You're an eternal being. You will have everlasting life. You're going to spend eternity in one place or the other. Only eternal things can satisfy you. And that is a relationship with God. You can either receive what Solomon has said, the conclusion of the whole matter. You can receive this is what God's word says. Or you can try to do it on your own and end up frustrated, cynical, depressed, depressed.

having a wasted and worthless life. The choice is ours. God gives us that choice. But He gives us His Word as an example. That's what 1 Corinthians 10 says. Hey, these things are examples that you might know how to live, that you might learn from them. And so I plead with you, learn from Solomon. Learn that you don't have to chase after these things, that these things will not satisfy you. Learn that what you need the most...

His relationship with God. Receive it. Don't learn it the hard way. But receive it. Accept it. Believe it with all of your heart. Fear God and keep his commandments for this is man's all. This is man's all. This is everything for man. Fear God and keep his commandments. Are we really supposed to fear God? Are we really supposed to have a fear of God? Yes. Absolutely. Jesus said so.

In Matthew chapter 10, verse 28, Jesus said, do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Jesus says, don't fear man, but fear God. Man might be able to hurt you and harm you and kill you, but that's the end of it. That's the limits of what they can do. And you say, well, that's a lot. I don't want to be killed. Well,

Too bad. Death happens. It's going to happen. We have to face that. We're going to go into eternity. And so we shouldn't fear man who can just kill the body and that's it. But we should fear God, who Jesus says is able to destroy both the soul and the body in hell. To fear God is to recognize that he is God, that he sets the rules.

That he has the power to give eternal life and that he has the power to destroy both the body and the soul in hell. To fear God means I believe that God is God, that I will have to give an account for him or to him for my life. And and that the only way I can enter into eternity with him is if I do what he says. And if I decide that I'm right and I should live my my way and I should do things my way and and I know best.

then I'm not fearing God. I'm not taking heed to God. Instead, I'm following my own desires. And if I don't abide by His rules, then He has the power to destroy both my body and my soul in hell. Fear God. Recognize He's the Creator. He's the all-powerful God. He's the one who has the power to take you into eternity with Him.

or to send you away from him for eternity in darkness and gnashing of teeth. Fear God. He's the one to whom you must give an account. He sets the rules. He sets the standard. And he has provided one way. Not many ways. One way. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Fear God. Fear God.

And come to him through a relationship with Jesus Christ. It's the only way. If you reject that, you reject eternity with God. You reject heaven. You reject all that God has for you. If you reject Jesus Christ, you sentence yourself to eternity apart from God. To be destroyed both body and soul in hell. Solomon says, fear God and keep his commandments. Are we really supposed to keep his commandments? Yes.

I mean, come on. I thought this was the New Testament, the new covenant. You know, we're free, not under the law anymore, not under the commandments. But Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse 21, he who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me and he who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Jesus says, look, if you want a relationship with me, keep my commands. The one who keeps my commands is the one who loves me.

And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will manifest myself to him. You want God to reveal himself to you and show himself to you? You want him to prove himself real in your life? Love him. Keep his commands.

Well, I thought we weren't under the law anymore. I thought we didn't have to keep the commands. Well, not for salvation. You can't approach God based on your keeping of the law and doing good things and having more good works than bad works. You can't approach God on those terms because none of us are good enough. We must approach him through Jesus Christ, through the finished work upon the cross, believing on him and having his righteousness imputed to us, added to our account.

Because our righteousness is as filthy rags. And Jesus says, when you believe in him, when you put your faith and trust in him, when you are born again, then now you're under the new covenant. And the new covenant is this. He has written his law upon your hearts.

You're not under the law in the sense that you have to fulfill the law in order to approach God and have relationship with God. You're able to have relationship with God because of what Jesus Christ has done for you upon the cross. And you're receiving that by faith. But that doesn't mean then that you can go out and do whatever you want and live however you feel like.

It doesn't mean like Solomon told them, you know, hey, do let your heart do whatever is upon your heart and and whatever your eyes see to do, go ahead and do it. If it feels good, do it. No, that's not the correct attitude. That's not the right heart. It's not the way that we're called to live. Jesus says, look, if you don't keep my commands, if you don't walk with me in accordance with what I've given you, then you don't love me. The one that loves me, he's the one who keeps my commands and not the word to be in a legalistic relationship with God.

but that we're to be close to Him. And as we're close to Him, as we seek and live to please Him and not ourselves and not to fulfill our flesh, we will be walking in accordance with the commandments of God. Oh, we will fall short. We will break His commands and thank God for repentance and forgiveness. That as we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But if we're pursuing the path of sin,

If we're pursuing the things that we know that God has told us, you are not to be involved in that. Jesus says, you don't love me because the one who loves me keeps my commands. Not because they're so good, but because they love me, because they have relationship with me.

Solomon says, this is man's all. Finally, something we can agree with. Something we can know wholeheartedly and assuredly. This is what the Bible teaches. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. This is your all. This is all you got. This is the whole purpose for your life. You're to fear God and keep His commands. This is all that means anything in your life. It doesn't matter what you have. You're not going to give an account to...

How popular you were or how big of a house you had or how much money you had in the bank or how successful you were. You're not going to give an account to God for any of that. You're going to give an account to God for did you fear him? Did you keep his commands? This is man's all. This is what God wants from you. Fear him and keep his commands. This is what you will give an account for. Fear him and keep his commands. Walk in relationship with him.

And if you're walking in disobedience to what he has given in his word, recognize what God is saying. You need relationship with him. You need to walk with him. You need to love him. Recognize that God is God and do what he says. Have relationship with him. You know, this group came up to Jesus when he was on the earth in his ministry and they said, tell us what to do to do the works of God. And he says, this is the work of God.

You have trouble being obedient to his command? He says, this is the work of God. This is what you're to do. Believe on the one whom he has sent. This is what we're called to do. Fear God and keep his commands. Believe on the one that he has sent. Deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow him. Lose your life and you will find it in relationship with him, in living to please him, in living for God. He goes on in verse 14, says,

To say, for God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Solomon says, you know why you need to fear God and keep his commandments?

Because this is your all and you're going to stand before him. God is going to bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. In other words, I'm not just talking about, you know, putting on a good show when everybody else is around or when your Christian friends are around or while you're at church. But I'm talking about your whole life.

Fear God and keep his commandments for this is man's all. This this impacts every part of your life. This has everything to do with every aspect of every moment of every instant of your life. Fear God and keep his commandments. It's not a Sunday and Wednesday relationship with God, but it's a moment by moment relationship with God.

You need to recognize that God is God and do what he says because you're going to stand before him and he will judge you for every aspect and every moment. For the unbelievers, we know that this takes place at the white throne judgment. Revelation chapter 20 verse 13 says that the sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and Hades delivered up the dead who are in them and they were judged each one according to his works.

Whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. A couple of verses down we'll see. Those who do not believe in God will be judged according to their works, according to what they have done, according to the way that they feared God and kept his commandments. But those of us who are in Christ, we will stand before God as well. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

In the New Testament, right after 1 Corinthians, right before Galatians, in the first eight verses of chapter 5, Paul is talking about the assurance of eternity with God or the assurance of the resurrection. He's saying, I know it's for sure. God has prepared eternity for us and we're going to be with him. We're going to stand before him.

He says there in verse 8, we're confident, yes, well pleased rather, to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. He's assured of the hereafter. He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt there's something after this life. We're going to enter into eternity. And as a result of that understanding...

He says in verse 9, Paul says, He's living his life to please God.

He says in verse 10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Same thing Solomon is saying. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Paul says, I'm going to stand before God and give an account for everything, whether good or bad.

And so he says in verse 11, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, that's the fear of the Lord. We persuade men, but we are well known to God. And I also trust are well known to your consciences. And so he'll go on to talk about the ministry of reconciliation. He says, look, we're all going to stand before God. And God has given us this this this ministry to bring people into right relationship with him. This is what I live for, to be pleasing to God. This is so important for us to grasp. This is man's all.

You don't exist for yourself. You exist for God. And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you apply that to your life and recognize, I exist for God. And the only way that I will find fulfillment and happiness is when I live for God. The better off you'll be the sooner you realize that. God didn't send his son to die upon the cross so that you could build your kingdom and be established in your life.

And chase after the things of your heart. He sent his son to die for you, that you might have eternal life, but also that now you might live for him to bring him glory for his good pleasure. And he says, listen, understand if you're frustrated, if life is too difficult for you, if you're discouraged by what life has given you. Well, understand you're going to be that way if you don't live for me, if you don't live for

For my purposes and according to my will. Because you exist and I died for you that you might live for me. That your will might be consumed with my will. We will stand before God to give an account. If you do not believe in Jesus Christ, if a person has rejected Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, they will stand before God to give an account and they will be cast into the lake of fire. Eternity separated from God.

Fear God and keep his commandments for this is man's all. What does it gain for you to gain the whole world and lose your soul? Jesus said, yeah, you might live it up in this life. You might have a great life here, but if you lose your soul, if you're cast in to eternity separated from God, what was that profit? Really? There's no profit there. It was a bad deal for you and I as believers in Jesus Christ, as followers of him. We also will stand before God.

And give an account. And be judged according to what we have done. Whether good or bad. We will stand before him. For the life that we lived. And whether we lived it for his purposes. For his glory or not. Fear God and keep his commands. This is your all. This is all that matters in your life. This is what you will give an account to God for. Did you fear him? And keep his commands. Turn with me to one last portion of scripture. 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4.

In 1 Peter chapter 4, Peter's been encouraging those that he's writing to to continue to endure, to suffer, because it's what Christ did for us and we're to follow after him. But he says something very interesting in verse 3 in the following verses. He says, "...for we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles."

When we walked in lewdness and lust and drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. He says, and I should have started at verse two, says he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men, but for the will of God. Here's the contrast. Peter says you should live for the will of God. You should live to please God, to bring glory to his name. This is your all, Peter is saying.

And he goes on to say in verse 3, we've spent enough time in our past. We've already spent enough time living after the flesh, living after the will of the Gentiles or the will of the unbelievers. We've spent enough of our time living after what the world says we're supposed to live after. We've spent enough time living after the things of this life and chasing after the girls and chasing after the guys and chasing after the money and chasing after the...

or chasing after whatever it is that we chase after. We've spent enough time living after the things that the world says you're supposed to live after and the things that the world says will satisfy you and bring you joy and will make you successful and will make you coveted by everybody. You've spent enough time, Peter says, living after those things. Now live after the will of God. Don't live after the will of the Gentiles or the unbelievers. Live after the will of God.

He goes on in verse four to say in regard to these, they think it's strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. He says, look, the world is going to think of you differently and say, hey, how come you don't act the way that we do? And how come you're not consumed by greed and lust and and all the things that we're consumed by? They will think it's strange that you don't involve yourself in those things, Peter says.

They will speak evil of you. But verse five, they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. See the point? Peter says they will give an account. You will stand before God. This is man's all. You don't give an account for them. And it doesn't matter what the rest of the world says. You live for God. This is your all. This is what is important. This is what will impact for the rest of eternity. Fear God and keep his commandments.

You've spent enough time living after this life and caring for the things of this world and living after your own flesh and your own desires. You've spent enough time. I've spent enough time chasing after those things. Now it's time to live for the things of God. So Peter goes on to say in verse 6, For this reason the gospel is preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but

but live according to God in the spirit. Verse seven, but the end of all things is at hand. Therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. He says, look, the end of all things, we're going to stand before God. So here's what you need to do. And I'll go on and give us a couple of things that we'll look at real briefly. He says, first of all, though, you need to be serious and watchful in your prayers. It's high time to wake up. The end is closer now than it ever has been before. We will be raptured to be with Christ.

Or we will die and be in his presence. But we will stand before him. Before the judgment seat of Christ. The time is now, he says. Because we're so close to eternity. To be serious and watchful in our prayers. To be serious. To be devoted. To be alert.

To the things of God. Alert, serious, watchful in our prayers. In verse 8, he says, And above all things, have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. Here's what you need to do. Do you want to live for God? You know eternity is right at the door. You know the end of all things is near. So, first of all, pray. Second, you need to, well, you need to love. You need to have a fervent love for one another.

The agape love, the self-sacrificing love to serve one another and to give to one another, to minister to one another, to live for others and not ourselves. This is what we're called to do because the end of all things is at hand and this is our all. We're going to stand before God. So be serious and watchful in your prayers. Have fervent love for one another. Then in verse nine, be hospitable to one another without grumbling. Minister to one another. Open yourselves to one another without grumbling.

The end of all things is near. You're going to give an account to God for what you did. In verse 10, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. And then he goes on to say, if anyone speaks, he describes now the gifts that God gives some of them.

And he says, look, OK, you've been given the gift to be able to speak. Well, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers or serves, let him do it with the ability that God supplies and that in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Here's what he says. The end of all things is at hand. You're going to give an account to God. Therefore, since the end is so near, since.

We've spent enough time chasing after the will of the unbelievers. Now chase after the will of God. He's given you spiritual gifts. So minister those gifts to one another. Whatever gift he has given to you, it's not the time to just kind of kick back and not let it be used and let it sit idly by. It's not the time to bury the talent that God has given to you, but it's the time to use it.

Hey, if he's given you the gift of teaching, then teach. If he's given you the gift of service, then minister and serve one another with the ability that God supplies. Whatever gift he's given to you, however he's enabled you, use it. Serve him for his glory. He goes on to say that in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. That's the whole point. We're living now for God's glory, for his will and not our will, not the will of the Gentiles or the will of the unbelievers, but the will of God.

but for his will. We're fearing God and keeping his commandments because this is our all. We're going to stand before him and give an account to him for how we lived our life. So Peter says, be serious and watchful in your prayer. Have fervent love for one another. Be hospitable and use the gifts that God has given to you. It's not the time to be the Christian benchwarmer, to warm the pews and reserve the spot. It's not the time to just coast through.

Yeah, I believe, but I'm not really committed. I'm not really involved in anything. I don't really share my faith. I don't really talk about God or what I do when other Christians are around or when I'm here at church. But, you know, that's just this part of my life. It's not the time for that. You've spent enough of your past lifetime doing the will of the Gentiles. You and I, we need to be completely consumed with the will of God because this is our all. Fear God and keep his commandments.

This is your all. This is the only thing that will matter when you enter into eternity, when you stand before him. This is what you will give an account for. We chase after this life. It's so easy to get sucked up into it, wanting to gratify ourselves, looking to fulfill ourselves, thinking that, well, this relationship will satisfy me. This is what I need. Once I get married, then I know I'll be okay. Or once I get this or once I get that, but Solomon tried it all.

He tried everything. Don't learn it the hard way. Learn from what God is speaking to us this evening. This is our all. This is all he's given to us. This is all that matters. This is the way we lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. This is the way we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen by pursuing the will of God and his glory. So let's be serious in our prayer.

Let's have a fervent love for one another. Let's be hospitable and let's minister and use the gifts that God has given to us because this is our all. This is what we will give an account for. This is what pleases God. Do you love God? Let's keep his commands. Do you fear God? Let's follow him and all that he has given to us. Let's separate ourselves from the things of this life, of this world, from the things of our flesh.

and pursue with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our strength, with all of our might, with all of our mind. Let's pursue the things of God. Let's love him completely and fully. Let's pray. In Jesus, Lord, we lift up our own hearts to you, God. Lord, because we are weak and we do fall short. Lord, in looking at these exhortations, we realize how much we chase after the things of this life and how much we're consumed by the things of this world.

God, it's not that you haven't called us to have jobs or earn money. Lord, you have. You've placed us in those things. But God, keep us and guard us from living after those things and chasing after them. Lord, in relying upon them and looking to them to fulfill us and satisfy us. God, I pray that you would help us to put you first in our lives. Lord, that we would be consumed completely by you. God, help us to fear you and keep your commandments.

Lord, for these are the only things that are important in life. These are the things that will last. God, forgive us for chasing after the temporary. Lord, for trying to gain the world but losing our soul because we've turned from the things of you. God, I pray that you would help us to follow you completely, to love you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. God, right now we devote ourselves to you. We determine, God, to live for you, but we can't do it on our own.

And so, Jesus, we come to you and we ask, Lord, that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit. Lord, that you would write your word upon our hearts, that you would enable us and keep us where you want us to be. Lord, keep us in close relationship with you that we might fulfill all these things. Lord, we lay down our lives right now at your feet. Help us to live for you. Teach us, Lord, to be fervent and watchful in our prayers.

Teach us, Lord, to have love for one another, to be hospitable. And Lord, to be about the work of the ministry, using the gifts that you've given to us, to share your love with the world around us. Lord, to minister to those who do not know you, to shine your light to those who need the gospel message. Use us, God. The work is plentiful, but the laborers are few. And so, Lord, we're not worth much. We don't have much to offer, but we're yours. Use us for your glory.

Help us now to live not for the things of this life, God. We've spent so much of our time, enough of our time, chasing after those things. Would help us to live for your will, no matter what the cost. Keep us in right relationship with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.