Ecclesiastes 11:1-12:14

book of ecclesiastes the rest of this week we're going to be finishing up the song of solomon and i'm excited to finish up the wisdom literature with you i'm going to jump on the computer here and make sure that everybody's been able to jump online all right so let's it looks like we're just about ready to go so we'll send out the text message to let everyone know that we're online okay we need to refresh that page sometimes uh the internet drives me crazy but that's okay we'll just uh try to see what's going on here okay well the problem tonight is facebook i don't know why it won't uh the facebook page won't load it won't do anything it's just kind of stuck there so i'm gonna i'm gonna try this let's see if we can get another um let's see if we can get another tab open and get it moving i don't know why it won't run there we go all right well good evening good evening good evening sorry for that technical hiccup it's so great to have you tonight this is where every day we get together we get into god's word and we've grown our love for the lord together and this year 2021 we will make it through all the wisdom literature you have made it through the book of job through all the psalms through the proverbs we're at the last two chapters of ecclesiastes and the last four days of this week we're going to make it through the song of solomon so i'm so glad to have you tonight as we kind of we come to the conclusion of what the preachers search for wisdom is let's go ahead and have some coffee i got tea tonight we're gonna have a cup of coffee or tea we'll pray and we'll get into god's word let's go ahead and pray father we thank you so much for the stay and we thank you for your word and father we pray that as we read your word that you would be our teacher lord we pray that you would not let us come to this with dull minds and hard hearts but father please instruct us lead us direct us in jesus name we pray amen here we go ecclesiastes chapter 11 and 12. cast your bread upon the waters for you will find it after many days and give a serving to seven and also to eight for you do not know what evil will be on the earth if the clouds are full of rain they empty themselves upon the earth and if a tree falls to the south or to the north in the place where the tree falls there it shall lie he who observes the wind will not sow and he who regards the clouds will not reap what is he saying here right if you're always trying to look ahead we talked about you you need to kind of plain ahead a little bit we talked about that last time when deborah was here with us you need to have a little bit of foresight but yet if you're so worried about what's going to happen tomorrow guess what when it's if you're always worried about where the wind's going to blow you're never actually going to go out there and cast your seed you're never actually going to go out there and do the work some people get so overwhelmed with their anxiety that they never actually live their lives verses five and six pardon me as you do not know what is the way of the wind or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child so you do not know the works of god who makes in the morning sow your seed in the evening do not withhold your hand for you do not know which will prosper either this or that or whether both alike will be good the point is you're not god this is one of the things that that i often get as we wrestle with things in the office as i counsel with people and one of the things that people regularly want us is what is god's will for my life what's god's will in this specific instance what will happen if i do this and they're almost paralyzed by decisions in their lives and i have to often tell people don't don't go you know looking for signs and things like that god's not going to open up the heavens and speak to you in an audible voice no you just move with principle you go with principled wisdom you follow after him you make a decision and you just walk down the path you make sure that you ask yourself is this a decision that brings glory to the lord if so just go just walk forward with it do something let's go ahead and go and read verse seven and eight truly the light is sweet and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the son 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 all that is coming is vanity here again coalesce the preacher i believe this is psalm and he's writing and he's just being honest even in the happy days remember that the sad days are always there as well we have this idea in the american mind that somehow everything needs to be happy happy happy everything needs to just be wonderful everything needs to just be butterflies and rainbows and puppy dogs with big eyes but the reality is that some days are hard depression is real people die harvest fails our cars break down so yes rejoice in the lord always and again i say rejoice but don't be surprised when hard days come life isn't a fairy tale we don't live in a disney world land where everything works out in the end and that's what the book of ecclesiastes is trying to get us to see we're not the ones in charge so what does he say in response to that verses 9-10 so rejoice o young man in your youth and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth 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 therefore remove sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your flesh for childhood and youth are vanity all right young man go ahead live your life but just know god's gonna judge you for what you do go ahead enjoy life but just know that god's the one in charge and he sees what's going on verse 12 or chapter 12 verses 1 through 8 tell us this remember now your creator from the days of your youth before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say i have no pleasure in them while the sun and the light the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds do not return after the rain 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 who look through the windows grow dim when the doors are shut in the streets and the sounds of grinding is low when one rises up with at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of music are brought low also they are afraid of height and of terror 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 remember your creator before the silver cord is loosed or the golden bowl is broken or the pitcher shattered at the mountain 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 preachers says the preacher all is vanity we all are going to die for it is appointed for every man to die and after this the judgment every single one of us is going to die we're all going to end in a casket or urn so what's the point what's the point if you work hard what's the point if you're lazy what's the point he says rejoice rejoice because your day of death is going to come so you have a choice now either you can live knowing that death is a real reality and still have joy in light of it or you can be seized by the reality of death and have no joy in your life if you have joy in jesus christ you can have joy even in the face of death but if you have joy in nothing but this world and your joy is just consuming to you guess what your joy is going to be gone and the judgment day is going to happen and so the reality of the christian life is that we face death and we just look at it straight on and we just say hey look i know i'm going to die and so i need to walk in wisdom i don't need to be consumed by death that is going to come because i know death is not the final thing but i also know in this life that i can rejoice in this life but i also don't need to think that this life is all that i have because i know god's in control in reality at the end of the day i can be content because this life is just that this life and it's going to end someday but that's not where the preacher leaves us listen to this last bit of wisdom he gives 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 preachers 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 any further my son be admonished by these of making many books there is no end and much study is wearisome to the flesh let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter all right so what is he just said there he said i've done it i've gone through the weariness of the flesh i've learned many things i've taught truths i've written down the proverbs so what's the conclusion of everything well listen up 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 how are you building up your house rebuilding your house upon the rock of jesus christ are you building your house with costly stones that will endure when that day of judgment comes or are you building your house of faith with stubble and straw how are you discipling your children are you teaching them god's commandments to love the lord their god with all their heart mind soul and strength are you doing that in your own life are you fostering in your heart a love for god's word a love for god's commandments that you might bring him glory that you might live a life of contentment walking in principled wisdom knowing that death is coming but knowing that at that day of death if you have hope and faith in jesus christ you have nothing to fear because even when death comes nothing can separate us from the love of god that is in christ jesus not even death itself because our joy isn't in this world it's all vanity but our joy is in jesus christ let's pray oh father we thank you for the honest wisdom of the preacher we thank you for giving us words of truth in the book of ecclesiastes we thank you for the realities that we've gotten to see as we've worked through this difficult and yet so rewarding book we thank you for giving us sober warnings and joy in jesus name amen i pray that you rejoice in jesus christ i pray that you have a heart of contentment i pray that your eyes are fixed on god's word and that you might have a joy that far surpasses that day of judgment i'll see you tomorrow when we start the book of song of psalms bye