Is Life Useless?

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 grow in our love for the Lord. Together in 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 We come to the conclusion of what the preacher's search for wisdom is.
Let's go ahead and have some coffee. I got tea tonight. We can 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 this day and we thank you for your word. 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's 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. 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 need to kind of plan ahead a little bit. We talked about that last time when Debra 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?
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 5 and 6, 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 everything. 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 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 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 go 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 7 and 8. 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 Solomon. 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 and 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 and 10.
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 going to 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.
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 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 terror in the way When the almond tree blossoms The grasshopper is a burden And desire fails For 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?
Voice 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. And 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 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.
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 has 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 truth. 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? Are you building 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.
Well, 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's 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 Songs. Bye.