Carpe Diem - Seize the Day

Sermon Text

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

Death Comes to All

9 For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. 2 All things come alike to all:

One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;
To the good, the clean, and the unclean;
To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
As is the good, so is the sinner;
He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.

3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5 For the living know that they will die;
But the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.

7 Go, eat your bread with joy,
And drink your wine with a merry heart;
For God has already accepted your works.
8 Let your garments always be white,
And let your head lack no oil.

9 [c]Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.

10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

11 I returned and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all.
12 For man also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net,
Like birds caught in a snare,
So the sons of men are snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

• The righteous, the wise, and all their works are in God’s hand. We cannot decode God’s love or displeasure simply from pleasant or painful circumstances.
• Death comes to the righteous and wicked alike because human hearts are marked by sin, but while we live there is still opportunity to trust Christ, serve God, love others, and receive his gifts.
• Jesus brings life and immortality to light through the gospel, so believers face death with resurrection hope rather than treating the grave as the final word.
• Bread, drink, marriage, celebration, and work are good gifts to receive gratefully for God’s glory, not idols to worship or excuses for self-indulgence.
• Skill, strength, and careful planning cannot guarantee outcomes. What appears to us as chance is not blind fate; our unpredictable lives remain under God’s wise providence.
• To seize the day is to trust the sovereign Father, cling to Christ today, enjoy God’s ordinary gifts, work faithfully, and humbly leave tomorrow’s outcomes with him.

• Where are you tempted to treat good circumstances as proof that God approves of you, or suffering as proof that he has abandoned you?
• How does Jesus’ submission to the Father in Luke 22 help you trust God when providence is painful or confusing?
• If your earthly life ended sooner than expected, what gospel hope would you have beyond the grave?
• What opportunity to believe, repent, love, serve, or reconcile should you act on while it is still today?
• Which ordinary gift from God—food, marriage, friendship, work, rest, or sunlight—have you been receiving with grumbling rather than thanks?
• How can you work with all your might without making productivity an idol or allowing work to consume the rest God gives?
• What outcome are you trying to control by skill or planning instead of entrusting it to God’s providence?
• What would it look like for you to seize this particular day for God’s glory?

Sovereignty of God

God’s supreme rule over creation and every circumstance of life; all people and their works remain in his hand.

Providence

God’s holy, wise, and powerful preservation and government of his creatures and all their actions.

Under the sun

Ecclesiastes’ viewpoint on life in this present, fallen world, with its toil, unpredictability, suffering, and death.

Sheol

The Old Testament term for the grave or the realm of the dead, presented in the sermon as shadowy and beyond earthly work and stewardship.

Common mortality

The reality that both righteous and wicked people die; outward circumstances alone therefore cannot reveal a person’s standing with God.

Human unpredictability

Our inability to foresee or control the timing and outcomes of life, even when we possess strength, wisdom, or skill.

Resurrection hope

The believer’s confidence that because Christ rose, death is not final and those united to him will be raised to eternal life.

Christian enjoyment

Receiving ordinary created gifts with gratitude and using them before God’s face, without turning them into idols or pursuing self-indulgence.