Wise Choices in the Face of Death

Will you please turn with me to the book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes chapter 11. This morning we'll be looking at Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verses 7 through 10. Ecclesiastes chapter 11 beginning at verse Seven, if you're using your Pew Bibles, you'll find that on page one, or sorry, page 595.

Ecclesiastes chapter 11, brothers and sisters, this is God's perfect word. Let's pay careful attention to it. 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. All that is coming is vanity. Rejoice, oh 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 all these things 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.

Ascends this portion of the reading of God's word. Let's go to God's throne asking for grace. Father, we need you to help us as we have read your word. And we know that every single jot and tittle, smallest stroke of the pen, period and apostrophe are true. Lord, there are some passages that are more clear and others that are less clear. Father, we pray that your spirit please help us to understand your word. We pray that you would teach us. We pray that you would correct us, rebuke us, turn us from the ways that we might naturally go. And God, equip us to live lives for your glory. Lord, we pray that you would help us understand. Father, I pray that you would help me to speak and teach your word clearly and carefully. Lord, if there are sinful things that I say, I am but just a man, sinful in my thoughts and in my words. Lord, please equip your people to be those who would go to the scriptures and see for themselves whether these things are so. We need your spirit, Lord, please help us in Jesus' name, amen.

This is a sermon that is going to both talk to old people, if you have gray hair or white hair or your hair is thinning or balding or gone, this is a part for you, but especially you young people. is a sermon that I believe the Holy Spirit, in his word, has directed specifically toward those who are young. Again and again and again, especially in verses 9 and 10, this passage speaks to young people. In verse 9, rejoice, young man. And then it's again, in your youth. And right after that, in your youth, And then verse 10, it is a youth and those who are young who are spoken of here.

We in our culture like to put old people and young people in different places. I mean, how often in our society do you young people naturally rub shoulders with people who are gray-haired or old? We just, we like to segregate culture according to age. This is, this in the assembly is one of the few places in society that we are intentionally multi-generational. That we say the young people have a place with the old and the old have something for the young. And Solomon has something to say to both old and young in the passage here today. I think there's a lot of joy in it.

First Point

So first, in verse seven, life is a gift. Life is a gift. Solomon starts writing here in verse seven, truly the light is sweet, right? Light is used throughout the scriptures. You go through the book of Ecclesiastes or Job or other poetic phrases and the light is used as this symbol of like life. Life is a gift. Opening your eyes in the morning is a blessing from God. Every time we open our eyes, it's like a sweet drop of honey from the Lord. And there are good things in this life that are sweet, sweet to the eyes to see and good for us to live under the sun. It's amazing how much of life God has created with beauty to be enjoyed.

I mean, God could have made all of us without color. He could have made everything gray and shades of darker black or lighter black. Why did God decide to make trees have color in their leaves? Because when the springtime comes and the green shows up, it displaces glory. And in the fall, I remember one day, I probably was just looking stupid, but I was standing there outside in Old Main at Geneva College, and there was, in the fall, this big oak tree, and it had turned this amazing shade of orange. And as I was standing there, the sun was shining behind it, and it just looked like the tree was on fire and glowing. And I was just standing there smiling. I was supposed to be opening the door for this tour for potential students, and I was just smiling. And one of the professors walked by and was like, are you OK? And I was just like, look at that tree. It's so beautiful.

God has filled our lives with so much beauty to enjoy, whether it's seeing a child smile or whether it's when you pick up your cup of coffee in the morning and you see the steam coming off of it. or whether you're waking up or going to bed and you see the sunrise, the sunset, even this morning, I was just amazed as I was looking at the oranges and the yellows and the blues and the purples into the dark blues up in the sky as the stars were just about to fade away and thinking, God is glorious. He gives flowers of the field to display how much he cares for us.

A light of the eyes is sweet. It's a blessing from God to behold life under the sun. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all of his benefits. God has given you the light of your eyes as a sweet blessing from heaven, that you might rejoice in the Lord and be glad. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. God has given us truly our eyes filled with light under the sun to rejoice. To rejoice.

But also to rejoice knowing that life is real and so is death. Look with me at verse 8. 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. There's a blessing to a long life. The psalmist talks about 60, maybe 70 years if we have the strength for it. Some of you, by the way, have already beat that number, right? You're really strong people. The point being is that God has filled our lives with good things. They're blessings. The question is, will those days of your life, especially you young people, will those days of your life be filled with joy or with dread, with rejoicing or with weeping? What will be your overall disposition in this life?

We live in a culture, though, that's consumed with a desire for happiness. We just live in a culture that doesn't like pain, we don't like sorrow, we don't like death, we don't like days of just feeling meh. And yet those days come. This is not, I'm not telling you this first part of verse seven and eight saying, well, everything in your life should just be, you're smiling at the puppies and hoping for the rainbows and you're looking for the butterflies and all life is just going to be, no, no, this isn't giving you some happy pill from Ecclesiastes. There is a time to weep. There is a time to mourn. There is a time to go to the grave and there's a time to grow old. Yet remember, Yet remember, even in the good days, children, young people, someday your eyes will begin to grow dim. The sun will still rise. The seasons will change. And yet one of the harsh realities of life is you will see less and less of it.

It's one of the hard things, sitting with hard but also sobering things. As I go to nursing homes and I sit with those who are getting closer and closer to the end of their life and they'll often talk about they miss seeing certain things. Our years will come to a close. You may have many days, many years on this earth. You used to rejoice in all of them, yet remember the days of darkness, for they will be many.

I'm going to encourage you. I've actually put in your, or I gave it to, I think people put in your bulletins, a list of about five different questions. And I'm going to encourage you. Young people today, if you're sticking around for lunch downstairs, I'm going to encourage you to go find someone. Maybe take your parent with you if you're intimidated. But go find somebody that looks really old to you, or maybe they don't look really old, they just look older than you. And go and ask them some of these questions. And just listen. It may take them a while to remember or to think through it. But ask them some questions.

What are some of the things you remember with joy as a child? Again, be patient, because for some of them, that may have been 60, 70, 80 years ago. But it's interesting as you listen to the answers to that. Ask them, what do you miss most as you've gotten older? What do you remember about how you came to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Ask those as you sit down at lunch this afternoon and you talk to them, what do you wish an old person had told you when you were my age? Or maybe ask them, what do you wish you had rejoiced in more when you were my age? You might be surprised.

I remember we were at a Pirates game. I don't like the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the tickets were cheap, and so we were at the ball game. And as we were there at the ball game, they had this quiz that they were asking the different players on the ball field. What did they miss most about their childhood? And these guys were in their 20s and 30s. But I'll never forget the catcher. His answer shocked me. I was in my 20s. I was about the same age as this guy. He said, I miss falling down and it didn't hurt. None of the kids laughed. I didn't understand it. I was confused by that. What do you mean falling down? And then now I talk to some of you who are in your 60s and 70s and older, and you say, I got to watch because it takes me a lot longer to heal when I fall down. It hurts. Because things change in your life.

You know that the days of darkness are coming. You know that as you grow older, it is appointed for every man to die once, and after this, the judgment. You know that that day is coming. And yet I'm amazed that one of the things we do in our church membership vows is ask the question, do you endeavor to live your life knowing that you will with joy give an account at the last great day. And one of the largest blessings I have is hearing from people. I was just talking to a member of this congregation. I'm not gonna call him out, but just real recently, I was talking to somebody in the congregation, and they said, Brian, I'm ready to go. I'm not in a hurry to go, but I'm ready to go. And I told him, I'm gonna steal that. It's a joy to hear those who are nearer to the Lord and say, I'm ready for the Lord to take me. He can wait a little while, but I'm ready to meet my Savior.

Children, learn to listen. Lean into those older saints and ask them the questions and glean their wisdom.

Solomon goes on in verse 9. Rejoice, oh 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.

Young people, especially you, seize the day. Seize the day. But live before the face of God. but live before the face of God. The two Latin terms that were used for that was carpe diem and quorum deo.

God has given you this strength, this opportunity in your life, that there are things that you can accomplish in this life, in this season of your life, that older people don't. All right, rejoice, oh young man. The word there for young man, I was expecting there's certain words for young people in Hebrew, like naar or something like that, but this is an interesting word. I learned this word this week, bachur, which is like, was used for like elite, unmarried military troops.

All right, rejoice. Rejoice, why? Right, because the old men don't go to war anymore. You have opportunities in your life that old people no longer have opportunities for. There are things that you get to seize in your life, young people, that God has primed you at this moment, in this season of your life, that you get to do for his glory.

Again, just something that old man told me in his late 70s. Dr. Woodbridge, I was talking to him, he's still teaching, he's this amazing church history guy, and as I was talking to him in his office one day, we were talking about the possibility of me going and doing a PhD in history studies, and we were going back and forth, and at one point he said, Brian, just make sure you do it before you turn 40, because your memory turns to mush after that. I'm only a year away from that, so it's like, OK, well, that dream's just going to have to go by the wayside. But the point being, he was just saying, look, if you're going to devote yourself to that type of intense study, do it now while your mind has that ability to grasp it.

If young people, if your parents or your school is teaching you a language, right now is the time that God has given your brain a certain amount of plasticity and neurodevelopment that you can learn stuff way faster than us older people can. Seize that opportunity you have.

It is one of the fun and amazing things for us as we see you young people getting older and you go from being children to teenagers, and we see you growing in stature and strength and in beauty and handsomeness, and it is a blessing to see you do that. Don't waste the opportunities that you have in front of you. There are so many young people today who are squandering away their lives in front of video games, and silly, wasteful, useless activities. I'm not saying it's wrong to have fun from time to time.

Seize the opportunities in front of you. So many people today, especially young people of the world, is going to try to sell you that you need to have all the experiences and you just need to do all these different things. But God has given you something. Now one of the biggest buyer's regrets of our era, of my generation, the millennials, is that you could put off and put off and put off having a family until you're in your late 30s. And then you find out you can't have children anymore.

are our biological clocks. Having a family, seize that moment while you can, and then enjoy the family that God gives you. There's a certain amount of vitality you young people have to start businesses and be creative and take risks. And you can do it easier now while you're young. So seize those opportunities. Work hard for as glory go. Traveling, that's fine. Devote yourself to going on a missions trip because someday you may not be able to go. You may have children. You may have too many work responsibilities and it may not be as easy for you to say, you know what, I'm going to devote this season of my life to go labor in the Lord's field. Make your life count now.

It's not just youth for youthfulness sake. That's the pagan way of thinking about things. Actually, it was interesting as I was reading through this, I came across There's this cultural kind of comparative study Bible I like to use. And it was interesting, it was talking about this tomb of one of the pharaohs, so Pharaoh Entef. He's got this tomb and it's crumbling and decaying, right? But on the tomb it has this inscription.

Rejoice in your heart. Forgetfulness profits you. Follow your heart as long as you live. He's essentially writing to young people, and he's saying the same thing that was silly a few years ago, YOLO, right? Well, you only live your life once, so live it up. That's the pagan way of thinking about it, because notice. Notice, rejoice, O 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 knowing that for all these, but, Know that for all these, God will bring you into judgment.

It is not just about seizing the opportunities in front of you, but it's about living your life now for God's glory. That is the important part of the second half of verse nine. But for all these things, God will bring you into judgment. There are consequences for decisions made in your youth. If you decide to live your life with abandon, jet aside all moral constraints on you, forget about God and go and live like a profligate somewhere else. I've been with too many old people and I live with too many of the scars myself, wishing that we had taken seriously that our days are before the Lord.

I'm sure when Jesus taught about the prodigal son, many people he was speaking to were weeping. Please, young people, don't find yourself either as the older brother so full of self-righteousness that you look down your nose judgmentally on people, but also spare yourself the pain of despising your parents and those older than you. and walking away from the Lord and living a life chasing after the wind. Live your life knowing that you have a God who's given you all sorts of blessings in this life. And those blessings, whether it's your creativity, or your strength, or your energy, or just all the blessings that come with youthfulness, steward those blessings.

Stewardship means you have been given something that's not your own. Your life is not your own, but you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God with your body and with your life. Someday we will meet our maker, and God will bring us into judgment. And this is both terrifying, but also the greatest piece of joy that I could ever proclaim to you in Christ Jesus. Because, do you see, the God of the universe is not an idiot. He knows if we've put any other God before Him. He's omniscient. He knows all things. He's omnipresent. He's with us always. He's also omnipotent. He has all power. And so when he opens up the books of life, and he begins to divide the sheep from the goats, his judgment, he knows every single thing that we have done. And if we are without Christ, we have no hope.

But thanks be to God that we can cry out with David, remember my youthful sins and my faults no more. Cleanse me, oh Lord, and I shall be clean. Make me as white as snow. Go to Christ early and young. Trust in Jesus now while there is still hope. You don't know how long you're going to live. You don't know when the Lord is going to call you. You don't know when the silver cord will be cut. So trust in Christ now. Place your hope in Jesus today. Confess your sins for he is faithful and he is just to forgive us of all of our sins and to cleanse us of all of our transgressions.

So when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ and he judges us for our sins, We're able to answer honestly, I don't deserve to be here, but you've given me Jesus. You've given me your son, and my life is hidden in Christ. And so in Christ, I have hope. In Christ, I have joy. In Christ, I have confidence, because the price has been paid.

Trust in Jesus early. Find your peace in Jesus. I think that's what Solomon's getting us to in verse 10. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your flesh. For childhood and youth are vanity. Especially you young people. Learn early well now not to dwell on anxiety and sorrow. Don't let this world snuff out the joy that God has put in your heart, especially in Christ.

And I just want to speak to you, especially, again, young people, this is, the elders think a lot about you and pray a lot for you. And our deepest desire is to try, even at church here, to create an environment where you know that you are loved, where you are encouraged to thrive and to grow and to explore your faith in Christ Jesus. But we want you, and we don't want to hide it from you, we want to see you rooted in Christ Jesus, firmly established in your faith, abounding in love and growing in Jesus. That is our hope and prayer for you.

And so we know that Sunday schools may be boring. We know that you might think, well, at other churches, the kids don't have to sit and worship. Well, yeah, they may not. But we love you too much to treat you like all you get is cute little Bible stories and you don't actually get the full-orbs worship and discipleship of God. Stand fast in your faith in Christ. See to it that you receive Christ as your Lord. Walk in the joy of Jesus. And put away sorrow, vexation, grief, and worry. And let evil be put away from your flesh.

Did you notice that? Verse 10. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your flesh. Your holiness matters. Put away the deeds of darkness, put away the death, put to death the old man and abide and grow in Christ. If you wonder what are those sins of the flesh, what are these evils that you need to put away from your flesh, I'll go encourage you. Ask your parents, can you go with me to the book of Galatians? Ask your parents to help you find the fruits of the spirit in the book of Galatians. This is like an activity you can do this evening with your parents. But right before the fruits of the spirit in the book of Galatians are the fruits of the flesh. And ask them to talk about you with what those things are. Fathers, I'll especially encourage you to do this with your children.

Because someday, your dark hair is going to turn gray or white or just disappear. That's actually the last thing he says in verse 10. For childhood and youth are a vanity. The word there for childhood is not the word that I anticipated. The word for childhood is your dark hair. I used to think I was never going to have gray hairs, and now my children love to point out all of them. And I know they're coming more, because I look at my dad, and I know it's coming. It's going to come sooner than you anticipate.

Childhood and youth are vanity. And by vanity, the word here is cavel, the same word that was used up in verse 8 Your youth, I know you feel like you're young for a long time, but your youth, the word hevel is better translated, something like a vapor. It's gonna slip between your fingers like trying to grasp for the wind. And before you know it, you're not gonna be young anymore. I keep thinking that it was just like last year I was in the Navy. That was 18 years ago. Where'd it go?

Young people, especially, I'm begging you, imploring you, encouraging you, to love Jesus now and to seize the opportunities and the blessings that God has given you in this life. Steward your youth well. You live your lives for his glory and rejoice. And you older people, your youth, they gone. And that's okay. Because the best is yet to come. We are nearer now to the day of Christ Jesus than when it first began. Don't despair. Invest in the youth around you. Invest in the young people in your life. And look forward to the day of the coming of Christ Jesus.

Closing Prayer

May our lives be filled with rejoicing because he's filled our eyes with light. And he indeed is that light, the light of the world. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you knowing that there are days and even seasons of sorrow and of darkness. But it is sweet to our eyes to have the light. And we know that you are light and in you there is no darkness whatsoever. And Father, we thank you that you have given us your Son, Jesus Christ, the light of the world. And Father, we pray that you would teach us to rejoice. Rejoice always, for you are good.

Father, we especially pray for the children and for the youth in the congregation. We pray for the young men and young women in the church, Lord, that they might seize the opportunities they have today to live their lives for your glory. Lord, we pray that as a church, we may be faithful in stewarding the youth of the children that you have entrusted to us. And that we would indeed be thoughtful and faithful in raising these children in the Lord. We pray that as we reflect upon the baptism vows either that parents have made to their children or the congregation to encourage and pray for the parents as they care for and encourage the children, that we would live up to those vows.

Lord, we thank you for the hope we have in Jesus and for the good things you have blessed us with in this life. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.