When you hear the word worship, what often comes to mind? Maybe it’s a place of worship like the church or a person of worship like a worship leader or maybe even a style of worship whether it be a contemporary or more traditional form of worship.

Truth is all of us have certain ideas that come to mind when thinking about worship. Though that’s the case—though all of us think and talk about worship and feel as if it is important—though we have strong opinions about how it should look and be done, too few of us have been equipped from God’s Word with what He has said about Worship.

In Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 Solomon gives us great insight on what true God honoring worship should look like. He says,

To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

Several times in this passage Solomon talks about the importance of worshipping with an open heart and a closed mouth. The reason why is because our worship is to be based on the truth of God’s word.

Many think, “Worship is all about me singing and shouting praises to God—Worship is all about what I say about Him and to Him.” God’s word says “NO.” True God honoring worship takes place when our hearts are open and our mouths are closed. Worship is just as much about what God says to us as it is about what we say to Him.

Many take part in worship in the church week in and week out not just because they are participating in singing the songs or paying a tithe (though that’s a part of worship), but because they are being attentive when the Word of God is being preached—because they are listening with open hearts and closed mouths and because they are open and ready to receive and apply God’s message

That's what true worship is. It's focusing on and responding to God.

"Quote" of the Week

"I believe a local church exists to do corporately what each Christian believer should be doing individually--and that is to worship God. It is to show forth the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light." -A.W. Tozer

BEING THE BODY BETTER

When little babies first learn to walk they are pretty awkward aren’t they? Not being mean, just being honest. They fall down a lot, it takes them a while to figure out they have joints so they often walk around stiff legged and can’t get anywhere fast. But their little bodies don’t stay that way do they? They eventually grow and mature and function properly.

In Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that the church is to be doing the same thing. Though the church is often referred to as the “Body of Christ,” right now at present many of our churches are not being the body very well. In fact, we could all be the body better. Many churches, like a toddler, lack maturity and are not functioning properly. Paul says what we are to be doing in response is growing in godliness individually and collectivly so that we can better represent our head—the Lord Jesus.

If we as a church body would make a commitment to gather together for the purpose of getting equipped to grow in Christ then we are going to become more of what God has called us to be. We are going to start worshipping God better, we are going to start connecting with one another better and become unified and mature together and as a result we are going to start making an impact here and everywhere.

"Quote" of the Week

"The concept of the Church as the body of Christ...is a tremendous idea. Nothing, surely, is more stimulating to our faith, nothing more encouraging, nothing more stimulating to our practical holiness, than the realisation of this wonderful and exalted truth about ourselves. I say once more that I am increasingly convinced that what chiefly accounts for the low state of spirituality in the Christian Church is the failure to grasp (this) doctrine. We think so much in subjective terms, and we spend so much time in trying to work something up, that we fail to see that the way to become holy is to understand the truth about ourselves and to realise our high calling and our privileged position." -Martyn Lloyd-Jones

SERMON NOTES FOR AUGUST 14, 2011

MAKING SENSE OF OUR DAYS LEFT UNDER THE SUN
I know I have shared this with you before but just in case you don’t know this about me, I am terrible with directions. Because I am this way, I love when someone gives me clear and simple directions to get from one place to another.

Well guess what? That’s exactly what Solomon gives us here in this last section of this wonderful book. Today we are ending our study of Ecclesiastes and if you will remember from last week Solomon ended the passage with this familiar phrase, “Vanity of Vanities, all is vanity.” As we have discussed already at length, under the sun—without God life is vanity.

The word vanity is the Hebrew word Hevel, which means meaningless, empty, futile and fleeting.” And you’ll remember Solomon begins this book with that phrase, “Vanity of Vanities,” but aren’t you glad he doesn’t end with it? Aren’t you glad this book doesn’t end with v. 8?

Today we are GOING to end this book by discussing vv. 9-14.

Though Solomon has been straight up with us so far that life is harsh, challenging, unfair, and meaningless, he does us a great service at the end of this book by ending with clear and simple instructions on how to live our lives for God under the sun. First Solomon says we need to...

GET WISDOM

Once again in this passage we return to the theme of the importance of wisdom. Solomon makes the point once again that wisdom is to be the preferred thing in our life. We are to value it over health, wealth, power and popularity. And God’s word is clear that we are not to just sit around and wait for it. We are to seek it out. Solomon says in Proverbs 4, “GET WISDOM…GET INSIGHT.” We are to seek it out and Ecclesiastes is a book written by a man who has done just that.

Though Solomon made a lot of mistakes in his life, Ecclesiastes is proof that his life was not in vain. He learned some valuable life lessons and in this book he imparts his wisdom to us. So it’s important that we seek to gain wisdom as well by looking to Solomon in this book and by studying other books from God’s word.

Not only is it important that we get wisdom from God’s Word, but we need to also look to others to help us grow in wisdom. Once again remember what Solomon says in Proverbs? He says to be wise, we have to walk with the wise. So we need to seek guidance from those who are displaying godly wisdom—those who honor God with the decisions they make and the lives they live.

There are people in this church who fit this description. All you have to do is look at their life and see it. If you are young in your faith, I want to encourage you to seek out those who are more spiritually mature than yourself for guidance.

In addition to getting wisdom, Solomon says that we are to…

EQUIP OTHERS

What good is having wisdom if we don’t share it with others? Solomon says this about himself,

9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

Solomon makes the point here that he’s not just wise for the sake of being wise. Look again at what he says in v. 9. He says,

9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge,

Here Solomon is humbly acknowledging that God had given him the gift of wisdom so that he could in turn pass that wisdom on to others. And boy does he ever do this in this book. The same is to be true of us. If you have biblical wisdom, you have a whole lot to offer people.

We are all to be growing in wisdom, but in turn we are also to be equipping others with the wisdom that we have. Now there are different degrees to this. You may just be teaching your spouse, or your children, or your grand-children—you might be leading a Bible Study or Small group or something bigger than that, but we are all called to make disciples. We are called at some level to teach and to impart wisdom to others so that the body of Christ—God’s people—the church would be built up.

That’s Paul’s point in Ephesians 4. So don’t tune me out here. This passage has relevance to you.

Solomon’s point in this passage of Scripture is that to honor God with your life—to live the life that God has called you to live, you need to be faithfully equipping others—you need to get wisdom and in turn share that wisdom with others so that this church can be more of what God wants it to be—so that this church can be built up.

Now some of you are probably thinking to yourself, “Well, where do I begin?” “How do I begin to grow in wisdom?” Once again, the best place to start is with God’s word. Notice what Solomon says at the end of v. 9.

He says, “I have weigh(ed) and stud(ed) and arrang(ed) many proverbs with great care."

Solomon as wise as he was, he didn’t just sit down and crank out three books of the Bible in a night. He didn’t just write Ecclesiastes, Proverbs and the Song of Solomon effortlessly in a short period of time. In v. 9 he shares a bit about this process of writing these biblical books. Solomon says, “I have weighed, and I have studied and I have arranged these books with great care.”

Solomon was a student of God and of His Word. Though he was the wisest person ever to live outside of the Lord Jesus, he worked hard and spent long hours—days, weeks, months and more carefully studying and arranging these texts of Scripture.

If this is true of Solomon, how much more so should this be true of us? How much more so should we be carefully studying God’s Word to get the wisdom needed to live a life that is honoring to Him?

In v. 10 Solomon says,

10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

Once again, Solomon did not seek to have godly wisdom just to be wise. He worked hard with his speech and crafted his words carefully to communicate truth in a way that’s easily understood.

That needs to be our goal as well. We need to study God’s word and look for good ways—creative ways to teach His word to others. It’s not about showing how much you know and how educated you are in the Scriptures. It’s about communicating truth in a way that is enjoyable, understandable and applicable.

In the second half of verse 10 notice Solomon also says that a good teacher speaks truth. He says,

The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

If you are going to honor God in teaching others, you cannot hold back and waver when it comes to difficult truths of the Bible.

Now I want to warn you that this message is going to anger some. Now you need to speak truth in a loving way, but at times this is unavoidable because many don’t like the message of the Bible. Is saying that Jesus is the only way going to be accepted by all your friends and family? Absolutely not. But let me ask you this, is it true? It absolutely is.

Will you speak the truth and take a stand for the truth regardless the consequences? One thing I love about Ecclesiastes is that Solomon speaks the truth--he holds nothing back. Some of you were overwhelmed by some of the depressing realities Solomon addressed about our life under the sun. There were some Sundays when I thought to myself, “This may not go over well.” But are his words true? Absolutely. Are we going to die someday, maybe today? Yes we are. Is it beneficial to live everyday with that day in mind? Yes it is.

After studying this book we have a much better understanding on how to live life because Solomon has helped us in the nasty here and now. He has helped us to know how to live a heavenly life in a hellish world.

He continues in v. 11 with this theme of why it is important to study and share God’s word with others by sharing some personal benefits to learning and applying the word of God. He says,

11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.

Once again Solomon is using metaphors here to share with us the reader the benefits of studying and sharing God’s word. He says that God’s word is like a goad. A goad is similar to a cattle prod. And what Solomon means by giving this metaphor here is that God’s word is like a cattle prod in that it motivates us—it gets our attention and gets us moving in life and living for God.

And let’s be honest, we all need the Bible to function in this way at times don’t we. Sometimes when running the race for God, we get sidetracked. Maybe at one time your walk was strong, but along the way you have slowed to a stop. God’s word functions as a goad or a cattle prod to motivate us to get back in there and get moving for God.

Solomon also says God’s word is also like nails firmly fixed. Now how are nails used? They hold things in place right? That’s what God’s word does. It’s not just used as a goad or a prod to get us motivated to move and live for God. His word is also used to provide stability and security. There are many people being blown about by the waves of this life and don’t know which way is up.

You ever been in that situation? When you truly feel as if you don’t have anywhere to turn and don’t feel as if there is any way out? You feel trapped? God’s word can function as nails that are firmly fixed giving us stability, security and confidence in a world filled instability, insecurity and uncertainty.

You know why we can have this kind of confidence that this book and others like it in the Bible can make this kind of impact? Look at the end of v. 11. The words of this book come from “ONE SHEPHERD.” Solomon is saying here that the words within this book are true and can bring about change in your life because they are God’s words. So we need to become students of it and equip others with it.

The third point is a continuation of this second point. Though there are a lot of ways to train people to live a life that honors God, we need to first…

MAKE THE BIBLE A PRIORITY

Solomon says,

12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

There are a whole lot of books out there aren’t there? I mean I have close to 1200books in my online library that I have access to. It’s unbelievable the amount of books out there on any and every topic you can think of.

Some of you I know are avid readers. You read article after article online, follow 5-10 blogs, read every best selling novel you can get your hands on. But the question you need to ask yourself is this, “What am I doing with the best-selling book of all time?” Last I checked over 6 billion copies of the Bible have been sold. That is over 5 billion more than the book in second place. But is it the most read—the most studied? I don’t think so.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love to read and there are some great books that I’ve read that have improved my reading of God’s word so please don’t hear me say that we should not read other books, especially those that help us grow in godliness. There is nothing wrong with books. What Solomon is saying is that it is wrong when we neglect The Book—God’s book—God’s Word because true biblical wisdom can only be found in the Scriptures.

You want to live the life God has called you to live? You want to not waste your life and make an impact for God under the sun? Let me tell you that it will not happen if you are not a student of God’s Word. Have you ever met a sold out servant of the Lord—a godly man or woman who was not a student of the Word of God? I haven’t. So in your quest for wisdom, make sure you put Scripture first.

Solomon closes this book with one last word of advice. And like the previous points it is plain and simple. He basically says if you want to live a life that honors God the rest of your days under the sun you must...

FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDS

Look at v. 13. Solomon says,

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Here Solomon gives us two imperatives, “Fear God and keep His commandments.” These are not options or suggestions, these are commands. Now let’s talk about the first command because we first have to get a handle on this before discussing the second.

What does it mean to “Fear God?” Though many don’t like talking about God as one to be feared, we cannot avoid this phrase “Fear God.” You know why? Because it’s all throughout the Bible. Many have defined fearing God as reverential awe—standing in awe—or in amazement of God for who He is and what He has done. Though that works in certain texts of Scripture, in this passage in Ecc. 12:9-12, the phrase “Fear God” is followed by verses about God’s Judgment. Solomon says in v. 14,

For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

So here Solomon is not as much calling for believers to acknowledge God as an awesome being as he is calling for us to acknowledge Him as a fearful being. Now we need to recognize both, but here Solomon is not calling for us to stand in awe of God as our Creator King, but is calling for us to fear HIM as our judge.

Jesus said we are to fear God because He is the only one who can destroy both body and soul in Hell. The Bible also tells us that our God is a consuming fire and that you don’t want to fall into His hands and that every single person that has lived or will ever live will stand before the Lord one day and be judged. And we are told this so we will fear Him—so that we will experience Holy terror.

Now though we don’t like to talk about fearing God, though we want to be happy and carefree in life, we have to emphasize what Scripture emphasizes and God’s word emphasizes being fearful of God as our judge. Many also fail to realize the benefit of fearing God. Remember when we talked about making sense of our dying day and about how though we often don’t like to think about death it’s extremely beneficial for us to think about because it affects the way we live in a good way? Same is true when it comes to fearing God.

Though we don’t like to think about God as a God of wrath and judgment, thinking about Him in this way affects the way we live in a good way, which is why it is emphasized hundreds of times throughout the Scripture and why it is emphasized here in Solomon’s closing remarks. Believers, you want to honor God with your life for the rest of your days under the sun, “FEAR GOD.”

Solomon follows with the second command “keep His commandments.” He knew we had to first have the fear of God down before we would be ready for the second. If you will fear God, really fear Him and fear sin and its consequences, this will help you better live for Him.

CONCLUSION

Let me end with this. I want you to notice that especially on this last part I have been speaking to believers here. “Believers, fear God” “Believers, keep His commands.” Because the truth of the matter is without Christ, coming to know God for who he truly is and fearing Him and living a life that honors Him is impossible. You want to live a life that honors God the rest of your days under the sun? You have to first be made right with Him through His son.

As Solomon says in v. 14, we are all going to stand before God one day and the question you need to ask yourself this morning is “Am I ready when that day comes?” Some will say, “Well, I’ve done the best that I can, surely that will be enough for God.” I can tell you this and don’t even have to pray about it—it won’t. God has made that much clear in His word.

Your good deeds are filthy rags to God. What you need is righteousness outside of yourself to be right with Him and the good news is that this has been provided by the Lord Jesus. Christ is our substitute. Through His life, death and resurrection he made a way to God for us, when there seemed to be no way. I want end this series in Ecclesiastes the way I began by telling you that the only way to live a life that is honoring to God the rest of your days under the SUN is by living your life in the SON.

"Quote" of the Week

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7), but often we do not fear the Lord as we ought because we forget how He is revealed in Scripture. We tend to view God as a heavenly grandfather, not as one who is a consuming fire. We think God is like us, when instead He is utterly holy." -R.C. Sproul

SERMON NOTES FOR AUGUST 7, 2011

MAKING SENSE OF LIVING THE FULL LIFE
How many of you remember the first time you were struck with the reality that you were getting older? For me it was when I was in Seminary. There were a bunch of high school kids getting together to play flag football so me and a few of my friends thought we would get out there and show these high schoolers how the game is played.

We got suited up and were putting it to them. I mean we were going all out—110%. We played pretty well and I was feeling pretty good about myself until the next morning. Normally I pop right up out of bed and am ready to go, but not this morning. Every muscle in my body ached—muscles I never knew I had hurt. The next morning there was no popping up out of bed. Instead I rolled out of bed and into the floor, laid there for a minute and finally picked myself up off the floor and after 3 or 4 ibuprofen was able to make it to church.

What was really “eye opening” to me was when I got to church and saw how all those high schoolers were just fine. In fact they wanted to play again that afternoon. It was right then and there that I realized, “I’m getting older—I’m not there anymore.”

Not only have I come to the realization that I’m getting older, but I also recognize that those things I did to my body when I was younger I’m paying for today. When coaches used to tell us to stretch before practice, eat healthy and avoid certain activities that can be harmful to your body, I used to think to myself, “That must be what you have to worry about when you are older.” I truly thought I was invincible and lived accordingly.

I wish I could go back and talk sense to that 16 yr. old kid and tell him, “You need to listen to your coaches, you need to stretch and eat healthy and take care of your body or you will be paying for it later on.”

Well in our text for today, Solomon is going to give us a similar message except he is going to talk about our spiritual health instead of our physical health. He is going to warn us from this passage that the decisions we make today—they greatly influence the state of things in our life spiritually in the future.

Today we are going to be in Ecclesiastes 11, looking at vv. 7-12:8. In this passage of Scripture, what Solomon is going to do is show his age. The book of Ecclesiastes is thought to have been written toward the end of his life which makes sense because as Solomon imparts this wisdom to us about life, he shares with us a lifetime’s worth of experiences that he has had and observations that he has made about just about any and every topic under the sun.

When I picture Solomon writing Ecclesiastes, I picture this old wise man sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch swing, drinking lemonade and sharing with His grandkids about the good ole days and about what he has learned about life. I mean that’s kind of the way this book reads—from the perspective of an extremely wise old grandfather.

In this text Solomon is speaking to those of us who still have life yet to live—those of us who still have breath in our lungs and life in our limbs and he is calling for us to not waste the life we have left. He’s talking to you and he is talking to me about living our life to the fullest.

From this passage this morning Solomon is going to make sense of living well as we grow older. He’s going to tell us how to live a full life—how to get the most out of this life while still honoring God.

First Solomon tells us to live the full life we must realize that…

LIFE IS TO BE ENJOYED WITH GOD NOT TO BE ENDURED WITHOUT HIM

In vv. 7-10, Solomon returns to a familiar theme from Ecclesiastes—that of enjoyment. His main point here is that whether you are young or old, life is to be enjoyed with God not to be endured without Him.

There is one of two ways to live your life. You either enjoy it or you endure it. Now let me talk about the latter because this is what you primarily see in our world. You see people just scraping by—people just living week to week, paycheck to paycheck, job to job and relationship to relationship.

When you are young, you do your best just to survive high school. When you are young adults you work your tail off just to make ends meet. When you are middle age you just are trying to survive your kids surviving high school and when you are old you often feel as if you don’t have anything more to live for.

Many live in this way—just enduring life. Solomon says, “That’s no way to live. Life is to be enjoyed. He first tells us,

ENJOY LIFE WHILE YOU HAVE IT

Look at v. 7-8,

7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

There are two points Solomon returns to continually in this book and they are this. #1 is that we all die, but # 2 is that we don’t all truly live. Though none miss out on death many miss out on life. That’s why it’s so important that we realize when it comes to years of life, that quality is much more important than quantity. It is better to add life to your years than to add years to your life.

ENJOY LIFE WHILE YOU ARE YOUNG

9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

Young people: Solomon is speaking to us here and is basically saying, “You are only young once, therefore enjoy your days while you are young.”

What is it that you want to accomplish in your life? Solomon says, “Do it now—make each day count—live a life of purpose—live a life of meaning—do great things with the life you have left.”

Now after making that point, Solomon feels the need to follow up with this point.

ENJOY LIFE WHILE LIVING RIGHTEOUSLY

Solomon says,

But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

Though Solomon tells all ages, especially young people to enjoy life, he also throws in a warning to keep us on track. He basically says here, “Enjoy life, but don’t forget God—don’t forget He gets the last word.” He’s saying here, “Though life is to be enjoyed, it’s to be enjoyed with God and in a way that honors Him.”

If you are having trouble finding balance here, between enjoying life and honoring God, let me direct your attention to Psalm 37:4 which says, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

If you are delighting in the Lord--if you are looking to him for lasting satisfaction--if you find your enjoyment in God then His desires will naturally become your desires. That’s what the Psalmist tells us here.

At times when we are struggling to do what God wants—when we lack godly emotions and affections and desires it’s ALMOST ALWAYS because we lack God in our life.
In v. 10, Solomon says,

10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

For us to enjoy our life while we have it—while we are young and do it in a God honoring way, Solomon says we must keep our attitudes in check. Let’s be honest, we need to hear this don’t we because we naturally let the temporary frustrations and challenges of the day affect the way we live.

We naturally spend the majority of our time giving ourselves to those things that are temporary and spend very little time focusing on what matters for eternity and what awaits us in Christ. Paul says in Colossians 3:1-2,

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Colossians 3:1-2

So keeping our attitudes in check and setting our minds on eternal things it enables us to enjoy life with God rather than endure life without him.

Secondly, Solomon tells us to live the full life we must realize that…

LIFE IS TO BE LIVED FOR GOD AND NOT WASTED WITHOUT HIM

Now this view of a wasted life is an idea you hear about all the time in our world. If you were to ask people how important it is to not let life pass you by and not waste your life, most people would be in agreement with you that it is important to live life to the fullest because life is precious.

Now, where we differ is when we explain what a full life looks like. Many in our world define a full and meaningful life as living it up in the here and now. This is a Hedonistic view of life that says, “We may die tomorrow so let’s party hard tonight.”

Many think in this way. They reason, “I may die tomorrow, so I’m going to travel and see the world today. I’m going to check off everything on my bucket list” and they think that’s the definition of a full life.

Scripture gives a different description. A full life according to God is a life that is lived for Him while a wasted life is a life lived for self.

In chapter 12:1 Solomon says,

LIVE FOR GOD FROM A YOUNG AGE

He says,

12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near.

In chapter 12, Solomon continues to speak to young people and the reason why is because those days are so brief and can be missed so easily and often are. He makes the point in v. 1 that the best way to have a happy adult life is to start early and live for God from a young age.

The first way we do this is by recognizing that God is creator. Solomon says, “Remember your creator.” We exist because God has given us and is giving us breath in our lungs and life in our bones. The very breath you take at this very moment is given to you by God. Scripture is clear that in Him we live and move and have our being. So the very breath that we breathe needs to be used to praise Him. We are indebted to Him for our very existence.

The second reason he tells us to live for God from a young age is because God wants our best years—he wants the best years of your life. He wants to rule and reign in the prime of your life. In the Old Testament, God demanded His people to bring Him their first fruits--that’s what God wants. He does not want our left overs. He wants the best of us.

The third reason we need to live for God from a young age is because youth maybe all we have. You may not live to be 16, 30, 40, or 50. As we have talked about already, life has no guarantees. We are all going to die someday maybe today so we need to live for God right now.

Fourth, it’s important to serve the Lord in your youth because when you are older you may not. The person who makes excuses, who says, “I’m going to wait until I get older to live for God” more often than not never gets around to it. It’s like that sign on the Trans-Alaska Highway that reads, “Choose your rut carefully because you’ll be in it for the next 200 miles!”

Lastly, we are to serve the Lord in our younger years to prepare for the dark days to come. Solomon says, “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’”

Solomon is basically saying here, “You need to prepare now young people in the lighter years of your life to live for God, because life is not going to get any easier." Maybe you are here this morning and have already been through dark days without the Lord--maybe you are in a dark period right now and don’t know where to turn. Scripture tells us where. The Bible is such an amazing book because it not only tells us how things really are, but also tells us how to live in a world that is full of trials, tests and tragedies.

Solomon continues with a similar point in vv. 2-7 stating that we are to…

LIVE FOR GOD BEFORE OLD AGE SETS IN

Now before I get into this section, let me remind you that I am just the mailman. I don’t write the mail I just deliver it. In vv. 2-7 Solomon talks about what we can expect as we grow older. Remember that he too is in his later years, so at some level he is speaking from experience.

In this passage Solomon compares the aging body to a house that is coming undone. So read along with me as I break down this description of growing older from this passage. First Solomon says,

(Remember God) before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain,

Solomon here is talking about the loss of memory. As we get older our memory gets worse. Someone once said, “Just about the time your face clears up, your mind begins to go.” Another person once said, “Three things indicate we are getting old. This first is the loss of memory…and I can’t remember the other two.”

Look at v. 3, Solomon says,

in the day when the keepers of the house tremble,

The keepers of the house are our arms, hands and legs. As one gets older, their hands and arms and legs become less steady and they begin to tremble and shake. I remember my granddads signature as he got older got worse and worse because his hands would shake uncontrollably. That’s a sign of getting older.

He says,

and the strong men are bent,

The older you get, the more stooped over you become. Your legs and knees and back become weak and you begin to stoop.

He says, And the grinders cease because they are few,

He's talking about losing your teeth. Someone once said that a sign you are getting old is when you can sing in the bathroom and brush your teeth at the same time.

and those who look through the windows are dimmed,

Your eyes are windows to the world and one of the harsh realities of growing older is that our eyesight gets worse and worse over time. How many of you constantly have to buy books with bigger print? So as old age comes your eyesight goes.

and the doors on the street are shut

As you get older, your body just doesn’t function like it used to and you have to take pills to get your body to do what it no longer does on its own.

When the sound of the grinding is low,

Here Solomon is talking about the loss of hearing. Those sounds you once could hear so clearly are now muffled as if you are hearing them behind closed doors.

and one rises up at the sound of a bird,

Does anybody have trouble sleeping? As you get older, though you have trouble hearing, the slightest noise in the night will wake you out of a deep sleep and you cannot go back to sleep even though you are exhausted.

and all the daughters of song are brought low—

Your old voice is not what it used to be. As you get older, your voice begins to tremble, quiver and weaken.

they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way;

When you were young you could jump off a roof, or out of a tree, or off a cliff into a lake and it was no big deal—you could pop right back up and be ready to go again.

But when you get older, your balance is not what it used to be and it takes a lot longer to heal from a fall so something as easy as getting a glass from the top shelf can be a dangerous task.

Solomon goes on to say,

the almond tree blossoms,

I recently read that an almond tree blossoms in the winter when there are no leaves on the tree and when it blossoms it produces a white flowers without any leaves. This is a picture of sparse and thinning grey hair.

A man once said that when he was young his hair was blond, then it turned dark, then it turned grey and then it turned loose.

(Before) the grasshopper drags itself along,

In other words, as you grow older you lose that spring in your step. Remember when you were young and felt as if you could leap a tall building in a single bound—you were 10 feet tall and bullet proof? When you get older you have to drag yourself along to get anywhere and it takes you twice as long to get places. You’ve lost that spring in your step.

He says,

and desire fails,

Here Solomon is talking about sexual inability.

So Solomon just gives us a thorough description of growing older. Though we have more aids today than when this was written—though we have eyeglasses, hearing aids, false teeth, hair products to dye hair, all sorts of gadgets and grooming products to counter the evils of aging, they do not ultimately do away with the fact that our body is wearing out from the inside out--they do not solve the problem of death.

Solomon ends this section by explaining just that. He says,

Man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Once again, Solomon does not beat around the bush, but speaks openly and honestly about what each and every one of us have to look forward to as we grow older. And he does this to motivate us to live for God and serve Him RIGHT NOW. Solomon is trying to motivate His readers NOW before it’s too late.

Many of you in here are in the prime of your life. Live for God RIGHT NOW! For example, represent Him in the work place and make an impact for Him in your job before you retire. Train your children in the Lord before they are up and gone. Young people: Take opportunities to go and serve the Lord by going on mission trips and doing summer internships with Christian ministries before you are settled down with a wife/husband and kids.

LIVE FOR GOD NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.

Solomon ends this passage by making the point that we need to also…

LIVE FOR GOD BECAUSE ALL ELSE IS EMPTY

8 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

In v. 8 Solomon returns to a familiar theme from this book—that of vanity. He uses this phrase again here because he wants his readers to realize that this life is fleeting, frail and hopeless without God.

If we live the rest of our days just enduring life and living for ourselves without God, Scripture is clear that’s a wasted and tragic life. Without Him our life is short, empty and disappointing. But on the flip side of that, Scripture also teaches that a life lived for God is significant, full and joyous.

Maybe you a young person and are thinking to yourself, “I’ve got all the time in the world to live for God. Right now I’m going to live for myself—I want to enjoy life for a while on my own before giving things over to God.”

First, if that’s your mentality, let me ask you this, “How do you know how much time you have left?” And second let me urge you to consider the fact that God wants your best. He doesn’t want the leftovers of your life, but wants to rule and reign right now in the prime of your life. I urge you, if you have not, to place your trust in Lord. Turn to Him—Trust in Him—Live for Him before it’s too late.

There may be others of you who are thinking to yourself, “Well, I’ve wasted my youth, is there any hope for me?” The answer is yes. Art Linkletter once said, “It’s better to be over the hill than under it.” In other words, “As long as there is breath in lungs and life in your bones, it’s not too late.”

Maybe you have put this off for some time saying, “I’m going to live for God later.” I urge you not to put it off any longer. The only thing you can be sure of is right now. Once again, you don’t know what a day holds so do not delay any longer. The time to get out of the rut you are in is NOW.

"Quote" of the Week

"Only one life, twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last." -C.T. Studd

SERMON NOTES FOR JULY 31, 2011

MAKING SENSE OF WISDOM
When you think of wisdom who comes to mind? Albert Einstein, The Dali Lama, or even Oprah or Dr. OZ?

When you think about words of wisdom what comes to mind? Books for dummies, a horoscope, a fortune cookie or a magic eight ball? Truth is, all people seek to find guidance and direction in their life in some way whether it be through a horoscope in the paper or Oprah on TV.

Today we are going to look to God’s wise guy from God’s wise book to help us make sense of wisdom. Now I’m going to apologize to you now because after this sermon is over you are going to feel as if you have been drinking from a fire hydrant because we are going to cover a lot in a short period of time. We are going to start in Ecclesiastes 10:8 and end in 11:6.

This passage really reads more like the book of Proverbs in that Solomon gives his readers a lot of nuggets of wisdom in this section which is why you have 10 points on your outline. So bear with me while I turn on the fire hydrant and make sense of wisdom from Ecclesiastes.

First Solomon tells us...

THE WISE ARE CAUTIOUS

8 He who digs a pit will fall into it, and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall. 9 He who quarries stones is hurt by them, and he who splits logs is endangered by them.

Here Solomon makes the point that fools rush in while the wise proceed with caution. His point in these verses is, “Carelessness is foolishness.” Therefore in everything we do, decisions we make for our families, in the church, in our jobs, we need to give those decisions to the Lord. We need to pray over our options, talk to others who have made similar decisions, count the cost and consider the consequences before acting in order to avoid disastrous results.

THE WISE ARE PROPERLY PREPARED

10 If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed.

Solomon makes the point, “There is nothing more foolish than a man going in to the woods with a dull axe.” Though many of us applaud hard work—we praise those who work from sun up to sun down, if one is not being productive what good is it? Though one is working harder, he/she is not working smarter. Solomon says that foolish.

Many of our lives are like this lumberjack. Our axe is dull and instead of sharpening it we just keep swinging harder and harder and are doing nothing more than knocking bark off the tree.

In other words, we have lots of goals, we want a wife, good job, kids, buy a house, start a ministry. But we just think that we will figure it out as we go. We are in such a rush to get things done—to mark things off our list so we can say we have accomplished goals in life that we just jump in head first without checking to see how deep the water is.

If God gave us the ability to think and plan ahead, don’t you think it is wise to use this God-given ability? God has a plan doesn’t He? And He is taking the proper steps to accomplish His purposes. We who are created in His image are to be imitators of Him in this way.

THE WISE EXECUTE THEIR PLAN

11 If the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer.

I love Solomon’s sarcasm here. He’s basically saying, “You can know all there is to know about snake charming and that matters little if you forget to charm the snake—if you don’t execute your plan.”

Execution is essential. If you have a plan and no execution it’s of no good. Man does this speak to us in our world or what? I mean how many of us have a diet we don’t do? A budget we don’t follow? An instrument we don’t play? How many of you have a desire to know the Scriptures but you can’t stop hitting the snooze button and your miss your opportunity each morning?

Often times the difference between the wise person and the fool is not in what they want or the plan they have to get what they want, the difference is execution. It’s not enough to have a budget, you got to follow it. It’s not enough to have a Bible, you got to read it. That’s what wisdom is. It’s not what you know, it’s what you do with what you know.

THE WISE RECEIVE WISE COUNCIL

12 The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness.14 A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him?

The issue for many of us is not that we don’t receive council from others and not even that we don’t receive Christian council. At times we do. Many of us ask the advice of our Christian brothers and sisters.

The issue for us is that many of us often fail to seek out WISE CHRISTIAN COUNCIL. There are plenty of people willing give you advice on any number of things. But is the advice you receive from the mouths of the wise or the lips of fools?

Believers, we need to have selective hearing when it comes to receiving advice because this world is full of fools and they all have their two cents. I’ve heard it said, “Opinions are like armpits, everyone has a couple and sometimes they stink.” Truth is, everybody’s got advice to give, but that doesn’t mean it’s good advice—that doesn’t mean it’s wise council.

Now some of you are thinking, “Well if that’s the case, then how do I know who to call upon for council?” Some of you because there is so much bad council out there maybe fearful of seeking it out at all. Solomon says though it’s good to be cautious, we do need to trust people—we need to seek out wise council. Listen to what he says in Proverbs 13:20,

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

That’s as practical as it gets. You want to be wise? You want to make good godly decisions? Seek out those who are wise—seek out those who are godly. And like Solomon said in last week’s passage, the way you will know if one is wise or foolish is by examining the way they live their lives.

THE WISE KNOW HOW TO BEST USE THEIR TIME

The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.

Do you know this kind of person? One who can take any job no matter how easy or how hard and make it more difficult. Like the man in v. 10, they go at each tree no matter how little or how big with a dull ax? This is the person Solomon is talking about here in v. 15. This proverb describes a person who is not even able to accomplish the simplest of tasks. Solomon says “The toil of the fool wearies him.”

In other words, though this person is working harder he is not working smarter and is getting worn out in the process.

The key to wisdom is knowing where you are going in life and the best way to get there and then properly applying that knowledge so that you don’t waste time and wear yourself out in the process.

THE WISE CHOOSE WISE LEADERS

16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning! 17 Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your prince’s feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

In this text, you have one group of leaders Solomon says are young and wreckless. Their mentality is, “I’m in charge so I can do I want—I’m going to do whatever makes me happy—I’m going to party. I’m going to party morning, noon and night.”

Then you have another king who rightly knows timing is everything. There is a proper time for feasting and a proper time for serious decisions to be made. And he knows how to divide work and play properly.

Solomon says here that it will be far better for those who have the second ruler ruling over them. And we know this to be true from the Scriptures. Normally in Scripture if you have a good godly king, the people prosper and if the ruler is wicked and foolish, the people suffer.

So the good godly ruler is to be preferred, but that is not always the criteria we use when choosing our leaders in our world is it? Often times people vote for a person they can best relate to. Young people vote for a person who shows up on MTV or the one who makes a cameo appearance on SNL.

At times you will hear people say, “That’s the kind of guy you can go and have a beer with.” Well is that grounds for a good leader? Is it really? Just a guy we can relate to or a guy we feel comfortable being around? I know a lot of people like that, doesn’t mean they will be a good leader. Sometimes we look for the leader who would make the kind of decisions that we would make in any and every situation. Well I know personally that I would be a terrible president so maybe I don’t need to base whether I vote for a certain candidate solely on whether or not he/she would make the exact same decisions that I would make in any given situation.

Don’t you also think grounds for a good leader is one who makes decisions that are honoring to God even if it makes some folks angry? So wise people choose wise leaders so that life can be enjoyed.

THE WISE PRACTICE GOOD STEWARDSHIP

Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.

In verse 18, Solomon says the foolish man is one who, because he is lazy, has allowed his roof to sag and house to leak. Now this point should make our wives in here very happy guys. Wives, you can thank Solomon here because he is calling for guys to not be lazy and get the honey do list done.

What he means is that you can tell where a foolish person lives by the look of his house. Now he is not talking about the size or the cost of the home, but is talking about the shape or condition of the house no matter the size and cost.

Many of us spend so much time complaining about what we don’t have that we neglect to take care of what we do have. Solomon says here, “Don’t be lazy—don’t be idle. Don’t spend your days wishing you had a better life, better things and more money, but instead open your eyes to the blessings around you and get up and take care of and be good stewards of the blessings God has given."

THE WISE HONOR GOD WITH THEIR MONEY

Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything.

What does Solomon mean when he says, “Money answers everything?” It sounds as if he is contradicting himself here doesn’t it? He has already spoken about the fact that those who are mastered by money and who think it is the answer for everything end up miserable in this life.

Now some commentators try and explain this away saying, “Oh, Solomon is being sarcastic here and is speaking critically against those who think money is the answer to everything,” but in this text he actually speaks favorably of money along with other things.

Now remember that Ecclesiastes is poetic. Solomon uses hyperbole throughout this book and uses it again here when he says, “Money answers everything.” He doesn’t mean that all we need is money to be happy in this life. His point is that money, if used wisely, can add to life’s enjoyments. He’s making the point here that the wise know how to properly use money—they know how to manage money and how to spend money in such a way that benefits them personally and in a way that honors God.

THE WISE CONTROL THE TONGUE

Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich,for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.

Wise people know that gossiping is foolish and destructive. We have all heard the saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.” Solomon tells us why in v. 20. He says, “Because if you do, chances are the person you are talking about is going to hear about it.”

I love this verse. Solomon says don’t even think bad thoughts nor in the privacy of your bedroom say bad things about another person because if you do a bird will carry your voice and tell the matter. I love that don’t you? You ever heard someone say, “A little birdy told me this or that?” This is where that phrase comes from.

Have you ever whispered something under your breath at someone and it was heard? Solomon says the best option is for you to “Hold your tongue.” Ask yourself this? “What good does gossip do?” If you speak bad about your boss and he/she finds out, you could lose your job. You speak ill about your wife or husband that could be bad for your marriage. You speak bad about a friend and that could destroy your relationships. You speak bad about someone in the church and it could divide the church body.

Well, now let’s look at the positives of gossip...There really aren’t any are there? It may make you feel better about yourself for a while, but in the long run it can make your life much more difficult.

THE WISE INVEST WISELY AND TRUST IN GOD

11 Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. 2Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. 3If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. 4He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Solomon in this passage makes the point that the wise are those who take calculated risks—they are those who invest wisely. He says, “Cast your bread on the waters.” Now Solomon is not talking here about feeding the ducks. That’s not good use of your bread.

Once again this is where context comes in. What Solomon has in mind here is investing in overseas trade, which was a very common practice in his day. Solomon says here the wise know how to invest. Didn’t Jesus talk about this. Remember during his earthly ministry he commends those who take risks doesn’t He? In Matthew 25, in the parable of the talents, Jesus calls those who invest “Good and faithful servants.”

Now what are we to invest in? Anything? Is Solomon calling for us to just carelessly throw our money at anything? No. Look again at verse 2. He says,

Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.

Solomon says here that the wise take calculated risks; they make wise investments by diversifying them. He’s not saying to go to the roulette wheel and put all your money on red. That’s not the kind of risk he is talking about. He is not saying put all your valuables on one ship to send out. Why?

Solomon tells us why. Because you don’t know what kind of disaster can happen. The ship can get lost at sea, it could sink or be attacked by pirates—never to return. Instead he says, “Divide your goods up and send them out on multiple ships. Diversify your investments." You may not make as much and there still is some risk involved, but it’s a wiser investment with a better chance of return.

Solomon is not only critical of the careless in this passage, but also speaks against the one who waits around for the sure thing. Most of us know that there are no sure things in life right? There are with God, but not with anything under the sun.

Solomon says,

He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

Solomon is basically saying here and throughout the rest of this passage that the one who waits for the perfect time to act will never act and the reason why is because there’s never a perfect time.

There is always risk involved because there are all of these uncertainties in life. We don’t know what is right around the corner, but just because that’s the case does not mean that we are to remain idle. God is clear in His word that we are to at times take calculated risks. He wants us to invest wisely and trust in Him.

At times in boxing you will hear the coach tell his fighter, “You got to let your hands go.” What he mean is, "Quit waiting for the perfect opportunity to punch and quit dancing around and get in there and fight." Though you don’t go in carelessly, you have to throw punches and risk getting hit to win.

In baseball they say, “You got to get the bat off your shoulder.” Meaning it’s better to go down swinging than to go down looking. That’s what Solomon is saying. “The fool is the one who goes down looking—the fool is the one who doesn’t let his hands go—the fool is the one who fails to commit period."

How many of you know of a successful person who has gained their success without risk? Not very many if any right? I don’t know of anybody in ministry that have done that. Now let me make an even greater application here. Not only is it wise to take calculated risks and make wise investments financially, but even more than that we need to take calculated risks and wisely invest our lives in activities that honor God.

What do you give your life to? What do you prioritize? What do you make sacrifices for? Do you tend to make more sacrifices for the cause of Christ or for cause of self? God’s word calls us to put first things first and it is clear from Scripture that advancing the cause of Christ should be tops on our list.

CONCLUSION

I want to end this morning by looking to our perfect example of wisdom and no I don’t mean Solomon. I'm speaking of the one who is far greater than him. I’m talking about the Lord Jesus. Let me ask you this, “Did Jesus sacrifice? Did he invest in God’s Kingdom work?” BIG TIME RIGHT?

We are told in Philippians 2 that though Jesus was equal to God, he emptied himself by taking on flesh and dwelling among us. Not only did he become one of us he took the form of lowly servant. And His investment goes even deeper than that. Paul goes on to tell us in this chapter that Jesus was obedient to the point of death and not just any death but a painful death on a shameful cross. Jesus gave everything for us. He left glory and gave His life so that we might live.

You want to be wise like Solomon talks about in this passage? You want to enjoy life and live a life that honors God? Before you can know how to display godly wisdom you have to know the only wise God and the only way you can know Him is by looking to and trusting in the one who has given everything for us—the Lord Jesus.

"Quote" of the Week

"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." Proverbs 13:20