WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.179 Please open up Ecclesiastes 11, page 559, and we'll try and bring this plane into land this evening. 00:00:07.179 --> 00:00:11.460 The end of a journey with Solomon. It's been quite the journey. 00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:20.879 Well, you might have seen in the media recently that Sir Chris Hoy has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. 00:00:22.580 --> 00:00:27.300 Britain's most decorated Olympian, we're told, is terminally ill. 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:35.020 And Chris Hoy has written a book, it's called All That Matters, and it tells the story of the last 12 months or so. 00:00:35.259 --> 00:00:40.439 From the point of the shock of the diagnosis, he had no symptoms at all except a sore shoulder, 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:44.659 and he went to the doctor and he had it scanned and it revealed a tumor. 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:54.719 All the way from that initial shock to the way that this news changed his entire outlook on everything to do with his life. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:58.600 I listened to an interview with him. He's done lots of interviews recently. 00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:02.719 I listened to one recently with Chris Evans, of all people. 00:01:03.859 --> 00:01:09.519 And Chris Hoy said this, in terms of the way his perspective has changed because of this diagnosis. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:33.299 It's like he's been reading Ecclesiastes 11. 00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:36.640 Ecclesiastes 11 verse 7, 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:40.200 Light is sweet and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:44.840 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, 00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:47.859 but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. 00:01:48.579 --> 00:01:50.900 All that comes is vanity. 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:54.579 There will be dark days ahead for Sir Chris, 00:01:54.579 --> 00:01:59.420 but he has resolved that the light of life is to be enjoyed. 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:04.060 And he will enjoy what years he has been given. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:08.960 It's just as Solomon urges us all to do here. 00:02:09.219 --> 00:02:12.479 Verses 7 and 8 in this section are really a summary of the whole. 00:02:12.900 --> 00:02:14.120 It's basically saying this, 00:02:14.500 --> 00:02:16.659 Rejoice while you can because of what's coming. 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:21.079 That's it. Rejoice while you can because of what's coming. 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:29.200 It's not just people with a stage 4 cancer diagnosis who should rejoice with the time that they have left, 00:02:29.820 --> 00:02:34.020 but joy should mark all of us, all of our lives. 00:02:35.140 --> 00:02:38.720 And as Solomon closes this book, he organizes what he says about this, 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:40.700 Rejoice now in light of what's coming. 00:02:40.939 --> 00:02:44.260 He organizes what he says about this around three days. 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:47.680 The present day, the coming days of decline and death, 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:49.300 and the last day judgment. 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:52.800 That's going to be the path that we follow as we go through. 00:02:52.939 --> 00:02:54.900 So point number one, Solomon says, 00:02:55.040 --> 00:02:56.860 Rejoice in these days. 00:02:57.640 --> 00:02:58.320 Verse 9, 00:02:58.640 --> 00:03:00.760 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, 00:03:01.100 --> 00:03:03.540 and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. 00:03:03.640 --> 00:03:06.560 Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. 00:03:06.600 --> 00:03:09.060 He's saying, Enjoy what God has given to you. 00:03:10.420 --> 00:03:11.520 Do this in your youth. 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:15.240 Now the little ones that are here, they don't need us to tell them this. 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:17.879 They're waiting for the benediction already. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:21.400 They've got their eye on that so they can run off, grab some cake, stuff it in their face, 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:23.820 and zoom around the place of the big smile on their face. 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:26.939 They're okay with rejoicing. 00:03:28.340 --> 00:03:30.939 Teenagers, maybe not so much. 00:03:31.460 --> 00:03:32.680 You need to hear this. 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:36.040 God's Word is telling you to enjoy yourself. 00:03:37.020 --> 00:03:39.680 Do you think about that when you think about the Christian life? 00:03:40.300 --> 00:03:43.580 You think the Christian life, dot, dot, dot, fill it in, fill in the blank. 00:03:43.659 --> 00:03:45.140 What does God tell me to do? 00:03:45.219 --> 00:03:46.099 He says, Rejoice. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:47.840 Rejoice. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:56.860 Your Christian faith, according to Ecclesiastes 11, allows you to follow the desire of your heart and the sight of your eyes. 00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:07.420 Being a Christian is a cause for joy, not grumpiness, not aloof coolness or any of the ways you might describe what teenagers are kind of characterized broadly. 00:04:07.740 --> 00:04:11.599 If you name the name of Christ teenagers, you should be joyful. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:16.079 When I ask you, how are you? 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:18.180 Don't reply, yeah, all right. 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:20.779 Yeah, fine. 00:04:22.100 --> 00:04:24.480 Say something like, I'm very well, Reuben. 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:25.439 Today's a good day. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:27.139 All right, try that out. 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:35.120 Try resisting the temptation that the culture tells you to be cool and aloof and grumpy and a bit sullen. 00:04:36.819 --> 00:04:37.300 Joy. 00:04:37.879 --> 00:04:38.219 Joy. 00:04:38.220 --> 00:04:38.300 Joy. 00:04:39.500 --> 00:04:41.520 But, of course, it's not just for teenagers. 00:04:41.780 --> 00:04:49.060 It's an exhortation to—it's not just an exhortation to young men, because if we go back to verse 8, just have a look at this. 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:54.480 Verse 8, we see that this youthful joy is something that we can have even into later life. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:55.220 Do you see what it says? 00:04:55.320 --> 00:05:00.380 If a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. 00:05:01.300 --> 00:05:02.520 All the way through. 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:11.799 The adjective, I think, young or youth here is a relative term, and it applies to anyone who hasn't reached the state described in 12, 2 to 7. 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:12.759 We'll come to that in a minute. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:14.939 He's talking about anyone who's still going. 00:05:16.180 --> 00:05:18.620 Anyone who could rejoice should rejoice. 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:22.939 Let's be honest. 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:25.319 We need to hear this. 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:31.879 We fuss about what we have and what we don't have. 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:36.379 We stress about the future. 00:05:38.500 --> 00:05:43.319 And so much of our lives is characterized by not rejoicing in the here and now. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:47.920 Not rejoicing in these days. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:51.319 There's so many things. 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:55.740 There's so much small stuff that we choose to sweat. 00:05:55.740 --> 00:05:58.540 You know the saying, don't sweat the small stuff? 00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:01.319 We sweat the small stuff very easily. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:07.939 And yet Solomon has repeatedly told us, in this book, God is in control of everything. 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:11.699 Everything, you remember chapter 3, everything is fitting in its own way. 00:06:13.379 --> 00:06:19.379 And when we understand that God is in control of everything, we are free to be grateful for what we have 00:06:19.379 --> 00:06:23.879 and to trust Him with what we don't and to rejoice. 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:35.680 Do you see that God actually really cares about this? 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:38.920 It isn't just like something that happens in passing. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:39.779 Look at verse 9. 00:06:40.379 --> 00:06:45.819 God really cares, but know that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment. 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:50.379 Now this verse 9 in the order here is often taken as a check on what he's just said. 00:06:50.379 --> 00:06:59.560 In the first part of verse 9, he's saying, so walk in the ways of your heart, but don't forget that God will judge any sinful decisions you make. 00:06:59.939 --> 00:07:01.839 But I actually don't think that's what it's saying. 00:07:02.219 --> 00:07:04.120 He puts a check on ungodliness in verse 10. 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:04.719 Do you see that? 00:07:04.980 --> 00:07:10.000 Remove vexation and put away, the translation is better there, put away evil from your body. 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:15.339 That is a check on following the desires of your heart. 00:07:15.339 --> 00:07:21.039 Don't follow the desires of your heart to the point where you do evil, put away evil. 00:07:22.659 --> 00:07:30.399 But the mention of judgment in verse 9, I think, concerns God holding us to account for not living lives that are marked by joy. 00:07:31.919 --> 00:07:33.620 One commentator says this, quote, 00:07:33.620 --> 00:07:51.980 End quote. 00:07:51.980 --> 00:07:51.980 00:07:51.980 --> 00:08:05.960 Now, look, you could say that in a way that sounds a bit superficial, a bit cheesy. 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:07.840 How are you? 00:08:07.960 --> 00:08:08.939 I'm doing fantastic. 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:09.759 Never been better. 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:10.700 Absolutely brilliant. 00:08:10.840 --> 00:08:12.000 When actually life's a bit difficult. 00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:17.420 He's not talking about that, which is why 12 verse 1 is so important. 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:18.900 12 verse 1. 00:08:18.899 --> 00:08:21.719 And you see there, he gives us grounds for this joy. 00:08:22.039 --> 00:08:25.339 He doesn't just say, rejoice, get rid of annoyance, get rid of evil. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:31.959 But he says also, he says, remember also your creator in the days of your youth. 00:08:33.139 --> 00:08:34.000 And how does that relate? 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:41.899 Well, it's important we see again this isn't a correction, a kind of, oh, and by the way, don't forget that God needs to be central in your life. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:46.899 Rejoice and make sure God's central in your life. 00:08:46.899 --> 00:08:52.980 No, he refers to God here as creator because he is making a point about what kind of God he is. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.600 He is actually giving us grounds for why we can rejoice. 00:08:58.199 --> 00:09:02.059 Remembering your creator is remembering that God made the world that we live in. 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:05.919 And we take our place in that world as creatures, not as gods. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:13.740 It means that we know we're not in charge of our lives and we therefore release our grip on trying to control everything. 00:09:13.939 --> 00:09:16.240 One of the threads, it's run all the way through the book. 00:09:16.699 --> 00:09:21.179 But it also means that remembering God created our world good. 00:09:21.179 --> 00:09:26.079 And that he gave us all the gifts that we possess. 00:09:27.259 --> 00:09:32.839 And that that is the root motivation for the joy that we're being called to here. 00:09:33.500 --> 00:09:38.059 Remember that God is the giver of all of our gifts. 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:40.679 That's what it means to remember your creator. 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:48.939 And we're to do this in these days, in the present, now, whether young or old. 00:09:50.679 --> 00:09:52.739 Not to live joyfully. 00:09:53.699 --> 00:09:58.379 That is not to be glad in the abundant goodness that God has lavished on us. 00:09:58.759 --> 00:09:59.739 It's sin. 00:09:59.740 --> 00:10:10.779 And it's sin because it is a denial of who God is as our generous creator who has given us everything that we have to enjoy. 00:10:14.860 --> 00:10:19.799 Now, one challenge we face with this, I think, is a spirit of envy. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:28.740 Our culture has trained us to think that if someone else has more of something than we do, we are hard done by. 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:36.259 And that means we can't enjoy what we do have because we resent others who have more than us. 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.680 That is prevalent all across our culture. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:48.320 On the other side, we're then made to feel guilty if we are the ones with more. 00:10:50.299 --> 00:10:56.440 Again, we are not able to enjoy what God has given us because we feel guilty that we have more than other people. 00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:06.860 We need to remember that we have what we have and we don't have what we don't have by the sovereign will of God. 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:08.800 And it is all gift. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:13.360 More or less is God's design. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:16.039 So, don't judge others. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:17.019 Enjoy what you have. 00:11:17.740 --> 00:11:19.300 Don't worry about what you don't have. 00:11:19.560 --> 00:11:20.399 Enjoy what you have. 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:22.840 Don't worry what other people say about what you do have. 00:11:23.060 --> 00:11:23.940 Enjoy what you have. 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:26.659 Steward what you've been given. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:36.980 Another challenge, this Solomon pushing on us that we must rejoice, 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:43.720 another challenge comes when life is hard, when it doesn't feel like we have much reason for joy. 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:51.320 But again, remembering God as our creator means we can rejoice even when things are tough. 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:56.700 Because however hard life is, we're in a relationship with the one who made us 00:11:56.700 --> 00:12:01.240 and we are here under his care to experience it. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:05.860 The author N.D. Wilson makes this point in typically colorful fashion. 00:12:05.980 --> 00:12:06.560 He says this, 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:13.319 Rumor has it that most normal men send at least 8 million forward swimming sperm looking for an egg every sexual act. 00:12:13.939 --> 00:12:18.679 Don't even bother adding in egg variation or the total number of sperm that may have had a fighting chance 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:21.019 during your mother's days of fertility when you were conceived 00:12:21.019 --> 00:12:24.899 or the possibility that she might have taken her friend's advice and shunned your father. 00:12:25.459 --> 00:12:27.419 Keep it simple and wildly conservative. 00:12:27.839 --> 00:12:31.219 Your chances of being here were about 1 out of 8 million. 00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:37.759 The chances of you and me both being here, 1 out of 64 trillion. 00:12:38.800 --> 00:12:41.340 We are a world of lottery winners. 00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:45.460 For every one of us here right now in every begetting, 00:12:45.560 --> 00:12:49.500 there were at least 7,999,999 losers. 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:53.040 And they don't even know how almost they were. 00:12:54.620 --> 00:12:57.220 I wish I'd never been born, the adolescent moans. 00:12:57.639 --> 00:12:58.480 Shut up, Randy. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:01.440 There are 8 million other kids who would be wishing they could be here right now 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:02.720 if only they were here to wish. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:10.080 When we find ourselves grumbling, 00:13:11.019 --> 00:13:13.060 remember we're the ones who got to play the game. 00:13:17.860 --> 00:13:22.680 There are 7,999,999 others who could take our place. 00:13:23.560 --> 00:13:26.500 And our Creator has adopted us in Christ. 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:29.320 He isn't just our Creator. 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:30.480 He is also our Redeemer. 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:31.419 We are in Christ. 00:13:31.500 --> 00:13:35.039 And that means that we know that our struggles are always on the clock. 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:40.480 There is a day coming when the struggles that we face will come to an end. 00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:44.320 That in itself is a reason to rejoice. 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:50.679 But what Solomon is concerned with here is that we should rejoice because we are here, 00:13:50.779 --> 00:13:52.299 because we got to play. 00:13:52.299 --> 00:13:55.299 But he's concerned with more than that. 00:13:55.359 --> 00:13:56.139 He goes on, you see, 00:13:56.219 --> 00:14:00.539 We're also to rejoice now in these days because the full-time whistle is coming. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:05.779 Yes, we got to play, but the game will be coming to an end. 00:14:05.859 --> 00:14:06.879 It will one day be over. 00:14:06.959 --> 00:14:08.039 So here's our second point. 00:14:08.579 --> 00:14:10.599 Recognize the coming evil days. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:13.259 Recognize the coming evil days. 00:14:13.319 --> 00:14:15.439 That's 12 to verse 8. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:19.720 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth before the evil days come, 00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:23.100 and the years draw near, of which you will say, 00:14:23.300 --> 00:14:25.060 I have no pleasure in them. 00:14:25.640 --> 00:14:29.220 Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return 00:14:29.220 --> 00:14:30.340 after rain. 00:14:30.500 --> 00:14:35.320 The days of darkness in 11 verse 8 have become the evil days of verse 1, 00:14:35.420 --> 00:14:37.360 days of decay and death, 00:14:37.420 --> 00:14:40.500 the ultimate proof that this life is vapor. 00:14:40.500 --> 00:14:46.139 And the wise man knows this and faces it squarely and honestly. 00:14:46.899 --> 00:14:50.340 A day is coming when we won't be able to enjoy the gifts that God has given. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:55.059 We won't be able to eat our food and drink our wine and enjoy the wife of our youth, 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:57.659 as Solomon has told us to do throughout this book. 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:03.000 And Solomon tells us this by way of a poem in verses 2 to 5. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:08.480 It's a somber, but it's an all-too-realistic portrayal of the decline that happens to us all. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:09.980 You see that? 00:15:10.379 --> 00:15:14.820 Verse 2, first of all, the metaphor is of nightfall and winter and storm. 00:15:15.300 --> 00:15:16.200 Then verse 3, 00:15:16.779 --> 00:15:32.100 Solomon is taking us around an old house that is just cracking and falling down, 00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:34.700 portraying the problems that come with old age. 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:37.620 Hands and arms become weak and tremble. 00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:40.879 Legs buckle under men who were once strong. 00:15:42.560 --> 00:15:47.820 The grinder's teeth, they fall out and eyes lose their sight. 00:15:49.220 --> 00:15:51.519 Now in verses 4 to 5, there's the problem of sleep. 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:56.139 Once they could sleep through anything and now they waken with birdsong. 00:15:57.080 --> 00:16:00.659 I was thinking about this this week. 00:16:00.659 --> 00:16:05.600 The IRA blew up the police station not far from my house when I was growing up. 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:07.159 I slept through the whole thing. 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:14.500 Like, the smallest noise in the house now wakes me up in the middle of the night. 00:16:15.339 --> 00:16:17.360 That's what happens as you get old. 00:16:18.699 --> 00:16:20.100 And then new fears take hold. 00:16:20.199 --> 00:16:20.699 Verse 5, 00:16:20.700 --> 00:16:27.379 Oh, I won't do that. 00:16:27.580 --> 00:16:29.400 No, I can't do that. 00:16:29.620 --> 00:16:31.780 I could have a fall or something like that. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.680 All of a sudden, normal things become fearful. 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:38.039 And then the almond tree blossoms. 00:16:38.299 --> 00:16:39.219 Hair turns gray. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:41.599 The grasshopper drags itself along. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:44.979 Once agile and energetic, now stiff and slow. 00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:46.639 And desire fails. 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:47.699 The libido vanishes. 00:16:48.479 --> 00:16:52.219 Because man is going to his eternal home. 00:16:52.220 --> 00:16:55.500 And the mourners go about the streets. 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:01.720 Keep hearing that RFK Jr. is on an anti-aging protocol. 00:17:02.560 --> 00:17:08.100 I mentioned before Brian Johnson, the tech billionaire, spending two million quid a year trying to reverse his age. 00:17:09.380 --> 00:17:11.799 None of these will ultimately work. 00:17:12.819 --> 00:17:13.700 We slow down. 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:14.779 We creak. 00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:15.940 And we break. 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:17.279 And then we die. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:22.180 The dust of our bodies will return to the dust of the ground. 00:17:22.259 --> 00:17:23.680 And our spirits will return to God. 00:17:23.740 --> 00:17:24.259 Verse 7. 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:32.819 And Solomon is saying that wisdom requires that this is something we need to recognize. 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:34.980 It is all going to happen. 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:37.099 We need to be honest about that. 00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:43.839 And we need to rejoice while we still can in the good things that God has given. 00:17:45.399 --> 00:17:47.160 And these can be the most simple things. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:54.779 In making the mind shift to enjoy the here and now, Chris Hoy said that he enjoyed the small things more. 00:17:55.619 --> 00:17:57.240 He said he was done with his bucket list. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:58.259 He said, quote, 00:17:58.339 --> 00:18:02.859 It's time with the kids, doing the barbecue, making a coffee, riding my bike. 00:18:02.859 --> 00:18:08.539 So, play with your children. 00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:10.479 Eat your food. 00:18:11.199 --> 00:18:12.179 Drink your wine. 00:18:12.979 --> 00:18:13.719 Ride your bike. 00:18:14.439 --> 00:18:15.479 Enjoy the simple things. 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:17.299 Because one day, the kids will be grown. 00:18:17.419 --> 00:18:19.299 Your hands won't be able to work the barbecue. 00:18:19.779 --> 00:18:21.359 You'll not be allowed caffeine anymore. 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:23.339 And riding the bike will be a distant memory. 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:29.619 And then, you'll hear the final whistle and you won't even be able to watch others do those things. 00:18:34.199 --> 00:18:38.740 Solomon says, we need to receive these words as goads. 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:39.439 Verse 11. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:50.200 Goads are painful, but they're necessary. 00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:55.620 And this is how the message Solomon has given us in this book should work. 00:18:57.120 --> 00:18:59.019 It's not been a comfortable message. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:01.200 This life is vapor. 00:19:01.539 --> 00:19:03.539 You can't control it to serve your wishes. 00:19:03.740 --> 00:19:05.059 It's all under God's control. 00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:08.960 He's working his purposes in the world according to his desires, not yours. 00:19:09.340 --> 00:19:10.340 Reality is hard. 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:12.360 Life is often painful. 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:15.000 And we will all one day die. 00:19:17.919 --> 00:19:25.619 Wise people receive that as a goad to provoke us to live wisely, to order our lives around this reality. 00:19:25.779 --> 00:19:26.939 That is how we live well. 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:28.879 Receive the gifts that God has given. 00:19:29.259 --> 00:19:32.559 Say thank you and enjoy them before time is called on your life. 00:19:36.539 --> 00:19:40.000 And Solomon says, verse 12, don't think there's better wisdom anywhere else. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:42.559 He says, it's all here indeed. 00:19:42.700 --> 00:19:47.279 If you have, as one author says, if you have not been mastered by a short book like this one, 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:51.420 the long line of remaining big fat books will be nothing but weariness in the head. 00:19:53.539 --> 00:19:59.380 Verse 12 is not about the endless array of books that you can get at the Christian bookstore. 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:05.200 It is about the fact that you won't find this wisdom anywhere else. 00:20:07.700 --> 00:20:09.700 Recognize the coming dark days. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:13.400 Solomon concludes with another day. 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:15.859 Takes us a step further. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:19.420 Point number three, remember the last day. 00:20:20.019 --> 00:20:21.180 Rejoice in these days. 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:28.740 You can do that by recognizing the coming dark days and also remembering the last day. 00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:30.079 Verse 14, the end of the matter. 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:31.680 Here it is. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:46.759 Solomon is summing up. 00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:48.519 Here is the essence of the whole message. 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:51.799 How do you live well in a world of vapor that we can't control? 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:54.799 Fear God and do what he says. 00:20:57.619 --> 00:21:00.279 Because a day is coming when you'll give account for everything. 00:21:00.819 --> 00:21:06.160 Every thought, every word, every action, the good and the bad and the ugly. 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:13.940 Now, to fear God is to remember your creator and vice versa. 00:21:14.900 --> 00:21:19.160 And what that means is that we give God all the devotion and respect that he is due, 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:21.019 and we do it with joy and thankfulness. 00:21:21.019 --> 00:21:29.039 Because of the God that he is, the generous God who blesses us in so many ways, 00:21:29.099 --> 00:21:33.039 and because of what he's done in giving us those blessings. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:38.980 It is therefore certainly a warning to those who reject God. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:43.700 The truth is that a day is coming when you will answer to God for your actions. 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:48.180 If you're rejecting God in your life, you'll have to give an account for that one day. 00:21:48.259 --> 00:21:50.920 But the reality is Solomon is the teacher of God's people here. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:53.559 That's where we started all the way back in chapter 1. 00:21:53.819 --> 00:21:56.379 So he's reminding us of our proper place in God's world. 00:21:56.380 --> 00:22:05.700 And as a conclusion to this book, this verse, these two verses, 13 and 14, they do three things. 00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:09.560 Fear God and keep his commandments because judgment is coming. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:10.240 Three things. 00:22:10.460 --> 00:22:11.760 First of all, they motivate. 00:22:12.340 --> 00:22:13.620 Secondly, they liberate. 00:22:13.760 --> 00:22:14.860 And thirdly, they bring comfort. 00:22:16.320 --> 00:22:18.060 First of all, they motivate obedience. 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:20.280 They motivate our obedience. 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:23.880 In one sense, Solomon is simply returning to a theme that he has brought through the whole book. 00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:26.360 Chapter 3, verse 14, 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:28.140 Whatever God does endures forever. 00:22:28.320 --> 00:22:30.620 Nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it. 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:35.060 God has done it so that people fear before him. 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:38.820 5, verse 7, God is the one you must fear. 00:22:39.980 --> 00:22:40.840 8, verse 12, 00:22:40.900 --> 00:22:43.740 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, 00:22:44.140 --> 00:22:48.920 yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God because they fear before him. 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:58.400 Fearing God, giving him the reverence that he is due, living your life under his instruction, 00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:03.480 fearing God in general requires us to fear before him specifically. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:08.320 As I said in an earlier sermon, this means coming before him in worship as we're doing this evening. 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:14.099 What Solomon is calling us to here to motivate us is to the pattern of the Christian life. 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:18.740 Gathering in God's presence on the Lord's day for worship and going out into the week, 00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:20.919 keeping his commandments in all things. 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:25.099 Motivates. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:27.159 Fearing God also liberates. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:29.939 Here's a paradox. 00:23:31.220 --> 00:23:35.720 When we fear God, it frees us from the fear of anyone or anything else. 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:40.980 Fearing God is the way we live without fear in the world. 00:23:42.600 --> 00:23:46.900 Because when we submit all our anxieties about a life that we can't predict or control, 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:52.000 when we submit those to him who controls it all, we can trust him with the outcome. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:24:01.259 A life submitted to God liberates us from the controlling influences of anything else in the world. 00:24:03.059 --> 00:24:04.839 Jesus tells us this in Matthew 6. 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:06.099 Matthew 6.25, 00:24:06.099 --> 00:24:10.720 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:12.679 nor about your body, what you will put on. 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:14.259 6.32, 00:24:14.500 --> 00:24:18.559 The Gentiles, the unbelieving people, they seek after all these things. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:21.220 And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all, 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:24.319 but seek first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness. 00:24:25.019 --> 00:24:27.119 That sounds a lot like fear God and keep his commandments. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:33.719 Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. 00:24:34.439 --> 00:24:38.919 Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 00:24:39.099 --> 00:24:42.039 When we fear God, we don't need to fear anyone else. 00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:45.619 We're freed from every other fear. 00:24:46.819 --> 00:24:47.500 That's liberty. 00:24:47.980 --> 00:24:48.859 That's true freedom. 00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:54.240 And then finally, our knowledge of the last day judgment also comforts. 00:24:56.539 --> 00:24:59.179 Solomon, you'll know all the way through this book, 00:24:59.240 --> 00:25:01.740 has been crystal clear about the pain of life under the sun. 00:25:02.699 --> 00:25:07.959 He's also been clear about the reality of injustice and oppression under the sun. 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:08.940 Chapter 4, verse 1, 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:11.319 I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun, 00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:15.019 and behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them. 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:20.279 What do you say to someone whose experience in this life is that? 00:25:20.740 --> 00:25:21.880 What do you say to them? 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:25.960 Well, there's only one thing that you can actually say that will be helpful. 00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:30.900 God will one day put it right. 00:25:32.740 --> 00:25:36.519 A day is coming when every wrong will be made right, 00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:39.539 and for the Christian every tear wiped away. 00:25:41.220 --> 00:25:44.759 A day of great justice lies ahead. 00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:47.519 Every deed, good and the bad, will be weighed, 00:25:47.980 --> 00:25:51.339 and the judge of all the earth will do right. 00:25:51.879 --> 00:25:54.400 And that means that every decision that, as a Christian, 00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:57.099 you have taken to fear God and to keep His commandments, 00:25:57.099 --> 00:26:00.200 to choose the good, to be wise in this world, 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:02.339 will be vindicated. 00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:10.339 So, question, 00:26:10.940 --> 00:26:13.900 what is your only comfort in life and in death? 00:26:15.639 --> 00:26:18.079 Answer, that I am not my own, 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:21.119 but belong body and soul in life and in death 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:22.819 to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:26.240 He is fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:28.420 and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. 00:26:28.420 --> 00:26:31.320 He also watches over me in such a way 00:26:31.320 --> 00:26:33.160 that not a hair can fall from my head 00:26:33.160 --> 00:26:34.680 without the will of my Father in heaven. 00:26:35.380 --> 00:26:38.660 In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:40.759 Because I belong to Him, 00:26:41.140 --> 00:26:42.660 Christ, by His Holy Spirit, 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:44.680 assures me of eternal life 00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:46.380 and makes me wholeheartedly willing 00:26:46.380 --> 00:26:49.740 and ready from now on to live for Him. 00:26:49.740 --> 00:26:52.740 In a world of vapor, 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:54.720 fear God 00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:56.640 and keep His commandments. 00:26:57.960 --> 00:26:58.599 Let's pray.