The End of the Matter

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 62

Psalm 62 ESV

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them. Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.

Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:12-14

Philippians 3:12–14 ESV

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Sermon:

Good Morning Church!

I was Glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

Well, this morning marks, the end of our series through the book of Ecclesiastes. And as I've told many people this week, One of my favorite sermons, in any given series, is always the last one. Not just because In Ecclesiastes, maybe some of you are feeling like I'm just glad to be done with Ecclesiastes. But more because by the time we've gotten to the end, We've heard everything that has been said.

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We get to the title of the sermon here, the end of the matter. And we have a chance to look back at everything that the book taught us. Everything that was worked in our hearts and see the overarching plan and the overarching theme and the overarching goodness that God has given to us in these particular books. And if we remember Matthew, as we got to the end of Matthew, we, we took a step back and we thought about the kingdom that Jesus was presenting to us. The kingdom that he built through his work, his teaching, his life

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Through his death and Resurrection. As we remember back to Isaiah before that, the message of Isaiah though there was a lot of pain and difficult things was that God will save Sinners. God will save his people, he will redeem them. There's a a sense when we get to the end of a series where A lot of the details and a lot of the difficult things pass by and we just get the feeling Of that book. And so this morning, that's my hope that we just hear the heart of Ecclesiastes. As we draw to the end of this book, we will be looking at Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verses 8 through 14. That's the end of the book this morning.

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And those of you who are thinking, well, didn't we cover verse 8? Last week, we did you'll see. I promise it makes sense. But as we read the end, I I'd encourage you to just think through the weight of all that we've covered and all of those things. And then how this becomes In many ways, the perfect ending to this book.

Ecclesiastes 12:8–14 ESV

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's open with a word of prayer.

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Our Father in Heaven. We do thank you for today. And we thank you for your grace and your mercy. For we do Proclaim. As we just read that, you are the judge, the god of the universe, and we know that all things will be judged by you. And so we thank you that though we Face this terrible and terrifying. Truth, we can rest in all that. You have said That you have sent your son. That he has saved us and delivered. Help us as we read your word to see. Clearly all that you have done and said

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To see the Blessed truth of your grace. But also we pray that as we hear your word, we would be changed convict our hearts, stir, our affections towards you. May you use this time for your glory and for our good as you conform us into the image of our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ. For it's in his name that we pray. Amen. And amen.

So, this morning, We're just gonna end the book of Ecclesiastes. Looking at this beautiful.

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Ending that's been given to us. If you notice there was something different we moved from. This is why I included verse 8 Solomon's words what he said to some editorial comments about Solomon and his life. It's as if someone sat down and they read Ecclesiastes and they thought, you know, This is a good book and I would agree if that was their estimation. But what it really needs. It's just a little bit of commentary at the end and so that's what we have been given here. But before we dive into the commentary at the end, let's look at verse 8. And here I want us to think that this is a perfect summary of what Solomon said.

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The whole book of Ecclesiastes is what we would call the fancy word for it. Isn't an inclusio. The, the beginning and the end are the exact same thought and everything in the middle. Then explains those two. Everything is included in the thoughts at the beginning of the end. Why can I say that? This is about as easy as it comes to see that. This is what's going on. Ecclesiastes chapter one, verse two, vanity of vanities, says the preacher vanity of vanities. All is Vanity Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 8, vanity Vanity says the preacher. All is Vanity. So what did Solomon say? He said that everything was vanity.

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Again, we could remember back to the very first sermon in Ecclesiastes, where we discussed this word vanity, It's not just right when we hear vanny, we think you're So Vain with this puffed up feeling of self-importance. That's not what vanity means here. Instead, it's a pointlessness. It's a a meaningless. Nothing literally the word in Hebrew means a vapor a Mist. There's no, there's no tangible lasting anything that comes to anything. This life. This world. Everything we do everything here. Solomon says it is Vanity. We could walk through all of Ecclesiastes again. Wisdom is Vanity living. Good is Vanity, hard work is Vanity, toil is Vanity, evil is Vanity, pleasure is Vanity, all of these things.

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In the end in the end weight of everything they fade away and they mean nothing. Our desire to know all of the times and control those things. It's vanity. Our desire to have complete understanding of all things that God is doing, it's vanity. Our desire to be more than we are more than God has made us. Ultimately this is the message of Solomon. Our desire to Hold on to and be in control of, and be Sovereign over. All of these things Solomon said, Is Vanity. And so, the end result. The end result of all that Solomon taught.

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Is that we ought to then just trust God. Rest in him. And do what he's called us to. He's called us to be wise, but wisdom is vanity. It's okay. He's called us to be wise. So, be wise, wisdom is better than Folly. Solomon has said this. Work is Vanity. Because we don't know what reward we will get. We don't know if we'll even be able to finish the job that's set before us. Because as Solomon said we might die before we finish. It's okay. Work is good God put it before you so worth. Times will come good, bad evil, Pleasant. All of these things will come into our life.

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So just trust God, this was the message of Solomon. The end result as we get to Solomon should be a deep-seated trust in God. If you are reading Ecclesiastes and you get to the end and you think everything's pointless, everything's meaningless. You are either exactly right or horribly wrong. And this is what I mean by that, if you get to the end and you think this world, this life is meaningless and pointless. And so I just need to trust in the Lord. You're exactly right. If you get to the Annie like everything's pointless. Everything's fruitless. There is nothing that I have. Nothing nothing's good. Everything's awful.

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You're reading it wrong. The difference is one means we're trusting in the Lord. That's the point. That's the heart. Of Ecclesiastes, that's what he said. He said that everything is vain, And that was very wise.

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But beside being wise. Solomon, did other things. He taught. But how did he do this? Well then the the writer the editor here. Wants us to see, not just what he said that all things of any but then how he said it Besides being wise, he also taught the people knowledge. By weighing and studying and arranging many Proverbs with great care. How did Solomon say what he said? Carefully?

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We've been talking a lot about Solomon. Being that friend. Who tells you the truth even when you don't want to hear it. And he is And when you're just cruising along and life is happy go lucky. He's the friend who's like? Yeah but This actually isn't as good as you think it is. But it says here in verse 9 that he did, so with great care. Intentionally. Now, we know because We have the theological underpinning here but he did so by the direction and instruction of the Holy Spirit, God empowered him to write these things.

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But there is an intentionality of everything that was written here, everything that was for us. Every example, every thought was arranged and and brought together. It's been weighed Solomon used his knowledge, and his wisdom, which was greater than any who came before him and any, who came after to collect these sayings for us. But then verse 10 is really what's interesting about how he said it.

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He sought. To find words of delight.

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His goal. In writing these words to us. Was to bring joy to your heart. But wait, Sullivan. It's been depressing. I'll be the first one to say Ecclesiastes. Might be the most depressing book of the Bible. Wait he sought to find words of delight. He did Because the words of the light he gives and this is what makes Ecclesiastes. One of the greatest books of the Bible. The words of delight that he sought to give us. Is. Delight. This isn't a forget your problems. And then when you're done forgetting them, they come back tenfold. This is a delight that lasts and rests in the difficult Brokenness of the world.

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How can Solomon give us these sorts of truths? Well, the end of verse 10. Because uprightly he wrote words of Truth. Solomon was not afraid to back down from hard truths. But his goal. Given to us here. Was to bring joy to your heart. We're back to our other question. If you get to the end of Ecclesiastes and you think this was the most depressing awful book of the Bible and everything's pointless. You read it wrong. But if you read, life is difficult, life is painful, but there's still rest and Trust in the Lord. And then as the rest of scripture teaches the joy of the Lord becomes your strength. Well then

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I think you're reading it. Right. It's it's not just what he said that life is vain, it's how he said it. By being honest and truthful with us with himself, with everyone about how life is but ultimately by being honest and truthful with what it means for us to follow. The Lord. Ultimately, that is his goal. Because we can also see why he said what he said. It's not just what he said or how he said it, but why? Was because verse 11, the words of the wise are like goats, what's a goat. I'm glad you asked.

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A goad was a super long stick that you would use to help prod stubborn animals along. When I was in college. I used to have a hobby, it was going around right if your friends are standing and you see your friends standing with a locked knee. What do you do? If you're me in college, you run it behind him. And you hit right here in the back of their knee and your knee buckles. Will a goad was a device designed to make that happen but to animals and imagine you have a stubborn animal and you wanted to take a step but it won't and it's like an ox or a donkey much bigger and stronger than you. What do you do? You poke at certain places certain tendons?

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You poke at the bottom of their foot and they they pick it up and then they take a step forward And then you poke the other one and they take a step forward. A goad was a device that helped you walk in the way or walk have some animal rather walk in the way it's supposed to. The words of the wise are, like, goats. Hearing. The words of Solomon Solomon knew that as he wrote this truth to us, it would go to our hearts and our souls to righteousness. Why did he say it to spurn us to love and good works.

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Why did Solomon write Ecclesiastes for the same reason that Paul wrote Romans? And the same reason that Matthew wrote the book of Matthew and the same reason that Moses wrote Deuteronomy because we need God's words to motivate us to life. Not just life, but a life pleasing to God. Why did he say it? Because these words will help you live a righteous life. Why did he write it? Because they're like, nails firmly fixed these collected sayings and they are given by one Shepherd. What is Solomon saying here? These words were given by God. As we read in here, we can't sit here and think, oh man, Saul?

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Solomon woke up on the wrong side of bed. When he wrote Ecclesiastes Solomon was really these words were given to us by God. So we got to Value them. And treasure them.

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Why did he say it? Because a few short words by Solomon are. A multitude of long words by other people. My son beware of anything beyond these. Of making books. There is no end and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Why did he write it?

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In one sense I would say this. It's because I was a philosophy, major in college. Sullivan wants to get to. What is the meaning of life? Every philosopher that's ever lived. That's their basic question, too. Since Socrates way back, even before Jesus was asking questions of like what is the meaning? And what is the purpose of life? And what does it mean to be wise? People have been asking these questions and they've been writing in writing And writing. And writing. But before even Socrates Solomon sat down and wrote Ecclesiastes, you want to know what the meaning of life is, it's vanity.

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Could have saved a lot of philosophers, a lot of time but you know what there's no end to the making of books and if someone has some idea they're going to write it down and publish that book too. Why did he say it? Because here's all we need for life. And he gave us what we need. So we don't have to go around looking for other stuff because that's just weariness. It's vanity, it's toil. Here's the, here's the conclusion, as we get to the end of the matter here. What did Solomon say that life is vain?

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Vanity of vanities. All he said, is Vanity, how do you say it with honesty with truthfulness Uprightness. But with a desire, Give you Joy as you trust not in this life, but rather in The God Who made you, Why did he do that? Because that's what you need. And the world will say, a whole bunch of other things and your mind will say a whole bunch of other things and study will say a whole bunch of other things, but ultimately what you need to hear is the truth of what God has said. That's it. And so, that lays the foundation for

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The end. It's not often. It's the only one I know of a book of the Bible starts with, or ends with the end. But here it has the end of the matter. He's going to tell us the end. It all has been hurt. You weigh all of Solomon's words, you weigh. All of everything, you weigh all of life, in all of its veins, striving and toil and wisdom and everything you weigh all of it. It's all been heard. And this is what you end with fear God and keep his commands. For this is the whole duty of, man, your life, everything in your life,

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Down to one thing.

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Two kind of. Fearing God and keeping his commands. All of life, all of this, vain life. It doesn't matter how much money you make, how long you live, what you do. It doesn't matter all of these things. What? Quote unquote Legacy you live? What? How much is in your 401k? What job you have these things? Ultimately, at the end don't matter. What matters is one thing? Did you fear God? Because if you did, you will keep his commands. If you fear God everything else then comes into place, does it ultimately matter what job you have? No. Does it matter what job you have? Yes.

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Because God will call you to something. And if we fear him, we will follow his call. What we do, how we live, all these things will fall into place. If we fear God, And so, in a lot of ways, the honesty and the brutality of Ecclesiastes been getting us to fear God, because he's Sovereign, he's in control. He holds the times, he controls all things and we can't do anything. So we fear Him. And keep his commands. The editor here says this is the whole duty of man. Those of you who know me a little bit, know I love catechisms. These are

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Question and answers that are designed to help us teach ourselves. Ultimately they were originally designed to help us teach our kids. All that scripture teaches. The Westminster catechism starts with. One of my favorite questions.

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It says, what is? The chief end of, man. What is man's ultimate goal? What was he made for?

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And the answer they have is To glorify God. And enjoy him. Forever. And I think they're right. I'm not here to Throw shade at the Westminster shorter. Catechism That's sort of man's Chief end and what we're made for Solomon's looking for a slightly different question.

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How do we live a life to follow that Chief end. And here's what he says this is what it is. It all boils down to one thing. Do you fear God and keep his Commandments?

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If so. You glorify. If so. You'll keep his commands. If so you will enjoy life in him, that's the point. That's the point of what Solomon has said. Life is vain life, is difficult, life is painful told to us an honest truth. So that we might Fear God. And serve him. Verse 14, God will bring every deed into judgment every secret thing, whether good or evil.

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Life is vain. It is. But yet. Everything we do everything, we say. Everything that then happens to us is being weighed and remembered by The Sovereign King of Heaven. Evil Deeds. Good Deeds. All Deeds will be brought into judgment by God. That's our hope. I was reading one of my commentaries. And they summed this thought up better than I ever could. So I copied and pasted but I gave full credit. So this is not plagiarism. It's dually footnoted in reference, it's in your bulletin. As we get to the end of Ecclesiastes. Here's the message. In a world, where everything is vain.

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The final message of Ecclesiastes is not, then that nothing matters. With the everything does. Solomon, vanity of vanities. All is Vanity. This work. This toil this striving this difficulty this life. This, everything is Vanity. So we might be tempted to throw up our hands. Like, well, it doesn't matter. Then how I live, doesn't matter what I do, doesn't matter. It's all vain anyway. And Solomon says, you've got it backwards. Yeah, everything's vain.

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So, everything matters because God will bring every deed into judgment. And what he will, then judge.

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This was a liberating thought for me. As I began to discover this in my life. What then is judged? Is not. Our works in their own strength and might and power, that would be vain. What matters is our heart? This is why this change. This was As a youth, pastor. I struggled a lot at the very beginning of being a youth pastor. And you get these kids. And this feeling I think is is You feel it more as a youth pastor cuz you understand. You don't have very much time with these kids. Right. As a youth pastor, you get

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What? Seven years, three years in Middle School plus four years of high school. If you're lucky, If you, if you read a lot of Youth, pastor literature, I don't know why you would. If you did, they talk about Cycles, right, that. And a cycle is four years because it's a group of kids from their freshman year to their senior year, that's one cycle. And by the time you're done with one cycle of four years, in youth Ministry, you have a whole new set of kids, right? I struggled existentially. Struggled with this. Thinking that I have such short time.

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What if? I say the wrong thing. And what if I'm not smart enough and not good enough, I don't preach the gospel strong enough. What if I don't do it, good enough.

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And God took that from me. Because it I'm not good enough. Not smart enough. They don't have enough time and I can't change anyone's heart. So, what then does God judge that I did the best with what was before me. Those four years, I had with those kids that I preached, the gospel at every opportunity, I have Did I do what God had placed before me? So my youth pastor Ministry just so you know, Part of this is my being a senior pastor Ministry too.

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I never wanted. Any child that was in my youth group. To ever be able to say, But David never told me. And I don't mean that in small things, I mean, that when they are standing before these Sovereign judge of the universe, I do not want them to ever be able to say, but David never told me.

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You would judge me, my sins were evil, the hope of the Gospel. I didn't want them to be able to say that. So, every opportunity I had, I would preach the gospel to those kids.

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Because everything matters. We have, but a few short moments here on this Earth. And the time we have and the shortness of life, it feels vain So fear God and keep his Commandments, do what he's called you to do that. Ultimately is The end of the matter. Let's pray.