Relating to the Famous
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever met someone famous?
I remember the first time that I got to meet a president. Well, technically, I didn’t meet him, but I got really close to him!
George W. Bush came to a rally about 45 miles from where we lived. So, we pack up our lunches and got to the rally location several hours before the gates opened, so that we could be as close as possible to the stage.
And, then he came in, and the feeling of being that close to a president was almost overwhelming.
The strange thing about famous people is when we read about them or see interviews, we develop an idea of who they are, even though we have never met them.
And then, in the rare occasion when we actually meet them, instead of just seeing them from afar, most of the time, we get a sense of shock that they aren’t who we thought they were, either better or worse than expectation.
Today, we get to study the most famous passage in Ecclesiastes.
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
And so on. Many of us have interacted with it, whether by reading through the book, or hearing references to it in speeches. I officiated a wedding where it was read during the service.
One pastor during the Revolutionary War read this passage, and when he got almost to the end:
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
He ripped off his shirt, revealing a uniform for the Continental Army and said: Now is the time to fight, who will join me in fighting for the colonies.” He walked to the back of the church and led the men and boys to enlist in fighting the British.
This passage is used so many ways, but so few times is it studied.
This passage tells us about God, another famous entity, whom we get so many different ideas about, through talking with people, reading books, but so rarely by actually spending time with him.
So, that when we interact with passages such as this, we might be surprised what we actually see.
Let’s talk about God, shall we?
But, before we do, will you pray with me?
Let’s talk about God.
1. God
1. God
To make it easy for you, my main point and my subpoint are both the same.
A. God
A. God
After the famous passage about a time for everything, which we will discuss, Solomon connects the varied experiences of life to God.
I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
When he speaks of God, he is speaking of the one true God. The creator of the universe, who spoke all things into existence by the power of his word.
As the creator, he is also the one who sustains all things:
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Being the creator and sustainer, he is the God who has a standard that we must follow. He is holy and demands holiness from his creation. Everything that is unholy is driven away.
Isaiah was transported into the presence of God, as God appeared in the temple, everything that was physical was shaken because of God’s holiness.
And he cried:
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
Then, God cleansed him and gave him a commission.
This holy God who creates and sustains works lovingly in his creation.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
He is also a jealous God and does not allow others to take his glory and give it to other gods or entities.
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
B. Is Sovereign
B. Is Sovereign
This God is sovereign.
Solomon wrote:
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Though we have the yearning for eternal things, we cannot understand the working of God. The force of this passage is actually that God has hidden his ways from his creation, the limited cannot understand the eternal.
But, even if we cannot understand it, he is the God who has been working since the beginning of time.
He is has been in charge, ordering all things. Making the tapestry of history beautiful as he puts the events in their appropriate place.
He is in control. Isaiah reflects on God, comparing him with all the false gods who have no power, who cannot do anything, which are represented by human created artwork.
And then, speaking the words of the one true God, he says:
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
The creator and sustainer of the universe is sovereign over the universe. And he has the power to accomplish his plan. Nothing and no one can stand in his way.
C. In Charge of History
C. In Charge of History
Which means that this God is sovereignly in charge of history.
We can go through life, and think that it is mundane or chaotic, thinking that we are in charge of our destinies, or that we are bits of energy being flown this way and that by the forces of nature.
But all those perspectives are wrong. Because they do not give the glory and power to God who is in control.
We live are lives and we experience the beginning of this passage:
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
What do workers gain from their toil?
But, we must come to a point where these are not just random events, but each of the times and seasons were ordained by a loving God, who is creating this beautiful tapestry, ordering history, putting each event in its appropriate place.
We may not understand. We may shake our fist at God. But, our feelings do not change the fact that God is sovereignly in charge of history.
He can do what he wants. Thankfully, he is good.
As the disciples reflected:
People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
He does all things well.
2. Can Be Trusted
2. Can Be Trusted
This God can be trusted.
Solomon continues:
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.
A. We Fear
A. We Fear
There are two appropriate responses to understanding God’s complete sovereignty over everything.
We could be fatalistic and say: oh well, what will be will be. There is nothing that we can do except shake our fists at God and do whatever we want, because we have no control.
Or, we can respond to who God is, with a holy fear.
I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
Solomon wrote in Proverbs:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Moses preached to the Israelites:
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
When we truly understand and accept who God is, we will have a reaction of fear, because we the limited cannot truly understand the eternal. We cannot fathom his ways or his power.
B. Resulting in Trust
B. Resulting in Trust
But, our fear results in trust. When we truly understand who God is, through the fear, we realize that we can trust him and we don’t want to trust or lean on anyone or anything else.
What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
That last sentence speaks of a peace, a contentment, knowing that they are held in the hands of a loving God.
Jerry Bridges writes in his book: Trusting God:
“The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are not accident: they may be the work of evil, but the evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign God. . . . All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of every member of His redeemed family.”
As David writes:
I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
When we understand who God is, we respond accordingly, but that response brings trust, because we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is trustworthy.
3. Bringing Peace
3. Bringing Peace
When we know that God can be trusted, we get to live in peace. True peace.
Paul writes:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
A. Perspective: Happiness
A. Perspective: Happiness
This trust, based upon the character of God, brings a perspective to life.
Solomon wrote, based on the fact that God has sovereignly made everything beautiful in its time:
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
When we trust God, having peace with him, we can have a different perspective in life.
When faced with hardship and difficulty, we don’t have to be the grumbler or the complainer. We don’t have to get angry. We can be happy.
Now, this Scripture isn’t saying that we will be happy all the time, like the hymn says:
“Now I am happy all the day.”
We will not feel happy, but we will have a perspective of happiness. This is called joy.
Speaking of knowing Christ, Peter writes:
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Trust brings happiness.
B. Direction: Benevolence
B. Direction: Benevolence
This trust, based upon the character of God, brings a direction to life.
Solomon writes:
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
When we trust God, having peace with him, we can have a different direction in life.
Instead of trying to make a name for ourselves or create a legacy or inheritance, instead of focusing on providing everything for ourselves or our families, we realize that the God who is in charge will provide what we need, so our focus, our direction can be doing good to others.
I love what Dave Ramsey says, we try to have good financial habits, so that we can live and give like no one else.
Our lives are about pointing others to God, doing good for them that they might see God in us.
And, let me tell you, it is so much fun.
We are becoming known as the church that gives things. While every other church in town has fundraisers, we give things.
We gave away more Bibles during the County Fair than we have given any other year. And everyone was shocked that we would give away so many nice Bibles and devotionals. People would take what they received and show the food truck owners and others. People were talking, because we have a changed perspective, doing good, benevolence.
Trust brings benevolence.
C. Emotion: Satisfaction
C. Emotion: Satisfaction
This trust, based upon the character of God, brings an emotion to life.
Solomon writes:
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
When we have a changed perspective and a changed direction, we have a changed emotion. We have satisfaction.
Sometimes when I sit at the coffeeshop here in town, or when I drive through Norfolk and I see everyone rushing around and I wonder why? What are they doing?
Unfortunately, so much of that rushing around is trying to find something that will satisfy. But, most of them are experiencing what Solomon wrote at the beginning of Ecclesiastes:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
Nothing in this world truly brings satisfaction.
However, as we discussed last week, something can bring satisfaction: Trusting God and being content.
To trust God and be content, we must know him for who he is: he is the sovereign who is in control of History. Therefore, we can trust him and find true peace in this world. This and only this brings satisfaction.