Ecclesiastes 11.1-12.1 Boldness in This Out-of-Control World

Boldness in This Out-of-Control World

January 21, 2018

Life is transitory, a mere breath that passes quickly. Yet we are not to live fearfully or anxiously but invest in the future. “Cast your bread upon the waters” (). God is sovereign over our lives. We live our lives under the gracious care of the sovereign God (, ).

I. The World is Dangerous –

A. We do not know the evil days in the future –

1. Yet we can redeem our time –

2. Uncertainty should not paralyze us. “You do not know.” – ,

B. Uncertainty in our circumstances is no reason not to invest

1. Cast your bread –

2. Give a portion to others –

3. Sow your seed –

4. To serve others –

We must not be lazy out of fear –

II. Ignorance is No Reason for Harming Others –

A. Pictures of the developing baby in the womb enable us to see the baby from 2 weeks until 39 weeks and delivery

1. Although we can see the growth of the baby, we do not know at what point the baby is a person. Is the baby a person when the baby feels pain? Those in support of abortion claim the baby feels no pain at 13 weeks.

2. Dr. Bernard Nathanson who started NARAL, National Abortion Rights Action League, as a gynecologist

3. In 1974, Nathanson wrote, “I am deeply troubled by my own increasing uncertainly as to whether those 60,000 abortions he had performed were in fact a person.”

4. In 1984, he narrated the pro-life movie The Silent Scream. The 13-week old fetus is clearly crying out in pain as the abortionist ends the baby’s life. This was the first time the images of an aborted fetus were given an electronic platform

B. The fertilized egg in the womb is created as a person at conception

1. “You do not know what is the way of the spirit”

2. God gives the spirit so that the baby is made in the image of God – ;

3. The materialist understanding of the baby is dependent on sight many declaring the baby is only a person when it is separated from the mother and survives apart from his/her mother

4. Ignorance is no reason to legalize the ending of the baby’s life

III. Youth –

A. Are to rejoice in the joys of youth –

B. Remove sorrow from your heart –

C. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth –

The kingdom of heaven is present – act boldly to take it by force ().

We are accepted by faith in Jesus Christ so there is no excuse for lacking courage to act even in the face of uncertainty ()