Sermon Tone Analysis

At age 18 Solomon was given a blank check.

God said to him “/Ask what I shall give you/”  *Q:* What would you have asked for?

Riches, fame, a long life?

Solomon asked for wisdom and that pleased the Lord.

In addition to wisdom He gave Solomon wealth and peace as well.

\\ \\ But at some point later in Solomon’s life he began to explore what the world had to offer.

He set out to see if there was something out there that could bring ultimate satisfaction.

\\ \\ He threw himself into every pursuit available.

He gained the finest education the world could offer.

He built houses and vast gardens.

He dabbled in the arts and he indulged in every physical pleasure.

\\ \\ *(ILL) Many in the world today would be jealous of Solomon.*

They would think he had it made: riches, brains and power.

Many in the world today, maybe even some of you in this room, are following in Solomon’s footsteps thinking it will lead to ultimate satisfaction.

\\ \\ Listen to the words of Solomon when, from the world’s perspective, he did make it to the top.

Solomon said;

·       1:8 /All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing/  \\ \\

·       2:1/“Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.”

But behold, this also was vanity.

\\ \\ /

·       2:11  /I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind/.

If you have set the Lord aside at this point in your life to pursue a career or education or worldly pleasures one day you will wake up and you *will* feel like Solomon.

You’ll say in your heart.

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·       I have achieved all this but I’m empty.

·       I’m not satisfied.

·       I should be happy but I feel something is missing.

\\ \\

Ecclesiastes was written as a warning for this generation.

In Ecclesiastes 12:11 Solomon said: /The words of the wise are like goads/.

A goad was a pointy object used to motivate an animal that wasn’t moving or to turn him in the right direction.

\\ \\ The Holy Spirit had Solomon write these words to goad you;  to steer you in the right direction.

Solomon asks some hard questions and he challenges the wisdom of this world so that you will look to God for meaning and purpose in life.

\\ \\ We have come in our study to chapter 3.  In verses 1-8 we will learn two important truths about life.

*(READ) \\ * \\ This is one of the most familiar passages in the Bible.

It’s very poetic and it was even put to music and became a number one hit in 1965.

\\ \\ Contrary to popular opinion the main emphasis of these verses is not world peace.

Instead they tell us of God’s sovereignty.

Which is His right and ability to rule over all of life.

\\ \\ If you want to find meaning and purpose this is a good place to begin.

*(ILL)* As someone once said; /it’s good to remember that there is a God and that you are not Him.

/  \\ \\ *In verse 1 Solomon spells out two facts of life.*

v. 1/ / /For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: \\ / \\ *1.*

First we learn there is a /season/ for every happening in life.

The Hebrew word used for /season/ has the idea of an /appointed time/.

The same word is used in Nehemiah 2:6  /Then the king said to me, "How long will your journey be, and when will you return?"

So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time/   \\ \\ *2.*

The second fact is that there is a /time/ for every matter under heaven.

This is a different word that means there is an /appropriate/ time, there is a correct and proper time for every circumstance in life.

\\ \\ Both of these facts imply that someone is in charge who is deciding when and which events in life are to take place.

\\ \\ *(ILL)* Most people in the world like to imagine that they are the ones making these decisions.

We have all heard people say “/I control my own destiny/”  This passage reminds us that they don’t.

Let’s look at these two facts of life more closely.

*I.

**There is an Appointed Time for Everything.

vs. 1-2 \\ \\ *

*A.      **The Bible clearly teaches that God does the appointing.*

\\ Isaiah 46:9-11 reads:   /I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country.

I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it./

\\ \\ God does not take a /wait and see approach to life/.

He is working his predetermined purposes out.

Some might say this is only talking about the big things like creation and the end times.

\\ \\ Listen to Eph 1:11  /In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,/ \\ \\ *Just look at some events in the life of Christ.*

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·     Galatians 4:4/  But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,/ \\ \\

·     Acts 2:23  this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

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·     Ephesians 1:10 God has /a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in /Christ/, things in heaven and things on earth./

God does not leave any of His purposes to chance or to the will of man.

He has an appointed time for everything.

*B.      **The Lord appoints the events in your life as well.

\\ * \\ *1.  *v.

2/ /There is/ a time to be born, and a time to die;/ \\ \\ The 27th of January 1965 is my birthday.

Amy was born a few months later.

We are not sure what day Sudeepa’s or Ann-Marie’s baby will be born but the Lord does.

\\ \\ David said.

/For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.

/Psalm 139:13-16 \\ \\ The Lord told Sarah, Hannah, Manoah and others the time their children would come.

Children are never accidents.

*They arrival is appointed by God.*  \\ \\ *2.*

Just as our time of birth has been appointed so is the moment of our death.

David said in that same Psalm/  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

/ \\ \\ *(ILL)* A Christian never needs to fear death because they know that God has it all under control.

God will bring you home at His appointed time.

\\ \\ These are the two extremes of life.

Birth and death.

If God appoints these times it implies He has an appointed time for everything in between them as well.

This is a humbling thought but it assures the Christian that the Lord can work out all things for our good and His glory.

\\ \\ For the believer this truth should be reassuring.

Psalm 31:14-15 says  /But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” //My times are in your hand;/  \\ \\

*C.      **Notice in verse 2 that God has appointed times in nature as well.

\\ * \\ God has ordained/ /v. 2 /a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;/  \\ \\ *Q:* Do you realise how many factors go into making the seasons we know on earth.

The earth has to maintain an exact distance from the sun.

It has to tilt on its axis at a set angle for the sun to warm up the soil to get the plants to germinate.

\\ \\ Then in the autumn the days have be shorter so that the evenings get cooler for the plants to ripen for the harvest.

*God regulates all this.*

He sets springtime and harvest.

\\ \\ Again this truth is there to both humble us and reassure us.

As Christians we don’t panic when we hear about climate change and global warming.

That doesn’t excuse man polluting the environment but it does remind us that God is ultimately in control of nature.

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*II.

**God has appointed times and we also see that He also sends appropriate times in our lives.