Sermon Tone Analysis

(Q) Are you are hard worker?

If so, why are you a hard worker?

·       For most of the world it’s to get ahead in life.

People are seeking material comfort for themselves and their family.

·       Some work hard to gain the recognition and approval of their peers.

·       Others labour so one day they can take it easy.

*(ILL)* Like the man in Luke 12:16-19 *(READ)* 

Solomon asks a question in Ecclesiastes 3:9 that you might have asked yourself at some point.

*9* /What gain has the worker from his toil?/ \\ \\ *Remember that this is a man who is examining life from a human perspective.*

Solomon is only thinking about life under the sun.

Life in the here and now.

From that view point, work brings very little gain.

·         It might feed your body but it cannot satisfy your soul.

·         You can work hard and amass a small fortune but you end up leaving it all behind.

·         Your wealth might impress people here on earth but in heaven, gold is just used to pave the roads.

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I’m sure you are getting used to Solomon’s style by this point.

After making a declaration or asking a hard question he tries to use his own mind to get some answers.

Only when he doesn’t find any satisfactory answers does he finally look towards heaven.

\\ \\ We can see this with this issue of work.

In verse 9 Solomon repeats a question he first raised back in 1:3 he said /What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?/ \\ \\ He leaves the question hanging there until 2:18-23 where he tries to figure things out on his own.

The only conclusion he can come to is found in 2:23 /work is a vexation./

\\ \\ But then he begins to look towards heaven in chapter 2:24-25.

*(READ)*  \\ \\ It’s beginning to dawn on Solomon that life doesn’t make sense if you leave God out.

\\ \\ It’s God’s sovereignty over life that gives meaning and purpose to pain and joy, relaxation and work.

Remember God’s sovereignty is his right and ability to rule over all of life.

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·       Last week you saw that God sovereignly appoints the times of your lives.

He set the time of your birth and He knows the time of your death.

He appoints everything in between those days as well.

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·       He also sends or allows circumstances into your life that He deems appropriate for your good and His glory.

Life is not a random series of events.

It is the unfolding of God’s good purposes.

*(ILL)* The Lord is like the loving father who decides when His children need protection and when they need a challenge.

And like a good child we should respond properly to our Heavenly Father’s care over us.

\\ \\ I need to add here that if you have not put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ then you are not a child of God yet.

John 1:12 reads  /to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

\\ / \\ If you have not received Christ hearing about God’s sovereignty might make you angry or it brings up rebellion in your heart.

God was speaking about you in Ezekiel 20:21  They/ rebelled against me.

They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules,/    \\ \\ You might have entered this building this morning as a rebel but let me tell you that you can leave as a child of God.

Even as you sit there God can remove your heart of stone and replace it with a heart that delights in His sovereignty over your life.

As we look at 3:10-14 we can see how a *child of God* should respond to His sovereignty.

*(READ)* \\ \\

*I.        **First off a child of God acknowledges God’s sovereignty.

vs.

10-11 \\ \\ *

*A.    **Solomon acknowledges that God is ultimately in charge of what man does.*/

\\ \\ /*10*/I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with./

\\ \\ While Solomon acknowledges that our work comes from God he doesn’t quite have a positive view of work.

In the Hebrew Solomon is literally saying I have seen the business that God has */afflicted/* on the children of man.

\\ \\ I’m sure you have felt like that at times.

Work was never meant to be easy but the fact that it is God-given ought to help us see it in a positive light.

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*B.    **Solomon does acknowledge that what God does is right.*

*11* /He has made everything beautiful in its time.

/The word /beautiful/ has the idea of being  appropriate.

Work is hard, but God gives it because it is just what we need.

\\ \\ Matthew Henry said: /God gives /[work]/ to men, as the physician gives a medicine to his patient, to do him good./

\\ \\ *And a lot of good comes from work.*

It provides for our physical needs, it keeps our bodies healthy.

It improves our minds and most of all it gives us a way to glorify our heavenly Father.

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*C.    **We would like to understand all God’s purposes for our labours** but we have to acknowledge that only He has the full picture.*

\\ \\ v. 11/ Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart/.

\\ \\ *(ILL)* Monkeys don’t sit around wondering what life is all about.

They eat, defend their territory and sleep.

\\ \\ Man has a sense that what we do has some eternal significance.

Somewhere deep down we know there is more to life than just punching a time clock.

We want to know there is some lasting purpose in what we do.

\\ \\ *While man has this desire to see the big picture he can’t always do it.

* *11* /yet so that he cannot  find out what God has done from the beginning to the end./*

\\ \\ *We know more about God’s purposes than Solomon because we have the whole Bible but God has set limits on what man can know.*

\\ \\ (ILL)* God is like an artist who has unveiled a small corner of His greatest work but not the whole painting.

What people see is so compelling that they long to see the whole picture but they cannot.

\\ \\ You can feel the Solomon’s frustration as he writes this.

He is a man who wanted answers but God did not grant them.

\\ \\ Why does God do this?

Dr.

Jim Berg makes a good point.

He said /Mystery leads to dependency.

/If we had all the answers we would feel we didn’t need God.  \\ \\ There will be times in our life when we have to say.

I don’t know why I have to do this task but God has given to me and I will do it well because I know He has given it to me for a good reason.

It will do me good and bring glory to Him.     \\ \\

*II.

**A child of God acknowledges God’s sovereignty and verses 12-13 tell us to rejoice in God’s sovereignty.*

vs.

12-13 \\ \\ *12* /I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful /*13* /also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.

\\ / \\ As Christians we don’t just tolerate or resign ourselves to work.

Solomon says we can be joyful and take pleasure in it.

\\ \\ *(Q)* *Is this the picture your teacher or boss has of you?   *Do they see a joyful student or an employee who is obviously getting pleasure from what they are doing?

\\ It would certainly be a powerful testimony to those around you.  \\ \\ It’s also a testimony of God’s grace in your life.

The work has been given to you by God but so is the grace to really enjoy it.

That is what that phrase at the end of verse 13 is saying.

/This /enjoyment /is God’s gift to man.  \\ \\ /I was thinking that we ought to encourage each other in adopting this attitude towards work.

Moaning and complaining is popular but if we truly grasp God’s sovereignty in our life then we will rejoice in that He has given us to do and take pleasure in it.

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*III.

**I believe this joy will come as you Submit to God’s Sovereignty v. 12b-14*/ \\ \\ /

*A.  **Submitting to God means obeying Him*/ /*12*/ I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;/ \\ \\ The best proof that you are submitting to God’s sovereignty is when you are happy doing the good things God has called you to do.

\\ \\ Children that means obeying your parents.

Employees that means working the same whether your boss is watching you or not.

Students; that means you do your homework joyfully as unto the Lord.

Mothers; that means you consider it a joy to serve your family.

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*B.

**It also means Accepting God’s Sovereignty*- *14* /I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it.

/

* *

This is another way of saying /Thy will be done!/