Ecclesiastes 9 (2)
Everything's Empty: A Study in Ecclesiastes • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 35:27
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Colossians 3:1-7
Colossians 3:1-7
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Missionary Updates
Missionary Updates
Ecclesiastes 9
Ecclesiastes 9
Turn to and read Ecclesiastes 9:1-10. Pray
While, in these verses, there is a good bit of “Godly” advice; they are written from a perspective of futility.
When you wake up in the morning, do you face the day with a sense of expectancy? or with a sense of “Here we go again so I might as well enjoy it the best that I can?”
For some people, the only joy that they find in this lifetime is the joy that they somehow are able to manufacture.
As we look at these next verses we need to make sure that our perspective is correct: a perspective with God or without God; a humanistic perspective or a Biblical perspective!
Two weeks ago we looked at vs. 1-6. Before we move on, we need to remember how we ended:
This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
As we get to vs. 7:
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
This was Solomon’s conclusion:
“Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!”
As one commentator states:
There it is! Enjoy your bread and wine while you can! There it is! Don’t worry about God, He will accept all that you have done in the past. There it is! Get drunk and have a merry heart! Nothing to worry about! Nothing to fear! Nothing to vex! Nothing to perplex! Nothing after death so nothing to worry about in eternity!
Philips, John; Hastings, Jim. Exploring Ecclesiastes (John Phillips Commentary Series) . Kregel Academic & Professional. Kindle Edition.
Now, back to vs. 7:
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
Should we eat our bread with joy? Should we drink thy wine with a merry heart? Yes!
(No, I am not referring to alcoholic wine.)
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: And whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Although Solomon’s perspective is incorrect, I believe that we can learn from this:
Enjoy life as God enables!
Turn to and read Ecclesiastes 9:7-10.
All the days of the afflicted are evil: But he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
I don’t know about you but I’d much rather be counted among the merry than I would be counted among those who are afflicted.
Now, while I am not talking about the “power of positive thinking” I do believe that our attitude and disposition is a matter of choice; are we going to choose to give in to the flesh or yield to the Holy Spirit? When we choose to give in to the flesh, than we will always end up in the camp of the afflicted.
Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
God does enable us to enjoy life - all of it!
God does enable us to enjoy life - all of it!
How?
Solomon uses the words joy and merry in vs. 7. He uses the word joyfully in vs. 9.
Where does joy come from?
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
True joy is the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we daily yield to Him. The joy that the Holy Spirit produces in our hearts will manifest itself on our face.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Notice the verses following Galatians 5:22-23:
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
As the Holy Spirt produces this inward joy it allows us to enjoy all of life even the “bad” stuff!
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
So, God enables us to enjoy all of life! Next, we should...
Give it 100%!
Give it 100%!
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
We generally read this verse and come away thinking, “I need to give 100% in everything that I do!” And, that’s good. However notice the reason why Solomon is giving this advice: “for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goes.” If you are going to do something, you better do it now, while you can still enjoy and benefit from it because soon enough you are going to die!
I’m reminded of the parable of the rich fool in Luke chapter 12: Turn to and read Luke 12:16-21.
So, while there is nothing wrong with giving 100% in all that we do - in fact we should give 100% in all that we do - what makes the difference is our perspective and motivation. In other words, Why are we giving 100%?
Solomon’s motivation was purely selfish.
Our motivation should be God!
Our memory passage tells us:
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Paul, in writing to the church in Corinth, stated:
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
I tell the junior high students, constantly, that they should not do their best in school simply for the grade. They should do their best for God’s glory!
Now, does that mean that there isn’t “something in it for us?” No. I fully believe that God will bless us and that God will allow us to find enjoyment and pleasure in those things that we apply ourselves too. What is important is our perspective and our motivation.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
God does enable us to enjoy life - all of it - and to give 100% to all that we do. However it must be GOD!
God does enable us to enjoy life - all of it - and to give 100% to all that we do. However it must be GOD!
Prayer Requests
Prayer Requests
Kristi Gordon began her chemo treatments today. (Mention meals for Kristi and family.)
Kim Moon had the opportunity to speak to a co-worker, Erica, about the Lord. Erica’s mother, Julie, had breast cancer surgery today.
I need to give you a little background for a prayer request that I am going to mention in a few moments.
Two articles which I recently read:
Biblical worldview giving way to socialism among young evangelicals
Biblical worldview giving way to socialism among young evangelicals
Myers tells OneNewsNow that evangelical youth are buying into socialism and Marxism without realizing what it's doing to their faith. "They're a generation that is fairly low in their risk-taking ability," he explains, "and when someone says The government will take care of you just like mom and dad took care of you, that's a pretty compelling message."
The ministry leader says his research finds that 69% of evangelical youth who attend church don't believe in absolute truth and think that if your beliefs offend someone, you're the one who's wrong.
Theologian: More than scripture, pluralism infecting evangelical thought
Theologian: More than scripture, pluralism infecting evangelical thought
63% of adults agreed with this statement: "God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam." 42% of evangelicals agreed with that statement.
"A better job in teaching theology in our universities and our churches must be done, so that we keep from continuing to fall prey to cultural, false beliefs,"
The one thing that neither of these articles addresses is the “Golden Calf” of public education.
Why are young people giving way to socialism? Because of the public education system in the United States.
Why is pluralism infecting the thinking of today’s youth? Because of the public education system in the United States.
John Dewey, the father of modern public education, stated:
I believe that education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform.
I wonder, sometimes, if parents really understand the danger that public education is to our children?
I wonder, sometimes, if the church understands the danger that public education is to our children?
The reason that I share these with you is to support the fact that the ministry of South Charlotte Baptist Academy is a much needed ministry and one that I believe Pastor Scott was led of God in establishing some 17 years ago.
With that, though, we, as a church family must pray that God will provide the finances necessary to continue the ministry of South Charlotte Baptist Academy. This year, our preschool is but a fraction of what it has been in years past. And, it has been our preschool which has predominantly been responsible for “paying the bills.”
George Mueller, who saw God provide, through prayer alone, millions of dollars to care orphans, said:
“When sight ceases, it is the time for faith to work. The greater the difficulties, the easier it is for faith. As long as human possibilities for success remain, faith does not accomplish things as easily as when all natural prospects fail.”
I am the Lord thy God, Which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Tonight, and going forward, I am going to pray and I am asking our church family to pray in accordance with those words in Psalm 81:10: “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.”