Be Sure to Live Before You Die!

Be Sure to Live Before You Die! Ecclesiastes 9:1-18 November 14, 2021 The Big Idea: Death has been called the great equalizer since it comes to all people. Solomon’s wisdom is that we should come to grips with our impending death and only then are we prepared to truly live in the days the Lord gives us. Only through Jesus are the enemies of sin and death vanquished so that we can live now and forever. Ecclesiastes 9 (ESV) 9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. TRUTH #1: If you do not trust that your life is held in the sovereign hand of God, you will go mad. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. TRUTH #2: Death comes to all. It is an absolute certainty. 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. TRUTH #3: Life should be enjoyed with the ones you love. 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. TRUTH #4: Good and bad things happen to all kinds of people. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. TRUTH #5: We should live wisely, but not expect that everyone will listen or understand. ULTIMATE TRUTH: Only Jesus Delivers from Death and Sin and Gives Us Abundant & Eternal Life Ecclesiastes 3:1 • We long for a return to Eden, to live in a perfect world • Revelation 21-22 says we can! Romans 5:12-21 • Through one man, Adam, came sin and death. • Through one Man, Jesus, came grace, justification, righteousness, eternal life. John 10:10 Romans 8:29 – For the rest of our lives on this earth, we are to be conformed to the image of the Son. • When you’ve been truly saved and are being conformed to the image of the Son, you’ll love and enjoy God’s gifts, because they taste and feel like home. And, home is where your Lord is. “Let us eat, drink and be merry for yesterday we were dead, but today we are alive!” Russell Moore