Fear God and Keep His Commands
Tom Shrader brings the series on Ecclesiastes to a close by walking through Solomon's final counsel on wisdom, words, wealth, and the folly of seeking meaning apart from God. He emphasizes that Solomon's repeated declaration of vanity is designed to drive readers to the end of their own resources so they will turn to God. The teaching closes with an appeal to fear God, trust Scripture, and live in right relationship with Jesus Christ, with a reminder that God will bring every act to judgment.
“What separates biblical Christianity from everything else is one word — it's grace.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Ecclesiastes
Recorded: 2008 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 52 min
Themes: fear of god, wisdom, meaning, vanity, judgment, obedience, scripture, purpose, searching for meaning, struggling with purpose, new believer, young adult, feeling lost, questioning faith, seeker, midlife questioning
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, Ecclesiastes 1:3, Ecclesiastes 9:11, Ecclesiastes 9:16, Ecclesiastes 9:18, Ecclesiastes 10:12, Ecclesiastes 10:14, Ecclesiastes 10:19, Ecclesiastes 10:20, Ecclesiastes 11:2, Ecclesiastes 11:6, Ecclesiastes 12:1, Ecclesiastes 12:8, Ecclesiastes 12:9-11, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, 1 Kings 3, Ephesians 4, 2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12, 1 Timothy 6, 2 Corinthians 5:9, Revelation 20:11-15
Theological Themes: the fear of the lord, divine judgment, biblical authority, soteriology, salvation, sola scriptura, eschatology, sanctification
Full Transcript
Fear God and Keep His Commands
Open your Bibles to the Book of Ecclesiastes. If you are with us for the first time, welcome. We are glad you are here. We would invite you to take the response tab in your bulletin, detach it, complete it, and drop it in one of the boxes as you leave today. That is an invitation for us to contact you. We would love to talk with you a little more about East Valley Bible Church — and watch the bulletin for the next Connect to EBBC class, coming up the first Sunday in September.
A couple of highlights: if you are a 30-plus single, there are a couple of spots left in the retreat this week, so contact us and we will get you connected. Kids Connection details are in the bulletin — those are paid staff positions beyond our Sunday volunteers, covering childcare during the week, so take a look if you are interested.
Two activities on campus this week. Tuesday night is the last of the Hot Summer Nights program, and Tim Kimmel will be my guest. Tim speaks and writes extensively about family, and he is a genuine expert in this area. We are going to talk about parenting, family, and — I will admit, selfishly, now that I am at that stage — grandparenting as well.
Tim also has some very strong feelings on the immigration issue, and I want to say I am not sure I have ever seen an issue that has people as polarized as this one — even the abortion issue. Some of you are not going to like what he has to say, and that is exactly why you need to be here Tuesday night. Come early, grab a sandwich or a salad, and join us at 7 o'clock. And ladies, Wednesday night at 7 o'clock in the Commons, Girls' Night Out is an opportunity to meet the new Leadership Team and preview what we will be doing in the fall.
A Word About the Heat
You may have noticed it is quite warm in here this morning. We have an air conditioning unit out, and it will be a while before that is resolved, so please bear with us. You do not need to email or fill out a note telling us it was hot — we know, and we are sorry for the inconvenience. It is especially hot up front and in the back. I have a feeling that in the overall scope of what God is doing in the world, our air conditioning may not be at the top of His priorities today — but it is certainly at the top of ours, and we want to get it taken care of.
Introducing the 710 Ministry
If you were in the chapel this morning for communion, you were led in that time of devotion by Paul Artino. Paul joined our staff ten months ago and is heading up the 710 ministry. Everything is starting back up at this time of year — school starts tomorrow in Chandler, and within a couple of weeks most students are back. The 710 ministry kicks off right in this season. Let me share a brief video clip to give you a sense of what 710 is all about.
*"My most memorable 710 moment was probably my first time coming. What was weird is I just walked into this building and sat down during the message, then got up and started saying what's up to everybody. And what's funny about that is a lot of the people I met that first night are some of my best friends today. Being a part of knowing who God is and what He has done for me is a natural cause for me to worship and to want to get excited. I knew it would be a place where 20-somethings could come together and fellowship and be part of a community. What I really liked about 710 was it was a good way of turning my neighborhood into my real community. I have so many great girlfriends from 710 that I am so thankful and blessed that I came here and met these girls. I can always sense a bigger power and a bigger picture when believers are united in Christ and have one purpose. It is a drive and a motivation that you cannot find anywhere else."*
A Conversation with Paul Artino
Paul, talk about 710 — your vision for it, the demographic you are aiming for, and what you see as the big issue for that group.
710 is a community of young adults, ages 18 to 32 — and that way Tyler and I can still come. I have noticed the age range keeps getting older as the leaders get older. We have a corporate gathering that meets on Tuesday nights at 7:10, and we also have a life group structure — a small group discipleship model — that is kicking off August 5th.
The word I would use to describe this demographic is *transition*. We have students transitioning out of high school into college, young adults moving from college into the real world, and people somewhere in between asking questions like, when do I get married? Where do I work? Where do I meet people? Those are the questions we hear the most. Eighteen to thirty-two may sound like a wide age range, but what ties that group together is that shared experience of transition.
Connecting the Disconnected
Life is moving fast, and for many people in this stage of life, that speed leaves them feeling alone and disconnected. A driving heart behind this ministry is to connect the disconnected — not only on a horizontal level with one another, but spiritually as well. Unbelievers are coming in who are on a journey, and life is doing all kinds of things to them. They reach a point where they say, "I've tried everything — what solution do you have?" And we stand in the gap and say: Jesus. It is a community that rallies around the gospel, celebrates it, lives it out, and takes it out on mission.
The 710 gathering kicks off August 5th, right here in this room at 7:10. All of you in that age and stage of life are invited to join.
*Father, thank You for Paul and Lauren — what a gift they are, and the way that You have gifted them. To think that You have brought them here, given them a vision and a passion to reach people who are making key decisions in their lives. That we can come alongside, take Your Word, apply it to their hearts, and they can begin to see what You have to say — that You are not silent about the big issues in life. God, we pray Your blessing on 710, the staff that is needed, and that You would raise up new people to be part of the staff to work in the community groups and small groups. God, You would indeed connect the disconnected. We pray to You in Jesus' name. Amen.*
Introducing Ecclesiastes
We conclude our study today in the book of Ecclesiastes. If you have a Bible, I hope you have it open to that — it falls around page 477. We have taken five or six weeks for what has been a quick overview of what Solomon has to say about life. The reason it matters is that Solomon is unique among all people who have ever inhabited this planet. He is uniquely qualified to give us these insights, and they are penetrating.
Remember when we began the study, we looked at 1 Kings chapter 3, where God said to Solomon, "Ask what you wish, and I will give it to you." Solomon said, "Give your servant understanding to judge your people, to discern between good and evil." God then responds and says, "I will give you that — but because you have not asked for a long life or something to benefit you, I am going to bless you in a unique way. I will give you what you have not asked: riches and honor, so there will not be any among the kings like you." There has never been anybody like Solomon.
One of the authors, in his introduction to his commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes, writes this: *"If ever there was a man who could find meaning outside of God, it was Solomon. In terms of intelligence and industry and accomplishments, he had it all. Solomon used these gifts to accumulate wealth, discover knowledge, experience pleasure. If Solomon couldn't discover the secret to life, it can't be done."*
Solomon's Research Project
If you look at chapter 1, at the very beginning, Solomon tells us that he is going to embark on a research project. He is going to take life, look at all of it, and report to us where we can find meaning and purpose — where we can answer those huge, ubiquitous, probing questions about where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going.
Remember the first week? We laid out the questions we were going to explore: Where is God when bad things happen? How can I keep from becoming bitter toward God? How do I deal with the uncertainty of life? What do I do when I am unclear about where God really is and what He is doing? When bad things happen, is it because I don't have faith? And then we said we also want to answer this question: Are Christians supposed to have fun? We have probed all of those questions as we reviewed the report Solomon has given us.
Vanity of Vanities
Solomon begins the book with his summary. He identifies himself in chapter 1, verse 1, and then says, *"Vanity of vanity, says the Preacher, vanity of vanity, all is vanity."* The key word for studying this book is that word *vanity*, which means meaningless. It communicates the idea of temporariness — that life is like a vapor. What we see may be real for us at this moment, but we are all fading away. Everything that is here is temporary. It is all passing on. It is meaningless. It is vanity.
Then there is the phrase *under the sun* — verse 3: *"What advantage does a man have in all his work which is done under the sun?"* That is a key phrase for the whole book. What Solomon is saying is: what do I get in life when I live apart from God? That is what it means to live under the sun — to approach life, relationships, and everything around me with a sense that there is no God, to approach it on my own, where if there is any meaning in life, it is strictly the meaning I assign to it.
As you know, this becomes a very dark book. As we have studied it, Solomon pushes and pushes and pushes us to a point where we begin to wonder about life itself. That is his desire — not to fill us with despair, not to get us to throw up our hands and say, "Nothing matters, so I give up." No, it is to see life in its proper perspective and to recognize that if I am going to live under the sun apart from God, it will be meaningless. However, in the —
Reviewing Life Under the Sun
One of the things I love about the 3,000-year-old book of Ecclesiastes is that it doesn't pretend that life is nice or life is fair. Even though a sovereign God directs the world, His ways are unfathomable. He owns no man anything. He doesn't rely on anyone. He does as He pleases. What we said as we looked at this book and looked at life is that it's very confusing, because we see things that we instinctively say are good, and the acquisition and accumulation of them should make us happy — and it doesn't. And there are other things that we look at and say we wouldn't choose in a million years — not morally bad, just bad circumstances — and yet we see God use them oftentimes in the most powerful way.
Life is filled with inequality, and Solomon just grinds that point home. Tommy Nelson summarizes the book of Ecclesiastes this way: materially speaking, life is short and then you die. You lose everything you own to the next generation. Your children will rent out your house, purge your possessions, and spend your inheritance. Ultimately, you will be a distant memory at a Thanksgiving meal. Now go get them, Tiger.
Here's the little phrase we used: life bankrupts those who invest in it. If you put your treasure, your resources, your time, your energy, your effort, your money, your hope in this world, you will be bankrupt. And here's the catch — there's no government to bail you out.
So I'm bankrupt. I put all my hope in this world, saying: if I get that, I'll be happy; if this happens, I'll find meaning; if these circumstances change and this pain goes away, I'll be happy. As those begin to be the experiences of our lives, we discover that in fact that isn't the case at all — that life is meaningless. It's good to be wise, at least better than being a fool, but Solomon again and again says that in the long run it doesn't really matter, because you're going to die anyway. It's good to have things, but when you get them, it becomes worrisome to keep them, and then you just give them to somebody who didn't work for them and they'll just blow it. Nobody remembers the past, and your grandkids aren't going to care about you once you're gone.
That's a heavy message. But his point is to drive us to a sense of helplessness, because that's a great place to be — to bring us to the end of our rope so that we will give up on our own efforts, our ingenuity, our understanding, and human wisdom. I was watching a show the other night where John Kennedy was talking about the problems we faced in the world, and he said, "We got ourselves into this and we'll get ourselves out of it." That is a perfect expression of secular humanism. Solomon says: you got yourself into it, but you can't get yourself out of it. That's life under the sun.
One Last Round of Advice for Life Without God
I want to do something a little different as we close this book. I want to take a little bit of chapters 9, 10, and 11 and approach it this way: one last shot at Solomon saying, if in fact you did want to live as though God doesn't exist, here is a little bit of advice — though it really isn't very helpful. It will make life a little less miserable, but it really isn't going to change anything.
He says in chapter 9, verse 16, "Wisdom is better than strength," and in verse 18, "Wisdom is better than weapons." If you have a choice, man would tend to go for power, but Solomon says that if you can, wisdom is better. If you can have some accumulation of knowledge and have some sense of what to do with it, that's better than power — even though you end up in the same spot in the end. It isn't ultimately going to make a whole lot of difference.
Watch Your Mouth
Solomon also says in chapter 10 that it would be good to learn how to communicate — to watch your mouth. Chapter 10, verse 12: "Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him." Verse 14: "Yet a fool multiplies words." Somebody once said that even a fool is perceived to be wise if he could just keep his mouth shut.
I've discovered that I'm intimidated by quiet people, because you never really know what they're thinking. There's almost a presumption of wisdom there. They don't speak often or frequently, but when they do, you had better listen. And then it's always encouraging, because they open their mouth and it takes about two seconds to figure things out — and you can calibrate accordingly.
Paul picks up the same idea. Let me read from Ephesians chapter 4. Paul says: "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only a word that is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so as to give grace to those who hear." The word "unwholesome" there means useless. It's the same idea Solomon is making — don't get that mouth going just to hear yourself speak. The word carries with it the idea of waste; there's no value to these words. The contrast Paul draws is: let the word that is good for edification be what comes from your mouth, so that you may give grace to those who hear, according to the need of the moment.
He says that if you're really going to communicate effectively, don't be focused on what you're going to say next — be listening. Because I'm great at assuming I know what you need, but so often I'm wrong. If I'm going to build you up according to the need of the moment, I'm going to have to take that time to listen.
The Harm of Careless Words
Furthermore, in your bedchamber, do not curse a king. In your sleeping room, do not curse a rich man. For a bird of the heavens will carry the sound and winged creatures will make the matter known. You have heard the phrase, "a little birdie told me." Solomon is saying that when you begin gossip, criticism, slander, and backstabbing in your day-to-day life, it spreads like wildfire.
I was talking with a man this morning about a mutual friend who has been slandered. Some of what has been said contains a kernel of truth, but most of it is essentially wrong — and much of it is not just essentially wrong but factually wrong, even outright lies. This man is trying to get the record corrected, and I told him he is wasting his time. You cannot undo it. My point is for you to understand the harm and the pain that comes from words of criticism.
I said something at PL last week that upset a number of people, and the reaction tells me I should say it again. I can tell when I am talking with someone that they have been listening to a lot of talk radio. I am not concerned about the views — I would agree with much of what they hear — but there is an edge, a lack of civility. They are not winsome. If the goal of debate is to change minds, that harsh, judgmental, in-your-face attitude works against it. I notice it in my own life as well. My life is so much better and my heart so much softer when I am listening to music rather than talk radio through the course of a day. You may be able to handle it; I cannot.
Reading Scripture in Context
Here is a verse that deserves careful attention. Look at chapter 10, verse 19: "Wine makes life merry, money is the answer to everything." Stop the tape — this is an important point about the Word of God. Imagine you are at Costco tomorrow and you run into an old friend who says, "Don't you go to East Valley Bible Church? Aren't they literalists — don't they take the Bible literally? Well, I have a verse for you. Solomon says men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything." Right there in the Word of God.
This example teaches us two valuable lessons about reading Scripture. First, we must have context around what we are reading. Second, we must let Scripture interpret Scripture. There is no way you could take the idea that we are supposed to eat, drink, and be merry, find meaning and purpose in life, and have money as the answer — and have that flow consistently with the balance of Scripture. Jesus teaches exactly the opposite. To walk around saying you will eat, drink, and be merry, plan only for today, and live as though there is no tomorrow — Jesus calls that foolishness.
The Bible is not suggesting here that we eat, drink, and be merry and find the meaning and answer to life in money. What Solomon is saying is that if you are going to live under the sun, money does give you some options. He is also not really talking about mere eating — he is talking about dining. It is not only what you eat but where you eat. There were no ninety-nine cent double cheeseburgers for Solomon. He is talking about Key Cooks and Mary Elaine's, the finer places, with a little wine to warm the stomach and enhance the meal. It has reached the point where it seems everywhere I go, a particular wine is being recommended regardless of what you order. You can order a chili dog and someone will say, "We have a cabernet — it would be wonderful with that, just enhances the peppers." That is how far the pairing culture has gone.
Money Is Not the Answer to Everything
Paul tells us in 1 Timothy chapter 6 — and if you have been around here or at PL, we have worn out 1 Timothy chapter 6 for you — exactly the opposite of what this verse might seem to say on the surface. Money is not the answer to everything. In fact, Paul says the love of money is very dangerous, and that people who want to get rich run a serious risk of falling into a trap, a snare, and a temptation. The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.
Paul instructs those who are rich in this present world to do two things. First, do not be conceited. When we have things, we tend toward conceit. Second, do not fix your hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God. The Bible does not teach that money is the answer to everything.
Our tendency is to place our trust and hope in money and believe it will deliver what we are counting on it to deliver. Some of you have experienced asset erosion in the first half of this year and understand something of that uncertainty firsthand. But Paul is also saying that we look to money and stuff and think, "If I have that, I will be happy. I will be fulfilled."
You can pull up illustrations of that from your own life. I cannot tell you how many times in earlier years we would help friends move into a new house and afterward sit around with Diet Coke and pizza. The people who owned the house were the happiest people in the world — everything they had ever needed, exactly perfect, exactly ideal, everything they had ever wanted.
The Trap of Accumulation
Solomon says, knock yourself out. Go and get it. Because you'll have some options, and you might, for a second, experience some satisfaction or exhilaration or even a fleeting moment of happiness, but it's just that. It's fleeting. It's not going to last.
He has a couple of other things you need to understand. They're both in chapter 11. In verse 2, he says you had better diversify. If you are going to do some investing, put those portions into sevens or eights. Have a little bit of fossil fuel, a little bit of alternative energy, and the dollar's in trouble, so maybe you're in euros. Diversify, because you never know exactly what's going to happen. Cover your assets. That's what he's saying.
And to get those assets and maintain them, verse 6 tells you that you will sow your seed in the morning and you won't be idle at night. Work, work, work, work, work. So if you want to have this stuff, there is a real important balancing act that starts to take place. Because getting this stuff requires money, and having money takes work.
So you go out and you get that magnificent cabin in the mountains — the beautiful getaway, especially for this time of year, the perfect place. You got it! But you're too busy to get there, because you have to work to pay for it. Or you get the boat, the trailer, about a thousand dollars' worth of gas, and you're at Bartlett Lake — except you don't get out there anymore because you have to work. It is far better to know someone who owns a cabin or a boat than to own one yourself. That is what Solomon is saying. You see this whole cycle: I have to get this stuff, but then I have to work to keep it.
Enjoy Youth, But Know You Answer to God
Solomon also says you ought to take advantage of life while you are young. Chapter 9, verse 11 reads, "Rejoice, young man, during your childhood. Let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. Follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes." One paraphrase reads like this: "You who are young, make the most of your youth. Relish your youthful vigor. Follow the impulses of your heart. If something looks good to you, pursue it. But know also that not just anything goes — you have to answer to God."
That is Solomon's advice. And we are going to get to his conclusion in a moment, which is that you do not want to live life under the sun. But if you are going to, these are some things that will make it sort of, semi, tolerable. Ultimately, though, you know this is a waste.
Even in the midst of living under the sun, if you are absolutely honest, you look back at your life and you say, "I can relate to that, because I remember thinking: if I can just get —" and then you fill in the blank. It could be a date, a spouse, a material possession, a job. If I could just get out of school — and then you get out of school and you're working, and you're thinking, what in the world was I thinking? If I just get that, I'll be happy.
In your heart, you realize it. And you have two choices at that moment. You can say, "I'm learning from this, and I'm learning that I'm never going to find it." Or you can say, "I guess I just didn't have enough." Those are your two choices. Solomon could not be more clear: it's meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless.
Remember Your Creator While You Are Young
There is a meaningful turn in chapter 12. He says, "Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you say, I have no delight in them." Ray Stedman says Solomon is making a clear appeal here to young people to think carefully about the Creator — daily about God's presence, living in relationship with Him, and discovering the greatness and the glories of God.
We believe at East Valley Bible Church what the Bible teaches: that God is sovereign, that God is the one who saves, and that there are indeed people whom He saves later in life. But it seems the majority of those who ultimately move into the kingdom of God tend to do so when they are younger.
To demonstrate this — and this is not meant to embarrass anyone, there should be nothing embarrassing here — consider this. Those of you who know Christ and would say Jesus is my Savior: how many of you were 60 or older when God touched your heart and saved you? How many between 50 and 60? A few hands. How about 40 to 50? A few more. How about 30 to 40? How about 20 to 30? How about before age 20? Look at that. God is sovereign, and you could say that's not scientific and there are all sorts of explanations. Yes, there is an explanation. God tends to work when people are younger.
The Wisdom of Growing Old
It is never too late. But now Solomon talks about growing old. Reading from Eugene Peterson's *The Message*, verses 1 through 8: "Honor and enjoy your Creator while you're still young, before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes, before your vision dims and the world blurs, and the winter keeps you close to the fire. In old age, your body no longer serves you well. Muscles slacken, grips weaken, joints stiffen, the shades are pulled down on the world. You can't come and go at will, you're not driving at night. Things grind to a halt, the hum of the household fades."
I love this next part: you are wakened now by a bird's song. I said to Susan the other day that I would love to buy a gun and shoot these birds — they drive me nuts. How is it that we never had any birds in the world until the last three or four years, and now they are all at my house? You could put a freight train through that house in the old days and you could not wake me up, and now the air conditioner kicks on and I am up for half an hour.
The passage continues: "Hikes to the mountain are a thing of the past, even a stroll down the road has its terrors. Your hair turns apple blossom white. You're adorning a fragile and impotent matchstick body. Yes, you're well on your way to eternal rest while your friends make plans for your funeral. Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over. Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, then it ends. The body is back to the same ground it came from. The spirit returns to God who first breathed it." Verse 8: "Smoke, it's all smoke, nothing but smoke."
The Bookends of Ecclesiastes
If you go back to chapter 1, verse 2, Solomon says, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Then if you go to chapter 12, verse 8, he bookends the entire book, saying it again: "Vanity of vanity, all is vanity." All of it is fading away. Life under the sun makes absolutely no sense. We are never going to figure it out on our own. We need wisdom, and the question is: where do we find it?
Verse 9 tells us: "In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge. And he pondered and searched out and arranged many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly. The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails, and they are given by one Shepherd." What Solomon is saying here is that these ideas do not originate with him — they come from God.
The Bible as God's Word
This book, the Bible, is inspired by God. Second Timothy 3:16 tells us: "All Scripture is inspired by God. It's good for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness." The Bible is the book that allows us to look at life and understand it in the midst of all our confusion. It is our true north, telling us what is right and what is not right, how to get right and how to stay right.
The Bible is not simply written by a group of men. It is written by a group of men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And it has the ability to cut right through all of our defenses. Hebrews 4:12 says: "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from it." From a paraphrase: "God means what He says. What He says goes. His word is as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, and laying us open to listen and obey."
A Personal Encounter with the Word
I remember when I went to that first Bible study. I walked into that room, and though there were 40 or 50 men present, when Larry began to preach, it was as though it was just the two of us there. I was pretty confident that Susan had no idea I was going to that study, and even if she did, she did not know Larry at all. But somehow, Larry spoke in a way that just laid me flat. I could not figure it out at the time, but I came to realize what had happened: it was one of those wonderful, precious experiences where the Word of God is taken by the Spirit of God and applied to a heart. And that hard, embittered, angry heart is turned into a heart of flesh.
The Word is good for correction, but it is not about guilt. I had guilt on me — I went to Catholic grade school, high school, and college, educated by the most misnamed group of people in the history of the world, the Sisters of Mercy. I never saw mercy from these ladies in my whole life. If guilt was going to do it, it would have done it right there. If being in church was going to do it, I was in church my whole life.
The Moment the Spirit Opens Your Eyes
But there is that moment in time — some of you have experienced it — when the Spirit of God takes hold of your heart. You are looking at all of this and saying it does not make any sense. And then, all of a sudden, in a moment, He opens your eyes and you realize: I do not have all the answers, but I know the God who does, and He communicates to me very clearly.
He tells us that the problem with our lives is us. The problem is our sin. The problem is the condition of our hearts. It is not that we are sexually active, or doing drugs, or cheating, or lying, or stealing — those are all symptoms of the deeper problem. We can get some measure of control over those symptoms and the problem still does not go away, because the real problem is a hard heart. The real problem is a heart that is set against God. And the only answer to that is —
Fear God and Keep His Commands
Maybe the Spirit of God is opening your heart today, right now. Or you came in saying you don't buy any of this. Over the last three or four weeks, we are seeing a large number of visitors, which often happens in summer. Many of you are bringing friends, and you may be here today because someone brought you and you came with all sorts of different expectations. You might have come because they promised to take you to lunch and you'll do anything for a meal.
You came with some sort of preconceived notion. You may have thought, "I don't need religion. I'm not looking for religion." Well, neither are we. We are not looking for some sort of method and system and a bunch of dos and don'ts. We are looking for a way to live life not under the sun, but in right relationship with the Son, Jesus Christ.
Solomon's Conclusion
That is exactly how Solomon closes this book. In chapter 12, he says here is the conclusion: when all has been heard, everything said. He has already warned, by the way, against just reading and reading and studying endlessly, saying, "I'm going to explore all the Scriptures."
I remember the first time I met with Larry. I said to him, "What you say is compelling, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to read all the great books — the Koran, Confucius, the Book of Mormon, the Bible to be sure, and others. I'm just going to research them all." He said, "That's a great idea. Why don't you start with the Gospel of John?" I did, and it had absolutely no impact on me. I wouldn't love to say the doors of heaven opened — I read it and thought, "I don't get it."
But I never got to any of those other books. I started listening to people who had read them, and they would say, "This is a great book, but it has a couple of errors in it." And no one has ever found errors in this book. All of a sudden, because I had this driving question in my life — and it sounds really simplistic — it was this: if there's a God, and if there's a heaven, how can I get there? You can't get any more selfish than that, but that is all I was looking for.
Then all of a sudden I realized, yes, there is a God, and yes, He has spoken, and yes, this is the Word. Life is an open book test, and He is going to tell me what needs to happen for me to go to heaven.
What It Means to Fear God
Here is what He says, and it is the same thing here: fear God and keep His commandments. Fear God — understand who He is, come into that right relationship with Him.
I am about to do something that is corny, but bear with me. That word "fear" — F is for faith: faith in the existence of God. I would add to it the believing of this Word. E is for experiencing His grace. Here is what I am learning in my life, and I am never going to get this fully figured out, because I flip to legalism and judgmentalism and harshness very quickly. I am a harsh, critical, judgmental person — you all know that.
But here is what I understand: what separates biblical Christianity from everything else is one word — grace. And that is not a license to sin. When I think about grace, when I think about some of the things that cross my mind in the course of a day, some of the things I do that I know God hates, and yet in the midst of all of this I know I am His child — I know it all through experiencing His grace, His mercy, His love, His forgiveness. For whatever reason, He has decided not to cast me off, but to call me His child.
A is for the awe and the majesty of God. As Tim Keller says, the clues that God has left all over. I do meet people periodically who say they don't believe in God, and I am fine if you say that. But I honestly do not know how you can look around and not believe there is a Creator. We might not get to the God questions right away, but how can you look around and not see the clues that are all around you? And R is for resolve — to obey His Word. Faith, experience, awe, resolve: the fear of God. Fear God, and then do what He says.
Judgment to Come
Understand this: God will bring every act to judgment — everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. There is judgment ahead, and there are two kinds.
There is judgment for those who do not know Christ. That is the judgment we read about in Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 through 15, where there is the resurrection of the dead. The books are opened and the Book of Life is opened, and if my name is not in it, I am plunged into the lake of fire forever.
And there is another judgment — for those of us who know Christ. It is not a judgment of our sin and the penalty of our sin, for Christ already paid that. Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 9 says, "Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be compensated for the deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad."
That word "good or bad" is not used in a moral sense. It carries the idea of the things we have done that are beneficial and worthwhile in God's economy, not in man's. There is a time where we will stand before God, and there is this moment of recognition — for what He has done in our lives and what we have done with the gift He has given us. This might surprise you, and you may not even believe it, but if you have been listening, you should be able to say, yes, that is right.
Enjoying Life as God's Gift
Seven times Solomon tells us that part of our answer here in life is to have fun and enjoy life, because God gave it to us. He is clear: if you want to live apart from Him, you are never going to find it. But if you know Him, part of being here is enjoying the things He has given you, the blessings He has given to us. That is what we are here for, and it is only possible through a right relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Great Equalizer
Is life filled with things that do not seem fair? The great equalizer is not death — we will all experience that — but the great equalizer is judgment. God says, "I'll take care of that. Don't be worried about how these things are unfair to you. I'll handle it." That is a great thought.
Closing and What Is Next
I hope you have enjoyed that study in the book of Ecclesiastes. Over the next five weeks we will be looking at the book of 1 Peter, starting next Sunday. You may want to go ahead and read ahead to begin that study.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You. Thank You that we can find life in this world because we know You through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for the blessings You have given us, and thank You for the reality that apart from You, everything is meaningless, but with You we can understand life — life begins to make sense.
I pray for those who came in today who were especially questioning, wondering, and hurting. God, I pray that in Your Son Jesus they would find answers. That they would simply deal with the fact that Jesus was dead and now He is alive — that He rose from the dead — and that that alone should cause us to stop and say we had better listen to Him and see what He has to say. And here is what He said: "You find life in Me and nowhere else. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." God, make that real to us.
Thank You for the men and women who are here today. I pray for the kids and the teachers who are starting school tomorrow and over the next couple of weeks. This is a huge time. God, I pray that You would give teachers clarity of thought and that students would be focused and would understand that the classroom is important. I also pray that both teachers and students, as they head back to school, would understand that it is their mission field — that if they claim Jesus, they need to live it on that campus. God, they need Your strength to do that, just as we all do in our own lives. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.