A Fulfilled Life | Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Gary Hamrick

for today we're here in Ecclesiastes chapter 11 but let's first pause and have a word of Prayer father in heaven were just grateful that we can call you our Father that we can settle our hearts now as we just humble ourselves before you and your word as we learn in these concluding chapters what Solomon finally comes to realize as he writes by inspiration of the Spirit the epilogue to the book of Ecclesiastes so lord help us to receive to hear and to apply your word in our own lives we love you and give you praise glory honor and thanks in Jesus name we pray and everyone said amen well we come now to the epilogue of the book of Ecclesiastes where Solomon summarizes all his observations about life and God into a final conclusion now before we can really unpack this final conclusion for the sake of those of you who are just now joining us or recently joined us in the study of Ecclesiastes let me just kind of give the quick backdrop before we can appreciate the the epilogue to the book of Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes is a journal of an old King King Solomon who was the third king of Israel he reigned in Jerusalem around the years 950 to 935 BC so almost 3,000 years ago and when Solomon became king of Israel he was very young most Bible scholars believe he was about 17 or 18 years of age when he became King following the death of his father David Josephus the 1st century historian actually gives them a younger age of the age of 14 regardless he's young he barely has his driver's license and now he's in charge of the most powerful kingdom on the planet and so he prays to God and asked for wisdom and because he didn't ask for selfish things God gives him wisdom and so much more in the early part of Solomon's life he uses the wisdom that God gave him and he uses it well and he writes the book of but later on in his life he squanders that wisdom largely due to the influence of his pagan wives he has 700 pagan wives and 300 concubines who were also pagan and then by the way I don't know if you know this later he'll join Willie Nelson and write a song to all the pagan girls I loved before who travelled in and out my palace door I learned their pagan ways they left me in a daze to all the pagan girls I loved before all on it goes anyway it was a real hit back in the day but the pagan women that he married and fell in love with or lusted after turned the Bible says turned his heart really away from God towards false gods as a result late in his life he he's not in a good place in his relationship with God and he trades the wisdom of God for the folly of man and he trades a relationship with God for an adventure a journey of trying to find fulfilment without God and so he tries to find fulfillment in the four WS wine women work in wealth but all those things turned out to be empty experiences for him sure sin is fun for season he had a good time for a little while but at the end of his days he realized all those things that I thought would bring fulfillment success satisfaction in my life ended up really being meaningless without God in the equation and that's why 38 times in the book of Ecclesiastes he uses the word meaningless some of your translations say vanity it's a Hebrew word heaven meaning mist vapor or smoke because he's basically making the point throughout this whole book that life without God is a life without substance it's like trying to grasp smoke there's no substance there and so he came to that painful conclusion and by the way that is the painful conclusion that a lot of people in life have come to you've tried everything you have searched for happiness fulfillment satisfaction and just about everything but you haven't found it because you haven't found the Lord and until you surrender your life to him you're gonna be on this miserable journey of grabbing at this grabbing at that grabbing at something else too to bring satisfaction to your life but it's like vapor it's like mist it's like smoke it's meaningless without God good news is that it appears at the end of Solomon's life he comes full circle back to God now Bible scholars are divided on this how you interpret the last part of chapter 12 the epilogue of this book but I believe that by the way that Solomon writes he's not just writing something theoretical he's writing something exponential he comes to the place where he realizes that there are things in life that just don't provide the real fulfillment and meaning like a relationship with God and that he comes full circle and he writes in his concluding remarks here about the most important thing he summarizes everything he makes final observations about life and God and he says alright I've come to the conclusion here's the full duty of man there's a few things you need to realize about life take it from a guy this is basically what Solomon says take it from a guy who's done this done that experienced everything was the wealthiest man on the planet at the time most powerful man a man on the planet at the time and and I got the t-shirt to prove it all and yet I was empty without God so I've come to some conclusion and it appears to me that he comes full circle I'm giving Solomon a benefit of the doubt again some Bible scholars are would disagree with me on this but I think that when you read the conclusion Solomon comes full circle and comes back to God which is an important conclusion because that also is the story of a lot of people not only have a lot of people realized how meaningless and empty life is when they try to find fulfillment apart from God but that they can come to God and get right with God and find the fullness of life in knowing him and that's I think how Solomon ends this book now before we read his final conclusion in the last few verses of chapter 12 I want to first draw your attention to the last few verses of chapter 11 because in chapter 11 he has some parting advice to young people and the point that he's going to make here at the end of chapter 11 to young people is this enjoy life while you're young because you're gonna get old and die that's what he really says here not you know I and again look things haven't changed in 3,000 years he's saying to young people wake up I know this is hard for you to imagine but you're gonna grow old and die one day and I know the same is true today for the teenagers and twenty-somethings in the house I know it seems very foreign to you the concept that you're gonna grow old but if you live long enough you will and it'll creep on it'll creep up on you like an old pair of underwear I mean it know it will and you you will suddenly begin to realize I'm not young anymore and you know and from a guy who's not young anymore I'm a grandpa twice over now okay I I know it it happens all right your mind is not quite as sharp as it used to be yeah I don't need a show of hands but I can tell you there's plenty of people in this room that would testify they couldn't find their car in the parking lot and so they use their alarm on their key fob to find it am i right it's true no no you don't want to admit it but you're out in the parking lot weird word in the world that I parked my car bbl there it is it happens you get old you start to forget things you repeat yourself you forget things you repeat yourself and physically things start to break down I've traded my six-pack abs for 2-liter abs I've got more roles in a bakery now I boarded a plane the other day and I asked the flight attendant can you tell me where my seat is she looked at me said about three inches lower than where it was last year go with me come on I barked at her for that response and then she shoved me into an overhead compartment and I too soon is that too soon all right just remember I'm old so just dismiss me well Solomon then throws a curve ball to the young people after he says hey enjoy life while you're young look here chapter 11 verse 9 chapter 11 verse 9 be happy young man while you are young and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see and then here's a curveball but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment ha ha ha ha that's how he heads it he said I can't young people listen up listen to an old guy enjoy life do whatever your heart once but by the way God's gonna judge you have a good day and what he's really trying to express through that is enjoy life while you're young while you're able and don't do what I did that's really what he's saying here what he's saying is don't do what I did enjoy life while you're young but don't do what I did don't pursue pleasure to the exclusion of God pursue God and then you will understand how fulfilling life can really be that's what he's trying to say here like enjoy life when you're young yeah but God's going to judge you at the end so make sure you're really pursuing him because in him you'll have real enjoyment and satisfaction in life now look that's that's not just Christian ease I know some people can say well you know pastor G that's what we would expect you to say you're a pastor so if you really pursue God then you'll really enjoy life to its fullest that's not Christian ease friends I can tell you I talked to enough people I've seen the hurt the shame the guilt in people's lives when they try to live life apart from doing life God's Way you know take just the topic of sex for example when you pursue God you understand pursuing God means doing things God's Way well God said in Scripture that he gave sex is a wonderful gift to be enjoyed in the context of a marriage between a man and a woman that's it all right and when you experience it got the way God designed it you will experience it in the fullest way possible but when instead you decide you're smarter than God and nobody actually says that but they prove it by the way they live if you think you're smarter than God I'm just gonna go and sleep with my boyfriend I'm gonna sleep with my girlfriend I'm gonna cheat on my wife is gonna cheat on my husband I'm gonna watch porn I'm gonna do the way I want to do it I can tell you the number of people that I've ministered to over the years who in response to that have been left with shame and guilt and regret disease unplanned pregnancies sorrow betrayal I mean the list goes on it's not just Christianese what we're saying is when you live life the way God designed it it goes better for you it just does and when you decide you're smarter than God and you want to live life the way you jolly will want it won't go as well for you it'll be more miserable the Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard and by the way even in that example of the right way or the wrong way to use the gift of sex that God is given even in using it the wrong way there's forgiveness Jesus died for that in a cross okay there's forgiveness for all of that but but why would you want to incur the difficulty by willingly violate God's Way why not prevent the heartache why not enjoy life to its fullest when we enjoy life God's intended way so Solomon is like here in chapter 11 and 12 he's like hey enjoy life to its fullest while you're still young and able and the way to do that is this chapter 12 verse 1 remember your Creator in the days of your youth remember your Creator in the days of your youth the title of my message today is keys to a fulfilling life keys to a fulfilling life because that's the conclusion that Sodom is going to come to he's like I've tried everything and now I realized that the only way to have a fulfilling life is to live my life in some simple ways and he gives us three imperatives here in Chapter 12 this is the first one remember your Creator remember your Creator now I love the way that Solomon intentionally refers to God as creator of all the hundreds of names and titles for God in the Bible he chooses the word creator he's purposeful about this he's saying not just to the young people although that's the context what he's saying to all of us here's some good advice you want to have a fulfilling life remember your Creator you know you know the one who spoke the universe into existence that one you know the one who flung the Stars into outer space and calls them each by name that one the one who controls the Seas and the winds that one the one who says to ocean waves you can come this far and no farther that's the one I want you to remember creator God because that's the one who was ruler and sovereign and powerful over everything and everyone and once you remember creator God he's using a title for God because God is powerful and majestic and mighty and sovereign he's creator Solomon says remember creator god I think he learned a good lesson in this regard from his own father this David would write in Psalm eight verses three and four David would say when I consider your heavens Lord the work of your fingers the moon and the stars that you have set in place what it's man that you were mindful of him the Son of man that you care for him Solomon's father David would say when I consider creation and the creator behind creation man it makes me realize just how small I am but in my insignificance I'm not insignificant to God what is man that Lord you creator are mindful of him the Son of man that you care for him David writes in that passage in Psalm 8:3 and for about the Creator God who was the one who is the creator of universe creator of all things and yet that creator God cares about you loves you sent his son to die for you Solomon says I want you to remember that God I want you to remember a Creator God who holds the universe in place in the palm of his hand that's the same creator God who's going to hold your life together in the palm of his hand remember creator god and remembering creator God means that you basically that you lead a God focused God surrendered life that's what he's saying creator God on the throne creator God over all the universe Creator God over my life that we are to lead a God focused God surrendered life and then Solomon goes on here in Chapter 12 to give a very colorful and poetic description of aging it's a very poetic description of aging again for you young people this is this is something you have to look forward to and so I'm gonna I'm gonna go through chapter 12 I'm gonna kind of just translate the poetry because again it this is a very colorful description of aging so here in chapter 12 verse 1 remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come and the years approached when you will say I find no pleasure in them before the Sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark and the clouds return after the rain translation he says remember your Creator God before the lights go out and before that the gloomy season of life sets in verse 3 says when the keepers at the house tremble talking about your arms and strong men's stoop talking about your shoulders before you get weak arms and stooped shoulders remember creator God when the grinders cease because they are few talking about your teeth he says some point you're gonna lose a few teeth remember creator-god before your grinder cease and they are few and those looking through the windows grow dim talking about dimmed eyesight verse four well the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades talking about your mouth is closed you lose your appetite when men rise up at the sound of birds but all their songs grow faint talking about when you become a hard-of-hearing when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets they're older you get you tend to become a little more fearful about things he says when the almond tree blossoms you ever seen an almond tree in full blossom it's like snow white so it's a it's a euphemism for white hair and then and then I love this rest of verse five and the grasshopper drags himself along grasshopper were like bent knees talk about bent knees just kind of dragging yourself along you can eventually become like that when we age and desire no longer stirred talks about decreased libido the older you get he says the man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets then you die and people mourn your death verse six remember him he says it again remember creator God before the silver cord is severed again that's poetry for the spinal cord or the Golden Bowl is broken it's poetry for your skull before the pitcher is shattered at the spring the pitcher is what draws something it's talking about your lungs or the wheel broken at the well the wheels a poetic term for the heart that pumps that pumps the Wow that pumps the blood and the dust returns to the ground it came from and the spirit returns to the God who gave it meaningless meaningless says the teacher everything is meaningless he says you got to remember God in all this because if you just live life and go from your youth to your autumn years and just died what a life that has no substance remember creator God and then Solomon comes to this conclusion about everything with two more imperatives for all of us young and old look now the final few verses of chapter 12 verse 13 now all has been heard and here is the conclusion of the matter fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man for God will bring every deed into judgment including every hidden thing whether it is good or evil so he gives us two more imperatives here number one was remember God but now hear his concluding remarks in verse 13 is fear God fear God now a lot of people over the years have asked me what does that really mean to fear God to fear the Lord and one of the best passages I think in the Bible that helps us to understand this is found actually in the Old Testament it's an Exodus chapter 20 now before I quote the verse let me set the scene in Exodus chapter 20 this is a chapter where Moses goes up on Mount Sinai receives the Ten Commandments from God the Bible tells us in Exodus 19 and 20 that God has revealed himself in very awesome spectacular ways on Mount Sinai through lightning thunder smoke fire the earth is trembling and the Israelites are at the base camp at the base of Mount Sinai and Moses comes down with the ten commandments and they're afraid it says literally that they are afraid of God because of the sights and the sounds of smoke and the the trembling ground and the fire and the lightning and just all of this and Moses then says to them this in Exodus 20 verse 20 he said to the people do not be afraid God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning all right now wait a minute almost sounds like a contradiction in the same verse Moses says don't be afraid of God I want you to fear God so that you won't sin well which is it is it don't be afraid of God or that fear god Moses yes so here's the deal a healthy fear of God depends on a healthy view of God if you don't have the right view of God you won't understand the right way to fear God so for some people the wrong view of God is that God is always angry God is vengeful God is gods always having a bad day didn't get his cup of coffee in the morning and just wants to nail somebody almost with delight and that's the way some people view God it's just angry vindictive just wants to punish somebody as a result when you have that view of God the fear of God means that you don't even want to approach him you're scared of in you you don't want to draw near to him you're afraid of him whereas if you have a healthy view of God that God is just and God is perfect and God is holy God is righteous God is pure and God is loving which is why he gave His Son Jesus dinah cross for our sins when you understand the balance that he is just and righteous but he's also loving and compassionate then the right view of God makes you want to run to God when you sin because the fear of God means I don't want to do anything to disappoint or dishonor God and I'm cut to the heart when I have a right fear of God that my sin is displeasing to God and dishonouring to God and so I'm cut to the heart with my own sinfulness in my own behavior my own thoughts but instead of running from God I understand that as well as being a just and holy God he's also a loving compassionate God so I run to him because I find forgiveness in his loving arms that's a healthy view of God it's a right view of God frankly words can't really capture this whole term the fear of God the Bible is replete with examples of living and walking in the fear of God but I all for you just a very inferior definition here but it is it is having a deep and profound unmatched reverence and respect for Almighty God it is holding him in the highest sacred regard and because of that see that motivates us to write living because then we don't want to dishonor God we don't want to sin against God we don't want to displease God and we know that he's just and righteous but we also know he's loving and compassionate so it is a motivation for me not to sin but it is also a reminder to me that I can run to him because he's my loving father acts 9 verse 31 says this that the early church was strengthened and encouraged by the holy spirit and grew in numbers and in the fear of the Lord that's acts 9:31 the early church strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit they grew in numbers and in the fear of the Lord God help us if we as a church are only about growing in numbers and not about growing into fear of the Lord we need to be people who understand a right and holy reverence for God we need to be people who live in the fear of the Lord this is the very fear of God that in Exodus chapter 3 caused Moses to take off his sandals missie he was standing in the presence of a holy majestic God this is the same fear of God in mark chapter 4 that tells us that when Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee that the fear of the Lord filled the disciples hearts and they asked among themselves who is this that even calms the Seas and the winds this is the same fear of God in the Gospel of Luke that one of the thieves on one side of Jesus said to another thief on another's on the other side of Jesus being crucified with him when the one thief mocked Jesus the other thief it says said to that mocking thief do you not fear God this man is innocent he's done nothing wrong but we deserve this punishment and to that one Jesus promised eternal life that he would be with him in paradise fear of God must be recaptured in the life of a believer we can't just walk glibly and carelessly in the sight and in the presence of a holy and majestic God he is worthy of our praise he is to be revered he is to be honored he is to be loved he is to be cherished and respected with deep reverence we were to walk in the fear of God Solomon also adds another imperative year also in the same verse not only remember your Creator God number two fear God number three keep God's commandments keep God's commandments friends people who say they love God but don't do what God says are either ignorant or disobedient one or the other people go around saying I love God but they don't obey what God says in his word then they're either ignorant or disobedient now if you're disobedient meaning you know what God says and you willfully are doing the opposite then the solution is you need to call it a sin own it and repent of it that's how you get right with God you're living in disobedience you get convicted by what God says you know his Commandments and so you repent of your sin you get right with God but for those of you who are ignorant who don't understand maybe you're new to the faith or maybe you're even here today visiting because you don't even understand the whole thing of Christianity of being a Christ follower and what does all that mean for you let me just quote the words of Jesus who said in John 14 verse 15 if you love me if you love me you will obey what I command if you love me you will obey what I command and he adds in John 14 24 he who does not love me will not obey my teaching John would say in 1st John 5 verse 3 this is love for God that we obey his commands and he adds and his commands are not burdensome why are god's commands not burdensome when you have the right understanding of god's commands here's the reason why the commandments of god are lining up god's people with the way that he designed the universe and designed life that's what God's commandments do they are to line up people according to the way that God designed life and God designed the universe see God is for us he wants his best for us so because he designed life and he designed the universe he says now this is the way that I want you to live so that you enjoy life to its fullest because since I'm kind of the one this is I'm paraphrasing what God says in Scripture overall since I'm kind of the one that designed life and designed the universe if you really want to enjoy life to its fullest then live life the way that I prescribed so when we follow his commands we enjoy life because we do it the way God says so we can enjoy life to its fullest and this is an important aspect about Commandments and it can't be separated from the love of God you can't go around saying well I love God but then you just disregard what he says among his Commandments I said God God has not up in heaven for those of you who are unfamiliar with with Scripture and God God's not up in the heavens with a thunderbolt just ready to light somebody up okay I know some people have this view of God it's not an accurate view of God don't think if God is just up in the heavens with a thunderbolt ready to light somebody up he has given his commands not to rob you but to lead you in the fullness of his joy and for those of you have tried life yourself with you and command long enough and you realize well how's that working out for you then how about letting God be in command of your life and see how much better it would go because when you start putting God's commandments in place in your life you will begin to realize how much better life works and how much God is for you and loves you and once is best for you because when you do life God's Way it brings God great glory and it brings you great joy that's why his commands are not burdensome everybody understand this let me say something here cultural Christianity cultural Christianity basically says just throw Jesus in the back seat bring them along for the ride culture christianity basically says just add Jesus to what you're doing add Jesus to the way you talk add Jesus to the places you go add Jesus to the way you live your life then once in a while tweet out a Bible verse and give money to support a clean water initiative somewhere eat free-range chicken and vape instead of smoke but you don't really need to do what Jesus says that's cultural Christianity that's not biblical Christianity biblical Christianity is not for the faint of heart biblical Christianity is a life that is a life of surrender it's when you surrender your will your thoughts your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ it's where you determine I'm gonna die to myself every day I'm gonna take up my cross I'm gonna follow Jesus and I'm gonna go even as that him says I'm gonna follow him even if no one else comes with me still I will follow no turning back no turning back Jesus is either your Lord or he's not but there's no in-between if you want a fulfilled life remember creator God fear God and keep his Commandments and it'll go well with you sure there's gonna be some hard times in life but God is faithful to his word and he will never leave you and he will never forsake you I dare you I double dog dare you remember your Creator fear God and follow his Commandments and see how it'll go for your life if you're tired of doing life your way how about letting God be in charge and see what a difference it'll make can we all stand for a closing prayer father in heaven we remember you as creator God that you were supreme and sovereign over the universe and over our lives can we trust you help us to grow in the fear of God forgive us when we are glib careless unconcerned about who you are but may we develop with them deep in our souls a deep unmatched reverence and respect for who you are [Applause] [Music] you are both just righteous and loving and compassionate stir within us the fear of God and may we be men and women and young people who obey what you say even when it's not convenient or comfortable may we take your word to heart and realize that you're for us you're not against us you're not trying to rob us of joy you're trying to lead us into joy and we will find fulfillment in life even as Solomon concludes when we remember our Creator when we fear God and when we keep your commands this is the whole duty of man we're challenged by this Lord but we thank you that your gracious God will help us in this way and with your eyes still closed and heads bowed before we leave this place if you don't know for sure that you're right with God get right with them right now and the way you get right with him is to accept Christ as your Savior Jesus died on a cross for you because he loves you every sinful wicked thing you and I have ever done said or thought Jesus died for so why don't you surrender your life to Him and make today the first day that you really remember your Creator fear God and obey his commands if you don't know Christ as your Savior I'm gonna lead you in a prayer right where you're standing you can pray this prayer with me I'll go slowly you can just repeat it after me just pray this prayer to him just say Lord Jesus I thank you that you died on a cross for me because you loved me so much and I know you want your best for me forgive me when I thought I knew better I surrender my life to you right now and I confess with my mouth Jesus is Lord because I want you to take over my life I want to obey you follow your commands I want to fear you in a healthy right way and I want to always remember that you were supreme as creator over my life so come into my heart Jesus forgive me of my sins and changed me from the inside I'm tired of living life my own way it's been meaningless today I surrender to you by faith in Jesus name

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 9,595

Keywords: remember, Fear, Cornerstone Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Creator, obey, Calvary Chapel, commandments

Id: b40Z8Bnh5kw

Length: 36min 27sec (2187 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2019