Better Instructions: To sum it up
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Intro into conclusion
Intro into conclusion
What a journey we have had going through this wisdom literature for application. And the application is apparent in this passage tonight.
Someone once said that life is like a school, except sometime we don’t know there is a test until after we fail the test or pass it. sometimes we don’t know the lessons learned until after the fact. God teaches in many fashions and many ways, primarily through His Word. He has spoken through creation, through history, through life experiences. Some lessons are hard to learn, some fun to learn, some we don’t learn well and have to repeat them.
When have you learned some of the best lessons you have in life?
In our passage tonight, in the conclusion, in the summing up everything, we will see:
Solomon in his teaching was wise (Ecc12:9; ref 1Kng3:3-28)
Solomon the wisest man who ever lived according to 1Kng3 passage> wisdom from above. Wisdom that he used to rule the people, but also wisdom to search out and check things out. He studied many things and many things you can find written in Proverbs.
Solomon in his teaching was orderly (Ecc12:9; 1Cor14:33)
Solomon weighed his investigations carefully but also arranged things in an orderly fashion. For we know God is not the God of confusion (1Cor14:33) and Solomon using
33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Solomon in his teaching was careful and truthful (Ecc12:10 Pro8:6-11)
He used pleasing and acceptable words that were gracious . He did not compromise the truth, he did not flatter the people, but was honest, he upheld words of truth
6 “Listen, for I will speak noble things; And the opening of my lips will reveal right things. 7 “For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
Pro
8 “All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing crooked or perverted in them. 9 “They are all straightforward to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge.
Pro8:
10 “Take my instruction and not silver, And knowledge rather than choicest gold. 11 “For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her.
Solomon claims his words are inspired (Ecc12:11; 2Tim3:16; 2Pt1:20-21)
Inspired, meaning by the Holy Spirit as noted in 2Tim3:16 and then look at 2Pt1:20-21
20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Now let us look at the passage
Having said all that, now let’s look at the passage and see if what I said is true.
8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”
9 In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.
11 The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.
13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
Restated purpose
Restated purpose
To sum up all things, to conclude, maybe we better take a minute and look at what the purpose is this is all written.
He has repeated the theme throughout the book, can you remember it (hint, hint look at (Ecc1:2)
In his search to confirm his thesis
Vanity of pleasure (Ecc2:1)
Vanity of labor (Ecc2:11, 2:22-23, 4:4)
Vanity of human wisdom (Ecc2:15)
Vanity of life as a whole (Ecc2:17)
Vanity of leaving an inheritance (Ecc2:18-21)
In his own words of wisdom and his counsel
Vanity of life (earthly life) (Ecc3:19-21)
Vanity of acquiring riches (Ecc4:7—8)
Vanity of popularity (Ecc4:16)
Vanity of dreams and many words (Ecc5:7)
Vanity of love of possessions (Ecc5:10)
Vanity of not being grateful for Gods gifts to enjoy (Ecc6:2)
whew what a list, but that is not all of Solomon restating, proving out his thesis
Vanity of souls desire (Ecc6:9)
Vanity of foolish laughter (Ecc7:6)
Vanity of the injustices of this life (Ecc8:14)
Vanity of the days of darkness (Ecc11:8)
Finally, vanity of childhood/youth (Ecc11:10)
May we remember “context, context, context” He is viewing things as, well let me give you a passage or two so you can see his view.
3 What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?
How about
9 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.
Did you get it? What is it?
He is looking at everything from a view of things “under the sun” with no view of God, so from an earthly perspective. Also no view of the eternal, no afterlife so there is no advantage to wisdom over folly (Ecc2:15-16) No difference between man and animals (Ecc3:19-21) and there is no reward for the dead for they are forgotten (Ecc9:5-6)
Now, if that was only view, if only looked at things that way, then everything is vanity of vanities. But still true wisdom presses on to teach the truth. For we all have to deal with the vanity of life. It did not stop Solomon, and it should not stop us, his work continued as should ours, so may we press on to the next section.
Sum of all things
Sum of all things
The epilogue: a section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what has happened. This section will tells us what he continued to do.
He continued to teach (Ecc12:9-10)
On safe side, let me give you you the passage again
9 In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.
His conclusion did not lead to him to inactivity at all
His conclusion did not lead to him to inactivity at all
May we, regardless of response be willing to be active and not in despair and this life can be discouraging under the sun can’t it?
Words of wisdom, right study, have great value (Ecc12:11-12)
11 The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.
What kind of words were used? (Goads; nails)
Goads: To provoke, to annoy, to drive, to urge with a prod. Or maybe think of it as prodding our thinking, to move us in the right direction.
Nails, what are nails used for? To provide stability to hold things together. Right words used to hold us and things together.
What kind of words (nails, goads)? Ones from the One Shepherd, the true Shepherd the Great Shepherd.
Study is good of the right things, but too much study can weary the soul. We need to pick and chose the books in which we chose to read, chose to study, for not all knowledge is beneficial.
Warren Wiersbe said this
“Don’t test God’s truth by many books written by men; test men’s books by the truth of God’s Word.”
Life is a school, school is in session and here is the good part about this school under the sun we have the answers needed for the test.
Wisdom instructions for application
Wisdom instructions for application
What good are instructions if they are not applied? What good is the book if we don’t have something we are to do with it? We know the “vanity of vanities” of life under the sun. Solomon tells us now what to do with our life under the sun.
13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
OK, what are the instructions that you see?
May we remember our life is a gift from God (Act17:24-28)
24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;
26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’
One day we will give an account (Ecc12:14; Rom14:12)
12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
So here is the whole duty of man (Ecc12:13; KJV)
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Fear God (Ecc12:13; Pro1:7; Pro9:10)
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
add this
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Keep His commandments (Ecc13:4; Jn14:15; 1Jn2:3-4)
Reference only jn14:15
3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
Why? Here is the purpose of life (Pro22:4)
4 The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches, honor and life.
THere you want to have meaning, want to have purpose? read, study and know the right conclusion and application of God’s Wisdom given. We can live and endure and even enjoy life under the sun. The man who does can look at Ps112 and know God is with him and will be with him.
1 Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who greatly delights in His commandments. 2 His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness endures forever. 4 Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment. 6 For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever.
7 He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. 8 His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries.
9 He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor. 10 The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.
May we continue to seek, continue to study, the words of truth for us to apply for our living under the sun.
(encouragement slide) prayer (Exit slide)
(