How to Live in a World Where Death is Certain and Life Isn't

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

November 17, 2019 • Pastor Charlie Bailey

I don’t know why the Lord wired me this way, but I have just never been a big fan of country music. However, every now and then, there is a song that is a little more bearable than the others. As I was studying this week’s passage, I kept thinking of a Tim McGraw song called, Live Like You Were Dying. The song is about a man who receives a cancer diagnosis and, upon learning that his time in now limited, decides to make the most of the time that he has left. I mention that song title because it could serve as a great sermon title today for Ecclesiastes 9:1-12, where Solomon basically teaches us how to live in a world where death is certain and life is uncertain.

[1] 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. [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. [4] But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. [5] For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. [6] Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

[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.

[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. (Ecclesiastes 9:1–12 ESV). In this text, Solomon is first going to give us two reasons why we should live like we were dying and then he is going to tell us how to live like we were dying.

I. Under the Sun, Death is Certain (Ecclesiastes 9:2-6)

The first reason we should live like we were dying is simply because, in some sense, we are. Verses 2-6 (as well as the whole chapter) are about how “the same event happens to all,” whether you are righteous, wicked, good, evil, clean, unclean, religious, irreligious, moral, immoral, etc. The event he is talking about is death (3b). Sooner or later, death comes for all of us. And while we may not know when we are going to die, we can rest assured that it is going to happen and that we are closer to it today than when we started the book of Ecclesiastes!

Notice here that Solomon calls death “an evil” that happens under the sun. In other words, death is not neutral or natural. Death is evil, and the Bible goes on to call death an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26). If you are familiar with the Bible, then you know that this evil enemy entered the world as a consequence of our sin and rebellion, which is why David Gibson says that “death is the limit that God has placed on creatures who want to be gods.” And not only do we die, but now “the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live” (3).

However, even though we basically live in a world full of madness and evil and then die, Solomon says that it is still better to be alive than to be dead. He says that a “living dog” is better than a “dead lion.” Now, what does that mean? There is a Peanuts cartoon called, Theology and the Dog, where Charlie Brown walks up to find Snoopy sitting on top of his doghouse typing away. Once finished, Snoopy hands his paper to Charlie Brown. It reads, “As it says in the ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes, ‘a living dog is better than a dead lion.’” Charlie Brown then asks, “What does it mean?” and Snoopy replies, “I don’t know, but I agree with it.”

Snoopy should have kept reading, because Solomon tells us why a living dog is better than a dead lion. It is because those who are still alive “have hope” and “know that they will die” (4-5). I take this to mean that people who are alive still have a chance, or an opportunity, to live in a way that matters. We still have hope to make the most of today. The dead don’t have that opportunity. When you’re dead, you’re done. Even if you’re as strong as a lion, you’re done. Again, Ecclesiastes wants us to see that facing our death will actually help us learn how to live.

Something we can all be guilty of in a sermon series like this is agreeing with Solomon in theory but not in practice. Like, everybody in the room agrees with me on this point. We all agree that sooner or later we are going to die. Yet, as often as we have made this point in Ecclesiastes, most of us are still not living like we were dying. I want you to let the certainty of your death arrest you this morning. You are going to die. When my mother was diagnosed with cancer several years ago, they gave her a 50/50 chance over the course of a year. That’s not what I’m telling you this morning. What I’m telling you is that you have a 0% chance of making it out of this life alive. Your death is a 100% certainty.

So, pretend we are all in the Doctor’s office this morning. For some of us, we’ve got less than twenty years to live. Some of us have less than ten years to live. Some of us have only a handful of years left to live. And some of us have even less than that. The clock is ticking for all of us.

II. Under the Sun, Life is Uncertain (Ecclesiastes 9:1,11-12)

A second reason that we should live like we were dying is because, while death is certain under the sun, life is not. Life is uncertain. But look at how Solomon describes life’s uncertainty. He says that, under the sun, “the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God” (1). In other words, our entire lives are in God’s hands, or under His control. Now, that is a very good thing. But the reason Solomon is making this point is to remind us that our lives are not under our own control. Our lives being in God’s hands is the very reason that they are so unpredictable and uncertain.

Why? Because God does not permit us to see or comprehend all that He is doing. This is what he says next in verse 1, that “whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him.” In other words, we don’t know whether our lives, which are in God’s hands, will be pleasant or painful. We don’t know what the future holds. We do not know what God has planned for us. Therefore, from our vantage point, life is uncertain and unpredictable. It’s not something we can “Google.”

Look also at verses 11-12. Sometimes the swift doesn’t win the race, sometimes the strong don’t win the battle, sometimes the wise go hungry, sometimes the intelligent don’t make the most money, and that sometimes those with knowledge aren’t favored. In other words, again, life is unpredictable and full of uncertainty. Why? Again, because all things are in God’s hands, not ours. And because all things are in God’s hands, “time and chance” appear to happen to all people alike.

Now, again, it only appears to be “chance” from our perspective. What Solomon calls “chance” here has already been attributed to God’s sovereignty in verse 1. In other words, in this text, God’s sovereignty is the reason for life’s uncertainty. So, while life may be unpredictable, it is not random.

Notice again that one example of “time and chance” happening to us is how “man does not know his time” (12). In other words, while our death is certain, the timing of our death is uncertain. When it comes, we are like a fish caught in a net or a bird caught in a snare. None of us know how long we have, and when our time comes, most of us won’t be expecting it.

For example, have any of you ever heard the name Urooj Khan? In the spring of 2012, he scratched off a winning lottery ticket in Illinois and won a million dollars. Wouldn’t that be nice? What would you do with a million dollars? Well, we’ll never know what Urooj would have done because he was murdered the next day before he was even able to cash his check. Death came like an evil net for him at a time he was not expecting it.

Likewise, we don’t know what the future holds either, only that it will be full of things that we are not expecting, that the time we have left if limited, and at some point, sooner or later, we are going to die. Our life is unpredictable, our time is limited, and our death is certain. This is humbling, isn’t it? I want you to see that Solomon (and God) really want us to understand that we are not God and that we should not act like we are. We don’t know it all. We can’t do it all. We can’t have it all. You can and should make plans, but you don’t know if you’ll be alive this time next year. You don’t know if you’ll be employed this time next year. You don’t know what your health will be this time next year. Wisdom is to let truth like this humble us and turn us to God.

III. Under the Sun, We Should Enjoy the Time that God Gives Us (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10)

So, what do we do in a world where our lives are full of uncertainty, our time is limited, and our death is certain? Solomon says that we should make the most of the time that we have in verses 7-10. We should eat bread with joy. We should drink wine with a merry heart. We should keep our garments white and we should not lack oil for our head. What does that mean? Well, we often read about people putting on sackcloth and ashes in the Bible as a symbol of great mourning and sadness. White garments and oil are the polar opposite symbol. Solomon is saying that we should rejoice and seek to be as happy as possible today. We should enjoy life with the spouse that we love, and let me just say that if you are too busy to do that, then you are too busy, period. You need to slow down. And finally, whatever our hand finds to do, we should do it with all of our might.

What is Solomon saying? He is saying what Tim McGraw was saying, that we should live like we were dying. David Gibson shares a helpful quote of what this might look like today: “Ride a bike, go to the Grand Canyon, go to the theater, learn to make music, visit the sick, care for the dying, cook a meal, feed the hungry, watch a film, read a book, laugh with some friends until it makes you cry, play football, run a marathon, snorkel in the ocean, listen to Mozart, ring your parents, write a letter, play with your kids, spend your money, learn a language, plant a church, start a school, speak about Christ, travel to somewhere you’ve never been, adopt a child, give away your fortune and then some, shape someone else’s life by laying down your own.”

We could probably think of a hundred more examples, but you get the point. We should make the most of the time that we have. We should live like we were dying. And we should do so all the days of our fleeting life.

Now, what does it mean when Solomon says that we should do so because “God has already approved what you do” (7)? I don’t have the time to fully explain all of these, but there are at least three good options. First, this could be a reference to God declaring all that He had made “good” upon completion of creation (Genesis 1:31). Second, it could refer to God’s sovereign plan for our lives, the way David does in Psalm 139:16 when he says that all of the days of our lives have been written down in God’s book before they ever come to be. Or, thirdly, it an Old Testament equivalent of justification by faith, with Solomon saying to eat and drink because our approval comes from faith in God, and not in what we eat or drink.

The bottom line is that God desires that you find enjoyment in the life that He has given you to live under the sun. That doesn’t mean there won’t be hard times. God has also designed times of great sorrow and suffering in our lives. But it does mean that in the course of our lives, there are going to be countless gifts that He puts in front of us to enjoy, and God takes pleasure in our enjoying them in the same way that a parent takes joy in the joy of their children on Christmas morning.

Doug O’Donnell had a great line in his commentary, that “True spirituality has ‘honest delight’ in lawful pleasures.” I love the balance in that statement. Solomon is not encouraging us to indulge in sin. He is also not encouraging the worship of these gifts, which is called idolatry. And He is not encouraging the enjoyment of these gift apart from God. He is encouraging the worship of God through the enjoyment of His gifts. “In the created world, you can only truly enjoy what you do not worship.” I would add that you also can only truly enjoy what you connect to God, the Giver.

Now, I want to mention a couple of things here as we close. First, did you notice that the imagery Solomon uses is almost reminiscent of a wedding feast? There’s eating, drinking wine, white garments, oil, a husband and wife enjoying one another, etc. If you are familiar with the Bible at all, you know that God Himself is preparing a great feast to be enjoyed one day called the marriage supper of the Lamb. This Messianic banquet is looked forward to with great anticipation in Scripture in both the Old and New Testaments.

The first thing I want to mention to you is that Jesus’ blood is not only makes that great feast possible, but also every meal between now and then possible. When the Bible says that every good and perfect gift comes from God, it’s true, but understand that without the blood of Christ, all of those gifts would simply be and indictment upon you come judgment day. They would simply help make the case that you and I are deserving of God’s wrath because we lived in a world where He showered us with gifts and yet we did not give Him glory. It is Jesus, and Jesus alone, who has purchased the enjoyment of these good gifts.

The second thing is that, in some way, every mean we enjoy is a precursor of this final, great banquet to come. “We eat and drink as we vanish from the earth like a vapor. But one day we will eat and drink in the city of the King, where death will have vanished from the earth forever. We must never think that on the other side of death, in heaven, we will cast off this cumbersome physical existence to enter a higher plane of merely spiritual life.” We will sit down at a real table and with a new physical body enjoy a real feast.

It’s what C.S. Lewis called a “deeper country” in The Last Battle. As the story moves from Old Narnia to New Narnia, “It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling…‘I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it until now. The reason we loved the old Narnia is because it sometimes looked a little like this…”

Did you catch that? One way we enjoy this world as an act of worship to God is by letting it point us to the world to come. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the short story, Babette’s Feast, but it is another great illustration of what we’re saying here. To make a short story short (pun intended), Babette a great chef at a renowned café in Paris who is forced to leave France with nothing during a time of political upheaval. She is a refuge. She ends up in Norway and is taken in by and becomes the maid to two sisters who are part of a Christian sect that has renounced all pleasures of this world. They dressed modestly, lived modestly, and even ate modestly, to the point that the instructed Babette to only fix them the plainest food possible. Babette faithfully serves them for the next twelve years.

However, back home in France, a friend of Babette continues to renew her lotter ticket every year and she eventually wins the French lottery. Upon winning, she convinces the sisters to let her put on one gourmet feast for them and to invite their friends and family. Babette pulls out all the stops. She puts on such a feast that the author describes it as “one hour of the millennium.”

After the meal, as they are cleaning up, one of the sisters tells Babette that they will all remember this evening once she returns to Paris. But Babette replies that she is not returning because she has no money. “No money?” the sisters reply, shocked because she has just one the lottery. Babette then lets them know that she had spent the entirety of her winnings on the meal that she prepared for them. The story then ends with one of the sisters putting her arm around Babette and saying, “I feel Babette, that this is not the end. In Paradise you will be the great artist that God meant you to be! Ah!” she added, the tears streaming down her cheeks, “Ah, how you will enchant the angels.”

This is not the end brothers and sisters. One day we will experience in full what all this is point towards. What I want to encourage you to do is to see your Sunday dinners and your evening meals and your weekly hobbies to a foreshadowing to the world to come. Remark to your children at the dinner table that one day you will all sit at another table because of Christ’s finished work. Live like you were dying, because you are. And live like you were dying, because you will one day live forever.

You DO Need Your Rockin’ Chair

December 8, 2019 • Pastor Charlie Bailey

I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair is a defiant country classic by George Jones about not going quietly into the night of old age. While we can appreciate the heart of Jones’ hit song, Solomon is going to give it a reality check today. No matter how young at heart a person is, sooner or later they have to face the music that they do in fact need their rocking chair. At some point, not matter how young at heart you are, your body will remind you that you are not as young as you used to be. At some point, time will no longer heal all wounds; it will kill you. Eventually, the curse of sin and death will win, and you will return to the dust. The good news, however, is that Solomon does not mean for this reality check to leave you in despair. Instead, he wants it to give your life a sense of urgency and focus so that none of it will be wasted. So, in Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8, Solomon tells us what is most important to do before we get old and die. [7] Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. [8] So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. [9] Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. [10] Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. [1] Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; [2] before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, [3] in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, [4] and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—[5] they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—[6] before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, [7] and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. [8] Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8 ESV) Let’s pray… None of Us are Getting Any Younger, and None of Us are Getting Out of Here Alive (11:7-8; 12:1-8) • Not Getting Any Younger (12:2-6) It’s been said that getting old isn’t for the faint of heart. Solomon is here to agree in verses 2-6 of chapter 12. Here, he eloquently describes how difficult it is to grow old before we die. He calls this season of our lives “evil days” and years in which we will say “I have no pleasure in them” (12:1). Solomon goes on to poetically describe this difficult season in two ways. He describes it first as an approaching storm that begins to quench the light of the heavenly luminaries (12:2) and then as a great house in rapid decline (12:3-6). Some of the metaphors are clearer than others, but the overall picture is clear, that things aren’t quite what they used to be! Things that were once steady, like your hands perhaps, not shake and tremble (12:3a). Things that were once strong, like your legs, become weak (12:3b). Our grinders cease because we don’t have as many (12:3c; just imagine losing your grinders in Solomon’s pre-denture days!), and when we do grind, we can’t hear it (12:4a)! Along with our hearing, our eyesight also diminishes. Things we used to see clearly are now dimmed (12:3d). But strangely, even though you can’t hear yourself chew, a little bird wakes you up before the crack of dawn for no good reason (12:4b). Sleep doesn’t come as easily as it used to. Also, your voice isn’t what it used to be. Those who could sing like angels now can’t carry a tune in a bucket (12:4c)! Then what hair doesn’t fall out turns white like the blossoms of an almond tree (12:5b). Desires also fade (12:5d). Things like sex drive, motivation to work, and courage to take great risks diminish. As a matter of fact, things that we used to never flinch at now scare us (12:5). We become fearful of driving, fearful of the dark, and fearful of falling. And for good reason. When we fell down as a child, our parents put a band aid on our knee, but it we fall when we’re old, our children bring us to the emergency room. I think my favorite metaphor here sums it up well: we become like a grasshopper that has to drag itself along (12:5c). When you think of grasshoppers, you don’t normally think of something dragging itself along, but this grasshopper has lost all the spring in his step! Or as Peter Seeger put it, “How do I know my youth is all spent? My get up and go has got up and went!” • None of us make it out alive (11:7-8; 12:5-7) But there’s more. This all happens as we approach our eternal home (12:5). In other words, his is all part of the curse of sin and death (Genesis 3:14-19). We return to the dust (12:7), and on the way, our bodies age and begin to break down. The further we get along the journey, the more things to break down, until finally the silver cord is snapped, the golden bowl is broken, the pitcher is shattered, and the wheel broken. These are all images of vessels that contain something being broken beyond repair. At some point, the vessel that contains our life will also break beyond repair. At that point, dust returns to dust (Genesis 3:14-19) and our spirit returns to God who gave it in the first place. This is also the point in verses 7-8 of chapter 11. When Solomon contrasts “light” and “darkness,” he is contrasting life and death. To see the sweet light of the sun is to be alive and enter the days of darkness is to die. What’s sobering here is that Solomon doesn’t just want us to remember that our death is a certainty, but also makes the statement our “days of darkness” will be many. In other words, we will be dead for “many” more days than we will be alive. That’s really humbling to think about. Living a hundred years is not even a drop in the bucket! Just think about how many years the world has been in existence before you got here and then add however long it will continue after your gone. Truly the days of darkness are many! So, just to frame this, all of us are going to get old and die. Solomon doesn’t want us to ignore or deny this reality. Our culture is in utter denial of this reality. We idolize youth and spend a fortune trying to preserve it. In our country alone, there are over 10 million cosmetic procedures a year, with almost none of them being medically necessary. We are a culture desperately trying to avoid the rocking chair! But this is not the approach that Solomon wants us to take. He wants us to sit in our rocking’ chairs and think long and hard about our aging and our dying, so that it can save us from ourselves today. As David Gibson says, Solomon knows that “putting one foot in the grave is the way to plant the other on the path of life.” Out of this certainty of aging and death, Solomon wants us to do two things. He wants us to rejoice in some ways and to remember some things in the short time that we have. I. Therefore, We Must Rejoice (11:7-10) Since we are going to get old and die, we must rejoice today. This is the seventh time that we have been commanded to pursue joy in Ecclesiastes. Whether you are fortunate enough to live many years or not, Solomon says in verses 7-8 of chapter 11, that we should “rejoice in them all.” But how do we do so? Solomon says that in our youth, we should let our hearts cheer us and that we should walk in the ways of our heart and the sight of our eyes. Now, “in your youth” does mean while you are young, but it also means, while you have time. So, even if you can’t do all of the things that you used to be able to do, there are still some things you can do today that you won’t be able to do when you get older. Therefore, we need to read this as Solomon’s exhortation to each of us, whatever age we are, to pursue joy while we can. But look at this again, because it is a remarkable command to me. Solomon is basically saying to do what makes you happy. Do you see that? Now, there will be a clarification on that here shortly, but I don’t want to shut these commands down too quickly with clarifications because I think we are equally prone to disobey this command, not by abusing it, but by ignoring it. We can certainly abuse walking in the ways of our heart and the desires of our eyes, but we also need to understand that it is also sinful to ignore this command. What do I mean? God, here, commands our joy and happiness. There’s a reason I picked the word, “must,” instead of “should” for these points. It is because these are not suggestions. They are commands. In other words, the Bible commands us to rejoice. The Bible commands us to be happy. For some of us, that may be a new idea, but it’s a Biblical one. You are walking in disobedience to God is you are not trying to be happy and find joy in life. So, let me ask you, let me just ask you, what makes you happy? What do you love? There is a legitimate sense in which Solomon is saying, “Do it!” Solomon, and God, want you to go hard after joy and happiness. He says to remove vexation, or evil, and pain as much as possible from our lives. Now, granted, we don’t always control that, and we sometimes have to embrace it for the sake of the gospel, but I don’t think I have ever heard much preaching along these lines. God wants you to be happy. God wants you to do what you love. What an amazing God! II. Therefore, We Must Remember (11:8-9; 12:1) But here is where we balance the command to rejoice. We must rejoice, but we must do so responsibly. We must also remember some important truths as we pursue our joy. God knows that sometimes what we love is poisonous. God also knows that sometimes the good things that we love can be loved too much and become idols. So, God through Solomon gives us a few reminders here that will help us to rejoice responsibly. • Remember Your Judge (11:9) First, we must remember that for or all the ways of our heart and the sight of our eyes that we walk in, God will bring us into “the judgment” (11:9). In other words, we will be judged for everything that we love and for how we love it. This almost sounds like a contradiction until you understand what God is really after in the Bible. God wants us to be happy, but He wants us to be happy forever. He doesn’t want our happiness limited to this vapor of a life here under the sun. He wants us to be as happy as possible for as long as possible. And the only way that can happen is if God becomes first and center of our pursuit of joy and happiness, but more on that in a moment. Remembering the Judge of all the earth will help us not to abuse this blessed command. • Remember Your Creator (12:1) Second, we must remember our Creator in all the ways in which we seek to be happy. There is so much wrapped up in this simple command. What does this mean and how is it different than remembering God as our Judge? If remembering God is our Judge helps us not to abuse the command to seek happiness, then remembering God as our Creator helps us not to ignore it. To remember that God is our Creator is to remember that God created this world and filled it up to the brim with things to enjoy. So, it is first helps us to see that the world God made is good. But that is not all. To remember our Creator is also to remember that God is the source of all the goodness we get to enjoy in the world and that we dishonor Him when we disconnect Him from it or seek to enjoy it in ways that He has prohibited. It also reminds us that we have a Creator. Finally, to remember our Creator is to remember that we are creatures that belong to our Creator. We are not gods. And we are not our own. We belong to God and we are dependent up Him. We were made to find our deepest joy in Him. Compared to Him, even the good things we seek to find ultimate joy and happiness in are like broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Jesus, and Jesus alone is the fountain of Living Water. Only He can quench your thirst forever. Only Jesus turns the reality that we will be dead more days than we will be alive over on its head. Because of Jesus, those who place faith in His person and finished work on the cross will experience many more days of life than death. When they’ve been there for 10,000 years, they will have known less days to sing God’s praise than when they first begun! For those who are trusting in Jesus, there is coming a day when we won’t need our rocking chairs! • Remember that all is “HEBEL” (11:8,10; 12:8) Finally, we must remember that life is short and sweet. Solomon explicitly says so in verses 7-8 of chapter 11, but this is also the idea in the three times we see this key word, “HEBEL,” in verses 11:8,10, and 12:8. What does it meant that “All that comes is HEBEL,” that “youth and the dawn of life are HEBEL,” and “HEBEL of HEBEL,…all is HEBEL”? I think that, contextually, it just means that life is short and sweet. Remember the word most literally means “a breath” or “a vapor.” Life is fleeting. Youth is fleeting. Why is this important to remember? It is important because you won’t always be young, and you won’t always be alive. Therefore, start your pursuit of joy today. It starts with Jesus and must stay connected to Jesus, but it needs to start today. You don’t know what tomorrow holds. You only know that you won’t always be able to do what you are able to do today. Figure out what you love and start doing it, responsibly, today. And most importantly, understand that God, your Creator and Judge, is the secret to everlasting joy and happiness. You find it in Him, and not by keeping Him in your peripheral vision, but by seeing Him as first and center of everything in your life. This past year my wife’s grandmother passed away after a long battle with Dementia. That has to be one of the most devastating diseases in the world today. Watching someone you love slowly disappear inside of a body that remains is a heavy burden to bear. And the burden is even heavier for the person suffering with it. Whether it is Dementia or not, memory is another one of those things that begins to suffer as we age. I was reminded of a touching quote by John Newton this past week: “Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.” How true! And how comforting that even among God’s children who forget everything, that their God will not forget them. He will remember them when they enter His kingdom. Under the sun, you will need a rocking chair, but thanks to Jesus, you won’t need one forever!

The Whole Duty of Man

December 15, 2019 • Pastor Charlie Bailey

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said that the gate and path that leads to destruction is wide and easy and that there are “many” who take it. What that means is that most people miss the path of life. To put that in the language of Ecclesiastes, most people waste the one life that they have and end up merely striving after wind. Where we want to admit it or not, this is a very real and likely possibility in our lives. And the reason Jesus says things like this is because He does not want us to miss it. He wants our feet firmly planted on the path that leads to life, not the path that leads to destruction. The book of Ecclesiastes is written for the very same reason. Solomon tells us as much in his conclusion in Ecclesiastes 12:9-14, where he seeks to help us understand both the purpose of the book of Ecclesiastes and the purpose of our lives. There are a lot of ways that Solomon could have chosen to wrap up this incredible book, but this is the way he chose to do it. He is so intent on making sure that we do not miss the path of life that he takes the time to make sure we are clear on these two things: what he was trying to do with this book and what the point of our life is. [9] Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. [10] The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. [11] The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. [12] My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. [13] The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. [14] For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 ESV) I. Understand the Purpose of Ecclesiastes (12:9-12) In verses 9-10, we read about what the Preacher was seeking to do in Ecclesiastes: the wise Preacher was weighing, studying, and arranging “words of truth” with great care, in the form of proverbs, sayings of the wise, etc. (see 1 Kings 4:32: this supports Solomon as the author), in order to teach the people knowledge. In other words, Ecclesiastes was a writing project in which Solomon was seeking to bring knowledge and delight to His people. His purpose was not merely to record personal reflections and memoirs. His purpose was outward. It was meant to help people get the most out of their lives. But pay careful attention how he seeks to do so in Ecclesiastes in verse 11. Solomon says these words, which are to be seen as revelation from the “one Shepherd,” are to function as “goads” and “nails” in our lives that prod us lovingly and plant us firmly on the path of life. A “goad” was a long, pointed stick used for prodding and guiding livestock (oxen, cattle, sheep, etc.) when they would wander off the path or get off task. So, if you were plowing, or transporting goods, or simply moving livestock from one pasture to another, a goad was a shepherd’s tool, used to keep the animals who were prone to wader on the right path. Now, what is meant by nails firmly fixed is less clear. Sometimes there were nails on the end of a goad. Nails firmly fixed were also used to tie an animal to a post that might otherwise wander. And nails were also used to hang stuff on in a person’s house. Each of these are good possibilities, and the latter two communicate the fact that the words of Ecclesiastes are to stick. They stick with us, they stick in us, and they help stick us on the right path and in the right place. These words are meant to keep us stuck along the path of life. Now, let me say one more thing about these goads and nails. I’ve never been prodded by a goad, but I’m assuming it is not a pleasant experience! Being prodded by a goad is painful, but it is loving and necessary. It is what a loving shepherd does for his sheep. A lot of the stuff Solomon writes about in Ecclesiastes are things we don’t want to think about. We don’t like to hear that most of the stuff we spend our lives on is just chasing wind. We don’t like to think about dying either. We’d rather pretend, but Solomon wants us to think about it every day. Here, Solomon tells us what He is doing. He is prodding us with the goad of the one Shepherd for our good. David Gibson says here that we should “stop domesticating the Bible.” That’s what we want, right? A safe, tame, and domesticated God. A safe, tame, and domesticated Bible that we can keep on a leash. But God is not safe. He is not a tame lion. But because He is a loving Shepherd, He says things that sting us when we need it. Don’t miss that. Solomon says here that all these words of truth ultimately come, not from him, but from “one Shepherd” (11). He is talking about God (Psalm 80:1; Isaiah 40:11). That first means that all of Ecclesiastes should be seen as revelation from God, but it also means that we should see both the delightful and the painful words as the loving words of the one Shepherd. Let me go further and remind you that we as Christians believe that all Scripture, not just Ecclesiastes, is special, inerrant revelation from God. We esteem everything we read from Genesis to Revelation as God-breathed, or God-spoken, revelation (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Holy Spirit of God is ultimately responsible for every word in the Bible (2 Peter 1:21). In other words, everything you have in the Bible is truth from the one Good Shepherd. You can spend a lot of time and energy reading other books, but no book is as important in our lives as the Bible is (12). We love to say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but is it? Maybe, but have you ever considered why God gave us a book if that is the case? Why not give us a picture book or tell us to subscribe to a YouTube channel? Instead, He has chosen to reveal Himself to us in written words. And these words are the most important information in your life, period. So, the point of Ecclesiastes is to both delight you and to lovingly prod you to find and stay on the path of life. So, let me say by way of application, that if you want to find and remain on the path of life, you need make the Bible your object of great study. It’s not wrong to read other books and learn about other things, but this is the only book in the universe that is sufficient to help you know God and find life. But what’s more is that you could study it an entire lifetime and never fully plumb its depths. Esteem it more necessary than your daily bread and more valuable than your greatest earthly treasures. If you do so, you will not be disappointed on judgment day. II. Understand the Purpose of Your Life (12:13-14) Is there a purpose for our lives here under the sun? This is what Solomon set out to figure out in Ecclesiastes, and here at the end, we learn what he has found. I forget where I read this early on in this series on Ecclesiastes, but someone once called Ecclesiastes the delight of skeptics and atheists. Now that we have journeyed through the whole book together, all I can say is that they must not have paid close attention when they read Ecclesiastes! Ecclesiastes does not intend to leave us with the impression that life has no purpose, and it certainly does not intend to leave us with the impression that there is no God. If there were no God, then there would be no purpose and no morality, but Solomon doesn’t paint a world without a God in the book of Ecclesiastes. Instead, he gives us a created, yet cursed, world that is ruled over by a sovereign, yet mysterious, God who should be feared, trusted, and obeyed at all times. I mean, how could verses 13-14 cause a skeptic or an atheist to delight? Here Solomon explicitly declares the reality of God as our Creator and Judge as what should be most defining about our purpose in life. In other words, if you want to know why you’re here, then you must start with the reality of God as your Creator and Judge and the fact that you are accountable to Him. The end, or conclusion of “the matter” (of what the meaning of life is), is that the WHOLE DUTY OF MAN is two-fold: to fear God and to keep His commandments (13). Earlier in this chapter, we were told when to remember our Creator (12:1; while we have time), and here we are told how to remember our Creator: by fearing Him and obeying Him. Let’s think about those two one a at time for just a moment. What does it mean to fear God? We read about the “fear of YAHWEH” throughout the Old Testament, but what does it mean? It’s not a simple answer. It is being afraid, but it is more than that. It is Fatherly reverence, but it is more than that. Some scholars actually see the fear of God as being interchangeable with faith in God. Doug O’Donnell calls is “trembling trust.” I think they are on to something, because the way that the fear of God is expressed is pretty much the same way that faith is expressed. In other words, it is because I believe some things to be true about God, that He is holy, awesome, mighty, just, and will be faithful to punish sin, that I don’t approach Him lightly and depart from evil. That’s the same way the Bible describes the fear of God. It is to put faith in God and what He says and to seek to live in harmony with Him out of that revelation. What does it mean to keep God’s commandments? This one seems less complex, right? Just obey God. Just do what He says. Just keep the Ten Commandments. However, if you are familiar with the Bible or human nature at all, then you know that obeying God is more complex than that as well. The more we learn about God, the Bible, and ourselves, we learn that God is after our hearts when He calls for our obedience. God doesn’t just demand our actions; He demands our affections. Jesus said it like this, that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15). That means a lot of things, but part of what it means is that obedience is primarily an expression of our love for God. Jesus says the same thing when He answered the question of what the greatest commandment(s) of all was. He said the greatest commandment of all was to love God with all you are and then to love your neighbor as yourself. He then said that all of the Old Testament hangs up those two commands. In other words, all obedience to God’s commands is supposed to be driven by those heart affections. One of the clearest places to see this at work is in the Sermon on the Mount. There Jesus practically illustrates what it means to obey God from the heart. Jesus says here that it’s not a matter of keeping the mere letter of the law, because there is a way to keep the letter of the law without keeping the spirit of the law. A Pharisee can do that. Jesus says that keeping the sixth commandment is not just about murder, it’s about loving others. Jesus says that keeping the seventh commandment is not just about adultery, it about sexual purity. Jesus says that keeping the eighth commandment is not just about perjury, it’s about being a person of integrity and of your word. Jesus says that keeping the ninth commandment is not just about stealing, it is about being a content and generous person. So, when Solomon says, “keep His commandments,” he means to keep them from the heart. This is why you exist, to know God and to live in harmony with Him. Or to put it in the words of the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” Or to put it in the words of Augustine, God made us for Himself and our hearts are restless until we find our rest in Him. Or to put it in the words of rapper Shai Linne: Lord you made me to forever adore your name You're money than money, sex, power you are more than fame. You're more than anything that I could treasure in this world. It's kinda like the parable of the hidden pearl. If I gave up every single thing I had in life to gain Christ, it really wouldn't be a sacrifice. My deepest joys are meant to be found in your praise, singing holy, holy, holy, for endless days. But I confess this, at times my devotion gets tested, and my heart's exposed cause it's restless. And it'll stay that way until I find my rest in you. And resting in you is surely what I'm meant to do. Lord take me to a place that I've never been before To explore realities beyond the metaphor. And when my faith becomes sight in your presence Lord, pure pleasure and joy cause you're forever more. Pick any of these, because they are all saying essentially the same thing. Your purpose in life is to fear God and to keep His commandments. Your purpose in life is to know God and enjoy Him forever. Your purpose in life is to find your rest in Him. John Piper likes to say, God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him. I would also add that because we were made for this, we are most satisfied when He is most glorified in us. Why is this Solomon’s conclusion? He tells us in verse 14. We must spend our lives fearing and obeying God from the heart because God is going to bring every single one of our deeds into judgment, with “every secret thing,” whether they are good or evil. This is why we must remember our Creator! This is a sobering and terrifying truth, that God will bring every one of our deeds and every secret thing into account on judgment day, and it is the reason given for why our whole duty is to fear God and keep His commandments. Doug O’Donnell says that it as if God hit the “RECORD” button the day you were born, and when you die, He will hit “STOP, REWIND, and PLAY”! Jesus said that on that day, we would give an account for every idle, or careless, word we have ever spoken (Matthew 12:36). Paul says that on that day, God will judge the secrets of men (Romans 2:16) and bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart (1 Corinthians 4:5). Now, if this were all the Bible had to say, that our whole duty in life is to fear God and keep His commandments from the heart, because we will stand before Him in judgment one day, then it would be the worst news in the world because none of us in this room fear God or keep His commandments as we should. We are proud, presumptuous, and rebellious people. And because we are sinners who fail to fear God and keep His commandments from the heart on a daily basis, the greatest need we have in our lives is to find some way to be justified before this God to whom we owe everything and to whom we will answer. And this is why the greatest news in the world is what the rest of the Bible has to say, that even though we don’t and can’t fear God and obey His commands like we should, God has sent Jesus to do it for us. And in God’s spiritual economy, by faith (trembling trust) we can be counted righteous in Him. By faith, the wrath we deserve on judgment day can fall upon Jesus rather than us. And that’s not all! The greatest news in the world keeps getting better! In Christ, we also are given new hearts that fear God and love God and desire to obey Him from the heart. Ultimately, it is the nails that pierced Jesus upon the cross that firmly fix you on the path of life. Will you come to Him today in faith and full surrender? Ask Him to save you and change you and give you a new heart, and if you are new creature with a new heart, ask Him for grace to bring more and more of that change about and then get up and go live like you believe He is going to do it.

Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters

December 1, 2019 • Pastor Charlie Bailey

Perhaps you’ve heard the one about Roy, the single guy who lived at home and helped his father with the family business. After finding out that upon his father’s passing (who was both sickly and elderly), he stood to inherit a fortune, he decided to find a wife to share the fortune with. One evening at an investment meeting, Roy spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He approached her and said, “I may just look like an ordinary man, but in just a few years when my father passes, I will inherit over $200 million dollars. The woman was quite impressed. She took Roy’s business card and three weeks later became his stepmother! Lately, in Ecclesiastes, Solomon has been trying to help us make the most of the time that we have here under the sun. And today we are going to focus on how we do so financially. In other words, how do we make the most of the resources that we have during our short life under the sun? In Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, Solomon encourages us to do so by investing wisely. And in order to do so, we must avoid Roy’s folly of getting the cart ahead of the horse. Let’s look at what Solomon has to say: [1] Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. [2] Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. [3] If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. [4] He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. [5] As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. [6] In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. (Ecclesiastes 11:1-6) I want you to think about investing along two levels this morning. One is the level that normally comes to mind when you hear the word investing. For example, “casting your bread upon the waters” and “giving a portion to seven or eight” could refer to investing in overseas trading (1 Kings 9:26-27; 10:22) and diversifying investments. The other level, however, may not be a way in which you have thought about wise investing. In the Bible, the wisest investments you can make are in God’s kingdom, and the way you make them is by being generous with your resources. That’s something else “casting your bread upon the waters” could mean, with verse 2 unpacking what “casting your bread upon the waters” means. It may mean to “give,” or share a portion with seven or eight others. But rather than see these two possibilities as contradictory, I think we are on solid ground in the Bible to see them as complementary. In other words, in the Bible, generosity is a type of investing, and it is never seen as a net loss for the giver. [10] I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. [11] Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. [12] I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. [13] I can do all things through him who strengthens me. [14] Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. [15] And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. [16] Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. [17] Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. [18] I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. [19] And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. [20] To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Philippians 4:10-20 ESV). It’s just one example, but the point is that even sacrificial giving isn’t seen as a loss for the believer. It is gain. What this means in Ecclesiastes, then, is that being generous is a part of how we make the most of our time under the sun. It’s one of the ways that we find the joy that Solomon has been encouraging us to go after. Isn’t this what the One wiser that Solomon said as well? Jesus said that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) To put it another way, you will be happier and find more joy if you give than if you receive. The bottom line is that the Bible doesn’t want us to limit our investing to places like our retirement and the stock market. If you do so, you may end up with a large return here under the sun, but you may not be rich towards God (Luke 12:21). The Bible also wants us to make eternal investments in people and in the kingdom of God. So, along with your retirement, you should also be investing in the poor, the widow, the immigrant. You should especially be investing in missions and other ministries that are faithfully making disciples of Jesus. But how do we make wise investments? One of the keys that this passage is going to give us is that you become a wise investor by living out of what you know rather than what you don’t know. Now, doesn’t just apply to generosity, but you can be the kind of person who lives in fear of what you don’t know, or you can be the kind of person who lives confidently out of what you do know. Solomon doesn’t want to be paralyzed by fear of the unknown when it comes to our living and our investing. Let’s consider each of these categories this morning so that we can be liberated from the paralyzing fear of the unknown to live fearlessly out of the glorious truths of God’s Word. I. The Unknown • We don’t know what disaster may happen or when it may happen (2) In verse 2, this is given as a reason why we should “give a portion to seven, or even eight.” Again, on one level, this means that it is good to diversify your investments. We shouldn’t put all of our eggs into one basket, because we simply don’t know what kind of disaster is coming down the road or when it is going to come. It’s wiser to spread out your investments in several different places so that if one disaster strikes, you have other eggs in other baskets that can prosper. But looming disaster should also motivate our generosity. You should give today because you may not be in a position to do so tomorrow. Disaster may strike. Stocks may tank. You might get laid off or injured. You may end up in a position where you need others to be generous and share their portions with you. So, if you are able today, then do it. Share today. If you are able to give others in darkness even a tiny ray of light today, do it, because disaster may strike you or them tomorrow. Invest in the kingdom today, because you may not be able to do so tomorrow. We read about the rich fool earlier (Luke 12:15-21). He gives us a sobering example of what not to do. He got at least three things very wrong. First, he assumed he could predict the future: “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” (19) However, disaster struck that very night: he died (20). Second, he did put all his eggs in one basket (18). And thirdly, he only made earthly investments. He only laid up treasure for himself and, by doing so, was “not rich towards God” (21). God calls him a fool. Let’s learn from his mistakes today. • We don’t know what the weather is going to do (4) Solomon says that if you observe the wind and watch the clouds, then you will end up not sowing or reaping. In other words, if you try to predict the weather in order to minimize risk, then you will end up not taking any risks at all. If you wait for the perfect weather, then you won’t end up sowing or reaping anything. Why? Because the weather is unpredictable! Friends, in my experience, not even the weatherman knows exactly what the weather is going to do. That’s why a forecast includes rain chances and not rain certainties. It’s unpredictable. It’s an unknown. You should take it into consideration, but you can’t treat it like a certainty. What really going on here is that this person is being paralyzed by fear of the unknown. Listen to me, investing is risky. Generosity feels risky. If you wait for perfect conditions to invest money, then you will never invest anything. If you wait until for the perfect financial conditions to tithe or give to kingdom causes, you will never end up doing it. In my opinion, this is one of the main reasons we aren’t more generous people, because see risk when we should see reward. More on that below. • We don’t know the work of God (5) Here’s another great example of something that we don’t know. “The way the spirit comes to the bones” of a baby in a mother’s womb is a mystery. The beginning of life is something we can’t see with the naked eye. So is the work of God in this world. As we have said over and over again in Ecclesiastes, God never shows mankind all that He is doing. He is the Sovereign Artist over the loom, and we are under it. He is the Master Designer who sees the maze and we are in it. Here is another analogy. And now comes another analogy. You can’t see all that is going on in a mother’s womb, which is a “work of God,” (Psalm 139). In a mother’s womb, God is doing something, but we can’t see it. Likewise, you can’t know all that God is doing with your kingdom investments, but you can know He is doing something. But I’m getting ahead of myself! • We don’t know which of our endeavors is going to prosper (6) Again, just like you can’t wait for the perfect conditions to be generous (4), you also can’t wait for the perfect timing to be generous. Again, Solomon says you should invest and be generous now. If it’s morning time, sow. If it’s evening time, don’t withhold your hand. Why? Because you don’t know which one of those endeavors is going to prosper. The time or season at which you choose to withhold your hand might be the very time or season that it would have prospered. It might even be that they both prosper, which is something you will miss out on if you play it too safely. In life, we can’t guarantee success and we can’t avoid failure, and so we shouldn’t live for one or in fear of the other. We should simply live today while we have today. You’re going to fail at some point. You’re going to lose. But if you keep at it, you will succeed at some point. This is true for investing and for most of life. Let’s think about generosity here again. If you wait for the perfect conditions and the perfect timing, then you will never end up being generous. I have had this conversation with so many people in churches before. They are waiting on a certain financial situation to start tithing. They are waiting on a raise. They are waiting for some bills to disappear before they give to missions. They are trying to pay off some earthly possession that is going rust away before Jesus even returns. They are waiting for the kids to get out of college. I could go on. What Solomon is saying is that if you live like that you may never end up giving and you will certainly miss out on multiple opportunities to invest in God’s kingdom. You don’t wait for the perfect conditions or the perfect timing, because you can’t know with certainty when that will be. You give today and trust God to work out the rest, which brings us to our next point. II. The Known • We do know that full clouds rain and fallen trees don’t move (3) While there are many things that we can’t know, there are some things in life that we can know. For example, when clouds are full of water, it rains and when a tree falls to the north or south, it stays there. That’s not a contradiction to what we said earlier about the weather. We don’t know if the clouds will be full tomorrow or not with certainty, but we do know what when the clouds reach the point of being full, it is going to rain. We can count on that. We can also count on gravity. Unless somebody moves a fallen tree, it will be exactly where it fell tomorrow. The point is that these are knowns, not unknowns, and these are the types of things that we should operate out of. • We do know that we will reap what we sow (1) Here is one thing we can know, based upon the promises of God’s Word, that if we do sow, we will reap. Solomon says that if we cast our bread upon the waters, then we will find it again after many days (1). If we sow, then at some point and in some way, we will reap. Now, this does apply to investing, but to me this is one of the most remarkable promises in all of the Bible. And it’s a promise that I don’t think we believe, not nearly enough! See, here’s the thing about investing in God’s kingdom in some way: there is no long-term risk involved. The return is guaranteed! God’s kingdom will never be shaken. The real question is, how much do you want to reap? Just how rich do you really want to be? Just how much bread do you want to find? The limiting factor is you and me! Listen to just one passage in 2 Corinthians 9:6-11: [6] The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. [7] Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. [8] And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. [9] As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” [10] He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. [11] You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. Are you seeing this? Again, how much do you want to reap? It’s not about dollar amounts either. It’s about the heart, like we see here. A poor widow can give more than a rich person in God’s eyes. This reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ quote about being far too easily pleased. This is our problem, unbelief and our fixation on making mud pies in the slums. Our problem is that we think by giving we are losing something or missing out on something. We think it’s keeping us from being as wealthy as we want to be. Lewis, Solomon, and Jesus would say that the real problem is that we don’t want to be rich enough. We don’t want to be happy enough. Otherwise, we would be more generous. • We know that if we don’t sow, we won’t reap (4) The opposite reality is a second thing that we can know, that if we do not sow, we will not reap. Note the progression again in verse 4. The guy who is waiting for the perfect weather ends up not sowing in the first line of the proverb, and then in the second line he ends up not what? He ends up not reaping. This is captain obvious. If you till and fertilize your ground but don’t plant any seeds, you won’t pick any vegetables! Likewise, if you don’t invest, you won’t see any returns. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And when it comes to generosity, if you don’t lay-up treasures for yourself in heaven, you will not be rich toward God on the last day. It’s as simple as that. • We do know that God makes everything (5) While we don’t know all that God is doing in the world just like we can’t know all that is going on with a baby in a mother’s womb, that doesn’t mean that we can’t know anything about God or what He is doing. Look at verse 5. We do know that God makes everything. Now, that doesn’t just mean that He created (past tense) everything. He did, by simply speaking into nothing, and that should ease our mind today about what we can’t see. If He can make everything out of nothing, then making something out of the little we have to offer should be no problem at all. But here, the tense is present. He “makes” everything. A baby in a mother’s womb is a present work of God, something He is doing now, along with an unimaginable number of other things. The point is that God is making things today. He is at work today. That is what you do know. That’s a reason to invest. That’s a reason to be generous. You don’t know what this sacrificial risk will mean for you and your family, but you do know that God is going to do something with it and that it will be worth it. You do know that He can be trusted. You do know that He will never leave you or forsake you, but will meet all your needs according to His riches in glory. Bank on what you know, not on what you don’t know. “Here is wisdom you will not hear anywhere else: take the best of what you have and the best of what you are and give them away. Hold them out in open hands to God and to others. Worldly wisdom builds bunkers and barns to prepare for disaster. Biblical wisdom instead throws open the windows and doors of our homes and builds schools and hospitals and churches, and sees rich Christians become much, much poorer than they might otherwise have been. Ecclesiastes-type wisdom, Christlike wisdom, grows believers who spend their life on living in the world rather than on living in the world so as not to die.” I love that line about really living, not just living so as not to die. Remember the movie Braveheart? I love lots of lines in that movie, but especially where William Wallace says that “Every man dies. Not every man truly lives.” Solomon wants you to live. Solomon wants you to get as much as you possibly can out of the short life that you live under the sun. The thing that sounds so backwards, however, is how God keeps telling us over and over again that the way to get it is to give it away. He tells us to lose our lives so that we can find them. He tells us it is more blessed to give than to receive. That’s how you truly live. Jesus Christ was the most alive human being who has ever lived, and yet He modeled the type of generosity that we are talking about today: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV) Did you catch that? There is something else we can “know,” that Jesus became poor for our sake, so that we by His poverty might become rich. Will you come to Jesus today in order to be made rich? And if you have been made rich in Him, will you invest those riches in God’s kingdom, so that others may be made rich in Him as well? Whether or not it seems like a loss now, I can promise you that on the last day, you will not be disappointed in your investments.