Grace to You & Peace | Philippians 1:1-2

On By Cole NewtonIn Philippians, SermonsLeave a comment

 

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:1–2 (ESV)

 

The letter of Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul to the Christians in the city of Philippi. Paul, traveling with Silas, Luke, and Timothy, planted the church in Philippi, and Acts 16 describes a few of the city’s first believers, like Lydia, the jailer, and their families. Paul was imprisoned, probably in Rome, at the time of writing his letter, which is a response to the Philippians sending Epaphraditus with a gift for Paul. The tone of Philippians, therefore, is quite different than many of Paul’s other letters. Here the apostle is not primarily writing to correct false teaching or rebuke rampant sin; instead, he is writing to further encourage the Philippians to continue growing in their faith. Even though the Philippians were apparently suffering some form of persecution (1:28) and Paul himself was imprisoned, his refrain throughout the epistle is a command to rejoice. No matter the external circumstances, Paul is confident that his readers will find joy and contentment in Christ.

We begin by studying the greeting of Paul’s letter. As was typical of ancient epistles, the author (Paul) is stated first, followed by the recipients (the Philippians), and then a greeting was given (grace and peace). Although these two verses may seem fairly simple and easily overlooked, they are filled with Christ-exalting truth, setting the tone for the remainder of the letter.

SERVANTS OF CHRIST // VERSE 1

Paul’s epistle to the Philippian church begins in the traditional style of an epistle: by stating the writer first. Since we are explicitly told which men this letter comes from, let us meet Paul and Timothy.

Who is Paul? 

The Apostle Paul casts an enormous shadow over the Christian faith, who arguably shaped Christianity more than anyone except for Jesus Himself. But who was Paul? Originally named Saul, the apostle provides a helpfully condensed version of his testimony in Acts 22, while speaking to the Jews in Jerusalem. Born in Tarsus, Saul was raised in Jerusalem where he became a Pharisee under the tutelage of Gamaliel, the most renowned Pharisee of his time. When Christianity began to expand after the events of Pentecost, Saul zealously persecuted the heretics, capturing and delivering over to death as many as he could find. But while traveling to Damascus, Jesus appeared to him as a bright light, asking why Saul was persecuting him. In Damascus, Saul’s sight was restored through the prayer of Ananias. From that time on, Paul was commissioned out as an apostle to the Gentiles, where he suffered greatly for proclaiming the gospel. Paul explains these trails as such:

2 Corinthians 11:24-28 | Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

These hardships primarily took place while Paul traveled about on his missionary journeys. Of course, life outside of his travels was not easy either. As is the case with the writing of Philippians, Paul spent many of his final years in prison before eventually being executed.

Who is Timothy?

Timothy was a young man that Paul found shortly in Lystra, which was before Paul would travel to Philippi for the first time. With a Jewish mother and a Greek father, Timothy was taught the Scriptures by his mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois (1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 3:15). Timothy joined Paul, Silas, and Luke as they continued their journey, eventually planting the church in Philippi. Given that 2 Timothy is the last Pauline letter, written just prior to his execution, the intimate father-son relationship between Paul and Timothy can be greatly felt.

Some thought must be given to why Timothy is placed alongside Paul in this greeting. After all, Paul was an apostle who authored Scripture by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but Timothy was not. Is this verse, however, suggesting that Timothy is a coauthor of Philippians? The short answer is no. Throughout the letter, Paul repeatedly speaks of himself in the first person, and in chapter two, Paul speaks of Timothy in the third person. The letter, therefore, is clearly written by Paul. Timothy is likely included for two main reasons. First, Timothy was likely the scribe of this letter, physically writing the words that Paul spoke to him. Second, the Philippians already knew Timothy from their previous travels, and Paul was planning to send Timothy to them again as his representative (2:19, 23).

Slaves of Christ

Now that introductions have been made, let us turn our attention to how Paul and Timothy introduce themselves: servants of Christ Jesus. Servant, while not an incorrect translation, is certainly not the best. Servant often implies someone who is paid for their service, like a restaurant server, a butler, or a maid, but Paul is not calling himself that kind of servant. Instead, slave is a much more accurate translation because slave implies the ownership of another person, not simply the hiring of them. We rightfully wince at the very idea of slavery, especially considering the racial slavery from U. S. history. Slavery in the ancient world, although still more than capable of brutalities, did not come with such racial overtones. Slavery was often a valid option for working off a large debt or placing oneself under a wealthier household. A slave could also often purchase their freedom if they desired to do so. Ancient slavery, therefore, is not a direct parallel with our history of slavery. The basic idea, however, remains the same. A slave is the property of his or her master. To be a slave is to be owned by another. This concept is particularly difficult for an individualistic culture such as ours to comprehend. Personal autonomy flows through everything that we do. If are fish, it is our water. If we are birds, it is our air. The entire abortion industry flows from this line of understanding: “my body; my choice.” We are each, as Henley says in his poem Invictus, masters of our fate and captains of our soul. To be owned by another human being is, therefore, almost unfathomable. The mind can scarcely comprehend it.

Yet Paul happily calls Timothy and himself slaves of Christ. The implications of this are difficult to overstate. Paul did not view himself as being the master of his own fate or even his own body. His individual autonomy had been eclipsed by something far greater, Someone far greater. When we reconsider Paul’s testimony, this only continues to astound. Within one moment, Paul ceased persecuting Christ and instead became His slave. Can you imagine the radiance of Christ’s glory, a glory so beautiful that Paul’s life immediately reordered, a glory so marvelous that all his sufferings were a mere light, momentary affliction by comparison?

John Owen pleads for us to search diligently for this glory:

It is by beholding the glory of Christ by faith that we are spiritually edified and built up in this world, for as we behold his glory, the life and power of faith grow stronger and stronger. It is by faith that we grow to love Christ. So if we desire strong faith and powerful love, which give us rest, peace and satisfaction, we must seek them by diligently beholding the glory of Christ by faith. In this duty I desire to live and to die. On Christ’s glory I would fix all my thoughts and desires, and the more I see of the glory of Christ, the more the painted beauties of this world will wither in my eyes and I will be more and more crucified to this world. It will become to me like something dead and putrid, impossible for me to enjoy. (7)

Why is Jesus’ glory so worthy of our pursuit and servitude? Paul uses the word slave one other time in Philippians not to describe himself this time but to describe the humiliation of Christ. Philippians 2:6-11 remind us of Christ’s descent from heaven to become a man, a slave who would be obedient to the Father to the point of death on a cross. But though Jesus suffered humiliation on our behalf, His exaltation is now supreme and total.

Although Jesus became a slave for us, He is now the name above all names, and one day every knee will bend and every tongue confess that He is Lord. In other words, Christ became a slave to save us, so that we can now become slaves to His righteousness. For Him, we willingly lose our lives, knowing that we will find greater life in Him. But while submission to Christ is presently an option, one day that option will cease. Christ will, in the end, reign as Lord and Master over everything and everyone. Those, therefore, who do not willingly embrace the loving and gracious arms of Jesus as their Lord will still find their knees forced to bow to Him as Lord.

Do you submit to Christ as your Lord? Are you a slave of Christ? Are there any aspects of your life that you withhold from Jesus’ lordship?

SAINTS IN CHRIST // VERSE 1

Next, we shift our focus onto the recipients of Paul’s letter: the Philippians.

Who are the saints? 

The address is to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi. The first question that must be asked is: Who are the saints? The Roman Catholic usage of saint is likely to immediately spring to mind. In Catholicism, saints are Christians who displayed in their life an extraordinary amount of holiness and devotion to God. Saints are, in many ways, super-Christians. As you may have guessed already, Paul’s idea of sainthood is quite different. When Paul refers to all the saints of Philippi, he is not addressing his letter only to the best of the best. No, he is referring to all the Christians in Philippi. Throughout the New Testament, saint is synonymous with Christian. Why is this? First, we must understand what exactly being a saint means. In Greek, saint comes from the same root word of holy. In fact, in English, the words saint, sanctify, and sacred all come from the same idea of being holy or becoming holy. A saint then could be called one who is holy.

Now the question becomes: what is holiness? Holiness is best understood as an adjective that can only fully be used to describe God Himself. Because holiness refers to the uniqueness, otherness, or distinctiveness of something, God is the only being who perfectly embodies holiness. Everything else in creation is like something else, at least in the fact that they both have been created. God, however, is totally unique. Even we humans, who were created to be like God, can only dimly reflect His nature. In this sense, God alone is holy. Yet throughout the Scriptures, people and even objects are also deemed holy. How is this? When holiness is applied to people and objects, the meaning is not that they are utterly unique like God but instead that they are distinctively set apart for God. For God, holiness is a statement of His being. For us, holiness is a declaration of God’s ownership of us. To be holy is to be called out of commonality, ordinariness, vulgarity, and profanity into a life exclusively dedicated to God. Saints, therefore, are a people of God’s own possession who have been commission to be His instruments of working in the world (1 Peter 2:9). In other words, if you are a Christian, you are a saint.

At Philippi 

So the saints in Philippi are the same as the believers in Philippi, but notice two other descriptions that Paul gives of them: in Christ and at Philippi. We’ll address their physical location first. Philippi was a city in eastern Macedonia that was conquered and given its name by Philip II of Macedon (more commonly known as the father of Alexander the Great). Philippi later received recognition as being near the battle site of Brutus and Cassius (assassins of Julius Caesar) against Mark Antony and Octavian (friend and adopted son of Caesar, respectively). After the battle and more fully when he became Augustus Caesar, Octavian relieved some of his veteran soldiers for the purpose of colonizing the city. Philippi became highly Romanized and was even modeled on the city of Rome itself. It quickly became a crucial city of the Roman Empire due to its proximity to rich gold mines and its position on the Via Egnatia, which was the major road that Paul would have traveled upon from Philippi to Thessalonica. The founding of the church in Philippi can be read in Acts 16.

In Christ

But the saints of Philippi are not only located at that city, they are also in Christ. Being in Christ is a common concept throughout the New Testament, so we could turn to a multitude of Scriptures for gaining a fuller understanding. Colossians 1:19-22 provides a remarkably concise glance at the riches of our being in Christ:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

What a glorious truth! In Christ, the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and by Christ, God is reconciling all things to himself. The peace of this reconciliation occurs via the blood of Jesus on the cross.

But why do we need to be reconciled to God? We were alienated and hostile in mind. This is our great problem. Because of our continuous rebellion against God, we were separated from God, but not merely separated, we were also hostile to Him. Like Adam and Eve before us, our disobedience is nothing short of a proclamation of our own divinity. Sin, therefore, does not merely make us dirty to God. It cuts us off from Him and makes us haters of Him. Sin is not a light-hearted issue; it is evil itself. In Ephesians 2:1, Paul goes so far as to call us dead in our sins.

What then could save us from our alienation and hostility toward God? Christ, and Christ alone. He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. By the death of Christ, we are reconciled to God and made holy, blameless, and above reproach. Jesus does this by, first, taking the due wrath for our sins upon Himself, and then granting to us His righteousness as our own. The process, called propitiation, is how we are reconciled to God. Christ absorbed God’s wrath, while giving us His righteousness. But notice that all of this only takes place in his body of flesh. Our reconciliation with God can occur nowhere other than in Christ. Jesus is now our mediator, bridging the divide of alienation and reconciling the hostility between God and us. This is why Paul commands the Colossians later to consider themselves dead to themselves and alive to God in Christ: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (3:3-4).

What does it mean then to be in Christ? When we have died to our sin and our life is hidden in Christ, we are reconciled to God, standing before Him holy and blameless. Being in Christ, therefore, is the very essence of the gospel. There is no good news outside of Christ. In Him is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), and there is no other. To be in Christ is life. To be outside of Him is death.

Dual Citizens

It should also be noted that the Philippians dual locations occur simultaneously. Their life may be hidden with Christ in God, but they are still physically present in Philippi. The same is true of us. We exist in a kind of intermediate state. We have been rescued from sin and now possess the full heavenly blessings of God, and yet we still live in non-glorified, sin-ruined bodies. We are not what we once were, but we are also not yet what we will be. We are in Christ. But we are also in this broken, fallen world. We cannot neglect either of these truths. We must live as new creations in Christ, while also continuing to live in our neighborhoods, cities, and towns. Our dual citizenship must ever be before us. Yet we must also note that the problems rarely come from us being transfixed with our heavenly status to the neglect of our present condition. John Piper expresses this thought well:

The problem with the church today is not that there are too many people who are passionately in love with heaven. Name three! The problem is not that professing Christians are retreating from the world, spending half their days reading Scripture and the other half singing about their pleasures in God all the while indifferent to the needs of the world. The problem is that professing Christians are spending ten minutes reading Scripture and then half their day making money and the other half enjoying and repairing what they spend it on.

It is not heavenly-mindedness that hinders love. It is worldly-mindedness that hinders love, even when it is disguised by a religious routine on the weekend. Where is the person whose heart is so passionately in love with the promised glory of heaven that he feels like an exile and a sojourner on the earth? Where is the person who has so tasted the beauty of the age to come that the diamonds of the world look like baubles, and the entertainment of the world is empty, and the moral causes of the world are too small because they have no view to eternity? Where is this person?

He is not in bondage to TV-watching or eating or sleeping or drinking or partying or fishing or sailing or putzing around. He is a free man in a foreign land. And his one question is this: How can I maximize my enjoyment of God for all eternity while I am an exile on this earth? And his answer is always the same: by doing the labors of love.
Only one thing satisfies the heart whose treasure is in heaven: doing the works of heaven. And heaven is a world of love! It is not the cords of heaven that bind the hands of love. It is the love of money and leisure and comfort and praise — these are the cords that bind the hands of love. And the power to sever these cords is Christian hope.” (Piper, 1986)

How often do you consider your being in Christ? Would you consider yourself heavenly-minded or worldly-minded? How might fixing our eyes on Christ enable us to be better citizens here and now?

With the overseers and deacons

We, of course, cannot continue into verse 2 without addressing the final phrase of verse 1: with the overseers and deacons. I will not spend much time here discussing these two offices, since I have already addressed them in detail through our series, Biblical Leadership. So here is the shorthand information. Overseers and deacons are the two offices of leadership in the church as defined in the Bible. Overseers, who are also called pastors and elders, are guardians of doctrine within the church, tasked primarily to shepherd the congregation through prayer and the ministry of the Word. Deacons are the church’s guardians of unity, who primarily minister to the physical needs of the congregation. Note that both offices are presented as being plural, which is consistent with the rest of the New Testament.

GRACE & PEACE FROM CHRIST // VERSE 2

Now understanding the letter’s author and recipients, Paul writes a common Christian greeting to the church of Philippi. The phrase grace and peace is as loaded with significance as in Christ is. In many ways, these two words represent the entire biblical message.

Peace

The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, is well-known, and even though the letter was written in Greek, Paul no doubt had this concept in mind. Shalom, however, means far more than just the absence of conflict or hardship; it also refers to being whole or complete. Thus, being at peace is to be fully satisfied and content, possessing the serenity of perfect security and completion. With God’s peace, there is no fear. No anxiety. No worry. No stress. No want. No lack. No envy, greed, or coveting. The peace of God is being fully satisfied in God.

Grace

Of course, this peace is only given to us through the other word: grace. Grace is best described alongside mercy. Mercy occurs whenever just punishment is withheld, and grace is the giving of blessing instead. In other words, mercy is about not receiving what we deserved, while grace is about being gifted what we do not deserve. As we described above, these two actions form God’s act of propitiation through the cross of Christ. By God’s mercy, the wrath for our sin is withheld from us and transferred to Christ. By God’s grace, Christ’s righteousness is placed upon us, enabling us to receiving the blessings of God, such as His peace.

God our Father

So by the grace of God, we have the peace of God. These come from the hand of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only is God’s wrath kept from us, but God becomes our Father. In Christ, we are able to speak to the Designer of centripetal force, wombats, and mangos as our Dad. If we find security in having connections to powerful people, how much more should we be at peace knowing that our Father upholds the universe by the word of His power!

The Lord Jesus Christ

And this relationship was purchased for us through the death of our Lord, our Master. To bring everything full circle, how can we not serve Christ as His slaves when He has died for us, showered us with His grace, and given us the peace of having God as our Father? Surely He has been proven to have our best interest at heart. We are far richer and far better off serving Christ than any other lord, even ourselves.

May we, therefore, be slaves of Christ who are in Christ by the peace and grace of Christ to the glory alone of Christ.

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The End of the Matter | Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

On By Cole NewtonIn Ecclesiastes, SermonsLeave a comment

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 (ESV)

 

Throughout Ecclesiastes, as the Preacher has systematically stripped the hope out of various avenues for pursuing joy, meaning, and purpose, he has also repeatedly given us a glimpse above the sun to the only real and lasting hope for humanity. This hope is that truly enjoying life can only come as a gift from God. The LORD alone is beyond vanity. He alone is joy, meaning, and purpose. And while this refrain has popped up throughout the book, here in these final two verses Solomon concludes by fixing our eyes squarely upon Him who is above the sun.

THE END OF THE MATTER // VERSE 13

In no uncertain terms, Ecclesiastes now draws to a close with the end of the matter. The book has, in many ways, been a winding journey through the Preacher’s collected thoughts on life. No one can argue that the adventure is not beautiful and poetic, but it is also difficult to decipher. And often the pieces of Ecclesiastes that are easiest to understand are also the hardest to swallow. Throughout the book, the fragmented pleading of the refrains to enjoy life in contentment have been lights at the end of the tunnel. Indeed, the point of Ecclesiastes, so far, can seem to be that there is no point to life so you might as well just enjoy the life given to you by God. But within these final two verses, we definitively learn what the overall message of the Preacher is for us. He now finally presents his barebones conclusion, the end of the matter, after all has been heard. After reflecting upon relationships, work, finances, possessions, children, wisdom, folly, knowledge, ignorance, anger, enjoyment, contentment, pleasure, legacy, eternity, oppression, justice, laughter, mourning, prosperity, adversity, time, life under the sun, and, of course, death, Ecclesiastes now offers at its conclusion the purpose behind all of human existence: fear God and keep His commandments.

THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN // VERSE 13

If saying that the purpose of humanity is to fear God and keep His commandments seems like a slight hyperbole, note the final phrase of verse 13: for this is the whole duty of man. Since man is, of course, referring to all of mankind or humanity, the author is blatantly ascribing these two items as our reason for existing. If this sounds a bit shocking to you, it should. The very idea of having and/or discovering the grand purpose for being alive is an innately human experience. No person can live into adulthood without wrestling with this thought. James K. A. Smith, in You Are What You Love, (commenting on Augustine’s famous prayer: “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”) says it like this:

To be human is to be for something, directed toward something, oriented toward something. To be human is to be on the move, pursuing something, after something. We are like existential sharks: we have to move to live. We are not just static containers for ideas; we are dynamic creatures directed toward some end. In philosophy we have a shorthand term for this: something that is oriented toward an end or telos (a “goal”) is described as “teleological.” Augustine rightly recognizes that human beings are teleological creatures. (8)

Second-century Roman emperor and Stoic, Marcus Aurelius, agrees with Smith’s conclusion: “People who labor all their lives but have no purpose to direct every thought and impulse toward are wasting their time—even when hard at work” (19). If modern and ancient, Christian and pagan, agree that we are teleological beings, then what’s the point of emphasizing this point?

Unfortunately, the postmodern thought of today seems to be snuggling a bit too close to nihilism. Either outlook is frightening enough on its own, but together the result can be horrific. When postmodernism’s perpetual skepticism meets nihilism’s cynical declaration that nothing matters, the question is no longer “What is humanity’s purpose?” but instead “What should I do without purpose?” The closing song of the musical Avenue Q sums up this mentality quite well. Throughout the play, one of the main characters searches for his purpose in life, and when his quest proves futile, the cast sings about the comfort that, for all of its hardships, at least life is only temporary. It’s a repackaging of the nihilistic refrain: let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Which, to be fair, is a soundly logical assertion if we are merely products of darwinian evolution, just lumps of cells that formed by chance with an accidental consciousness that will cease to be after death. Without a Designer, searching for a design is a waste of time. We might as well enjoy life to the fullest because it’s all we have.

This may sound similar to the refrain of Ecclesiastes to eat and drink, for there is nothing better than to enjoy the toil that God has given us, but these two philosophies could not be more diametrically opposed. For all of the Preacher’s talk about the futility of life, he has never concluded that nothing matters so we just need to grit our teeth through life and enjoy as much of it as we can. No! The Preacher has repeatedly commanded us to enjoy life as God’s gift. We don’t try to enjoy food and drink because there’s nothing better to do; we eat and drink with joy because flavors and full-bellies are the Creator’s blessings upon His creation. For all the vanities under the sun, we know that the Creator of even the sun itself is governing all things for His glory. In the midst of adversities and evils, we are called to, even then, rejoice in the blessings all around us.

And we can do this. Even though the world is broken and so are we, God’s creation and image have not been marred to the uttermost. Now please don’t report me to John Calvin. I wholeheartedly believe in the depravity of man, especially since it is the one doctrine of Scripture that can be empirically confirmed (as I believe Chesterton noted). But even though the damage is beyond our ability to repair, by His common grace, we are not as sinful as we could be. God still preserves glimpses of His goodness, even among those who actively blaspheme Him. There is, therefore, always grace to enjoy around us because God has preserved it.

All of this emphasizes the fact that Ecclesiastes gloriously proclaims that we do have a God-designed purpose. There is a meaning behind all of life’s futilities and adversities. And now that very purpose is being stated explicitly: the whole duty of mankind is to fear God and keep His commandments.

This duty of humanity is, in reality, one action, which is why he says duty is singular instead of plural. Fearing God and obeying God are so interwoven to one another that separation sabotages both.

Let us think this through.

To fear God is to see God as God. A true glimpse of God’s holiness must result in fear. He is too great and too beyond us for us not to quake at His presence. Fear is the proper reaction to seeing God for who He is. Being afraid during an earthquake is a justified reaction, and taking shelter from a tornado is the wise response. We fear elemental forces such as those because we rightly recognize them to be beyond our control. We become afraid because we are of no consequence to their raw power. To stand defiantly in the midst of a tornado is not bravery but foolishness of the highest order.

But what does this have to do with God? Nahum writes of God that “His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it” (1:3-5).

Just as we flee in fear of the natural elements so do they flee from the LORD. It is wise to fear whatever puts fear into our fears. The LORD formed and created all things. He is utterly above and beyond all things. Nothing in existence is His equal, and nothing can even begin to rival His glory. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom because nothing is more foolish than not fearing God. Anyone who does not fear God does not know Him.

But how does fearing God intertwine with obeying His commands? Simply put, why would we not follow to the letter each command of the Being who authored all of reality? Fearing God without also obeying Him is an impossibility. The fear of God will always lead to obedience, and disobedience is evidence of the denial of God. We cannot fear Him without obeying Him, but we also cannot obey Him without fearing Him. Why is this? Could we not, at least, superficially obey His commandments? Could we not just go through the motions and it still count? No, the greatest commandment in the Bible is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” We cannot love God without first knowing Him, and as stated previously, we cannot know God without fearing Him. No one, therefore, can love God without also fearing Him. Obedience to the greatest commandment requires the fear of the LORD. Thus, we cannot obey Him without fearing Him.

I pray that we now see clearly that the duty to fear God and obey His commands is only one duty, one great responsibility and purpose for all of humanity.

THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT // VERSES 14

The final verse of Ecclesiastes is very much a warning. Primarily, it acts as motivation for fearing God and keeping His commandments, just like the phrase for this is the whole duty of man. Thus, if duty alone will not motivate you to serve God, perhaps impending judgment will. If the fearsome Creator that we have been discussing is promising a judgment day, we should rightly shudder at the very thought. God’s final judgment is not a topic to be treated lightly or frivolously but with reverential fear and trembling. Four questions will guide our study of this verse.

What will God judge?

If the omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God is promising judgment, knowing what exactly He will judge should be our top priority. The author provides one answer with two modifiers: every deed, even those done in secret, whether good or evil. In other words, nothing we do will escape the judicial verdict of Almighty God. Nothing is secretive enough to hide from the all-seeing eyes of the LORD. Sadly, many will write off this statement as being referring to the vindictive God of the Old Testament. Jesus, they would argue, is different; the primary message of Jesus is love, not judgment. First, the primary message of Jesus was the arrival of the kingdom of heaven, which should be met with repentance. Second, Jesus actually takes this thought one step further beyond deeds. In Matthew 12:36-37, Jesus declares, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Jesus, thus, affirms a coming day of God’s ultimate judgment and adds that our words will be judged along with our deeds.

Further in Matthew, Jesus takes the judgment even further by noting that sinful words derive from a sinful heart. “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (15:18-19). God’s judgment will not only come upon what we do but what we say and even think.

Why is this good news?

Now that we know what exactly God will judge, why is this verse good news? Because God’s law is etched onto our hearts (Romans 2:15), we long to see evil brought to justice. Just this week on the local news was a report of a woman who pleaded no contest to fleeing the scene of a fatality after hitting a man with her car. The court gave her thirty days in prison with three years’ probation, to which the man’s family claimed that justice was not served. In those types of moment, we inherently long for justice. We ache to see wrongs being made right. We yearn for retribution and vengeance to come upon the head of evildoers. If you do not think this is true, read stories from Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps, the lynching of Jesse Washington, the “population transfers” in the Soviet Union, or countless other atrocities committed throughout history. Even though, as I said, God has gracious prevented humanity from being depraved to the uttermost, we certainly have made plenty attempts to prove our depravity beyond a doubt. No one with an even semi-functioning conscience can deny longing for evil to be judged.

Why is this bad news?

So God will judge everything that we do, say, or think and that is good because evil deserves to be punished. Unfortunately, this is also bad news for us. Why is God’s judgment bad news to us? Sadly, we desire to see evil punished, as long as it’s not our evil, but if God will judge everything, we clearly have evil deeds, words, and thoughts that require justice as well. Of course, someone might argue that their deeds, words, and thoughts haven’t been too evil, at least compared to the exploits of Nazis and the like. Surely, then, God’s judgment will be less severe upon us, right? How could God send regular people to an eternal hell alongside committers of genocide, serial rapists, child molesters, and mass shooters? The problem with these kinds of questions is that they fundamentally misunderstand the sinfulness of sin. All sin is primarily an offense against God Himself. Every murder is first and foremost an attack upon the God whose image the murdered person bore. Every theft is robbing from God who gives to all as He sees fit. Ultimately, the breaking of God’s law is cosmic treason, a declaration that we know and are greater than the Creator of all things. Assuming that we are not bad enough to earn God’s eternal judgment is a fundamental lack of understanding who God is. R. C. Sproul points out this error powerfully at a Q&A session from the 2014 Ligonier National Conference, where he answered the question of why God was so severe against Adam and Eve when they sinned. Here is his answer:

This creature from the dirt defied the everlasting, holy God after that God had said that the day that you shall eat of it you shall surely die. And instead of dying that day, he lived another day. And was clothed in his nakedness by pure grace. And had the consequence of a curse applied for quite some time that the worst curse would come upon the one who seduced him, whose head would be crushed by the seed of the woman. And the punishment was too severe? What’s wrong with you people? I’m serious. I mean this is what’s wrong with the Christian church today. We don’t know who God is. We don’t know who we are. The question is: why wasn’t it infinitely more severe? If we have any understanding of our sin and any understanding of who God is that’s the question, isn’t it?

Indeed, each sin, no matter how small we think it is, is a transgression against the eternal God; therefore, the justice served against such a crime must also be eternal. Since God knows all things that we do, say, and think, we have no hope of disguising ourselves as slight sinners either. Each sin earns us God’s full judgment and not one of them escapes His sight. This is bad news for us.

What hope do we have? 

Our final question to ask in light of these two verses and the truths that we have seen in them is: What hope do we then have? Calling our circumstance bleak is sugar-coating it. Some claim that God could simply forgive sin, waving it away as if it never happened. But such an action would fly in the face of justice. A judge who refuses to deal punishments for crimes is an unjust judge. Neither could God draw a line between more and less serious sins, forgiving the small ones and punishing the large ones. Doing so would fail to properly uphold His eternal glory. Besides, even if God did so, we would then simply argue about why God drew the line wherever He drew it.

So the question then becomes: how can God remain just, while upholding His infinite glory and granting us forgiveness? The sheer impossibility of each of these elements being fulfilled should cause everyone to cry out, “Who then can be saved?”

Such is the magnitude of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Upon the God-man, as He hung from the cross, came the coalescence of God’s justice, glory, and love. Jesus satisfied God’s justice by offering His own undeserved death as payment for our sins. This was possible because of the deity of Christ. He was able to pay our everlasting debt because He is from everlasting to everlasting. Thus, God’s justice was served and His glory honored. With God’s justice met and glory exalted, His love is then displayed. Having entirely absorbed our punishment in Christ, God then imputes upon us the righteousness of Christ. We are, thus, more than forgiven; we are adopted as children of God, coheirs with Christ. This is the gospel, the good news. The entirety of Scripture points to this message: God rescues rebellious sinners at the cost of His own blood.

THE END OF THE MATTER

The grand purpose, design, and duty of humanity is to fear God and obey His commandments, which we fail time and time again. Frighteningly for us, God will bring each and every thing into judgment, and that very judgment would consume us entirely if it were not the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For all of its poetic beauty, Ecclesiastes, like all Old Testament books, ultimately points beyond itself to Christ.

In Christ alone are we able to fear God and obey His commandments, for it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

In Christ alone are we able to go to the house of God, drawing near because for us Jesus was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

In Christ alone are we able to eat and drink and do all things with joy as He strengthens us in contentment of the life graciously given to us by God.

In Christ alone are we able to find, in the midst of the adversities of life, the peace that surpasses all understanding.

In Christ alone are we able to rejoice in our toil under the sun, knowing that for us, to live is Christ.

In Christ alone are we able to meet our inevitable and looming death with confidence that to die is, in fact, gain.

In Christ alone are we able to find gain in this life under the sun, counting everything as vanity for the sake of Christ.

Vanity of vanities. All is vanity without Christ.

Depressing Joy: a thousand year search for meaning

On By Cole NewtonIn Ecclesiastes, Philippians, ThoughtsLeave a comment

Back in 2012, I taught through the books of Ecclesiastes and Philippians together, attempting to show how they both present that true joy is only found in Christ. Since I am now preaching through them again (finishing Ecclesiastes this Sunday), I’m sharing the essay that I wrote in 2012 to explain the connection between these two books.

The nature of joy should not be mysterious to us, yet it often is. C. S. Lewis claims, in the book Surprised by Joy, that pleasure, happiness, and joy share a commonality. This common trait, Lewis remarks, is that after one has experienced them he or she will spend the rest of their life searching for them again. However, though they share this link, joy is significantly different from pleasure or happiness. For instance, the alluring aspect of happiness and pleasure is that they are both enjoyable, yet that very enjoyment of happiness and pleasure is meant to be found within the context of joy. The word “enjoy” means, after all, to find joy in something. Thus, joy is the means by which and the purpose to which we are meant enjoy pleasure and happiness. We often seek happiness and pleasure themselves as sources of joy, but if we sought joy first, then we would already have the context for accepting pleasure and happiness. Joy should be given primacy. Happiness and pleasure could best be described as momentary glimpses of joy, whereas joy is a state of being that transcends throughout the emotional spectrum. Thus, we can be joyful and happy, but we can also be sorrowful and full of joy.

The lasting appeal of joy, I believe, derives from its interconnection with satisfaction. When we are joyful, we are satisfied. Or, it could better be said that when we are satisfied, we are joyful. As Moody notes, “if man is dying for want of bread, and you give him bread, is that going to make him gloomy?” Most, if not all, of our negative emotions can be traced to an outcome that deviated from our original desire. I will not enjoy a meal fully if it is Chinese food and my desire was for Mexican. When our desires are fulfilled, we find joy and satisfaction.

The implication of this thought is enormous because most people strongly desire to live a satisfied life. We often long, deep within our souls, for a joy that gives us true satisfaction and contentment, and we are best able to find that joy by seeing our desires fulfilled. However, if our greatest desire is to achieve joy and satisfaction, then such joy can only be found by finding… joy. And it is within this vague cycle of sought-out meaning that many throw away their search for joy. They become lost in the quest for satisfaction and, as a result, pursue one source of fleeting pleasure after another. Instead of finding lasting joy, they do their best to be satisfied with lesser things, with mere hints of the meaning and contentment that could be had.

This triviality is not lost on God nor on His chosen people throughout history. In fact, there two books within God’s Word that search out and answer how we might find a meaningful and satisfied life. The first of these is the book of Ecclesiastes. Written by Solomon, the king of Israel after succeeding his father David, Ecclesiastes is traditionally believed to be his dying thoughts. After living a life of unparalleled wealth, pleasure, and wisdom, Solomon wrote what many consider to be the most hopeless and depressing book of the Bible.

It is easily understood how one can arrive at such a conclusion. The bulk of Ecclesiastes is Solomon presenting various avenues of hope only to describe their shortcomings. However, the overarching vanity in life is not Solomon’s ultimate purpose for the book. Instead, Solomon hopes to reveal the Source of lasting joy and satisfaction, but he does this primarily by showing how other methods fail to offer such joy. In fact, the Israelite king repeatedly states that there is nothing better in life than to enjoy what you have been given by God.

Wait.

Surely the search for lasting joy cannot be that simple.

Are we meant to simply have joy?

Well, Solomon does give an answer for the Source of joy: God. The conclusion of Solomon’s life is that enjoyment, and thus joy, only comes from God. Nothing else gives such lasting satisfaction. Therefore, we must understand that Ecclesiastes is, at its core, about joy and the Giver of joy.

The second book is the widely hailed epistle of joy: Philippians. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians was written towards the end of his life as well. Over the course of his letter, Paul primarily urges the church in Philippi to rejoice (another word derived from joy), despite the church and Paul himself experiencing persecution. In fact, Philippians was written while Paul was imprisoned for declaring the gospel of Jesus. But even though Paul was sitting in prison awaiting his death, he wrote with supreme confidence that he had found the complete and total meaning of life: “to live is Christ.” Furthermore, Paul’s central focus upon Christ gives contentment and joy in any situation and grants him the ability to view death as gain. The joy of Christ delivers unparalleled joy and satisfaction, while stripping away the sting and fear of death.

Though Solomon and Paul were separated by roughly a thousand years, the central theme of both Ecclesiastes and Philippians remains eternally tied together. These two godly and wise men present to us a thousand year, Spirit-inspired look at humanity’s quest for meaning, satisfaction, and purpose in life. But even more importantly, they present the answer to that quest; therefore, over the next couple of posts, we will explore the connections and relations between these two beautiful, but challenging, books.

Two Roads

A belief that I hold is that there are two paths to hell. If eternal judgment is your desired destination, rest assured that you have at least two choices to take: the road of the “sinner” or the road of the “religious.”

You see, the only method of actually securing the eternal wrath of such a loving God is to follow your own prideful heart, to reject His grace and His Son. This is the only means of sealing one’s damnation because we know that anyone who turns from their sins and follows Christ shall be saved.

However,  though pride is the only means of earning a hellish afterlife, such a life plays out in two broad forms, both are methods of proclaiming your own glory instead of God’s. As one could probably guess, both of these views are discussed in Ecclesiastes and Philippians.

First, you can become a “sinner” and adamantly reject the inherent moral compass that God has placed within us. This way of life will almost always become some form of the philosophical thought known as hedonism. This is because, as stated above, pleasure gives us a sense of enjoyment, which we will often relentlessly pursue. When we are centered upon ourselves entirely and deny any real morality, we will seek our own happiness through various means.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon gives us the very epitome of this “sinner” approach to life. His hedonistic quest is listed in the second chapter and is basically a dream fulfilled to anyone. Is music enjoyable? Solomon hired his favorite singers and musicians to play personally for him, whenever he wanted. How about laughter? He had the best comedians around him at all times. Animals? He had the best farms and his own personal zoo. Money? Solomon made 666 talents of gold each year just for being king. That would be a salary of about $750,000,000 in today’s currency! With all of his possessions included, Solomon is widely considered to be the wealthiest person to ever live. How about sex? He had 700 wives and 300 concubines whose only job was to satisfy any fantasy that the king had. Most men today would have great difficulty building a virtual harem that large, let alone an actual harem! He ordered the building of one of the wonders of the ancient world, the temple in Jerusalem. His philanthropy was also unmatched. Surely all of those activities gave him pleasure!

And actually, it did.

But it was only a fleeting, momentary pleasure. Disillusioned by the inability to find lasting satisfaction in any of those avenues, Solomon gives himself over to despair in the very same chapter! Though he sought joy, the end result is nothing but depression.

Or we could choose to become “religious.”

This route is no less prideful than the “sinner’s” road, though it often appears to be so because of the false humility that likely follows. In many ways, this path is no less hedonistic than the “sinner.” While “sinner” ignores the moral laws and seeks pleasure outside of them, the “religious” accepts morality and hopes to find pleasure in being a good person. Following this route, our satisfaction becomes contingent upon our good works.

In Philippians, we find this other path toward damnation played out. In the third chapter, Paul gives us his religious credentials. Paul was born into one of the more prominent tribes among God’s chosen people. When it came to obeying the laws that God gave to the Israelites, Paul was a Pharisee. This group literally devoted their entire lives to obeying God’s Word, and Paul was quickly becoming one of the best. Another aspect of religiousness is passion, or zeal. Many today will argue that it does not matter what you believe so long as you believe with your whole heart and passion. Paul had unrivaled zeal, displayed in the fact that he killed those considered to be heretics. It is difficult to imagine a greater passion than the willingness to kill for your beliefs. And interestingly enough, Paul does not say that this failed to give him pleasure or satisfaction. In fact, this form of life can certainly lead to a fulfilled existence; however, the end result will not be even remotely pleasant. Jesus informs us that at the end of time many will stand before Him and confidently sight their resume as justification for their entrance into God’s presence. Shockingly, they will promptly be denied. Why? They will be sent away because all of their efforts were for their own pride and glory, not the glorification of Christ.

Nevertheless, Paul does not reiterate Jesus’ words. He does not even state that all of his best efforts were in vain. Instead, he is more concerned with what he has found to be the greatest source of pleasure and meaning, which consequently is the same conclusion that Solomon also arrives to at the end of the second chapter in Ecclesiastes. Solomon’s claim is that the ability to enjoy life is a gift from God, and Paul’s conclusion is that everything else pales in comparison to Jesus Christ. Solomon’s hedonism and Paul’s hedonistic legalism both spring from the sin called pride and its rebellion against God. Yet both also find their hope and true joy in God and the radiance of His glory Jesus Christ.

Finding Contentment

Yet even if hedonism and religious legalism are both truly dead ends, we are forced to ask once more why people pursue these ends.

Why do we relentlessly chase after the pleasures of hedonism to the degree of ignoring our God-given conscience?

Why practice the asceticism found within religious legalism so that precious little happiness and pleasure is left in life?

Both roads are meant to accomplish the same end: contentment. A satisfied, fulfilled, and purposeful life is the goal to which almost every philosophical outlook aims. Most of us seek to live a life that is full of meaning, a life that has not been wasted.

Solomon, with all of his divinely granted wisdom, was no exception. Ecclesiastes is the Israelite king’s reflection on all of the various quests that he explored to find this contentment, this meaning in life. Though he pursued many possible means toward that end, the thesis of Ecclesiastes is that he only found one path that leads to true meaning and satisfaction in life.

In the twelfth and thirteenth verses of chapter three, Solomon states simply that there is nothing better than for us to “take pleasure” in all of our toil. He would rephrase this idea later by saying that we would do well to accept our lot in life. Thus, we have to wonder if such is the extent of Solomon’s wisdom. The wisest man to ever live, at the end of his life, reaches one conclusion: to find contentment and satisfaction in life, be content and satisfied with life.

Is the answer to the question truly the content of the question itself? Fortunately, Solomon grants us more to guide us than the advice of simply being content. Instead, Solomon reveals to us the Source of contentment. He concludes the verses mentioned above with this tell-tale phrase: “this is God’s gift to man.” From whence can such contentment and purpose in life come? According to Solomon, it can only come from the hand of God, gift to humanity that He alone can give.

Paul’s letter to the Philippian church is not without its parallel in this matter.

Given the apostle’s circumstances, it would be difficult to imagine how he could find complete and total satisfaction with life. He was locked away in prison, knowing that he could be executed at any moment. And this is after most of his missionary journeys, which saw him shipwrecked, beaten, stoned, and flogged. Luke the physician likely stayed by Paul’s side primarily out of necessity. After such difficulties and sufferings, is it possible for Paul to write about having contentment and satisfaction? Amazingly, he does!

In verse eleven of chapter four, Paul declares that he has learned “to be content” in any situation. Even so, this claim will inspire nothing but envy within us unless Paul is able to disclose the Source of his contentment. The thirteenth verse of the same chapter is one of the most famous and quoted verses of the entire Bible, and it is there that the answer is found. It is through “him who strengthens” that Paul finds the ability to be satisfied within difficult circumstances. We understand from the context of the letter and chapter that the “him” is Christ.

Therefore, Paul is making the same claim that Solomon made 1000 years prior. They have both found the same conclusion to one of life’s greatest questions, and the answer is that only God can give us contentment and satisfaction with life.

The Pursuit of Joy

We have now arrived at the Source of a content life. We have discovered that God alone, through Christ, is able granted us the satisfaction that our souls desire. However, if we stop merely at the Source of our satisfaction, then I believe that we will miss an opportunity to see the glory and goodness of God at work.

You see, part of the glorious nature of God’s gift of contentment is the means by which it is given. God, being God, could easily have granted us a form of contentment that offered no level of pleasure. He could have simply given us the ability to be completely satisfied with our lot in life, while also being quite unhappy. Yet, this is not how He chose to operate. God Himself is the Source of our contentment, but joy is the vehicle, the mode, through which His gift is given. This thought gives heart to what was discussed at the beginning: joy leads to satisfaction, which we know now to be because God ordained it as such.

In bringing the ideas of joy, contentment, meaning, satisfaction, pleasure, and happiness full circle, we may once again turn toward Ecclesiastes’ and Philippians’ persistent mentioning of joy and its derivative words.

Solomon continually reinforces that the only means of lasting value is enjoying life via the free gift of God.  Paul pleads throughout for the Philippians to rejoice in Christ, even in the persecution that they were experiencing. Thus, over the span of a thousand years, Paul and Solomon both urge, through radically different writings and lives, that finding enjoyment and rejoicing in God are the only means to achieving lasting contentment and satisfaction in life, and enjoyment and rejoicing can only come from God Himself.

Therefore, God is the Source, the Receiver of the means, and the Objective that we hope to arrive upon. In short, joy, contentment, and meaning are only in God the Father through Jesus Christ. The circular quest for purpose has but one answer: the One who is, in and of Himself, the Beginning and the End. He is the summation of the very purpose of our lives.

Thus, we enjoy and rejoice because He is good and sufficient, and in Him, we are completely satisfied. It is this biblical line of thinking that inspired John Piper to form this condensed description of his theology: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Being satisfied in Him necessitates enjoying and rejoicing in Him.

All of this is to say that the chief end of both Ecclesiastes and Philippians is that immeasurable joy can only be found in God, which will lead to a content and satisfied life, and a life that is completely joyful in Him will be supremely glorifying to Him.  Let us, therefore, glorify Christ Jesus along with Solomon and Paul, for His glory will also become our greatest joy.

Beware of Anything Beyond Scripture | Ecclesiastes 12:9-12

On By Cole NewtonIn Ecclesiastes, SermonsLeave a comment

Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Ecclesiastes 12:9–12 (ESV)

 

With verse 8 of this final chapter repeating verse 2 of the first chapter, the body of Ecclesiastes came to its conclusion. The remaining six verses compose the epilogue to this biblical work of philosophy. Throughout the entirety of the book, the under the sun perspective has been predominant, with glimpses beyond scattered throughout. If in our previous study the Preacher lifted our eyes toward the sun itself, he continues to raise our heads further in these verses. Verses 13-14 will entirely point us to the God who is above the sun, but verses 9-12 direct us to His means of reaching out to us under the sun: the Scriptures.

We now enter the epilogue of Ecclesiastes, which is the subject of much debate among theologians. One of the most common views is that the epilogue was authored by someone other than the Preacher himself. This seems accurate enough at first glance since whoever wrote these verses appears to be introducing the Preacher in 1:1 and is reflecting upon the Preacher’s words in the epilogue. The other primary argument is these verses are not nearly as bleak as the main body and generally do not have the same feel or aim. A prevailing theory is that if Solomon is indeed the Preacher then perhaps Hezekiah (who compiled many proverbs of Solomon, as seen in Proverbs 25:1) composed the epilogue and first verse of the book. This view certainly has its merits and may very well be true; however, I find no problem with the Preacher also being the author of the epilogue. First, writing about oneself in the third person was far from uncommon in the ancient world. Second, the epilogue is not a shift in style from the rest of the book; it is its conclusion. Verse 13-14 get explicitly targeted as being too God-focused for the rest of Ecclesiastes, but the entire book builds toward those closing statements. And like a skilled writer, the Preacher sowed the seeds for his conclusion throughout the book. For instance, he is not instructing us to fear God for the first time (5:7). In fact, recall that 5:1-7 is a miniature replica of Ecclesiastes’ structure, complete with a refrain and an epilogue that sheds new light on the previous verses as well. God’s judgment is also not new to the Preacher (11:9). Indeed, the bleak outlook of the entire book, the constant refrain for us to enjoy the life given to us, and the exploration of living under the sun have all been leading us to these final remarks.

As I said in the study of 5:1-7, I strongly considered opening Ecclesiastes with a discussion of its epilogue, and the Preacher (or whoever authored these verses) indeed intends for us to reread Ecclesiastes in light of its conclusion. But the necessity of rereading the book is the entire point. These words come at the end of the book for a reason. The author wants to us feel the beauty of lifting our face above the sun after having spent so much time under it. They are a breath of fresh air after swimming in the vanities of this life. But they also should impact how we reread Ecclesiastes. Or I should say, they necessitate that we reread Ecclesiastes. As a blatant member of the Bible’s wisdom literature, Ecclesiastes is meant to be meditated over as we mine it for the wisdom that God has spoken through it. Providing the epilogue as a new lens through which to read the book serves as an incentive to return to its words. I would go so far as to say that a failure to reread Ecclesiastes in light of the epilogue is a failure to understand the overall message of the book.

TEACHING KNOWLEDGE // VERSE 9

The epilogue begins by panning the camera back until the director is brought into the frame. Information on the Preacher has been scant throughout the book, and the end of the book does little to change that status. The Preacher has reminded us frequently of his wisdom, but now he points us beyond that wisdom. Besides being wise (or beyond being wise), the Preacher taught knowledge to the people, primarily through the use of Proverbs, which we have seen included in this book. There are two aspects of this verse that I want to comment on.

First, this is not saying that the Preacher went beyond wisdom into a higher level of some sort, nor that he left wisdom behind to move onto bigger and better things. Instead, Solomon not only accumulated wisdom; he also did something with it. Specifically, he taught knowledge and wisdom to others. This is important for two reasons: 1) knowledge is worth teaching, and 2) teaching is a form of loving.

Knowledge is worth teaching because knowledge is worth knowing. Christianity is a religion that gladly admits that we are ignorant of many details and contours of God because He is infinite and we are finite. Our knowledge is limited; therefore, we will always be ignorant of something. However, the Bible continuously rebels against the notion of willful ignorance, while wholeheartedly promoting the pursuit of knowledge. We see this in the cornerstone verse of Proverbs: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (1:7). Whoever fears God is ready and willing to learn, but fools openly reject being taught wisdom and knowledge. Fools fight at the notion that someone may know something that they do not.

Similarly, the LORD brings His condemnation against Israel in Hosea 4:6 stating, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Israel became willfully ignorant of God in favor of pursuing sin. In verse 10, the LORD warns that sin destroys understanding: “They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.”

Now compare that despair of ignorance with Peter’s view of knowledge: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). God’s divine power places life and godliness in our hands through the knowledge of Him. Knowing God is how we experience the power of God, but willful ignorance of God is a foolish sin that ends in damnation. Eternity, therefore, hangs upon the knowledge or ignorance of God. Is knowledge not worth teaching!

If knowledge of God is the means of receiving God’s powerful gifts of life and godliness, then such knowledge must be taught. And beyond the bare necessity of teaching the knowledge of God, such teaching is also a supremely loving act. If, as we studied in the previous text, God is the being of the greatest worth and value, then the act of introducing someone to God and His character is an act of great worth and value. If the greatest commandment is to love God with the second being to love our neighbors, then teaching our neighbors the God who is altogether lovely is a display of love of the highest order.

Unfortunately, we tend to place the meeting the physical needs of others on a higher plain than their spiritual needs. The Apostles, in Acts 6, did not fall into that trap. They rightly delegated the distribution of food to the church’s widows in order to focus on the ministry of the Word and prayer. Of course, none of this is to say that physical needs are of no value. They certainly are! But feeding upon the Scripture is eternally more important than feeding upon bread. Often it is said that people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care, but, as Christians, we ultimately long to show how much we care by showing people the God we know. Along these lines, the Preacher was too loving to keep his wisdom and knowledge of God to himself, so he taught others.

Seconds, notice how Solomon taught others: weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher poured himself into the work of collecting words of wisdom. With great care, he weighed proverbs, scrutinizing them in order to be sure of their wisdom. He studied them, reading them backward and forward, meditating on them day and night, taking them to heart, and applying them to his own life. He arranged them, gathering them together so that others might be able to study them as well. The emphasis of these three verbs is the great care with which he compiled his words of wisdom. There was nothing frivolous or half-hearted about his task. He poured heart and soul into his work, for the purpose of teaching others. To the weariness of his own flesh, he studied for the sake of others.

Why did he put so much work into words that many people will dismiss before they ever even read? The next two verses give us that answer.

WORDS OF WISDOM, TRUTH, & DELIGHT // VERSES 10-11

Within these two verses, Ecclesiastes explicitly places itself into the category of biblical wisdom literature. The word uniting 10 and 11 is words. Verse 10 states that the Preacher sought (a great summary word for the great care taken in verse 9) to find words of delight and that he accurately wrote words of truth. Verse 11 then gives us two functions of these words of the wise, as well as their ultimate source.

Let us begin by noting that the words of delight, words of truth, and words of the wise are all the same words, the collected sayings. But which words are these exactly? There is a triple layer of application here. First, these words refer to the book of Ecclesiastes directly. Second, they are also, broadly, the collected wisdom literature of the Bible. Third, they are, in the most general sense, the full text of Scripture. These three concentric circles must be understood and remembered as we look at how they are described, applied, and given, but for greatest scope, we will primarily speak of them as all of Scripture.

Scripture Is Wise, Truthful, & Delightful

Three descriptions are then given of the Scriptural writings.

They are the words of the wise. Since true wisdom comes from the fear of God, these are the words of God-fearers who are teaching us about the God whom we must fear.

They are words of truth. If is truly the Creator of all things, He is also, then, truth. If He authored reality, then all truth derives from Him because He is the greater Reality behind all of reality. Words are true indeed that direct us to He who is truth.

They are words of delight. Since the immediate application is upon Ecclesiastes, this might be a tough pill to swallow. Delight is not likely the first word that comes to mind when thinking about this book, which has repeatedly reminded us of death’s inevitable arrival. Of course, we shouldn’t exclude other books and passages of Scripture from this thought either. We do not often read the Bible’s genealogies while praising God that they are “more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold” (Psalm 19:10). Nor do we read passages like, “And these you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the falcon of any kind, every raven of any kind, the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind, the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl, the barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture, the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat” (Leviticus 11:13-19), and rejoice that those words are “sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honey comb” (Psalm 19:10). Yet if Scripture is the written Word of God (as verse 11 will affirm), they are delightful because the Creator Himself has spoken to us! Especially as Christians, who now call God our Father because of the cross and resurrection of Christ, we should delight in the words of our Father.

Two functions of Scripture are then described in verse 11.

Scripture Goads Us

They are like goads, which resemble fire pokers and are used to goad (which is where that verb derives from, by the way) oxen into continuing the work of plowing. The words of Scripture, therefore, prod and guide us. They are pointed and sharp to move us into action. Like a goad, they hook and pull us toward one direction or the other in order to keep us along the right path. Truly the Word “is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). If the gate is narrow and the way hard that leads to life, it cannot be traveled except by the guidance of God’s Word. Put simply, a Christianity that is not guided by the Bible is not Christianity.

Scripture Secures Us

They are also like nails firmly fixed. Securely fixed nails accomplish their purpose of holding the nailed item in place; likewise, the words of the Bible secure us to the God who spoke them. Psalm 119:9-11 declares that the young man is able to keep his way pure by guarding it with the Word of God, storing it in his heart so that he might not sin against the LORD. With the Scriptures, we could not know and follow Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

Scripture Comes from One Shepherd

Finally, all Scripture comes from one Shepherd, God. Philip Ryken comments on this phrase:

This makes Ecclesiastes 12:11 an important verse for the Biblical doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture (see also 2 Peter 1:21). Ecclesiastes is the very Word of God. The Preacher’s words are not merely the musings of some skeptical philosopher; they are part of the inspired, infallible, and inerrant revelation of Almighty God. Therefore, it is not enough merely to admire their artistry and respect their integrity—we must also submit to their authority. As the Shepherd of our souls, God uses this book—as he uses everything written in the Bible—to prod us into spiritual action. (278)

The Bible contains wisdom because it is the Word of God. The Bible is true because it is the Word of God. The Bible is delightful because it is the Word of God. The Bible is able to guide us because it is the Word of God. The Bible is able to secure us because it is the Word of God. If the Scriptures are not breathed out by God, they are simply another book to read, but if they are God speaking to us, there is nothing more important for us to read, study, memorize, and meditate upon.

BEWARE OF ANYTHING BEYOND SCRIPTURE // VERSE 12

Verse 12 begins with the phrase, my son, which should immediately bring to mind the first nine chapters of Proverbs. The introductory chapters of Proverbs were written by Solomon to us, the readers, as if we were his son to whom he was imparting fatherly wisdom and warnings. If Solomon did write this verse, then it is a very fitting return to style. If it was written by another author, then it is purposely connecting itself to the rest of the wisdom literature and Scripture.

His warning to us, as though we were his child, is to beware of anything beyond the Scriptures. He explains that the making of books will not end until the world does and study requires a physical tax upon the body, so focus your reading and studying upon the Book. This is not to say that other books do not contain truth. They often most certainly do! Many books outside of Scripture are worth reading, but even among the valuable books, too many exist for anyone to read. And the list only continues to grow. We cannot allow ourselves to be caught in the current of studying and reading other things more than Scripture.

Sadly, few today are in danger of over-reading or excessive studying, at least in the traditional sense. Even with the information of the ages available at our fingertips, most of us seem content to outsource our thoughts onto various screens, while we watch upon those screens frivolous entertainments that do nothing to benefit us. The author is warning us against the dangers of reading and studying to find eternal truth outside of Scripture, but one of the most dangerous lies in circulation is that entertainment doesn’t influence us with teachings that contradict the Bible. Every book, film, television series, or any other media teaches something as truth. Discovering whether or not that truth aligns with the Bible is our responsibility as Christians. Philosophies are often hidden, and the same empty deceits that the Colossians fought against still abound today (Colossians 2:8). I don’t argue that we should become Amish and shun entertainment, but we must become more media literate that we may be able to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

One of my favorite television series is The Office. Watching the entire series is a 100-hour commitment while reading the entire Bible takes around 70 hours. Could our deep cultural literacy be a primary factor in why so many Christians are biblically illiterate? Entertainment itself is not a sin, but O how easily it distracts us from the eternal warfare that we walk in day by day!

Ultimately, to turn away from Scripture is to declare self-sufficiency. Whether we turn to another religious philosophy or whether we hide our thoughts in a mindless Netflix binge, the outcome is still the same: we claim our independence from God. The Word of God alone is our guide and our security. The Scripture alone reveals to us the knowledge of God. To reject God and His Word is to reject the fountain of living water, the bread of life, good shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep.

Does your vision of Scripture align with the vision found here in Ecclesiastes?

Do you come to the Scriptures for wisdom and knowledge, or do you seek other counsel?

Is the Bible the final and supreme truth to which you hold, or do you blatantly or subtly follow other ideas and philosophies?

Do you delight in the Word, or do you view reading it as a lifeless chore?

Do you allow the Scripture to goad you, or do you careful interpret it to only say what you want it to say?

Is the Bible your security, or do you turn to other things to anchor you?

Do you study the Word in order to know the God who spoke it, or do you read it as a self-help or therapeutic book?

In what things do you saturate yourself? What do you “study”? What do you give your time to more than Scripture?

Rejoice, Remove, Remember! | Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8

On By Cole NewtonIn Ecclesiastes, SermonsLeave a comment

Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.
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.

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.

Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. 

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”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 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, 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—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—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, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 11:7–12:8 (ESV)

 

We now come to the end of the main body of Ecclesiastes. Just as the Preacher has repeatedly warned us of death, the great equalizer, coming for us, he now concludes with a poem describing the final years of human life. The portrait of our inevitable physical decay is framed by a message to those who are not yet in those last years. Likely writing the poem from firsthand experience, Solomon commands us to rejoice in our youth, remove the sins that cause us to waste our lives, and remember our Creator.

LIGHT IS SWEET // VERSES 7-8

First of all, what does the Preacher mean when he says that light is sweet and that seeing the sun is pleasant? From a physiological standpoint, researchers continue to learn more and more the truthfulness of this statement. We now know that exposure to sunlight releases serotonin in the body, a hormone that helps to regulate moods, calm anxiety, balance digestion, and many other functions. Simply being under the sun that God created, therefore, grants many health benefits to our bodies. Given our propensity today to remain indoors more than ever before, we should make particular of this verse’s practical wisdom. Although we humans have managed to create lightbulbs and channel electricity, our lights cannot offer the same benefits as God’s original creation. In many ways, we continue to form shallow imitations of God’s works. And particularly if you wrestle with depression or anxiety, listen all the more to Solomon’s words here. For all its simplicity, a walk in the sunshine is one of the greatest weapons against the various forms of mood disorders.

It is also interesting to note the subtle shift that is happening here. Solomon has repeatedly used the phrase “under the sun” throughout Ecclesiastes, but now he is directing our gaze upward toward the sun itself. Of course, the Preacher will firmly turn our attention above the sun in the epilogue.

Verse 8 is essentially a microcosm of the verses that will follow. Two commands are given: rejoice in all of our years and remember that the days of darkness will be many. The verse then ends with yet another vanity proclamation (although it seems that vanity here is not referring to pointlessness and meaninglessness of life but rather its brevity and transience).  Since these two commands are explored more in the later verses, I will not expound upon them here, but I do want to make note of Solomon’s usage of units of time. He commands for us to rejoice in all the years that we live while remembering that the days of darkness will be many. Isn’t it so tempting for us to let days of difficulty that the LORD places before us overshadow the years of joy? This in no way makes light of the days of darkness. They will come, and they will be heavy. Let us prepare our hearts now to consider the sovereignty of God during those days of adversity (7:14). Yet in general, God gives so much more time of rejoicing than He does days of darkness.

REJOICE // VERSE 9

Solomon’s first command to the young is to rejoice. This thought is not foreign to Ecclesiastes since the Preacher has repeatedly told us that there is nothing better in life than to enjoy the life that God has given us. But despite the similarity to Ecclesiastes’ main refrain, something different is happening here. In those previous exhortations, the Preacher is simply presenting the result of his investigations before us. He is informing us that he has only found enjoyment to a gift that only God can give. Whether we follow his advice or not seems to be just set in our lap. But not here. He is now blatantly commanding us to rejoice, to enjoy life.

Let me ask two questions: Do we think of God’s commands as being for our good? Or do we think of them as God trying to limit and hinder us?

In Deuteronomy 10:12, God gives this message to the Israelites: “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?” Notice those last three words: for your good. God’s commands are for our good and flourishing on the earth.

Further on in Deuteronomy 28:47, God warns Israel of the curses that will befall them “because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart”. God has never wanted mindless obedience. Curses would still come upon the Israelites for joyless obedience.

Do we tend to think of God as commanding our joy and delight in Him? God commands our joy in Him because He is our ultimate source of joy. God is not a megalomaniac who tells us simply to enjoy Him or else; rather, He calls us to enjoy Him because nothing else can satisfy us. Even the good gifts of God are temporary and, therefore, cannot give lasting joy. Everything will eventually fail us (or we ourselves will fail). God is the only One who cannot fail. God points us to Himself because there is nothing greater. When He commands us to rejoice, we can only do so in Him. We can only find true joy in God Himself.

Let us consider a few more questions.

First, who qualifies as the young man here? The answer seems to be anyone who is not presently living out the poem of verses 1-7 in chapter 12. Solomon does not appear to recognize all the various age classifications that we assume today. Young and old, youth and elderly, are the two categories of people for these verses in Ecclesiastes.

Second, is Solomon urging us to follow our heart? Typically, those of a more Reformed theological persuasion tend to throw up Jeremiah 17:9 whenever we talk about following the heart: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Yet notice that Solomon appears to be telling us to follow our heart: walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. The only thing more dangerous than following our heart is following our eyes. Didn’t the Preacher himself warn that the eye is never satisfied with seeing? How then do we reconcile these things?

Remember that Ecclesiastes is one piece of the Bible’s wisdom literature. Furthermore, if Solomon did indeed write Ecclesiastes, then this is the same author who wrote Proverbs 4:23: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” The Preacher’s command here is not contradicting Jeremiah; instead, he is issuing this command to those who will actively seek to guard their heart. Especially under the New Covenant in Christ, we should grow in loving God with all our heart, and then our heart’s desire will be to follow the ways of the LORD.

Third, the verse ends by warning that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. For which things will God judge us? There are two ways of understanding this. God might be warning us against partying too hard. Rejoice and enjoy life. Follow your heart. Do what pleases your eyes, but if you cross the line into sin, judgment will come. Or it could mean that God will judge us for not obeying His command to rejoice. To refuse to be content and satisfied with the multitude of blessings that God has given is an offense to God Himself. This interpretation seems much more likely to me. If rejoicing is a command, then judgment will come to those who disobey.

REMOVE // VERSE 10

The second command is to remove vexation and pain. Once more, Solomon’s usage of vanity here is a reminder that youth is fleeting. It is a vapor that is here today and gone tomorrow. Because youth is so temporary, stop wasting time with needless frustrations, with things that do not matter, with being upset. Stop wasting time worrying about all the things that we cannot fix or control. Remove those vexations from the heart.

Now, this does not mean that we should rid ourselves of all the annoying people in life. Second only to loving God is loving those around us. Nor does it encourage us to stop doing things that are frustratingly difficult. Often the most life-giving activities are also the most difficult ones. Nowhere is this truer than in the Christian life. The way is hard and the gate is narrow, but the reward for the few who find is eternal life.

Instead, the Preacher is commanding us to stop doing worthless (and often sinful) things that ruin our life. In fact, we could break this down into two categories. First, if you can, make life less frustrating for yourself. Second, stop making excuses, and kill the sin that is killing you. Sin, after all, is the most vexing and painful action that we can ever take.

Perhaps a personal example of how these two categories play out will be helpful. Being highly sanctified in dealing with frustrations, it was difficult to remember a time when I was sinfully frustrated, but I managed to recall an example. Let me take you then all the way back to this morning. Having spent the weekend visiting some friends, Tiff and I slept through our alarm by an hour. We were awakened by our crying daughter, which to me means that we begin the day already playing catch up. I, therefore, began the day extremely frustrated with myself. But even though the frustration was with myself, it is unleashed upon my wife and daughter. I was incapable of enjoying the two greatest gifts that the LORD has given me because I was upset with myself.  Such is the great danger of unchecked vexations. They steal the joy that God gives. Graciously, the LORD brought this verse into my heart (Psalm 119:11 anyone?), and asked forgiveness from Tiff and thanked her for not returning her own frustrations back upon me. What exactly does this verse teach me in situations like this? First, if I get frustrated by sleeping too late, I should get up earlier. Cut vexations off at the root, if possible. Second, such frustrations are sin. I sinned against my wife and daughter, so I am called to repent and turn back to the joy of the LORD. Life is simply too short to waste time being upset or sinning. Cut it out and start rejoicing in the blessings of God.

REMEMBER // VERSES 1-7

The final command is to remember our Creator in the days of our youth. He tells us to do so before the evil days appear. Turn to God before old age sets in.

The word “before” in this verse begins the final poem of Ecclesiastes. This poem, which concludes in verse eight, rivals the breadth and majesty of Solomon’s own poem on time in chapter three. However, for this poem, the Preacher writes heavily in metaphors so the meaning can be quite difficult to interpret. To find Solomon’s meaning, we must understand that verses 2-7 are poetically used to cement the idea presented in verse one. He tells us to remember our Creator in the days of our youth, and now he defines what he means by youth: “remember God before _____ happens to your body.”

Verse 2 describes light being blocked out by a gathering storm. This likely refers to the ominous approach of death, finally eclipsing our futile dreams of immortality. In the days of youth, adversity is typically just a setback, but now even small things can become a travesty from which one may never return. When a person is young, time heals most wounds, yet at the end of life, time only approaches to kill.

We must keep in mind that within this poem each verse is meant to build upon the previous. Most interpret verse 3 as speaking about the onset of old age that has come before the gathering storm of death. “The keepers of the house tremble” is likely referring to the natural tremor that finds its way into most of the elderly. “The strong men are bent” describes the atrophy of the bones of the elderly, which often results in a hunched or bent back. “The grinders cease because they are few” portrays for us the time when chewing our food will be nigh impossible because of the lack of teeth. “Those who look through the windows are dimmed” most likely refers to the dimming of eyesight caused by old age.

And the poem continues: remember God before we are too old to ever leave the house. It is a natural progression that as we age, we sleep less. Some elderly individuals sleep only for a few hours each night. Thus, the elderly rarely find difficulty waking at dawn, while many youths cannot recall the last time that they saw dawn.

Aging is also often marked by the degeneration of the mind. Dementia and paranoia are likely to cause terrors in the elderly (v. 5). Their body is no longer able to do the things that it once could, which thus makes them afraid of heights and such. Solomon’s mention of a blossoming almond tree is a reference to one’s hair becoming white. Toward the end of winter, the almond tree will begin to blossom its flowers, before even its leaves grow. This creates a period of time when the almond tree is covered in white flowers, which could be thought to resemble a head of white hair. At the end of its life, the normally bounding grasshopper will sluggishly drag itself along – “much like the awkward gait of old men and women” (Barrick, 200). Most interpret the failing desire to be sexual desire. When death approaches in the old age, there is simply no desire, nor ability, to practice anything sexual. “It may be a great comfort to many of you to see that this is last on the list! It is the last thing to go, according to this statement” (Stedman, 177). Each of these is a sign that “man is going to his eternal home.”

The repeated use of the word “before” should keep verse one in our minds. Remember the Creator before death finally comes. Verse 6 presents various symbols of how death befalls us. Snapped, broken, and shattered are the images that Solomon wishes for us to have of death. He does not naively designate death as a joyous occasion, but rather emphasizes how devastating its effects are. It is also here that we are provided a glimpse at Solomon’s true view of life after death. For the majority of the book, any time that Solomon discussed what happens after death he did so very bleakly, from the perspective of being “under the sun.” However, here he states that our bodies will return to the dust from which we were created and our souls will return to God. This recalls the image of the creation of man in Genesis. God formed man from the dust and breathed His spirit into us to give life. Thus, death is the decomposition of the entirety of man. God summons the spirit back to Himself, and without the spirit, the flesh reverts to dust.

I think what makes this poem as brutal as it is beautiful is its reminder that death is often a slow process in which each of our faculties slowly succumbs to decay piece by piece. All the signs of aging are actually signs of approaching death; therefore, one should be prepared for death.

But why does Solomon specifically command us to remember God before old age? Thankfully, repentance can certainly be found as long as breath is still in the lungs. Of course, being alive is not a guarantee that we will be able to repent. Hebrews 12:17 warns us that Esau sought repentance with tears but did not find it. But generally, there is still hope for anyone who is still alive.

I believe that Solomon is commanding us to remember our Creator in the days of our youth because he wants to save us from living a wasted and vain life. John Piper poignantly begins his book, Don’t Waste Your Life, with the powerful story of an old man who repented and believed the gospel after one of the sermons of Piper’s father. After his conversion, the man wept that he had wasted his life. He came to see the beauty of Christ and understood that everything that he lived for previously was nothing more than a vanity. The sad reality is that even if we turn to the LORD at the end of our lives, our faculties will be so decayed that we will be able to do little for Him. Contrast this fact with the reality that true joy and delight are only found by remembering our Creator and living according to His design. A life given to God is the only non-wasted life.

VANITY OF VANITIES // VERSE 8

Ah, the bitter refrain of Ecclesiastes! How fitting is it that this poem of finality should conclude with the verse that began Solomon’s first poem in Ecclesiastes! The careful reader, or uptight English student, will surely have noticed that verses 1-7 are one gigantic run-on sentence. One commentator suggests that if one attempts to read the entire poem as one sentence, he or she would be out of breath—which is fitting because hevel can also be translated to mean ‘a breath.’

Let us conclude with a message to the young and to the old.

First, to the young: rejoice in the days of your youth, remove the sins and frustrations that will ruin and waste your life, and remember your Creator now. As a young man now, here is how I hope to prepare for the day that I will walk through chapter 12’s poem (should the LORD grant me those years). During my youth, I long to grow in the one thing that I will be able to do even with my final breath: prayer. Sadly, many people lose their sense of value along with their failing body. This is a tragedy because, for the Christian, the loss of physical faculties should mean full devotion to the work of prayer. When I am an old man, I long to be a mighty force of prayer, even if my hands can longer write words like these. Even if my legs can no longer hold my body up in the pulpit, I desire to have young men at my home learning how to pray.

Second, to the old: your final years are not the time to coast through life. The race is almost complete, so sprint to the finish line. In You and Me Forever, Francis Chan writes this thought better than I can, so I will let him speak:

At 85, Caleb was as courageous as ever. Rarely do we meet people in their fifties and sixties living by faith, much less people in their eighties. In speaking to young adults throughout America, they tell me of how they would love to be mentored by older people who are living by faith. But they can’t find any. Some may be joyful and friendly, but no longer living by faith. Sadly, their lives consist of visiting grandkids and taking vacations. Some are still acquiring more possessions, hoping to make the most of their last few days on earth. (p. 185)

Time flies. And it flies faster each year. So don’t procrastinate. Think of your age in miles per hour. When you’re seven years old, it feels like life is moving at seven miles per hour. It feels like you are never going to turn eight. When you’re in your twenties and thirties, the years start passing by more rapidly. By the time you’re doing fifty or sixty, it’s hard to even keep track of what year it is. Anything beyond that, and you’re in the fast lane. You should just put this book down now and sprint. Like a game of hot potato, you should get rid of your possessions as fast as possible. Invest everything you can in the Kingdom. Your life is going to be over any minute, and you’re going to regret holding on to things you weren’t able to keep. (p. 190)

How to Waste Your Life

On By Cole NewtonIn Ecclesiastes, SermonsLeave a comment

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises.
The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be
among those who come after.
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 ESV

Ten years ago, I graduated high school. With aspirations for studying the Scriptures and writing books, poems, stories, or really anything of significance, I instead spent much of my time becoming moderately proficient at Halo 3 and Rock Band. Don’t get me wrong, the LORD was merciful on me in high school to keep me from many activities that could have done me a great deal of harm. But still I wasted so much of my time, so today I would like to give you the message that I would give eighteen-year-old me.

THE VANITY OF LIFE

The primary message of Ecclesiastes can be summarized as follows: everything under the sun is vanity. Once we understand what Solomon means by vanity, we will begin to understand why some consider Ecclesiastes to the be the most depressing book of the Bible. Other English translations of vanity include meaningless, futility, a vapor, or the merest of breaths. Hopefully, those words capture the idea. Vanity in Ecclesiastes is meaningless, futile, empty, pointless, worthless, fleeting, here-today-gone-tomorrow, transient, and momentary. To say then that the connotation is negative is an understatement.

So what does Solomon describe as being vanity?

Everything. Solomon says, “All is vanity.” Life is futile. Work is meaningless. Sex is a vapor. Laughter is momentary. Everything is pointless, like chasing after the wind.

Come on, Solomon. Why don’t you tell us how you really feel?

The remainder of these verses give a brief summary of Solomon’s reasoning behind his conclusion: why is everything vanity?

First of all, the sun has been rising and setting since the world began, but we humans can barely manage to live to be 100-years-old. Even the greatest of us cannot beat these inanimate objects. Alexander the Great accomplished enough for history to permanently remember him as being great, but despite the vastness of his empire and the brilliance of his leadership, his body is now nothing more than dust, just like the poorest of peasants under his rule. But the sun that beamed upon his head over the Persian desert is still the same more than 2000 years later.

Although it doesn’t presently benefit him, Alexander is at least remembered today. Solomon reminds us in verse 11 that the same cannot be said for the majority of people. Even though we often live as though we are the center of the universe, the harsh reality is that within a hundred and fifty years hardly anyone will remember that we ever existed, while even fewer will know or care anything about us. This is difficult for most of us to hear because we want to believe that our name and legacy will live beyond us, but while I am thankful for my great, great grandfather, I know nothing about this essential limb of my family tree except that his name was Floyd.

With such a harsh reality attempting to stare us in the face, we shouldn’t be surprised at humanity’s obsession with heroes. Superheroes, for example, allow us to imagine the fantasy of being great, of being more than human, of having a clear sense of meaning and worth. Driving home from the latest film, we don’t immediately begin talking about what we would do as a regular person living in a super-powered world. No, we identify first with the heroes, the larger-than-life characters, the ones who have left normalcy in the dust.

Ecclesiastes feels depressing because its goal is to destroy the fantasy world that we have made for ourselves. We cover ourselves with an onslaught of entertainment in order to hide from the terror of silence, that sinking feeling in our gut whenever we get a momentary glimpse at our own mortality. The looming inevitability of death can keep us grounded in reality like nothing else can. It reminds us that because our days are short, they should not be wasted. Because we are not promised tomorrow, we should make the most of today. Truly Moses was right when he prayed, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Unfortunately, the thought of death is also unpleasant. It reminds us that we are finite instead of infinite, that we are creatures instead of gods. So we hide ourselves from the inevitable, and often waste the precious amount of time that we have been given.

HOW TO WASTE YOUR LIFE

Throughout Ecclesiastes, Solomon describes how he chased lasting purpose and meaning under the sun. He does this by pursuing many things that we often make the supreme goal of our lives. His conclusion after each is that nothing but vanity can come ultimately from living for (fill in the blank). Allow me then to describe three of these pursuits and why they lead to a wasted life. We will then conclude by looking upon the one goal of life that will never result in a vain and wasted life.

Self

First, and probably most often, people pursue their own self-interests as the supreme goal of their life. Self-esteem, self-worth, and self-actualization are the gods we serve. Decisions and plans are made with self primarily in mind. To be fair, within a post-modern and materialist frame, self-interest makes sense. If life doesn’t have a Creator or an ultimate purpose, then I don’t have a purpose. I only know that I am here now and that I might not be tomorrow, so why should I not try to do and get everything that I want? Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die, right?

Unfortunately, simply from a practical standpoint, we tend to be terrible judges of what is actually good for us. For instance, much debate has raged around a study that suggested that there are three steps for avoiding poverty: graduate high school, get a full-time job, and get married and have a family. The study found that of all the people surveyed who completed those three steps (in that order) only two percent lived in poverty. The debate surrounding the study is whether the relationship between the steps and avoiding poverty is of causation or correlation, and of course, even if it is causal, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule. Nevertheless, the statistics indicate a clear benefit from doing hard things like holding a job and maintaining a family. Yet selfishness can very easily whisper in our ear that graduating high school isn’t worth the hassle, that working a job that you might not enjoy isn’t a valuable use of time, or that settling down with a spouse and kids is too much work. The point is that we rarely understand what is truly good for us.

A subcategory of self-interest is the pursuit of pleasure. Solomon’s pursuit of pleasure is found in chapter two, where he claims that he did not deny himself anything that his eye wanted. Do you want a good home? Solomon built a palace. Want a nice garden? He planted entire forests and designed whole parks. Want to avoid physical labor? He had 35,000 servants. How about sex? Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Does music make you happy? His personal singers would act as his ancient iPod. Since this is the Bible, you might expect Solomon to claim that none it gave him the pleasure that he was looking for, but instead he says, “I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil” (2:10). He sought pleasure and found it. The problem was that pleasure alone didn’t last. Pleasure is a momentary vanity; therefore, it fails royally whenever we make it our lifelong goal.

Another route of self-interest might be the pursuit of self-actualization. This is the general path of many philosophies and religions. The overall goal is to keep improving yourself, to continue mastering yourself, your desires, and your passions. While this sounds great in theory (and the Bible certainly calls us to be self-controlled and disciplined), it too is vanity as the main goal of life. The sobering fact is that you will never fully become the person that you aim to be. Illustrative of this point is the title of a blog post I read a couple of months ago that was something along these lines: “If the you from 5 and 10 years ago was an idiot, what does that say about present-day you?”

Wealth

Second, many are tempted to pursue wealth as the driving force of their life. Money, possessions, and the power that surrounds them are quite appealing. If anyone had the right to speak about the effects of money, it is Solomon. If the accounts of 1 Kings are correct (and since they are within the Bible, let’s go away and make that assumption), then some have estimated Solomon’s networth to be around $2.1 trillion, making him the richest man to ever live. To put this in perspective, Rockefeller comes in at number two with a networth of $600 billion.

So what does the richest man to ever live say about money? “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity” (5:10). Notice that Solomon isn’t calling wealth or money evil. In fact, he goes on to say in verse 19 of the same chapter that it is a gift of God whenever anyone is able to enjoy the wealth and possessions given to him by God. But sadly, not everyone is able to enjoy the wealth that they acquire, and in verses 1-6 of chapter six, Solomon claims that it is better to be miscarried in your mother’s womb than to have blessings and not be able to enjoy them. But that is how the love of money works. You become so obsessed with having more that you cannot enjoy what you already have.

Family 

Finally, we might try to our family the goal of our lives. This is a particularly difficult one to grasp because it feels like the right thing to do and Hollywood seems hell-bent on teaching this valuable lesson (at times…). And of course, the Bible calls us to love our families well. Paul tells us that “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). Clearly, family is serious business, but still it is not ultimate. If this sounds wrong, just consider the clear reality. If your spouse is the center of your life, what happens when he or she passes away, or worse if they betrayed you and left you alone? If your kids become your reason for living, what if they die, or what happens when they get married and have families of their own? As much as I love my wife and daughter, they are not God. If I make them my gods, they will be crushed under the weight of my expectations for them. Family is not eternal and will eventually fail, so family cannot replace God.

Of course, there are plenty more things that people make the goal of their lives, but we don’t have time to even attempt addressing such a never-ending list.

TO LIVE IS CHRIST

Take a moment to notice that self-interest, wealth, and family are not evil things. Each is a good gift given by a good God. The problem comes whenever we make them our gods, whenever the gifts usurp the Giver. While they are good to have, they are not eternal and, therefore, cannot truly satisfy us. Given enough time, they will each eventually fail us. God, however, cannot fail us. Augustine describes this trading of the Giver for His gifts as being like a hungry man who keeps licking a painting of bread instead of asking a baker for a loaf. Or we could say it is as ridiculous as writing and giving a thank you card to the gift itself instead of the giver. Doing so is foolish, as insane as trying to catch the wind in your hand.

This is why Solomon repeats throughout Ecclesiastes that true and lasting enjoyment of life is a gift from God. Enjoyment cannot be earned or bought. It is a gift that can only come from the hand of the Giver. Therefore, Solomon is constantly trying to force us to fix our hope above the sun, beyond this life, and onto the Author of life. All is vanity under the sun. A life lived exclusively under the sun is a wasted life, but a life given over to God is a life of true and lasting joy.

The Apostle Paul famously expresses a similar message in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Often it is the second part of that verse that sticks out in our minds. We quote it as a reminder whenever we start to cringe at the thought of leaving this world. It comes with a lump in our throat as we hear stories of martyrs for Christ throughout history. Indeed, the blessed hope of the Christian faith is that Christ will return to resurrect our bodies so that we will live forever in His presence. Yes! Let “death is gain” be the Christian’s dying words! But the first phrase is just as important: “to live is Christ.”

What does Paul mean by saying “to live is Christ?” He means that all of life belongs to Christ. Our very state of existing is now the property of Christ. As Christians, we have been bought by God with a price, so we are called to glorify God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). That price was the very death of God upon a cross as a substitute for us. Because of the crucifixion of Jesus, Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20).

As a Christian, your life is not your own; it belongs to God. This is why Paul tells us twice to glorify God in everything that we do, in our eating or drinking (1 Corinthians 10:31) and in our words and deeds (Colossians 3:17).

And why would we not want to do so?

He is Author of life (Acts 3:15).

“In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

All of creation was created by Him, through Him, and for Him, so that He is preeminent in all things (Colossians 1:15-20).

The universe itself is upheld by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3).

And one day, every creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will proclaim Jesus as Lord and bow before Him to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).

If living for the gifts of God is utter foolishness, then living for the Giver Himself is the wisest action we can take. But having God be the great purpose of our lives is for our good as well as His glory. After all, if we long to live for something greater than ourselves, who fits that category better than God! If we want to live lives that matter and have a real purpose, where else can we turn except to Him who formed all of existence?

But practically, how can we live for God’s glory?

If you are not a Christian, then the path toward living for God’s glory begins with repenting and believing the gospel (Mark 1:15). First, repentance is far more than simply apologizing for sin. Repentance is the heart-broken confession of sin, followed by turning away from it. Repentance is the renouncing of sin. Second, believing the gospel means understanding the good news that Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection saves us from our sins. The gospel is that even though we deserved the full and just wrath of God for our sins, the death of Jesus paid that penalty completely and gives to us the righteousness of Christ in its place. The good news is that we who were once objects of God’s wrath are now His children (Ephesians 2:1-10).

If you already a follower of Christ, other than continuing to repent and believe the gospel, here are some basic actions for being a disciple of Jesus. These basics are pray, know the Scripture, love the church, and obey Scripture.

Relationships cannot exist without communication, so how can we have a relationship with God without speaking to Him in prayer?

With God’s self-revelation in Scripture, we can quickly find ourselves praying to a god fashioned within our minds if we are not rooted and grounded in the Bible.

Many claim to love Jesus but can’t stand the church. The church, however, is the body and bride of Jesus. You can’t love Jesus and not love His church.

Finally, Jesus Himself said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). This does not mean that you will ever perfectly obey in this life, but it does mean that you should want to obey the commands of God.

Of course, living a life for God’s glory does not mean that you must be called to full-time ministry; instead, serve God wherever He places you in life. If you are a nurse, then be a nurse to the glory of God by working as though you are working for Christ (Colossians 3:23) and proclaiming the gospel whenever a door is opened to do so (Colossians 4:3). If you are a mechanic, then be a mechanic to the glory of God by working as though you are working for Christ and proclaiming the gospel whenever a door is opened to do so. In other words, be missional where you are and with what you are doing.

If that sounds like a boring and inconsequential life, consider the first 300 years of Christianity. Throughout that time, Christians faced some of the worst and most intense persecution found throughout history, and yet by the early 300s Rome had its first Christian emperor and in 380 Christianity was the official religion. How did Christianity become so powerful even in the midst of persecution? Church historian Justo Gonzalez notes that Christianity spread on the backs of ordinary and long-forgotten Christians, slaves and business-people alike, who took the good news with them wherever they went. Of course, Acts also tells us this fact as well: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (8:4). After Stephen’s death and Christians became persecuted in Jerusalem, many fled the city, but they did not stop sharing the gospel.

The world’s greatest empire was overcome by normal and ordinary believers living their common and seemingly un-noteworthy lives for God’s glory. May we too give our lives to that one focus. After all, nothing else comes close to the value, meaning, purpose, and worth of exalting the name of Jesus Christ.

The Vanity of Knowledge Under the Sun | Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

On By Cole NewtonIn Ecclesiastes, Study GuidesLeave a comment

SUGGESTED VERSES FOR MEMORIZATION & MEDITATION

Ecclesiastes 11:1 | Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.    

Ecclesiastes 11:4 | He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

OPENING THOUGHT

No other book, inside or outside the Bible, is quite like Ecclesiastes. In its attempt to capture the brutal honesty of life under the sun, Ecclesiastes displays the vivid joys and pains of life in a post-Genesis 3 world. Written by the Preacher (most likely King Solomon), the book’s message is that everything under the sun is vanity. What does he mean by vanity? Vanity could also be translated as meaningless, pointless, worthless, futile, temporary, here-today-gone-tomorrow, a vapor, or a mere breath of air. The idea, then, is that everything under the sun fails to have any real substance. It’s all nothing more than smoke passing through the air. The Preacher, therefore, pleads for us to not waste our lives pursuing the things of earth. Health, wealth, pleasure, family, community, and time, all these things are gifts from God, but they are not God Himself. They will each pass away, so trying to capture them is like chasing after the wind. Solomon’s answer is to fix our eyes above the sun, upon God, instead. He claims that true enjoyment of life can only come as a gift from God.

This week, we enter Ecclesiastes’ penultimate chapter. In these six verses, Solomon discusses principles for taking wise action, even when we do not have all the knowledge that we need to make that decision. The lack of information can often paralyze our ability to make decisions, but Preacher notes that only God’s knowledge is perfect. We will never know the disasters and blessings that we befall us in life, but we are still called to do what God has set before us.

GROUP DISCUSSION

Read Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 and discuss the following.

  1. Which verses stood out most to you as you read Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 this week? Why? What do these verses teach you about who God is?
  2. Do you tend to be more overly-cautious or reckless in life? Why are both extremes harmful?
  3. Have you ever been paralyzed by indecision or inaction? Why?
  4. Why does the Bible call us to give away instead of store up?
  5. How does the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) relate to our passage?

PERSONAL REFLECTION

Because all Scripture profits us through teaching, reproving, correcting, and training us, reflect upon the studied text, and ask yourself the following questions about the present text.

  • What has God taught you about Himself?
  • What sin is God convicting or reproving you of?
  • How is God correcting you?
  • How is God training and equipping you for righteousness?