Eccl. 6
M. Kelly
April 21,20013
Enjoyment of what one has is a rare gift and it is a gift from God. Contentment is something we need to work at . Paul had to learn to be content. It's something we learn. It is the application of truth in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.
God gives us abilities. We are made to work. Work is a creation ordinance.
God gives a sphere of existing. He chooses our times and seasons, our parents. There are no accidents. He gives us opportunity in our sphere to use the gifts that God has given us. God provides and feeds us through these means. We are to enjoy those things with a proper conscience toward God.
Solomon has everything his soul desires. God has given it to him and yet they are all meaningless to him. God had not empowered him to enjoy what he had properly.
Solomon was living under the sun. It was all vanity to him. Death is the great equalizer. We all go out naked. We all die with the same bank account. Death puts our possession out for others to have. What do they mean to us then?
Solomon asks the question, "What will this mean at death?" Look at all your accomplishments and ask, "What does this mean at death?" Death knocks the wind out of us.
Our culture is aghast at this kind of thinking. They think anyone who think of death as much as we do would think that we are nuts. Death is the only thing that allows Solomon to write what he does! Death is the main theme of the Gospel!
Ezekiel 18:25 ; Isa 55:9 God's ways are higher
The one who views death in light of everything is not depressed as the world would call them. If death is all there is it doesn't matter. This is not the only perspective Solomon has! This is NOT the conclusion!
Why spend your time to be wise or rich if it all ends the same? This is all vanity.
Can we do anything about these facts? No! You can't fight against God.
We long for different circumstances yet we don't even know what is really good for us! v.12
Lessons
1. Focus is vital to our walk in this world!
Eccl. is written to the Christian. The first half of the book Solomon would have us focus on a few facts.
a. Death is a reality~we can't do anything about it. It's not an invention by man but a sentence by God.
b. We leave this world empty handed. What do we focus our energy on? What are we pursuing in light of that fact that we must leave it all behind?
c. Nothing lasts. Truth and the reality of God is the only thing that lasts. Life is seasonal. 3:1-8 Would we cry out to God without affliction? These seasons test our faith.
d. God doesn't satisfy man with things or circumstances. He satisfies us with Himself. We have the wrong idea of grace and blessings. They are not things and circumstances that He pours out on his. We are to be satisfied with Him!
e. God has redeemed us from the futility of this world.
f. We have been separated from the punishment of our sins! Isaiah 53:5
g. We are separated from the wrath of God! Rom. 5:9
1 Thess. 1:10- Jesus does not rescue us from an unfulfilled life. He rescues us from the wrath of God!
Matt. 25:45- Those who deny Hell did not get their theology from Jesus, but from the Devil. They are false teachers!
h. We've been separated from the reigning power of sin. James 4:1 We fight against sin. It remains but it does not reign over us.
i. We are pilgrims, aliens in this world. We are not of this world! We do not have to shun our possessions we just need to look at them in a proper perspective.
j. We are separated from lies of our own hearts.
Prov. 28:26 Prov. 3:5-8 Roms 6:12-14
k. We have been separated by the harming hand of any outside forces because nothing can separate us from the love of God. Romans 8:28-35 If God is for us who is against us?
l. We have been separated from our own control. God control all our circumstances!
You only feel the force of sin when you fight against it. The world doesn't feel the force of sin because they give into it and do not fight it.
Happiness lies in God Himself and we find Him in His word and no where else.
2. We are never satisfied. 6:7
We are only satisfied in a temporary manner. Solomon uses the example of our need to eat. We must make the word of God our food and drink. We need it daily like we need food.
Our hearts promise us satisfaction but it doesn't work. It doesn't last. It is vanity.
3. Happiness is to be found in something we don't have. This is a pattern in life. V. 9 The soul desires more than the eyes see. It's a grand lie that we can find happiness in something we don't have. Think of the Serpent in the Garden. Adam and Eve were unhappy when they had everything they needed. They were not satisfied...They wanted to be like God and have something they did not have. This is the anatomy of discontent...that our fulfillment be in the thing we do not have. We are to enjoy what we do have in a proper attitude toward God but not long for those things we do not have.
Our desires are always traveling but never arriving....not satisfied.
God is an expert at closing doors to worldly desires of His people. He keeps from His people that which they think will make them happy. He is weaning us off the world to show us that nothing can satisfy us but only Himself.
4. We can not fight God. Only a fool would attempt it but we do it anyway. 6:10-12 Man can't change who he is. He can't fight and dispute with God. It does not good. We complain about the very things God brings into our lives for a good purpose.
Prov. 19:21 Ps. 115:3
6:11~ Man's words are empty. They can not affect the purposes of God. Word won't fix everything. Prov 19:7
Prov. 23:9 A time to withhold words. they have no power the way we want them too.
We do not even know what is good for us!
5. We need to realize what an amazing privilage it is to be a vessel of God's mercy. What do we possess in Christ Jesus that we do have?? Focus on that! Read Ephesians!
Where is our focus? What are we thinking about? We must fear God! Consider that our longing for God must be cultivated. It must be worked at. It happens through His Word! Our longing and satisfaction with God needs to be brought out and nurtured through His Word.
We need a heavenly perspective. Proverbs 15:24; Eph. 2:5-6; We are already seated in heavenly places so we need to look down on earth from our heavenly perspective. Phil 3:20 Our citizenship is in heaven!
🌹🌺🌻Marsha🌻🌺🌹
He is the Α and Ω and everything in between. Îστιν ÏŒ Α Ω. (Revelation 22:13)
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