Introduction:
Solomon's Study Guide for Ecclesiastes:
(Ecclesiastes 12:9-14)
- My search for wisdom Will be Painful and Satisfying . (Eccl 12:9-12)
- My life is all about WWorshipping and Obeying the Lord. (Eccl 12:13)
Ecclesiastes 12:13 - The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
- My thoughts, words, and actions are Eternally Significant . (Eccl 12:14)
David Gibson - "Ecclesiastes says that a day is coming when some people will discover that they are not ready for the most important event in the world. And it won’t be a dream. Their life has been one long exercise in avoiding reality and ignoring what is coming toward them – death and judgment are coming."
2 Corinthians 5:10 - For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:46-00:49
All right, Ecclesiastes chapter 12.
00:50-00:53
Yeah, we're about a month in to a new school year.
00:54-01:01
And seeing all these kids head back into the classroom, it's made me really happy that I've retired from the academic part of my life.
01:01-01:07
It's hard for me to believe that almost three years ago, I graduated from seminary.
01:07-01:13
And I was basically in school my entire life from four years old until 29 years old.
01:13-01:16
So by the time I graduated, I was basically in 25th grade.
01:17-01:25
And I couldn't wait to never study for another test again, never write another research paper, or endure another brutal finals week.
01:26-01:28
Who used to get really stressed out during finals week?
01:28-01:29
Anybody else besides me?
01:30-01:31
Not many people, okay.
01:31-01:37
Well, during finals week, I used to really love the teachers, the professors that would give you a study guide.
01:37-01:39
Who else really loved study guides?
01:39-01:46
Now, study guides should tell you exactly What you should focus on is you prepare for a test, right?
01:47-01:53
But sometimes, you follow a study guide to the letter and it doesn't help you at all.
01:53-01:58
The teacher passes out the exam, you look at the first page and you think, this is gonna be really bad.
01:59-02:02
Don't know the answer to that one, don't know that one, don't know that one.
02:02-02:03
Oh wait, I know that one.
02:03-02:03
Actually, I don't.
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You turn to the next page hoping it'll be better, but somehow even worse, and you get that sinking feeling in your stomach, that pin the needle sensation in your legs 'cause you know you're about to blow this really important test.
02:19-02:23
I found a meme that perfectly describes misleading study guides.
02:23-02:24
I'm gonna share with you.
02:26-02:32
What I study and things on the exam, it's like the exact opposite, the flip of what you're supposed to be studying.
02:34-02:35
Some of you are just getting the meme right now.
02:37-02:44
Like I said earlier, a good study guide tells you exactly what to focus your time and attention upon as you get ready for a test.
02:45-02:48
Well, this morning, we're going to wrap up our study of the book of Ecclesiastes.
02:49-02:57
And Solomon was very gracious to us, and he chose to give us a study guide that covers all the things we need to remember going forward.
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He reminds us of all the things we need to remember about this book, our lives, and eternity itself.
03:07-03:10
So let's go over Solomon's study guide for Ecclesiastes.
03:11-03:17
Number one in the study guide, my search for wisdom will be painful and satisfying.
03:17-03:21
My search for wisdom will be painful and satisfying.
03:24-03:35
So Ecclesiastes 12, nine through 12, Solomon says this, "Besides being wise, the preacher also taught the people "knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging "many Proverbs with great care.
03:36-03:41
"The preacher sought to find words of delight, "and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
03:42-03:47
"The words of the wise are like goads and like nails, "firmly fixed are the collected sayings.
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"They are given by one shepherd.
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"My son, beware of anything beyond these, "of making many books there is no end, "and much study is a weariness of the flesh." So once again, Solomon talks to us in the third person, refers to himself as the preacher.
04:08-04:11
I don't know about you, but I get really annoyed when people talk about themselves in the third person.
04:11-04:13
Maybe else besides me, "Oh, Taylor's really hungry.
04:13-04:19
"Taylor's annoyed, don't get Taylor started." If you talk like that, I love you, but just knock it out.
04:19-04:21
Come on, just talk like a normal person.
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But Solomon isn't trying to annoy us by talking in the third person.
04:26-04:33
He's reminding us that he is a preacher with an important message that cannot and should not be ignored.
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Solomon says that he spent a countless number of hours pursuing after wisdom and writing down these wise sayings.
04:43-04:46
How many Proverbs do you think Solomon came up with over the course of his life?
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Who wants to throw out a number?
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Anybody?
04:50-04:50
150?
04:51-04:52
Thousand?
04:53-04:55
It's actually 3,000.
04:56-05:02
We're told in 1 Kings 4.32 that his Proverbs were 3,000 and his songs were 1,005.
05:02-05:09
So why did Solomon spend so much of his life seeking after wisdom or writing down these wise sayings?
05:09-05:25
Well, he tells us in verse 10, "The preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth." Solomon knows that submitting to the truth and choosing wisdom leads to lasting happiness and satisfaction.
05:26-06:03
You know, God doesn't tell us what to think, speak, say, and do because he wants to make us miserable people, he lays out the path of wisdom before us so that we can live life to the fullest and avoid the potholes of foolishness. But if you've been a Christian for any length of time, you know that the path of wisdom isn't easy to travel. It's filled with unexpected detours and challenges. And Solomon gives us a really unexpected comparison in verse 11. He says this, "The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings.
06:03-07:03
They are given by one shepherd." So according to Solomon, wise sayings are like goads. If you're like me, you're thinking, "Well, what is a goad?" Well, a goad is a sharp stick used by a farmer or a shepherd to keep their animals on track, to keep them in the right direction. I believe we have pictures to show you what they actually look like. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are all dumb sheep who constantly get distracted and wander off the path that God has laid out for us. We can become very lazy. We can become very unintentional in our walk with the Lord. We can get stuck in this seemingly unending cycle of making the same simple decision over and over and over again. We Thankfully, our loving heavenly shepherd will use the wisdom of his word to lovingly yet firmly correct us.
07:04-07:13
My wife Kate and I have a golden retriever named Murdoch, and he's a lovable goofball, but he can be insane at times, especially on a walk.
07:13-07:18
If we're on a walk and he sees a dog that he wants to sniff or play with, he'll just bolt in their direction.
07:18-07:22
Or there's this one dog on our street named Athena, it's a Corgi, he hates her.
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He drives him absolutely bonkers.
07:25-07:27
So he has a special harness that we take on walks.
07:27-07:35
And whenever I tug it, it pulls his legs together, it constricts his movement, and stops him dead in his tracks and keeps him on mission.
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It keeps him on track.
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Now, I don't do this to torture my dog, but I do it to help him.
07:43-07:47
I use it to help him go in the right direction.
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In the same way, a goat was never meant to injure or torture an animal, but a shepherd had to inflict some discomfort, some pain, to get the attention of their flocks.
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And as our Heavenly Father, as our Heavenly Shepherd, God can't always handle us with kid gloves.
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Sometimes He has to use pain.
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He has to use discomfort to get our attention.
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Maybe this painful reminder from God is a friend lovingly coming to you and calling you out about something in your life that you shouldn't be doing.
08:19-08:25
instead of resisting this helpful word, choose to change and repent.
08:26-08:36
Maybe recently God's pulled out the rug from underneath your feet, and he's taken away something in your life that became an idol or took his rightful place on the throne of your heart.
08:37-08:42
Or maybe you feel a big wave of conviction as I'm preaching this message.
08:42-08:47
As I'm speaking, the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about something that you need to change in a specific way.
08:48-08:53
Maybe he's calling you to change how you speak to and about your spouse.
08:54-09:00
Maybe he's telling you to stop looking at those websites that you have no business looking at.
09:01-09:10
Or maybe he's telling you to stop making lame excuses for why you can't spend more time with him, why you can't serve his church, why you can't reach out to the lost.
09:12-09:17
Because choosing to change is hard, but it leads to lasting happiness.
09:18-09:23
While choosing to not change is really easy, but it's going to lead you to misery.
09:24-09:33
Solomon's words throughout Ecclesiastes are hard, and they're difficult to accept at times, but they're also filled with hope and will lead us to true satisfaction.
09:34-09:39
So remember, the 12 chapters of this book aren't just Solomon's own thoughts and opinions.
09:40-09:46
They're the wise and authoritative words of our heavenly shepherd who wants to lead us in the right direction.
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So many people in this life are completely directionless.
09:51-09:53
That's not true of us as followers of Christ, amen?
09:55-10:03
Second, on our Ecclesiastes study guide, my life is all about worshiping and obeying the Lord.
10:05-10:10
My life is all about worshiping and obeying the Lord.
10:11-10:17
You know, I was thinking this past week, what do you think is the question that most people want answered in this life?
10:18-10:25
There's a lot of questions that we want answered, but there's one in particular that we all have asked, maybe we're asking now.
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And this question is, what is my purpose?
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What is my purpose?
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In other words, why am I here, and what should I be doing?
10:35-10:42
And you'll hear this seemingly great, but ultimately hollow expression, oh, well, you just need to find your own purpose.
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It's your own personal journey.
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and you need to find what's meaningful for you, pop in any Disney animated movie that will basically be the message of that movie, I guarantee you.
10:53-10:54
But why is that bad advice?
10:54-11:01
It's bad advice because you're being told to find your meaning, your value, and your purpose within yourself.
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Simply put, your purpose is to do whatever you want to do.
11:09-11:12
Again, we always hear people say, "We'll never know truly why we're here.
11:12-11:14
We said try to find something that's meaningful.
11:16-11:20
Again, that sounds really appealing, but it's really depressing when you think about it.
11:21-11:27
If that's true, we were born into this life with no instruction manual, with no guide to tell us what to do.
11:27-11:31
That puts a lot of weight, a lot of pressure on your shoulders.
11:32-11:35
Ultimately, your life becomes all about you.
11:36-11:38
You're the final source of authority in your life.
11:39-11:40
And that's a really scary place to be.
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Thankfully, the Bible has a lot to say about purpose.
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And Solomon clearly lays out our purpose in verse 13.
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He says this, "The end of the matter, all has been heard.
11:52-12:05
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." So Solomon goes against the grain of our culture and he tells us purpose isn't found within ourselves.
12:05-12:08
It's actually found outside of ourselves.
12:09-12:17
Your purpose is found in the glorification of someone infinitely greater than you or anyone else that you'll ever encounter in this life.
12:18-12:23
You exist to worship the Lord and obey his life-giving commands.
12:24-12:25
It's that simple.
12:26-12:30
You exist to worship God and live in obedience to him.
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Your life is not your own.
12:34-12:35
It belongs to the Lord.
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He expects you to center your life around Him, around His glory, and around His purposes.
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How's that going for you?
12:46-12:47
How's that going?
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Is it obvious that your life's all about God and what He wants?
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Or is it abundantly clear to everyone around you that your life's all about you and what you want?
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If you're not sure of the answer to that question, Look at how you spend your time and your money.
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Pastor Jeff talked about this a lot last week.
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Your calendar and your wallet say a lot about who you are, who you're serving, and what your life is all about.
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The sad truth is we can often treat God like our part-time manager at Burger King than the all-powerful king of the universe.
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We clock in at church.
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We clock in at small group.
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Put on the big Christian smile.
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We act really great.
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Everything's great on the outside.
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Then we clock out on the way out, and we become the kings and queens of the rest of our week.
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Listen, God doesn't just want a few hours of your time in church in a small group.
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He wants every single second that you're awake.
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How you conduct yourself at work, how you act at home, should line up with the teachings of God's word and should bring him glory.
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You're called to live in such a way that you show everyone around you how great, how awesome, how fulfilling a relationship with Christ really is.
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So let me ask you again.
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Is it obvious that God is the king of your life?
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Or right now, are you the king of your life?
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All right, finally, on Solomon's study guide for Ecclesiastes, My thoughts, words, and actions are eternally significant.
14:33-14:37
My thoughts, words, and actions are eternally significant.
14:40-14:51
Solomon could have ended with verse 13, but he decides to zoom out and look at the meaning of life from an eternal perspective as he closes the book on Ecclesiastes.
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Verse 14, "For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
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This is really embarrassing for me to admit, but this is a pretty safe place to share.
15:05-15:06
Can I share something with you all?
15:07-15:07
All right, good.
15:08-15:11
Well, since I was a kid, I've had night terrors.
15:12-15:13
Does anyone know what a night terror is?
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Does anybody else have night terrors besides me?
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All right, a couple people.
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Thank you for making me feel less alone up here.
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So those of you who don't know what a night terror is, it's basically an extreme version of a nightmare you to yell out sometimes or even do some things you normally wouldn't do.
15:31-15:52
I grew up sharing with my older brother. I would wake him up a lot with my night terrors. And there's one episode in particular he always brings up where I bolted him awake by yelling, "No! No! Not the rocket launchers! No!" Now I don't remember the exact details of that dream, but it doesn't sound very good, does it?
15:53-15:58
Now sometimes I even wake up my wife currently with these night terrors.
15:59-16:08
She's found me standing on the bed trying to save one of our kids off the ceiling fan. She's caught me inspecting our dresser with the iPhone flashlight.
16:09-16:13
She's even caught me petting an imaginary dog. Good boy. Good boy.
16:15-16:22
And sometimes in the midst of these night terrors I wake up. I'm like okay I try to get back into bed. Hopefully she wasn't awake but then next day she's like I I knew you, I heard you.
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It was really obvious that you had a night terror.
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But in those moments, I'm snapped back to reality.
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And I feel a huge wave of relief that it was all just a dream.
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It wasn't actually real.
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Now, most of you don't have night terrors.
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We've all had bad dreams.
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Have you ever woken up from a bad dream and experienced that big sense of relief that it wasn't real?
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Maybe you had a bad dream that you were taking a test that you weren't ready for.
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Or you had to give a big impromptu speech that you didn't even know about?
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Yeah, that happens a lot, doesn't it, in your life, a big impromptu speech.
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And you wake up, and you're like, oh, OK.
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It wasn't real.
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I can just go back to sleep.
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But many will pass on and wake up from this life not to experience that kind of relief when they realize that they're going to experience the judgment of Almighty God for all of eternity.
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Listen to this quote that I came across this past week.
17:19-17:29
Ecclesiastes says the day is coming when some people will discover that they are not ready for the most important event in the world, and it won't be a dream.
17:30-17:35
Their life has been one long exercise in avoiding reality and ignoring what is coming toward them.
17:36-17:39
Death and judgment are coming.
17:41-18:17
Throughout this book, Psalm is preparing us for the eventual day of our death, and he warns us not shrug off thinking about judgment eternity. Because no matter how old you are, no matter how healthy you feel, you could die at any time. I don't want to be morbid, but you could die on the way home today. None of us know how much time we have left. We all know this as human beings, but we ignore it and we push it down. It's so easy to distract ourselves in the era of social media, to be glued to our phones, to be glued to our TVs, to be glued to our laptops.
18:17-18:23
So many people are just doing this to drown out all the questions they have about life.
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They want to ignore these important realities.
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They don't want to deal with it.
18:26-18:28
They don't want to face their sin.
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They don't want to face their need for a savior.
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In this passage, Solomon is saying, stop ignoring reality and ask yourself a simple question.
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Am I ready for the day of judgment?
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Sit with that question and think about that.
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Am I ready for the day of judgment?
18:59-19:04
It's really tempting for me to assume that every single person in this room knows and loves Jesus.
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I wish that was true, but it's probably not.
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And it'd be a big mistake for me just to not give you the opportunity to finally bow the knee to Jesus Christ and be forever changed.
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Let me ask you some important questions.
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Do you really believe that Jesus lived a perfect life?
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Do you really believe that he died a sacrificial death upon the cross?
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Do you really believe that he rose again to give you new and everlasting life?
19:32-19:40
Have you repented of your sin, turned away from your sin, and fully placed your faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
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Are you just playing the Christian game?
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Are you just putting on a front, act like everything's great?
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Are you resting in your good deeds and accomplishments, hoping that one day before God, he'll see that your good deeds outweigh your bad?
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Like, hey, come on in.
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You're a good guy.
20:01-20:06
Are you riding that fence and not making a decision about Jesus?
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The Bible says that today is the day of salvation.
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Not tomorrow, not next week, not when your schedule calms down, today, right now.
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Don't we another second to trust in Jesus Christ.
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Stop making excuses and choose to step into an intimate relationship with Christ that lasts forever so you can be fully prepared for the life to come.
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Now, many of you are thinking, well, Taylor, I'm a Christian.
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I know that I'm saved.
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This final line really has nothing to do with me.
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Well, actually, it does, because the New Testament tells us that believers will have to stand before the judgment seat as well.
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Some of you just sat up at full attention.
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Wait, what are you talking about?
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What does that mean?
20:54-21:05
To be clear, believers will not be judged for their sins before the judgment seat, because all of our past, present, and future sins have already been paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross.
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Those things are no longer held against you, both now and for the rest of eternity.
21:12-21:15
If you are in Christ, the Father has no wrath.
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He has no punishment left for you because it was all poured out upon his Son every last drop.
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But on the day of judgment, the storybook of how you spent your life will be laid bare before you and the Lord.
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And he will evaluate your motivations.
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He'll evaluate your deeds to assign heavenly rewards.
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Salvation is a free gift of God's grace given to undeserving sinners, but there will be certain eternal rewards that are given to those who led lives of sacrifice, humility, and holiness.
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Paul speaks to this in 2 Corinthians 5.10.
21:54-22:06
He writes this, "For we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
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In other parts of the New Testament, talk about these future rewards.
22:10-22:14
Not give them much detail, but what they'll be like, but they are going to be awesome.
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They're going to be fulfilling.
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God never gives bad gifts.
22:19-22:23
Do you have that aunt or that great aunt who always gives you the worst birthday and Christmas gifts every single year?
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It's always clothes that don't fit or a board game you've had for like 20 years.
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It's like, OK, well, this isn't that awesome.
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That never happens with God.
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Everything that he gives us is eternally satisfying.
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It never loses its excitement or its luster.
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As believers, we're going to have to give an account for how we spoke to others, how we served the church, how we loved the lost, how we spent our money.
22:55-23:02
We're told in 1 Corinthians 3, 11 through 15, that God will reveal the motivations behind our acts of love and service.
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He'll reveal why you went on those missions trips.
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Why did you go on those service projects?
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Why did you raise your hands during worship?
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The motivations behind everything will be laid bare.
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Did we do these things to glorify ourselves or to exalt our great God and King?
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Did we do these things because we wanted to because we felt like we had to.
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So obviously, this future judgment shouldn't cause us to be lazy and do nothing.
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It should actually do the opposite.
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It should motivate us to serve the Lord with willing hearts and to lay up treasures in heaven that can never, ever be taken away from us.
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You're ending this book with a sentence about judgment.
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It seems kind of dark and depressing, doesn't it?
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like a big wah, wah, wah.
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Why does Solomon do that?
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Why does he end with a really encouraging, yeah, awesome, let's go?
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Why does he end with judgment?
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Because if there is no final judgment, then nothing that we do in this life really matters.
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If there is no heaven, if there is no hell, let's just live it up and do whatever we want, because there are no eternal consequences.
24:19-24:25
But if there is a judgment day coming, then every single thing that we do matters.
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How you spend your time matters.
24:28-24:31
How you spend your money matters.
24:31-24:33
How you go about your job matters.
24:34-24:37
How you think, how you speak, it matters.
24:39-24:46
So many people ignore the reality of death and choose to close their eyes, stick their fingers in their ears, and just hum away, hoping just not to think about it.
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Making excuse after excuse after excuse, but the reality of judgment is still there.
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Death is still coming.
24:58-25:00
Solomon's saying, hey, stop doing that.
25:01-25:02
Use your time wisely.
25:02-25:03
Take your life seriously.
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Deal with those questions that you often don't want to deal with.
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So as you look over your Ecclesiastes study guide, ask yourself, am I living life to the fullest?
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Am I embracing the way of wisdom?
25:22-25:26
Am I totally ready for the day of judgment?
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Or am I completely unprepared?
25:32-25:33
The band can come forward now.
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And as they do, I just want to talk with you a little bit about baptism.
25:38-25:48
As you can tell by this massive tub in the front of the room, we're going to spend some time celebrating with a few people who have decided take this important step of obedience.
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And just to be clear, baptism doesn't save you.
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It's not God giving his grace to you in the baptismal waters.
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It's you saying, I have been saved by grace through faith.
26:01-26:02
I love Jesus.
26:02-26:06
I'm going to spend the rest of my life serving him.
26:08-26:11
It's an outward sign of an inward reality.
26:11-26:15
It's an outward sign of an inward relationship with Christ.
26:17-26:19
Maybe during this message, you finally took the leap of faith.
26:21-26:24
You've placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.
26:26-26:32
Or maybe you've been a Christian for months or even years, but you've never taken the step of obedience to be baptized.
26:33-26:34
Well, guess what?
26:34-26:38
If that's you, the tub is here, and it's ready to go.
26:38-26:41
You should get baptized this morning.
26:42-26:44
I can already hear the excuses churning.
26:44-26:46
Oh, Taylor, I'm in my nice church clothes.
26:46-26:47
I don't want to get them wet.
26:48-26:49
We have a change of clothes for you.
26:49-26:53
We have towels, hair dryers, Q-tips, whatever you can think of.
26:53-26:54
It's back there.
26:54-26:55
There's literally Q-tips back there.
26:55-26:56
You can believe me.
26:57-27:00
Another excuse-- oh, I want my family to be here.
27:00-27:03
We're live streaming this right now, and they can watch it at their earliest convenience.
27:04-27:07
Any excuse you give me, I can just knock it right back to you.
27:09-27:19
In the book of Acts, Philip led the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ and there by a body of water and the eunuch says, "Here's water.
27:19-27:21
What should prevent me from being baptized?
27:22-27:26
What excuse is good enough to hold me back from this?" There's none.
27:27-27:28
There's no good excuse.
27:30-27:32
As I just talked about, we don't know how much time we have left.
27:32-27:35
Let's stop making excuses for why we can't serve the Lord.
27:36-27:40
stop making excuses for why we can't do what he has called us to do.
27:41-27:48
If you feel that push, that pull of the Holy Spirit motivating you to get baptized, please listen to him.
27:50-27:55
If you want to get baptized, or if you need to get baptized, better put, Pastor Jeff is in the back.
27:55-27:56
I'll also go back there with him.
27:57-28:03
As the band plays, you can go back and you talk to one of us, and we'll point you to where you need to go and what you need to do.
28:04-28:05
Let's pray.
28:07-28:12
Lord, we thank you that you are our great God and King.
28:13-28:15
Lord, we know the day of judgment is coming.
28:17-28:28
Lord, lift up every single person in this room who doesn't know you, that you would open up their hearts to the truth and give them the faith to believe, and you'd push them to finally confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord.
28:29-28:36
And if there's anyone in this room who hasn't been baptized and they need to, Lord, get them out of their seat Push them to make this important decision.
28:38-28:49
And for the rest of us, Lord, help us to take our lives seriously, to use our time wisely, and to center our lives around you and what you want us to do.
28:50-28:51
In Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Ecclesiastes 12:9-14
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why do we get off track so often on our spiritual journey? How does the Lord get our attention and goad us in the right direction (Eccl 12:11)? How is He calling you to change right now?
How can you tell if you are living for the Lord or for yourself? What are the tell-tale signs of leading a self-centered life?
Why does Solomon end Ecclesiastes with a word on judgement (Eccl 12:14)? How should this change the way we live from one day to the next?
Breakout
Pray for one another.