- Sermon Notes
- Scripture
- Spanish Translation
Solomon’s Grand Conclusion
Ecclesiastes 12:1-14
February 8-9, 2025
- Verse 1 – Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them.”
- The word ‘remember’ in the Hebrew suggests that it’s always there in the mind. In other words, don’t forget God and then later saying, “Oh I remember now.”
- The wisdom is in never forgetting. Steadfastness of walking with God, of never forgetting the hand of God that moves with power and with favor, this is the key to the wisdom.
- Imagine what God could do in the life of someone who understood this great truth when they were young.
- Things accumulate in life. When I was in my early college days, I could pretty much put everything I owned in the back of a car. But over time, things accumulate. For better or for worse.
- Some people accumulate hurts and wounds, and time only makes them more sensitive to the pain. God offers healing to the soul so you can begin to accumulate joy and peace.
- Imagine if a person could remember God in their youth and take hold and never let go of such deep truths. How it could change their lives.
- David understood this great truth…
- Verse 1 – Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them.”
- Solomon is giving a great warning. The prime of life is fleeting. Time always wins. Don’t waste your life chasing after the wind. Remember your Creator in your youth, otherwise you will come to the latter days of your life and have no delight in your soul.
- Verse 8 – “Vanity of vanities!” Says the Preacher, “All is vanity!” In other words, the vanity of vanities is wasting your life! It comes from not remembering your Creator in your youth and then spending the prime of your life chasing the wind, pursuing the flesh rather than things of the Spirit, and then coming to the latter years and having no delight in the soul. That’s the vanity of vanities; that’s the tragedy of tragedies. Don’t waste your life! Solomon is saying.
- It’s so interesting how he uses so many metaphors for the afflictions of the latter years.
- Verse 2 -The sun and moon and the stars darken – the eyes grow dimmer.
- Verse 3 – The watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop – you get weaker and more frail.
- Verse 4 – The doors on the street are shut and the grinding mill is low – your hearing isn’t what it used to be.
- Verse 5 -Men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road – they don’t have the confidence they once did…. The almond tree blossoms — the hair turns white… The grasshopper drags himself along – you don’t hop and skip and jump anymore. In other words, your walking is more like a shuffle…the caperberry is ineffective – that was an aphrodisiac – but it’s ineffective because you’re getting too old.
- Time always wins. The prime of life is fleeting. Remember your creator in your youth before the evil days come and the years draw near when you say, “I have no delight in them.”
- That’s the tragedy of tragedies, to live your life and never discover the fullness of joy God intended.
- Verse 13 – The conclusion, when all has been heard, is; revere God and keep His commandments. This applies to every person, for God will bring every act to account, everything which is a hidden, whether good or evil.
- To revere God is to set him in the place of highest honor in your life… To revere God is the beginning of wisdom.
- Revere God and keep His word.
- Notice then how he poetically and beautifully shows the value of taking hold of God’s wisdom… And he means take hold of it while you are young, so you don’t waste your life.
- Verse 10 – The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.
- The wisdom of God is of greater value than any treasure from the earth because it will be the delight of your soul – – and not only the delight of your soul but also the delight of your life.
- Wisdom is a great advantage of life…
- The words of the godly wise come from the soul that is near to God and brings beautiful aspects of the soul…
- Verse 11 – The words of wise men are like goads…
- Goads are used by those who raise cattle. If they become stubborn and won’t listen, the farmer would use a goad, a sharp stick and thrust it into the side of the stubborn bull to get it to turn this way or that.
- Wisdom is like a goad that will correct your course, to keep you from grave error, to save you from much pain. How much better it is to accept any course correction that God’s wisdom provides! Save yourself a lot of trouble, Solomon is saying…
- Verse 11 – Masters of these collections are like well-driven nails.
- This is a wonderful analogy. Masters of these collections of wisdom are like well driven nails.
- There are two parts to that verse. This verse calls you and me to master the words of God that contain the wisdom of His heart. What does it mean to master it?
- It’s far beyond memorization. There is a great difference between having wisdom and being wise. You become wise when you choose to walk according to God’s wisdom until it has transformed you and you become wise.
- Solomon says that those who master, who become wise, are like well-driven nails. A well driven deal is a nail in the right place set firmly. It’s a beautiful expression of a life well lived to the honor and glory of God.
- Verse 7 – At the end of it all, the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
- If you will remember your Creator in the days of your youth and if you pursue the image of God in which you were made, you will have a deep residing joy in your soul because you have walked with God. The journey may be long and there may be difficult times, but the hand of God will be with you and you will find joy and delight in the latter years.
- And then when your spirit returns to God who gave it, you will enter eternity with eternity in your heart, and with peace that surpasses understanding. You will enter the joy of your Master.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 NASB
12 1Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years approach when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain; 3 on the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and strong men are bent over, the grinders stop working because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim; 4 and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly. 5 Furthermore, people are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while the mourners move around in the street. 6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; 7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. 8 “Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher, “all is futility!”
9 In addition to being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.
11 The words of the wise are like goads, and masters of these collections are like driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive study is wearying to the body.
13 The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
8 y 9 de febrero de 2025
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