Everything Is Meaningless - Remember Your Creator

Turn in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes, chapter 11.

Ecclesiastes 11 · chapter mention

Let me make some preliminary remarks before we plunge into scripture this morning.

We're gonna be helped this morning in holy scripture because it's going to address an area we all need to know, have a biblical understanding of, and that is the issue of aging.

How many are aging?

Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

All right, all right.

All right, all right.

But I wanna extract from these verses some ideas, biblical ideas of how we should view aging.

The world does not view these things positively.

The ultimate statement I've ever heard about the world's perspective on aging was in the movie City Slickers with what's his name?

Billy Crystal.

You remember the scene where he's invited to his son's elementary class to talk about what his dad does and he has a breakdown while he's talking and then he addresses the kids.

Value this time in your life, kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have your choices and it goes so fast.

When you're a teenager, you think you can do anything and you do.

Your 20s are a blur.

Your 30s, you raise a family, make a little money and say what happened to my 20s?

In your 40s, you grow a potbelly, you grow another chin, the music starts to get too loud.

One of your old high school girlfriends becomes a grandmother.

In your 50s you'll have your first surgery.

You'll call it a procedure, but it's a surgery.

In your 60s, the music's still too loud, but it doesn't matter, because you can't hear it anyway.

In your 70s, you and your wife, retired of Fort Lauderdale, started eating dinner at two, lunch at 10, breakfast the night before.

Spend all your time wandering around malls muttering to yourself why don't the kids call?

Why don't the kids call?

In your 80s you have a major stroke.

You'll wake up babbling to a Jamaican nurse.

Your wife can't stand, but then you call mama Any questions?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I really believe I missed my calling.

But these verses are sober.

They give us a sober appreciation for the reality of aging.

Let's read in chapter 11, beginning at verse seven 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, oh, 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, put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity, chapter 12, verse one.

Remember also your creator in the days of your youth, before the evils days come and the years drawn 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 dim 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 bull is broken or the pitcher is shattered of 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 vanity, says the preacher.

All is vanity.

Now, if you've not been with us, we've been preaching through a series on the book of Ecclesiastes and I hope that you have been fully persuaded by listening to these messages in this sermon series.

The value of this book of Ecclesiastes, the realism this book presents, is essential for wise living, and so this book pulls no punches.

The title of this message this morning is based on chapter 12, verse one, simply calling it remember your creator.

Remember your creator.

That's the imperative found in chapter 12, verse one.

The Bible essentially teaches the same thing elsewhere.

It has instruction for every stage of life.

It has much to say about youth in these verses.

These verses have much to say about the aging process and, finally, it has much to say about the final stage of our existence death, and we need to be instructed in these matters from scripture's perspective.

That's why I called each stage of this existence to do what chapter 12 and verse one says remember your creator.

To enjoy these days, we must live in gratitude for God's gifts before they fade.

Solomon tells us in these verses that God has created us with a great capacity for delight.

You know we usually reserve the term delight for the period of our youth.

But the truth is we should take delight in all the stages of our life, while being realistic about those stages.

We are called to enjoy life, but we are accountable to God for how we steward what has been entrusted to us.

It's very important that we do that.

But to enjoy this world we must live in the moment.

But part of delighting in the present is knowing hard things are coming and not shrinking back from the reality of that.

The Bible pulls no punches when it describes the aging process.

It prepares us by giving us, in these verses, a real look at the hard days that lie ahead.

You know we're not helped by living in denial about the difficulties of our days as we age.

One author said it this way the young man is exhorted to bear in mind that he will grow old, die and be judged by God for the decisions made in the days of his youth.

Choosing this perspective will allow him to approach the days of his youth as a wise investor.

The Bible deals in realism when it comes to these things.

It tells us we can have great delight alongside the sober realities of getting old.

In an article entitled Every Days a Bad Day how Ecclesiastes Taught Me to Enjoy Life, carolyn Mahaney writes quote Ecclesiastes has shown me the secret of enjoying life even in the midst of trouble.

It has rescued me from disillusionment when labors I thought were fruitful appeared to be for naught.

When friends have turned their backs, ecclesiastes has helped me guard against bitterness.

It has cured me of setting my hope on a particular outcome and protected me from becoming bewildered and disheartened by bad news.

In short, ecclesiastes made me a realist, and yet I'm happier than ever before.

This collection of wisdom has become, as it is for JI Packer, whose writings introduced me to Ecclesiastes, my favorite book of the Bible, and one I regret not studying sooner.

If you get the wisdom here while you are still young, it will prepare you for real life.

It clears away false assumptions with which we sometimes read the rest of Scripture.

Even if you find Ecclesiastes when you are older, it sure explains a lot.

You learn that life didn't go sideways, it was already crooked.

Ecclesiastes paints an unvarnished picture of real life, but its heavy shadows help you to see the light of real joy.

Close quote Now let's look in these verses at what God has to say about the three stages of life we all pass through Youth, aging and death and let's examine each in the light of these verses.

Let's begin with our with youth in the key verse, chapter 12, verse 1.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.

This verse confirms that the time of youth is a special time of enjoyment.

Now, that doesn't mean that all young people enjoy their youth.

For many youth, that period can be actually quite troublesome and difficult.

One of the sad things about youth is that few really enjoy it in the way God intended.

I was sobered by finding these statistics that the rise of suicide and depression among youth today is alarming.

In 2011, suicide outranked homicides as the second leading cause of death of 15 to 19 year olds for the first time ever in US history, and this continues to be the case today as well.

Several studies continue to point out the severity of problems youth face today.

One website called Very Well highlighted the top 10 problems that youth face as the following Depression, bullying, sexual activity, drug use, alcohol use, obesity, academic problems, peer pressure and on-screen violence.

And there's more.

Advances in technology also mean that today's teens are facing new and different social issues.

Electronic media has changed or amplified some teenage troubles.

Digital communication has changed the way teens interact with their peers and romantic interests, for example.

What that means is that many youth today, teens especially, lack essential interpersonal communication skills.

Teen social media and texting habits are changing the way they communicate, date, learn, sleep, exercise and more.

You know, the average teen today spends eight hours a day using electronic devices.

But I want to apply verse one chapter 12, in a different way this morning to youth.

These verses are corrective to the thinking of so many youth.

How many of you have ever heard young people say I don't want to give my life to God now.

I want to have fun for a while, then I'll give my life to God.

And this thinking is wrong on so many levels.

But the reason it's wrong is it assumes that serving God is not fun and I'm having a ball serving God.

I'm thankful that I gave my life to the Lord Jesus when I was 17, before I turned 18.

I have very little memory of my life prior to that because I gave my life to the Lord so young.

More than once I've made this statement.

Can you say this?

I've said I would serve God if he canceled hell tonight.

And I don't want to undercut the fact that I'm not going to hell.

I'm very glad about that, but I would serve him if he canceled hell because of the benefits you know.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul.

Forget not his benefits, and they are so bountiful.

I want to call your attention to one benefit we all enjoy, and that is the Holy Spirit residing in us gives us a built-in comfort system.

Just think of Paul's description of what our lives looked like when we're inhabited by the Holy Spirit.

He says you will have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Well, when I was a hippie in the late 60s, we talked a lot about love, but it wasn't real love.

Remember when the Beatles sang all you need is love and we can work it out.

Then they broke up.

That was the illusion we lived under, that we were loved because we smoked pot and listened to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

John Piper in his writing, speaks of becoming a Christian hedonist, and everybody know what a hedonist is.

A hedonist is a person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important thing in life.

It's a pleasure seeker.

And when I was newly saved I remember distinctly studying the first Psalm Blessed is the man.

And you know, the Jewish people look at the first Psalm as a preface to the entire Psalter and they said it says blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful.

And that was me.

In my church we prided ourselves on what we didn't do.

We didn't walk in the counsel of the wicked and we, we prided ourselves.

When the life of God enters us, how many know it calls us to live differently from the world.

Live fish, swim against the current dead fish, go with it.

But one day the Lord caused me to focus on verse two.

I had not really studied it.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or sit in the seat of the scornful, or walk, sit in the seat or stand in the way of sinners.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.

And I was assaulted by the word delight, I thought it must be a mistranslation.

When I looked it up, I discovered to my amazement that not only is it not a mistranslation, but that Hebrew word translated delight is often translated by the English word pleasure.

But his pleasure is in the law of the Lord.

And that stumbled me because pleasure was something that characterized my former life, not my Christian life in the present.

But to live the Christian life properly, we have to not only deny ourselves, we must also be pleasureed by God and His word.

Does that characterize your life?

Are you pleasured by meditating on Scripture?

It's not long wrong to seek pleasure, as long as you do it biblically and you seek pleasure in a scriptural way.

That's the meaning of being a Christian hedonist.

So these verses teach that youth is a special time of enjoyment that should cause us to remember our Creator.

But while we are enjoying the days of youth, we must be fully aware that we are aging and days of darkness are ahead.

This is the realism that Scripture tells us that we should enjoy our youth, but do so in a sobering manner to prepare for the inevitability that we are aging.

Light is sweet.

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

You know I learned much about aging from my favorite theologians, the Rolling Stones, because in their song Mothers that Are Helper, there's a repeated line and again and again what a drag it is getting old.

And that's the only redemptive thing the Stones ever wrote, which is interesting because Mick Jagger is 80, and he's still jumping around doing concerts on stage Now.

Scripture has both positive and negative things to say about aging and we need to face both of them realistically.

The positive is as people age, they are expected to gain wisdom.

Not always the case, but that's a biblical perspective.

They are expected as they age to gain wisdom.

The Hebrew word for old is zekan, which literally means grain.

So when you start grain.

Physically, you're supposed to be a person who has wisdom, the idea.

That is why we need older people in our lives today, because they have wisdom to give the next generation.

When John saw a vision of the exalted Messiah on the island of Patmos, when he looked at Jesus' hair, it said his hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow.

He is the personification of wisdom.

You know, our culture today appeals largely to youth and their needs.

Old people are often viewed as a nuisance, being in the way.

Even in the church things are often geared to young people.

Now, on one level, I get that it is wise to focus on the young generation because we the next generation.

We're called to prepare them and give them godliness.

But we desperately need the wisdom of those who are gray-haired today in the church as well.

You know, the verses we read in chapter 12 have sometimes been interpreted as allegories for the changing physiology of a person who is aging.

In other words, they are a picture of the various aspects of the physical changes we go through as we age.

Let's look through these statements, see what Solomon might have meant.

Not dogmatic about it, but many commentators believe he's addressing the aging process In the day when the keepers of the house tremble.

This may refer to the trembling of the hands as we age.

Strong men are bent, which may refer to the changing posture of a person who ages.

I'm no longer straight as I was.

The grinders cease because they are few may be a reference to the loss of teeth, and the whole family was gathered around his bed and said goodbye to grandpa, and they listened carefully as grandpa gave his final words and this is what he said take care of your teeth.

That's exactly what he said.

The grinders cease because they are few and those who look through the windows are dimmed could be a reference to the loss of eyesight as you age.

The doors on the street are shut.

This may be a reference to the fact that elderly are shut from business.

Old age limits one's activities.

One rise up at the sound of a bird.

It might be a reference to the fact that old people are easily started.

Others have interpreted this to mean that elderly people can no longer enjoy music or participate in singing any longer, which is not in itself always true, but it could be a reference to both.

They are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way fears over hurting one's body or being hurt by others becomes a concern with the passing of years.

I remember, when I was in my fifties or maybe 60, that we were at youth camp and me and some of the old guys challenged the youth to a basketball game and, lo and behold, we won.

But I felt that game in my body for two weeks.

That's the truth.

The almond tree blossoms may as many see this as a reference to the turning of the color of the hair as one ages the grasshopper drags itself along.

Maybe a reference to the passing of years causes elderly people to develop a slower gait and desire fails.

Could be referring here to the loss of sexual desire as one ages Before the silver cord is snapped.

Maybe a reference to the spinal cord or the golden bowl is broken and the pitcher is shattered at the fountain could be a reference to the golden bowl, to the head and the pitcher, the heart, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

Maybe an image for the end of life, since human beings are viewed as earthen vessels made by the potter, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

Some have actually viewed this as a reference to the digestive system.

I don't know why, but the stones did have it based on these verses, right, what a drag it is getting old.

You know, when you're young you never believe that you'll actually get old.

Like I can't believe I'm going to be 71.

I'm so old.

No, tyler gave me permission, but I'm going to honor those who went to Israel.

I'm going to honor those who went to Israel with me, because I swore to the Lord for those who are new, at Trinity.

This is a joke that I've done for 30 years and the elders banned me from it at one point because they were getting sick of it.

I'm so old.

When I was young, the dead sea was just sick.

Forgive me, lord, for I know what I'm doing, but Solomon would encourage us.

Let's invite the Holy Spirit back.

Solomon would encourage us that when you're young, we should have an awareness of what lies ahead, that we're all going to.

Age is inevitable and having a biblical sober view is important.

The strange thing about aging is that, while your body ages and faces limitations, your mind stays young.

When they give an altar call, let the young people come up.

I always struggle.

Is that still me?

Because I don't feel I'm old.

Finally, these verses tell us something substantial.

We need to know about the final stage of our existence, death.

We lost a precious sister this week at Trinity.

Charlotte Stanton passed away Tuesday and she was such a blessing to this church, to Patty and others that loved her.

She prayed for me all the time.

Anytime I saw her in the last year she would say Neil, are you resting?

Are you resting?

Enter his rest and every time I saw her it reminded me that I need to enter, rest and live in a restful way.

I'm going to be in a memorial service for Charlotte next Sunday night.

At what time?

Four to six is receiving friends and then the service at six.

You're all invited.

The Bible is very realistic when it comes to dealing with death.

This entire section of Scripture that we read this morning calls upon youth to recognize that death awaits and remember him before the silver cord is severed or the golden bowl is broken, before the pitcher is shattered at the spring or the wheel broken at the well and the dust returns to the ground that came from and the spirit returns to God.

Who gave it?

Ecclesiastes 12, 6, and 7.

You know we already met with this theme in Ecclesiastes of preparing properly for death, like in chapter seven.

A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

You know this is such an important emphasis because we who live in the West today have been living a culture that has been called a death denying culture.

Kendra Hess from Brighton Hospice in Minnesota writes this quote.

American society is considered a death denying culture.

In general, we do not like to think about, talk about or acknowledge death as an inevitable reality.

While, logically, we understand that we will all die someday, it is generally a topic that is uncomfortable and swept under the rug.

Our beliefs about death and end of life are further chiseled by our families, friends and personal experiences.

The American death denying culture affects the way that we react when faced with our own or loved one's physical decline and mortality.

Denial is a strong defense mechanism and serves a great purpose.

However, it has the ability to be harmful and rob friends and families of special moments at end of life.

Close quote you know this verse in chapter 12, verse 7, is taken out of the words God spoke to Adam after cursing the earth.

Remember he said by the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, since from it you have been taken.

For dust you are and to dust you will return.

It's inevitable.

The first tells us that in death, our physical body returns to the earth, but the words in Ecclesiastes tell us that the death thus returns to the earth while the spirit returns to God who gave it, and this is our hope.

James reminds us that the body, apart from the spirit, is dead, and Paul taught the churches that death is not the end of our existence.

In 2 Corinthians 5 he said now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Meanwhile, why we long to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling?

Because when we are clothed we will not be found naked.

For while we are in this tent we groan.

Every time I read that I say ah, we groan and are burdened because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Now, it is God who made us for this very purpose and has given us the spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come.

Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.

We live by faith, not by sight.

We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

Here it is for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due for Him, due Him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

So this verse clearly teaches that death is not the end of our existence.

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an internal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

These verses teach us how to prepare to die.

For the believer, there is an awareness that we shall be clothed, at the point of death, with our heavenly home, our heavenly dwelling During our time on earth.

We are at home in the body and away from the Lord.

Paul one that is sure that believers knew exactly what lies behind the grave.

So he told the Thessalonican church.

The Thessalonians were concerned.

Some believers in the assembly had died and they thought they missed the resurrection.

Paul assures them that is not the case in chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians when he says brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep or to grieve like the rest of man.

We who have no hope, we believe that Jesus died and rose again.

So we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep, according to the Lord's own word.

We tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not proceed.

Those who have fallen asleep, for the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left and just think there is a generation we don't know who we could be ours that will not see death, but they will be raised at the coming of the Lord.

But the dead in Christ shall be raised first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so will be with the Lord forever.

Therefore, encourage these words, one another with these words.

This has wrongly been called the rapture of the church.

It's not the rapture, it's the resurrection of the church.

And because we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also bring with them those who sleep.

And, by the way, when we meet the Lord in the air, we won't remain in the heavens suspended on clouds, strumming harps.

We're returning with the Lord.

Daniel talks about the Lord returning with thousands of his saints, and we will be with the Lord on earth forever, for the earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof.

The meek shall inherit the earth, so the kingdom of God will be an earthly reality.

The heavens and the earth will be cleansed from their defilement and we shall reign with the Lord forever.

In light of these things, what, then, shall we do?

Remember also your Creator in every phase of life, in your youth, as you age and the finality of death.

Remember your Creator If you're young, deeply enjoy this time in your life, being fully aware that, before you know it, you will quickly age.

If you're middle-aged, don't forget, don't be afraid of the reality of death that's around the corner.

A good name is better than precious omen, the day of death than the day of birth.

Make sure you have a biblical view of death and aren't afraid of it.

The writer of Hebrews writing of believers in Hebrews 2, writing two believers in Hebrews who said since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him.

Who holds the power of death?

That is the devil.

And free those who were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Hebrews 2, 14 through 15.

So, no matter what stage of life you are at, remember your Creator.

Let's pray, heavenly Father.

We thank you that you saw fit to prepare us for every stage of life.

Thank you, lord, for giving to Solomon wisdom as to how we should live at each stage.

This morning, we are asking you to teach us to remember our Creator, so that we might live wisely.

For the youth this morning, teach them to deeply enjoy their lives, yet all the while fully aware that they will have to give an account to you for the way they spend their days.

For those who are middle-aged.

Help them to recognize the season of life they are in, being fully aware as well that, as they age, they are getting close to death.

And, lord, grant to those who are nearing death an understanding of what awaits them on the other side.

Father, we thank you that you own both sides of Jordan.

Help all of us to have a proper view of our death so that we might face it without fear or dread.

Holy Father, teach us to number our days so that we may present to you a heart of wisdom, amen, amen.