Ecclesiastes 11:1-12:8 | 1st conclusion: Give, Sow, Rejoice and Remember

Please turn in your Bibles to

Ecclesiastes chapter 11 through to 12 um

Ecclesiastes 11 · chapter mention

verse 8. That is Ecclesiastes 11

through to 12 chap chapter 12 verse 8.

And I'm reading from the Christian

Standard Bible.

Send your bread on the surface of the

water for after many days you may find

it. Give a portion to seven or even to

eight. For you don't know what disaster

may happen on earth. If the clouds are

full, they will pour out rain on the

earth. Whether a tree falls to the south

or the north, the place where the tree

falls, there it will lie. One who

watches the wind will not sew, and the

one who looks at the clouds will not

reap. Just as you don't know the path of

the wind, or how bones develop in the

womb of a pregnant woman, so also you

don't know the work of God who makes

everything.

In the morning sew your seed, and at

evening do not let your hand rest,

because you don't know which will

succeed, whether one or the other, or if

both of them will be equally good. Light

is sweet, and it is pleasing for the

eyes to see the sun. Indeed, if someone

lives many years, let him rejoice in all

in them all, and let him remember the

days of darkness, since they will be

many. All that comes is futile. Rejoice,

young person, while you are young, and

let your heart be glad in the days of

your youth. And walk in the ways of your

heart and in the desire of your eyes.

But know that for all these things God

will bring you to judgment. Remove

sorrow from your heart and put away pain

from your flesh. Because youth and the

prime of your life are fleeting. So

remember your creator in the days of

your youth, before the days of adversity

come and the years approach when you

will say, "I have no delight in them."

before the sun and the light are

darkened and the moon and the stars and

the clouds return after the rain. On the

day when the guardians of the house

tremble and the strong men stoop, the

women who grind grain cease because they

are few and the ones who watch through

the windows see dimly. The the doors at

the street are shut while the sound of

the mill fades. When one rises at the

sound of a bird and all the daughters of

song grow faint also they are afraid of

heights and dangers on the road. The

ammon tree blossoms, the grasshopper

loses its spring, and the caper berry

has no effect. For the mere mortal is

headed to his eternal home, and mourers

will walk around in the street. Before

the silver cord is snapped, and the gold

bull is broken, and the jar is shattered

at the spring, and the wheel is broken

into the well, and the dust returns to

the earth as it once was, and the spirit

returns to God who gave it. Absolute

futility, says the teacher. Everything

is futile.

Good morning.

>> Thank you Abby for reading that. um

obviously is not our norm to depart from

the NIV, but I think the CSB just helps

give a lot more clarity to some pieces

of this passage this morning, which is

why I've just decided to preach from the

Christian Standard Bible this morning.

Let's pray now and ask for the Lord's

help as we consider this passage.

Lord, we pray that as we now listen to

your word and consider it together that

you would we ask that you would satisfy

us this morning with your steadfast love

so that we might rejoice and be glad all

of our days.

Help us to see the Lord Jesus as

glorious and precious

and our lives as a great gift.

We pray this in your name. Amen.

Last week we started by talking about

the unpredictability of Irish summer

weather. And I'm going to circle back to

that again now. Not because I want to

rub salt into an open wound, but because

I think it helps us to understand this

passage as well. The question that I

want to ask you this morning is this.

Given how unpredictable Irish weather

is,

how should you respond?

What do you think is the right response

to the unpredictability of our summers?

Let me tell you some wrong responses.

Here's the first one. Naive optimism.

You spend tens of thousands of euros on

a beautiful rooftop pool and an outdoor

kitchen just hoping against hope that

maybe it'll be sunny all year. Wrong

response to the Irish summer. Waste of

money.

Let me tell you another wrong response.

Fearful pessimism.

sitting inside your house with the

curtains drawn, refreshing your weather

app over and over and over, hoping that

some sun might pop out at some moment.

Those are both bad responses.

What's a better response? Well, it's the

Irish response. Realism.

We're not going to get a lot of good in

the summer. We all know that. But if the

sun is out, you leave everything

and run for it. You go enjoy it. You

might get wet along the way. There might

be some laughter. There might be some

tears, but you enjoy as much of it as

you can. In other words, I think 11:8,

we could reword it. If someone gets some

sunshine, let him rejoice in it, but let

him remember the days of darkness

because they will be many. Right. That's

about right. Isn't it?

I think that that's actually going to

help us exactly with what the teacher is

telling us in this passage.

Today we are looking at the first

conclusion to the book of Ecclesiastes.

Next time it will be the final

conclusion from the narrator. But this

is this is the teacher's conclusion. And

he shifts from observing the way that

the world is to now summarizing for us

in this passage. How should you live

well in light of the way the world is?

Now remember the key observation that he

has made about what life is like. Life

is heel, right? This vapor. Life is a

vapor. And if you look all the way back

to chapter 1 verse two, remember how

this book began?

Chapter 1 verse two he said

absolute futility or literally vapor of

vapors says the teacher vapor of vapors

everything is vapor now look how he

finishes his section in chapter 12:8

sorry yeah 12:8 vapor of vapors says the

teacher everything is vapor do you see

how those two things bookmark the entire

or or bookend end the entire book. Vapor

of vapors, all is vapor. Remember this

idea, vapor, life under the sun, it

cannot be grasped. Remember, he's used

this imagery several times of shephering

the wind. That's what it's like to try

to control life.

And remember, we've said, and this is

important here as we come to the end,

that there are three senses in which

life is vapor. Number one, you cannot

grasp it in the sense of you cannot

grasp time.

It is slipping through your fingers and

you cannot hold on to it. Number two,

you cannot grasp it in the sense of

understanding.

You can't make sense of life. It's an

enigma. It's a paradox. You can't

understand it. You can't grasp it. And

number three, you can't grasp life in

the sense of control. Life is the way it

is. Things happen the way they happen

and you cannot control them and make

something else happen instead.

And we've seen the teacher apply this to

all different aspects of life, time and

money and pleasure and work and

injustice and toil and worship and

death, all kinds of different things.

And now at the end of the book, the

teacher will summarize for us how ought

you to live wisely

when everything is vapor.

You can't control it. You can't

understand it. And it's all slipping

through your fingers. How should you

live wisely? Now, humans, like us, tend

to respond in one of two ways. One, we

pretend that life is not a vapor. We

deny it and we build the rooftop pool.

We insulate ourselves from the harsh

reality of life in a broken, sin-cursed

world. That's one response.

But another response is that we look

out, we see the world as it is, and we

respond with fear and anxiety and self-p

protection. We turn inwards. We're the

person refreshing the weather app over

and over just wondering if something

will get better. We don't know what's

going to happen. So, let's just shut the

doors and play it safe.

And it's that second response that the

teacher is going to take on in this

passage.

This response of fear and anxiety and

turning in on yourself.

God who inspired these words that the

teacher wrote wants to free you from

that response to life. He wants to free

you from fear, from anxiety, from

selfcenteredness,

just to free you to enjoy your life

under the sun while also remembering

that it won't last forever.

So here's the count. If we could

summarize what is the counsel the

teacher gives us for how to live in a

vapor world. Here's how you can

summarize this passage. Okay? Don't bar

the doors. Fling them open. That's how

you should live. Don't bar the doors.

Fling them open. That's how you should

live your life.

Now, just one more reminder. Remember

that the teacher has been speaking to us

from three levels as we've been going.

Level one, everything is vapor, so

nothing matters. That's all pointless.

You're just going to die.

Level two, you climb up. Everything is

vapor. So, you should enjoy God's gifts

while you can, as long as you have them.

And then remember, there's that climb up

into the lift up to level 100 where he

then gives us God's perspective, the

eternal perspective on life.

This conclusion that we're looking at

today is his level two conclusion. So,

how should you enjoy? Because enjoy your

life because life is vapor. Next time in

the final conclusion, we'll get his

level 100 conclusion. God's view on

life. But this one, if everything is

vapor, how should you enjoy your life?

And what he wants us to see in this

passage, he wants us to know some things

and he wants us to do some things. Did

you notice when Abby was reading four

times he said, "You don't know. You

don't know. You don't know." Then at

other times he said, "Remember.

Remember." So he's reminding us what we

don't know, what we should know, what we

need to remember, and then he's going to

tell us what he wants us to do about it.

And there are four main actions that he

is going to call us to. And those are

going to be our four sections this

morning. Give,

so rejoice,

remember. If you can just remember those

four words, you'll remember everything

from this message. Give, so rejoice,

remember.

So let's start into the first one. How

should we respond to everything under

the sun being vapor? Something we cannot

grasp. Number one, we should give. Look

at 11:1.

Send your bread on the surface of the

water, for after many days you may find

it. Give a portion to seven or even to

eight, for you don't know what disaster

might happen on the earth. If the clouds

are full, they will pour rain on the

earth. Whether a tree falls to the south

or the north, the place where the tree

falls, there will it lie. Now notice

here that in this section he is

reminding us of our lack of control. Do

you see that in verse three if the

clouds are full he says they're going to

pour out rain. Can you stop that? No.

Especially in this country

things in life will happen that you

cannot stop no matter what you try. And

he says if if a tree falls there it will

lie. Uh we love as a family walking

around FO gardens. There's this part

near the fern garden in FO where there's

this huge tree that has fallen onto the

ground. There's this massive root

structure sticking up and the tree

falling. Anyone else has seen that?

Yeah, it's it's a beautiful it just

catches my eye every time. That's been

there for years as far as I can remember

it. Where the tree has fallen, it's

probably about northeast maybe. I don't

know. There it lies.

There are things in life that happen

that you cannot change. That's what he's

saying. You're not in control.

God is.

And then notice now what he says to us

in verse two that we don't know because

that do you see that at the end of verse

two? You don't know when disaster might

happen on the earth.

So, so if we're not in control of

disasters that happen to us, what should

we do? Well, for most of us, we focus on

what we can control. We invest in wise

things. We get lots of insurance. We eat

as healthy as we can and maybe try to

work out. We never let our children out

of our sight to make sure that nothing

bad will happen to them. And obviously

all those things are good on some level

for us to do. Many of those responses

are wise.

But isn't it true that uncertainty about

life often leads us to paralysis and

fear?

As we look out on a broken world full of

disasters that we cannot control,

worldly wisdom would teach you, "Build

bunkers and barns to prepare for

disaster. Play it safe. Hunker in. Bar

the doors. Fill up your barns. You don't

know what's going to happen."

But that's not the counsel the teacher

gives.

No, no, no. Instead of bunkers and

barns, he tells us to build bakeries and

banquet halls. That's what we should do.

So, look at verse one. He He says, "Send

your bread on the surface of the water."

Now, that's a weird I don't know if you

ever throw bread on the water. Maybe if

you're like feeding ducks at the lock or

something like that, but some people

would interpret this to mean merchant

ships that you're sending out with

ventures. I don't know. But but the

point here, if you throw bread onto the

water, can you control where it will go?

No. It will go wherever the water takes

it. And that's what he's saying. But

does that mean to the teacher that you

shouldn't send it out? No. He says you

never know what you'll find if you try.

And if that isn't enough, then he adds

in in verse two, give to seven. Wait,

wait, wait. Actually, eight. He just he

just keeps adding to it.

Now, again, if you read verse two from a

worldly perspective, it looks

ridiculously

it doesn't make sense. Like, if you

don't know what disaster might happen on

earth, wouldn't we say then you should

just hold on to things just in case? But

he says, if you don't know what'll

happen, then give.

Give to seven, maybe even to eight

instead.

Give generously.

Don't hold on to it. You don't know how

long you have, and you can't take it

with you when you go. So, just give

instead.

Now, we might be asking ourselves, is

the teacher thinking primarily here of

our finances?

I think that's in view. A lot of the

book has been talking about our toil and

our money and our labor. So I I think he

is talking about that on one level. You

know, we've seen in the book the

foolishness of hoarding because you

can't take anything with you. How money

is a great gift to be used, not just to

be saved. But I don't think that in

these verses he's primarily acting as a

financial advisor. That's certainly not

my role towards you either. You want to

talk to somebody who actually knows what

they're talking about.

I think he's thinking far more broadly

than money because this book is about

much more than money. This book is about

all of life in all of life with all of

its unpredictability with everything

that is outside of our control. We don't

know in a disaster what will hap will

happen in all of it. What should be the

posture of our hearts brothers and

sisters towards your limited time, your

limited resources and your limited

abilities?

Should you have a posture of building

bunkers?

No. Your posture should be building a

banquet hall for others. That should be

the posture of your heart. This is a

call to fearless generosity.

Knowing I cannot control my life, that I

don't know when disaster might come.

That I cannot take anything with me when

I die should not paralyze me, but should

free me. Not to save my life, but to

spend my life instead.

Not to save my hours, but to spend my

hours instead.

So the first command that the teacher

gives us, give

fearless generosity. That should be how

you live your life.

Second instruction, how should I live in

life if everything is a vapor? Well,

next he says you should sew. This is

verses 4-6. In the last section, he

dealt with what do we do with what we

already have? Do we hold on to it or do

we give it with fearless generosity?

Now this next section verses 4-6 is

about our work and our effort.

Do you see what it is that we don't know

in this section? Look at verse six. In

the morning sew your seed and at evening

do not let your hand rest because you

don't know what will succeed.

That's true of life, isn't it? You try

one thing and it succeeds. You try

another thing and it doesn't. You know,

one friendship is sweet and precious,

another one ends in heartache and

disaster,

and one church plant flourishes,

another one fails.

How do we know what will succeed? We

don't we don't know what will succeed.

And if we don't know what will succeed

or what is going to happen, it can be

tempting for us to lack zeal, to lack

ambition, to lack effort, to lack

diligence. What's the point in even

trying if I don't know what's going to

happen? So we can become fearful and

anxious of even trying or risking

anything in life. You see that in verse

four.

One who watches the wind

will not sow.

The one who looks at the clouds will not

reap. This is obviously farming imagery.

The person who's thinking about sewing

or reaping, if they're just watching the

weather, they're never going to do

anything. Let's let's make that true for

us. One who waits for a perfect beach

day will never go.

Right?

That is not how God intends us to live

our lives.

So the teacher gently reminds us in

verse 5, actually there's a lot you

don't know.

Verse five,

just as you don't know the path of the

wind

or how bones develop in the womb of a

pregnant woman. That's happening in

several places in this very room. Do you

know how that works? I don't.

So he says in the same way you don't

know the work of God who makes

everything.

Who is the one who in his sovereign

purposes makes this thing succeed and

this thing not?

God.

Not you.

But does that mean that we should hang

back and wait and worry and play it

safe?

No.

Instead, we should let God take care of

his mysterious providence while we take

care of our own work, trusting our

father to do what he wills with our

efforts.

Look at verse six. In the morning, he

says, "Sow your seed. And at evening, do

not let your hand rest.

Brothers and sisters, we are called not

to a life of anxiety, but to a life of

diligence.

Uncertainty about life in this crooked

world should not paralyze us but should

free us to sew to get busy in the

kingdom of God to trust that he will do

his work that he will make succeed

whatever he desires to succeed.

It reminds me of um first Peter chapter

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

4. Duncan talked a little bit about this

passage at the church weekend. 1 Peter

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, Peter says, "The end of all

things is at hand. The world is going to

end at any moment." Now, for some

Christians, how do they respond to that

news? They watch the wind. They observe

the cloud. They pull out their charts.

They look at Revelation and try to

figure out exactly what's going to

happen. That is not what Peter tells

them to do.

Peter's instruction to them is right

after he says the end of all things is

at hand. He says, "So be alert, pray,

love each other deeply, offer

hospitality to each other without

grumbling. Each of you should use

whatever gift you have to serve others."

That's end times ethics for Peter. The

world is at hand. It could end any

moment. So responds not by barring the

doors but by flinging them open and

having people over and using the gifts

that you have to serve your brothers and

sisters. That is exactly what the

teacher is saying in this passage. You

don't know when you will die. Your life

is a vapor. It will be gone before you

know it. So instead of barring the

doors, fling them open and give it a

try. Just see what you can do. See what

will succeed. Don't spend your life

anxiously wondering what will succeed,

but diligently sew the seeds of the

kingdom and just see what God will do.

This is so counterintuitive, isn't it?

But so wise.

So there's our first two commands. How

do we live wisely in a world where all

is vapor? Well, we give and we sow. We

should exercise fearless generosity, not

trying to control. We should exercise

diligent sowing, not anxiety. This is

upside down wisdom, but it's beautiful

for us.

Both of those focused on what we don't

know. How do we live in light of what we

don't know? Now, for the next two

commands that we'll look at, he shifts

towards what we do know. How do we live

in light of what we do know? And where

the last two focused on control and

understanding,

now he focuses in on time.

All throughout this book, as we've been

going through it the last few months,

the spectre in the background has been

death.

Ecclesiastes is not about death.

But it's trying to make sense of life in

light of death.

And now he's going to give us specific

instructions. Listen,

particularly for the young people

in how to live wisely in light of death.

Now, that's not to say that there is

nothing here for those of us who are

older, but these specific instructions

are directed to the young. Let me show

you that. 11:9

rejoice young person or 12:1 remember

your creator in the days of your youth

now listen I want to walk out of this

place alive today so I am not going to

define what is youth

all that I will say is that he is

contrasting youth with the realities of

aging in chapter 12 So, we're not just

talking about the youth group here,

okay? We're talking about many more of

us than that. It's really all of life

until those years of aging at the end.

What should young people do if life is a

vapor?

Command number one,

rejoice.

You should rejoice.

Life is precious.

It is a great privilege to be alive.

Look at verse 7 of chapter 11. Light is

sweet

and it is pleasing for the eyes to see

the sun. That's shocking to hear that in

the context of this book. All along the

sun, life under the sun has been this

scary thing through the book. But

suddenly now he says, "Wait a minute. Do

you not realize how wonderful it is to

see the sun? You're alive. What a gift.

Acts chapter 17, Paul says, I think this

Acts 17 · chapter mention

is kind of what he's getting at here.

God gives to all life and breath and

everything. Let me ask you a question.

Did you earn life?

No.

It's a gift that God has given you.

Life is precious for as long as you have

it. The second thing that he wants us to

know is that God has made this whole

world. Are you listening young people?

God has made this whole world for your

enjoyment.

And he commands you to enjoy it.

Do you hear the command there in verse

nine? Rejoice, young person, while you

are young and let your heart be glad in

the days of your youth. Do you know that

God desires your joy and your pleasure

in all of the gifts that he has given

you?

God has given you mountains to climb.

He has given you lakes to swim.

He has given you a body that moves,

taste buds that can enjoy food. He's

given you senses so that you can

perceive the world in three dimensions

so that you can throw and catch a ball.

He's given you a mind that can learn and

a thousand thousand other gifts in your

life.

And God commands you to enjoy it all

because he's given it to you for your

pleasure.

You know, when the Bible talks about

youth,

it so often speaks of it about it with

exuberance and joy, just like here. I

mean, think of Proverbs where it says,

"The glory of young men is their

strength."

Young men,

God delights in your strength and your

energy,

and he made you that way, and he desires

you to use it, not to waste it.

Or think of the Song of Songs,

how it rejoices

particularly in the beauty and

attractiveness of young women.

And it encourages for young married

couples mutual joy and pleasure in

sexual union.

God made us. He made us physically

strong and beautiful during the years of

our youth. And he put us into a world

which is full of good for our pleasure.

Look at these remarkable commands that

he gives us in the second half of verse

9. Walk young person in the ways of your

heart and in the desire of your eyes.

We're like whoa whoa whoa. Hang on

teacher.

We tell people as Christians, don't

trust your heart. Don't follow your

heart. your heart is deceitful and

wicked and desperately, you know, like

you can't it's deceitful. You you can't

trust it.

That's true. Look what he says next.

Know that for all these things God will

bring you into judgment.

So he's not just telling you do whatever

feels good to you. That's not the

command. And we'll just put a pin in

that judgment piece. We will come back

to that in the final conclusion. That's

his main thing in the final conclusion.

But right now, what he's trying to do is

saying, "Your heart sees something good

to do, do it." He's flinging the doors

open for you to enjoy your life. Does

your heart desire to run a marathon? Go

do it. You want to learn how to cook

food? Go do it. You want to learn

jiujitsu? Talk to Ricardo. He can help

you

do it.

Young people, don't you need to hear

that?

And if that sounds crazy and you're

like, "Well, maybe this is just like a

weird part of wisdom literature." Paul

says the same thing in 1 Timothy 4.

There are false teachers around Timothy

in Ephesus that are discouraging them

from food because clearly God doesn't

want us to enjoy food and marriage

because no, God doesn't want you enjoy

marriage and sex. These are unspiritual

things.

And Paul says to Timothy, "God created

those things to be received with

thanksgiving by those who believe and

know the truth. Everything God created

is good, and nothing is to be rejected

if it is received with thanksgiving.

We don't talk like this enough.

We should encourage those who are young

to enjoy their lives.

God is not annoyed by the young.

Can I just say that again? God is not

annoyed by the young.

He's not wishing they would grow up and

get over themselves.

He made them and he's delighted with

them and he commands them to enjoy their

lives.

Young people, you are called to

enjoyment, not to anxiety.

Do you see that in verse 10?

Remove sorrow from your heart and put

away pain from your flesh

because youth in the prime of life are

fleeting. Now listen, I I want to be

sensitive and obviously there's there's

much more I should say about this. Some

of you who are even young have pain,

physical or emotional pain that you did

not choose.

Some of you long to enjoy your youth,

but you are prevented by disease or

disability.

And in all of that, Jesus understands

and sympathizes with you in that.

But I think it's also important that we

say our generation, your generation is

called by the experts the anxious

generation.

Now, I don't want to be simplistic or

say that there are easy ways to snap

your fingers and fix that,

but you need to hear

that God does not desire you to live

your youth anxious,

fearful.

He calls you to lift your eyes and see

the gifts that he has given you in this

life.

and he wants you to enjoy them for his

glory, not to be anxious.

If you struggle in that area, can I just

encourage you? Seek good counsel. Seek

help.

Can I just make one practical

application? Wisely consider your use of

social media and the internet because

the experts all tell us that it is

social media and the internet that are

the main causes of anxiety in the young

people.

God made this world for your joy and

your youth will be a vapor.

So enjoy it while you're young.

Okay, we need to keep moving. First

command, first instruction to the youth,

rejoice. Enjoy your life. Give yourself

to enjoyment, not to anxiety. Now your

second command to the youth,

remember. We see that twice. First in

chapter 11:8,

let him remember the days of darkness.

Then in chapter 12:1,

remember your creator. What is it that

the teacher wants you young people to

remember?

Your youth won't last.

Age will come

and the years will take their toll on

you as they have on every other human

who has ever lived, to be old.

And over the next few verses, he now

gives us this poem describing the

reality of what it is like to age, the

unstoppable,

unbeatable approach of death.

The imagery here is vivid. The poetry

here is beautiful.

But the reality that it pictures is

horrifying.

We were not created to die.

And for those among us even now who are

aging and are experiencing some of these

realities, I want to acknowledge that it

might be hard or discouraging to read

this passage. And can I say to you, it

is not God's desire to discourage you

with this text.

God understands and sympathizes with

what it is to age. I hope you see that

in these verses.

And remember that this is not the

dominant note in the Bible about aging.

Normally, when the Bible speaks of

aging, it speaks of it as bestowing

honor and wisdom, not as a negative

thing.

This specific passage is written for a

specific purpose. Not for the older to

feel sadness or shame or regret, but

it's for the younger to remember that

life is a vapor. That's the point of

this passage.

Look at some of this imagery, these

pictures that he gives us for what it's

like to age. Now, they're not all clear.

I don't think we can exactly point for

all of them. I think it's intentionally

vague, but some of the imagery is clear.

He speaks in verse three about the

guardians of the house trembling. I

think that's the hands trembling. The

strong men stooping. I think that's the

shoulders that start to stoop.

The the grinders ceasing because they

are few. That's the teeth.

Those looking through the window seeing

dimly. That's the eyes

start failing to see the doors at the

streets shutting, the sound of the mill

fading because the ears are starting to

fail.

They're afraid of heights and dangers in

the road. I think that speaks to the the

fear and the of of moving around because

you're unsteady as you get older.

The almond tree blossoms. Well, the

almond tree has white blossoms. The hair

grows white.

The grasshopper, he says, drags itself

along the ground. It's harder to move.

The caperberry has no effect. Well, the

caper berry, the only other place it's

used is Song of Songs to speak of sexual

desire. So, that starts to fail.

The mortal is headed to his eternal home

and mourers walk around in the street.

And then in verse six, everything starts

to crumble and fall apart and break down

until in verse 7, the dust returns to

the earth

and the spirit returns to God who gave

it.

Young people, are you remembering this

or forgetting this and assuming that you

will be eternal?

Now, what should remembering this look

like?

Not anxiety.

Rejoicing in your youth. We already

talked about this. So, the point here

isn't think about this and be anxious.

The point is think about this and

rejoice in what you have and know that

this will come.

Everyone in this room, all of us, one

day our bodies will return to dust

and our spirits will return to God who

gave them.

Are you ready?

Do you know how to be ready for that

moment?

Let's talk about that for a bit as we

finish. And to bring us there, I want

you to look back at chapter 12:1.

Remember your creator in the days of

your youth before the days of adversity

come and the years approach when you

will say I have no delight in them. Now

I am sure that all of us have known

aging people that as they aged

increasingly started to say

I have no delight in life.

What would cause someone to say that?

If this life is the end of the story

and the prime of your life is behind

you, that attitude makes sense.

But as I think about the aging saints

among us here and others who we have

known who have gone before, do they have

that under the sun attitude of I have no

delight in life? No. Have you talked to

the aging saints among us?

I hear struggle in them and that's okay

because it is hard to age.

But I also hear a lot of joy and delight

in life.

Why?

Because they know where hope is found.

Look at verse 7 of chapter 12. The

spirit returns to God who gave it. Is

that bad news?

No, that's good news, isn't it?

What awaits someone who dies in Christ.

Gain.

Nothing but gain.

How do we know that?

Because Christ has defeated the grave.

Paul in Acts 13, he's preaching in

Antioch and he says, "David, after

serving God's purpose in his own

generation, he fell asleep and was

buried with his fathers and decayed."

That will happen for all of us. And

that's a good thing to aspire to that we

serve God's purpose in our own

generation and then all of us, brothers

and sisters, will fall asleep, be buried

with our fathers, and decay.

But that's not where Paul stops. He

says, "But

the one God raised up did not decay."

Because of Jesus, death is not the end.

It's just the beginning.

In this life, we bear, as Paul says in 1

Corinthians 15, we bear the image of the

man of dust, Adam.

But in the next life, for those who have

faith in Jesus, Paul says, "We will bear

the image of the man of heaven."

Think of that description of Jesus. He

is the man of heaven.

He's the man. He took on our humanity so

that he could suffer and die on our

behalf and take the curse of this world

on himself. But sin couldn't hold him

down. He could not decay because he

fully paid the penalty and was raised to

life as the victorious Lord of life. And

now he lives forever as the man of

heaven, the risen one. The one that,

think about this, Revelation 1 tells us,

has hair white as wool, white as snow.

So if you have white hair, hair here

today, you're in good company. So does

Jesus. And he's had it for 2,000 years

in his body that cannot decay. That will

never decay. The body that you will

receive one day, brother or sister.

That's pretty good. 2,000-year

non-deaying body.

For all of those united to Jesus in

faith, in this life, you bear the image

of the man of dust, but in the life to

come, you will bear the image of the man

of heaven.

So to my aging brothers and sisters

here, how can you rejoice and delight

even now?

Because you're almost home.

You're drawing near to the only

experience you will ever have for

eternity of life in a cursed world.

Your hope is not in life under the sun,

but in a world where there is no son.

Because God himself will be your light

and the curse will be undone, rolled

back forever.

My grandfather before he died, wonderful

Christian man, he used to write at the

end of his letters, TBI ya, the best is

yet ahead.

>> You know, we hear in our culture, yolo,

you only live once.

For the Christian, that's not true.

For the Christian, it's yodo. You only

die once

and then you'll live again eternally.

And if that's all true about the next

life, which it is, shouldn't that free

us from anxiety and fear about this

life?

That's the point of this text. Life is

uncertain.

Life under the sun is cursed. The good

news of the gospel is not that there is

no pain or death or sin or hell. There

is in this life. But the good news of

the gospel is this. The man of heaven

has come and he's defeated every one of

those enemies. And if we trust in what

he has done and repent of our sins and

cast our hope in him, then death is

simply the doorway to glory. to live

with him and see his face forever.

And because that's true, brothers and

sisters, in this life, should we build

bunkers and barns

or banquet halls and bakeries?

Should we bar the doors on life or fling

them open?

Rightly understood, a Christian's life

in this world is just the trailer for

the upcoming feature film.

And we want to show this world in this

life what that film will be like.

So brothers and sisters, don't save your

life, spend it. Don't save your time,

spend it. Give. So rejoice

and remember.

One last thing I want to tell you. When

I was in university, I was introduced to

the life and testimony of this man named

CT Stud. You should read about him. He

lived from 1860 to 1931. Served God in

his generation. Died, was buried, and

decayed.

Came from a very wealthy family in

England. He was an extremely gifted

cricket player. And God got a hold of

his life at 18. and he gave away his

fortune, his entire fortune, and spent

his life on the mission field telling

people the good news of the gospel. 10

years in China, six years in India, 21

years in Africa.

And he has this amazing poem. I want you

to look it up and read it. Here's the

first stanza.

Two little lines I heard one day

traveling along life's busy way,

bringing conviction to my heart and from

my mind would not depart. You ready?

Only one life will soon be passed.

Only what's done for Christ will last.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus,

we pray that you would help us not to

save our lives,

but to spend them, knowing that we will

live eternally with you. We pray this in

your name. Amen.