In Conclusion (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

And if you would turn with me to the Old Testament

wisdom book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter

Ecclesiastes 12 · chapter mention

12. We will look at verses 9 through 14. And

this is the end of this book, which brings us

to the end of our sermon series through Ecclesiastes.

I'm sad about that. I love this book. We will

be moving Lord willing into the book of Hebrews

next and so look forward to that even read ahead

in Hebrews But for now, let us see these closing

words of God's Word Ecclesiastes 12 9 to 14 Besides

being wise the preacher also taught the people

knowledge weighing and Studying and arranging

many Proverbs with great care The preacher sought

to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote

words of truth. The words of the wise are like

goads, and like nails, firmly fixed are the collected

sayings. They are given by one shepherd. My son,

beware of anything beyond these. Of making many

books, there is no end. And much study is a weariness

of the flesh. The end of the matter. All has

been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the whole duty of man. For God will

bring every deed into judgment. Blessed is he

who hears and keeps what is written. Let us pray.

Father, we do thank you for Ecclesiastes. And

as we come to the end of this series, I pray

that we would see that you still have much more

for us. And so would you open up our ears, open

our minds, open our hearts to hear from you now.

For we pray in Christ's name, amen. I saw a comic

strip recently that pictured a man climbing the

peak of a mountain. Very high mountain, snow

capped. High above the other mountains, it might

as well have been Everest. And the man is climbing

it and he gets to the very summit and he kind

of peeks over the top of the peak. And there

was a wise, what appeared to be a wise man sitting

on top of the mountain. You know how this is

pictured. There's a wise man sitting there and

you climb to the top to find the meaning of life.

And that's what this climber was doing. And so

he hoists himself up onto the peak and he sees

this supposed wise man sitting there and he says

to him, would you tell me the meaning of life?

And this supposed wise man laughs and he says,

the meaning of life. You want my brother, third

mountain down on the right. I'm just a hermit,

he said. We've all pursued what we thought was

the meaning of life. What we thought would bring

us happiness and satisfaction. What we thought

would bring us all of the answers to this life.

Friends, we have all climbed the wrong mountain.

In Ecclesiastes, though, the teacher shows us

that he has climbed all of the wrong mountains

for you. He pursued pleasure. He pursued work.

He pursued hobbies. He pursued riches. He even

pursued wisdom and so much more. And yet, ultimately,

he found them all to be lacking. Solomon has

climbed the wrong peaks so you can climb the

right one. Fear God and keep His commandments.

I wonder how your view of Ecclesiastes has changed

after having studied it. Have you seen the wisdom?

Have you seen the joy? Have you seen the cautions

this book offers? Well today what I want you

to see is that Ecclesiastes speaks as the Word

of God and Ecclesiastes speaks of the meaning

of God. So the word of God today and the meaning

of God look at verses 9 through 12 to begin Throughout

history Really since this book was written the

the canonicity Its place in the Bible has been

questioned and because you have statements in

Ecclesiastes that saying things like well, don't

be too righteous and don't be too wise Head scratcher,

right? Or you have statements just like the mantra

throughout Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities,

all is vanity. You write things like that, you

put it into a book, and people question it. They

have serious questions. Should this be in the

Bible? Why is this here? But friends, chapter

12 is written in such a way as to have you know

that this is from God. Look at verse 9. Verse

9 shows us here that the preacher, and he's either

talking about himself in the third person or

perhaps some have suggested there's a narrator

here, but he shows us that he did not acquire

wisdom simply for himself. No. He acquired wisdom

in order to teach others. And one way he does

this is by studying Proverbs, the ESV says here.

He taught the people knowledge, weighing and

studying and arranging many Proverbs. Now, this

could refer to the book of Proverbs, the Proverbs

that are in that, but it could also refer to

other wisdom literature. Either way, what we

recognize about this teacher is that he's not

just a writer of wisdom literature, he's also

a student of wisdom literature. And his goal

was to put truth before the people. He sought

to find true words and he also sought to write

them. But sometimes those words can hurt. Look

at verse 11. The words of the wise are like goads.

Anybody here have sheep or cattle? I know a couple

of people, a couple of you do, right? Well, What

is a goat? A goat is like an ancient cattle prod,

like a large pointed stick or maybe a stick even

with some sort of a nail in the end of it that

you would use to get the animals to move in the

right direction. This sort of instrument works

because it hurts. Well, friends, if the words

of Ecclesiastes have hurt at times, if the words

of Ecclesiastes have stepped on your toes, as

some of you have said, That's intentional. In

some ways, commentators have said, Ecclesiastes

acts like the opposite of Psalm 23. You remember

Psalm 23, your rod and your staff, they comfort

me. Well, here we have in Ecclesiastes 12, not

the rod and staff that comfort, but the cattle

prod that hurts. But we need that painful instruction,

don't we at times? It is true the Lord disciplines

those he loves, but it's not just the prodding

that happens. Look at the other imagery that's

used here, like nails, firmly fixed. This might

be more accurately translated pegs or stakes.

Pegs are stakes that are driven in the ground

to hold something. Think of a tent. If you have

your tent and it's staked into the ground, even

when the wind comes, you'll be taken care of,

right? You'll be grounded in safety. And that's

what biblical instruction does. It keeps us grounded

in the truth. But friends, you gotta have the

truth, don't you? Because if you don't have the

right instruction, then you're inflicting pain

for no good reason. or you're being staked down,

nailed down into something that's not true. And

that's why the end of verse 11 is so critical.

Look there. The nails firmly fixed are the collected

sayings they are given by one shepherd. This

kind of phrasing of one shepherd, to the best

of my knowledge, is only used in three places.

in the Old Testament, one here and two in Ezekiel.

And in Ezekiel, what's going on when it talks

about this one shepherd is it is the Lord promising

to Israel a glorious future under one shepherd,

a king like David. Listen to this from Ezekiel

37. My servant David shall be king over them

and they shall have all one shepherd. My servant

David. shall be their prince forever. Now friends,

David was a fantastic king, but he wasn't king

forever. And so who is this one shepherd? Who

is this really talking about? Well, the New Testament

helps us with this because Jesus actually refers

to himself as the one shepherd. And he refers

to himself as the good shepherd. Jesus identifies

himself in these ways. And didn't Jesus in his

teaching ministry talk like this? Yes, he did.

Sometimes he used painful instruction as well,

like these goads that are mentioned. Jesus used

his words as goads when he told Peter, get behind

me, Satan. Or when he told the people, he called

the people, you brood of vipers. Or listen to

this, from Acts chapter 26, Acts chapter 26,

Acts 26 · chapter mention Acts 26 · chapter mention

12 through 15, this is the apostle Paul speaking

of the time that he heard the words of Jesus.

In this connection, I journeyed to Damascus with

the authority and commission of the chief priests.

At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from

heaven brighter than the sun that shone around

me and those who journeyed with me. And when

we had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice

saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why

are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to

kick. against the goads. And I said, who are

you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom

you are persecuting. The goading words of Jesus

on the Damascus road turned Saul into Paul. The

goading words of Jesus turned the persecutor

into the preacher. Yes, it's true. The Lord disciplines

those he loves, and his word is truth. Well,

let me ask you, what kind of instruction, what

kind of wisdom, what kind of truth, if you can

have kinds of it, are you absorbing these days?

We live in the information age, don't we? I wonder

what Solomon would have thought of an Alexa.

What would Solomon think of AI? Friends, Christians,

be careful. of what you listen to. This instruction

here, if you can look at verse 12, my son, beware

of anything beyond these, of making many books,

there is no end. And much study is a weariness

of the flesh. Now students who are in school,

please don't quote this to your parents and say,

I don't need to study. It's not what's going

on here. I like what preacher, Douglas O'Donnell

said, what is required is not more books for

more study, but more obedience to what has already

been revealed. And what is revealed here, as

we move into verse 13, is of the utmost importance.

So look there. Again, kids, when you're in school,

you're learning to write. And your teacher might

be teaching you to write a paper and say that

in a paper you have a beginning, a middle, and

an end. And sometimes they'll tell you in the

end of the paper you should say something to

indicate this is the end. And so you say, in

summary or in conclusion. But then when you get

a little older, the teachers They tell you not

to do that anymore. It sounds mechanical. It

sounds fluid. Find a better way to say this.

Well, Solomon here, inspired by the Holy Spirit,

does not have a better way of saying this. He

wants you to know very clearly in black and white

the summary, the conclusion, the end of the matter.

And here it is, the big point. Fear God. and

keep his commandments. But what does it mean

to fear God? Well, it's a central concept of

wisdom literature that's expressed throughout

the Bible to fear God. It's a very big and important

phrase, and it's very hard to define. But we'll

try it anyway. To fear God is to believe in God

and in believing in God, recognizing who he is

and his holiness. Think about the Westminster

Shorter Catechism. As it asks the question, what

is God? And it answers, God is a spirit, infinite,

eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom,

power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

When we consider the fear of God and His holiness,

we should be like Isaiah. When Isaiah the prophet

was confronted with the holiness of God, he exclaimed,

woe is me, I am undone. We should have this trembling

reverence for God while also recognizing this

holy God, the creator of the universe, omniscient,

omnipotent, omnipresent, and immutable. He is

also love. And in His love and in His mercy,

He saves sinners through the life and the blood

of His own Son. recognizing what he does and

who he is should manifest itself in worship and

in holy living and in obedience and in loving

him with all of our hearts quite frankly the

fear of God should make us more like Jesus I

wonder if you've ever considered this passage

before in this way Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

11, the beginning of it, is a text that is usually

quoted at Christmas time, and yet it speaks of

the fear of the Lord. Listen to this. There shall

come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and

a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. and

the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the

spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit

of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge

and the fear of the Lord, and his delight shall

be in the fear of the Lord. Friends, the fear

of Yahweh is Jesus's delight. Is it yours? Is

it yours? Do you fear God? I find that there

are some obstacles to us being able to rightly

fear God. I want to give you three of them. One

obstacle to the fear of God is our own sin. You

remember in the garden, Adam and Eve, they fell

into sin and they began to hide from God. Their

relationship with God was interrupted. It was

interfered with and our sin interferes with our

relationship with God. Friends, when we realize

how heinous our sin is and yet how holy God is,

we should fear Him. Hebrews 10 says, it's a fearful

thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

And yet let's also acknowledge that this is true.

We. We're gonna either fear him as he intends

or we're gonna fear him on the last day. Preacher

Jeff Thomas said, a stranger to the fear of God

is a stranger to the living God himself. So our

first obstacle is our own sin. Secondly, though,

we fear the wrong things. President FDR famously

said, the only thing we have to fear is fear

itself. But friends, when we rightly fear God,

it puts all the other fears into place. Whether

you're scared of heights, whether you're afraid

of the dark, whether you fear losing a loved

one, whether you fear losing your job, whether

you fear losing your health, whether you fear

a stock market crash, whether you fear from a

scary movie or the fear from the loss of your

own reputation, many of us fear things rather

than fearing. and trusting God. And so that's

the second issue we have. But the third issue,

and I think it goes along with number one, is

perhaps the most saddening. We are cavalier about

God. We are cavalier about God. And what a foolish

thing that is. Modern culture tells you that

Jesus is your homeboy. and that the Old Testament

God is one of wrath and the New Testament God

is nothing more than a benevolent grandfather.

Friends, we need to have a better understanding

of who God is and a better understanding of what

God does. Think about all that God does throughout

the Bible that we can read about. We recognize

that God was able to speak the world into existence,

that He created all that there is. Our triune

God looked upon the wickedness of man and flooded

the entire world. Our triune God parted the waters

to deliver his people from slavery. Our triune

God provided bread from heaven and water from

a rock. Our triune God defeated enemy nations

along the way, slaying giants, speaking through

a donkey, closing the mouths of lions, and opening

the mouth of a great fish to swallow a prophet

and save him. Our triune God defeated enemy nations

along the way. He raised up the patriarchs and

the judges and the prophets and he used some

of the most unlikely men and women to accomplish

his purposes. And then just at the right time,

God sent forth his Son, born of a woman conceived

by the Holy Spirit. This son, Jesus, the second

person in the Trinity came to live and die in

our place. And as he was crucified, as he breathed

his last, the sky went pitch black and the sun

cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken

me? And the curtain of the temple was torn in

two, an earthquake happened, tombs were opened,

bodies of the saints came out of the tombs, and

a Roman centurion watched all of this and he

said, truly. This was the son of God. And Matthew

27 says he was filled with awe, meaning in that

moment he feared God. Friends, to fear God is

to believe in God. And to rightly believe in

God is to believe in Christ. And to believe in

Christ is to know that he died in your place.

And knowing that he died in your place. It happens

at the cross. That's where the fear of God lies

at the cross. And such fear should produce within

us obedience. And so back to the text here as

I begin to wrap up, it says fear God, but it

also says this, keep his commandments. This is

reminiscent of Jesus telling his disciples. Why

do you call me Lord Lord and don't do what I

tell you it is an oxymoron To call Jesus your

Savior But not your Lord Keeping his commandments

is spoken in the same breath as fearing God and

so to disregard the Word of God is to disregard

God himself the one who fears God obeys God and

verse 14 says that every deed will be brought

into judgment Friends, God knows all, and every

single person will have to give an account for

their every thought, every word, and every deed.

And if I can show you as I conclude how important

this is, as if you couldn't see it already, hone

in here on the end of verse 13. The ESV, the

NIV, the NLT, the King James Version all render

this the whole duty of man. And the New American

Standard Bible says this applies to every person.

But friends, if you were to able to look at this

in the Hebrew, you would actually see there is

no word here for duty or responsibility. And

the Hebrew goes beyond saying this is just for

everyone. Literally, this says this is the all

of man. I like the new King James on this. It

says, fear God and keep his commandments for

this is man's all. You see, fearing God and keeping

his commandments, believing in God, it's not

firstly a duty or responsibility. It describes

who man is to be. We might say it like this,

to be a human being is to fear God and keep his

commandments. Note that I didn't say to be a

Christian is this, no. That wouldn't be going

far enough. To fear God is central to who we

are as people. To be alive ought to be to fear

God. Who we are as people made to fear God is

then not firstly about your responsibilities

or what you do. Fearing God is not firstly about

your church membership. It's not firstly about

your denomination, your attendance, your titles

within the church. Fearing God is not firstly

about how many years you spent teaching Sunday

school, how many years you spent singing in the

choir, or how many terms you served as an elder

or deacon. Fearing God rightly is not firstly

about how many mission trips you've gone on,

or how many hungry people you have fed. or how

much money you give away. Fearing God is not

firstly about how many systematic theology books

that you have read, which Bible reading plan

you choose, or your favorite Christian podcast.

It's not firstly where you went to Bible college

or which conferences you've been to or which

seminary you've been to. It isn't firstly about

how many sermons you've preached or lessons you

have taught. Listen. All of those things are

very good things and they might be part of your

fearing God. But those things are all fleeting

and those things can actually be done without

a heart for God. Sometimes friends, I think that

we like to substitute the fear of God for the

things that we do. And God is not impressed.

The fear of God. isn't firstly what you do. The

fear of God firstly is who you are. And what

you do flows from who you are. The keeping of

His commandments flows from your trembling reverence.

And so let me ask you, who are you? Who are you?

Are you a God -fearer? Are you in Christ? Or

are you not? The one who is in Christ gets the

meaning of life. But the one who is not has climbed

the wrong mountains. I hope you'll agree with

me. The message of Ecclesiastes is not about

meaninglessness. It's about how every single

thing in this life is meaningful. And the meaning

is this. Fear God and keep His commandments.

Because this is your all. Let me pray.