Remember Your Creator (Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

Let's take our Bibles now and open them to Ecclesiastes.

Once again to Ecclesiastes looking in verses

or we'll say chapter 11 verse 7 and taking it

through chapter 12 verse 8. And as we do that

you can see that we are Coming towards the conclusion

of this wonderful book, and even with this second

to the last sermon in this series, we recognize

how badly we need the Spirit's help in understanding

what is here. Ancient Church Father Jerome said

of what we're going to look at today, he said,

this is the hardest section the hardest book.

Now not to quibble with Jerome but I find many

sections of Ecclesiastes very difficult but no

doubt we do need the Spirit's help and so I'm

gonna read Ecclesiastes 11, 7 and take it through

12, 8. If you're still looking Ecclesiastes is

located just past Proverbs which is just past

Psalms If you get into the prophets of Isaiah

and Jeremiah, Ezekiel, you've gone too far, but

this is Ecclesiastes 11, 7 through 12, 8. Please

give attention to the reading of God's word.

Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes

to see the sun. Okay, so far so good, not too

hard yet. 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 and put away

pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of

life are vanity. Remember also your Creator in

the days of your youth, before the evil days

come and the years draw 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 dimmed, 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. 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 bowl

is broken or the pitcher is shattered at 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 vanities, says the preacher. All is vanity.

This is God's word. Let us pray. Holy Spirit,

we give you thanks for this word and we ask that

you would unfold it for us and that you would

grant us understanding that from it we would

grow in our faith and that we would leave from

the sanctuary knowing Christ better because of

this text, these things we ask in His name. Amen.

For decades research has shown a depressing trend.

Once teenagers finish high school, go off to

college, maybe enter the workforce, a large percentage

of them leave the church. Newfound freedom for

young people, oftentimes the freedom to worship

God or to not worship God. And for decades, roughly

two -thirds of young people, when they have that

freedom, They pull away from the church. Some

leave never to return. Others leave intending

to come back. They say, well, once I've graduated

college or once I've got a real job, once I am

married, once I have children, then I will return

to the church as if faith in Jesus Christ is

only for those over the age of 30. Recent trends,

though, show a slight uptick, especially amongst

young men. The Barna Research Group surveyed

last year over 500 American Protestant pastors

and found 40 % of them reporting greater involvement

amongst young men between the ages of 18 and

35. That sounds good, right? That's worth celebrating,

isn't it? But hold on. Trends are not as positive

amongst young women. And overall, what are we

really talking about? But less than 30 % of the

American population, less than 30 % participates

regularly in worship. Now, why am I sharing these

statistics with you? Am I preaching to the choir

because you're here? Well, yes, I am. And the

message for you is this. Remember your creator

in the days of your youth. Remember your creator

in the days of your youth. That's what we're

talking about today. Additionally, we're also

covering familiar territory again too. We're

gonna talk about joy. Now when we began the book

of Ecclesiastes, I wonder how many of you thought

we would spend so much time on joy, but it's

here in this book. And so just. Two main points

for you, two verbs really for you this morning.

Rejoicing in verses seven through 10 and in remembering

in chapter 12, one through eight. We are not

to put off rejoicing and we are not to put off

remembering God. You were made to do this right

now. Let's look at rejoicing first in chapter

11, seven through 10. This is obviously near

the end of the book. And Solomon names his audience,

doesn't he? He uses two different words to refer

to youth. He talks about youth, but he also talks

about young men or a young man. But even as he

seems to direct this towards younger people,

I think that we can all receive this. This kind

of instruction is for all who are able to receive

it. And so look at verse nine, rejoice. This

is an imperative, meaning it's a command. How

interesting it is that we need a command to rejoice,

right? I think that tells us something about

ourselves. David Gibson says here, enjoyment

is not only permitted, it is commanded. It's

not only an opportunity, it is a divine imperative.

This is a reminder of God's good gifts. and a

call for us to remember them and enjoy them.

This is not to put off enjoyment. Both rejoicing

and remembering as we will see are to be done

right now. Don't put off enjoyment, friends.

God has given you good gifts. And through Christ,

he has given himself. We are to enjoy him and

enjoy what he gives to us. Why? Because we're

not promised tomorrow, are we? And secondly,

we should recognize, as I'm sure you all do,

there are dark days ahead. I've said it before.

You're either coming out of trouble or you're

in trouble. or you will soon be going into trouble.

And so we need to rejoice right now while we

can to enjoy God's gifts. That's a problem with

many Christians. That's actually a problem with

many men. If I can be open and honest with you,

sometimes I think I'm a little bit grumpy at

times. And perhaps some of you feel that way

about yourselves. Friends, again, this is a command

to enjoy God, to enjoy this, to enjoy one another,

and again those good gifts that God gives to

us. That's the first problem is we don't enjoy,

but secondly sometimes we pervert. those good

gifts that God gives to us. And this is a heinous

crime that people take the good things that God

gives and they ignore his commands about them.

They ignore God's commands about marriage. They

ignore God's commands about food and drink. They

ignore God's commands about money. Friends, true

enjoyment only occurs when we enjoy as God intends

for us too. And yet, many people call themselves

Christians, act like it's the Wild West out there.

As long as I'm not hurting anybody, I can do

whatever I want. But friends, that's a terrible

idea. Because look towards the end of verse nine.

But know that for all these things, God will

bring you into judgment. And this is why I believe

verse 10 calls us to remove anger, to remove

vexation, to remove wickedness, to remove evil,

whatever your translation says. This is a call

to holy and joyous living while we still can.

Because the reality, and it's a reality that

we've seen all across the Ecclesiastes, is that

we are living in fleeting times. in a fleeting

world. Remember the word that appears throughout

this whole book. You didn't think we could get

away with the end of the book and not say, hevel,

vanity, right? It's all fleeting. And because

it's fleeting, we must do the second verb listed

here. We must remember. our Creator. Look at

verses 1 through 8 of chapter 12. Charles Bridges

said here, many have remembered their Creator

too late in life, but none too soon. There was

a man, once who was on his deathbed, and he,

for his whole life long, had ignored the gospel.

and he had turned down opportunities to go to

church and he had turned down opportunities to

be involved in Bible studies. It's not that the

man was adversarial towards these things, he

just didn't care for them. He felt that he had

better things to do with his time until he lay

on his deathbed and a friend came and sat next

to him and shared the gospel. and the dying man

believed. He received Jesus Christ into his heart.

He trusted in Christ before he breathed his last

breath. There is something wonderful about that,

obviously. And there is rejoicing in heaven over

such a conversion. But have you ever thought

about this? There's also a little bit of sadness

there. A confession of a wasted life. The confession

of missing out on a lifetime of true joy and

true service. Now certainly God is sovereign

over these times, but Solomon's point is that

the time to remember your creator is right now.

Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not when you're

30. Not when you have your dream job or 2 .5

children. The time to remember your Creator is

right now. And so if you're sitting in here in

this sanctuary and you're barely listening, if

you're sitting here just longing for this all

to be over, then I'm talking to you. Sit up and

listen. Pay attention and remember your Creator.

right now before it's too late. And indeed, that

word remember is a very rich word. I'm in chapter

12, verse one. Remember also your creator. This

word remember is more than simply just recalling

something. It's more than just saying, hey, do

you remember that time that we did this or that?

No, it's much more rich than that. This word

here in Hebrew actually carries an idea of commitment

because when God remembers his people, He acts

upon His covenant. If I can, I want to read to

you a few different texts here to show you what

I mean. Leviticus chapter 26 verse 45 says, I

Leviticus 26:45

am the Lord. But it's not just God remembering,

actually we have numerous texts that speak of

what it means for us to remember. And so let

me give you another one. This one is Numbers

Numbers 15:40

chapter 15 verse 40. So you shall remember and

do all my commandments and be holy to your God.

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of

the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord,

your God. And so there's this understanding of

obedience that is here within this word, remember.

But there's also an idea of trusting in God,

calling out to him when we're in need through

the word remember, for perhaps you remember Jonah,

thrown overboard. And in chapter two, verse seven

of that book, he says, when my life was fainting

away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came

to you into your holy temple. And I could go

on and on, but what's all wrapped up in this

word, remember, is obedience, it's trust, it's

repentance all together. Indeed, remember, if

I can use that word, remember what Jesus said

to his disciples. Remember. I am with you always,

even to the end of the age. And so that word

remember also has this encouraging element to

it. But it's more than that. Continuing in chapter

12, verse one, not just examining the word remember,

but also examining the word creator. For why

doesn't the text just say, remember God? Wouldn't

that be sufficient? Well, friends, if you were

to look at this in Hebrew, you would actually

see that the word creator here is written in

the plural. And so I think that what Solomon

is doing here is echoing Genesis, because he

does that so many times. The creation, the count,

let us make man in our image. Again, it's written

in the plural. And so what this may be doing,

is reflecting on the very fact that the entire

Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, were all

actively involved in creation. And so remembering

is living before God, knowing he is our sovereign

maker, and obediently seeking his glory, repenting

of sin, and embracing Jesus. This kind of remembering

our creator is a lifelong. endeavor. And yet

far too many people call themselves Christians

and just seem to attend to God later on in their

lives. Sometimes we treat God like we're making

out a will. At some point in your lives, if someone

hasn't already done so, someone will tell you,

hey, it's time to make out a will, right? And

it's a good idea. It's a wise idea. But typically

people don't tell teenagers or young people to

make out of will. It's when you're older, you

have money, you started a family. It's what mature

people do. Well, friends, don't wait. Don't put

off knowing you're a creator in this way. Remember

the statistics. Young people expect that there

will be a time to come back to God, to come back

to the church. People act as if they'll live

forever. But you don't have that promise of forever,

not in this life. You don't have that promise

of tomorrow. The time is right now. And the way

this is written helps us to see that because

in chapter 12, verses one through eight, you

see the word before or something equivalent to

it three different times. Remember your creator

in the days of your youth before the evil days

come. Solomon is telling us here, The clock is

ticking. The clock is ticking. The days of youth

will fade. And our bodies will start to break

down. That's actually what this portion of the

text is really getting at here. It's showing

the signs of aging as we are moving further and

further towards our death. Indeed, Jeff went.

who is a wonderful pastor at Second, said of

these passages, this is Solomon's ode to death.

We are all like automobiles, driven off the lot

and beginning to depreciate. And we might be

coming into the prime of our lives, but soon

we'll need a tune -up. And soon those parts will

start to wear out. Indeed, many have looked at

this very closely as if to say that all of the

different statements, the verses in here are

referring to specific body parts that do wear

out. And we could certainly do that, but I want

us to get the big picture here. Friends, we are

all moving towards our death. We will either

die or the Lord Jesus will come back for us.

But as Solomon is writing here, he is writing

under the assumption that we will all die. And

so look at some of these pictures. I don't have

time to go over all of them, but verses three

through five. This is kind of a picture of a

once glorious house. But now it's in ruin. Or

what comes next in verse five, it talks about

the almond tree blossoming. There again, verse

five. This is the picture of an older person

with beautiful, a beautiful head of white hair,

a symbol of old age. And then what comes immediately

next is this mention of a grasshopper who drags

himself along. What's going on there? That grasshopper

no longer has the hop in him, does he? This is

all showing us that life is heavy. Life is fading.

Indeed, look in verse two. Before the sun and

the light and the moon and the stars are darkened

and the clouds return after the rain, over 30

times within the book of Ecclesiastes, the sun

is mentioned. But now, in the last chapter, the

sun goes dark. God turns off the lights. Indeed,

I believe that there's more going on than just

speaking personally, just speaking individually

about our own deaths. Actually, this text has

this kind of eschatological bent to it. Benjamin

Shaw, Professor Benjamin Shaw sees two eschatons

here. The individual eschaton referring to the

last days of one person's life, but secondly,

the last days of the world. Philip Riken says

here, our end time is like the end time. And

that's what makes this text so difficult. You

want to make a text challenging? Just make it

sound like Daniel or Ezekiel or Revelation, right?

Indeed, Ezekiel 32, seven and eight sounds like

this. I will cover the sun with a cloud and the

moon shall not give its light. All the bright

lights of heaven will I make dark over you. and

put darkness on your land, declares the Lord

God. Friends, that is judgmental language. That

sounds like day of the Lord type of language.

Now, Solomon has not been giving us a full doctrine

of last things here, but as he speaks here of

our end, I think he is speaking of the end of

this world as we know it, because our creator

has ordained a time when all that is truly heathen,

will really be Heavile. Our bodies break down

over time, but God has also appointed a time

for the end of our present age. Theologians call

this the Church Age that will continue on all

the way until Jesus returns. And so the time,

friends, the time to know Christ is right now.

Either because of our own aging, toward the grave

or because Christ will come like a thief in the

night. You don't know the time. Your present

age in the world will be met with an appearance

before God. Indeed, look again at verse five.

There's this kind of picture, and I think it's

verse five, this picture of a funeral procession

going through with mourners on the sides of the

road here. Again. It's showing us that it's time

to remember your creator is right now, not when

you're in the coffin. Indeed, he kind of pauses

with the metaphors for a second, and he says,

he mentions your eternal home. Very literally,

eternal home is the long home. It's what happens

after this life. And then he uses more imagery

here in verse six, the silver cord, the golden

bowl. These are things of value that once brought

light and now it shows these things are smashed.

Or what's next, the pitcher shattered and the

wheel broken. This is a picture of no more water,

things that we need for life, such that we can

say right along with Solomon here, the return.

to the dust. He is remembering Genesis 3 .9.

For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

He is showing us that life dries up. And so friends,

what happens after that? Where is this all going?

Well, again, look back at chapter 11, verse nine,

the end of that verse, as he mentions the judgment

here. The book of Hebrews says it is appointed

once for man to die and then the judgment. This

is not reflected in the ESV. It might be reflected

in your translation, but Hebrew manuscripts typically

carry a definite article there in Ecclesiastes

11 .9, such that we're not talking about a generic

judgment. We are talking about the judgment,

the day of judgment, which I believe fits with

the apocalyptic nature. of this passage. And

so what is the judgment? From Westminster Confession

of Faith 33, God hath appointed a day wherein

he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus

Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given

of the Father, in which day not only the apostate

angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons

that have lived on the earth shall appear. before

the tribunal of Christ to give account of their

thoughts, their words, and their deeds, and to

receive according to what they have done in the

body, whether good or evil. Friends, that's all

persons. There is a mistaken thought amongst

Christians that Christians won't have to be at

the judgment. That's wrong. We all will. And

we will all have to give an account for how we

have lived. And what that means is that what

you do right now, the way you spend your time,

the way you spend your money, the way you spend

your talents and your gifts, the way that you

serve other people, the way that you love other

people, all of that matters for eternity. Because

all things will be called into judgment. all

things. Now we're not saved by these things.

Jesus does that. But these things, the way that

we live, testify to our saving faith. And so

you see, friends, you know this about yourselves.

We are all sinful. We all fall short of the glory

of God. And therefore, the only way to stand

in the judgment is to fall at the feet of Jesus.

That's the only way. The only way to stand on

the judgment is to fall at the feet of Jesus

now. He took the full punishment of your sin

upon the tree. His substitutionary atonement

for all who believe in which we receive his righteousness

and he takes upon himself our sin. And we get

the good news. John 5 24, whoever hears my word

and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

He does not come into judgment, but he has passed

from death to life. That's the good news for

the believer. You don't get that good news if

you're not a believer. For the unbeliever. The

one who has not remembered the creator. The one

who has not given heed to the son in faith. This

is a terrifying and eternal reality. Judgment

that doesn't let up. Judgment that doesn't get

better. Judgment that is not hevel. It doesn't

pass away. Because unlike this life, eternal

life is not fleeting. And as there is no heaven

in eternal judgment, there is no heaven in eternal

life with Christ. Think about this section, especially

one through eight of chapter 12. Think about

all of the dark imagery that is in here. The

days of darkness, the vexation, the evil days,

the darkened skies, the clouds, the house falling

in, the terrors, the mourners, the funeral, and

the vanity of it all. This is life. under the

sun. But what God promises to you right now is

life with the sun, such that you can leave behind

your evil and sinful ways and be reconciled to

your creator now by believing in Jesus. Remember

the befores of this passage. Young people, don't

step away from the church thinking, I'll come

back to it when it suits my schedule. An older

crowd, don't lose heart. If I can, let me read

this to you. Don't lose heart from 2 Corinthians

4, 16 through 18. We do not lose heart. Though

our outer self is wasting away, our inner self

is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary

affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight

of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not

to the things that are seen, but to the things

that are unseen. For the things that are seen

are transient, but the things that are unseen

are eternal. And so congregation, hear me out.

Don't put off Christ. The one who isn't ready

says, come Lord Jesus, just not yet. I have a

few things to take care of. But for the believer,

we should be living in such a constant state

of repentance and love for God and obedience

to the scriptures that we would pray that second

to the last line of the Bible. Come Lord Jesus.

If I can be overly simplistic and yet use scripture,

at the end of the days, at the final judgment,

you're gonna hear one of two things. Depart from

me, for I never knew you. Or, well done, good

and faithful servant. And so Christian, press

on, rejoicing in God your creator, remembering

him. and giving praise for what he has done in

Christ Jesus. Let's pray. Our Lord and our God,

we thank you that you have looked on us with

such mercy and compassion and kindness that you

have saved us from what we deserve. You've given

us Jesus Christ and I ask Lord that if there

be any within this sanctuary who have not remembered

you, who do not know Jesus, that you would fill

their hearts with your spirit and turn those

hearts to knowing Jesus Christ, who went through

it all for us. Father, as we wait for Jesus'

return, I ask you would help us at all times

to remember you, to not put off faith, But instead,

Lord, would you sanctify us more and more that

we would give ourselves to your worship, to your

study, and to your service? These things we ask

in Christ's name. Amen.