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Ecclesiastes 12:9-14​

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Ecclesiastes 12:9-14​ ECCLESIASTES 12:9-14 - Sermon Notes ​ Worship God and do What He Says Here we come to the conclusion of our series through the book of Ecclesiastes that we have called ‘The Real Meaning of Life’. I want us to have in our minds again today that this book is the writing of King Solomon the son of David. READ: 1 Kings 10:23-25 Solomon was the King who literally had it all, the King whom God had blessed lavishly and in abundance. However we find as he advances in years he turns his eyes from God in pursuit of the blessings and the gifts but not God Himself. We find a man taken captive by his riches, wisdom, fame and comfort. QUESTION: What can you do to help you handle the blessing of God obediently? As King Solomon comes toward the end of his life we see a man trying to figure out how in the midst of the massive blessings that God has bestowed upon him, his life has gone off of the rails. He is very genuinely wrestling with confusion, anger, questions of life and what life without God looks like! READ: Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 Solomon’s realisation of a life full of riches but without God is that it is meaningless, the emptiest thing of them all! How tragic is that? Through the book of Ecclesiastes we have seen 2 alternative views of life placed against one another as King Solomon has wrestled with his confusion, pain, anger, cynicism and doubt. Life without God and life with God. In today's reading we come to Solomon's conclusion. Having weighed up wisdom and folly, having weighed up life and death, having weighed up the eternal and temporary Solomon presents his case and comes to his conclusion and King Solomon wants us to learn from his experience. READ: Ecclesiastes 12:9-11 There is a real sense here that the writings in Ecclesiastes serve as a gift to us so that we might not make the same mistakes as KIng Solomon. There seems to be an expectation that we might learn from the struggles, the successes, the experience and the wisdom of others who have gone before us. God has given us 3 gifts to help me walk in obedience further into who He is calling us to be: The Bible - The Holy Spirit - And one another!! QUESTION: Who is encouraging you on in Jesus? Who are you encouraging? QUESTION: If not why not? What are YOU going to do about it? ​ ​ 1 Solomon encourages us to learn from from his walk and from his conclusions and then he gives us a warning: READ: Ecclesiastes 12:12 Now straight up here is a warning of being captured by worldly wisdom and learnings. The world that we live in is relentless in telling us how we should live, what we should value, what is right and what is wrong. We so need to be on our guard because the wisdom of this world is everywhere we turn and we don’t want to passively stand by and submit to it. We’re called to change the world! Bank Tellers learn to spot counterfeit money by spending lots of time handling real money - When something counterfeit comes along it stands out because it doesn’t feel right - God has given us His Word - The Holy Spirit - One another - Spend a lot of time with the real thing and you’ll spot the counterfeit! However I also think that there is a warning for us here about being readers of Christian books and not the bible itself! We live in a time where there is simply an avalanche of Christian resources. I took a quick look on Amazon.co.uk (other websites are available!!) - There were 508,896 books that you could buy on Christianity!! (that’s not to mention DVD’s, Podcasts, Websites etc) - Now I’m not saying that these resources aren’t a real blessing - However: QUESTION: Are Christian books replacing the reading of the bible? QUESTION: If so what can you do about that? Solomon then concludes his book with his answer to the question that he has been asking all the way through. Is there anything that gives my life lasting meaning? READ: Ecclesiastes 13: 13-14 What is the antidote to a meaningless life? - To worship God and do what He says What is the answer for an empty life - To know God and be led by Him What is the real meaning to life - To enjoy God and live for Him The gospel of Jesus Christ isn’t complicated - And whilst there are many, many things that we need help with, at it’s heart is a people responding to the God who created them - QUESTION: Are you still responding to God? - Are you still following Him - Are you still doing what He says? Solomons call to us is to return to God, return to the joy of worshipping and living for Him!! Ecclesiastes in it’s own way shows us a transformed life! We start with a cry of meaningless, meaningless but we end with the fulfillment of knowing God and living for Him! QUESTION: What has God said to you through our series in Ecclesiastes? PRAY: If you have grown passive, distant or thirsty that God would again draw you to Himself. 2 .
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