1 For I considered all this in my heart, (WHY?) so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them.
2 All things come alike to all: One (fate-event) happens to the righteous and the wicked; to the good, the clean, and the unclean; to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
4 But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
*In Solomon’s day, dogs were diseased mongrels that ran in packs through city streets, not pampered pets*
5 For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun. 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works. 8 Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil. 9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
11 I returned and saw under the sun that-- The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them. 13 This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14 there was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man. 16 Then I said: "Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. 17 Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good."
Introduction – Mysteries in Life
Questions to ponder...
1 Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are dead?
2 Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?
3 Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
4 Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
5 Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
6 Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?
7 What is the speed of darkness?
8 If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?
9 Do married people live longer than single ones or does it only seem longer?
10 If someone with a split personality threatens to commit suicide, is it a hostage situation?
11 If money doesn't grow on trees then why do banks have branches?
12 Why does a round pizza come in a square box?
13 Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up, like, every two hours?
14 If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?
15 If someone's crying, why do we ask if they're OK?
Notice that…
Death is Inevitable 1-10
God’s Sovereignty 1
Our lives rest in the hands of God! Nothing happens to the children of God that doesn’t first pass through the hands of God
Bob Hope, after receiving a major award stated, “I don’t deserve this, but then I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either.”
There are no guarantees in life…except death. Wages of sin is still death…
Statistic-100% of all people born will experience death;
You can avoid McD’s, Blue Bell & red meat but you will still die. And every death is result of sudden cardiac arrest.
Romans 1:18-32, esp. 20, For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Death’s Reality 2-3
Contrast between the lost & the saved ---all will still die!
Solomon declared it a moral evil which befalls all people.
Our hearts are full of wickedness! We deserve death!
When the Lost die, they die; but the saved trust in the living God!
Life’s Brevity 4-10
So…
Live with a committed purpose 4-6
Live with an enthusiastic passion 7-9 Love your wife! The Talmud—a commentary on Jewish law—states, “A man should eat and drink beneath his means, clothe himself within his means, and honor his wife above his means.”
- have a blast while you last. Celebrate! Wear cologne or perfume!
Too often we put off living a full life because we worry @ life!
Live with a heavenly perspective 10 you have only one life to make your contribution
You will live with one of the two following world-view…
Illustration
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley. 1849–1903
Christian Invictus
"Out of the light that dazzles me,
bright is the sun from pole to pole.
I thank the God I know to be,
for Christ the conqueror of my soul.
Since he's the sway of circumstance,
I would not wince nor cry aloud.
Under that rule which men call chance,
my head with joy is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears,
that life with him. And he's the aide
That spite diminished of the years
keeps and shall keep me unafraid.
It matters not, though straight the gate,
He cleared from punishments the scroll.
Christ is the master of my fate.
Christ the captain of my soul."
Life is Incomprehensible 11-18
Life is illogical 11
Tortoise & hare; David & Goliath;
Time limits us and chance is the unexpected in our lives!
Illustration
My friend Corey and I fed the hogs and deer in our hunting area for three months. Never did we get a deer. So Corey took his daughter Jalah out in mid-January during junior hunting season and she killed MY 8 point buck that we had been feeding for three months! Not only is life illogical but it just ain’t right sometimes!
Life is uncertain 12
Lost people don’t discern God’s hand in the events of life.
Life is unappreciated 13-18
*And the world won’t listen to God so be His mouthpiece & example!
Illustration
Robert Fulghum in It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, tells a story involving his daughter, Molly. One day, as Fulghum was ready to leave for work, Molly handed him two brown paper sacks. In one was his lunch. What was in the other was a mystery. When Fulghum asked Molly what was in the mystery bag, she said, "Just some stuff—take it with you." At lunch time, Fulghum tore open the mystery bag, dumping the contents onto his desk. The contents consisted of: two hair ribbons, three small stones, a plastic dinosaur, a pencil stub, a tiny seashell, two animal crackers, a marble, a used lipstick, a small doll, two chocolate kisses, and thirteen pennies.
Later in the day, when Fulghum was cleaning off his desk before going home, he wiped the contents of Molly’s bag into the waste basket. As he said, "There wasn’t anything in there I needed." That evening Molly asked where her bag was. He told her he had left it at his office, and asked, "why?" Molly said, "Those are my things in the sack, Daddy, the ones I really like—I thought you might like to play with them, but now I want them back.
You didn’t lose the bag did you, Daddy?"
"Those are my things in the sack, Daddy, the ones I really like." To Fulghum the hair ribbons, small stones, pencil stub, a used lipstick and all the rest did not seem like much. To Molly, they were her most priceless treasures. The things she loved the most. But Fulghum did not have the sight to see their true value.
Long ago some shepherds left their fields and made their way to a stable. When they looked into the manger they saw a very ordinary baby wrapped in swaddling cloths. Whether the baby was sleeping, crying, or cooing, we are not told. But the shepherds saw something more, something which others who were gathered with Mary and Joseph apparently did not see. In this baby in the manger the shepherds saw none other than the One in whom all God’s people find joy and peace, just as the angels had told them. The shepherds had heard the promise, had believed the promise, and in believing saw more than met the ordinary eye. In Jesus they saw the One in whom we have joy and peace.
Source: Donald L. Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations, Resources, 1992, p. 16-17
At the very best, life is full of uncertainties. It just doesn’t make any sense without a living relationship with Jesus Christ. I believe Solomon discovered that life is “poof” of hebel without knowing God and His direction.
