THE MESSAGE OF GOD TO THE UNSAVED CHURCHGOER
TEXT - Ecc.8:10 "And so I saw the wicked buried, who
had come and gone from the place of
the holy..." Read vs. 1 - 14
INTRO. - Solomon had gone to a funeral. He apparently
knew the person well enough to go to the funeral and
knew that he had visited the House of God regularly. The
tragedy was that he died as a wicked man. He had gone to
the place of the holy but never became holy. Now Solomon
returns from this funeral and remembers others who were
just like this man. He thinks of many who were following
in this dead man’s footsteps. He then gives them this
message of warning. Notice vs.2 - "I counsel thee"
He says seven things to these people passing through the
temple on the way to a godless eternity to encourage
them to wake up before it is too late. Notice what he
tells them.
I. THERE ARE LAWS TO BE OBEYED - vs. 1 - 5
Vs.1 - If you are wise you will obey God.
Vs.2 - Keep the commandments of the King (of Kings)
Commandments include all God’s desire and will
Vs.4 - With God’s Commandments come the power to obey
Power to obey comes thru Holy Spirit at Salvation
The departed man Solomon remembers was not wise and had
forgotten the command to get saved and live for God.
II. THERE IS A FUTURE TO BE MET - vs. 7
The first part of this verse tells us that we do not
know what lies ahead for anyone of us. The last part of
the verse and vs. 8 tell us we do not know when our
death will come. The wicked man who died may have done
differently had he known he was going to die soon.
III. THERE IS A DEATH TO BE ENCOUNTERED - vs. 8
There is no power to stop that appointed hour.
See Heb. 9:27
"there is no discharge in that war" means you cannot get
out of this encounter. People can get out of many
responsibilities down here and may escape the
consequences of their actions but if Jesus tarries
nobody will escape death.
IV. THERE IS A LIFE TO BE AVOIDED - vs. 10
This man had religion but it was religion without God,
religion without reality, and religion of the outward
and not the inward. He had "come and gone" on a regular
basis to church and this is important - see Heb. 10:25.
He went and left but was unchanged.
"If the heart is unclean, and the life is
unchanged, then the soul is unsaved."
Notice vs.10b - These people who had followed in the
path of this wicked man who died must have done things
to be remembered by. Things don’t save and all that is
going to matter as far as being remembered is whether
God remembers us.
V. THERE IS AN ATTITUDE TO BE REJECTED - vs. 11
Because God in his goodness, mercy, and long-suffering
does not punish sin the moment it is committed, people
are deceived into thinking God does not see nor care.
vs.12 - shows a sinner can misapply the mercy of God.
Sinning a 100 times does not mean God does not
care.
vs.12 - shows God’s temporal blessings do not mean a
sign of God’s approval. A person may live longer
than others but that does not mean God smiles on
them.
VI. THERE IS A JUDGMENT TO BE FACED - vs. 12 - 13
What God is saying is that you cannot get past God.
ILL. - It is like policemen in Brazil. They stand on
corners with nothing but a pencil, paper, stopwatch, and
a pair of binoculars. If you speed they write down the
time, date, location, traffic infraction, and car
license number. They say nothing to you. They do not
chase you. In fact you may not even realize you were
caught. But WAIT until you go to get your license
renewed next year and they will be waiting for you to
pay the penalty.
This wicked man went to church regularly, got by with
his sin a 100 times, thought God was approving him, but
he died and found he was not ready to meet God.
VII. THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET SAVED - vs. 5 - 6
a wise man will see it and take it while a foolish man
will reap misery because he does not take it. There are
many people who are alive today facing troubles they
could have avoided if they had got saved 10, 15, 20, 25,
30 years ago.
The man Solomon speaks of here could have lived a
different life, died a different death, and faced a
different eternity.
