the command to enjoy life

Daniel Patz, Lead Pastor

Grace Church, Sunday Worship

Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8

June 12th, 2011 

Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 ESV  (7)  Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.  (8)  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.  (9)  Rejoice, O 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.  (10)  Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.  

(12:1)  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";  (2)  before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain,  (3)  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,  (4)  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--  (5)  they are afraid also of what is high, and 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--  (6)  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,  (7)  and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.  (8)  Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

INTRODUCTION

On Youth:

Youth is such a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.

Youth is wasted on the young.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish writer.

The young are permanently in a state resembling intoxication.

Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) Greek philosopher.

A man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) British poet and playwright.

Youth comes but once in a lifetime.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) U.S. poet.

If youth be a defect, it is one that we outgrow only too soon.

James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) American poet,

Youth, with swift feet, walks onward in the way; the land of joy lies all before his eyes.

Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) British politician, poet

This passage talks about youth and old age – enjoyment and carpe diem.

Worldly Philosophy:

“Enjoy life while you can, because life is short, and then (perhaps) make right with your Creator.”

Ecclesiastes and the Bible:

“Remember your Creator because life is short, so that you can truly enjoy this life.”

MAIN POINT of the Passage:

Life is SHORT so ENJOY life by REMEMBERING your Creator.

COMMAND #1 – REJOICE – Enjoy Life

Rejoice – God is good!

Rejoicing is a big part of the Christian life.

Deuteronomy 12:7-18 ESV  (7)  And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.  (8)  "You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes,  (9)  for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.  (10)  But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety,  (11)  then to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the LORD.  (12)  And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.  (13)  Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see,  (14)  but at the place that the LORD will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.  (15)  "However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your towns, as much as you desire, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the deer.  (16)  Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth like water.  (17)  You may not eat within your towns the tithe of your grain or of your wine or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, or any of your vow offerings that you vow, or your freewill offerings or the contribution that you present,  (18)  but you shall eat them before the LORD your God in the place that the LORD your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your towns. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all that you undertake.

Psalms 32:10-11 ESV  Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.  (11)  Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Here is the command in Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 ESV  (7)  Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.  (8)  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.  (9)  Rejoice, O 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.  (10)  Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

This is to the OLDER and the YOUNG.

Enjoy Life! Rejoice in the Lord! He has given gifts…delight in them.

ILLUSTRATION: Giving a toy rocking horse for my daughter – what do I want her to do with it? Enjoy it! Be glad. Not worry about the future.

He instructs us to enjoy the life given to us while we can, but we must not stop with this command.

COMMAND # 2 – REMEMBER – Embrace Godliness

Remember – God is your judge!

Remembering is a big part of the Christian life.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 ESV  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  (7)  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  (8)  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  (9)  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Why? So that they remember

Numbers 15:38-40 ESV  "Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.  (39)  And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.  (40)  So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.

Deuteronomy 8:18-19 ESV  (18)  You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.  (19)  And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.

The Text in Ecclesiastes says – Remember your Creator – God while before old age and death set in:

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 ESV  (1)  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";  (2)  before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain,  (3)  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,  (4)  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--  (5)  they are afraid also of what is high, and 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--  (6)  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,  (7)  and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.  (8)  Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Remembering, Godliness and Joy

This passage says that we should rejoice in the Lord by remember the Lord by looking to Him. We are to live in the light of who God is remembering that life as we know it will end and He is in control.

GOSPEL

We remember the God of our Covenant BECAUSE this God first remembers us.

We rejoice because His Son endured the Cross for the joy set before Him.

COMMUNION

We are coming to the table of remembrance and joy!