Title: Seek the Sweet Light,
the Pleasant Son
Text: Ecclesiastes 11: 7-12:
1
Date: July 17, 2014
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Ecclesiastes 11: 7: Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing
it is for the eyes to behold the sun: 8: But if a man live many years, and
rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall
be many. All that cometh is vanity. 9: Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and
let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of
thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these
things God will bring thee into judgment. 10: Therefore remove sorrow from thy
heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
12: 1: Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days
come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in
them;
Here is a word to all of
us—especially to those who are young.
Proposition: The wisest thing we can do with our
lives—especially beginning in our youth—is to prepare for the day when we shall
die and meet God in judgment.
To do so we must: Seek THE Sweet Light, THE
Pleasant Son.
I. FIRST, A WORD TO AWAKEN US TO OUR NEED—Ecclesiastes 11: 7:
Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the
sun:
The “light” and “sun” spoken
of here is a metaphor of a life of many years full of good days. Everyone wants a life of many years walking
in the sunshine of good days. This is
the light and the sun that most seek. We
do not like a life of storms and raging waves.
We graduate from high school and continue education because we seek a
good job and a nice home, to provide ourselves security in this life. Everyone wants a life that can be compared to
sweet light and a life of walking in the sunshine.
Think of things in life that
we seek with great zeal; think of how many things in life for which we make
much preparation, things which take much coordinating and things we go after
with all our strength; they are things we seek because they are good for us,
good for our families and so on.
Yet, when is the last time
we sought spiritual things with that same kind of zeal. Do we teach our
children the word of God on a daily basis with that same kind of dedication? Do we seek to promote the gospel or speak
about Christ to our perishing neighbors with that same heart with which we seek
carnal security in this life? Why do we act as if this carnal light and carnal
security is so important? It is not the
most important thing.
Indeed, natural light and
life, the natural sun, is sweet and pleasant. Above all, light and life are
most vital for natural life. Light was the first thing God made when
he created the world. The eye to beholds light is one of the first
members formed in the body in the womb. Indeed, the light of the sun is sweet and
pleasant thing to behold; indeed to have life you need light and we need life
to behold light. So indeed, it is sweet to have natural light. It
is pleasant to be alive to behold the light of the sun. There is no disputing this
truth.
Still, there is something we
must all remember. After natural
light and natural life, darkness and death shall soon come—Ecclesiastes 11: 8: But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them
all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All
that cometh is vanity.
Notice this key word “if”—Ecclesiastes 11: 8:…if a man live many
years, and [if a man] rejoice in them all.
Few live many years. Even fewer rejoice in them all.
Psalm
39:5: Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth.
Hold up your hand. Note the
space across your four fingers. That is
a handbreadth. God has made your days as
short as your four fingers are broad. If you are a young person then that may
not have much impact on you. While young
we anticipate many things for which we must wait. It makes time seem to pass slowly. But think of the summer break, in between
school classes, when you want time to last forever. In the blink of an eye summer is over. Your
life is that summer break. In a moment, your life will be over—“and after this
the judgment.” (Heb 9: 27)
But let’s suppose you do
have a long life and great ease—do not let the thought of that lull you into a
false sense of security. Some live many years—in 30 or 40 years
they have a relatively easy life. Therefore
they think it will always be this way.
Yet, God says to remember
that even in these best days of your life, days of darkness shall come. Note there is no “if” in this second statement,
“for they shall be.” And notice—
“they shall be many.” The days of our
life, and the good times, may not be many but the days of darkness shall be
many.
First, he describes it in
the next chapter as our bodies growing old.
“The keepers of the house shall tremble”—our head and hands shall
tremble with age. “Strong men shall bow
themselves”—the man once strong enough to carry great weights shall be bent
over with age, unable to even lift his own weight. “The grinders shall cease”—the
teeth shall be few. “The windows be
darkened”—the eye shall grow dim.” Now,
if you spend your life living for your carnal senses—touch, taste, sight,
smell, hearing—what shall you have when your senses are gone? Some here are not yet 20 years old. I know people who have been in that shape for
40 years, since their 60’s. They lived as long in that shape as they did in the
energy of their youth. Remember, the dark days shall soon come.
Secondly, there is another
kind of darkness. Our bodies must lie in death, in the darkness of the
grave. For most, unless Christ returns
soon after we die, those days will be many more than the days of our living in
the light above ground.
Thirdly, there is the
darkness which shall come in the end of this world. Scripture speaks of a day
when the sun shall be darkened black as sackcloth and the moon shall not give
her light but shall become as blood, the stars shall fall from heaven, every
mountain and island shall be moved out of its place, and the heaven shall
depart as a scroll. (Rev 6: 12-16)
Fourthly, there is the
darkness called “outer darkness.” (Mt
22: 13) We have no idea what that will
be like but it will be a terrible darkness which lasts for all eternity where
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When this darkness—of the
flesh, of this life, of the heavens and earth—comes then we shall find “all is vanity.” This is not all there is. But if you spend these days living for all
things earthy then you shall find that it was all in vain. You shall have spent
your life living for nothing.
So it is good for us to remember
after these days of light and life come those days of darkness and death. It
will help you not to be lifted up with pride, not to be fooled into a false
carnal security, not to be carried away to a life of indecency. Those days will
come with much less terror if we prepare for those days today.
II. SECONDLY, THE HOLY SPIRIT ANSWERS AN OBJECTION THAT HE KNOWS
THE YOUNG MAN WILL MAKE.
The young man hears this
warning and his answer is: then I will rejoice in my youth; I will let my heart cheer me; I will walk in the ways of my
heart; I will walk in the sight of my eyes; I will live it up while I can! He
says, “MY WILL SHALL BE MY ONLY LAW WHETHER IT IS GOD’S WILL OR NOT!”
The very fact that this
would be the answer of the natural man to the first warning is convincing
enough that your ways are wrong—they are not God’s ways.
Proverbs
14:12: There is a way which seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Illustration: A
young man contacted me over 3 years ago with questions about Christ. Eventually, he broke contact. Last week, he
wrote again. He told me he had decided
“to follow no religion but his conscience.”
But now he has met a religious girl. So he has questions for me. I wrote him back hoping God will bless these
words to wake him up. I told him that he
sounds as lost as when I spoke with him before.
But Christ did not come to call the righteous but sinners to
repentance. Go learn what that means.
That is Christ’s word. I told him to not to follow his idol god. But I am telling you that a man who follows no religion but his
conscience has a fool for a guide.
So the Holy Spirit of God
answers that objection with a bit of irony—Ecclesiastes
11: 9: Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the
days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of
thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into
judgment.
The man who desires to live
his life seeking only to gratify the lusts of his flesh may find that God will
give him his desires. But know, God will deal with you, even in this life. For
instance, God gives you advantages but instead of using them to seek God, you
use them to sin against him, to fulfill your own pleasure. Then you glory in how good your life has
been, glory in your accomplishment—when you could do nothing except God give
it! But know this: if we be not found in Christ, God promises to turn that which you glory in, into shame.
Hosea
4: 7: As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I
change their glory into shame.
The greatest check against
such a vain idea is eternal judgment: Ecclesiastes
11: 9: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into
judgment. There is a judgment to
come for everyone.
Hebrews
9:27: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Put it out of your mind—bury
your head in the sand—but we must all face God in judgment. And if you put these things out of your mind,
if you go on living life only for self, realize that you are treasuring up
wrath against the day of wrath. When you
meet God outside of Christ, God shall judge you for all the carnal and sensual
pleasures that you sold your soul to enjoy in this life.
Illustration: “Preacher, you always
take away my joy! I have plenty of time to consider those things.” I know a man who, when he was a little boy,
went everywhere with his father listening to his father preach the gospel. But
as he got older he used to say that very thing every time his father would try
to speak to him about the gospel, he
would say, “you always take away my
joy! I have plenty of time to consider those things.” Now, his father is with the Lord and that man
is old, the age his father was then. His
health is bad; he does not have many more days on this earth. Still, when
anyone speaks to him about the gospel, he says the same thing he did when he
was a young man, same excuse he has been making all these years. He has never
prepared to die and meet God in judgment.
Will you repeat that man’s mistake?
III. HEAR AS THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES US A WORD WE SHOULD HEED TODAY—A WORD WE WILL HEED IF HE WORKS EFFECTUALLY
IN OUR HEARTS--Ecclesiates 11: 10:
Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart,
When sinners—especially young
people—hear the truth, you hear this message taking away what you love most:
your fleshly lusts and carnal senses. Since the gospel is humbling and
mortifying, you hate it in your flesh. Your heart boils up in pride. You become
angry because this message crosses and contradicts you. But God commands you, “Put
that away. And heed this word, now!”
Not only that, God also says—Ecclesiastes 11: 10: and put away evil from thy flesh. It means
turn from the flesh itself, put away fleshly ideas, put away your sinful lusts.
2
Timothy 2:22: Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith,
charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
These two commands are the
same as God commanding you to repent: from the enmity of your heart and from
the evil deeds of your flesh.
Here is why: Ecclesiastes 11: 10:…for childhood and
youth are vanity. We are sinners by conception. Therefore, all things that
you presently hold dear are vanity. Childhood
and youth—along with all the things you naturally hold dear—is uncertain,
unsatisfying and shall not last! Even this
whole whole world is vanity.
Illustration:
Flowers on Melinda’s table. Now they are withering and shall soon vanish away
Isaiah
40: 6: The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass,
and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7: The grass
withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it:
surely the people is grass. 8: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the
word of our God shall stand for ever.
IV. SO THEN THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES US THIS MOST IMPORTANT COMMAND—I
PRAY HE MAKE IT EFFECTUAL IN YOUR HEARTS NOW—Ecclesiastes 12: 1: Remember NOW
thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the
years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
He began by saying, “Truly the light is sweet, and a
pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.” But there is something
far more sweet than natural life and natural light; it is spiritual life and
spiritual light—Christ the Life and Christ the Light. There is something far more pleasant and far
more important than “the light of the s.u.n”. It is “the light of the S.O.N.”
Malachi
4:2: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with
healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the
stall.
Does the thought cross your
mind that these are things that you can put off till another day? Be sure you understand. Time is so short—your time is so short—that
God commands you not even to depend upon tomorrow. God says, “Now, is the day of salvation.” (2
Cor 6: 2) God says, “Remember NOW thy Creator in the days of thy youth.”
James
4:14: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
God commands us to take
advantage of the time—“redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Eph 5:
16) Take advantage of the time by
seriously seeking the truth of God’s salvation for sinners. Do it, not once,
not just in the beginning but throughout our lives!
You have a life to live, a
death to die, a judgment to face and an eternity to spend. Will you waste your life in pursuit of fool’s
gold or will you use your life wisely in the pursuit of the unsearchable riches
of Christ?
Matthew
16: 26: For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose
his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 27: For the
Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he
shall reward every man according to his works.
One of the saddest things to
see is for a young person to ignore the gospel of Christ when they have
opportunity to hear. God has given you
great privileges. You have the gospel preached in truth, a faithful church, some
have believing parents, believing siblings or family members. Also, you have the word of God to follow
along as the gospel is preached and to study at home. Yet, with all these
advantages you stop up your ears, close your eyes and “despise wisdom and
instruction.” It is like a starving man
refusing to eat, a sick man refusing to take medicine, a freezing man refusing
to enter into shelter.
God commands you, “Remember NOW thy Creator in the days of
thy youth.” Do you know what it means for you for God to be your Creator?
He made us and not we ourselves; he is our rightful Lord and owner. Therefore,
we are under obligation to honor God by obeying his word to us
If you will not heed this
word of God then you are directly disobeying God. You are screaming, “No
God!” You are defying and cursing God’s
holy name.
But understand that you are
a sinner. The only way God will receive you is if Christ has put away your
sins. The only way God will receive you
is by you believing on Christ, that he has made you perfect to be accepted of
holy God.
This word “Creator” is
plural. It means “Creators”. God the
Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are our Creator. Let me try to tell
you why you and I are here, why this creation exists.
God the Father created his
people, his church, his kingdom—when in eternity before creating this world, he
chose whom he would in Christ, not based on any good or evil in us, and called
Christ to redeem us.
Then the triune God created
this world and all things in it by Christ, God’s Son.
Colossians
1: 16: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17: And
he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Then man was created after
the image of our Creators. In the beginning God said, “Let US make man in OUR
image”—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How could Adam be made in the image of the
invisible, triune God? God created Adam in the image of God by creating Adam in
the image of Christ—after the image of that body Christ would have in the
future. Thus Adam was made after the
image of the triune God—our Creators—because in Christ, the fullness of the
Godhead, dwells in a body. (Gen 1: 26;
Col 2: 9)
Then the triune God permitted
Satan to enter the garden and Adam to fall. It did not catch God off guard. God
allowed it that God might be glorified in the salvation of his people through
Christ Jesus. (Am 3: 6)
Then in time, God the Son
created his people when he came here and established us in perfect
righteousness, laying down his life in our room and stead on the cross.
Then God the Holy Spirit
creates his people—when he regenerates us, effectually making us repent and
come to Christ in faith. It is then that we have true light and true life—Christ
the Light, Christ the Life. It is then that we find how truly sweet Life and
Light really are! How pleasant it truly is to behold the “Sun of
righteousness.”
So you have our Creators—God
the Father created his people in eternity in divine election and everlasting
covenant, God the Son created his people in redemption, and God the Holy Spirit
creates us in regeneration creating a new man within
And God even created you the
first time when you were conceived in your mother’s womb. Why? God created
everything that was made, even you, and put you here on this great stage, to give
his Son all preeminence in all things!
Illustration: So
here you are in this great and grand Creation that God has made for the purpose
of glorifying his Son. But if you live
life for the earthy rather than the spiritual, for the s.u.n rather than the
S.o.n then it is like going to some great play and adoring the spotlight, the
curtains, the stage, and all the props rather than the main attraction for
which all was created.
So seek now thy Creators by
seeking Christ because our text says, know this, you will give Christ all
Preeminence. All shall give Christ all
Preeminence either by God’s grace, when you bow and believe on Christ or by justice
in that day when you are judged by Christ in your sin then cast out of God’s
presence for all eternity.
Philippians
2: 9: God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name: 10: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11: And that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
Isaiah
45: 23: I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in
righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall swear. 24: Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness
and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him
shall be ashamed.
Our whole duty to our
Creator is fulfilled by us—when we fear God and believe on Christ Jesus, God’s
Son.
Ecclesiastes
12: 13: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his
commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14: For God shall bring every
work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it
be evil.
Sinner, fear God because you
shall come into judgment—every secret thing—whether good or evil shall be
judged.
Illustration: The
balance—your good will not be on one side and your evil on the other—your
good and evil will be on the same side and Jesus Christ the Righteous shall be
the one by whom you are judged. If that is your case then you shall hear,
“TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” (Dan 5: 27)
So fear God and keep his
commandments. But you cannot keep God’s
commandments yourself. We broke God’s commandment in Adam in the garden. (Rom
5: 12, 19-20) Therefore, we were guilty the moment we were conceived.
So there is but one
commandment you can keep—and only by God’s grace—this is how we work the works
of God:
John
6: 28: Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works
of God? 29: Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye
believe on him whom he hath sent.
1 John
3:23: And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his
Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
So the whole duty of man
toward our Creator—the obligation we are under—is to fear the triune God and
keep his commandments by believing and worshipping Christ Jesus in whom is the
fullness of the Godhead bodily.
Salvation is only by the
doing and dying of Christ Jesus the Lord.
So the only way God will receive you is by coming to Christ in faith, confessing
to God that you are a sinner deserving God’s eternal wrath, believing Christ
his Son has done everything necessary to justify you from your sins, making you
the righteousness of God in him. God promises mercy to all who forsake self and
come to God through faith in Christ Jesus. And the proper season for this duty—is
now!
Ecclesiastes 12: 1: Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy
youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt
say, I have no pleasure in them; 2: While the sun, or the light, or the moon,
or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain. 3: In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the
strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of the windows be darkened, 4: And the doors shall be
shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise
up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought
low; 5: Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall
be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be
a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the
mourners go about the streets: 6: Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the
golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel
broken at the cistern. 7: Then [it shall be too late for
then] shall the dust return to the earth
as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Amen!