And if you would turn with me to the Old Testament
wisdom book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter
12. We will look at verses 9 through 14. And
this is the end of this book, which brings us
to the end of our sermon series through Ecclesiastes.
I'm sad about that. I love this book. We will
be moving Lord willing into the book of Hebrews
next and so look forward to that even read ahead
in Hebrews But for now, let us see these closing
words of God's Word Ecclesiastes 12 9 to 14 Besides
being wise the preacher also taught the people
knowledge weighing and Studying and arranging
many Proverbs with great care The preacher sought
to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote
words of truth. The words of the wise are like
goads, and like nails, firmly fixed are the collected
sayings. They are given by one shepherd. My son,
beware of anything beyond these. Of making many
books, there is no end. And much study is a weariness
of the flesh. The end of the matter. All has
been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man. For God will
bring every deed into judgment. Blessed is he
who hears and keeps what is written. Let us pray.
Father, we do thank you for Ecclesiastes. And
as we come to the end of this series, I pray
that we would see that you still have much more
for us. And so would you open up our ears, open
our minds, open our hearts to hear from you now.
For we pray in Christ's name, amen. I saw a comic
strip recently that pictured a man climbing the
peak of a mountain. Very high mountain, snow
capped. High above the other mountains, it might
as well have been Everest. And the man is climbing
it and he gets to the very summit and he kind
of peeks over the top of the peak. And there
was a wise, what appeared to be a wise man sitting
on top of the mountain. You know how this is
pictured. There's a wise man sitting there and
you climb to the top to find the meaning of life.
And that's what this climber was doing. And so
he hoists himself up onto the peak and he sees
this supposed wise man sitting there and he says
to him, would you tell me the meaning of life?
And this supposed wise man laughs and he says,
the meaning of life. You want my brother, third
mountain down on the right. I'm just a hermit,
he said. We've all pursued what we thought was
the meaning of life. What we thought would bring
us happiness and satisfaction. What we thought
would bring us all of the answers to this life.
Friends, we have all climbed the wrong mountain.
In Ecclesiastes, though, the teacher shows us
that he has climbed all of the wrong mountains
for you. He pursued pleasure. He pursued work.
He pursued hobbies. He pursued riches. He even
pursued wisdom and so much more. And yet, ultimately,
he found them all to be lacking. Solomon has
climbed the wrong peaks so you can climb the
right one. Fear God and keep His commandments.
I wonder how your view of Ecclesiastes has changed
after having studied it. Have you seen the wisdom?
Have you seen the joy? Have you seen the cautions
this book offers? Well today what I want you
to see is that Ecclesiastes speaks as the Word
of God and Ecclesiastes speaks of the meaning
of God. So the word of God today and the meaning
of God look at verses 9 through 12 to begin Throughout
history Really since this book was written the
the canonicity Its place in the Bible has been
questioned and because you have statements in
Ecclesiastes that saying things like well, don't
be too righteous and don't be too wise Head scratcher,
right? Or you have statements just like the mantra
throughout Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities,
all is vanity. You write things like that, you
put it into a book, and people question it. They
have serious questions. Should this be in the
Bible? Why is this here? But friends, chapter
12 is written in such a way as to have you know
that this is from God. Look at verse 9. Verse
9 shows us here that the preacher, and he's either
talking about himself in the third person or
perhaps some have suggested there's a narrator
here, but he shows us that he did not acquire
wisdom simply for himself. No. He acquired wisdom
in order to teach others. And one way he does
this is by studying Proverbs, the ESV says here.
He taught the people knowledge, weighing and
studying and arranging many Proverbs. Now, this
could refer to the book of Proverbs, the Proverbs
that are in that, but it could also refer to
other wisdom literature. Either way, what we
recognize about this teacher is that he's not
just a writer of wisdom literature, he's also
a student of wisdom literature. And his goal
was to put truth before the people. He sought
to find true words and he also sought to write
them. But sometimes those words can hurt. Look
at verse 11. The words of the wise are like goads.
Anybody here have sheep or cattle? I know a couple
of people, a couple of you do, right? Well, What
is a goat? A goat is like an ancient cattle prod,
like a large pointed stick or maybe a stick even
with some sort of a nail in the end of it that
you would use to get the animals to move in the
right direction. This sort of instrument works
because it hurts. Well, friends, if the words
of Ecclesiastes have hurt at times, if the words
of Ecclesiastes have stepped on your toes, as
some of you have said, That's intentional. In
some ways, commentators have said, Ecclesiastes
acts like the opposite of Psalm 23. You remember
Psalm 23, your rod and your staff, they comfort
me. Well, here we have in Ecclesiastes 12, not
the rod and staff that comfort, but the cattle
prod that hurts. But we need that painful instruction,
don't we at times? It is true the Lord disciplines
those he loves, but it's not just the prodding
that happens. Look at the other imagery that's
used here, like nails, firmly fixed. This might
be more accurately translated pegs or stakes.
Pegs are stakes that are driven in the ground
to hold something. Think of a tent. If you have
your tent and it's staked into the ground, even
when the wind comes, you'll be taken care of,
right? You'll be grounded in safety. And that's
what biblical instruction does. It keeps us grounded
in the truth. But friends, you gotta have the
truth, don't you? Because if you don't have the
right instruction, then you're inflicting pain
for no good reason. or you're being staked down,
nailed down into something that's not true. And
that's why the end of verse 11 is so critical.
Look there. The nails firmly fixed are the collected
sayings they are given by one shepherd. This
kind of phrasing of one shepherd, to the best
of my knowledge, is only used in three places.
in the Old Testament, one here and two in Ezekiel.
And in Ezekiel, what's going on when it talks
about this one shepherd is it is the Lord promising
to Israel a glorious future under one shepherd,
a king like David. Listen to this from Ezekiel
37. My servant David shall be king over them
and they shall have all one shepherd. My servant
David. shall be their prince forever. Now friends,
David was a fantastic king, but he wasn't king
forever. And so who is this one shepherd? Who
is this really talking about? Well, the New Testament
helps us with this because Jesus actually refers
to himself as the one shepherd. And he refers
to himself as the good shepherd. Jesus identifies
himself in these ways. And didn't Jesus in his
teaching ministry talk like this? Yes, he did.
Sometimes he used painful instruction as well,
like these goads that are mentioned. Jesus used
his words as goads when he told Peter, get behind
me, Satan. Or when he told the people, he called
the people, you brood of vipers. Or listen to
this, from Acts chapter 26, Acts chapter 26,
12 through 15, this is the apostle Paul speaking
of the time that he heard the words of Jesus.
In this connection, I journeyed to Damascus with
the authority and commission of the chief priests.
At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from
heaven brighter than the sun that shone around
me and those who journeyed with me. And when
we had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice
saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why
are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to
kick. against the goads. And I said, who are
you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom
you are persecuting. The goading words of Jesus
on the Damascus road turned Saul into Paul. The
goading words of Jesus turned the persecutor
into the preacher. Yes, it's true. The Lord disciplines
those he loves, and his word is truth. Well,
let me ask you, what kind of instruction, what
kind of wisdom, what kind of truth, if you can
have kinds of it, are you absorbing these days?
We live in the information age, don't we? I wonder
what Solomon would have thought of an Alexa.
What would Solomon think of AI? Friends, Christians,
be careful. of what you listen to. This instruction
here, if you can look at verse 12, my son, beware
of anything beyond these, of making many books,
there is no end. And much study is a weariness
of the flesh. Now students who are in school,
please don't quote this to your parents and say,
I don't need to study. It's not what's going
on here. I like what preacher, Douglas O'Donnell
said, what is required is not more books for
more study, but more obedience to what has already
been revealed. And what is revealed here, as
we move into verse 13, is of the utmost importance.
So look there. Again, kids, when you're in school,
you're learning to write. And your teacher might
be teaching you to write a paper and say that
in a paper you have a beginning, a middle, and
an end. And sometimes they'll tell you in the
end of the paper you should say something to
indicate this is the end. And so you say, in
summary or in conclusion. But then when you get
a little older, the teachers They tell you not
to do that anymore. It sounds mechanical. It
sounds fluid. Find a better way to say this.
Well, Solomon here, inspired by the Holy Spirit,
does not have a better way of saying this. He
wants you to know very clearly in black and white
the summary, the conclusion, the end of the matter.
And here it is, the big point. Fear God. and
keep his commandments. But what does it mean
to fear God? Well, it's a central concept of
wisdom literature that's expressed throughout
the Bible to fear God. It's a very big and important
phrase, and it's very hard to define. But we'll
try it anyway. To fear God is to believe in God
and in believing in God, recognizing who he is
and his holiness. Think about the Westminster
Shorter Catechism. As it asks the question, what
is God? And it answers, God is a spirit, infinite,
eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom,
power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
When we consider the fear of God and His holiness,
we should be like Isaiah. When Isaiah the prophet
was confronted with the holiness of God, he exclaimed,
woe is me, I am undone. We should have this trembling
reverence for God while also recognizing this
holy God, the creator of the universe, omniscient,
omnipotent, omnipresent, and immutable. He is
also love. And in His love and in His mercy,
He saves sinners through the life and the blood
of His own Son. recognizing what he does and
who he is should manifest itself in worship and
in holy living and in obedience and in loving
him with all of our hearts quite frankly the
fear of God should make us more like Jesus I
wonder if you've ever considered this passage
before in this way Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah
11, the beginning of it, is a text that is usually
quoted at Christmas time, and yet it speaks of
the fear of the Lord. Listen to this. There shall
come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and
a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. and
the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the
spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit
of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge
and the fear of the Lord, and his delight shall
be in the fear of the Lord. Friends, the fear
of Yahweh is Jesus's delight. Is it yours? Is
it yours? Do you fear God? I find that there
are some obstacles to us being able to rightly
fear God. I want to give you three of them. One
obstacle to the fear of God is our own sin. You
remember in the garden, Adam and Eve, they fell
into sin and they began to hide from God. Their
relationship with God was interrupted. It was
interfered with and our sin interferes with our
relationship with God. Friends, when we realize
how heinous our sin is and yet how holy God is,
we should fear Him. Hebrews 10 says, it's a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
And yet let's also acknowledge that this is true.
We. We're gonna either fear him as he intends
or we're gonna fear him on the last day. Preacher
Jeff Thomas said, a stranger to the fear of God
is a stranger to the living God himself. So our
first obstacle is our own sin. Secondly, though,
we fear the wrong things. President FDR famously
said, the only thing we have to fear is fear
itself. But friends, when we rightly fear God,
it puts all the other fears into place. Whether
you're scared of heights, whether you're afraid
of the dark, whether you fear losing a loved
one, whether you fear losing your job, whether
you fear losing your health, whether you fear
a stock market crash, whether you fear from a
scary movie or the fear from the loss of your
own reputation, many of us fear things rather
than fearing. and trusting God. And so that's
the second issue we have. But the third issue,
and I think it goes along with number one, is
perhaps the most saddening. We are cavalier about
God. We are cavalier about God. And what a foolish
thing that is. Modern culture tells you that
Jesus is your homeboy. and that the Old Testament
God is one of wrath and the New Testament God
is nothing more than a benevolent grandfather.
Friends, we need to have a better understanding
of who God is and a better understanding of what
God does. Think about all that God does throughout
the Bible that we can read about. We recognize
that God was able to speak the world into existence,
that He created all that there is. Our triune
God looked upon the wickedness of man and flooded
the entire world. Our triune God parted the waters
to deliver his people from slavery. Our triune
God provided bread from heaven and water from
a rock. Our triune God defeated enemy nations
along the way, slaying giants, speaking through
a donkey, closing the mouths of lions, and opening
the mouth of a great fish to swallow a prophet
and save him. Our triune God defeated enemy nations
along the way. He raised up the patriarchs and
the judges and the prophets and he used some
of the most unlikely men and women to accomplish
his purposes. And then just at the right time,
God sent forth his Son, born of a woman conceived
by the Holy Spirit. This son, Jesus, the second
person in the Trinity came to live and die in
our place. And as he was crucified, as he breathed
his last, the sky went pitch black and the sun
cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? And the curtain of the temple was torn in
two, an earthquake happened, tombs were opened,
bodies of the saints came out of the tombs, and
a Roman centurion watched all of this and he
said, truly. This was the son of God. And Matthew
27 says he was filled with awe, meaning in that
moment he feared God. Friends, to fear God is
to believe in God. And to rightly believe in
God is to believe in Christ. And to believe in
Christ is to know that he died in your place.
And knowing that he died in your place. It happens
at the cross. That's where the fear of God lies
at the cross. And such fear should produce within
us obedience. And so back to the text here as
I begin to wrap up, it says fear God, but it
also says this, keep his commandments. This is
reminiscent of Jesus telling his disciples. Why
do you call me Lord Lord and don't do what I
tell you it is an oxymoron To call Jesus your
Savior But not your Lord Keeping his commandments
is spoken in the same breath as fearing God and
so to disregard the Word of God is to disregard
God himself the one who fears God obeys God and
verse 14 says that every deed will be brought
into judgment Friends, God knows all, and every
single person will have to give an account for
their every thought, every word, and every deed.
And if I can show you as I conclude how important
this is, as if you couldn't see it already, hone
in here on the end of verse 13. The ESV, the
NIV, the NLT, the King James Version all render
this the whole duty of man. And the New American
Standard Bible says this applies to every person.
But friends, if you were to able to look at this
in the Hebrew, you would actually see there is
no word here for duty or responsibility. And
the Hebrew goes beyond saying this is just for
everyone. Literally, this says this is the all
of man. I like the new King James on this. It
says, fear God and keep his commandments for
this is man's all. You see, fearing God and keeping
his commandments, believing in God, it's not
firstly a duty or responsibility. It describes
who man is to be. We might say it like this,
to be a human being is to fear God and keep his
commandments. Note that I didn't say to be a
Christian is this, no. That wouldn't be going
far enough. To fear God is central to who we
are as people. To be alive ought to be to fear
God. Who we are as people made to fear God is
then not firstly about your responsibilities
or what you do. Fearing God is not firstly about
your church membership. It's not firstly about
your denomination, your attendance, your titles
within the church. Fearing God is not firstly
about how many years you spent teaching Sunday
school, how many years you spent singing in the
choir, or how many terms you served as an elder
or deacon. Fearing God rightly is not firstly
about how many mission trips you've gone on,
or how many hungry people you have fed. or how
much money you give away. Fearing God is not
firstly about how many systematic theology books
that you have read, which Bible reading plan
you choose, or your favorite Christian podcast.
It's not firstly where you went to Bible college
or which conferences you've been to or which
seminary you've been to. It isn't firstly about
how many sermons you've preached or lessons you
have taught. Listen. All of those things are
very good things and they might be part of your
fearing God. But those things are all fleeting
and those things can actually be done without
a heart for God. Sometimes friends, I think that
we like to substitute the fear of God for the
things that we do. And God is not impressed.
The fear of God. isn't firstly what you do. The
fear of God firstly is who you are. And what
you do flows from who you are. The keeping of
His commandments flows from your trembling reverence.
And so let me ask you, who are you? Who are you?
Are you a God -fearer? Are you in Christ? Or
are you not? The one who is in Christ gets the
meaning of life. But the one who is not has climbed
the wrong mountains. I hope you'll agree with
me. The message of Ecclesiastes is not about
meaninglessness. It's about how every single
thing in this life is meaningful. And the meaning
is this. Fear God and keep His commandments.
Because this is your all. Let me pray.