Lesson 24 – Seeking God…Finding Happiness – Fear God and Keep His Commandments

Brian K. DavisFebruary 22, 2012

Seeking AnswersA Study in Ecclesiastes

A Life Worth Living is a Life Lived with a Proper Perspective

Living life for the here and now – one has his reward

We cannot find real satisfaction and joy apart from God

…with anything other than God Himself

Living life with an eternal view – one has a great reward

We cannot fill the God-shaped void in life…

Fear God - Fills the Emptiness in Man’s Life and Directs Him to Satisfaction and Joy

• v13 – ‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:’ - the word ‘conclusion’ means literally ‘the sum of all’

• The Author’s Theme – “All is Vanity” is now underscored with “Fear God”

• Fear God is to have respect, reverence, be in awe of or be in dread of

• Consider Solomon as the Speaker:1) Wealth, fortune and fame were his2) King of the land – Power and prestige

were his3) Pleasure and comfort were his4) God-given human wisdom was his5) Respect from those listening to his

sermon was his

• Yet, his life’s balance sheet when summed was – “Fear God and Keep His Commandments”

Life’s Balance Sheet

1) Man’s advantages 1:3; 2:11; 3:9; 5:162) The desire to learn all things 1:13; 2:23; 26; 3:103) Excessive wisdom 1:18; 2:15; 7:164) Pursuit of pleasure 2:1; 7:4; 8:15; 10:165) Mirth 2:2; 7:2-56) Increase of earthly possessions 2:4-9; 6:2; 5:117) Personal accomplishments 2:11, 17, 18, 208) Living only for tomorrow 3:22; 2:18; 6:12; 8:7; 10:149) Envy, rivalry 4:410) Laziness 4:5, 6; 10:18

11) Greed 4:8; 1:8; 5:10, 13; 8:13, 1712) Hypocritical worship 5:1-613) Discontentment 6:2-3; 7:10, 11:914) Self righteousness 7:16-1815) Sexual immorality 7:26, 2916) Lawlessness 8:3-417) Self-deceit 8:11; 9:318) Wicked oppression 8:12-1319) Identity with evil 9:18; 10:120) Intellectual pride 10:10, 12-1421) Self-reliance 11:1-622) Youth spent without God 12:1

MEANINGLESS

FEAR GOD

Keep His Commandments – Gives Man Meaningful Work in Life

• Fear God and Keep His Commandments are inseparable – Guard our Actions!

• Ecclesiastes does not delineate the specifics of correct behavior, it does press hard toward the correct road – Life is a journey of Faith!

• It motivates toward this conclusion by demonstrating the foolishness of searching in areas where God has not hidden the answers

• Ecclesiastes proves the emptiness of life apart from God, but it also demands that one fill the void of his life with the activity of doing the will of God

• Consider Psalm 19:7-11

FEAR GOD

Life’s Reward is Determined By God

… God is the Creator (Cf. 12:1; 7: 13-14; 7:29; 8:15; 11:5; 12:7)the One worshiped (Cf. 5:1, 2, 4, 6, 7; 8:2)the One who permits man’s enjoyment (Cf. 9:7) the One who knows the end from the beginning (Cf. 3:11, 15) the One who has placed the desire to know in the heart of man (Cf. 3: 10)the One who supplies food, and water, and gives His approval of labors (Cf. 2:24; 3:13; 5: 18-20)the One who works that men will fear Him (Cf. 3:14)the One who is the final judge of all men (Cf. 3:17; 11:9; 12:14) the One who proves that man is different from beasts (Cf. 3:18)the One who blesses the godly (Cf. 7:18)the One who delivers the godly from sin (Cf. 7:26)the One who is the author of the words of life (Cf. 12:11)

• God will hold us accountable for our actions – whether they are good or evil

• We should keep our heart’s pure! – Every secret thing will be judged – Why? Because…