Ecclesiastes 12:1–14
First half of the sermon text. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, followed by one of the most haunting descriptions of aging ever written.
The Teacher describes a body wearing out. Who is he speaking to, and why them?
The conclusion of the whole book, and the only place the Teacher tells you plainly what to do about any of it.
Verse 13 begins “when all has been heard.” What two things does he say it all comes down to?
Fear God and keep his commands. The Teacher’s conclusion is not a new idea. It is the oldest instruction Israel had.
Israel had this from the start. Why does it take twelve chapters to arrive somewhere that was always available?
God will bring every act to judgment, says 12:14. Paul says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, then explains how to live unafraid of it.
Every hidden thing brought into judgment — does that read as threat or as comfort? Be honest about why.
Read the beginning and the end side by side and watch the book close its own circle. Then let Paul finish the sentence: your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Pray 1 Corinthians 15:58 and name the labor you are asking God to hold.
What are the Marks and the 3 Circles?
The Marks of a Disciple
Each week names one of these — the practices we are cultivating in each other.
- Daily Devotion
- Time with God every day, in the Bible and in prayer.
- Prayer
- Not only a set appointment, but a life of prayer at any hour, for anything.
- Generosity
- Giving your effort and your resources to this church and to God’s kingdom.
- Service
- Giving your time and talent to the church and its mission in the community.
- Witness
- Seeking people far from God and telling them about Jesus and about your own finding of him.
- Worship
- Weekly praise together, and a life presented daily to God’s service.
- Spiritual Disciplines
- Fasting, solitude, study, sabbath — the old practices of the faith.
The 3 Circles
How we tell someone about Jesus — simple enough to draw on a napkin. Each week names the part of it that week’s reading sits in.
- God’s Design
- The world and your life as God made them to be.
- Sin
- The arrow out. We each go our own way instead.
- Brokenness
- Where that leaves us. Ecclesiastes spends most of twelve chapters here.
- Repent & Believe
- Turning from our own way and trusting what Jesus did.
- Gospel
- Jesus lived the life we could not and died the death we deserved.
- Recover & Pursue
- The way back toward the life God designed.