Read: Ecclesiastes 7:1-13
“These verses draw out the implications of life under the sun if God is not in the picture. But they also describe what life can look like for believers when they feel that God’s way with the world does not make sense and that life seems to be nothing more than pain and futility.”
Sermon Series: Ecclesiastes
Read: Ecclesiastes 6
“The Bible teaching is that the kind of happiness that we need is a happiness that comes from being right with God so that we can face the judgment of God without fear. It is a happiness that comes from being right with God. It is a happiness that comes from being in a harmonious relationship with God. And it is a happiness that comes from learning to live in harmony with God’s law which is the blue-print for a rich and satisfying life.”
Sermon Series: Ecclesiastes
“Jesus kept the Third Commandment perfectly. Not only did he not take the name of God in vain, he glorified that name. He did that by accomplishing the work that the Father had given him to do and he did that by making God’s name known to his followers. Jesus is the perfect model for us of what it means to keep the Third Commandment. But he also kept the Third Commandment in our place so that his perfect record of keeping also this commandment is imputed to us when we believe in Jesus.”
Sermon Series: The Ten Commandments
“And so, the third commandment, which requires that we only use God’s name with deep reverence and that every thought of God be a thought of worship and adoration, is rooted in what is truly and objectively the most important value in the world. This is why the world exists. This is why we exist. This is what we are for. Nothing exists for any other reason. And that means that dishonoring God is the essence of evil. The greatest possible evil that we can do is to dishonor God. And every other form of evil is the result of dishonoring God. This is not arbitrary. This is the nature of things. This is the nature of reality because reality is rooted in God himself who is ultimate reality.”
Sermon Series: The Ten Commandments
Read: Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
“So, the enjoyment of life that Ecclesiastes is speaking about in these verses is the enjoyment of life with its pleasures as a gift of God. It is the gift of God part that makes the difference between an empty life and a life of profound enjoyment. Then the foundation of the enjoyment is the generosity of God. The enjoyment is in the goodness of God as well as the pleasure in the gift. And because of that there is a contentment with one’s lot. One’s lot in life is a gift of God who distributes his gifts in love and wisdom.”
Sermon Series: Ecclesiastes
Read: Matthew 26:38-44
Read: Matthew 26:38-39
Read: Ecclesiastes 5:10-17
“It is very difficult for us to resist the temptation to put too much emphasis on money and the things money can buy. This text is telling us that this is not a satisfying way to live. It is telling us that loving money does not bring satisfaction. It is saying that loving money is vanity. It does not bring fulfillment. It is not a worthwhile way to live. This verse is calling us to think about our own lives in the light of this principle. The Lord here is calling us to examine whether we are guilty of loving money and things too much. He is calling us to think about how we are seeking for satisfaction in our lives. He is calling us to think about whether we are living for what is really worthwhile.”
Sermon Series: Ecclesiastes
Read: 1 Corinthians 15:1-23
“The resurrection of Jesus means that those who are united to him by faith are no longer in their sins. Jesus died the death we deserve to die and having done that, death could no longer hold him – it had been conquered – for him and for us.”
Read: John 19:17-30
Text: Verses 28-30
“All of these passages which show the different ways that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures do not only give us insight into the meaning of Jesus and his death, they also give us insight into the meaning of history itself. These connections to the Old Testament all are making the point that history is the unfolding of God’s plan that is centered on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.”
