Lesson 24 – Seeking God…Finding Happiness – Fear God and Keep His Commandments Brian K. Davis February 22, 2012 Seeking Answers A 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 his 2)King of the land – Power and prestige were his 3)Pleasure and comfort were his 4)God-given human wisdom was his 5)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; 5:16 2) The desire to learn all things 1:13; 2:23; 26; 3:10 3) Excessive wisdom 1:18; 2:15; 7:16 4) Pursuit of pleasure 2:1; 7:4; 8:15; 10:16 5) Mirth 2:2; 7:2-5 6) Increase of earthly possessions 2:4-9; 6:2; 5:11 7) Personal accomplishments 2:11, 17, 18, 20 8) Living only for tomorrow 3:22; 2:18; 6:12; 8:7; 10:14 9) Envy, rivalry 4:4 10) Laziness 4:5, 6; 10:18 11) Greed 4:8; 1:8; 5:10, 13; 8:13, 17 12) Hypocritical worship 5:1-6 13) Discontentment 6:2-3; 7:10, 11:9 14) Self righteousness 7: ) Sexual immorality 7:26, 29 16) Lawlessness 8:3-4 17) Self-deceit 8:11; 9:3 18) Wicked oppression 8: ) Identity with evil 9:18; 10:1 20) Intellectual pride 10:10, ) Self-reliance 11:1-6 22) Youth spent without God 12:1 MEANINGLESS

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

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…