Finding Peace

1) Peace is paid for: joyfully unite (v2-5a)

Eph 3:14:

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

Tim Keller:

“Sisters, remember where you’re from. You’re citizens of heaven. Remember where you’re going, the glory. Realize and remember what Christ has done so this could be true. If your minds are filled with that, where’s the pettiness coming from? How could there be divisiveness in the presence of those ideas. If you think about that, how could you be petty? How could you be divisive? How the moroseness? Lift up your thoughts,” he says. “Lift up your eyes. You’re not seeing the big picture. That’s the only possible way you could be so upset with each other.”

2) The Peace of god is near: don’t be anxious. pray. (v5b-7)

D.E. Garland:

The anxiety Paul warns against is the kind that unhinges, paralyzes, and incapacitates one—“anxious, harassing care”. Paul is not calling for them to be indifferent toward life. The root idea of the verb “to be anxious” (merimnaō) is “to be pulled apart.”

Martin Luther:

“You cannot keep birds from flying over your head

but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair”

-

Michael Hugh:

The way to be anxious about nothing is to be prayerful about everything

3) The God of peace is here: IMMERSE YOURSELF (v8-9)

TITLE – The End of the Matter

TEXT – Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

The words of Ecclesiastes, & all of God’s Word is given to us …

1 – FOR OUR DELIGHT – V.9-10

David Gibson – “It is a sad irony that many find Ecclesiastes to be a gloomy and pessimistic book, or are left unable to make any sense of it, when it was actually written to bring us pleasure.”

Psalm 40:8 – “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

Jeremiah 15:16 – “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart…”

Psalm 119:16 – “I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”

Psalm 119:47 – “…for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.”

John 15:10-11 - “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

2 – FOR OUR DIRECTION – V.11-14

TITLE – Facing the Facts & Finding Hope

TEXT – Ecclesiastes 9:1-10

Facing the facts…

1 – LIFE IS RANDOM BUT GOD IS SOVEREIGN – V.1-6

Warren Wiersbe – “While it’s generally true that the fastest runners win the races, the strongest soldiers win the battles, and the smartest and most skillful workers win the best jobs, it is also true that these same gifted people can fail miserably because of factors outside of their control. The successful person knows how to make the most of “time and procedure” but only the Lord can control “time and chance”.

ESV Study Bible – “No one knows whether a person’s life in this world will be pleasant or difficult, regardless of whether the person is righteous or wicked. Nevertheless, in spite of this apparent ‘randomness’ one can be assured that the godly person is in the hand of God.”

2 – DEATH IS CERTAIN BUT CHRIST IS RISEN – V.2-3, 7-10

TITLE – How to live better

TEXT – Ecclesiastes 7:1-9

How to live better…by understanding that:

1 – SORROW IS BETTER THAN LAUGHTER – V.1-4

2 – A REBUKE IS BETTER THAN FLATTERY – V.5-6

Proverbs 27:6 – “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”

3 – PATIENCE IS BETTER THAN PRIDE – V.7-9

TITLE – Wisdom for our Worship

TEXT – Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

The Westminster Catechism - – “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”

Matt Papa – “We exist to celebrate, admire, hide in, and confide in something greater than ourselves. Someone stronger than ourselves. Look around the world. We love to praise athletes, musicians and actors who seem larger than life. The fact is, they are not, but we love to make them larger than life. And we get disappointed when they appear human. Why? Because we were made for a God who is larger than life. We were made to admire His power.”

William MacDonald – “Man is instinctively religious, but that is not necessarily good. In fact, it may be positively bad. His very religiosity may hide from him his need of salvation as a free gift of God’s grace. In addition, mans own religion may be nothing more than a charade, an outward show without inward reality.”

Wisdom for our Worship…

1 – LISTEN CAREFULLY – V.1-3

2 – SPEAK AUTHENTICALLY – V.4-7

TITLE – Better Together

TEXT – Ecclesiastes 4

The condition of being alone is widespread in the world for at least 5 reasons…BECAUSE OF:

1 – THE REALITY OF OPPRESSION – V.1-3

2 – THE HYPOCRISY OF ENVY – V.4

3 – THE TRAGEDY OF BEING LAZY – V.5

David Gibson – “Laziness is a way of hating your neighbors. You have nothing to give them. … Instead of embracing life and giving himself to others, the sluggard gives himself to himself, so in the end all that he has left is himself. Now you’ve never seen a lazy person actually eat himself, but you might have seen a lazy person erode his self-control and capacity for care and, in the end erase even his self-respect. They ruin themselves.”

4 – THE FUTILITY OF BEING GREEDY – V.6

5 – THE FOLLY OF AN UNBIBLICAL MENTALITY – V. 7-16

TITLE – Thinking Clearly About Time

TEXT – Ecclesiastes 3

Our times & seasons are:

1 – FILLED WITH COMPLEXITY – V.1-10

2 – UNDER GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY – V.11-22

David Gibson – “…now the Preacher adds a wonderful perspective, and it’s one we’re meant to have with us as we read the rest of the book: the times of my life are not the only times there are.”

David Gibson – “There is a time to be born and a time to die and there is a time for judgment.”

David Gibson – “Living well in God’s world means recognizing that when it comes to our own lives, we are not mini-gods, and this is his creation, not ours. We have all the pieces of our life given to us, and things come and go and seasons change, and it is only God who knows exactly where everything is meant to go, in which order, at what time, and why.”…& one day, the small, tiny piece of the puzzle which is your life will make sense in the grand scheme of God’s good & Sovereign plan.”

TITLE – The Pursuit of Happiness, the Problem of Death & the Potential for Joy

TEXT – Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26

Today we are confronted with:

1 – THE EMPTY PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS – CH. 1:12-2:11

Four ways we try to find happiness & meaning in our lives… through:

1A. Wisdom & Knowledge – Chapter 1:16-17

1B. Pleasure & Fun – Chapter 2:1-3

1C. Work & Accomplishments – Chapter 2:4-6

David Gibson – “He discovered that although we pursue happiness in every corner of our lives, in the same corner lurks the darkness of diminishing returns. In the end, achievements and pleasures do not last. Happiness is a vanishing vapor.”

1D. Money & Possessions – Chapter 2:7-8

2 – THE UNIVERSAL PROBLEM OF DEATH – CH.2:14-16

3 – THE BEAUTIFUL POTENTIAL FOR JOY – 2:24-25

Title: Thats a good word about wisdom

Text: James 3:13-18

Big Take Away: True wisdom is revealed in the things that we do

1. True wisdom acts in a certain way

- 1 Peter 2:12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

10 ways we can live with good conduct

(List derived from “A Letter to Diognetus”, Chapter 5: The Conduct of the Christians) 1. By storing up treasure in heaven

2. By being invested in the good of the city around us

3. By loving our children and considering them a blessing

4. By being hospitable to others

5. By being faithful in our marriages

6. By obeying the law of the land - through obedience to God

7. By loving our neighbours

8. By being content with little

9. By responding to insult with honour, patience, and prayer

10. By being patient and joyful in hardship

- James 1:21 - Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

- This Christian meekness, or humility, comes from understanding our position as sinful creatures in relationship to the glorious and majestic God. It recognizes how unable we are in and of ourselves to achieve spiritual fulfillment or to chart our own course in the world. And this humility before God should then translate into humility towards others. - Douglas Moo

- 1 Corinthians 15:10 - But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

2. True wisdom brings certain results

False wisdom is…

1. earthly - isn’t concerned about the things of God or his will and purposes (Phil. 3:19) 2. unspiritual - ruled by human reasoning and human feeling (Jude 19)

3. demonic - from the devil - in conflict with the purposes and people of God (Eph. 2:2)

- Philippians 2:3 - Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

- Ephesians 2:14 - For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

True wisdom is…

1. Pure

a. Peaceable - peace making

b. Gentle - not imposing strict measures on others

c. Open to reason - a willingness to yield to others, to be persuaded

d. Full of mercy and good fruit - a love for neighbour displayed in practical action e. Impartial - fair treatment of others

f. Sincere - transparent and consistent in character

- Galatians 5:22–24 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

- James 1:5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Together on the same slide:

- 1 Corinthians 1:24 - …Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

- Colossians 2:2-3 - …Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

- Ephesians 3:10 - so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

TITLE – Real Talk for Real Life

TEXT – Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

Real Talk for Real Life:

1 – LIFE IS SHORT & ELUSIVE: YOU CANNOT MASTER IT – V.1-3

Psalm 39:5 says – “Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath (hevel)!”

Psalm 144:4 says – “Man is like a breath (hevel); his days are like a passing shadow.”

David Gibson – When we consider the brevity of our lives set against the millennia of the earth, we know that what the Preacher says is true. Except, of course, in everyday life we pretend it isn’t. We imagine we will live forever, or at the very least that someone else will get cancer, not us. We think our lives are built with granite, not sand. We pretend we’re in control.”

2 – LIFE IS CYCLICAL & REPETITIVE: YOU CANNOT BE SATISFIED BY IT – V.4-10

David Gibson – “The Preacher’s perspective is this: humans long to come across something in their lives that will break the constant repetitive cycle, something to say or see or hear that will be truly new and therefore significant – but there is nothing. No such thing exists.”

3 – DEATH IS INEVITABLE & IMMINENT: LIVE WELL BY ACCEPTING IT – V.11