All right, let's read. Verse
7. Truly the light is sweet, and
a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. But if
a man live many years and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember
the days of darkness, for they shall be many, all that cometh
is vanity. Rejoice, O young man, in thy
youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth,
and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the light of thine
eyes. But know thou that for all these
things God shall bring thee into judgment. Therefore, remove sorrow
from thy heart, put away evil from thy flesh, for childhood
and youth are vanity. Remember now thy Creator in the
days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years
draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them, while
the moon or the light while the sun or the light or the moon
or the stars be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the
rain. Now watch. In the day when the
keepers of the house shall tremble, the strong men shall bow themselves,
the grinders shall cease, because they are few, those that look
out of the window be darkened. and the doors be shut in the
streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall
rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music
shall be brought low. When thou shalt be afraid of
that which is high, and fear shall be in the way, and the
almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden,
and desire shall fail, because man goes to his long home, and
the mourners go about the street. Or ever the silver cord be loosed,
or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the
fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the
dust return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit shall return
unto God who gave it." What an unusual passage of Scripture. Solomon has given us three books
in our Old Testament. Number one, of course, Proverbs. a collection of wise and of good
say. Consider 1 Kings 4, verses 29-34,
where Solomon asked for the wisdom of God that he might go in and
out among the people. Then he has given us the book
that we read from this morning, the book of Ecclesiastes, and
it contains a sermon. Thirdly, of course, He has given
us the Song of Solomon, the Song of Songs, as it is called, chapter
1 and verse 1, and sets forth a type of Christ and of His Bride. Now, excuse me, the Lord confirms
and commends the wisdom of Solomon in Luke chapter 11 and verse
31, albeit our Lord is a very much greater one than Solomon. But our attention this morning,
for the present, is focused upon this book of Ecclesiastes, which
may truly be considered as one of the great unusual writings
and unique passages of the Scripture when we lay it side by side with
the other writings of the Word of God. Now, obviously, any believing
that this is not the Word of God would not be trying to preach
a sermon from this passage of the Scripture. Let me explain. The name Ecclesiastes is the
name that is used in the Greek translation called the Septuagint,
which was used in the time of Christ and the Apostle. The Hebrew
had been translated into the Greek. Most agree that the word
or the name Ecclesiastes signifies the preacher, saying that the
word actually has the meaning and refers to one who assembles
a congregation together in order that he might speak unto them
and convey information unto them, as for example, back in chapter
1 and verse 12 through verse 17. And in 1 Kings 3 verses 5
through 15, there you have the record of Solomon asking God
for wisdom. as a king, that he might go in
and out before the people, that he might wisely judge and lead
them. So Solomon calls himself the
preacher, and in this book is the timely message of that preacher. His subject is given early in
the discourse. The subject of the sermon is,
all is vanity. By that he means, all is vain
as to bringing any lasting happiness and contentment and eternal life
and the true fulfillment is only to be found in fearing and in
serving the Almighty God. And he never strays throughout
the book from that intended message and that focus. Chapter 1 and
verse 2. Vanity of vanity, says the preacher. Vanity of vanity. All is vanity. I was reading one commentator
who said that he counted in the book of Ecclesiastes that this
formula is used some twenty times in this book alone. Vanity of
vanity, all is vanity. Not only so, but Solomon speaks
from personal, first-hand experience. As in chapter 1, verse 13 through
verse 18, he had made a diligent search of all things that he
found under heaven. Such things as these. Chapter
2, verse 1 and 2, he tried mirth and pleasure. He tried laughter. He tried a joyful spirit. Chapter 2, verse 3, at one time
he gave himself to wine, to drink, to see if that would be satisfying
in life. Then in chapter 2, verses 4 through
10, there are various pursuits that he went after. For example,
he had houses, vineyards, gardens, orchards, trees all about the
place. water pools, servants as many
as he needed. He had cattle, he had silver,
and he had gold. And he culminates and sums it
up in verse 10. Whatever my eyes desired, I kept
not from them. and denied his heart not a single
joy that he had craved. Then he realized, as expressed
in chapter 2, verse 18 through verse 21, all that he had labored
to acquire, all of his property that he had gained, all of his
money, all of his wealth, everything that he had in this world, would
someday pass into the possession of another and he wondered will
he manage it wisely or will he lose it like a fool. Another would someday have all
that he had gained. Another would someday have access
and have say over all that he owned, all that he had gotten
by his labor, by skill and such like, and he labeled this as
a vanity. Thus, before we settle into our
present text, this contrasts the opening of the book of Ecclesiastes
with the closing of the book. It opens this way. Vanity of
vanity, all is vanity. Now, Ralph Wardlaw, in his commentary
on Ecclesiastes, wrote that Solomon illustrates from both his experience
and observation. He is speaking from the standpoint
of both. Now, I have no doubt from what
Solomon writes, what he says here, that today Solomon would
be diagnosed as a very depressed man with low self-esteem. perhaps bipolar, given some kind
of anti-depression medication for his condition. Just because
he saw things as they really and actually are in the world. Just because he took a realistic
view of life. Just because he weighed all things
in the scale of the spiritual view of life and of God. Then fast forward, if you will,
to the closing application and observation found in chapter
12 and the last two verses. Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandment,
for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every
work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good
or whether it be evil. Now, the verses that we deal
with, two phrases come before us. Two phases of life. Young and old, in the passage
that we read. Young and advanced age. And he says there, those who
are yet young and yet strong and are pursuing their ambition
and they're counting on a long and a fulfilling life. They're
making plans for the future, for tomorrow, next week, and
next month, and living life unto its fullest. They're getting
all out of it that they can. And then Solomon writes, on the
other hand, of those of age, and he speaks of their infirmity,
and eventually their exodus from this house or tabernacle of clay."
Notice that Solomon is drawing, I'm going to call it this, this
distressing disclosure unto a close, and also he does so by admonishing
his readers what he calls in chapter 7 and verse 2. Watch
out for this, he said, the end of all men. This is the end of
all men. He spoke in chapter 12 and verse
5 of his long home. He spoke in chapter 3 and verse
19, that which befalls the sons of men also befalls the beast. That they have this one certain
thing in common. and that the body goes back to
the clay as dust and the spirit unto God that gave it. And in
Ecclesiastes chapter 3, 18 through 21, he holds before everyone
the certainty of death. the finality of an earthly existence
is brought up. And oh, by the way, Solomon mingles
in his preaching reminders of the coming judgment of God. Live out this life, then one
must face God in judgment. Reminders of judgment. He does
that. Chapter 3, verse 17. Chapter
11 and verse 9. Chapter 12 and verse 4. He reminds
us very clearly that God will bring all before
His judgment bar, that all who pass this way, that all who live
in this life must then stand before the judgment bar of God. Even as Paul said in Romans 14,
verse 10 and again in verse 12, we shall all stand before the
judgment and give an account of himself to God. Now, for our
text, let us consider the counsel of God through Solomon. First
of all, unto the young. Looking there in chapter 11,
verse 9 and 10, Most expositors are agreed that
Solomon is using what Matthew Henry, John Gill, and others
call, quote, ironical concession, unquote. In other words, here
is a warning that is couched in biting irony. And this seems
to be the case as we come to what is written in the end of
verse 9 and in verse 10 and verse 1 of chapter 12 that Solomon
is indeed using irony. Now if you have any wonder, We
find other biting ironies and sarcasm that are spoken in the
Scripture. For example, take the words of
Micaiah, the prophet of God, to Ahab, found in 1 Kings 22
and verse 15. Micaiah the prophet says to Ahab,
yeah, go on to battle. Go on and you will prosper. For the Lord shall deliver it
into your hand, when in fact Ahab stood under a sentence of
death through the prophet Elijah. I Kings 21 verse 19. Shortly after, Micaiah the prophet
tells Ahab that he would be killed in the battle and that his armies
would be scattered. So Micaiah gives the king the
same answer as do all of the false prophets. Yes, go and prosper. Yes, go. God is with you and
will bless you with a victory. But as Matthew Henry noted on
this particular place, the prophet certainly spoke ironically. And Gil wrote that he spoke to
Ahab, not seriously, but by way of derision, taking up the words
of the false prophet in order to banter them. For he could
see that Ahab really wanted to go and all the ministerial ministerial
alliance, had endorsed the plan of the king Ahab and they gave
their blessing. And if I may make a long story
short, Ahab was killed in that battle in accord with Micaiah's
words and contrary to the assurances of the ministerial alliance in
that day. Now, pardon a short digression. But even so, Solomon here, as
Ralph Wardlow said, wrote on Ecclesiastes chapter 11 and verse
9, quote, the language is that of serious and awakening irony,
unquote. And it is in direct contrast
under the true admonition given unto the young in chapter 12
and verse 1. Remember your Creator in the
days of your youth. There is an old saying, rather
an old adage, maybe you have heard it, And it goes something
like this. Youth for pleasure, age for business,
old age for religion. Paul warns Timothy against what
he calls youthful lust in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 22. Solomon does
the same thing in chapter 1 through chapter 8. of the book of Ecclesiastes. Now, let me emphasize it by renewing
a comparison. As Micaiah the prophet said to
Ahab, go fight your war. Form an alliance. Form a united
nation. Attack an enemy. Trust in your
soldiers. Apply your wiles and your strategy,
but it will result in your debt. Go ahead and do it. Go ahead
and go to battle, but it will result in your debt. So Solomon
here is saying unto the young, rejoice in your youth, Let your
heart bring you joy while you are young. Do all of your heart's
desire. Go wherever your eyes may lead
you. Take your fill of worldly and
youthful pleasure. Then, in the end of chapter 11
and verse 9, but know this. that for all of these God will
bring you into judgment. Look again at chapter 12 and
verse 14. God shall bring every work into
judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil. Now,
let's consider a point that is obvious unto all, and that is
that it is, for the most part, not the case that the young dwell
at any length on what Solomon calls days of darkness. They just don't dwell on it.
They don't give much thought to it. They don't give much consideration
to days of darkness, chapter 11 and verse 8. or upon what
he styles in chapter 12 and verse 1, the evil days. The young don't
think that far ahead and they don't think much upon it. Little
or seldom do their thoughts dwell upon these things or upon old
age. or upon death, or upon eternity,
or upon judgment. Human nature, you see, comes
from the womb defiled, and the first sort of manifestation of
it is that one of depravity. And the tendency of fallen nature
is to forget God and go one's own way and live a life of self-enjoyment
and self-indulgence. As one put it, of all the seasons
of life, youth is the time when it is best to consider the evil
days that come, but when they are less considered in the evil
days. At that time, the heart and the
thought are set upon the pleasures of the world. Gratifying pleasures. A carefree life without much
trouble. Fun. Excitement. The latest fad. Hanging out with
friends. Must see, just must see, the
latest movie. Gotta have that new CD that's
been released by my favorite singers. I'll camp out all night
in front of a market to buy $300 shoes made in Bangladesh or purchase
the latest updated electronic gadget made yonder in China. Camp out all night to get tickets
to the concert of the light-crushed doughboys who are coming into
town. Shopping, mauling, partying,
all of that is in the mind of the young. Now, I want you to
think a minute. Look around today. Look how few
young people there are that go to church. Look how few young
people there are who have never been to church, unless it was
for a wedding or a funeral. And of the youth who do go to
church, most of them prefer to attend where the flesh is entertained,
where there is fun and frivolity, where there is no mention of
sin, where there is a humorous and light-hearted pep rally approach
unto the gospel and the things of God. where another gospel,
another Christ are preached, the so-called gospel of Arminianism,
which is nothing in the final end but religious humanism. Let them heed the warning. Everyone
must stand before God. He is the judge of all of the
earth. Genesis 18 and verse 25. Remember, my young friend, God
will have the last word. God will pass the final sentence. One cannot frees themselves in
you. Time marches on step after step. Now, coming to chapter 12 and
verse 1, there's no break in the flow of thought here from
chapter to chapter. He still is speaking unto the
young, exhorting them to remember their Creator in the days of
their youth. Now, a couple of things here
before we move along for us to notice. Number one, the word
remember. Remember thy Creator. This has the same force as the
admonition to the Jew. Remember the Sabbath day. And it stands opposite to forgetting
God. To forget God is to ignore God
and to live and to be irreligious. To remember is to mark him as
the worthy one. It amounts to an exhortation
unto piety, to mark so as to be mindful of God and to serve
him. Remember thy Creator in the days
of thy youth. Now, the second thing that we
want to notice are the two words, thy creator. You are not a product of evolution,
no matter what you have been taught. You are not the nearest
of kin unto a monkey or an ape. Don't buy into the big lie of
evolution, which is the world's biggest fraud, that you have
neither soul nor life or expect a sovereign God to have anything
to do with your life. It is He that hath made us and
not we ourselves. Psalm 100 and verse 3. It is He that gives to all life
and breath and all things. Acts 17. And verse 25, God gave
you your life, young person, and he can end it at his pleasure,
and there will be a judgment at the end of life. But notice, Solomon enforces
His exhortation to the young to remember their Creator in
their youth or in their earlier days by setting before them what
awaits them when their days have flown past them faster than a
weaver's shuttle, as we read in the book of Job chapter 7
and verse 6, my days have gone by swifter than the weaver's
shuttle, and are spent, he said, without hope. Now, this is now
the second time that Solomon says something to that effect. Back in chapter 11, And verse
8, you remember what we read in that place? For they shall
be many, the days of darkness, and they will come. Chapter 12,
verse 1. There it is again. The evil days
shall come. Days of darkness will arrive. Evil days will come. And they
will be many. And they will be pleasureless. They will hold no delight, nothing
to look forward to, no excitement on the morrow when the only plan
is a doctor's appointment. About the only thing we have
planned this coming week is a doctor's appointment. If life has been
good, and if even by human standards, It has been long, yet let us
remember that dark days will come, that vanity is in the future,
when even if one trouble clears up, we can count that another
will come in its place. One storm may pass over and go
by, but another one will erupt. Charles Bridges wrote on this
section of Ecclesiastes, old age with all of its strain and
retinue of weaknesses and infirmities will come, unquote. This is well
shown forth in an incident, very interesting, in 2 Samuel chapter
19. Maybe you don't remember reading
this, or don't remember a man by the name of Barzelei, a Gileadite,
a very old man. And he had befriended David when
he had fled, He had provided the King David with sustenance
while he was there. And when David went to return
again unto Jerusalem, he would repay the old man's kindness
and generosity by bringing him to Jerusalem to live under David's
roof and kind of make him an assistant and an advisor unto
David. And the old man turned to the
king down on this ground. He turned him down. Verse 34,
verse 35 of that chapter, quote, How long have I to live? I'm an 80-year-old man, and can
I discern between good and evil? Can I taste what I eat or what
I drink? Can I hear any more the voices
of men and of women singing. Why should such a one be a burden
unto the king?" There's one man's bird's eye view of his old age. Just an example, food that used
to taste sumptuous and delicious now tastes like cardboard. Music
that used to sound angelic and sweet is just now nerve-wracking
noise, if it can be heard at all in the ear. A sharp mind
is gone and one is now dull and sluggish. Youthful vitality has
been ravaged by the years of age. It happens to the sinner. It happens to the saint. It happens
to the king. It happens to the citizen. It
comes to the rich. It comes to the poor. It comes
to the famous. And it comes to the unknown.
We see that all about us. I want to be a smart aleck for
a minute. I want you to try something.
I want you to look at a picture of you just ten years ago. Take out a picture of you ten
years ago and see if you can recognize any change in that. Now some might hear me talk like
this. And think of Moses. Moses as an exception to what
Solomon is putting forth here. For in Deuteronomy 34 and verse
7, he lived to be 120 years old, his eye was not dim, his natural
strength or force was not abated or was gone. But, I say, who
denied but that this is a sovereign exemption made by the Almighty
God, just as it is appointed unto man once to die, in Hebrews
9, in verse 28, but Enoch and Elijah were exception to that
general rule and they leaped over the grave and went to heaven
without dying. But as you know, science now
is feverishly working on things that will slow the aging process. People are spending literally
millions of dollars, especially women, on products that will
stop their aging and make the skin look younger, creams that
get rid of wrinkles and of crow's feet, and having facelifts and
tummy tucks and plastic surgery and lasers to remove unsightly
blemishes. Others try to dodge the grim
reaper by eating right and exercising properly. Let's go back to our
figure in chapter 12, verses 3 through 7. Solomon, using figures
that were well known and often seen in his day and his time,
draws the young person enjoying their life a picture of what
will come upon them in due time. He says unto them, They will
not always stay young. They will not always be young.
They will not always be strong. and energetic. And if you look
at this passage, you see that there are two very expressive
figures that are applied here in this place. Number one, that
of a house growing old. Is there a sadder sight? Perhaps a house you used to live
in, of a raised in, and go back and see it 50 years later. the
roof is caved in, the walls are vanishing. But the second emblem
is that of a fountain or a cistern that has fallen into disrepair. Age, time, years, weather, neglect,
misuse, perhaps, all of these contributing factors in the deterioration
of the two once usable facilities, the house and the cistern. Now, especially in the context,
age, time, years, they just wear out. They just begin to lose
their usefulness and they cease to function. And most expositors,
you will find, are agreed that the metaphors here that we have,
the keepers of the house, the grinders, those that look out
of the window, are references, the house is the body, the earthen
vessel, 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 1. What Paul calls in 2 Corinthians
5 and verse 1, our earthly house of this tabernacle or dwelling
place. while in Job 4.19 refers to them
that dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust. And then look further, the keepers
of the house in verse 3, the hand and the arms, the defender
of the houses. that give it food, that give
it water, that are most useful to the body in its function and
operation. And yet, with time, they become
weak and shaky and frail. Then look what he said, and the
strong men bow themselves. That is, the back, the knee,
the legs, once strong, the limbs of support of the body, become
bold and frail and weak and bent, and unable to give support to
the bodily frame as they once did. They can no longer lift
or carry, once tall and strong, then becoming weak with the ravages
of passing time and of the years. Again, the grinders cease because
they are few, is a reference, no doubt, unto the teeth affecting
the eating so that certain foods can no longer be chewed and enjoyed. Those that look out of the window
of the houses are darkened, the eyes, no doubt, dimmed with age. In fact, this is a common affliction
of age. Consider Genesis 27, when Isaac
was old, his sight was so bad that he could not discern between
one son and the other. It happened at Jacob in chapter
48 and verse 10 of Genesis. The same with Eli the priest
in 1 Samuel 3 and verse 2 and 1 Kings 14 and verse 4. James MacDonald, in his commentary
on Ecclesiastes, wrote this at verse 3 of chapter 12, and I
quote, this verse is descriptive of those physical decays which
come upon the body in old age, unquote. Maybe you've heard Brother
Wheeler and I have a saying, getting old ain't for sissies,
ain't for sissies at all. Look around, young folks. Look
around you, you that are young and strong. Look at your parents
entering in and becoming aged. Look at your grandparents. Look
at your aunt and your uncle that used to be strong and used to
work hard. Look at verse 4 and 5 of chapter
12. It describes there other maladies
of old age. Then look at verse 6. It likens
old age to a broken fountain or cistern, a sight often seen
and sad, I may say. To go back to the old home place,
and see the old well fallen into disrepair, to see that the well
curbing has rotted and has fallen in, to see that the pitcher is
broken, the wheel or the pulley is frozen now with rust, the
draw rope is rotted and broken, where once water was plenteous
and fresh, Now it lies in ruin, deteriorated with age, fallen
as a useless remnant of its former self. What we have pictured here
in metaphor is what one called, quote, the last stage of mortality,
sinking under the infirmities and the weakening nature, unquote. When man goes, then, to his long
home. In a way, birth and death can
have certain things in common that are certain things at the
beginning that have to do with the end, the last stages of immortality,
when man goes to his long home, which may come at the last that
came at the first. For example, At birth, we cannot
walk and we cannot talk, and it may come again at the last. Sometimes it is the case in the
end. The last days will be days, maybe
days, of darkness and of evil. But then in chapter 12 and verse
7 comes the separation of the body and of the spirit. See James chapter 2 and verse
26, the body returning to the dust, which is a common euphemism
in the scripture for death, starting with Adam chapter 3 and verse
19. So let us hear the conclusion
of the matter. Remember your Creator while you
are young. Serve Him in your strength. You know, something you look
around and I think you will find not many are converted in ripe
old age. Not many are converted at the
very end of their life. And remember that dark days will
come. Remember that youth will fade. Remember that trouble is on its
way. Time and years will not be kind
to you. Smooth skin and muscles that
you now wish to put on display will give way to age spots and
wrinkles that you might want to cover up. But hear this. He that remembers and serves
God in his youth, God will not forget and God will not abandon
when the dark and the evil days come. He will not forsake his
own, even in their infirmity, as they wade out into chilly
Jordan. He will never leave. He will
never forsake his own. I want you to remember something
else. Also remember, old age in and
of itself does not make a saint. Age in and of itself does not
make a saint. We look at sweet tottering old
people and think how sweet they must have been, but old age by
itself does not make a saint. And sin does not die with age
just because one is unable to commit it anymore as they used
to do. A long life without God means
an eternity of misery without God. A long life lived and God
forgotten means that one falls into the hand of an angry God. So see the closing verse of the
preacher in verse 13 and 14. All else is vanity when it comes
to true religion. Nothing you do is better. than to remember and to fear
and to serve God. No duty is more blessed. Life can be no better sweetened
for old age than by serving God in the preceding year. I'd like
to repeat that in closing. Life can be no better sweetened
for old age and the end than serving God along in one's life. How sweet it makes old age! What a hope it begets those who
have remembered God and who have served God, that when the dark
days come and the evil days come, God will not forget nor forsake."
Well, this is a rather depressing passage and thought and sermon,
but it is part of the Word of God, and we are warned thereby.