Ecclesiastes chapter 8. Ecclesiastes
chapter 8. It's good to see each of you
tonight have this opportunity to worship our Lord together.
Our church has been blessed so much in so many ways, but I think
no greater way than a faithful pastor that teaches us God's
word. It's such a blessing. And we
appreciate our pastor, don't we? And when you have to prepare
a few times in a row, you appreciate the pastor even more. It's a
work. It's a work. People think, well,
you just, you know, get up there and talk. No, not, that's not
God's servants. That's not the way it works.
So, tonight here in Ecclesiastes chapter eight, I want us to look
at verses number 12 and 13. Ecclesiastes eight, verse number
12. The scripture says, though a
sinner do evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, Yet
surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God,
which fear before him. But it shall not be well with
the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as
a shadow, because he feareth not before God. In these two
verses that we'll look at tonight, we see that Solomon contrasts
those who fear the Lord God versus those who do not fear the Lord
God. And to start with, I want us
to think for just a second, what is it to fear God? What is it
to fear God? To fear God, as it's in the scripture,
is to reverence the Lord God, to reverence Him. It's to think
highly of God. To think so highly of God that
when things don't go our way, and we don't think that they
should even be the way that they are, to know that he's the all-wise,
all-good God. And that he works all things
according to the counsel of his will, and he works all things
for the good of his people. So think highly of him. It's
to revere God. It's to respect him. To respect
God. How can people take the name
of the Lord in vain just, you know, so flippantly? Because
they don't reverence the Lord. They don't fear Him. They don't
respect Him. And it's to hold Him in high
regard. That's what it is to fear God. So what are some of the evidences
that we fear God? There are blessings in these
verses that are for those who fear God. How can we know, what
are some of the evidences that one fears God? If we fear God,
first of all, we will try to live our lives in accordance
to God's revealed will. That is, his word. Those who
fear God try to live their lives in accordance with God's word.
Secondly, we will attempt, you notice the word, we will attempt.
Though we fail so often, though I fail so often and fail so miserably,
yet we attempt to live our lives in such a way that will bring
glory and honor to our God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
that's the desire of one who fears God. It's a desire to honor
and glorify God in this world. And thirdly, we desire to know
God's will for our life. And we attempt to follow what
we believe to be the Lord's leading in our life. Now, I don't know
about you, but we have God's revealed will, his word, and
that's firm as a rock. There's no need to question or
wonder if you read it in God's word. That's God's will for us. But as we walk through this world,
there are a lot of decisions that we need to make that are
not so clear. And we try to follow what we
believe to be God leading us. And I appreciate the songs that
Brother Bill picked tonight. That last song, he leadeth me.
God knows if your desire is for him to lead you. He knows. And you say, well, can a believer
make a mistake? Oh, goodness gracious. Can a
believer make a mistake? Sure, sure, sure we can. Having said that, God overrules
even that. So that's evidence that one fears
God. Well, what about evidence that
one doesn't fear God? What are some of the evidences
that someone doesn't fear God? Number one, those who do not
fear God, first of all, they don't consider God. We could
stop right there. They just don't consider God.
You know, they don't consider God's Word, His revealed will,
what He has declared on how we should live our life. Someone
who doesn't fear God, they don't care about God's Word. They don't
care what He said. Number one, they don't believe
that He even said it. And if it were not for the grace
of God, that's where I would be tonight, and that's where
you would be tonight. That's how we come into this
world. We don't have any fear for God. You notice here, Solomon describes
it. He says, though a sinner, verse
12, though a sinner do evil a hundred times. A hundred times, Solomon's
not saying, you know, you count from one to a hundred. That's
what he's saying there is showing just a total disregard for living
their life, trying to live for the glory of God. That's what
he's referring to there. They don't consider how their
actions may reflect upon the Lord God, and they don't desire
to know God's will for their life. They really don't want
to know. In fact, they will be the queen
and king of their life. Like that song that we heard
many times before, I did it my way. That is a good description
of someone who doesn't fear the Lord God. And believer, don't envy those. Don't envy those who live their
life with no regard for God and live their lives in disregard
for King Jesus. Don't envy them. Even if everything
seems to be going their way. For you see, as Solomon says,
it shall not be well with the wicked. Notice this in verse
12, this is interesting. Verse 12, he says, though a sinner
do evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged. You notice
he says, and his days be prolonged. He says, though a sinner do evil
a hundred times, and his days be prolonged. And then in verse
number 13, but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither
shall he prolong his days. Everything seems to be going
their way, living their life in disregard for God's will,
and everything just seems to fall into place for them. And
it seems like their days are just prolonged. But then he says,
but their days shall not be prolonged. It's like a shadow. They live
for a time in this world, but then it shall not be well with
those that do not fear God. We read Asaph made this mistake,
don't we, in Psalm 73. He looked around him, and he
was envious. He says he was envious at the
foolish. When he saw their prosperity, he saw how they had everything,
and everything just seemed to go their way, even though they
were living their life in total disregard for God. And he was
envious of them. That's an awful state, isn't
it, to be envious of the wicked, of those that don't fear God.
But then the scripture says, he said, until I went into the
sanctuary of God, then I understood their end. How are they brought
into desolation? As in a moment, they are utterly
consumed with terrors. Scripture says, let not thine
heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the
day long. Now, a person who does not fear
the Lord, who has no reverence for God, that's just another
way of describing someone who's spiritually dead in trespasses
and sins. A person who's spiritually dead
doesn't reverence God. Why? Because they have no spiritual
life, and God is spirit. Scripture says that the fear
of the Lord is the beginning. That's the very start of spiritual
wisdom. The first thing that God will
create in an object of his grace that he's going to have mercy
upon is the fear of him. Someone like us walking in total
disregard for God, having no desire to know God, not seeking
after God, and all of a sudden one day we have a concern. And
now we're concerned about our condition before God. What happened? What happened? It's the beginning
of wisdom. It's the beginning of God's gift
to a sinner, to not leave us dead in trespasses and sins,
but make us aware, make us think upon God. Scripture says this,
those who fear the Lord, it says, in the fear of the Lord is strong
confidence. and his children shall have a
place of refuge. Did you hear that? In the fear
of the Lord is strong confidence. And his children shall have a
place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain
of life to depart from the snares of death. So I wanted to take
just a few minutes in the context here. To speak of, as Solomon
did, the contrast between those who fear the Lord God and those
who do not fear the Lord God. Do you tonight fear the Lord? Do I fear him? Well, if we do,
I want to spend the next few minutes considering the statement
in verse number 12, where Solomon said, he said, yet surely I know
that it shall be well with them that fear God. I wanna spend a few minutes on
this truth. Surely I know, surely I know
it shall be well with them that fear God. And I wanna think about
this under two major headings and I think I'll be fairly brief. The first one is this, it shall
be well with you in this life. Do you fear God tonight? Do you
reverence Him? It shall be well with you in
this life. And the second heading is that it shall be well with
you in the next life if you fear the Lord God, if you reverence
Him. First of all, it shall be well
with us in this life. It shall be well with you. You
know, I try when I prepare to preach, a lot of times the Lord
enables me to think this way. Maybe this is the last time that
I get to speak to you, my friends. And what would I want to tell
you? If this is the last time that I get to speak to you, what
do I want to tell you? And this passage was a poem in
my heart this week. I'd originally planned to preach
from a different passage and even prepared a message from
a different passage. And then this particular passage
was something that I felt that this would be good for us to
look at tonight. The first under this heading,
it will be well for you in this life. Our father is going to
provide for us what's best for us materially. He's going to
provide for us what's best for us materially. We should be diligent
to work. As our dear God gives us opportunity
to work, we should be diligent to work. And what whatsoever
our hand finds to do, we should do it with all our might. We
should be diligent to work. But we should not be anxious
about our needs being met. That's unnecessary, believer.
You don't need to be anxious about your knees being met. Why?
Because our Lord Jesus says that our Father knows what we have
need of. Would you look at a passage with me? Would you look over
in Luke chapter 12? I know you know this passage,
but it's such a blessing to be reminded of the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ here in Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, and first of
all, look at verse number 15. Our Lord Jesus, he gives us such
an important principle. May God teach us this principle. He said, and he said unto them,
take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life, oh let us hear
this, a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things
which he possesses. This is the one who is all wisdom,
who knows. A man's life consisteth not in
the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Now look down,
if you would, to verse number 22. And he said unto his disciples,
Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what
you shall eat, neither for the body, what you shall put on.
Take no thought. The Lord is not endorsing here
that people should not Work hard and plan, and that's not what
he's, that word actually means take no anxious. Don't be anxious
about these things. The life is more than meat, and
the body more than raiment. Consider the ravens, for they
neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn. And
God feedeth them. How much more are you better
than the fowls? And which of you with taken thought
can add to his statue one cubit? If you then be not able to do
that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow, they toil not, they spin
not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like unto one of these lilies. If then God so
clothed the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is
cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O ye
of little faith? And seek not you what you shall
eat or what you shall drink, neither be ye doubtful of a doubtful
mind. For all these things do the nations
of the world seek after, and your Father knoweth that you
have need of these things. But rather seek you the kingdom
of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. We don't
need to be anxious about our provision, how God will provide
for us. He's going to provide for us
what is best for us. That may not be what we think
is best for us, but he will. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him
freely give us all things? If God gave his son for us, believer,
Isn't he going to give us all that we need, what he sees fit
for us to have in this world? He will. That's what our Lord
Jesus said here. Secondly, under this heading,
it shall be well for us regardless, listen, it will be well for us
in this life, regardless of the trials and troubles and heartaches
that we're going to face. We are going to, this world is
full of tribulation and we're gonna face these things. We're
gonna face trials and troubles and we're gonna face heartaches.
Anybody who tells you any different is lying to you. This world is
full of trouble. Having said that, it's gonna
be well. It's gonna be well for you who
fear God. in this life in trouble. It's
going to be well for you. It's going to be well for me.
Why? For our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, has made some promises. He's made some commitments to
all who believe in him, to all who trust in him as their Lord
and Savior. When he rose from the dead, you
remember what he told his disciples. He said, Lo, I am with you always,
even until the end He didn't say, even unto the end of your
life. No, he said, even unto the end
of the world. Why? Because he was talking about
all his children, not just those 12 disciples that he was with.
I will be with you always. Let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content with such things as you have, for
he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So we
may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what
man shall do unto me. I had some passages that I was
going to have us look at, but I'm not going to do that tonight
because I want to get to the second heading. But when you
have the opportunity, go look at Isaiah 43 and read those first
seven verses. The prophet there describes all
different types of troubles and fires and heartaches, but in
all of those, God promised to be with his children. And regardless
of what happens in this life, God, it's gonna be well. It's gonna be well for those
who fear the Lord. That's what God's word says.
Let me move on to the second heading. It shall be well with
you in the life to come. When your pilgrimage in this
world is complete, it's gonna be well with you. That can't
be said for those who do not fear the Lord God, but for those
who fear the Lord, it's gonna be well with you. And my prayer
tonight is that the Lord would speak to someone tonight who
fears the Lord. God's given you a reverence for
him. You've called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're
looking to him for all your salvation. You've asked God to accept you
and receive you only based on the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ and based on that perfect sacrifice which he offered
upon the cross to pay for the sins of his people. You reverence
God and you have come to Christ and you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ and yet tonight you're in trouble. Tonight you have
no peace and comfort. Surely I know on the authority
of God's word that it shall be well with him that fear God. Regardless of the anxiety and
fears that you feel tonight, if you fear the Lord God, it
shall be well with you. Are you here tonight and you're
full of anxiety and fear? Perhaps you're fearful that you
have not been truly regenerated. Is there anybody here that way? You believe the word of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You believe that he is the son
of the living God and that the words he spoke were true. And
he said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. He said, except a man be born
again, he can't enter into the kingdom of God. And you believe
that word. And you're concerned tonight that perhaps you have
not been regenerated, truly regenerated. Or maybe you feel that you have
not been truly converted. Perhaps you're afraid that you
have never repented enough. You know, we hear some of these
testimonies of people that were under such awful, traumatic conviction
for sin. And we compare maybe our experience
to their experience and we fear, well, maybe I never really truly
repented because my experience doesn't look like their experience. You think, well, maybe it was
just superficial. It wasn't hard work. The plow
didn't go deep enough. We find all kinds of ways to
fear and be anxious. Perhaps you're afraid that you
never came to the Lord Jesus Christ the right way. Is there
anybody here that way? You fear you never came to him
the right way. And no one knows how that could
be possible. For you couldn't come, you would
not come, unless the Father had drawn you, and yet you're fearful
that you didn't come the right way. The psalmist said, when thou
saidest, seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, thy face,
O Lord, will I see. You see, when do we seek the
Lord? When he says to us, seek me,
seek me while I may be found. Our Lord Jesus said, no man can
come unto me except the Father which has sent me draw him, and
I will raise him up at the last day. You see, have you come to
Christ? You say, well, I don't know if
I've come the right way or good enough. Have you come to him?
Are you trusting him as your only acceptance with God? No
man can come unto the Lord Jesus unless the Father which has sent
the Lord draw him. And the Lord said, I will raise
him up at that last day. That's just another way of saying
it shall be well with those that fear the Lord. He said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that comes to
me I will in no wise cast out. Aren't those gracious words?
Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise. In other words, there
is no way I will ever cast out any who come unto God by me. I think of the words of the angel
that he spoke to the women that were first at the tomb of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The angel said unto them, be
not afraid. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucified. He's risen. He's alive. Don't be afraid. He ever liveth
to make intercession for all that come unto God by him. Wherefore,
he's able to save to the uttermost. That means forevermore. He's
able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him,
seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. It shall
be well for those who fear God. You know, tonight, do you desire
to be accepted of God only on account of the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Is that your heart's desire?
You know, God in his grace gives us opportunities sometimes in
this world where we think that our life is about to expire.
And in those times, Where does your heart turn? It turns to
the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't it? And your prayer is, oh, God,
please, please accept me through your son, the Lord Jesus. Don't
look at me on anything I've ever done or haven't done. Please,
for Christ's sake, accept me. Can you say tonight from your
heart, you've heard this, I'm a poor sinner and nothing at
all? Jesus Christ, the Lord is my all in all. Is that your testimony
tonight? You could not say that unless
God in his mercy had done something for you. You cannot see your
own nothingness unless God opens your eyes. And you cannot see
the all-sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ unless God opens
your eyes. Why do people not believe? Why do people not come to the
Lord Jesus Christ? Because number one, they don't
see their own nothingness. They don't see their need. And
number two, they don't see his all-sufficiency. Anyone who sees
the all-sufficiency of Christ will come to him, will plead
his life, his death on their behalf. And lastly, perhaps you're
full of anxiety and fear that at the last, you're going to
be found a reprobate. One who permanently falls away
from the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, do you believe believers
can have that fear? I know that they can. I know that we can. I know we
can have that fear. And listen, none of us should
have any confidence in our flesh. We shouldn't have any confidence
whatsoever that we can keep ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ. But
our confidence is not in us, it's in him, isn't it? He shall
see, the scripture says, of the travail of his soul, and he will
be satisfied. If it was left to us, oh absolutely
we would be reprobate. If God took his hand off of us,
for a split second, we would fall away. But he continues,
he gave us life and he continues to give us life. And he will
give us life into everlasting. He is our life. Our life can
only be snuffed out if the eternal son of God could cease to exist. Because he is our life. We shall
never perish. Why? Because he shall never die.
He's our life. We're not able, but he's able.
Surely it shall be well with them that fear God. Now to him
that's able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only
wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now
and forever. Amen. May the Lord bless this word.
Brother Bill, could you lead us in a song, please?