• Ecclesiastes 10:3-12:14
• Ecclesiastes 10:5-7 – One’s wisdom does not always benefit him.
• Ecclesiastes 10:8-11 – One does not always see the benefit of his hard work.
• Ecclesiastes 10:12-14 – Having a lot to say does not mean one is wise.
• Ecclesiastes 10:15 – A fool has trouble doing simple things and what he does accomplish is much more difficult.
• Ecclesiastes 10:16-20 – The importance of kings and the influence of their leadership: a king should be a good steward and not lazy. Be careful what you say, even in private. Words have a way of getting out.
• Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 – Work and maybe you will see a return.
• Ecclesiastes 11:3-4 – There is always an excuse not to work. If you focus too much on the risks, you will never do anything. See Proverbs 22:13.
• Ecclesiastes 11:5-6 – Work because you don’t know what will prosper.
• Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 – Enjoy the days of your youth!
• Ecclesiastes 12:1 – Compare Genesis 8:1; Exodus 20:8; Jeremiah 15:15; 31:34. “Remember” is not just about mental recall. It’s about picking a direction of action.
• Ecclesiastes 12:2-5 – Solomon may be figuratively talking about the ailments of old age.
• Ecclesiastes 12:8 – Solomon ends where he began – vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
• Ecclesiastes 12:9-10 – Solomon left behind a tremendous body of work.
• Ecclesiastes 12:11-12 – Books are wearying!
• Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 – Solomon’s conclusion – fear God and keep His commandments. This applies to all of us.

Introduction

• Isaiah 59:2 – Sin separates us from God.
• Deuteronomy 6:24; I Timothy 4:8 – Not sinning is a benefit now and in eternity.

Sin invites trouble to my life!

• II Samuel 11:2-15; 12:14 – David’s sin with Bathsheba.
  • David caused the death of Uriah and of his infant child.
• Hebrews 12:15-17 – Esau could never recover what he lost when he gave away his birthright.
• Luke 13:4-5

Sin gives me a guilty conscience.

• Genesis 42:21-22; 50:15
• Matthew 27:3-5 – Judas hanged himself in guilt!
• Hebrews 9:14
• I Corinthians 15:9; Ephesians 3:8 – Paul carried his guilt of persecuting Christians the rest of his life.
• I Timothy 1:15; Acts 24:16 – Paul tried to put his sin behind him the rest of his life.

Sin might ruin my conscience.

• I Timothy 4:2
• Titus 1:15 – It’s possible to defile your conscience.
• Ephesians 4:17-19

Sin gets me into bad habits.

• Acts 8:9-10, 18-19
• Hebrews 10:25 – Missing worship can become a habit.

My sin affects others.

• Galatians 2:11-13 – Barnabas was caught up in Peter’s hypocrisy.
• Luke 17:1-2
• Our lives are like ripples in a pond – we affect others.
• Even if no one else is aware of your sin, you are a different person because of your sin. You are not as spiritually-minded as you could be otherwise.

People who disagree with us, continued

• Remember who we are

  • Correcting error

    • Part of what we do

    • Not who we are – Revelation 2:2-6

    • Seek opportunity to teach that first love

      • I John 4:19

      • Romans 5:6-8

Time

• What is it? Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

  • God’s creation – Genesis 1:1-5

    • His command

      • Against the Amorites – Joshua 10:10-14

      • As a sign for Hezekiah – II Kings 20:1-11

    • He is timeless – II Peter 3:8

    • It changes us, but does not change God – Hebrews 13:8

• The gift of time

  • Limited resource – Psalms 90:8-10

  • Must use wisely – Ephesians 5:13-17

  • Wise use brings better life – Ecclesiastes 12:1

  • Don’t waste time when something needs doing!

    • Zaccheus - Luke 19:5-6

    • Shepherds – Luke 2:10-16

    • Philippian jailer – Acts 16:27-31

    • Joseph and Mary – Matthew 2:13-14

  • Emulate their attitudes – Hebrews 4:7; 3:13

Introduction

• II Thessalonians 2:16

We believe and practice what’s in the Bible – even the controversial stuff!

• I Peter 3:21 – Baptism is required for salvation.
• I Timothy 2:11-15 – Women are to be submissive in spiritual matters.
• I Timothy 1:8-11 – Homosexuality is a sin.
• Matthew 19:9 – Except in the case of adultery, divorce and remarriage is a sin.
• James 2:24 – Man is not saved by faith alone.
• John 6:59-66 – These beliefs make us less popular people, but that has always been the case for followers of Christ.

We organize ourselves as they did in the New Testament.

• Philippians 1:1 – “saints … overseers and deacons”

  • Saints just meant “Christians” in the New Testament.

  • Deacon just means “servant.”

  • Overseers also serve the church and watch out for people’s souls. Overseers are also called bishops, elders, presbyters, shepherds, or pastors. See I Peter 5:2.

    • People today often confuse the term “pastor” with “preacher.”

• Acts 9:26-28 – “associate with the disciples”

• I Corinthians 5:1-2 – The sinful man was to be removed from their group.

We believe God assigns unique work to local churches.

• Churches provided for:

  • Philippians 4:15-16 – teaching and preaching of the gospel

  • I Corinthians 14:26 – worship and spiritual edification

  • Acts 4:32-35 – needy Christians

We believe that nothing is more powerful than the love of Christ!

• Romans 5:6-9; 6:4, 11

• Ecclesiastes 8:1-10:2
• Ecclesiastes 8:1-9 – How to interact with a king. Obey authority and try not to find yourself at odds with it. There may be a right time and place to try to influence the king (Ecclesiastes 8:5-6). Compare Esther asking the king for a favor (Esther 4:14).
• Ecclesiastes 8:11 – Punish evil quickly or evil will be encouraged.
• Ecclesiastes 8:12-15 – Compare Psalms 73. Sometimes good happens to wicked people and evil happens to good people. God will eventually make it right.
• Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 – This sounds like Solomon is tired. One man can’t know everything!
• Ecclesiastes 9:1-9 – Death comes to everyone. Enjoy life with he one you love.

• Ecclesiastes 9:10 – Work with all your might on earth because our life is the only chance we get!
• Ecclesiastes 9:11 – Time and chance happens to all of us! It’s not fair. John the Baptist is a prime example of this!
• Ecclesiastes 9:13-18 – Wisdom is good, but not always respected.
• Ecclesiastes 10:1 – A little foolishness ruins a lot of good. See I Corinthians 5:6.
• Ecclesiastes 10:2 – The right side is the side of protection and good. Compare Matthew 26:64.