• 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.

Introduction

• Proverbs 26:12
• It is hard for us to see pride in ourselves. The pride keeps us from seeing it!

I hate apologizing.

• Psalm 51:16

My worship is weak.

• Luke 18:9-14 – The Pharisees’ worship was not acceptable! The tax collector’s worship was acceptable because he humbled himself before God.
• We need to recognize our great need for God in our lives.
• Psalms 32:1-6
• There should be a desire in us to pray.
• Colossians 3:16 – We will not sing with thankfulness if we are filled with pride!
• I John 2:16

I keep thinking, “I should have a better life than this.”

• Luke 1:30-31, 38 – Mary had a tremendously good attitude when such a responsibility was put before her!
• Luke 17:7-10
• When we have an unexpected opportunity arise to serve God, but we do not want to do it because it conflicts with our own plans, that is pride!
• Philippians 4:11-13 – Paul leaned to be content!

I resist advice and teaching (that I really need).

• Acts 17:18, 30-32 – Some sneered at Paul’s teaching.
• Proverbs 15:5, 31-33 – It is not easy to listen to reproof.
• Proverbs 9:8-9; 10:8; 11:2; 19:20; 23:22 – Listen to wise counsel!
• Ecclesiastes 4:13
• Jeremiah 9:23-24

Old Testament Relevance

• Was it relevant to people in the first century?

  • First gospel sermon – Acts 2:16-21

  • Other preaching and writings of apostles and inspired men

    • Acts 8:30-35; 18:24-28

    • Paul – Romans 1:1-4

    • Stephen – Acts 7:2-53

• Relevant today?

  • Romans 15:2-4 – The Old Testament was written for our instruction.

• Its foretelling nature – Colossians 2:16-17

  • From law to grace and truth – John 1:15-17

  • Jesus and the pattern of the law – Hebrews 8:4-5; 9:8-12; 10:1

• What does it offer us today?

  • An extended story of salvation

  • A history of God’s relationship with man

  • Examples of God’s love for man

  • Examples for us to follow

  • Examples of what God loves and hates

  • A much better understanding of the New Testament

People who disagree with us

• Any examples in Bible?

  • Rehoboam and Israel – I Kings 12:1-15

  • Abram and Lot – Genesis 13:7-12; 14:10-16

  • Paul and Barnabas concerning John (Mark) – Acts 15:36-40; I Timothy 4:11

  • Paul and the Athenian idolaters – Acts 17:15-34

Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

• Matthew 5:19
• Matthew 6:31
• I Timothy 6:11
• II Timothy 2:22
• I need to get to the point where I intensely desire to please God.

Matthew 5:7 – Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

• Ephesians 2:3-7
• James 2:13 – God is watching how we treat others!
• Matthew 9:10-13
• I need to get to the point where I naturally and automatically look on other people with compassion.

Matthew 5:8 – Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

• Psalms 24:1-5
• Matthew 23:27-28 – God has seen plenty of hypocritical people. He needs those who are pure in heart.
• James 4:8
• I need to get to the point where I am sincerely and completely devoted to God.

Matthew 5:9 – Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

• Matthew 10:34
• Romans 5:1
• Ephesians 2:11-18 – All can have peace with God and each other.
• I need to get to the point where I look for opportunities to say things and influence people to think about their relationship with God.

Matthew 5:10-12 – Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness. …

• Hebrews 11:35-38
• I need to get to the point where I can face these sorts of threats and rejoice.

• Ecclesiastes 5:10-7:29
• Ecclesiastes 5:10 – No amount of money will give us true satisfaction.
• Ecclesiastes 5:16 – We only die “naked” in the sense of earthly wealth. We should still be striving to build up spiritual wealth.
• Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 – We should enjoy the satisfaction that God gives us in our earthly labors.
• Ecclesiastes 6:1-12 – Solomon laments that man cannot enjoy his wealth on earth.
  • Ecclesiastes 6:6 – All people die, so in that sense they go to the same place, but people go to different eternal places.
• Ecclesiastes 7:1 – If you have a good reputation, the day of your death is better than the day of your birth because of the life you’ve lived.
• Ecclesiastes 7:2 – Mourning over a death is good because it keeps us grounded.
• Ecclesiastes 7:13 – Some things can’t be changed because that’s the way God made them.
• Ecclesiastes 7:25-28 – See I Kings 11:3. This point of view could be from Solomon’s bad experience with women.
• Ecclesiastes 7:29 – It’s not God’s fault that man went into sin!