Life under the sun? or Life in the Son?

Life “under the sun” is depressing (Ecclesiastes 1:3,9,14). When life is seen in an earthbound way, with nothing above and beyond it, there is no hope, no glimmer of light. The preacher is not saying that this is the only way we can look at life. He is saying that this way of thinking about …

We are to “pay more attention to calm words from wise people.”

We are to “pay more attention to calm words from wise people” (Ecclesiastes 9:17). This combination of calmness and wisdom is highlighted also in James - “the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure. Then it is peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good deeds, impartial and sincere.” This description of …

The book of Ecclesiastes is one of the books of Wisdom.

The book of Ecclesiastes is one of the books of Wisdom. Much of it reads like the wisdom of the writer, as he reflects on his life. There is, however, another dimension in this book. There is God. We are encouraged to see our life in the light of God: “God is in heaven and …

Look, I’m standing at the door.

Look, I’m standing at the door (Revelation 3:20). Are you ‘looking for a better country – a heavenly one’ (Hebrews 11:16)? ‘God has put eternity into man’s mind’ (Ecclesiastes 3:11). In every human heart, there’s ‘a God-shaped blank’. Jesus came to give us ‘life’ – ‘abundant life’, ‘eternal life’ (John 10:10; John 17:3; 1 John …

God speaks to us because he cares about us.

"The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one shepherd" (Ecclesiastes 12:11). As I was reading these words, my thoughts turned to Psalm 23:1 - "The Lord  is my Shepherd" - and John 10:11 - Jesus said,“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life …

Patience and pride – There’s a big difference between the two.

"The end of a thing is better than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit" (Ecclesiastes 7:8). We are to wait patiently on the Lord (Isaiah 40:31; Psalm 40:1). The emphasis is on the Lord - not ourselves.  Pride says, "I don't need the Lord. I'll do things my way."  Teach us, …

Always searching and never finding?

God has set eternity in the human heart (Ecclesiastes 3:10). Always searching, but never finding: for many people in today's world, that's how life is. They're looking for something, but they can't find it. They don't really know what it is that they're looking for. They feel like giving up on the search, but, still, …

The best thing I can tell you is God loves you.

"He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap" (Ecclesiastes 11:4). "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3). Like everything else in our world, the weather can be so changeable.  The love of God is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable. What's so different about God's love? …

In our hard times

"There is a time for everything ... " (Ecclesiastes 3:1). In life, we have happy times - and we have hard times. In our happy times, we feel like we are being blessed by the Lord. We say, "Thank you, Lord, for our happy times." What happens to us when the hard times come? Do …

Let us remember – that the Lord remembers us.

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). "God has set eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”" (Ecclesiastes 12:1). The book of Ecclesiastes begins …

Treasures On Earth, Treasures In Heaven – Which Is Most Important To You?

Ecclesiastes 5:1-6:12 ‘The man who loves money can never have enough’(5:10). Some people are never satisfied, They’re always wanting more. This is the world’s way. The more you have, the more you want. The Lord’s way is very different: ‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth... Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven... …

There is more to life than life under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:1-9:10 ‘Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might...’ (9:10). ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart...’ (Colossians 3:23-24). These two verses seem, at first, to be saying the same thing - until we read the rest of each verse! The first is describing life ‘under the …

God sees us as we really are – and he keeps on loving us.

"For many times, also, your own heart has known that even you have cursed others" (Ecclesiastes 7:22).  "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things" (Romans 2:1).  The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector "Also …

A jigsaw – with missing pieces

What are we to make of the book of Ecclesiastes? At times, we may wonder, "Why is this book in the Bible?" Sometimes, this book is saying to us, "Absolute futility ... Everything is futile" (12:8). At other times, we're being told that we are to "fear God and keep his commandments" (12:13). We wonder, …

What are we looking for?

What are we looking for? Are we looking for what's new? or Are we looking for what's true? The older we are, the more we're able to look back and say, "The world has changed so much during my lifetime." There have been such huge advances in technology. We can understand why so many spend …

When we fall away from the Lord

"Meaningless! Meaningless!     says the Teacher. Everything is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 12:8). "Now all has been heard;    here is the conclusion of the matter:Fear God and keep his commandments,    for this is the duty of all mankind" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). How do we get from "meaningless" to "fear God"? Do we say to ourselves, "Pull yourself together. This is getting out …

Eternity in our hearts

"God has set eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We feel that there's something more - Something more than life in this world. Where does it come from? Is it something that's just there? or Is there something more than that? Has God put it there - this sense of something more? Eternity - …

Our limited understanding and God’s revelation

"God has set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  God has given us some understanding of himself, but we do not understand everything all that he is doing in our lives and in our world. There are two thoughts here, and …

Let Jesus Christ Fill Your ‘God-Shaped Blank.’

Ecclesiastes 1:1-2:26 Without Christ. life is empty. With Him, everything changes. He fills our life with God’s blessing. With Him, we have more than life ‘under the sun’. We have life ‘in the Son’- abundant life, eternal life (1:3,14; 2:11,17; John 10:10; 1 John 5:11-12). Which life do you want? You can settle for life …

Good News comes to us.

Good News comes to us from God. It's not a man-made set of ideas. It's the story of what God has done for us. We ask the question of eternal life. God has put this question into our hearts - "God has set eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11) - and he has answered …

Living in accordance with the Gospel is the all-important thing.

Ecclesiastes 9:13-12:14; 1 Corinthians 9:1-18; Psalm 96:1-13 “Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). There are many matters which are secondary. Living in accordance with the Gospel is the all-important thing: “We put up with anything rather than hinder the Gospel of Christ” (1 Corinthians 9:12). “For great is …

The Lord’s way is better than the world’s way.

Ecclesiastes 4:1-6:12; 1 Corinthians 7:17-35; Proverbs 19:23-20:4 “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).This is the world’s way. The Lord’s way is a better way. We are to “use the things of the world” without being “engrossed in them” (1 Corinthians 7:31). What we must …

God is leading us to Himself.

"In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). The Gospel doesn't begin with the coming of Jesus to our world. We need to go back beyond that. We need to go back to the beginning, back to God, our Creator. The God who created us is the God who sent His …

God’s salvation is permanent, complete and secure. Let us worship Him.

"I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him" (Ecclesiastes 3:14). -- God's salvation - It's a permanent salvation: it "will endure forever"; - It's a complete salvation: "nothing can be added to it"; - …

Responding to God’s Word (18): Fill your hearts with joy and gladness.

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me (Ecclesiastes 2:17). To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness (Ecclesiastes 2:26). Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of …

Big questions

What's life all about? What does it mean? Does life have a God-given meaning? or Do we, ourselves, give it a meaning that, we feel, it has for us? Why are we here on earth? What is the purpose of our life? Do we have a God-given answer to this question? or Must we create, …

Seeking and finding

"In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28): This is what Paul says to us about ourselves and the Lord. There is, here, an echo of the words of Ecclesiastes 3:11, "God has planted eternity in the human heart." God is speaking to our hearts. He's calling out to us. He's …

The love of power, and the power of love

"Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, “What are you doing?”" (Ecclesiastes 8:4).  "You  shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). What do we mean when we speak …

Link to Rev James Philip’s notes on Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes

When we speak the Word of God, we need both humility and courage.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law (Deuteronomy 29:29). We are to speak for God with humility, and we are to speak for him with courage. Why must we speak with humility? When we speak …

There’s a difference between life under the sun and life in the Son.

There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17). There's a difference between life "under the sun" and life in the Son. It's important that we understand this difference. Life under the sun: this is life, …

We need more than life “under the sun.” We need life in the Son.

Search the Scriptures: Ecclesiastes Life “under the sun” is depressing (Ecclesiastes 1:3,9,14). When life is seen in an earthbound way, with nothing above and beyond it, there is no hope, no glimmer of light. The preacher is not saying that this is the only way we can look at life. He is saying that this …

Praying Through God’s Word: Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 1:1-2:26 Life is empty without You, Lord. You fill our lives with Your blessing. You give to us new life, abundant life, eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:17; John 10:10; 1 John 5:11-12). All of these blessings come to us through Jesus, Your Son. He brings us out of emptiness. He brings us into a …

There’s a way back to God (Travelling Through God’s Word: Proverbs and Ecclesiastes).

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will direct your paths (or make your paths straight) (Proverbs 3:5-6). Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will …

The revelation of the mystery: a time to speak and a time to keep silence

Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles …

Without Christ, life is empty. With Him, everything changes.

ECCLESIASTES  1:1-2:26 -  Without Christ. life is empty. With Him, everything changes. He fills our life with God’s blessing. With Him, we have more than life ‘under the sun’. We have life ‘in the Son’ – abundant life, eternal life (1:3,14; 2:11,17; John 10:10; 1 John 5:11-12). Which life do you want? You can settle …

Your love, O Lord, supported me.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Psalm 94:12-23 “I know that everything God does will endure for ever” (Ecclesiastes 3:14).In the constant flux of life in this world, here we have something which must never be forgotten. There are many circumstances in life which are confusing – “How do you know, wife, whether you will save …

Without love, everything else is nothing.

Ecclesiastes 7:1-9:12; 1 Corinthians 7:36-8:13; Psalm 95:1-11 “Do not be over-righteous, neither be overwise” (Ecclesiastes 7:16). This is not a protest against wisdom and righteousness. It is telling us that, in our wisdom and righteousness, we must not become proud like the Pharisees. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Without love, …