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In Conclusion (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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And if you would turn with me to the Old Testament
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wisdom book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter
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12. We will look at verses 9 through 14. And
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this is the end of this book, which brings us
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to the end of our sermon series through Ecclesiastes.
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I'm sad about that. I love this book. We will
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be moving Lord willing into the book of Hebrews
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next and so look forward to that even read ahead
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in Hebrews But for now, let us see these closing
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words of God's Word Ecclesiastes 12 9 to 14 Besides
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being wise the preacher also taught the people
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knowledge weighing and Studying and arranging
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many Proverbs with great care The preacher sought
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to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote
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words of truth. The words of the wise are like
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goads, and like nails, firmly fixed are the collected
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sayings. They are given by one shepherd. My son,
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beware of anything beyond these. Of making many
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books, there is no end. And much study is a weariness
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of the flesh. The end of the matter. All has
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been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments,
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for this is the whole duty of man. For God will
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bring every deed into judgment. Blessed is he
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who hears and keeps what is written. Let us pray.
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Father, we do thank you for Ecclesiastes. And
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as we come to the end of this series, I pray
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that we would see that you still have much more
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for us. And so would you open up our ears, open
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our minds, open our hearts to hear from you now.
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For we pray in Christ's name, amen. I saw a comic
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strip recently that pictured a man climbing the
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peak of a mountain. Very high mountain, snow
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capped. High above the other mountains, it might
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as well have been Everest. And the man is climbing
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it and he gets to the very summit and he kind
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of peeks over the top of the peak. And there
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was a wise, what appeared to be a wise man sitting
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on top of the mountain. You know how this is
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pictured. There's a wise man sitting there and
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you climb to the top to find the meaning of life.
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And that's what this climber was doing. And so
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he hoists himself up onto the peak and he sees
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this supposed wise man sitting there and he says
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to him, would you tell me the meaning of life?
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And this supposed wise man laughs and he says,
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the meaning of life. You want my brother, third
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mountain down on the right. I'm just a hermit,
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he said. We've all pursued what we thought was
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the meaning of life. What we thought would bring
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us happiness and satisfaction. What we thought
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would bring us all of the answers to this life.
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Friends, we have all climbed the wrong mountain.
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In Ecclesiastes, though, the teacher shows us
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that he has climbed all of the wrong mountains
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for you. He pursued pleasure. He pursued work.
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He pursued hobbies. He pursued riches. He even
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pursued wisdom and so much more. And yet, ultimately,
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he found them all to be lacking. Solomon has
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climbed the wrong peaks so you can climb the
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right one. Fear God and keep His commandments.
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I wonder how your view of Ecclesiastes has changed
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after having studied it. Have you seen the wisdom?
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Have you seen the joy? Have you seen the cautions
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this book offers? Well today what I want you
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to see is that Ecclesiastes speaks as the Word
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of God and Ecclesiastes speaks of the meaning
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of God. So the word of God today and the meaning
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of God look at verses 9 through 12 to begin Throughout
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history Really since this book was written the
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the canonicity Its place in the Bible has been
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questioned and because you have statements in
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Ecclesiastes that saying things like well, don't
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be too righteous and don't be too wise Head scratcher,
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right? Or you have statements just like the mantra
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throughout Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities,
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all is vanity. You write things like that, you
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put it into a book, and people question it. They
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have serious questions. Should this be in the
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Bible? Why is this here? But friends, chapter
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12 is written in such a way as to have you know
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that this is from God. Look at verse 9. Verse
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9 shows us here that the preacher, and he's either
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talking about himself in the third person or
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perhaps some have suggested there's a narrator
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here, but he shows us that he did not acquire
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wisdom simply for himself. No. He acquired wisdom
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in order to teach others. And one way he does
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this is by studying Proverbs, the ESV says here.
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He taught the people knowledge, weighing and
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studying and arranging many Proverbs. Now, this
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could refer to the book of Proverbs, the Proverbs
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that are in that, but it could also refer to
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other wisdom literature. Either way, what we
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recognize about this teacher is that he's not
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just a writer of wisdom literature, he's also
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a student of wisdom literature. And his goal
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was to put truth before the people. He sought
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to find true words and he also sought to write
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them. But sometimes those words can hurt. Look
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at verse 11. The words of the wise are like goads.
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Anybody here have sheep or cattle? I know a couple
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of people, a couple of you do, right? Well, What
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is a goat? A goat is like an ancient cattle prod,
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like a large pointed stick or maybe a stick even
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with some sort of a nail in the end of it that
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you would use to get the animals to move in the
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right direction. This sort of instrument works
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because it hurts. Well, friends, if the words
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of Ecclesiastes have hurt at times, if the words
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of Ecclesiastes have stepped on your toes, as
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some of you have said, That's intentional. In
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some ways, commentators have said, Ecclesiastes
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acts like the opposite of Psalm 23. You remember
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Psalm 23, your rod and your staff, they comfort
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me. Well, here we have in Ecclesiastes 12, not
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the rod and staff that comfort, but the cattle
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prod that hurts. But we need that painful instruction,
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don't we at times? It is true the Lord disciplines
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those he loves, but it's not just the prodding
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that happens. Look at the other imagery that's
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used here, like nails, firmly fixed. This might
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be more accurately translated pegs or stakes.
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Pegs are stakes that are driven in the ground
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to hold something. Think of a tent. If you have
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your tent and it's staked into the ground, even
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when the wind comes, you'll be taken care of,
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right? You'll be grounded in safety. And that's
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what biblical instruction does. It keeps us grounded
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in the truth. But friends, you gotta have the
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truth, don't you? Because if you don't have the
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right instruction, then you're inflicting pain
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for no good reason. or you're being staked down,
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nailed down into something that's not true. And
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that's why the end of verse 11 is so critical.
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Look there. The nails firmly fixed are the collected
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sayings they are given by one shepherd. This
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kind of phrasing of one shepherd, to the best
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of my knowledge, is only used in three places.
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in the Old Testament, one here and two in Ezekiel.
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And in Ezekiel, what's going on when it talks
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about this one shepherd is it is the Lord promising
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to Israel a glorious future under one shepherd,
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a king like David. Listen to this from Ezekiel
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37. My servant David shall be king over them
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and they shall have all one shepherd. My servant
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David. shall be their prince forever. Now friends,
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David was a fantastic king, but he wasn't king
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forever. And so who is this one shepherd? Who
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is this really talking about? Well, the New Testament
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helps us with this because Jesus actually refers
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to himself as the one shepherd. And he refers
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to himself as the good shepherd. Jesus identifies
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himself in these ways. And didn't Jesus in his
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teaching ministry talk like this? Yes, he did.
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Sometimes he used painful instruction as well,
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like these goads that are mentioned. Jesus used
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his words as goads when he told Peter, get behind
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me, Satan. Or when he told the people, he called
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the people, you brood of vipers. Or listen to
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this, from Acts chapter 26, Acts chapter 26,
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12 through 15, this is the apostle Paul speaking
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of the time that he heard the words of Jesus.
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In this connection, I journeyed to Damascus with
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the authority and commission of the chief priests.
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At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from
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heaven brighter than the sun that shone around
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me and those who journeyed with me. And when
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we had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice
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saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why
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are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to
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kick. against the goads. And I said, who are
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you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom
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you are persecuting. The goading words of Jesus
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on the Damascus road turned Saul into Paul. The
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goading words of Jesus turned the persecutor
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into the preacher. Yes, it's true. The Lord disciplines
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those he loves, and his word is truth. Well,
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let me ask you, what kind of instruction, what
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kind of wisdom, what kind of truth, if you can
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have kinds of it, are you absorbing these days?
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We live in the information age, don't we? I wonder
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what Solomon would have thought of an Alexa.
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What would Solomon think of AI? Friends, Christians,
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be careful. of what you listen to. This instruction
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here, if you can look at verse 12, my son, beware
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of anything beyond these, of making many books,
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there is no end. And much study is a weariness
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of the flesh. Now students who are in school,
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please don't quote this to your parents and say,
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I don't need to study. It's not what's going
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on here. I like what preacher, Douglas O'Donnell
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said, what is required is not more books for
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more study, but more obedience to what has already
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been revealed. And what is revealed here, as
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we move into verse 13, is of the utmost importance.
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So look there. Again, kids, when you're in school,
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you're learning to write. And your teacher might
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be teaching you to write a paper and say that
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in a paper you have a beginning, a middle, and
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an end. And sometimes they'll tell you in the
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end of the paper you should say something to
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indicate this is the end. And so you say, in
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summary or in conclusion. But then when you get
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a little older, the teachers They tell you not
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to do that anymore. It sounds mechanical. It
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sounds fluid. Find a better way to say this.
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Well, Solomon here, inspired by the Holy Spirit,
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does not have a better way of saying this. He
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wants you to know very clearly in black and white
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the summary, the conclusion, the end of the matter.
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And here it is, the big point. Fear God. and
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keep his commandments. But what does it mean
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to fear God? Well, it's a central concept of
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wisdom literature that's expressed throughout
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the Bible to fear God. It's a very big and important
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phrase, and it's very hard to define. But we'll
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try it anyway. To fear God is to believe in God
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and in believing in God, recognizing who he is
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and his holiness. Think about the Westminster
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Shorter Catechism. As it asks the question, what
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is God? And it answers, God is a spirit, infinite,
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eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom,
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power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
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When we consider the fear of God and His holiness,
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we should be like Isaiah. When Isaiah the prophet
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was confronted with the holiness of God, he exclaimed,
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woe is me, I am undone. We should have this trembling
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reverence for God while also recognizing this
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holy God, the creator of the universe, omniscient,
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omnipotent, omnipresent, and immutable. He is
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also love. And in His love and in His mercy,
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He saves sinners through the life and the blood
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of His own Son. recognizing what he does and
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who he is should manifest itself in worship and
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in holy living and in obedience and in loving
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him with all of our hearts quite frankly the
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fear of God should make us more like Jesus I
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wonder if you've ever considered this passage
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before in this way Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah
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11, the beginning of it, is a text that is usually
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quoted at Christmas time, and yet it speaks of
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the fear of the Lord. Listen to this. There shall
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come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and
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a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. and
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the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the
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spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit
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of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge
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and the fear of the Lord, and his delight shall
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be in the fear of the Lord. Friends, the fear
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of Yahweh is Jesus's delight. Is it yours? Is
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it yours? Do you fear God? I find that there
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are some obstacles to us being able to rightly
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fear God. I want to give you three of them. One
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obstacle to the fear of God is our own sin. You
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remember in the garden, Adam and Eve, they fell
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into sin and they began to hide from God. Their
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relationship with God was interrupted. It was
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interfered with and our sin interferes with our
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relationship with God. Friends, when we realize
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how heinous our sin is and yet how holy God is,
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we should fear Him. Hebrews 10 says, it's a fearful
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thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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And yet let's also acknowledge that this is true.
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We. We're gonna either fear him as he intends
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or we're gonna fear him on the last day. Preacher
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Jeff Thomas said, a stranger to the fear of God
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is a stranger to the living God himself. So our
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first obstacle is our own sin. Secondly, though,
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we fear the wrong things. President FDR famously
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said, the only thing we have to fear is fear
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itself. But friends, when we rightly fear God,
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it puts all the other fears into place. Whether
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you're scared of heights, whether you're afraid
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of the dark, whether you fear losing a loved
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one, whether you fear losing your job, whether
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you fear losing your health, whether you fear
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a stock market crash, whether you fear from a
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scary movie or the fear from the loss of your
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own reputation, many of us fear things rather
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than fearing. and trusting God. And so that's
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the second issue we have. But the third issue,
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and I think it goes along with number one, is
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perhaps the most saddening. We are cavalier about
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God. We are cavalier about God. And what a foolish
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thing that is. Modern culture tells you that
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Jesus is your homeboy. and that the Old Testament
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God is one of wrath and the New Testament God
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is nothing more than a benevolent grandfather.
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Friends, we need to have a better understanding
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of who God is and a better understanding of what
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God does. Think about all that God does throughout
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the Bible that we can read about. We recognize
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that God was able to speak the world into existence,
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that He created all that there is. Our triune
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God looked upon the wickedness of man and flooded
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the entire world. Our triune God parted the waters
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to deliver his people from slavery. Our triune
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God provided bread from heaven and water from
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a rock. Our triune God defeated enemy nations
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along the way, slaying giants, speaking through
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a donkey, closing the mouths of lions, and opening
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the mouth of a great fish to swallow a prophet
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and save him. Our triune God defeated enemy nations
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along the way. He raised up the patriarchs and
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the judges and the prophets and he used some
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of the most unlikely men and women to accomplish
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his purposes. And then just at the right time,
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God sent forth his Son, born of a woman conceived
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by the Holy Spirit. This son, Jesus, the second
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person in the Trinity came to live and die in
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our place. And as he was crucified, as he breathed
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his last, the sky went pitch black and the sun
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cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken
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me? And the curtain of the temple was torn in
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two, an earthquake happened, tombs were opened,
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bodies of the saints came out of the tombs, and
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a Roman centurion watched all of this and he
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said, truly. This was the son of God. And Matthew
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27 says he was filled with awe, meaning in that
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moment he feared God. Friends, to fear God is
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to believe in God. And to rightly believe in
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God is to believe in Christ. And to believe in
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Christ is to know that he died in your place.
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And knowing that he died in your place. It happens
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at the cross. That's where the fear of God lies
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at the cross. And such fear should produce within
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us obedience. And so back to the text here as
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I begin to wrap up, it says fear God, but it
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also says this, keep his commandments. This is
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reminiscent of Jesus telling his disciples. Why
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do you call me Lord Lord and don't do what I
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tell you it is an oxymoron To call Jesus your
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Savior But not your Lord Keeping his commandments
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is spoken in the same breath as fearing God and
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so to disregard the Word of God is to disregard
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God himself the one who fears God obeys God and
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verse 14 says that every deed will be brought
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into judgment Friends, God knows all, and every
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single person will have to give an account for
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their every thought, every word, and every deed.
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And if I can show you as I conclude how important
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this is, as if you couldn't see it already, hone
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in here on the end of verse 13. The ESV, the
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NIV, the NLT, the King James Version all render
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this the whole duty of man. And the New American
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Standard Bible says this applies to every person.
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But friends, if you were to able to look at this
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in the Hebrew, you would actually see there is
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no word here for duty or responsibility. And
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the Hebrew goes beyond saying this is just for
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everyone. Literally, this says this is the all
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of man. I like the new King James on this. It
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says, fear God and keep his commandments for
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this is man's all. You see, fearing God and keeping
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his commandments, believing in God, it's not
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firstly a duty or responsibility. It describes
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who man is to be. We might say it like this,
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to be a human being is to fear God and keep his
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commandments. Note that I didn't say to be a
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Christian is this, no. That wouldn't be going
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far enough. To fear God is central to who we
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are as people. To be alive ought to be to fear
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God. Who we are as people made to fear God is
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then not firstly about your responsibilities
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or what you do. Fearing God is not firstly about
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your church membership. It's not firstly about
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your denomination, your attendance, your titles
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within the church. Fearing God is not firstly
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about how many years you spent teaching Sunday
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school, how many years you spent singing in the
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choir, or how many terms you served as an elder
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or deacon. Fearing God rightly is not firstly
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about how many mission trips you've gone on,
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or how many hungry people you have fed. or how
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much money you give away. Fearing God is not
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firstly about how many systematic theology books
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that you have read, which Bible reading plan
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you choose, or your favorite Christian podcast.
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It's not firstly where you went to Bible college
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or which conferences you've been to or which
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seminary you've been to. It isn't firstly about
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how many sermons you've preached or lessons you
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have taught. Listen. All of those things are
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very good things and they might be part of your
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fearing God. But those things are all fleeting
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and those things can actually be done without
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a heart for God. Sometimes friends, I think that
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we like to substitute the fear of God for the
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things that we do. And God is not impressed.
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The fear of God. isn't firstly what you do. The
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fear of God firstly is who you are. And what
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you do flows from who you are. The keeping of
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His commandments flows from your trembling reverence.
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And so let me ask you, who are you? Who are you?
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Are you a God -fearer? Are you in Christ? Or
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are you not? The one who is in Christ gets the
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meaning of life. But the one who is not has climbed
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the wrong mountains. I hope you'll agree with
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me. The message of Ecclesiastes is not about
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meaninglessness. It's about how every single
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thing in this life is meaningful. And the meaning
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is this. Fear God and keep His commandments.
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Because this is your all. Let me pray.