Sunday, October 25, 2015 - Mission Baptist Cincinnati - It's Youth Sunday here at MBC for October and Associate Pastor Tim Rains continues our journey through the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes.
Pastor is teaching a lesson entitled: "Who Can Tell?" From Chapter 6. After commenting on how blessed we are for having so many children here at MBC, Pastor reads the text verses 6:10-12. He then prays for the Holy Spirit to move hearts to learn a hard lesson from this chapter in Ecclesiastes. Pastor Tim summarizes Chapter 6 as a dark moment in King Solomon's life. Following the pattern of this book, we see that Solomon looks outward, looks inward and occasionally looks up to find the meaning of life. Pastor is focusing on the brief moment at the end of the chapter where the King looks upward and finds truth.
In verse 10, Solomon cites God as mightier than himself and admits he can't contend with God. The King asks a rhetorical question in verse 12: "For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for WHO CAN TELL a man what shall be after him under the sun?" This question is the subject of Pastor's sermon.
We have to remember that King Solomon was blessed probably more than any other man who ever lived with the many gifts that God gives to a man! His Kingdom was wealthier and more powerful and far reaching than any kingdom since creation. Solomon was gifted with more godly wisdom than any man who ever was created. He had anything he wanted, whenever he wanted it. No "man of the world" could ever be so "rich" as King David's son. King Solomon has finally come to the realization that we don't know what is good for a man in this life. We are self destructive creatures and mostly, we wreck our lives with our own important, foolish decisions. The King finally realizes that his personal failures had wrecked the nation of Israel and seems to have caused him to lose his soul in the name of chasing after carnal things in the flesh!
The best thing in our "life under the sun" is to realize and take hold of the purpose God has planned for us! We were all created different, but God makes no mistakes in creating us. We are all special in his eyes! He has an individual purpose for our life. Pastor cites Jeremiah 1:5 in that he knew us in the womb and ordained us for his service. Christians who have surrendered to Jesus can wreck this when we give into our "old man" of sin and try to live independent from God! Solomon realized that at the end of his life that he had done just that and now he is attempting (and succeeds) in re-establishing a legacy for those who came after him. His legacy speaks loudly to all of us..."Don't do what I did! It only leads to sorrow! Keep Jesus as the Lord of your life and avoid a lot of sorrows that God never intended for us!"