Baptist Fellowship Church

The Search for the Meaning of Life Ends Here
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all.

For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing,

Whether good or evil.

These are the concluding verses of Ecclesiastes.

But, what conclusion?

The conclusion that all men have sought through the Ages. It is all there in the Scriptures. Yet man seeks his own conclusions that suit his lifestyles, conclusions that he wants to hear, and conclusions that justify his means. Man does not want to hear the inevitable, that, by himself, he is nothing in the eyes of the almighty God.

What is man’s all?

The wholeness of man, which is what makes a man. It is the chief happiness of man. It is also a description of every man or the whole of Man.

Why fear God?

All too often, the modern day teaching is all about a God of love without the other aspects of God. It is a popular teaching, “super grace” where God is elevated to love without judgment. It is the all powerful, all knowing God who exercises justice tempered with mercy and love. To ignore this is to say God condones everything because He loves and does not judge.

Fearing God is the realization of His unchanging power and the insignificance of all that we have done and of what we are (Deut 8:18), the unchanging power that is able to deliver. It is a reverence for Him.

Fear is an emotion.

Why use an “emotion” to describe this?

Why not respect God or pay homage to God?

One must cultivate this emotion - Fear. Know the emotion that penetrates our life. Fear is an acceptance of what it is like to be human before God. (Luke 12:4-7)

We need to cultivate the right emotions. It comes from humility, which is an accurate, biblical view of God. Being humble is to know who you are in the presence of God. It is having an accurate view of God, yourself and others.

Without God we are nothing. We must remember that. Our works by ourselves are nothing. Solomon, who had everything, wealth and worldly wisdom, came to that conclusion.

The right emotion is also cultivated by worship. “Fear God and keep His commandments”.

What leads to keeping His commandments?

It is the right feeling that leads to obedience.

Are we in the Word daily?

To keep His commandments is to pay attention to them, not keep them under lock and key without knowing or using them. To keep is to obey carefully God’s commandments. All too often, people substitute the Word of God with the Philosophies of our World.

Finally, we come to the accountability of life, and God will judge justly. We are all managers of every gift of God - time, talent, money, possessions, everything. We are thus stewards of God’s gifts, everything given to us is a gift. We have varying gifts and how we make use of them is what we will have to be accountable for in the eyes of the Lord.

Galatians 6:7-8

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

We live in the reality of the judgment of our lives.

Mr and Mrs ET Chua

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 10:00 pm and is filed under Sermons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.