Fear God and Keep His Commandments

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray preached this message coming off a men's retreat at Moss Avery Lodge, without his usual Saturday preparation. He worked through the arc of Solomon's life, using Ecclesiastes as a window into what happens when even the wisest person alive ignores God's warnings and goes looking for meaning in the wrong places. The message opened with a story about a new believer who was sent to Ephesians...

Read together

1. Ephesians 2:8-9 quoted to show we are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves, the gift of God so no one should boast
2. Ephesians 2:10 quoted as we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works
3. James 1:5 cited as God gives wisdom liberally to all who ask
4. Ecclesiastes 12:11 the words of the wise are like goads, words of scholars like well driven nails given by one Shepherd
5. Ecclesiastes 12:12 of the making of many books there is no end, much study is wearisome to the flesh
6. 2 Samuel 12 mentioned as a passage where Solomon's story comes up
7. 1 Kings 11:1-3 quoted directly about Solomon loving many foreign women and his 700 wives and 300 concubines turning his heart away
8. 1 Kings 2 cited as where David gave Solomon a warning
9. 1 Kings 9 cited as where God gave Solomon a second warning
10. 1 Chronicles 28-29 mentioned as part of Solomon's story
11. 2 Chronicles 1-10 mentioned as part of Solomon's story
12. Nehemiah 13:26 quoted asking whether it was not marriages like these that led Solomon into sin
13. Proverbs 3:5-6 paraphrased as trust not in your own understanding, acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight
14. Ecclesiastes 1:2 cited as vanity of vanities, all is vanity, everything comes to nothing
15. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 quoted as the conclusion of the whole matter, fear God and keep His commandments, God will bring every work into judgment
16. James 2:26 cited as faith without works is dead
17. James 4:17 cited as to know to do right and not do it is sin
18. Colossians 3 referenced as another place where whatever you do, do it with all your might appears
19. John 13:34 cited as Jesus giving a new commandment to love one another
20. John 14:6 referenced as Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life
21. 1 John 1:9 quoted that if you are confessing God is faithful and just to forgive sin and cleanse from all unrighteousness
22. Isaiah 55:6-7 quoted at the benediction, seek the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near, turn to Him and He will have mercy

Talk about it

1. Ray described a new believer who was sent to Ephesians but read Ecclesiastes instead, and came away feeling depleted. Have you ever approached the Bible expecting one thing and found yourself in a difficult or confusing passage? What did you do with that?
2. Ray talked about Solomon receiving clear warnings from both his father David and from God directly, and ignoring both of them. Can you think of a time when you received a warning and walked past it anyway? What made it hard to listen?
3. Ray drew a distinction between 'do as I say, not as I do,' which he called hypocrisy, and 'do as I say, not as I did,' which he called teaching. How does knowing that Ecclesiastes comes from a place of genuine regret change the way you might read it?
4. Ray said that Solomon kept searching under the sun for something that could only be found above it, and that there is a God-shaped void that only God can fill. Where have you seen people, or yourself, looking for that kind of fulfillment in places that could not actually hold it?
5. The sermon ended at Ecclesiastes' conclusion: fear God and keep His commandments, and Ray connected that to First John 1:9 and the idea of confessing, of saying the same thing God says about our sin. What does it actually look like in daily life to say the same thing God says about the places where you have fallen short?