Christianity Still Makes Sense

Trying to Make Sense of Life Ecclesiastes 6:1-7:29

Trying to Make Sense of Life

Ecclesiastes 6:1-7:29

 

15 Realizations Worth Considering When Trying to Make Sense of Life:

1.      Realize that Chasing Money and Success for Money and Success’ Sake Will Never Fill our Void of Discontentment.

2.      Realize that Who You Are Is More Important than What You Have.

3.      Realize that It Is Better to Live Our Vanishing Life with Purpose, than to Waste It through the Pursuit of Pleasure.

 

4.     Realize that remaining teachable before a sage trumps being entertained by the blissful ignorance of fools.

5.      Realize that caving into the temptation of oppressing others leads the wise into moral compromise.

6.      Realize that painful patience is better than succumbing to the price of impatient shortcuts to achieve success.

7.      Realize that one easily offended inevitably plays the fool.

8.      Realize that now is all that we have, so don’t overly romanticize the past.

 

      “In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.”

― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

 

9.      Realize that wisdom tells us that we will either use wealth or wealth will use us.

10.   Realize that wisdom gives us the ability to trust God with mystery.

11.   Realize that we shouldn’t trust in our own righteousness or grandiose wisdom, nor should choose to be foolish.

12.   Realize that wisdom is more powerful than power, for wisdom is power. (19-20) “ten rulers in a city”

 

 

"The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth—

Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:1-7).

 

 

13.   Realize that if you live for the words of others, you will become fragilized by them.

14.   Realize that gaining a dose of modest wisdom doesn’t arrive by accident, it comes through disciplined determination.

15.   Realize that it is better to reflect on the importance of wisdom over folly and to do so in advance.

Understanding the Times Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Understanding the Times

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

 

 

“Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.” Psalm 90:12

 

            

1.      Understand that time will present us with a variety of experiences.

2.      Understand that God makes everything beautiful, in its time.

 

“Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” Philip Yancey

 

3.      Understand that we are to live out our time on earth with an eternal perspective.

4.      Understand that God desires us to enjoy the time we’ve been given.

5.      Understand that God is sovereign over time and we’re accountable for how we us our it.

How To Approach God Ecclesiastes 5:1-20

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How To Approach God
Ecclesiastes 5:1-20
 
 
1. Approach God Reverently  
 
How Do We Approach God Reverently?
 
1. With a Teachable Heart 

2. With a Thoughtful Heart 

3. With a Humble Heart  

4. With a Focused Heart 

 “The dreams appear to be daydreams, reducing worship to verbal (or mental) doodling.” Derke Kidner

2. Approach God with the Resolve to Keep Your Commitments
 
Keys To Commitment:
 
·       Commit to What You Commit
 
“Commit to what you Commit “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in doing whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows. If you don’t, you will be guilty of sin. However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to do as you have said, for you have made a vow to the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 23:21-23).
 
·       Contemplate Before You Commit
 
“It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows” (Proverbs 20:25).
            
·       Don’t Excuse Your Commitments Away
 
                                                            
Why Is It So Important to Keep Our Commitments
 
1.      So, We Don’t Experience God’s Displeasure.  
 
             2.    So, We Don’t Experience God’s Discipline. 
 
 
ACTION TIP: Cultivate a Healthy Respect for God!     

How Not to Chase Success Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

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How Not to Chase Success
Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

 

"I am not the richest, smartest or most talented person in the world, but I succeed because I keep going and going and going." - Sylvester Stallone

1. Chasing Success by Oppressing others to Gain More Power 
2. Chasing Success by Never Learning the Secret to Contentment 
3. Chasing Success by Neglecting the Importance of Community 
4. Chasing Success by Exchanging Wisdom for Foolishness 

Today’s Takeaway. 
*Here’s something to chew on. Remember, success has a moral and a missional component. It’s not just about finding out what we’re “to do”, but who we’re “to be.” As followers of Christ, we are to be like Jesus and the more we are like in our being, the more we will impact others through our missional “doing.” 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-3). 

 

 

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction! Ecclesiastes 2:1-26

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I Can’t Get No Satisfaction!
Ecclesiastes 2:1-26

1. Trying to Find Satisfaction through Hedonistic Pleasure.

2. Trying to Find Satisfaction through Philosophical Wisdom.

3. Trying to Find Satisfaction through Hard Work.

Life Is Short! Ecclesiastes 1:1-18

Life Is Short!
Ecclesiastes 1:1-18
 
Embrace the moment I have been given 

Engage my responsibilities with the right perspective 

Explore nature, but know it alone will not provide the ultimate meaning of life.

Expect nothing new to explain the purpose of life 

Enter a personal relationship with the Creator of all things!
 

“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.”
― Pascal

“For Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” Augustine

Prepare You Fools! 2 Peter 3:1-18

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Purpose of This Letter
1 This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 
2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. 

Peter's linking of the prophets and apostles placed them on the same level of authority.
Follow the commandments of the Lord and Savior, and the apostles which are now found in scripture.

The Coming Day of the Lord
3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 
4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." 

Conversational Notes: 
We see mockers being mockers because they want their sexual sin, and it might be true, but it not usually fruitful in conversation with non-believers to bring this up.
Paul's audience is believers.

Induction, Hume's argument
1. Definition of a Miracle:
Hume defines a miracle as a violation of the laws of nature. These laws are based on uniform and consistent human experience, like gravity, the behavior of light, or the consistency of physical objects.
2. The Balance of Probabilities:
According to Hume, when faced with a claim of a miracle, one must weigh the evidence for the natural law (which is based on consistent experience) against the evidence for the miracle (which is based on the testimony of a witness or group of witnesses). Since natural laws are supported by universal and consistent experience, they are highly probable.
By contrast, a miracle, by definition, is a rare and exceptional event that goes against this established order, making it inherently less probable. Therefore, the evidence for the miracle must be extraordinarily strong to overcome the very high probability that the natural law remains unviolated.
3. Testimony and Human Nature:
Hume argues that human testimony is often unreliable. People can be deceived, misinterpret events, or have motivations like the desire for attention or to support religious beliefs that might lead them to fabricate or exaggerate accounts of miracles.
Furthermore, Hume points out that reports of miracles often originate in "ignorant and barbarous nations," where critical scrutiny of such claims is less likely.
4. The Principle of Diminishing Credibility:
Even if multiple sources independently report the same miracle, Hume suggests that their testimonies do not multiply the probability of the miracle occurring. Instead, they simply add layers of evidence, each of which is still less probable than the natural law they contradict.
Therefore, the more extraordinary the claim (such as a miracle), the more extraordinary the evidence needed to justify belief in that claim.
5. Hume's Conclusion:
Hume concludes that it is never reasonable to believe in miracles based on testimony alone because the improbability of the miracle outweighs the reliability of the testimony. A wise person should proportion their belief to the evidence, and since the evidence for natural laws is overwhelmingly strong, it would be irrational to believe in a violation of those laws without equally strong evidence.

5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 
6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. (contrast between formed out of water, and destroyed by water and then fire on Judgment day) 
7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 

You have seen God work! 
Peter refers to creation, to show that God has been at work before.
The scoffers deliberately put aside God's Word and then complained that God was not doing anything.

Creation options:
Young Earth Creationist: Our universe was created by God 6,000-10,000
Day age view or standard Old Earth Creationist: The Universe is 14 billion years old, but every day in Genesis was a unique creation event
Intelligent Design or a Theistic Evolutionary model: There are differences in the details, but God set forth the unfolding of our reality with the law that guided it in such a way to bring about the diversity and intelligent humans like us. 

 

Isaiah (66:15–16) and Malachi (4:1) associated fire with the return of the Lord.
WARNING: There will be a Judgment day and there will be destruction of ungodly men. 

8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 

The words not wanting (mē boulomenos) anyone to perish do not express a decree, as if God has willed everyone to be saved. Universal salvation is not taught in the Bible. Instead those words describe God's wishes or desires; He longs that all would be saved (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4) but knows that many reject Him.

Think about your day and all of the activities you do. If the Lord comes back, what will he catch you doing?

A New Heaven and Earth
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 
13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 
14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 
15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 

The Lord's patience is because of His desire that people come to salvation (cf. v. 9). The seeming procrastination of the Second Coming, far from being negative inaction on God the Father's part is rather a demonstration of His makrothymian ("long-suffering").

16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 

Peter calls Paul's letters Scripture or at least put them on the same level.

17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 
18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 

Search the scripture and get God's heart on the issue
Observation
Interpretation 
Application
Categories of language 
Multiple places where the command is given or that it is followed

An Unstuck Faith 2 Peter 1:1-21

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1.      Resolve To Live in Harmony with God’s Moral Character

2.      Remember The Past from Which You Were Saved

3.      Rigorously Evaluate the Genuineness of Your Profession of Faith

4.      Repeatedly Reflect on the Warnings Enclosed in God’s Word

Keeping the Church Healthy 1 Peter 5:1-14

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Keeping the Church Healthy

1 Peter 5:1-14

 

Five Marks of a Healthy Church!

 

1. Healthy Churches Are Led by Godly Leaders

2. Healthy Churches Honorably Relate to One Another

3. Healthy Churches Rely Deeply On God through Life’s Difficulties

4. Healthy Churches Guard Against Satan’s Tactics

5. Healthy Churches Trust God to Bring Good Out of Suffering

Living Out God’s Will 1 Peter 4:1-11

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Living Out God’s Will 
1 Peter 4:1-11
 
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” 1 Peter 2:15
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3

“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:17
“And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:17
“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21
 
1. Realize that Suffering is an Inescapable Part of Life (Circumstantial Component).
2. Radically Live Distinct Lives of Virtue (Moral Component).
3. Richly Relate to Others through Connected Community (Relational Component).
4: Readily use Your Spiritual Gifts to Serve the Church (Selfless Component).