Ecclesiastes 9-12 - Outline

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

May 30, 2013


 *NOV 10 - ECCLESIASTES 9-12 - QUEST REVEIWED AND CONCLUDED.*


 *1. 9:9 (9:1-10, ESV) ADVICE ALTERNATING WITH VANITY. “Enjoy life with the
wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you
under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at
which you toil under the sun.” *Thomas Edison and Andrew Carnegie believed
this. Their prime time was spent with their wives, and the wives were their
number one counselors! Father, this is what you meant Eve to be with Adam,
and all wives to all husbands. This is a Kingdom priority, those most time
violated. *Hallowed be your :name.*


 *2. 9:15-16 (9:11-18) ADVICE: UNDERSTANDING WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH OF WISDOM
*

“*But there was found in a little city a poor, wise man, and he by his
wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I
say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is
despised and his words are not heard.” *Thank You Father that eternity
straightens out all injustices, contradictions and unfairness. *Your
:kingdom come.*


 *3. 10:8 (10:1-20) ADVICE: UNDERSTANDING FOLLY AND WISDOM. “He who digs a
pit will fall into it, and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a
wall.” *Father, let none of us take holy safeguards from one another, nor
make one another naked to sin by opening satanic doorways. May we stumble
no little one! *Your :will be done, As in heaven, so on earth.*


 *4. 11:1 (11:1-3) ADVICE TO ALL MEN. “Cast your bread upon the waters, for
you will find it after many days.” *We cannot begin to anticipate how You
make this principle operate, Father. After 40 years You have shown Your
faithfulness to this principle. You do not forget! You observe the falling
sparrow. O forgive us for having such a low estimate of the wonder of Your
Being, and Your awesome acts! *Our :daily :bread Give us this day.*


 *5. 11:5 (11:4-6) ADVICE TO FARMERS. “As you do not know the way the
spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not
know the work of God who makes everything.” *Father, we believe this. We
hear and read of the secret life of the unborn child, right from
conception. O forgive the hardness of heart and selfishness of this age
that would callously take the life of such a little one. Better a millstone
… *And forgive us our :debts, As we also have forgiven our :debtors.*


 *6. 12:1 (11:7-12:12) ADVICE TO YOUTH. “Remember also your Creator in the
days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of
which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’.” *O Youth, hold well the
words of this passage; flee evil and learn to know intimately Your God and
Creator. Father, we bless You for the *clarity* and *simplicity* of this
passage, and pray that it will be heeded. *And bring us not into temptation!
*


 *7. 12:13-14. ADVICE TO CONCLUDE THE MATTER. “The end of the matter; all
has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole
duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every
secret thing, whether good or evil.” *This is a sober conclusion, Father!
Write it on our hearts. It comes from a man who blew it, and is coming back
to you, and he from bitter experience knew the truth of his words. *But
deliver us from the evil one!*


 *NOTE**: 9:11 (9:11-18) ADVICE MOST TIMELY. **“Again I saw that under the
sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread
to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with
knowledge, but time and chance happen t them all.” *By faith we accept this!


 *A.W. Tozer Quote: *“Our Golden-calf Christianity” - “Any objection to the
carryings on of our present gold-calf Christianity is met with the
triumphant reply. ‘But we are winning them!’ And winning them to what? To
true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from
the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of
character? To a despising of the world’s treasures? ...’”


 *Our Psalm for the Day: 130:5-6 (130) MY SOUL WAITS FOR THE LORD. “I wait
for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 My soul waits for
the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the
morning.” *To whom else can we go Father? *You alone* in Christ are all our
hope and expectation. Though You tarry in deliverance, we will wait for
You. *Hallowed be your :name!*


 We name this the DeProfundis Psalm: “Out of the depths” is the leading
word of it: out of those depths we cry, wail, watch, and hope. In this
Psalm we hear of the pearl of redemption (130:7-8): perhaps the sweet
singer would never have found that precious thing had he not been cast into
the depths. “Pearls lie deep.”


 130:1. *Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord.” *Beneath the
floods, prayer lived and struggled; yes, above the roar of the billows rose
the cry of faith. It little matters where we are if we can pray; but prayer
is never more real and acceptable than when it rises out of the worst
places. Deep places beget deep devotion. Depths of earnestness are stirred
by depths of tribulation. Diamonds sparkle most amid the darkness. He that
prays in the depth will not sink out of his depth. He that cries out of the
depths shall soon sing in the heights.


 130:2. *Lord, hear my voice. *If the Lord were to make an absolute promise
to answer all our requests, it might be rather a curse than a blessing, for
it would be casting the responsibility of our lives upon ourselves, and we
should be placed in a very anxious position: but now the Lord hears our
desires, and that is enough; we only wish Him to grant them if His infinite
wisdom sees that it would be for our good and for His glory.


 130:3. *If You, Lord, should make iniquities, O Lord who shall stand? *If
Jah, the All-seeing, should in strict justice call every man to account for
every want of conformity to righteousness, where would any one of us be?
Truly, He does record all our transgressions; but as yet He does not act
upon the record, but lays it aside till another day. If men were to be
judged upon no system but that of works, who among us could answer for
himself at the Lord’s bar and hope to stand clear and accepted?


 130:4. *But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. *Blessed,
but. Free, full, sovereign pardon is in the hand of the great King: it is
his prerogative to forgive, and He delights to exercise it. Because His
nature is mercy, and because He has provided a sacrifice for sin, therefore
forgiveness is with Him for all that come to Him confessing their sins. If
the Lord were to execute justice upon all, there would be none left to fear
Him; if all were under apprehension of His deserved wrath, despair would
harden them against fearing Him: it is grace which leads the way to a holy
regard of God, and a fear of grieving Him. The man is about to be
destroyed, to be swallowed up quick, when suddenly there comes this
thrice-blessed “but,”: which stops the reckless course of ruin, puts forth
its strong arm bearing a golden shield between the sinner and destruction,
and pronounces these words, “But there is forgiveness with God, that He may
be feared.


 130:5. *I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait. *Expecting Him to come to
me in love, I quietly wait for His appearing; I wait upon Him in service,
and for Him in faith. For God I wait, and for Him only: if He will manifest
Himself, I shall have nothing more to wait for; but until He shall appear
for my help, I must wait on, hoping even in the depths. *And in His Word do
I hope. *Waiting, we study the Word, believe the Word, hope in the word,
and live on the Word; and all because it is “His Word” - the Word of Him
Who never speaks in vain. Jehovah's Word is a firm ground for a waiting
soul to rest upon.


 130:6. *My soul waits for the Lord more than they that watch for the
morning.* God was no more dreaded by him than light is dreaded by those
engaged in a lawful calling. He pined and yearned after his God.


 130:7. *And with Him is plenteous redemption. *The attribute of mercy, and
the fact of redemption, are two most sufficient reasons for hoping in
Jehovah; and the fact that there is no mercy or deliverance elsewhere
should effectually wean the soul from all idolatry. Are not these deep
things of God a grand comfort for those who are crying out of the depths?
Is it not better to be in the depths with helping with David, hoping in
God’s mercy, than up on the mountain-tops, boasting in our own fancied
righteousness? *From “The Treasury of David” by C. H. Spurgeon, abridged by
D.O. Fuller)*



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