Study Notes

Foundation Statement: One of the biggest things the enemy uses to distract people from their kingdom purpose and call is their earthly life

 

I.      People are choosing earthly life over their kingdom purpose and call because their perspective of earthly life is off – They have an earthly perspective of earthly life; They see earthly life bigger than they should and don’t see kingdom purpose big enough-Luke 14:26

A.    It’s vital that we attach value to what is truly valuable – Ask yourself and be honest: In my life what’s the biggest thing to me?

1.      There’s something bigger than MY life and it’s my Kingdom purpose and call

B.     Ecclesiastes gives us the Heavenly perspective of earthly life

1.      This (Ecclesiastes) should help us to see what is important and what isn’t important and it’s not just helping you see, but the spirit and life of these words should get inside of you and reconfigure your value system

2.      Satan doesn’t want you to see earthly life for what it is – He wants you to see it bigger than you should

3.      This was important enough to the Lord that he wrote a whole book in the Bible about having the right perspective about earthly life

II.     Earthly life apart from fulfilling the plan of God is vanity and vexation of spirit-Ecclesiastes 1:2,3-14, 3:18 (AMP), 4:1-3

A.    This (vanity and vexation of spirit) is how you have to see it – This is the right perspective

1.      Vanity-Empty, worthless, having no value or importance or weight, unsatisfying

2.      Vexation-Longing (craving), striving (labor hard), irritating, troubling, disquieting, harassing

B.     Acts 20:24-The thing that brings value/significance to earthly life and makes it worth living is doing what the father sent you to do

1.      VOICE-The only value I place on my life is that I may finish my race, that I may fulfill the ministry that Jesus our King has given me

2.      TLB-But life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus

3.      ERV- I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I finish my work. I want to finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do

4.      MSG-What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me

III.   What’s good (best, valuable) for men to do with their TIME on earth? – Ecclesiastes 2:3 ERV-I wanted to see what was good for people to do during their few days of life; Eccl 1:13 ERV-I decided to study and to use m y wisdom to learn about everything done in this life

A.    Some will tell you life is all about laughter and enjoyment; others will tell you it’s all about success and prosperity; others will tell you it’s all about worldly wisdom/education but those things ALONE are vanity and vexation of spirit-Ecclesiastes 2:1-16

1.      Satan loves to get people living life, thinking they are doing okay and be totally unaware that they are not fulfilling the plan of God

B.     When it comes to earthly life the enemy tries to get people to exalt anything but the one thing that actually means something

1.      What is life all about? – He gives us three things it is NOT about

IV.   When you see earthly life for what it truly is you’ll hate it (It’s grievous-displeasing, bad value, sad, unhappy)-Ecclesiastes 2:17-20

A.    I hated life – Is this a good place to be? Better to be at this place then cruising along and laughing and thinking everything’s okay

B.     Seeing earthly life for what it truly is should push you to God and redirect your focus to fulfilling the plan of God

V.    God wants you to laugh and enjoy your life and prosper and have success but those things aren’t bigger than the plan

A.    The reality is true laughter, enjoyment and success are found in His plan-Ecclesiastes 2:24 TLB-So I decided that there was nothing better for a man to do than to enjoy his food and drink and his job.  Then I realized that even this pleasure is from the hand of God.  For who can eat or enjoy apart from him?

B.     Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, 5:18-God gives you the enjoyment of life by building it into His plan

VI.   You don’t have unlimited time here and so you want to make sure that you are spending THE MOST TIME on the things that MATTER THE MOST  

A.    Wise people realize that their life on earth will end at some point-Ecclesiastes 7:2,4

1.      2-The living will lay it to heart-He’s trying to wake up the earthly man living his earthly life not fulfilling his kingdom purpose

2.      2-TLB-For you are going to die, and it is a good time to think about it while there is still time. 4-Yes, a wise men thinks much of death, while the fool thinks only of having a good time now; ERV-A wise person thinks about death, but a fool only things about having a good time

B.     Wise people realize that the time they do have will go by so quickly-James 4:14, Ecclesiastes 12:8

C.    Wise people don’t buy into the lie that they have enough time to waste time-John 4:35

1.      Ecclesiastes 12:1-Remember your creator while you’re young

2.      Ecclesiastes 11:4-Don’t wait until everything is perfect to start making the right investments

D.    A wise man invests MUCH into what matters the MOST – While a fool invests MUCH into what matters LITTLE – Ecclesiastes 10:3,10, 9:1-10

1.      Ecclesiastes 9:10 ERV-Every time you find work to do, do it the best you can

VII. If you were to peer into the realm of the spirit and see all the goings on of earth you would see two things, the busyness of earth and the work of God (Stuff that mans nothing to the Lord and stuff that actually means something to Him) – Ecclesiastes 8:16-17

A.    There’s a lot of stuff keeping a lot of people busy that means nothing to the Lord and is absolutely unimportant – Ecclesiastes 6:11

1.      Ecclesiastes 4:4-Competing with other people is vanity and vexation of spirit

2.      Ecclesiastes 4:6-Always struggling to gain more earthly stuff – Vanity

3.      Ecclesiastes 4:8-Working and working and working and no satisfaction or enjoyment or fulfillment – Vanity

4.      Ecclesiastes 6:7-9-This working for more and always wanting more and clamoring for more is vanity

5.      Eccl6:3-You can live a long life and have many kids, but if you don’t get full on the inside a baby that dies at birth is better of than you

6.      Ecclesiastes 5:10-He is devaluing the importance of riches and abundance the pursuit of possession of riches

VIII.         Here was his answer to what man should do with his life – Respect God and His things and do what He says – Ecclesiastes 12:13 AMP, ERV-Now what should we learn from everything in this book? – TLB-Here’s my final conclusion)

A.    Ecclesiastes 8:12-It shall be well (pleasant, rich, prosperity, happy, excellent, delightful, joyful) with them that fear God; Isn’t that the life that so many are after; That’s how to enjoy your life, live a fulfilled life, not waste your life, that’s what man should do with his time on the earth

1.      This (Ecclesiastes 12:13) is the only way to have it all – Proverbs 19:23

2.      13-When you don’t fear God and have a respect for His things it will lead to a shadow life, busy, busy, busy but accomplishing nothing

a.    You don’t respect, value, honor God’s stuff so you give no time to it, while you give all your time to stuff that means nothing

3.      Eccl10:18-Peoples lives are brought low and destroyed through laziness and doing nothing where the plan of God is concerned

4.      Ecclesiastes 12:14-What you do with your time here God will judge

B.     You will be supernaturally tempted and pulled to not do this – Ecclesiastes 10:4