Advice for Making the Most of Life

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Advice for Making the Most of Life</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id231.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Limitation of Wealth"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id232.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wisdom For Society"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Ecclesiastes 7:1-29, “Advice for Making the Most of Life,” Berean Bible Church, Oct 21, 2001am</B></div> <bR> <div>      It’s wise to look at the end of life, no matter how young or old you are. We are good at making a living, what about making a life? What about being poised to make a difference in your circle of influence? What about having something that others admire, something others want to get their hands on? What about leaving a legacy to those who follow us?</div> <div>      How can we make the most out of the life we are privileged to live? Solomon felt as though he had blown it (Eccl 6:10-12 – The mysteries of life: Reality is what it is and there is not much you can do about (vs. 10), and words don’t help much (vs. 11). Who knows what brings meaning to our brief lives (vs. 12?)). Even before the conclusions of chapter 12, Solomon offers advice for making the most out of our brief lives.</div> <bR> <div> 4 Principles for making the most out of life:</div> <div> <B>I. Live life with the end in mind (7:1-6).</B></div> <div> A. Fulfill your potential. Living a long life and reaching your potential is better than having lots of potential at the beginning of life and never measuring up (7:1-3).</div> <div> B. Don’t invest in distractions. Laughter, entertainment, and pleasure are not wrong, but they must not be the focus of our lives if we want to make the most of them (7:4-6).</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. Value wisdom in your everyday life (7:7-12).</B> </div> <div> Your everyday decisions make a big difference in the long-term outcome of your life. Your life is not determined by what you want, but by the choices you make.</div> <div> A. Beware of Greed (vs. 7; 11-12). </div> <div> B. Beware of pride (presumption of the future) (vs. 8), </div> <div> C. Beware of anger (vs. 9), </div> <div> D. Beware of dissatisfaction with the present (vs. 10).</div> <bR> <div> <B>III. Possess flexibility under God’s control (7:13-14).</B></div> <div> A. God is in control, whether we like it our not (vs. 13). He causes . . ., he allows . . .</div> <div> B. Accept what God does by trusting in him (vs. 14).</div> <bR> <div> <B>IV. Get real with yourself, others, and God (7:15-29).</B></div> <div> A. Don’t be self-righteous and don’t be abandoned to wickedness (7:15-18).</div> <div>      Sometimes righteous people die young and wicked people live long. Everybody doesn’t get what’s coming to them in this life. Don’t pursue righteousness as though it is a guarantee of the good life! Don’t assume that because you are not perfect that that is the reason why you suffer. Live life realistically, take hold of the grace of God, and be pleasing to God (vs. 18, fear God).</div> <div>      The world isn’t impressed by self-righteous Christians – they are impacted by real Christians who live life in the real world, Christians who know they have received grace and who willing share God’s grace with others.</div> <div> B. Hardly anyone is truly wise, and no one is completely (7:19-29). Vss. 19-22: Wisdom and righteousness are rare. Vss. 23-25: Wisdom is elusive. Vss. 26-29: In a search for wisdom and wise people, you meet a lot of fools (wise people avoid the clutches of Lady Folly (vs. 26), but not many are that wise).</div> <bR> <div> <I>     </I>Ed Dobson is the senior pastor of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids. Earlier this year, doctor’s discovered that he was stricken with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Pastor Dobson said, “For awhile after I was diagnosed, every conversation with my wife, no matter what subject we started on, always got back to my disease. You’re tempted to spend so much time worrying over the future, obsessing about your disease and your death. My wife prays that God will help me to spend my last days living, rather than dying.” (Leadership J, Fall 2001, 34.) We are all dying. It is time we started living, really living. Make the most out of the life God has blessed you with.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2001, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>