What feels small under the sun matters greatly before God.
Sermon Title: LIVING BEFORE GOD UNDER THE SUN
Sermon Text: ECCLESIASTES 12:1-14 (ESV)
Sermon Series: UNDER THE SUN, BEFORE GOD
By: PTR. NESTOR SY
Sermon Notes:
Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them”—
2 before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain;
3 when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim;
4 when the doors to the street are closed
and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
but all their songs grow faint;
5 when people are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags itself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
and mourners go about the streets.
6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
and the wheel broken at the well,
7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.[a]
“Everything is meaningless!”
9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd.[b] 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
I. REMEMBER GOD WHILE YOU STILL CAN
“remember” | Heb: zakar | intentional action in response to what is remembered
Let the reality of God shape how you live.
Whatever age you are right now, you’re younger today than you’ll ever be again.
You can’t remember your Creator tomorrow if you keep putting it off today.
Reflect:
Are you living like the sun will always be up?
Remembering your Creator isn’t a one-time decision. It’s a daily reorientation.
II. LET WISDOM DO ITS WORK
“meaningless” | Hebrew hebel | “vapor, breath, or mist.”
The human condition is not primarily an information problem. It’s a heart problem.
The goal isn’t to know more; the goal is to live differently.
Reflect:
What’s one thing you already know you should be doing that you’re not doing?
III. LIVE VERTICALLY IN A HORIZONTAL WORLD
“fear” | Heb: yare’
“keep” | Heb: shamar | “to keep, to watch, to preserve”
Keeping God’s commandments means living in alignment with God’s purposes.
Without God, you are like an actor wandering around an empty set with no script and no director. With him, every scene has a purpose.
Living vertically doesn’t remove you from the horizontal world but it redeems your experience of what it means to live “under the sun.”
Judgment is a promise that everything matters.
What feels small under the sun matters greatly before God.