Ecclesiastes 3

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 100
• Hymn — All People That on Earth Do Dwell (#1)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Psalm Reading — Psalm 19 (read responsively)
• Hymn — All Creatures of Our God and King (#115)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Sermon
• Hymn — It Is Well with My Soul (#691)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: Living Well Through Every Season

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3

I. A Seasonal Perspective on Time — Ecclesiastes 3:1–8

A. The list of seasons covers every aspect of human life — work, leisure, relationships, speech, politics, and possessions — leaving nothing untouched by time

1. There is no discernible poetic pattern in the list; the randomness is deliberate
2. The point: time's seasons are unpredictable and cannot be controlled by man

B. Living wisely means recognizing and responding rightly to the season you are in

1. Advocating a biblical truth in the wrong season can itself become unwise and unbiblical
2. Example: a grieving person needs weeping, not premature comfort of Romans 8:28
3. Example: Jesus distinguishes John the Baptist's season of fasting from his own season of feasting — the bridegroom is present (Matthew 9:14–15)

C. The seasons define us; how we respond to their objective reality reveals who we are

1. Leaders who misread their season make disastrous blunders (e.g., Chamberlain vs. Churchill)
2. God's Providence is best read backwards — in the midst of suffering we often cannot make sense of it

II. An Eternal Perspective on Time — Ecclesiastes 3:9–15

A. God has placed eternity in the human heart, yet man cannot know what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

B. The parallel with Romans 7: the soul longs for eternity but is bound to a body destined for dust

1. Paul's cry — "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24) — mirrors Solomon's dilemma
2. The answer in both cases: resignation to Christ, who knows the end from the beginning

C. Rather than fearing time, we fear God, who is sovereign over time

1. Illustration: children in the back seat of a car — they rest and play because they trust the father knows the route and the destination
2. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7); Ecclesiastes 3:14 conveys this same truth

D. "He has made everything beautiful in its time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11) — beauty is perceived from the author's vantage point, not from within the dark chapter

1. Like a reader encountering a dark passage in a novel, the beauty is only fully seen when the ending is known
2. From beneath the sun: death, war, cancer appear only as grief; from God's perspective, all things work together for a beautiful end

III. A Righteous Perspective on Time — Ecclesiastes 3:16–17

A. Solomon observes wickedness even in places of justice and righteousness

B. Two different responses to injustice are contrasted within Solomon himself

1. Earlier (Ecclesiastes 2:15–17): "I hated life" — circumstances allowed to dominate the heart
2. Here: "God will judge the righteous and the wicked" — God's truth is deliberately borne down into the heart

C. The progression mirrors Job's journey from initial trust, to bitterness, to renewed God-centered perspective

D. The call is not passive indifference but righteous indignation

1. We are to think on whatever is excellent, pure, good, and true (Philippians 4:8)
2. The distinction is not whether we feel indignation, but whether it is self-righteous and man-centered or God-centered and righteous

IV. A Mortal Perspective on Time — Ecclesiastes 3:18–22

A. Man and beast share the same end under the sun — both return to the dust (Genesis 3:19)

1. The word "beast" is significant: man has acted like a dumb animal and ends like one under the sun
2. Solomon is conducting an empirical experiment — describing only what the senses observe beneath the sun

B. "Who can bring him to see what will be after him?" (Ecclesiastes 3:22) — no one under the sun can pierce the veil of death

1. Those who seek psychics after a loved one's death cannot find the answer there either
2. The counsel: do not waste life grasping for what cannot be known; instead, rejoice in your lot

C. Jesus Christ is the supreme example of living rightly through every season

1. "My time has not yet come" — and then, "The hour is at hand" (John 2:4; Matthew 26:45)
2. A time to be born, to die, to sleep, to be angry, to make peace, to bless, to be a curse, to have communion with the Father, and to cry out in desolation (Matthew 27:46)
3. No one has ever lived so fully according to the seasons the Father appointed — and his end was not the dust but the Father's throne

D. Christ now pours out his Spirit so that we may live above the sun with him

1. He is the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)
2. Looking to Christ means learning from the way he met every season the Father gave him
3. By his Spirit we too may live well through every season and be where he is — forever