2/4/96 “WORDS TO LIVE (and DIE) BY”
TEXT: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
THESIS: To reveal certain basic principles which men should live by.
INTRO: A. There are certain inexorable, inalienable truths in this world everyone had better “get.” You need to learn them early in life and if you do you will save yourself a lot of headaches, heartaches, grief and sorrow. If you don’t you will not only live wrong, but you will die wrong. The believer and unbeliever alike need wisdom. Unfortunately, the unsaved can’t get wisdom, because the prerequisite is to fear God and they don’t!
ILLUS: The unsaved have learned some things, but they don’t have Godly wisdom. There are some things you had better know, even if you aren’t saved. “The other line always moves faster.” “Live every day as if it was your last and pretty soon it will be.” “The light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming freight train.” “It always takes longer than you think it will.” Murphy’s laws are often “words to live by.” “Just when you think it can’t get worse, it does.” “Inside every large problem are several small ones struggling to get out.” “You can’t win, you can’t break even; you can’t even get out of the game.” “If you look like your passport photo, you are too sick to travel.” “Never play leap frog with a unicorn!” “A .357 magnum beats 4 aces.”
“You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.” Finally,
“If you’re lying flat on your face, you can’t fall down!” These may be “words to live by” but they are not “words to die by.”
B. The wisest man who ever lived (Solomon) explored living on every level and came to an absolute conclusion in our text. It is this maxim that we will explore, but we will do so by examining 5 sayings of another wise man of a bygone era, when America had some morals and greatness. His name was Bob Jones, Sr. Those who learn these 5 basic truths, written on a 4th or 5th grade l level are nothing short of - “WORDS TO LIVE (and DIE) BY”...
I. DO RIGHT! Eccl. 12:13-14
QUOTE: “The greatest words in the English language are ‘Do right’.” or “Do right, though the stars fall.” Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.
A. Fear God!
1. The world says, God doesn’t exist.
2. The world says, fear is a negative emotion, thus “counter-productive.”
3. The wise man says: “Fear God...!”
4. God’s Word gives the reasons we had better “Fear God...”
a. “God shall bring every work into judgment...” v.14
b. “There is nothing hid that shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.” Mk.4:22
c. “Thus saith the Lord...I know the things that come into your MIND: every one of them.” Ez.11:5
d. “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Mt.12:36
ILLUS: Our generation and society is characterized by the words emblazoned on T-shirts and bumper stickers: “NO FEAR!” They had better FEAR GOD!
5. You can’t “Do right” and disobey God and His command to fear Him!
B. Keep His Commandments!
1. Ted Turner says there are not 10 Commandments, instead he offers “10 Positive Suggestions.” (Because 8 of the 10 Commandments are negative!)
2. The world (all evolutionists, atheists, humanists, liberals and New Agers) says God doesn’t exist, or if He does, He would never send anyone to hell.
ILLUS: The problem is, that if there is a set of absolutes, men couldn’t commit sodomy (“alternate sexual orientation”), fornication (“premarital sex”), adultery (“consenting adults”), lie (“situation ethics”), steal (“civil rights”), divorce (“irreconcilable differences”).
The believer accepts the absolutes of the Bible (Commandments! not options). He does so because he “fears God.”
C. Face The Judgment!
1. Get saved or give an account for your sins!
2. Get sanctified and live clean for the Lord!
3. Get surrendered and “do right!” - whatever God commands in His Word.
ILLUS: If everyone did right - even if they didn’t get saved - America would still be great and a great place to live. You could leave your car doors unlocked with the keys in the ignition, leave your home open when you go on vacation, women could walk down the street at night and not be molested, security guards wouldn’t be needed in stores or schools! No one would have to worry about someone stealing his wife or his other possessions, and no doctor or lawyer would over-charge anyone for their services and everyone would pay their honest debts!
II. DO IT TODAY! Matt.6:34
QUOTE: “The best preparation for tomorrow is to do what you should do today.”
A. Live Right Now!
1. The best preparation for tomorrow is not planning or even praying, it is to do right today.
2. The best preparation for tomorrow is not hoarding money or getting an education, it is to do what you should do today.
3. One day at a time doing right will always lead you to where you ought to be tomorrow.
III. DO WHAT WILL LAST!
QUOTE: “Don’t sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate (or the expedient).”
A. Evaluate The Permanency Of Decisions:
1. Esau sacrificed the permanent on the basis of instant gratification of an appetite.
ILLUS: People do it all the time. We make a financial commitment today which will strap us for the future. We get involved with the opposite sex for immediate gratification of an appetite (lust) and end up ruining our future for 15 minutes of pleasure. Some waste a lifetime in the wrong calling or profession by one or two hasty, rash, irrevocable decisions.
2. Judas preferred money to loyalty.
3. Demas preferred popularity to faithfulness.
B. Place Things Into Perspective:
1. You will live forever in a glorified, sinless body - not in this body of flesh which is worm-food!
2. You will forever with the decisions of this lifetime.
3. You will lose permanent reward and service due to temporal foolishness and sin.
IV. DO IT TILL IT’S DONE! James 1:8
QUOTE: “Finish the job!” - Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.
A. Don’t Quit!
1. No one starts to quit, they start to finish!
2. Thank God, Jesus finished the work His Father sent Him for!
ILLUS: America has bred a generations of quitters! We didn’t finish the liquor traffic back in the Prohibition era and we are reaping the results. (We won’t finish the war on drugs, either. The “Drug Czar” and the “War on Drugs” and “Drug Free School Zones” are all jokes and everyone knows it.) We didn’t finish WWII, we let Russia have Berlin and we reaped 40 yrs. of “cold war.” We didn’t finish Korea and Communism reigned for 30 yrs. and we still have a “military presence in Korea. We didn’t finish in Vietnam and we walked out in disgrace. We didn’t finish in the Gulf War and Saddam Hussein is more powerful than ever and could plunge the world into W.W.III or Armageddon! “FINISH THE JOB!”
3. People make commitments and don’t “finish the job” so our divorce rate is 50%!
4. People make commitments and don’t “finish the job” so we bred a generation of hippies whose slogan was “Tune in, turn on and drop out.”
5. Christians make commitments and don’t “finish the job” - they start reading thru the Bible, and make it to Exodus 3 or II Kings 1 and just quit!
ILLUS: There is a Marine joke about a D.I. who came across a “maggot” (recruit) lying by an obstacle; he had two broken legs. “Sir, I can’t stand up, sir!” “Okay,” said the D.I., “Don’t waste time. Do some push-ups!”
The Germans had a motto for their troops: “Fire till the last shot and then throw stones.”
There is a painting of a H.S. football player sitting on the bench, bent over, with his head down, his helmet hanging by it’s strap in his hands. The caption says: “I QUIT!” Looking twice you can see the silhouette of Calvary under the bench withthe words “I DIDN’T!”
V. DO YOUR BEST! Jas.4:17
QUOTE: “It is a sin to do less than your best!”
A. Effort Over Talent:
1. It is more important for a poor student to work hard and fail the test, than for a good student to goof off and pass the test!
2. It is more important to work hard, do your duty and get no glory, than to display your talent and get a reward!
ILLUS: You have probably never heard of the Cuban Olympic marathon runner named “Felix the Fourth.” He worked his way to the states on a banana boat to New Orleans, jogged to St. Louis in his postman’s shoes, which he put on in Havana. He ran the race and placed fourth: “Felix the
Fourth.” He should have won the gold!
Contrast this with the mentality of pro football players who make a touchdown and do the “hootchy-kootchy” so the crowd will applaud. It used to be that when a player made a touch- down, he simply “touched the ball down” on the goal and handed it to the referee. Today it’s “Look at me, look at me - I caught the pass!” He just did what he was supposed to do - what he gets paid big bucks to do - his duty! But he thinks he should be rewarded for doing his duty!
Lk.17:10
10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
3. Applaud your children when they do right, not when they display their talent or do their duty (when they take out the trash, get baptized, live clean not when they get a trophy for God-given talent. Applaud them when they practice the piano faithfully, not when they do well at the recital!)
ILLUS: The “reward me for doing my duty” syndrome spawned by the pro sports “heroes” and “superstars” manifests itself in the church with “workers” who will not work unless they get public recognition or credit for doing their duty. You gave the tithe - you did your duty! You
led someone to Christ - you did your duty! You brought someone to church - you did your duty! You worked your bus route - you did your duty. You worked in the nursery - you did your duty! (The only thing worse than this mentality is those who don’t do their duty!!!)
“It’s a sin to do less than your best!”
CONCL: Here are five “WORDS OF WISDOM TO LIVE (and DIE) BY!” Learn them and prosper (spiritually); fail to learn them and stagnate and suffer loss (now and here-after)!
TEXT: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
THESIS: To reveal certain basic principles which men should live by.
INTRO: A. There are certain inexorable, inalienable truths in this world everyone had better “get.” You need to learn them early in life and if you do you will save yourself a lot of headaches, heartaches, grief and sorrow. If you don’t you will not only live wrong, but you will die wrong. The believer and unbeliever alike need wisdom. Unfortunately, the unsaved can’t get wisdom, because the prerequisite is to fear God and they don’t!
ILLUS: The unsaved have learned some things, but they don’t have Godly wisdom. There are some things you had better know, even if you aren’t saved. “The other line always moves faster.” “Live every day as if it was your last and pretty soon it will be.” “The light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming freight train.” “It always takes longer than you think it will.” Murphy’s laws are often “words to live by.” “Just when you think it can’t get worse, it does.” “Inside every large problem are several small ones struggling to get out.” “You can’t win, you can’t break even; you can’t even get out of the game.” “If you look like your passport photo, you are too sick to travel.” “Never play leap frog with a unicorn!” “A .357 magnum beats 4 aces.”
“You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.” Finally,
“If you’re lying flat on your face, you can’t fall down!” These may be “words to live by” but they are not “words to die by.”
B. The wisest man who ever lived (Solomon) explored living on every level and came to an absolute conclusion in our text. It is this maxim that we will explore, but we will do so by examining 5 sayings of another wise man of a bygone era, when America had some morals and greatness. His name was Bob Jones, Sr. Those who learn these 5 basic truths, written on a 4th or 5th grade l level are nothing short of - “WORDS TO LIVE (and DIE) BY”...
I. DO RIGHT! Eccl. 12:13-14
QUOTE: “The greatest words in the English language are ‘Do right’.” or “Do right, though the stars fall.” Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.
A. Fear God!
1. The world says, God doesn’t exist.
2. The world says, fear is a negative emotion, thus “counter-productive.”
3. The wise man says: “Fear God...!”
4. God’s Word gives the reasons we had better “Fear God...”
a. “God shall bring every work into judgment...” v.14
b. “There is nothing hid that shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.” Mk.4:22
c. “Thus saith the Lord...I know the things that come into your MIND: every one of them.” Ez.11:5
d. “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Mt.12:36
ILLUS: Our generation and society is characterized by the words emblazoned on T-shirts and bumper stickers: “NO FEAR!” They had better FEAR GOD!
5. You can’t “Do right” and disobey God and His command to fear Him!
B. Keep His Commandments!
1. Ted Turner says there are not 10 Commandments, instead he offers “10 Positive Suggestions.” (Because 8 of the 10 Commandments are negative!)
2. The world (all evolutionists, atheists, humanists, liberals and New Agers) says God doesn’t exist, or if He does, He would never send anyone to hell.
ILLUS: The problem is, that if there is a set of absolutes, men couldn’t commit sodomy (“alternate sexual orientation”), fornication (“premarital sex”), adultery (“consenting adults”), lie (“situation ethics”), steal (“civil rights”), divorce (“irreconcilable differences”).
The believer accepts the absolutes of the Bible (Commandments! not options). He does so because he “fears God.”
C. Face The Judgment!
1. Get saved or give an account for your sins!
2. Get sanctified and live clean for the Lord!
3. Get surrendered and “do right!” - whatever God commands in His Word.
ILLUS: If everyone did right - even if they didn’t get saved - America would still be great and a great place to live. You could leave your car doors unlocked with the keys in the ignition, leave your home open when you go on vacation, women could walk down the street at night and not be molested, security guards wouldn’t be needed in stores or schools! No one would have to worry about someone stealing his wife or his other possessions, and no doctor or lawyer would over-charge anyone for their services and everyone would pay their honest debts!
II. DO IT TODAY! Matt.6:34
QUOTE: “The best preparation for tomorrow is to do what you should do today.”
A. Live Right Now!
1. The best preparation for tomorrow is not planning or even praying, it is to do right today.
2. The best preparation for tomorrow is not hoarding money or getting an education, it is to do what you should do today.
3. One day at a time doing right will always lead you to where you ought to be tomorrow.
III. DO WHAT WILL LAST!
QUOTE: “Don’t sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate (or the expedient).”
A. Evaluate The Permanency Of Decisions:
1. Esau sacrificed the permanent on the basis of instant gratification of an appetite.
ILLUS: People do it all the time. We make a financial commitment today which will strap us for the future. We get involved with the opposite sex for immediate gratification of an appetite (lust) and end up ruining our future for 15 minutes of pleasure. Some waste a lifetime in the wrong calling or profession by one or two hasty, rash, irrevocable decisions.
2. Judas preferred money to loyalty.
3. Demas preferred popularity to faithfulness.
B. Place Things Into Perspective:
1. You will live forever in a glorified, sinless body - not in this body of flesh which is worm-food!
2. You will forever with the decisions of this lifetime.
3. You will lose permanent reward and service due to temporal foolishness and sin.
IV. DO IT TILL IT’S DONE! James 1:8
QUOTE: “Finish the job!” - Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.
A. Don’t Quit!
1. No one starts to quit, they start to finish!
2. Thank God, Jesus finished the work His Father sent Him for!
ILLUS: America has bred a generations of quitters! We didn’t finish the liquor traffic back in the Prohibition era and we are reaping the results. (We won’t finish the war on drugs, either. The “Drug Czar” and the “War on Drugs” and “Drug Free School Zones” are all jokes and everyone knows it.) We didn’t finish WWII, we let Russia have Berlin and we reaped 40 yrs. of “cold war.” We didn’t finish Korea and Communism reigned for 30 yrs. and we still have a “military presence in Korea. We didn’t finish in Vietnam and we walked out in disgrace. We didn’t finish in the Gulf War and Saddam Hussein is more powerful than ever and could plunge the world into W.W.III or Armageddon! “FINISH THE JOB!”
3. People make commitments and don’t “finish the job” so our divorce rate is 50%!
4. People make commitments and don’t “finish the job” so we bred a generation of hippies whose slogan was “Tune in, turn on and drop out.”
5. Christians make commitments and don’t “finish the job” - they start reading thru the Bible, and make it to Exodus 3 or II Kings 1 and just quit!
ILLUS: There is a Marine joke about a D.I. who came across a “maggot” (recruit) lying by an obstacle; he had two broken legs. “Sir, I can’t stand up, sir!” “Okay,” said the D.I., “Don’t waste time. Do some push-ups!”
The Germans had a motto for their troops: “Fire till the last shot and then throw stones.”
There is a painting of a H.S. football player sitting on the bench, bent over, with his head down, his helmet hanging by it’s strap in his hands. The caption says: “I QUIT!” Looking twice you can see the silhouette of Calvary under the bench withthe words “I DIDN’T!”
V. DO YOUR BEST! Jas.4:17
QUOTE: “It is a sin to do less than your best!”
A. Effort Over Talent:
1. It is more important for a poor student to work hard and fail the test, than for a good student to goof off and pass the test!
2. It is more important to work hard, do your duty and get no glory, than to display your talent and get a reward!
ILLUS: You have probably never heard of the Cuban Olympic marathon runner named “Felix the Fourth.” He worked his way to the states on a banana boat to New Orleans, jogged to St. Louis in his postman’s shoes, which he put on in Havana. He ran the race and placed fourth: “Felix the
Fourth.” He should have won the gold!
Contrast this with the mentality of pro football players who make a touchdown and do the “hootchy-kootchy” so the crowd will applaud. It used to be that when a player made a touch- down, he simply “touched the ball down” on the goal and handed it to the referee. Today it’s “Look at me, look at me - I caught the pass!” He just did what he was supposed to do - what he gets paid big bucks to do - his duty! But he thinks he should be rewarded for doing his duty!
Lk.17:10
10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
3. Applaud your children when they do right, not when they display their talent or do their duty (when they take out the trash, get baptized, live clean not when they get a trophy for God-given talent. Applaud them when they practice the piano faithfully, not when they do well at the recital!)
ILLUS: The “reward me for doing my duty” syndrome spawned by the pro sports “heroes” and “superstars” manifests itself in the church with “workers” who will not work unless they get public recognition or credit for doing their duty. You gave the tithe - you did your duty! You
led someone to Christ - you did your duty! You brought someone to church - you did your duty! You worked your bus route - you did your duty. You worked in the nursery - you did your duty! (The only thing worse than this mentality is those who don’t do their duty!!!)
“It’s a sin to do less than your best!”
CONCL: Here are five “WORDS OF WISDOM TO LIVE (and DIE) BY!” Learn them and prosper (spiritually); fail to learn them and stagnate and suffer loss (now and here-after)!