We are in Ecclesiastes, just reading the first verse from chapter 11. Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. You may be seated. I don't know if you remember doing something for the first time that was really scary. Perhaps it was a jump in the pool from a high dive when you were just a young kid. Maybe it was climbing a high mountain, parachuting from an airplane, having major surgery. Hebrews 11, as you know, is filled with names that ventured out by faith into unknown territory. It did not always end well for them in this life, but they knew that living by faith wins the prize, whether in this world or the world to come. And the preacher in Ecclesiastes is just finished with a contrast between wisdom and folly. And now he's going to teach the wise person how to live by faith in a broken world under the sun. He wants us to wake up and smell the roses, live a joyful life of faith before age and death overtake us. Gibson in his Living Life Backwards says, rather than living shrouded by death, Ecclesiastes has been teaching us to live shaped by death. It is bracingly realistic about the agonies of aging and dying, but its realism does not go hand in hand with despair. And so we've been using the theme of the book from Michael Eaton, It is an essay in apologetics. It defends the life of faith in a generous God by pointing out the grimness of the alternative. And the theme of this particular sermon is seize life's opportunities while there is time. And this is what is called a carpe diem theme, seize the day, seize the moment. And that theme has already been highlighted a few times in the book. But now he's going to hit hard as he begins to wind down his treatise. And so our outline tonight is helpful challenges to prod us towards seizing life's opportunities. And the first is have a bold operational faith. Casting your bread upon the water sets the framework for the remainder of the book. And interpretations vary on that particular verse. Some say a challenge to industry. The word cast can be translated send. Solomon, like many entrepreneurs of the day, sent forth empty ships to sail upon the waters to foreign lands. And the ships would return loaded down with spices and peacocks and zoo animals and silks and all sorts of things, basically Excuse me, invest your money and you will eventually see a return on your investment. And that's the way the NIV translates, ship your grain across the sea after many days you may receive a return. But then some see it as a challenge to benevolence. Verse two, give a portion to seven or even to eight. In other words, give generously and you'll in due time reap some benefit. And Jesus said, give, it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. will be put into your lap, for with the measure you use it, it will be measured back to you. Luke 6, 38. And then a third view is a farmer sowing seed for harvest. Verse six, in the morning, sow your seed. And so some think casting your bread on the water is from a custom in Egypt of sowing seeds along the banks of the Nile River when they receded in the late spring or early summer. And the scattered seed would disappear into the soil, the muddy soil and seed bed. And in due time, the seed would produce a harvest. Sow seed bountifully and expect a great return at harvest time. But there's a general principle referring to a bold operational faith that can come from this text. And you could apply it to a great variety of things in life, including all those things I cited above. Casting your bread is a challenge to live your fleeting life in a broken, fallen world under the sun with a bold operational faith while time remains. And by bold operational faith, I mean a practical, active, functional, working, viable, risk-taking faith. And the preacher has already taught us in Ecclesiastes 9, 10, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom and shield to which you are going. And so casting your bread upon the waters is calling us to a bold operational faith, to seize life's opportunities while you can, and you will see a return. Remember Eaton's theme on Ecclesiastes, it defends the life of faith in a generous God. And he says in another place, the wise man will invest everything he has in the life of faith. And you'll notice there are four imperatives in this passage and they speak to this bold operational faith. Verse one, cast. Verse two, give. Verse six, sow. Verse six, withhold not your hand. And these commands are given in the context of uncertainty. Four times we read, you do not know. Verse two, verse five, and two times in verse six. And so faith boldly operates even when it does not always know what lies in the road ahead. Now, why is that so important? Well, faith must be bold and active, enthusiastic and forceful moving forward in the mystery of providence. And you can make applications in many areas of life, but let's consider a bold operational life of faith that seizes life's opportunities, first of all, obeys the precept. Cast your bread upon the waters, give a portion, sow your seed, withhold not your hand. Obeying is not an option, these are imperatives. Faith must boldly take the steps in order to win the prize, but what hope do I have of a return when things appear sometimes so doubtful? And so a bold operational faith, life seizes life's opportunity. Also, trust, second of all, trust the promise. It says, for you will find it. There's a time to plant and a time to pluck up. What is planted? Ecclesiastes 3.2. There will be some return on your casting, your giving, your sowing. And this is the promise. Bridges says, faith in the promise gives life to the precept. In many cases, the promise may not be realized immediately, but God has an eternal plan, an eternal reality, and he'll bring these things to pass in his own way, in his own time. Just as sure as the rain and the snow moisten the ground and a harvest eventually springs forth, Isaiah says of God's promises, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose. and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55, 10, and 11. And the key there is that which I purpose. And so it's the promise of God that takes the burden out of the command. That is when there is faith. Remember, we're not wise, we're not, I mean, we're wise, we're not foolish, so we put our faith only in what God promises. And if God has promised, it will happen in some way in his own time. And so how does this work out in real life? Well, bold faith trusts the promise in spite of unknown circumstances. Verse two, and other times within this passage, give a portion to seven or even to eight for you know not what disaster may happen on earth, for you know not. Seven is the number of completeness or perfection, and eight is going over and above, so abundantly. And then faith pushes through, even in light of uncertainty, verses three through five. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. In other words, it doesn't ask when or how. It stretches itself with trust that what God has said He will do. Life is uncertain, isn't it? We cannot predict what is ahead. Clouds do not hold back the rain. When they're full, they dump the wet stuff. The wind blows where it will, and when it will. Trees fall, and that's that. They lay where they fall, or lie where they fall. Lie, lay. My wife has taught me the grammar of those two words. If you wait for the perfect time, hoping for better conditions, you may miss out altogether. There will be obstacles, providences, things that happen that will cause you to be tempted to stop sowing, but the promise drives you to trust. God knows what he's doing and he promises he will deliver. Verse five, as you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. So much mystery of how God forms a baby in the womb. especially in Solomon's day, without the technology we have today. That doesn't stop us from having babies. In other words, don't let mystery stop you. Don't let the mystery of providence stop you. Bold faith pushes through the unknowns of God's providence. If we wait to venture out, we will lose out on many opportunities to advance the cause of Christ's kingdom and lose out in the end. And so verse six says, in the morning, sow your seed. Imperative. And at evening, withhold not your hand. Imperative. Again, he says, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. Basically, the outcome at this point is none of your business. It's in God's hands. Don't presume upon God with doubt. You have no idea what the outcome will be. Providence is God's sovereign business, so it is no use waiting for the ideal time to cast forth your bread. Eaton again says, faith flourishes in the mystery of providence. It does not abolish it. And 6b, is a positive no, you don't know, but God does. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, the saying goes, so some sow, some water, but God gives the increase, and that's the principle. But there's the question of when, when will I see the promise fulfilled? So the preacher exhorts us again, a bold operational life of faith that seizes life's opportunities third of all, and this is the hard part, waits with patience. Verse 1, the third part, for you will find it after many days. Doesn't say what many days means, though, does it? Between casting and finding, it's often after many days, and this is the challenge to a faith life. Let's consider the gospel kingdom work. Jesus said he would build his church. He told the church to go into the world and make disciples of the nations. The church was to go on the offensive against Satan, and God's promise was success. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. That means the church is on the offense, not the defense. And some success will come from that. You may not see it immediately. You know the story of Jim Elliot. He was brutally killed by the Aki Indians. But a great harvest came much later after his death. Spurgeon's penny sermons you heard about in Isaac's lesson this morning, they went around the world. Many testimonies of people, if you read the history, that were saved by reading Spurgeon's sermons years and years later. Adoniram Judson worked for 10 years translating the Bible into the Burmese language. He was casting his bread, he was casting his seed upon the waters. And so many things happened to that transcript, I can't even begin to tell you if you ever read his biography before it was completed. But God said the word would not return void and he was imprisoned and tortured and lost wives and children and he waited six years to see his first convert and it took 12 years to see 18 converts and he spent 38 years in Burma and by the time he died, dozens of churches were established. The number of converts vary But one article notes, sometime after his death, a government survey recorded 210,000 Christians, one out of every 58 Burmans. Did he know that when he began casting his bread upon the waters? No. I heard a story years ago about a man fishing on a river bank at 80 years of age, and he began musing on a Bible verse that he had learned as a child in Sunday school, and the Lord converted him all those years later. Perhaps at Sunday school, this side of heaven never, ever heard that story. Proverbs 126, those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy. He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. Galatians 6, 9 warns us and let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up, literally if we do not lose courage. And so it's for us to obediently cast the seed, cast the bread, send it forth, trusting in the promises, and then patiently wait for God to bring the results. This is not blind faith, but faith trusting in promise. And God gives the increase. He builds the church. He saves our kids. He regenerates the loss. He causes the spirit to fall in power. He empowers the word unto fruitfulness. He gives a return on your counseling. He gives a return on your discipling, your generous giving. Whatever it may be, He turns your bread into something in His own time and in His own season for the good of His kingdom and for His glory, His own glory. And perhaps only eternity will tell. In some cases, Jesus said, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. Read it in Luke 14, 13 and 14. And so we're applying this to ministry work, but it applies to many areas of life. So a second helpful challenge to prod us toward seizing life's opportunities is have a biblically oriented faith. A biblically-oriented faith ready to seize the opportunity will do three things, at least. And that first one is rejoice. It takes time to enjoy life as a gift from God. Pleasure rightly done was designed by him. It wasn't designed by the devil. This is carpe diem. Rejoice. Verse seven, truly the light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. Rejoice, oh young man, in your youth. Two times the word rejoice, the second one is an imperative. And we've heard the preacher's exhortations before. Seize the day. It is sweet and pleasant to be alive seeing the light of day. That's what the text means. Living under the sun can either be a drag or it can be a delight. It can be bliss or it can be a bust. It can be joyous or joyless. And in spite of all the bumps in the road, when walking by faith, we are given the imperative to rejoice. That's a tough imperative, isn't it? This is true for young people, but the text also speaks more generally. In verse 8, basically one translation says, no matter how long you live, the NIV, however many years anyone may live, do all you can to enjoy every minute of it. Rejoice in them all. Paul said, rejoice, and again I say, rejoice. However, there must be a biblical perspective. The future is bright only if you keep in mind that there are going to be days of darkness. Some see that just as a way of saying that death is coming, and that's very possible, but it could also mean, it seems like, it points to trials and difficulties in this life along the way. The entire context of this and the coming sections have death in mind. There's no doubt about that. So we can't eliminate that. And that's what most commentators take this text to mean. But we know from reading the entire book that living under the sun has a lot of bumps in the road before we get to the end. And yet in the midst of all of that and with death at the end of the road, we're supposed to rejoice. And this is why there's a special exhortation to you, since rejoice is a command. As Gibson says, this means that pleasure is a divine decree that we ignore at our peril. Isn't that convicting? God brought a judgment in Israel. It says in Deuteronomy 28, 47 and 48, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart because of the abundance of all things, he brought a judgment on them. Let that sink in for a while. But then the preacher adds to this, all that comes is vanity. Life is a breath. It's fleeting. It moves rapidly. Before you know it, you are 70. And by way of his mercy, perhaps 80 or beyond. But all that comes in vanity is simply a way of saying life is fleeting, a mist of vapor. Enjoy it while you can. Live life to the fullest. Or as Galatians 6.10 says, so seize any opportunity the Lord gives you to do good things and be a blessing to everyone, especially those within our faithful family or the household of faith. And why is that? Basically, the preacher is telling us you're going to be dead for a long time. He's not denying the afterlife, but he's just saying that opportunity is here and now. And once you're gone, opportunity is over. And there will be difficult days of grief along the way. But verse 9 continues the command to rejoice and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes. Now this doesn't mean follow the impulses of your heart wherever they lead you. That's false doctrine. But the scripture speaks against that and it would be spiritual suicide. But one commentator notes on verse nine that it suggests rejoicing in all good things that may give the heart true cheer. Whatever is lawful and regulated by the scriptures and the desire of your heart and your eyes, do it. Do it with rejoicing and do it all the way. But the guardrails must be in place with a biblically oriented faith, verse nine, but know that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment. To know is far more than an intellectual perception. Be aware, don't ever forget this. All the joys of this life must be regulated in the light of God's judgment day. Not only are you accountable to him all the days of your life, but there is also a day coming when you will give an account to God. And so what's the point? One day God is going to bring to light even how you rejoiced in his generous gifts, his mercies, his pleasures, his bounties, all those things he freely granted you all the days of your life. The inevitable event of death and judgment day should impact even the joy of living. It does not steal the joy, but it forces one, as one has said, to rejoice responsibly. Rejoice biblically. But a biblically-oriented faith that is ready to seize opportunities must also, second of all, remove. Verse 10. Remove vexation from your heart and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Youth and vitality must be brought into perspective. They will not last forever. And therefore, they must be acknowledged as part of the vanity of those whose view of life is only under the sun. It's fleeting. And in order to maintain a faith life, seizing opportunities, youth must remove something. And in this case, it says remove vexation. I believe the word means sorrow. In other words, deal with life's perplexities responsibly. Don't let trouble turn you into a cynic. Remove that which spoils your enjoyment of life. If we're to experience a life of joy, we must root out the tendency to cynicism and pessimism when troubles come. This is another way of saying, let your heart cheer you. Or as one commentator said, his meaning is then that we should take our minds off those things that cause trouble and discontent. Boy, that's so hard to do, isn't it? But there's another imperative, put away pain from your body. And pain could mean bodily pain, physical pain, but The marginal reading, if you have it in your Bibles, instead of pain, it says evil or wickedness. In other words, put away sin through repentance. Deal with sin along the way. Sin ruins joy. Put it off. Remove vexation and sin. Galatians 5.13, do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. And then continuing to challenge you, or to challenge us, you must finally, chapter 12, verse 1, remember also your creator. The temptations typical in youth to be consumed with earthly pleasures is arrested by remember your creator. And here's an echo from Eden. This entire book really, someone actually wrote a book called Echoes from Eden. Ecclesiastes reminds us of so many things from the garden. God made man in his image and for his glory, and what follows further defines what he means by this imperative. It's not just an academic exercise in perception, but remember, call to mind in such a way to affect the present feelings and the thoughts and actions. And he says also, or above all else, the potter has power over the clay, and he has a right to demand from his creatures that they set all their heart and mind and soul and strength upon him. God is the creator and God is the owner. God has power and authority as the maker of all things and every creature. You may not do your own thing. You may not come up with your own religion. You may not say, I'll put it off until another day. You may not rebel against your maker, but you are to, in all your ways, acknowledge him, Proverbs 3.6. But the nature of man is to forget God and to suppress the truth in unrighteousness, to push him out of your mind like the pagan in this world. And so he gives us some things here to help us along the way as we move to a conclusion. When should I remember my creator? He says, in the days of your youth. And the exhortation goes out to the young because in youth it's much easier to get caught up in the pleasures of this world than the joys of the Lord. Start thinking of your creator when you're young. Timothy learned the scriptures from a childhood. Josiah, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David, his father. There's an old saying, youth for pleasure, age for business, old age for religion. But it doesn't always work that way. The frightful delusion of the father of lies is procrastinating the day of your conversion until you are older. Why seek him when you are young? The text goes on to say, because in old age you are unlikely to do so. Three times he uses the word before for emphasis. Chapter 12, verse 1. Before the evil days come and the years draw nigh, of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them. The evil days are the days of distress, the days of darkness, the days of difficulty, days of trouble. Not only life in general, but especially in old age. With time, the long shadow of the fall of man, sincere thoughts of God are less likely to come, especially in times of difficulty. This is true biblically, it's true statistically, and it's true experientially. Psalm 90 verse 10, the years of our life are 70 or even by reason of strength 80, yet their span is but toil and trouble. They are soon gone and we fly away. Remember when, again verse two, before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain. Growing old without God is like the fading of the sun and light and the gloom of rain following rain followed by more rain and more rain and more rain. And the approach of the latter season of life sometimes brings this dark and foreboding sense of those who do not have God as their companion in their early years. And it's difficult enough for those who know God to outlive their family and their friends and their neighbors and even their roommates in the convalescent home. And so he reminds us of our inevitable journey into old age. And the lines following are not easy to translate, but they are different ways of describing the feebleness that comes with old age. All to expound on the imperative, remember now your creator in the days of your youth, or as we've been saying, have a biblically oriented faith. This is a challenge to protest towards seizing life's opportunities. And so he's acknowledging the frailty and fears being deserted when weakness is now his lot. And Ecclesiastes 12, 1 and following is an exhortation to remember your creator in the days of your youth. In somewhat difficult but poetic Hebrew language, the writer describes the degeneration and weakness of the elderly. These are just guesses by most people, but let me run through them quickly. Verse three, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, probably the hands and the arms critical to the human body, they begin to shake. They grow weak. And the strong men are bent. Legs and knees are now crooked. And the grinders cease because there are few. Teeth are lost and chewing is more difficult. And those who look through the windows are dim. The windows, probably the eyesight, it begins to fail. Verse four, when the doors are shut, the ears, loss of hearing sets in. Verse four, and the sound of grinding is slow. Perhaps the voice, once strong, faded now to a whisper. When one rises up at the sound of a bird, even though you're hard of hearing, you're a light sleeper, more easily awakened in the night. And all the daughters of song are brought low, unable to enjoy the cheerful evidences of a living world. Verse 5, they are afraid also of what is high, fearful of heights. Sure footing and balance are now gone. And of terrors are in the way. generally more fearful in life. Life is filled with unknowns and difficulty because of age. The world is now a threat, perhaps, because the ability to self-defense is low. The almond tree blossoms, believed to be the hair, turns gray. And the grasshopper drags itself along, an alternate reading or is a burden. Either the lightest load becomes a burden or slowed down, laborious walk of the elderly is being described. The once active body, literally, it's a burden to walk. And then desire fails. It could be the waning of sexual desire, the Hebrew word for caperberry, might mean an aphrodisiac. Remember young Abishag next to the elderly David to keep him warm was no longer a temptation like in the days when he glanced upon Bathsheba and fell into sin. Or it could be simply a desire in general or desires in general, the general appetite for food and life and passions and desires that were once readily enjoyed in the days of youth, they begin to weaken and they begin to wane. The reply of the aged Barzillai to David's offer to place him at court, he said, I am this day 80 years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my Lord, the King? And so then we ask, Why seek Him when you are young? Basically, it's too late after you die versus six through eight the third and final before Before the silver cord is snapped or the golden bowl is broken or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain or the wheel broken at the cistern and the dust returns to the earth and it was As it was and the spirit returns to God who gave it Vanity of vanity says the preacher all is vanity all is fleeting all is like a breath And these terms speak of the abruptness, the suddenness of death, sometimes the unexpectedness of death. They also speak of usefulness being over, done with, opportunity gone. And all this seems so morbid. You're probably sinking a little bit. Well, I'm 78. How do you think I feel? But the preacher has already alerted us. Better is the day of death than the day of birth. It's better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, Ecclesiastes 7.1.2. Death now the inevitable scene before us, the body returns to the earth and the spirit returns to God and the hope is fulfilled on the other side. And so verse six captures the fragility of man at the end of his days and all those other verses. and the likelihood of remembering his creator now greatly diminished. And I've told this story before, but I spent the last moments of an elderly man's life. He was an unbeliever, and he was in the hospital, and he was on his deathbed. And he talked and talked and talked about all the classic cars that he had built in his life. And in his waning moments of his life, he was so excited about these cars. And then I opened the scriptures and turned to John chapter three, and I began to read. And he rolled over, he faced the wall, and he ignored me. And I preached his funeral, not long after that. In the words of country and western singer Kenny Chesney, best start putting first things first. Because when your hourglass runs out of sand, you can't flip it over and start again. Take every breath God gives you for what it's worth. And so reflecting on aging is not to be a hopeless exercise, but a reality check. God's word says so. Aging, for those trusting in Christ, is filled with hope. Growing old is always looked at in a positive light for the believer. Let me read you a few scriptures as I close. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. 2 Corinthians 4, 16 and 17. Through verse 16, you read all the way through that text. It's a worthwhile text for reflections, a New Testament commentary on this passage in Ecclesiastes. We do not lose heart. Again 2 Corinthians 5 verses 1 and 2, For we know that the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed. We have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling. But not so with those who have forsaken God in their youth. The problems that develop in life are overwhelming for the unbeliever, and he only gets more bitter when he says, I have no pleasure in them. So the exhortation is seize life's opportunities. Do it in faith. Do it biblically. Do it while you can. Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. That's Paul's words. And finally, an old poet put it this way, gather ye rosebuds while you may, old time is still a-flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying. And so, remember your creator in the days of your youth, cast your bread upon the waters, live by faith, seize the opportunities, the days are rolling by, do it now. before it's everlastingly too late, especially if you're outside of Christ. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you for this text. It prods us with imperatives that we cannot, we cannot ignore. We ignore them to our peril. Help us, Lord, because we need the Spirit so much. We resist so much in life. Help us to be faithful. Help us to seize the opportunities. Help us to do right. Help us to live biblically, by faith, for your glory and the good of your kingdom. Amen.