So we will finish the main part of this chapter tonight, and next time, Lord willing, we will look at the epilogue. So tonight, verses 1 through 8 of Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them, while the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are not darkened, and the clouds do not return after the rain. In the day when the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men bow down, when the grinders cease because they are few and those that look through the windows grow dim, when the doors are shut in the streets and the sound of grinding is low, when one rises up at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of music are brought low, also they are afraid of height and of the tares in the way. When the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is a burden, and desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets. Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well. then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirits will return to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, all is vanity. Amen. Let us pray. Our blessed God, we have learned much from this marvelous work. These words of the wise men, and far more importantly, the words of Almighty God. And so it is, Lord God, that there is still wisdom here for us to glean. There is still words of truth that we must cling to. God help us. God teach us. God equip us. that what we learn here this evening would be applied to our lives, that we would live our lives in light of what is taught here. God help us to remember our creator. God help us to honor you. We pray, we thank you, and we ask it through Jesus Christ. Amen. So this was the planned ending of the book. This is where it began. Solomon, or more accurately, Koheleth, that's the Hebrew word for our author, our herald. Oftentimes in translations he will be referred to simply as the preacher or the teacher. It's the word Koheleth. And as I have said from the very beginning, I believe that this is none other than Solomon himself, although I do freely admit his name appears nowhere in this book. And I will also freely admit that many, many good, sound, strong, biblical men would disagree with me. They would say, no, this is not Solomon. But as we have studied this amazing book, I point it out again and again, place after place, where it certainly sounds like Solomon. This certainly sounds like something Solomon would have written. And so it is that we have come to this place where the book officially ends. As I said, next time, God willing, we will look at the epilogue, the additional statements that Solomon has for us. And so tonight we look at that which is the ultimate Hevel, or better, that which makes life here under the sun Hevel, meaning vanity, that breath, that brief Moments in time, life, it's here and then it's gone. It doesn't carry on. It has no weight to it. It doesn't last. That's life here under the sun. It is a veil. And we've been looking at this in just about every conceivable way. Solomon has been looking at test after test, observation after observation, different aspects of life, and in every single instance, he's come to the same conclusion. It's vanity. It's Hevel. Life is short. And so last week we looked at the vanity of youth, the vanity of youth. Tonight we will look at the vanity of old age, the vanity of old age. And so I've titled this sermon exactly that, the vanity of old age. And as we look at the subject of old age, the vanity of old age, that will lead us into the subject of death. You think this is going to be not an overly uplifting sermon, but I believe it will be. So we'll start at verse 1 of chapter 12. He says, Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them. He says, remember now your Creator. Remember now. No matter what your age, remember now your Creator. In other words, bring Him to the forefront of your mind. Think about Him. Consider Him. Think upon His ways. Unlike most Americans, unlike most in our society, even those who say they believe in some kind of God, They don't think about him very often. They don't consider him very often. It doesn't have an overly strong impact on their life. As I mentioned in the opening this morning in the first service, the comedian, the famous comedian that said that basically he comes to church to get his heartfelt needs met. God for him is someone who touches his heart, who helps him feel good, feel spiritual. And I didn't have time to get into it this morning, but the podcast had a host and that host said, well, God or my God makes me feel this way, or I like that I can go to my God and make this request when I need my God. Well, what does Solomon tell us? He says, remember now your Creator. Who is that? Is it my personal God? No. There's only one Creator. There's only one who created the universe. He's the Almighty. He's my God, yes. He's everyone's God. There is only one true God. I don't think Solomon would have thought very highly of those men and what they said on the podcast. And so we are to remember our God, we're to think about our God, our Creator, and that of course will immediately do what? It will humble us. it will cause us to bend the knee, will bring us low, because we remember the God who created the universe, there is an automatic creator-creature distinction that is made. He is the creator, I am the creature. He is the potter, I am the clay, as Romans 9 makes clear. He has a right to do with me as he pleases. He has a right to do with this entire universe as he pleases. And so Solomon says, think now of your creator, consider him, remember him now. So it's our responsibility when we do this, we're not to question Him. We're not to doubt Him. We're not to challenge Him. No, that would be highly wrong, sinful, wicked. No, we are to remember Him. We are to put our faith and trust in Him. We are to live for Him. As I said, this brings about a great humility, a great humbling, and a bending of the knee. We are to remember him for who he is, the only true and the living God. He is the creator. We are the creation. He is absolutely holy, perfect, and just. But when are we to do this? Ideally, when are we to do this? Well, he tells us, Solomon does. He says, in the days of our youth. We're to do this in the days of our youth. Why the significance? Why the priority of our youth? Well, when you think about it, it does make sense. Is not a young person more likely to put this off? Young person, yeah, young person, they got all the time in the world. They don't need to think about God. Those days, though, someday, someday, someday I will consider God, but for now, I've got things to do. I've got places to go. I've got video games I've got to play. I've got movies I've got to binge watch on Netflix. I've got some important things that need my attention. See, as you grow older, you start to realize that those days, those days to remember your creator, There's fewer and fewer and fewer of those days. And so as you grow older, you start to become more sober minded. You start to think upon your ways. By God's grace, hopefully you do remember your creator. But young people, much more likely to just push that off. Solomon says, don't do that. Don't do that. Think, remember, consider your creator in the days of your youth. And if a young person does that, to what benefit is there? Well, think of how many sins, what kind of a life that person might live if they don't remember their Creator. You're at a crossroads when you're young. You can take this path, the way of the flesh, the way of the world, the way of sin, or you can take this path, the way of godliness, the way of devotion, the way of committed life to Christ. Which life is going to have greater consequences as far as how you will be when you're older? There's no comparison. Live your life for Christ. Remember your Creator in your youth. The sins that you will avoid are many. Last week we considered young people, illustration after illustration of young people who lived after the things of this world, who lived for the fast life, who lived for fame and fortune, and it cost them their lives. They're no longer here. They're gone forever. Young people must not put off this remembering of their Creator. because they're not guaranteed another day. If you're a young person, you don't know that you will have tomorrow. But, as we know, many, many in this country live their lives. They haven't died, but they live their lives in such a way so as to reap consequences, natural consequences to sin. Good illustration of this is when you come to church. How many of you pass by intersection after intersection, homeless people standing there holding out a sign? Many of them, very, very young. And many, many times I've noted that they're busy just talking away to somebody who's not there. I've seen people, and you probably have too, where they are having very serious conversations, even arguments. Nobody's there. Why? Because their mind is destroyed from drugs. They've been on drugs, they've been living on the street, and all they do is live one day to the next, hoping to get that next high, hoping to get more drugs. Their lives are destroyed. There are natural consequences to sin. They didn't remember their Creator in their youth, and now they are paying the price. Solomon says, heed the warning. Remember your Creator. A couple years ago, I was at work, was going into one facility, and I heard someone screaming, Help me! Help me! Somebody please help me! Well, I get your attention. I went running over to the street, very busy street in Scottsdale. Cars were racing back and forth. A man was standing there right in the middle of the street. His car was sitting there in the middle of the street, and he's just screaming, Help me! Help me! Help me! I yelled back, what do you need? How can I help you? He completely ignored me, kept screaming, help me, help me, will somebody please help me? I said, what do you need? Ignores me. It became pretty obvious after just a few seconds he was drugged up on something. He was not in his right mind. So I called 911. They sent an officer out. They sent an ambulance out. He was on a very busy street. It was very scary. He almost walked out in front of cars numerous times. The cop pulled up very expertly, talked to him calmly, slowly got him into the gurney, the ambulance, got him into the ambulance, and they took him away. police officer came over to us and needed to interview us for his report. And so we were able to ask him some questions. He said, yep, I pulled up. I knew what I was getting into as soon as I heard the call. He said, I had to check and make sure I had my taser ready to go, because typically when you get someone who's strung out on drugs like that, you have to tase them. He said, thankfully, this man didn't need to be tased. He said, the first question I asked him, I said, when was the last time you slept? The guy said, two days ago. Okay. You've been in rehab? Yes, I've been in rehab. When did you get out? Two days ago. Went straight back to meth. Right back to meth. And so he was spinning a million miles an hour. And an event like that gets you to think really hard about this man. He had a mother. The police officer had to call his mother, had to call her to come and get this car. And I thought, you know, that mother had this son. He was a little baby boy once upon a time, probably dearly loved. She raised him, cared for him. At various points in his life, he could have chosen a number of different avenues. He could have remembered his Creator, but he chose not to. He could have taken a various path that would have led him into godliness. He could have served the Lord, could have been used mightily of the Lord. But he chose not to. He chose this life, and it's had horrific consequences. Solomon says, remember the Lord in your youth. Remember your Creator. So, back to verse 1. He says, remember now your Creator in the days of your youth before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them. So again, there is this emphasis on youth before the difficult days come when it is said, I have no pleasure in them. Obviously talking about the older years, the elderly years, the senior years, older in age. And he says, you want to remember your Creator before those days. Before those days when you take no pleasure. What is he referring to? Well, oftentimes with age comes the struggles of infirmities. And without Christ, without remembering your Creator, without faith in God, what oftentimes sets in is bitterness, anger, resentment, discouragement, depression. Solomon says, remember your Creator. A godly saint from their youth, they've been able to grow up in the Lord, they've seen God's faithfulness time after time in their lives, they know that God ordains all that comes to pass, even the older years, even age and death, so that when it comes, it's not easy. but they embrace it knowing that it's from the Lord. It comes from the Lord. He ordains our older years just as he does our younger years. He ordains our infirmities just like he does all of our healthy days. He ordains our death just like he does our life. And so a godly person comes to grips with that, understands that, embraces that, and that can bring tremendous encouragement, hope, and trust even into those hard years of older age when infirmities set in. And so that brings us to verses 2 through 5, where Solomon describes the struggles of old age. Again, he says, remember your creator in your youth, verse 2, while the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are not darkened. I believe this is a reference to the shutting in of the elderly. Elderly people, as they grow older and the body doesn't work as well anymore, it becomes harder to get out. It becomes harder to move. What do they typically do? They stay home. The more comfortable at home, you know where everything is. It's easier to get around. It's your stuff. And so this is very, very typical. We see that obviously in our day and age. It was the same way for Solomon in his day and age. There's a nursing home near our house. And I've always gotten a kick out of their advertising campaigns. They put them up on a big billboard. And they have the vans that shuttle people to and from the hospital and doctor's offices and stuff. And they put pictures on their vans. And I've always gotten a kick out of these pictures because it makes life in this nursing home look like it's one nonstop party. It shows all of these seniors and they are just laughing. They are having the time of their lives. They are just playing games and playing practical jokes on one another. I mean, it looks like it's a college campus. Well, I've been in plenty of nursing homes, plenty. And I've never seen anything like that. What you see typically in a nursing home Lots of quiet. Maybe someone shuffling down the hall here, shuffling down the hall there. A lot of wheelchairs. People sitting in wheelchairs. They get wheeled out of their room, maybe into the big main area. What do they do? They sit and watch TV very quietly. Most people stay in their rooms. They stay shut in their rooms, either sitting quietly, maybe reading, maybe watching TV, maybe listening to something, maybe just looking out the window. A lot of people stay in their beds. They don't feel well enough to even get out of their beds. That's being shut in in your older years, and it's very typical. It's always been the case. Like I said, that was the case in Solomon's day, and it remains the case now. But he goes on and he says, and the clouds do not return after the rain. This is an interesting statement. The clouds do not return after the rain. That's how the New King James renders this passage. The clouds do not return after the rain. What is he referring to here? I believe that what we're looking at is the rain would come, used to come when you were young. It's a picture of coming in your youth, and it would rain. And then the clouds would come back again at another point and rain again. What is rain but refreshment and renewal. And so as a young person, you would get refreshed and renewed. And then sometime later, you might get refreshed and renewed again. Restrength, that strengthening process begins anew. You could recover. You could grow strong again. But as you age, those clouds don't return anymore. That rain is now over, and those clouds just don't come back. That refreshing rain doesn't return. So that's one way to look at this passage, but some of your translations may render it differently. It says, and the clouds return after the rain. A number of modern translations render it that way. And if that is the case, how are we to understand it? Well, the idea here is that the sun comes out and the clouds are there, but they're always there. They never go away. It rains. And you think, the rain's over, tomorrow will be a bright sunny day, I can go out, the birds will be chirping, but what do you find? More clouds, more clouds, and more clouds, more rain. And if I had to put weight on either understanding, I would put it on the latter because I think that fits the context. The shutting in of the older person, they don't go out anymore. Why? Because there's always darkness, there's always clouds, they stay shut in. And so that takes us to verses three and four, how the elderly are compared to a house needing repair. Verse three, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, the keepers of the house tremble. So picture an elderly person, and now they're compared to a house. The keepers of a house tremble. What is that? But the shaking of the hands, which is so common. I was watching a video this week of a world-famous, long-retired race car driver, a drag racer. He was very, very well known in the 60s and in the 70s. He helped make drag racing what it is today. And because of his many years of service and all of his fame, they wanted to honor him this weekend at the biggest event of the year, the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. And the funny car world champion The current world champion honored him by having his car painted just like this man's car was painted back in the 60s and 70s. And further, they wanted to do a big photo op, so they wanted this man to get in the car and start the car. And so he was there. He was doing interviews. He looks great for his age. Did a fantastic interview. Very big, robust man. Looks fantastic for his age. Got in the car, and of course, a funny car. You don't just start that up. You have to put in earplugs. Very, very loud. You also have to wear a gas mask because of nitromethane fumes. So he puts on the gas mask. And I noted in the video, as he puts on the gas mask, this is a man who's held up very well, but as he put on the gas mask, The hands shook, and he took the hands down and he grabbed the steering wheel. The hands shook. He's a man who held up very well. He looks fantastic for his age, but he's still growing older. The infirmities of old age are still taking place, and there's nothing that can stop that. But Solomon goes on. He says, and the strong men bow down. What is he referring to here? Probably the legs. The legs grow weak and the back tends to bend over and stoop. It's hard to stand up straight. Oh, those legs once upon a time were so strong, you could just go on and on and on. You could stand for hours, but no more. And that back, oh, that back used to carry amazingly strong heavy weights, but no more. And then he says, also, when the grinders cease because they are few, and I have to find this description somewhat humorous. The grinders, what is that? Probably the teeth. The grinders cease because they are few, because you've lost your teeth. We have wonderful dental care nowadays, but relatively recently, that's been the case, up until just a few decades ago, if you got older, you lost teeth, and that was just reality. My grandfather had no teeth. the entirety of my childhood, did not have a single tooth in his head. He also did not have dentures. He gummed everything. I remember that because I enjoyed watching him eat whenever we would go over to his house. It was something that a child would find quite humorous. He could eat everything, interestingly enough, even steak. Just cut it up into little pieces. The only thing he had to alter was corn on the cob. Couldn't take a bite of corn on the cob. He had to turn it up on its side and shave the corn off. Otherwise, ate just like everybody else, but with age came the loss of teeth. So it was in Solomon's day as well. But he goes on, and he says, and those that look through the windows grow dim. What is that? A reference to the eyes. Looking through the windows of the eyes, the light grows dim or cloudy because of glaucoma or cataracts. My great-grandmother had cataracts, went blind with cataracts, didn't want to get them taken care of. That was just what she wanted to do, but she went completely blind, and that was the case throughout most of human history. As you grew older, this would take place. The eyes start to go. Verse 4. Solomon goes on, he says, when the doors are shut in the streets and the sound of the grinding is low, what is he referencing here? Probably the ears. The ears go bad. Hearing becomes a problem. Interestingly, Despite this, despite the fact that the hearing goes bad, he says in the next phrase, when one rises up at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of the music are brought low. Despite the fact that you can't hear the music, the one thing you can hear is the sound of a bird. Why? Because it wakes you up. Why is the sound of a bird able to wake you up if you're older? Because you can't sleep. You can't get into a deep sleep anymore. Oh, there used to be a time when you could sleep so soundly you could have slept through anything. But not anymore. That is a part of growing older. Verse 5. He says, Also they are afraid of height and the tares in the way, when the almond tree blossoms, and the grasshopper is a burden, and desire fails. Elderly, they don't want to go out. Not as much. Don't want to drive. Don't want to drive. Don't want to fly. There's some fear there. It's easy to get confused. People drive like maniacs. How many times have we heard that? I don't want to go out. I want to stay in. That's normal. That's common. Solomon says, and when the almond tree blossoms, what's he referencing there? Well, an almond tree, if you look at it, oftentimes the blossoms are very white, pure white in some cases. What's that a reference to? Probably the hair color. As the hair color turns white. And the grasshopper is a burden. Oh, you remember the days when you were young, maybe when you were a kid? You saw a grasshopper, you could chase that grasshopper and catch it. I remember there was always that one little creepy kid on the playground who caught grasshoppers and then would eat them. How much will you give me if I eat this leg of this grasshopper?" And the kid would make a ton of money. But he had to catch them. He was able to catch them. You can't catch them anymore. Why? Because you've got to stoop down. They're too fast. They go all over the place. The mobility has dramatically decreased. And desire fails. Desire for what? Anything energetic. You've got to rest. I have to admit, when I was a kid, I loved playgrounds. Recess was my favorite time of the day. To be able to play on a playground, I could have played on a playground all day long and never stopped. You want to know what gets me excited now? A nap. I love a nap. Naps are wonderful. Playgrounds? Not so much. But now in our text, Solomon goes from old age, he turns his attention from old age to that which eventually follows every single one of us. And what is that? The final Havel, or that which makes life Havel, that being the subject of death. Again, verse five, he says, for a man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets. Clearly a reference to death. And so he's saying here, remember your creator before you die. Verse six, remember your creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well. What do each one of these things represent? Well, they represent something that was once upon a time very useful or very expensive, perhaps even priceless, but no longer. Their value greatly depreciated, if not completely brought to nothing, because they are destroyed. Such is life, and such is death. such as the end of all things, everything in this life eventually is loosed, eventually broken, or eventually shattered. I've had the opportunity to go to a junkyard when I was younger, had to get parts for my car, go to a junkyard, you pull apart, You go out onto the junkyard, you find the same model year as your car, you find this part that you need, you pull the part off yourself, you can save a lot of money that way. But I always found it interesting as I would be walking up and down through the junkyard, you look at all of these cars that are just junk. And you think, once upon a time, that car was brand spanking new. It rolled off the assembly line. It had a beautiful paint job. Now it's crushed, it's beaten, it's rusty. There's animals living inside of it, black widow spiders everywhere. Once upon a time, someone prized that car. They spent a lot of money on that car. It had beautiful leather seats. It had the state-of-the-art stereo system in it. Somebody was thrilled to have that car. Now, it's junk. It's gone. Nothing on this earth lasts forever. All is vanity. And so that takes us to verse 7. He says, I believe this is a reference to Genesis 3, verses 17 and 19. There we see God cursing the earth and condemning man to labor under the curse. I'll pick it up in verse 17. Cursed is the ground for your sake, God says. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you are taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return." So the body goes in the earth, returns to dust. But as he says, as Solomon says, the spirit returns to God. And for us, for believers, that's wonderful news. That's glorious news. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 speaks on this, verses 6-8. He says, So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith and not by sight. We are confident, yes, well-pleased rather, to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." We look forward to that day when as believers, yes, this life under the sun, the body may return to dust, but the spirit is present with the Lord. And so Solomon concludes, verse 8, he concludes right where he started. Vanity of vanity, says the preacher, all is vanity. And remember, Solomon ran test after test. He tested this. Is life truly vanity? Is it Havel? And so he looked at this aspect of life, and he looked at that aspect of life. Test after test, observation after observation, looking at every possible part of life. Our study for the past eight months has taken us through all of that. And what is his conclusion here? His conclusion is right where he started. It's all vanity. It's all Havel. And so that statement serves as the two bookends. At the beginning and now at the end, all is vanity. So what can we take away? We're called to remember our Creator. That's the command. Remember the Creator now while you can. Consider Him. Think upon Him. Prioritize Him. Trust Him. Put your faith in Him. Obey Him. I was reminded of a poem that I think sums this up beautifully, as only a poem can. And so I looked it up and I want to read it to you just in closing. It's called Only One Life. Some of you might be familiar with it, probably are. It's by C.T. Studd. He was an English missionary, Christian missionary to China in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. And he says this. Two little lines I heard one day, traveling along life's busy way, bringing conviction to my heart, and from my mind would not depart. Only one life will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, yes, only one. Soon will its fleeting hours be done. Then in that day, my Lord, to meet and stand before His judgment seat. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice, Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God's holy will to cleave. Only one life will soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last. When this bright world would tempt me sore, When Satan would a victory score, When self would seek to have its way, To help me, Lord, with joy to say, Only one life will soon be passed, Only what's done for Christ will last. Give me, Father, a purpose deep, In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep, Faithful and true, whate'er the strife, Pleasing Thee in all my life. Only one life will soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last. O let my love with fervor burn, And from the world now let me turn, Living for thee and thee alone, Bringing thee pleasure on thy throne. Only one life will soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, yes, only one. Now let me say, thy will be done. And when at last I hear the call, I know I'll say, t'was worth it all. Only one life, t'will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last." And all of God's people said? Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Our blessed God Almighty, we thank you for this encouragement, a reminder, a warning, that we are to remember our Creator now, today, remember and continue to remember our Creator. The consequences are indeed eternal. Lord, You know the hearts of every single person in this room. Indeed, Lord God, You do. You know whether they think upon You savingly, if they've put their faith and trust in You truly. God may not a single person this night bed their head until they have truly made it clear in their own heart, before Your throne of grace, that they are truly yours, that they truly remember their creator. God help us. God bless us to remember you, to know you, to follow you, to pursue you, to love you, to worship you, to cherish you. Oh, God, that is the best life indeed. And the things that are done for you carry on into eternity. Those are the things that last. That which is done for Christ will last. Oh, blessed God. May we live our lives out in humble faith and in humble service to you. We thank you for it and we ask it through Jesus Christ. Amen.