Summary: Sermon from Ecc. chapter 8 on a unsaved man who went to church then died suddenly.

THE MESSAGE OF GOD TO THE UNSAVED CHURCHGOER

TEXT - Ecc.8:10 "And so I saw the wicked buried, who

had come and gone from the place of

the holy..." Read vs. 1 - 14

INTRO. - Solomon had gone to a funeral. He apparently

knew the person well enough to go to the funeral and

knew that he had visited the House of God regularly. The

tragedy was that he died as a wicked man. He had gone to

the place of the holy but never became holy. Now Solomon

returns from this funeral and remembers others who were

just like this man. He thinks of many who were following

in this dead man’s footsteps. He then gives them this

message of warning. Notice vs.2 - "I counsel thee"

He says seven things to these people passing through the

temple on the way to a godless eternity to encourage

them to wake up before it is too late. Notice what he

tells them.

I. THERE ARE LAWS TO BE OBEYED - vs. 1 - 5

Vs.1 - If you are wise you will obey God.

Vs.2 - Keep the commandments of the King (of Kings)

Commandments include all God’s desire and will

Vs.4 - With God’s Commandments come the power to obey

Power to obey comes thru Holy Spirit at Salvation

The departed man Solomon remembers was not wise and had

forgotten the command to get saved and live for God.

II. THERE IS A FUTURE TO BE MET - vs. 7

The first part of this verse tells us that we do not

know what lies ahead for anyone of us. The last part of

the verse and vs. 8 tell us we do not know when our

death will come. The wicked man who died may have done

differently had he known he was going to die soon.

III. THERE IS A DEATH TO BE ENCOUNTERED - vs. 8

There is no power to stop that appointed hour.

See Heb. 9:27

"there is no discharge in that war" means you cannot get

out of this encounter. People can get out of many

responsibilities down here and may escape the

consequences of their actions but if Jesus tarries

nobody will escape death.

IV. THERE IS A LIFE TO BE AVOIDED - vs. 10

This man had religion but it was religion without God,

religion without reality, and religion of the outward

and not the inward. He had "come and gone" on a regular

basis to church and this is important - see Heb. 10:25.

He went and left but was unchanged.

"If the heart is unclean, and the life is

unchanged, then the soul is unsaved."

Notice vs.10b - These people who had followed in the

path of this wicked man who died must have done things

to be remembered by. Things don’t save and all that is

going to matter as far as being remembered is whether

God remembers us.

V. THERE IS AN ATTITUDE TO BE REJECTED - vs. 11

Because God in his goodness, mercy, and long-suffering

does not punish sin the moment it is committed, people

are deceived into thinking God does not see nor care.

vs.12 - shows a sinner can misapply the mercy of God.

Sinning a 100 times does not mean God does not

care.

vs.12 - shows God’s temporal blessings do not mean a

sign of God’s approval. A person may live longer

than others but that does not mean God smiles on

them.

VI. THERE IS A JUDGMENT TO BE FACED - vs. 12 - 13

What God is saying is that you cannot get past God.

ILL. - It is like policemen in Brazil. They stand on

corners with nothing but a pencil, paper, stopwatch, and

a pair of binoculars. If you speed they write down the

time, date, location, traffic infraction, and car

license number. They say nothing to you. They do not

chase you. In fact you may not even realize you were

caught. But WAIT until you go to get your license

renewed next year and they will be waiting for you to

pay the penalty.

This wicked man went to church regularly, got by with

his sin a 100 times, thought God was approving him, but

he died and found he was not ready to meet God.

VII. THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET SAVED - vs. 5 - 6

a wise man will see it and take it while a foolish man

will reap misery because he does not take it. There are

many people who are alive today facing troubles they

could have avoided if they had got saved 10, 15, 20, 25,

30 years ago.

The man Solomon speaks of here could have lived a

different life, died a different death, and faced a

different eternity.