Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 “Remember now thy Creator”
Paul told Timothy, 40? “Let no man despise thy youth” (1 Tim. 4:12).
1. Remember Who? - thy Creator
• Recognition. "Creator." • Recollection. "Remember." recollect what God has done. • Reflection. "Remember." ponder. • Recommendation. "Remember." praise. For:- i. His Creation - “For by Him all things were created …” (Col. 1:16).
Ps. 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. God has a plan, a purpose, a project, and a plan for all. ii. His Redemption - 2 Cor 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. iii. His Possession - Isa. 43:15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. - J. Russell Darbyshire
Make Jesus King, thro’ Him we shall live;
Our souls and our bodies to Him let us give;
His praises we’ll sing, and others we’ll bring,
Till the whole of creation shall make Jesus King.
2. Remember When? - Remember now thy Creator
i. Before Decline • Before age comes - in the days of thy youth,
• Before adversity comes - while the evil days come not, • Before ailment comes - nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; - four stages of life:- infancy, childhood, adulthood, and “You look wonderful!”
Solomon says that… a. Aging is like a Storm - 2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
b. Aging is like a Structure - a deteriorating house.
3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
ii. Before Death - 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
c. Aging comes to a Stop - 6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken,
d. Aging leads to a Step - 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Notice the words: snapped, broken, shattered, broken. Death is final and irreversible.
Remember your Creator today…before you die!
3. Remember Why? - 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Life at best is very brief, Like the falling of a leaf,
Like the binding of a sheaf, Be in time.
Fleeting days are telling fast, That the die will soon be cast,
And the fatal line be passed, Be in time.
We’re in the process of dying every day.
Charles Bridges “Many have remembered too late—none too soon.”
i. Death is Coming
ii Death is Calling
iii. Death is Constraining - John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Bishop John Reed of Sydney, Australia, was preaching in Christ Church Cathedral one Sunday when a 75-year-old woman named Ethel Hatfield got saved. teach Sunday School?
Within two weeks, Mrs. Hatfield was leading a weekly Bible study with 70 Chinese students in attendance!
