finding a purpose in life one man’s successful search

Finding a Purpose in Life

One Man’s Successful Search

The Need for a Purpose in Life

• Everything has a purpose Ecclesiastes 3:1-11



• Need a goal Ecclesiastes 9:10

Ecclesiastes 9:10

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.”




• Need a plan to reach the goal





• Need order in our lives






• Need meaning for our lives






• Need meaning for our lives

• Need a reference point for interaction with others

The Need for the Right Purpose

• We may have chosen a specific path



• However, we may not have chosen its destination Matthew 7:13-14

Matthew 7:13-14

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”




• What if we spend all our energy, time, etc. for an undesired result?





• The regret would be unbearable






• The regret would be too late to help us






• The regret would be too late to help us

• The regret will be eternal

Work

• Most people are defined by their jobs

• How many last names originated: Smith, Baker, Miller, Tanner, Cooper,

• Work is a responsibility God gives us

• Genesis 2:15

Genesis 2:15

“Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.”

Work




• Genesis 2:15

• Ecclesiastes 1:3

Ecclesiastes 1:3

“What does man gain from all his labor

at which he toils under the sun?”

Work




• Genesis 2:15

• Ecclesiastes 1:3

• What happens at retirement?

Work

• Most people are defined by their jobs• How many last names originated:

Smith, Baker, Miller, Tanner, Cooper,• Work is a responsibility God gives us• Genesis 2:15• Ecclesiastes 1:3 • What happens at retirement?• What happens if laid off work?

Possessions

• Luke 12:15

“And He said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.’"

Possessions

• Luke 12:15

• Ecclesiastes 5:10-12

Ecclesiastes 5:10-12

“He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.This also is vanity. “When goods increase, they increase who eat them;So what profit have the owners except to see them with

their eyes? “The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats

little or much;But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to

sleep.

Power


Ecclesiastes 8:8-9

“No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit,

And no one has power in the day of death.There is no release from that war,And wickedness will not deliver those who are

given to it.

“All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.”

Power



Ecclesiastes 10:5-7

“There is an evil I have seen under the sun,

As an error proceeding from the ruler:

“Folly is set in great dignity,

While the rich sit in a lowly place.

“I have seen servants on horses,

While princes walk on the ground like servants.”

Pleasures


Ecclesiastes 2:1-3

“I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure"; but surely, this also was vanity. I said of laughter -- "Madness!"; and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?" I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.”

Pleasures



Pleasures



• Hebrews 11:24-26

Hebrews 11:24-26

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”

Mere Survival



“And this also is a severe evil --

Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.

And what profit has he who has labored for the wind?

“All his days he also eats in darkness,

And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.”

Mere Survival



Ecclesiastes 6:3-6

“If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he -- for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, even if he lives a thousand years twice -- but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place?”

Fame and Popularity

• Fame is fleeting Ecclesiastes 4:13-16


“Better a poor and wise youth Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished

no more. “For he comes out of prison to be king,Although he was born poor in his kingdom. “I saw all the living who walk under the sun;They were with the second youth who stands in his

place. “There was no end of all the people over whom he was

made king;Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.”

Fame and Popularity

• Fame is fleeting Ecclesiastes 4:13-16

• Fame is fickle Ecclesiastes 9:13-18


“This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

“Then I said: ‘Wisdom is better than strength.Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised,And his words are not heard. Words of the wise,

spoken quietly, should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.’"

Worldly Wisdom

• It does not bring happiness 1:12-18

Worldly Wisdom


• More you know, the more you don’t know 1 Cor 8:1-3

1 Corinthians 8:1-3

“We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.”

Worldly Wisdom



• Worldly wisdom eludes meaning

Worldly Wisdom



• Worldly wisdom eludes meaning

• In the day of judgment, it won’t be what you know but Who you know and Who knows you. Matthew 7:21-23

Matthew 7:21-23

"Not everyone who says to Me,'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!‘”

Worldly Wisdom

• It does not bring happiness 1:12-18• More you know, the more you don’t

know 1 Cor 8:1-3• Worldly wisdom eludes meaning• In the day of judgment, it won’t be what

you know but Who you know and Who knows you. Matthew 7:21-23

• Do you have a good lawyer? 1 John 2:1-2

1 John 2:1-2

“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

Fear God and Obey HimEcclesiastes 12:13-14


“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man's all.

“For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing,

Whether good or evil.”


• Without God, life makes no sense!



• Enjoy life under the sun,




• Do not invest in life under the sun





• It will end and everything in it






• Invest in life after the sun







• There will be a judgment day







• There will be a judgment day

• You will need a lawyer Eccl. 7:20

Ecclesiastes 7:20

“For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.”

Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God.”

The Way to Forgiveness

Romans 3:24-26“being justified freely by His grace through the

redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”


• We are saved through the blood of Jesus which He shed in His death.

• Faith is a necessary condition of receiving the benefits of His death.

• Romans 6:3-4 says that we are baptized into the death of Jesus.

• This how we contact the blood of Christ

Romans 6:3-4

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”


• We are saved through the blood of Jesus which He shed in His death.

• Faith is a necessary condition of receiving the benefits of His death.

• Romans 6:3-4 says that we are baptized into the death of Jesus.

• This how we contact the blood of Christ• Colossians 2:12 shows when faith

saves us

Colossians 2:12-14

“buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,”


• The dead are buried• Our faith in God’s working raises us• Can’t be raised until buried• Baptism is not water salvation• Water salvation would save scuba divers

without faith or repentance• The right faith saves us when we are

baptized into Christ• Faith cannot raise us until we are baptized

For Remission of Sins

• Acts 2:38 says “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

• Baptism with saving faith requires baptism for the right reason:

• In order to be forgiven of sins• Do you want forgiveness today?• Be baptized for forgiveness of your sins and

rise to walk in newness of life.

finding a purpose in life one man’s successful search

Documents

purpose ecclesiastes

unbearablethe need

livesthe need

usthe need

othersthe need

goalthe need

goal ecclesiastes

specific paththe need