He is the Professor

4. He is the Professor We are the Students

5. EVERYTHING IS IN GOD’S HANDS “So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands.” -Ecclesiastes 9:1

6. The Search for Meaning Part IX I. "All Share a Common Destiny" (vv. 1-2) II. "Afterward They Join the Dead" (vv. 3-6) III. "Do It With All Your Might" (vv. 7-10) IV. "Time and Chance Happen" (vv. 11-12) V. "Wisdom Is Better Than Strength" (vv. 13-18)

7. EVERYTHING IS IN GOD’S HANDS “So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands.” -Ecclesiastes 9:1

8. “No man knows either love or hatred all before him.” -Ecclesiastes 9:1 Without God, man does not even have the power to tell the difference between love and hate.

9. “No man knows either love or hatred all before him.” -Ecclesiastes 9:1 No man knows his future, whether love or hate awaits him, whether he will experience acceptance or rejection from people.

10. “All share a common destiny.” -Ecclesiastes 9:2 • “The righteous and the wicked” • “The good and the bad” • “The clean and the unclean” • “Those who offer sacrifices and those who do not”

11. Hebrews 9:27-28 “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

12. Ecclesiastes 9:2 “As it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.”

13. The Search for Meaning Part IX I. "All Share a Common Destiny" (vv. 1-2) II. "Afterward They Join the Dead" (vv. 3-6) III. "Do It With All Your Might" (vv. 7-10) IV. "Time and Chance Happen" (vv. 11-12) V. "Wisdom Is Better Than Strength" (vv. 13-18)

14. Ecclesiastes 9:3 “The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.”

15. Genesis 6:5 “The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.”

16. Anyone who is among the living has hope.” -Ecclesiastes 9:4

17. After Death • Those who die do not come back to live in this world again. • Their spirits do not linger to interact with those on earth.

18. The Search for Meaning Part IX I. "All Share a Common Destiny" (vv. 1-2) II. "Afterward They Join the Dead" (vv. 3-6) III. "Do It With All Your Might" (vv. 7-10) IV. "Time and Chance Happen" (vv. 11-12) V. "Wisdom Is Better Than Strength" (vv. 13-18)

19. Daily Sense of Purpose • “Eat your food with gladness.” (v.7) • “Drink your wine with a joyful heart.” (v.7) • “It is now that God favors what you do.” (v.7) • “Always be clothed in white.” (v.8) • “Always anoint your head with oil.” (v.8)

20. Purpose in Your Marriage • “Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love. (v.9) • “All the days of the meaningless life that God has given you.” (v.9)

21. Your Circumstances are God-given • “For this is your lot in life.” (v.9) • “In your toilsome labor under the sun.” (v.9)

22. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” -Ecclesiastes 9:10

23. “Do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.” -1 Samuel 10:7

24. Serve the Lord Now! • I don’t know what to do • I’ll wait until I’m not so busy • I need more preparation • I have so many other commitments • Something came up

25. “No man ever served God by doing things tomorrow” -Charles Spurgeon

26. The Search for Meaning Part IX I. "All Share a Common Destiny" (vv. 1-2) II. "Afterward They Join the Dead" (vv. 3-6) III. "Do It With All Your Might" (vv. 7-10) IV. "Time and Chance Happen" (vv. 11-12) V. "Wisdom Is Better Than Strength" (vv. 13-18)

27. Things do not always go as we expect Ecclesiastes 9:11 • “The race is not to the swift” • “Or the battle to the strong” • “Nor does food come to the wise” • “Or wealth to the brilliant” • “Or favor to the learned”

28. “Time and Chance happen to them All” -Ecclesiastes 9:11 “Time and chance are paired, no doubt because they both have a way of taking matters suddenly out of our hands.” -Derek Kidner

29. “No man knows when his hour will come.” -Ecclesiastes 9:12

30. “No man knows when his hour will come.” -Ecclesiastes 9:12

31. “No man knows when his hour will come.” -Ecclesiastes 9:12

32. The Search for Meaning Part IX I. "All Share a Common Destiny" (vv. 1-2) II. "Afterward They Join the Dead" (vv. 3-6) III. "Do It With All Your Might" (vv. 7-10) IV. "Time and Chance Happen" (vv. 11-12) V. "Wisdom Is Better Than Strength" (vv. 13-18)

33. Illustration of Wisdom Ecclesiastes 9:14-15 • “A small city with only a few people in it.” • “A powerful king came against it.” • “Surrounded it and build huge siege works against it.” • “There lived in that city a poor man, but wise.” • “He saved the city by his wisdom.” • “But nobody remembered that poor man.”

34. Men Quickly Forget, But God Never Does He knows those who are His 2 Timothy 2:19 “Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his.’ ”

35. Men Quickly Forget, But God Never Does He has recorded the names of His people in the book of life Revelation 20:15 “If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

36. Ecclesiastes 9:16 “So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.”

37. Two Lessons • “The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.” (9:17) • “Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.” (9:18)

38. It is much easier to destroy than to build

39. EVERYTHING IS IN GOD’S HANDS “So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands.” -Ecclesiastes 9:1