August 19, 2018 – Wisdom from Ecclesiastes and the Sermon on the Mount – Meaningless Toil or Abounding Love

Meaningless Toil or Abounding Love

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 - New International Version (NIV)      

¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. ¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹ For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²² What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? ²³ All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.

²⁴ A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? ²⁶ To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Why did the Teacher hate life (verse 17)?

How did the Teacher feel about the things he “had toiled for under the sun” (verse 18)?

What was going to happen to the things the Teacher toiled for (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why does it matter to the Teacher if the person he leaves his things to is “wise or foolish” (verse 19)?

What did the Teacher’s heart begin to despair over (verse 20)?

Who must the person who labors “with wisdom, knowledge and skill” leave all they own to (verse 21)?

In your opinion, “whot do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor  under the sun” (verse 22)?

What does not rest at night (verse 23)?

What is from “the hand of God” (verse 24)?

In your opinion, without God “who can eat or find enjoyment” (verse 25)?

Who does God give “wisdom, knowledge and happiness” to (verse 26}?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Matthew 7:7-12 - New International Version (NIV)

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

What will happen if you ask for something (verse 7)?

What will happen if you seek something (verse 7)?

What will happen if you knock (verse 7)?

Who receives (verse 8)?

Who finds (verse 8)?

For whom is the door opened (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He asks “which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone” and “if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake” (verses 9 and 10)?

In your opinion, what point is Jesus making when He says “if you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him” (verse 11)?

What sums up “the Law and the Prophets” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the Teacher’s view in Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 about who God will give “wisdom, knowledge and happiness” to and Jesus’s statement in Matthew 7:7-12 about who “your Father in heaven” will give good gifts to?

Philippians 1:3-11 – New International Version (NIV)

³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

When does Paul thank God for the Philippian Christians (verse 3)?

How does Paul pray when he prays for the Philippian Christians (verse 4)?

How have the Philippin Christians been partners with Paul (verse 5)?

What is Paul confident of (verse 6)?

Why is it right for Paul to “feel this way” (verse 7)?

What can God testify to (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he prays “that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” (verse 9)?

What will the Philippian Christians be able to discern if their love abounds “more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” (verse 10)?

Where does the “fruit of righteousness” come from (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the Teacher’s statement that a person can do “nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil” in Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 different from Paul’s prayer “that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” in Philippians 1:3-11?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s prayer that “your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” in Philippians 1:3-11 begin to help us understand Jesus statement in Matthew 7:7-12 that “how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him”?

Philemon 1:4-7 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴ I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, ⁵ because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. ⁶ I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. ⁷ Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

What does Paul always do when he remembers Philemon in his prayers (verse 4)?

What does Paul hear about Philemon (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what is Paul asking for when he prays that Philemon will be deepened in “understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ” (verse 6)?

What has given Paul “great joy and encouragement” (verse 7)?

What has Philemon done (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the view of the Teacher who “hated all the things I had toiled for” and found toil to be meaningless in Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 and Philemon’s giving “great joy and encouragement” to Paul and refreshing “the hearts of the Lord’s people” in Philemon 1:4-7?

In your opinion, how might Philemon giving “great joy and encouragement” to Paul in Philemon 1:4-7 help us to understand more about the gifts that Jesus says the Father will give to “to those who ask him” in Matthew 7:7-12?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the similarity of Paul’s prayer in Philippians 1:3-11 that “your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” and his prayer in Philemon 1:4-7 “that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ecclesiastes, Matthew, Philippians and Philemon teach us about how to discern what is a “stone” or a “snake” that we might ask God for and what is a good gift like “bread” or “fish” God would give us instead?

In your opinion, how can we move from a focus of toiling meaninglessly for ourselves to abounding in “love for all his holy people” and “faith in the Lord Jesus”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)