The message was brought by Rev. Eddie Foster on June 9, 2024.
Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: 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, 4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; 5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
There’s an old Southern Gospel song called “This Old House”. It talks about not having time to fix broken this or that on the house because we’re leaving here. Solomon is referring to this old house–our bodies–in this portion of scripture. If you own a house there is always something to repair, sooner or later. The same goes with life.
Solomon begins by saying Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. All of us are the youngest now that we’ll ever be. It won’t be long till golden years come. Remember God now! As a person gets older hearing sermon after sermon but not accepting the Lord, he/she will not feel an effect from it. People who live near a railroad crossing have gotten so used to it they don’t hear the train anymore. It’s the same principle. Even as a child I remember thinking I will never cease to exist. We won’t. We’ll be either in heaven or hell for eternity. Why do we need to remember God now?
Because of what’s about to happen: we will move out of this old house (our body). I enjoy life and don’t particularly want to die, but I know I will and that after will be better than it is now. Our body gets worse with time. We’re not as strong as we used to be. Maybe we’re not as healthy. Solomon uses our bodies as an analogy. Verse 3-6: Keepers shall tremble: won’t always be strong; strong men shall bow: we used to bend and touch our toes and now most of us can’t do that too easily. The grinders are the teeth. They sometimes give way. The windows are darkened. Most of us have some kind of vision problem as we’ve gotten older. Grinding is low means we don’t hear as well. We rise early because we don’t sleep as well. Voice begins to crack. We get afraid of things like height or declining health or retirement. Some even fear death. As a Christian we don’t need to fear death. The real person will vacate this house and go to the “long home” mentioned in verse 6. Things become a burden and the hair turns white. We lose the zest for life as we get older because there is less vitality. This old house does deteriorate. We will shortly move, sooner than we think, to that long home. Life is a vapor–the short home. Eternity is forever–the long home. There will be no struggles there. If you’re not saved, the life you have now is the best you’ll ever know.
Verse 14 tells us God will bring every work into judgment. We will all stand before God. The unsaved will stand at the Great White Throne Judgment. I truly believe there will be degrees of punishment for the unsaved just as there will be degrees of rewards for the saved. The saved will meet the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ. So, I have to ask you this: what will happen if today you leave the short home for your long home? Will you go to heaven or hell? Trust in the Lord. Make heaven your home!
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 