Godly Purpose

Rev Gideon Lee

Bro Steve with YWAM sharing about GoFest 2015 conference.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-9

Everything Is Meaningless

​1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”

says the Teacher.

“Utterly meaningless!

Everything is meaningless.”

3 What does man gain from all his labor

at which he toils under the sun?

4 Generations come and generations go,

but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets,

and hurries back to where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south

and turns to the north;

round and round it goes,

ever returning on its course.

7 All streams flow into the sea,

yet the sea is never full.

To the place the streams come from,

there they return again.

8 All things are wearisome,

more than one can say.

The eye never has enough of seeing,

nor the ear its fill of hearing.

9 What has been will be again,

what has been done will be done again;

there is nothing new under the sun.

The book of Ecclesiastes is written by King Solomon. You all know about him right? What's peculiar about him apart from his many wives? He is considered wise. He asked from God. He could have asked for anything but he asked for wisdom. He asked rightly and God gave him wisdom. The wisdom he had was not the wisdom of man. It comes from above.

We may not agree with some of the decisions he made in his life but we all know he was wise. Even from chapter one, you'll find it depressing. To sum it all up, he said in life we may pursue many things like money and fame but he says all these things are meaningless. If we do all these apart from God, then it is meaningless.

That's what I want to talk about. It's a reminder for all of us that in everything we do what is our purpose? Even when we serve God or bring your tithes what is your purpose? It must be a godly purpose.

Have you asked this question, what is your purpose in life? What are you here for? Why were you brought into this family? There are many authors who have written about this topic. Discovering your purpose. Like Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life.

We need to have godly purpose because we don't want to come to the end of our life and say like Solomon that everything is meaningless. Even in serving God our motives has to be right.

I want to start by saying this. How many of you know this song, "It is well with my soul". I'm going to try to sing this song.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

The writer of this song  Horatio G. Spafford wrote it in 1873. Under what circumstances? He was a successful lawyer in Chicago. He bought houses with his money but there was a great fire in Chicago and he lost all his money that he placed in property. He promised his family a vacation to England and when the time came he sent his family ahead while he finish up his work but his wife and four daughters went ahead first.

 As destiny would have it, the ship collided with another ship and and all four of his daughters drowned. The wife survived. He and his wife decided to have another child only to have the child died of scarlet fever.

After all this, he could have asked what was going on here. But Horatio found his purpose and penned this song. In spite of all these things, he said it is well with his soul. He believed that God has a purpose in all these things.

So what is your purpose? Why are you here? Like I said earlier, Solomon in all his life could have anything.  Yet he came to a point when he said all these is meaningless without God.

Wisdom is meaningless. Let me clarify. I'm talking about head knowledge. Just studying and memorising facts. As a teacher you'd say you not just want your students to have head knowledge but to have understanding in what they study as well.

We need to have what you have in your head travel to your heart. Not just head knowledge but also heart knowledge. Put that degree that you learn into something meaningful.

So is the word of God. Not just be clever in the word of God. Some of us have read the bible from cover to cover but make sure the word of God become meaningful to you. Nobody gets saved because you can rationalise the word of God. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts and save. When we learn the word of God, it is so that we can apply the word of God. Are you doing that?

As you work, what is your purpose? Is it just to make money? If it's just that then it's so sad. I want what I do to have some meaning.

If you don't apply your wisdom for the greater good for the Kingdom of God, then it's meaningless. Life without God is empty. Talk to some rich people. They are often not satisfied.

Pleasure is also meaningless. But let me also clarify. I grew up with black and white television. Before that was radio. We had to imagine the stories on radio. I think we need that again. Then came TV. It was the latest technology then. The TV was so big it looks like a cupboard. The type with sliding doors. And when you on the TV, you have to wait a while for the bulbs to warm up. Then came colour TV. You see your neighbour has it. We all want to have it. I remember the time when we got the small 16 inch TV. Now they are thin but not big. Now it's 4K LED TV. We want the latest technology. When it comes out on the market we want it. The black and white we had was great until the latest comes out.

We go after the best things because the pleasure we have from it is only for a while. That is why it's meaningless. We go from one pleasure to another and is never satisfied.

So how do we do it? My father's first car was a Mazda 323 hatchback. Latest model back then. Then later my dad bought a Mazda 626. He just likes Mazda. When you upgrade there would always be a later model. You can have a godly purpose in upgrading your car. So we pray for a car but never use this car to ferry people to church. Is it just for our pleasure? Thank God we don't change or upgrade our wives (laughs). Are we using what God has given us for his purpose?

We ask God for a house and God bless us but at the end of the day the only piece of land we all need is a 6x6 (laughs). I pray that at the end, we don't say all these are meaningless. We use our house for cell or use the house for a visiting speaker who needs a place to stay. I pray that we have that kind of a mind-set.

Last but not least, everything has a time.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-6

A Time for Everything

​1 There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

What is Solomon trying to say? Here on this earth our days are limited and there is a time for everything. He is warning us that our time is limited so what are we doing with our time? This earth is a preparation for us so are we using it wisely and purposefully?

I pray that we will live our life for the kingdom of God. With a God purpose in our heart. Some of us have to look at what we do at our work. How are we using that work of ours for his kingdom? How are you at the company that God has placed you there? Will you not share with your colleagues. Then you will find meaning.

We have a purpose wherever we are and to glorify God. It is easy to make money but to make money and use it for the purpose of God is different.

Solomon concluded with this.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

13 Now all has been heard;

here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the whole [duty] of man.

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every hidden thing,

whether it is good or evil.

Are you following God in everything that you are doing? Are you keeping his commandments? What is your purpose?

You were put here by a creator who loves you and your meaning in life is to have a loving relationship with him and to live your life to serve his purpose. Love God. Love people and on this hangs all the laws of the prophet.