MAY 3, 2026

The Journey Through Ecclesiastes

Week 8: Dying to Live or Living to Die

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“I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” – Woody Allen

“Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”

—Yogi Berra

1.      Unalterable Death – 1-10

“In God’s hands”

Isaiah 41:10

The right hand of God is spoken of a lot in the OT.

It speaks of the sovereign, providential power of God.

Hebrews 10:30–31

John 10:27–30

“People don’t know whether to expect love or hate.”

Providence has to do with God not interfering with the normal developments of life but instead orchestrating all of the possibilities to bring about His plan and purpose without disturbing your responsibility to choose.

Keep that in mind as we journey into the arena of death.

1.1.  Equality of death - 2

Everyone is going to participate. All y’all in the south. There are no exceptions.

Death is the most real thing about life.

1.2.  Escape is futile - 3

1.3.  Emptiness of death - 4-6     

      The tone of these verses is one of just “hang on” – it will all end someday so hang on for as long as you can.

1.4.  End of life - 5-10

Go ahead and live now because death is coming and there is nothing happening with your body in the grave.

This is the view of death from the horizontal view.

What does this kind of perspective bring?

2.      Unfairness of Life – 11-18

Remember, Solomon is looking at life from a horizontal view.

If life ends in death, think about the immense pain of the unfairness of life.

2.1.  Uncertainty of timing – 11,12 

Chance – the unknown and the unpredictable

2.2.  Unrewarded effort – 13-18 

Wisdom is better than strength.

Wisdom speaks calm words that are heard.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war.

But wisdom won’t guarantee respect or recognition.

3.      Unskilled Living – 10:1-20

When you don’t understand death, and only see the unfairness of this present life, you respond by unskilled living.  

3.1.  Impulsive living– 1-4

3.2.   Injustice rules– 5-11

3.3.  Indulgent in words – 12-14

3.4.  Incompetent – 15-18

3.5.  Indiscrete in attitude– 19,20

Application:

Can you get a glimpse now of why people behave the way that they do?

The moment you leave this life—you are in the presence of Christ.

When a Christian dies, they don’t disappear—they go to be with Jesus right away.

They simply change their address.

Scripture does not pretend that death is easy. Jesus Himself wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Grief is real. Separation hurts. But the Bible also makes something very clear:

1 Thessalonians 4:13

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

Death is not the end of the story… it’s turning the page for another eternal chapter!

Let’s now look at what God says about this topic of death and let’s see if we can give hope and comfort.

1.      We do not have to fear death - Hebrews 2:14–15

14   Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—

15   and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.

2.      Your appointment with death is already scheduled by the sovereign, providential God – Heb. 9:27–28

27   And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

28   so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

      You are completely invincible until God calls you home.

3.      There is no more chance for condemnation - Romans 8:1–2

1    Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,

2    because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

            You cannot lose the free gift of eternal life once received.

4.      I do not fear death but I do fear dying. - 2 Corinthians 4:16–18

16   Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.

17   For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.

18   So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Aging destroys the outer body, but your new spirit that was given to you at the moment of salvation continues to grow and be renewed daily and that will continue for all eternity!

5.      You have a loving, gracious, merciful God who has promised to take care of your body and soul.

Matthew 10:28–31

28   Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

29   Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent.

30   But even the hairs of your head have all been counted.

31   So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

God cares for every cell of your body. When going through dying, know that His plan is the very best for your good and His glory even if you can’t understand it. You must believe it by faith.

6.      Our last breath on earth means our next one will be in heaven 2 Corinthians 5:1–7

7    For we walk by faith, not by sight.

8    We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

People are not dead. Their bodies are. They are more alive now in heaven with all of their memories and who they were on earth without the sin!

7.      Death is not the end – it is gain. - Philippians 1:21–24

21   For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

22   Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose.

23   I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ—which is far better—

24   but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

8.      Jesus beat death – it will be destroyed and we will live forever with Him!

1 Corinthians 15:26

The last enemy to be abolished is death.

Death is not something the Christian has to fear—because what looks like an ending is really the beginning of forever and what feels like loss is actually gain.

 “Go ahead, — make my day!” 

“If you let me live, Christ will be glorified on earth. If I die, I get heaven, Jesus and so much more! I can’t lose.”