Black Clouds and Bright Blessings: Sermons on Ecclesiastes (Spurgeon Through the Scriptures)

God has commanded His people not to fear—then we should obey Him. There is a cloud—why do you fear it? It will be gone directly—not a drop of rain may fall out of it. You are afraid of the wind—why fear it? It may never come. Even if it were some deadly wind that was approaching, it might shift about and not come near you. We are often fearing what never happens. We feel a thousand deaths in fearing one.

Many a person has been afraid of what never would occur. It is a great pity to whip yourselves with imaginary rods. Wait till the trouble comes—otherwise I shall have to tell you the story I have often repeated of the mother whose child would cry. She told it not to cry, but it would cry. There are some who fall into the sin of stinginess. Observe that Solomon was here speaking of liberality. He that observes the clouds and the winds thinks, "That is not a good object to help," and that he will do harm if he gives here, or if he gives there. It amounts to this, poor Miser, you want to save your money!

Oh, the ways we have of making buttons with which to secure the safety of our pockets! Some persons have a button always ready. They always have a reason for not giving to anything that is proposed to them, or to any poor person who asks their help. I pray that every child of God here may avoid that sin. Another sin is often called idleness. The man who does not sow because of the wind is usually too lazy to sow. And the man who does not reap because of the clouds is the man who wants a little more sleep, a little more slumber and a little more folding of the hands to sleep.

If we do not want to serve God, it is amazing how many reasons we can find. According to Solomon, the sluggard said there was a lion in the streets. Lions do not come into streets!

It was idleness that said the lion was there. You were asked to preach the other night and you could preach, but you said, no, you could not preach. However, you attended a political meeting, did you not, and talked twice as long as you would have done if you had preached? Another friend, asked to teach in Sunday school, said, "I have no gifts of teaching. I have heard persons run themselves down when they have been invited to any Christian work, as being altogether dis-qualified—but when somebody has afterwards said, "That is true, you cannot do anything, I know," they have looked as if they would knock the speaker down!

Oh, yes, yes, yes—we are always making these excuses about winds and clouds— and there is nothing in either of them. It is all meant to save our corn seed and to save us the trouble of sowing it. Do you not see that I have made a long list of sins wrapped up in this observing of winds and clouds? If you have been guilty of any of them, repent of your wrongdoing and do not repeat it! I will not keep you longer over this part of the subject. How can we prove it? Let us prove it, first, by sowing in the most unlikely places.

Now, try, if you can, to pick out the worst street in your neighborhood and visit from house to house. And if there is a man or woman worse off than another, make that person the objective of your prayers and of your holy endeavors. Cast your bread upon the waters—then it will be seen that you are trusting God, not trusting the soil, nor trusting the seed!

Next, prove it by doing good to a great many. If God has not blessed you to one, try another. And if He has blessed you with one, try two others! And if He has blessed you to two others, try four others—always keep on enlarging your seed plot as your harvest comes in! If you are doing much, it will be shown that you are not regarding the winds and the clouds. Further, prove that you are not regarding winds and clouds by wisely learning from the clouds another lesson than the one they seem made to teach.

Learn this lesson—"If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth. I know the joy of being saved. Since I have had fellowship with Him, I will make a point of being more industrious than ever because God has been unusually gracious to me. My fullness shall be helpful to others. I will empty myself for the good of others, even as the clouds pour down the rain upon the earth. Then, Beloved, prove it by not needing to know how God will work. There is a great mystery of birth—how the human soul come to inhabit the body of the child and how the child is fashioned. You know nothing about it and you cannot know.

Therefore do not look about you to see what you cannot understand and pry into what is concealed from you. Go out and work! Go out and preach! Go out and instruct others! Go out to seek to win souls! Thus shall you prove, in very truth, that you are not dependent upon surroundings and circumstances. Again, dear Friend, prove this by consistent diligence. I never objected to this interpretation of the passage.

Now, the way to serve Christ is to do all you possibly can—and then much more. I found that the best thing I ever did was a thing I could not do. What I could do well, that was my own—but what I could not do, but still did, in the name and strength of the Eternal Jehovah, was the best thing I had done! Beloved, sow in the morning, sow in the evening, sow at night, sow all day long, for you can never tell what God will bless—and by this constant sowing you will prove that you are not observing the winds, nor regarding the clouds!

And, first, let us give no heed to the winds and clouds of doctrine that are everywhere about us now. Blow, blow, you stormy winds, but you shall not move me! Clouds of hypotheses and inventions, come up, as many as you please, till you darken all the sky—but I will not fear you! Such clouds have come before and have disappeared, and these will disappear, too. If you sit down and think of man's inventions of error and their novel doctrines and how the churches have been bewitched by them, you will get into such a state of mind that you will neither sow nor reap.

And then, next, let us not lose hope because of doubts and temptations. When the clouds and the winds get into your heart. When you do not feel as you used to feel. When you have not that joy and elasticity of spirit you once had. When your ardor seems a little damped and even your faith begins to hesitate a little, go to God all the same!

Still at His footstool bow the knee, And Israel's God your strength shall be. Hold to it and may God keep you in one mind, so that none can turn you, for, if not, if you begin to notice these things, you will neither sow nor reap. Lastly, let us follow the Lord's mind, come what will. In a word, set your face, like a flint, to serve God by the maintenance of His Truth, by your holy life, by the savor of your Christian character and, that being done, defy earth and Hell!

If there were a crowd of devils between you and Christ, kick a lane through them by holy faith! They will flee before you. If you have but the courage to make an advance, they cannot stop you. You shall make a clear gangway through legions of them. Only be strong and of good courage—and do not regard, even, the clouds from Hell, or the blasts from the infernal pit—but go straight on in the path of right and, God being with you, you shall sow and you shall reap unto His eternal Glory!

Will some poor sinner, here, tonight, whether he sinks or swims, trust Christ? Come, even if you feel less inclined, tonight, to hope, than you ever did before! Have hope even now! Cast yourself on Christ, even though He may seem to stand with a drawn sword in His hand, to run you through! Trust even an angry Christ! Though your sins have grieved Him, come and trust Him. Do not stop for winds to blow over, or clouds to burst. Just as you are, without one trace of anything that is good about you, come and trust Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you are saved!

God give you Grace to do so, for Jesus' sake! Cast your bread upon the waters: Hoard not your bread, for if you do, it will mildew—it will be of no use to you. Cast it on the waters. Give it to unworthy men if necessary. Some here have seen an allusion to the casting of seed into the Nile when it overflowed its banks. When the waters subsided, the corn would grow and be gathered in, "after many days. And also to eight. Give to more than you can afford to give to!

Help some who are doubtful, some who are outside of the perfect number—give them a portion, a fair portion. Our Savior went beyond Solomon, for He said, "Give to every man that asks of you.

For you know not what evil shall be upon the earth. You know not what need there may be of your help, nor what need may come to you, and how you, yourself, may be helped by those whom you help now. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth. The tree falls the way it is inclined, but when it has fallen, there it must be. God grant that you and I may fall the right way when the axe of death hews us down! Which way are we inclined? He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the clouds shall not reap.

As you know not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so you know not the works of God who makes all. There are great mysteries which we can never comprehend. God alone knows how the soul comes into the body, or even how the body is fashioned. This must remain with Him. We do not know how sinners are regenerated.

We know not how the Spirit of God works upon the mind of man and transforms the sinner into a saint. We do not know. There are some who know too much, already. I have not half the desire to know what I have to believe and to love. Oh, that we loved God more, and trusted God more! We might then get to Heaven if we knew even less than we do. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand: You cannot make the Gospel enter into men's hearts.

You cannot tell how it does enter and change them. The Spirit of God does that—your duty is to go on telling it out. Go on spreading abroad the knowledge of Christ! In the morning and in the evening, and all day long, scatter the good Seed of the Kingdom. You have nothing to do with the result of your sowing—that remains with the Lord. That which you sow in the morning may prosper, or the seed that you scatter in the evening.

Possibly God will bless both. You are to keep on sowing, whether you reap or not. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: All that comes is vanity. Take Christ away and this is a truthful estimate of human life.

Scripture Index

Put Christ into the question and Solomon does not hit the mark at all. If we have Christ with us, whether the days are light or dark, we walk in the Light of God and our soul is happy and glad! But apart from Christ, the estimate of life which is given here is an exactly accurate one—a little brightness and long darkness, a flash and then midnight. God save you from living a merely natural life! May you rise to the supernatural! May you get out of the lower life of the mere animal into the higher life of the regenerated soul! If the life of God is in you, then you shall go from strength to strength like the sun that shines unto the perfect day.

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes: Young man, will you dare, then, to follow your passions and the devices of your own heart, with this at the back—"God will bring you into judgement"? Oh no, the advice of Solomon apparently so evil, is answered by warning at the end, which is also true—. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh: You are in the period when flesh is strong towards evil, when "vanity" is the ruin of many.

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth. Now we get on solid ground. There is an irony in the advice, "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes. While the evil days come not, nor the years draw near, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them; while the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars are not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: These arms and hands of ours shake by reason of weakness.

And the strong men shall bow themselves. These limbs, these legs of ours, begin to bend under the weight they have to support. And those that look out of the windows are darkened. The eyesight begins to fail. 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 music shall be brought low. The old man sleeps very lightly; anything awakens him. He hides away from public business. The doors are shut in the streets. Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way.

There is none of the courage of youth. Daring is gone—prudence, not to say cowardice—sits on the throne. And the almond tree shall flourish. The hair is white and gray, like the early peach or almond tree in the beginning of the year. And the grasshopper shall be a burden. A little trouble weighs the old man down. He has no energy now. The grasshopper is a burden. And desire shall fail: Before the spinal cord is broken, or the skull becomes emptied of the living inhabitants.

Or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Who is the Qoheleth in Ecclesiastes? What should we learn from the life of Solomon? What is the meaning of life? What does the Bible say about moderation? What does it mean that everything is meaningless? What does it mean that there is nothing new under the sun? What does it mean that there is a proper time for everything Ecclesiastes 3: What does it mean that we have eternity in our hearts Ecclesiastes 3: How is sorrow better than laughter Ecclesiastes 7: What does it mean to be overrighteous and overwise Ecclesiastes 7: What does it mean that the dead know nothing Ecclesiastes 9: What does the Bible say about how to find purpose in life?

How should a Christian view wealth? Ecclesiastes 1 - 1: What Passes and What Abides Ecclesiastes 1: The Past and the Future Ecclesiastes 1: Two Views of Life Ecclesiastes 3: A Time to Plant Ecclesiastes 3: Eternity in the Heart Ecclesiastes 5: Lessons for Worship and for Work Ecclesiastes 5: Finis Coronat Opus Ecclesiastes 8: Misused Respite Ecclesiastes Fences and Serpents Ecclesiastes The Way to the City Ecclesiastes The Conclusion of the Matter. Ecclesiastes 1 Ecclesiastes 2 Ecclesiastes 3 Ecclesiastes 3: Solomon calls himself "the Preacher" no less than seven times in this book, using a word Kehleth used nowhere else in the Old Testament.

He seems here to assume the role of a pastor over his flock rather than as a king over his subjects. This picturesque phrase occurs nine times in Ecclesiastes and only once elsewhere Isaiah When anyone finds, as did Solomon, that most of what he has devoted his life to is mere vanity, it will surely produce "vexation of spirit. Vast numbers of godly men and women have been oppressed and persecuted—sometimes even executed—for their Christian stand e. They were undoubtedly reminded of Christ, for "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted" also, and they realized that "in all their affliction He was afflicted" Isaiah Such a strong cord would be comparable, even superior, to many cables in use today.

So far as the record goes, Solomon only sired one son and two daughters, but it would at least have been possible for a man such as he, with his multitude of wives and concubines, to beget a hundred children. The Hebrew word translated "mad" in this verse is usually translated "praise. Despite the "under the sun" implications that things on earth seem to happen indifferently to both righteous and unrighteous, Solomon intuitively knew that "the Judge of all the earth" will certainly "do right" Genesis In his old age, Solomon could at least give this wise counsel to young men.

The word "joyfully" occurs only this once in the Old Testament. One should attempt to keep his marriage alive and happy as long as life continues. Evolutionists like to imagine that "time and chance" are sufficient to explain the origin and evolution of all forms of life, including men. These undoubtedly have a role in the vicissitudes of life, but random changes could never produce complex living creatures, no matter how many billions of years might be assumed. The old saying, "A little bird told me," probably had its origin in this verse. One should be especially cautious of blasphemy of word—or even of thought—against the King of kings.

Birthday and Death Day Ecclesiastes 8: Two Views of Life. Solid Counsel for Life Ecclesiastes 5: A Narcotic Ecclesiastes 2: Handle With Care Ecclesiastes 3: Be patient - These open very slowly. Rainbows, If you see Them Ecclesiastes 1: Each Precious Moment Ecclesiastes 3: Times and Seasons Ecclesiastes 3: Ecclesiastes 1 Intro to Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes 1: Its Cause and Cure Ecclesiastes 1: Introduction to Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes 1: The Emptiness of Life Ecclesiastes 1: The Great Experiment Ecclesiastes 3: One is the Loneliest Number Ecclesiastes 5: Wisdom in the House of God Ecclesiastes 5: Riches and Wealth Ecclesiastes 6: The Unfulfilled Life Ecclesiastes 7: The Better and the Best Ecclesiastes 7: Wisdom in a Wayward World Ecclesiastes 8: Dealing with the Out of Control Ecclesiastes 9: Living While You Live Ecclesiastes Wisdom to Live By Ecclesiastes How Shall We Then Live?

Before It's Too Late Ecclesiastes Fickleness of Life Versus Fear of the Lord. Talk Thru the Bible G Campbell Morgan - Ecclesiastes is an inspired confession of failure and pessimism, when God is excluded, when man lives under the sun, and forgets the larger part, which is always over the sun, the eternal and abiding things. Explore the Book David Fairchild sermons - Fairchild: To learn the true meaning of life … first view life apart from God — see it in all of its futility … then the layer of God-connectiveness can be added and it will mean something Ray Stedman - Ecclesiastes is a collection of what man is able to discern under the sun, i.

Looking Beyond the Bucket List. The Fear of God. The Acts of God. When You Need A Friend. Giving God More of our Tongue. Things Money Can't Buy. The Call of Duty. The Words of the Preacher. The Summary of a Life's Experience. The Folly of Solomon. The Trial of Vanity. The Vanity of Earthly Things.

The Vanity of the World. Human Life and Human Labor. The Vanity of Man's Life. The Stability of Nature. Opposite Ideas of Life. The Earth Permanent, Man Transitory. The Law of Circularity. The Passing of Humanity. What Passes and What Abides. The Cycles of Nature. The Turn of the Year. Views of Life; False and True.

The Insatiability of Sense. Imaginary Schemes of Happiness. Old Things in New Time. On the Resemblance Between the Future and the Past. The Past and the Future. The Changing and the Abiding. Life in the Light of Christ. Oblivion and its Consolations. Speculative Study of the World.

The Vanity of Human Wisdom. The Mysteries of Human Life. The Pursuit of Wisdom and Knowledge. The Vanity of a Worldly Life. Making the Crooked Straight. The Crooked Things Straightened.

The Experience of Wisdom and Knowledge. The Wisdom, of Self-Communion. Increase of Knowledge Attended with Sorrow. Increase of Knowledge, Increase of Sorrow. The Acquisition of Knowledge Attended with Sorrow. The Heritage of Knowledge. The Pursuit of Knowledge. The Trial of Pleasure. The Vanity of Wealth, Pleasure, and Greatness.

The Threefold View of Human Life. The Wit and the Madman. Love not the World. The Failure of Pleasures. The Vanity of Life. The Vanity of Worldly Happiness. The Comparison Between Wisdom and Folly. The Value and the Futility of Wisdom. The Advantage of Wisdom Over Folly. The Wisdom of the Eye. Wisdom and Folly Compared. Is Life Worth Living. Life with and Without God. The Dirge of the Dead Hand. The Complaint of the Successful. All Good is from God. The Condition of Pure Enjoyment. The Simple Joys of Godly Industry. Piety and Impiety; Recompense and Penalty.

The Clock of Destiny. The Fall of the Leaf. The Manifold Interests and Occupations of Life. The Realities of Life. Times and Seasons in the Church. A Time to Plant'. How to Make the Most of Life. The Periodicities of the Religious World. A Christian View of Recreation.

Spiritual Times and Seasons. Decision and Perseverance Needed by the Christian. The Christian View of War. The Mystery and the Meaning of Life. All Thirsts Beautiful in Their Season. Eternity in Man's Heart. Eternity in the Heart. Religion and the Beautiful. The Author of Beauty.

The Beauty of Change and Glory of Permanence. The Beauty of the World. The Child of Eternity. The Divine Worker and the Human Student. The Hope of Immortality. The Mission of Beauty. The World in the Soul. Doing Good and Rejoicing. Life Enjoyed and Improved. Another Condition of Pure Happiness. The Conclusion of Folly or the Faith of the Wise? The Purposes of Providence. Divine Constancy and Human Piety. God Requireth that Which is Past. Life an Organic Unity.

• New Garden?
• In der Mondsichel und anderen Herzgegenden (German Edition).
• !

The Impotency of Time. The Indelibility of the Past. The Permanence of the Past. Man's Unrighteousness Contrasted with God's Righteousness. The Reasonableness and Equity of a Future Judgment. Before and After Christ. The Common Destiny of Death. The Darkness of the Grave. The Nature and Wickedness of Oppression.

The Oppressed and the Oppressor. Woman's Work and Overwork.

• Sowing in the Wind, Reaping Under Clouds.
• .
• ?
• Spurgeon's Sermons Volume - Christian Classics Ethereal Library;
• Identity, Agency and the Acquisition of Professional Language and Culture?

Oppression of Man by His Fellows. Pessimism and Christian Life. Praising the Dead More than the Living. Practical Wisdom in the Conduct of Life. An Old Portrait of Modern Men. Quality Better than Quantity. The Handful with Quietness. Friendship a Gain in Life. The Pain of Loneliness. The Advantages of Fellowship. The Necessity and Benefits of Religious Society.

Two Better than One. Folly a Worse Evil than Poverty. The Old King and the Youth. Lessons for Worship and for Work. The Temple and the Worshippers. The Prayer and the Dream. Reverence, Reticence, and Brevity in Devotion. Of Remembering and Keeping Our Vows. The Law of the Vow. The Earth and Man. The Unsatisfactoriness of Material Wealth. The Vanity of Riches. The Unsatisfying Nature of Riches. The Drawbacks Upon Wealth. The Difference At Death. The Unsatisfactoriness and Transitoriness of Earthly Good.

Life Without Enjoyment Valueless. The Insufficiency of Circumstance. Sorrows of Old Age Without Religion. The Sorrows of Old Age. The Gloom of Disappointment.

Satisfaction Better than Desire. The Insatiability of Desire. Solomon's Dark Ideas of Life. What is Man's Good? Object of Human Life. The Known and the Unknown. The Secret of a Happy Life. A Well-Grounded Good Name. Comparative Estimate of Life and Death. Of the Birthday and the Dying-Day. The Charm of Goodness. The Day of the Christian's Death. The Fragrance of Moral Worth.

On the Benefits to be Derived from the House of Mourning. On the Dangers of Pleasure. The House of Mourning. The Evil, the Unprofitable, and the Blessed Flying. Sorrow Better than Laughter. The Service of Sorrow. The Advantages of Visiting the Mansions of Distress. The Mischief of Oppression and Bribery. The End Better than the Beginning. The Power of Patience. The Folly of Pride, Hastiness, and Anger. Discontent with the Present Unreasonable.

Foolish Comparison and Complaint. Former Things not Better. Vain Thoughts Concerning the Past. Christianity the Guardian of Human Life. The Crook in the Lot. The Crooked in Life. The Power of God, and the Duty of Man. The Perplexities of Life. Compensations for a Poor Harvest. The Lower and the Higher Standard.

Be not Righteous Overmuch. Man's Inability to Keep the Law Perfectly. Perfection is not on Earth. Listeners Hear no Good of Themselves. Bad Women a Curse to Society. Solomon's Estimate of Woman. The State of Innocence. Gospel of the Shining Face. The Tokens of Wisdom. Obedience to the Civil Government. The Ruler and the Subject. The Word of a King. The Wise Man's Improvement of Time. The Doom of Tyrants.

Death - Our Power and Our Powerlessness. Death an Unpreventable Exit of the Spirit. The Battle of Life. The Uncertainty of Life. The Contemplation of Human Life. The Funeral of the Wicked. A Hasty and Foolish Inference. Sin and its Sentence. The Abuse of Divine Forbearance.

The Impunity of Bad Men in the World. The Longsuffering of God. The Longsuffering of God with Individuals. The Perversion of God's Patience. The Christian's Welfare Certified. Well with These Who Fear God. The Certainty of Retribution. Apparent Discrepancy Between Character and Circumstances. One Way Out of Perplexity. The Benefits of Wholesome Recreation. The Impenetrable, Inscrutable Mystery.

In the Hand of God. The Antidote to Despondency. The Impartiality of Providence. The Sufferings of Good Men. Scriptural Statement of the Doctrines of Human Corruption. Sinners, Living and Dead. Plain Sermons by Contributors to the "Tracts for the Times. The Joy of Human Life.

Search Site with Google

Enjoyment of the Present. A Home Mission Sermon. Diligence in Our Spiritual Concerns. Entire Devotion to Duty.

Scripture Index of Spurgeon's Sermons—Ec

Impulse, Will, and Habit. Life the Season for Action. Of Industry in General. The Day of Opportunity. The Duty of Diligence and Earnestness in Religion. The Gospel of Hard Work. The Improvement of Present Time. The Labour of Life. The Lapse of Time. The Lesson of Diligence. The True Idea of Life. The Powerlessness of Man. Prosperity - the Rule and the Exception. Expectation of Long Life Unwise. Man Knoweth not His Time. Man's Ignorance of the Time of His Death.

Snares in the Path of the Young. The Uncertainty of Human Life. The Praise of Wisdom. The Poor Wise Man. The Destructiveness of Sin. The Superiority of Moral to Military Force. The Destructiveness of One Evil Life. The Dead Fly in the Ointment. Influence of a Good Heart.