The Whole Duty of Man 
 

Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 12:1-14.

Memory Verse: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." (Eccl. 12:13).

INTRODUCTION: My friends, let us look this question in the face: If there is anything at all in the religion of Christ, give everything for it. If there is nothing in it--if it is a myth, if our mothers who have prayed over us have been deceived, if the praying people of the last eighteen hundred years have been deluded, let us find it out. The quicker the better. If there is nothing in the religion of Christ let us throw it over, and eat, drink, and be merry, for time will soon be gone. If there is no devil to deceive us, no hell to receive us--if Christianity is a sham, let us come out like men and say so.
  I hope to live to see the time when there will only be two classes in this world--Christians and infidels--those who take their stand bravely for Him, and those who take their stand against Him. This idea of men standing still and saying, "Well, I don't know, but I think there must be something in it," is absurd. If there is anything in it there is everything in it. If the Bible of our mothers is not true, let us burn it. Is there one in this audience willing to say and do this? If it is a myth, why spend so much money in publishing it? Why send out millions of Bibles to the nations of the earth? Let us destroy it if it is false, and all those institutions giving the gospel to the world. What is the use of all this waste of money? Are we mad, are we lunatics who have been deluded? Let us burn the book and send up a shout over its ashes: "There is no God; there is no hell; there is no heaven; there is no hereafter. When men die, they die like dogs in the street!"
  But my friends, if it is true--if heaven, if a hereafter in the Bible is true, let us come out boldly , like men, for Christ. Let us take our stand and not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why, it seems to me a question that ought to be settled in this nineteenth century easily enough, whether you are for or against Him. Why, if Baal be God, follow him; but if the Lord be God follow Him. If there is no truth in the religion of Jesus Christ, you may as well tear down all your churches, destroy your hospitals, your blind asylums. It's a waste of money to build them. Baalites don't build blind asylums, don't build hospitals, or orphan asylums. If there hadn't been any Christians in the world, there would have been no charitable institutions. If  it hadn't been for Christianity you would have had no praying mothers. Is it true that their prayers have exercised a pernicious influence? Is it true that a boy who had a praying father and mother, or a good teacher, is no better off than a boy who has been brought up amid blasphemy and infamy? Is it true? It must be either one way or the other. (written by Dwight L. Moody)
(Taken from Thomas Nelson, Inc., Heritage of Great Evangelical Teaching: Featuring the best of Martin Luther, John Wesley, Dwight L. Moody, C.H. Spurgeon and others [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.)

LESSON QUESTIONS:

1. Why should a young person get serious about serving the Lord? Eccl. 12:1; Ps. 90:12; 1 Cor. 7:29; Eph. 5:15,16; Col. 4:5.

2. What calamities of old age does the preacher recite? Eccl. 12:2-5; 1 Kings 1:1; Ps. 71:9; Gen. 27:1; 48:10; 2 Sam. 19:34,35.
Note: How interesting that the preacher takes notice of increasing deafness in the elderly years, yet he also notes the sleeplessness of the same person over a sound as soft as a chirping bird. Perhaps those among us who are elderly can relate to this annoyance.

3. Consider how difficult it is to get a young person to think in terms of life being so brief, and how death comes so quickly. Eccl. 12:6; Jas. 4:14; Eccl. 10:16; Prov. 22:15; 1 Cor. 13:11; Prov. 1:8,9.

4. What does the preacher say takes place at the point of death? Eccl. 12:7; Ps. 115:17; 143:3; Eccl. 3:18-22.

5. What analysis of "life under the sun" does the preacher repeat? Eccl. 12:8.

6. What value does the preacher place upon these writings? Eccl. 12:9-11; Prov. 25:11; 1:3; 2:1-5; Jer. 23:29; Isa. 55:11.

7. What hope does the preacher have that his readers will find the truth within these spiritually inspired writings, rather than turning to the volumes of human philosophies? Eccl. 12:12; 2 Tim. 3:16; Col. 3:16; Ps. 119:9-11,72; Titus 1:9,13,14; 1 Tim. 1:3,4; 4:7; 2 Tim. 4:3,4.

8. What grand, final wisdom does the preacher summarize as the "whole duty of man?" Eccl. 12:13,14; Deut. 10:12; 13:4; Josh. 24:14; Isa. 8:13; 1 Sam. 12:14; Rev. 12:17.