FINISHING WELL
The Book of Ecclesiastes #4
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Sunday, February 8, 2025
(Ecclesiastes 7:1–4, NLT) “A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume. And the day you die is better than the day you are born. Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.”
TRUTH
1. DEATH IS INEVITABLE
(Ecclesiastes 2:16, GN) “We must all die—wise and foolish alike.”
2. A CHRISTIAN WILL LIVE FOREVER
(John 3:16, NLT) “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
(John 5:28–29, NLT) “Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.”
(2 Thessalonians 1:7–9, CEV) “When the Lord Jesus comes from heaven with his powerful angels and with a flaming fire. Our Lord Jesus will punish anyone who doesn’t know God and won’t obey his message. Their punishment will be eternal destruction, and they will be kept far from the presence of our Lord and his glorious strength.”
“Hell is God’s great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human choice.” –G. K. Chesterton
(Revelation 21:3–4, NLT) “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
We either enjoy celebration in heaven or separation in hell
3. HEAVEN IS MORE REAL THAN NOW
(Luke 24:41–43, NLT) “They stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he ate it as they watched.”
(1 Corinthians 15:53, NLT) “For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.”
(Romans 8:20–21, NLT) “With eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.”
4. JESUS WANTS TO BE WITH YOU IN HEAVEN
(John 14:1–4, NLT) “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”
5. JESUS WANTS TO REWARD YOU IN HEAVEN
(Matthew 6:20, NLT) “Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.”
(Luke 16:9, NLT) “Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.”
(Matthew 19:29–30, Message) “And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”
GROWTHWORK
1. TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST
(John 11:25, NLT) “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.”
(2 Timothy 1:10, NLT) “He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.”
(John 5:24, NLT) “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”
“We as Christians should know for sure that our sins are forgiven, that God is concerned with our well-being, and that heaven is our destiny. God’s peace is our possession and privilege by divine right.” –John MacArthur, Found God’s Peace
2. SET YOUR SIGHTS ON THE REALITIES OF HEAVEN
(Colossians 3:1–2, NLT) “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.”