Ecclesiastes 1

all right very good what I'd like to do this morning is I'd like to begin a study in the book of Ecclesiastes so if you would turn with me to the book of Ecclesiastes let's open in a word of Prayer and we'll get started well thank you for this time that we can meet together we thank you for your word give us hearts to believe it that we may understand the revelation you have given to us it's in Jesus name we pray amen so the first thing to notice about the book of Ecclesiastes is the title itself so the title is Ecclesiastes the what that means in English is the preacher so Ecclesiastes is some wisdom that is recorded by a particular preacher and we will see who that is so start with me in verse 1 the words of the preacher the son of David King in Jerusalem so we have some clues about who this person might be it's the son of David and it's the king in Jerusalem if you would look with me in verse 12 I the preacher was king then notice what it says over Israel in Jerusalem so what does that tell you about who the author is well obviously he's the king of Israel but he's the king of Israel specifically what in Jerusalem so let's just start with the beginning as to who we know about the kings of Israel who's the first king of Israel saw well Saul's not the son of David is he the next king of Israel is David and David obviously was not the son of David David is followed by Solomon Solomon was the son of David obviously and who was Solomon then followed by Solomon was sought followed by his son Rehoboam but what happens during Rahab own dream anyone remember what God decides during Solomon's reign as he decides during Solomon's reign that he's going to split the nation of Israel into two kingdoms the northern kingdom called Israel and the southern kingdom called Judah God doesn't effectuate he doesn't implement that split during Solomon's life he does it during rehab 'life in other words Solomon dies Rehoboam becomes king and then shortly after that Jeroboam becomes the king of the Northern Kingdom and so the ten northern tribes which are called Israel collectively separate from the two southern tribes of Judah so what is this all what does this all mean well the preacher is the son of David but he's also according to verse 12 the king over Israel in Jerusalem so what you're left with is Solomon there's no other real choice you could say we have bought him because he was briefly king over Israel in Jerusalem but just for a very short time bread look with me at verse 16 I communed with mine own heart saying lo I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem that's obviously Solomon isn't it look with me then at chapter 2 verse 9 Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 9 so I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem also my wisdom remained with me and that verse also sounds a lot like Solomon doesn't it because God as you recall asked he gate gave Solomon the opportunity and said what would you ask of me as a blessing and what Solomon did is he asked for wisdom and because he asked for wisdom God gave him wisdom but then he also gave him material prosperity and in multitude of other blessings so 2:9 makes it rather clear I think that this is Solomon get with me chapter 12 Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and moreover because the preacher was why's he still taught the people knowledge yay he gave good heed and sought out and set in order many proverbs so the preacher the author of this book set in order many proverbs and that of course sounds a lot like Solomon as well because when you look at the Book of Proverbs many of those are specifically said to be the work of Solomon so all of that is to say it's it's rather clear I don't know that there's much debate about this but it seems obvious from the verses that the preacher who's referenced in Ecclesiastes the author the writer of the book is in fact Solomon so if you think about that this is rather interesting it's very clear from the scriptures that Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived Jesus Christ would be an exception to that but but of natural men Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived and Ecclesiastes is the longest book that we have of his there are portions of Proverbs that Solomon wrote but Ecclesiastes is the the longest book on a single theme if you will proverbs of course are there it really sort of independent sayings right so Ecclesiastes essentially is this it's Solomon's greatest writing it's the greatest writing by the wisest man who ever lived so that makes it a fairly special thing so look with me then at verse two vanity of vanities saith the preacher vanity of vanities all is vanity so Ecclesiastes doesn't start on a happy note does it it's talking essentially about the vanity of life so let's just define the term vanity so we know so we have a common understanding of what we're talking about the first definition of vanity in the Oxford English Dictionary is this that which is vain futile or worthless that which is of no value or profit in other words vanity is it's useless it's futile it's empty it's worthless it's pointless the idea is it has no value but then notice what verse 2 says vanity of vanities vanity of vanities all is vanity get with me first Timothy chapter 6 we'll come back to Ecclesiastes we get first Timothy chapter 6 first Timothy chapter 6 verse 15 which in his times he shall show who is the blessed and only potentate notice the king of kings and Lord of lords you're familiar with this design but when the Bible will say king of kings or Lord of lords it's talking about Jesus Christ being the ultimate King right he's king of everyone including all kings he's the lord of all lords so when Ecclesiastes says vanity of vanities what is it saying this is the most pointless of things that are pointless it's the most empty the most worthless of all the things that are worthless so go back to Ecclesiastes if you would Ecclesiastes and look at chapter 12 Ecclesiastes chapter 12 so what it what the book did in verse 1 is it identified the author told you essentially that it's Solomon and then it starts in verse 2 immediately with the idea that that everything is vain if you look at Ecclesiastes chapter 12 notice something about notice something about how the book ends so Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and notice with me verse 8 vanity of vanities saith the preacher all is vanity so it starts the book starts off with that theme that statement it ends with that statement now let's look at verse let's look at verse nine so verse eight says vanity of vanities say at the preacher all is vanity and then go down to well go down to verse 13 let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man now the point I want to just make here is this Solomon says vanity of vanities all is vanity the all is it doesn't mean that that there's not an exception to that in other words the context of chapter twelve after Solomon says in verse eight all is vanity in verse 13 he then leads to the conclusion and and there's something that's not vanity but what he's saying is the vast majority of all human activities are vanity they're just they're pointless they're worthless they're empty I want to share with you a quote that I thought was interesting it's it's by a John C Maxwell who's a he's a he's written a lot about leadership and just a well-known commentator here's the quote you cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything you cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything so let me put it this way if you fast-forward 10,000 years what of the things in your current experience will still remain well nothing that you can see or touch will be here right because this earth is going to dissolve it's going to melt away with a fervent heat so all of men's all of man's creations his buildings all his efforts all of his work it's it's it's not going to endure the look with me if you would at second Corinthians chapter 4 second Corinthians chapter four st. Corinthians chapter four verse 17 for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen but the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal everything you can see is temporal it's not going to exist for very long the things that are going to exist very long are things that you can't see and so just to put it simply the three basic things that are eternal number one is God number two is the souls of men and number three is the Word of God so the word of the Lord endureth forever you know that and of course God endures forever the souls of men endure forever in in different locations right some souls endure in a state of blessedness other souls endure in a state of Nod blessedness but they do endure don't they and and so the point is this in your experience really the only things that are enduring that are eternal our God his word and the souls of men that's it everything else is going to disappear and so when the writer of Ecclesiastes when Solomon looks at it he describes everything as vanity the idea there is is nearly everything is not important nearly everything back to Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 3 and in while you're going there I guess I'll just make this point the relevance of that is it should inform how we invest our time have you ever heard the phrase rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic and if ever heard that but if you think of the Titanic and it's taken a essentially a mortal injury it's going to sink and the deck chairs are all in disorder how much time should you spend putting the deck chairs in proper order and the answer of course is none because there's no point to it right the whole vessel is about to be submerged there's just no point in rearranging the deckchairs well similarly with life on earth that this this life doesn't endure what does Paul say you can take with you nothing right so understanding those spiritual realities should inform how we choose to invest our time please ask these chapter 1 verse 3 what profit 1/2 a man of all his labour which he taketh Under the Sun so the question there he's raising is what do we benefit from all the hard work we do and let's start our analysis of that verse by the the last three words you see where it says under the Sun the phrase under the Sun is a phrase that only appears in the book of Ecclesiastes it doesn't appear anywhere else in Scripture it appears 29 times so it's obviously it's it's repeated again and again I would suggest to you and you can keep this in the back of your mind as we go through the book you can see if this you can decide whether this is correct the book of ecclesiastes is written from the viewpoint of the wisest man who lived based upon his perception under the Sun in other words apart from revelation so let me say that again the book of ecclesiastes is written from the perspective of the wisest man who lived solomon under the sun in other words apart from natural revelation apart from revelation that god gave in other words think of it this way how do you really know things that are spiritually true do you figure them out because you have impeccable logic you can look with me at first Corinthians - look with me at first Corinthians chapter 2 first Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14 first Corinthians 2:14 but the natural man that's the man that that's lost but the mat natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto Him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned that's a fascinating verse what it means is this you can take the smartest lost man there is the most knowledgeable the most intelligent the most well-read what spiritual understanding is he going to have according to that verse and the answer is none because spiritual understanding comes from the Spirit of God apart from the Spirit of God one can't have any spiritual understanding now what's fascinating what I would suggest what Solomon is doing in the book of Ecclesiastes is he is writing from the perspective of the wisest man who lived but apart from God's revelation in other words it's the following thought experiment if you take the wisest man and he thinks through and searches out how does life work what should I be doing with my time how should I invest this life the book of Ecclesiastes is Solomon's investigation into that subject and the conclusions that he reaches ok that's why it says again and again and again under the Sun he's not just recording there all of the things that the Holy Spirit told him no what Ecclesiastes is is it's his thoughts his investigation into the subject so go back with me to Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 3 Ecclesiastes 1 verse 3 what prophet half a man of all his labor which he taketh Under the Sun so the question he's asking there is what what good does all your labor do you if you think about this so just think with me about Genesis 3 if you would what happened as a result of the curse what happened to Adam zoom and remember we'll get Genesis 3 let's look at it Genesis chapter 3 Genesis after three verse 17 and unto Adam he said because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee saying thou shalt not eat of it notice this cursed is the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life now think about this just for a minute Genesis 3 what is the diet of man at that point in time right it's it's purely vegan they don't eat animals at that point in time so cultivating food out of the ground is rather important isn't it it's the only food source they have so from from Adams time onward getting enough to eat in terms of plant life was critical and what Genesis 3 says is guess what the ground is now cursed in other words the thing that essentially is your occupation and that is essential for your survival is now going to be really problematic it's been cursed look at verse 18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee if any of you ever gone out to your garden or your yard and said you know what what I really need to do is I need to plant some more thistles right because I don't have enough well the way life works you know it is coarse is this the plants that you want to have you have to intentionally plant and maintain and so on right those require effort how much effort does it require to grow weeds none and in fact you know those are perennials aren't they they'll come back and you don't even need to make any effort to do that well that's all that's that's Genesis through 18 isn't it there's been cursèd and it's gonna bring forth thorns and thistles where's my team in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground for out of it was they'll taken for dust thou art to dust shalt thou return so it's going to be the sweat of his brow and what that means is work got harder let me put it this way work on earth is going to be difficult and it's going to have challenges for a couple reasons the first one is the earth itself is cursed so all agriculture is is going to have challenges as a result of that the other thing that happens is most human work involves interacting with other people doesn't it and what is the one thing that is true of everyone you interact with that is they're just like you they have a sin nature so is it a surprise that there will be misunderstandings and disagreements and bad behavior in people's work lives no it's it's it's what would be expected as a result of Genesis 3 so go back with me if you would to Ecclesiastes and let's look at chapter 1 verse 3 again what prophet hath a man of all his labour which he taketh Under the Sun the implicit statement in verse 3 is labor is hard right it's going to involve the sweat of the brow it's going to involve difficulties and challenges and problems and headaches it just is and everyone here that's ever worked at anything for any period of time understands that what Solomon is then saying though is this not only is it hard and challenging and difficult but what profit do you get from it and the normal answer to that the world's answer to that is well what you get of course is you're compensated for your labor and so you can buy things and support yourself and this that and the other and that's that's of course true but Solomon is asking the question of sort of what ultimate profit do you really get think with me about 1st Timothy 6 at first Timothy six if you would first Timothy chapter six verse 7 for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out one of the things when you teach is you get a lot of advice my my grandmother used to tell me that always needed to start with a joke and I've always resisted that advice because I just I don't know it just doesn't seem to me advice I want to take but one joke occurs to me about this verse so I'll share it with you so this rich man is about to die and he decides he wants to take it with him so he goes to his three best friends and he says look here's ten thousand dollars in an envelope when they get ready to close the casket or bury me I want you to throw it into the into the grave so I can take it with me and so the first guy throws in his envelope and the second guy throws in his envelope and the third guy who's a lawyer throws in his envelope and so they're meeting afterwards and they're talking together and they're discussing amongst themselves so did you throw in all the money and the first guy says well actually I kept half that only threw in half of it and the second guy says well I'm shocked you did that you know I threw in all that but kept a thousand and the last one who was a lawyer says I'm I'm embarrassed at you but all of you our friend specifically asked us to do this and so I threw in all ten thousand dollars in the form of a personal check in other words the guy wouldn't be able to cash it obviously now what's the point of that the point of that story is no point at all but can you take it with you and you can't and that's really the point of Ecclesiastes 1 3 what profit 1/2 a man of all the labor which he taketh Under the Sun other words the laborer is going to be challenging it's going to be difficult it's going to be frustrating and yeah you may receive some sort of temporal benefit but there's no ultimate profit is is really what Solomon is saying now you should think about something in regard to that did Solomon profit from his labor I mean Solomon had considerable worldly wealth right so for him to say that is somewhat shocking Ecclesiastes 1 verse 4 Ecclesiastes 1 verse 4 one generation passeth away and another generation cometh notice what then says but the earth abideth forever is that verse true think with me for a minute John 17:17 says thy Word is truth right does the Bible contain errors it does not but reread that verse and what part am i focusing on the earth abideth forever does the earth in fact abide forever it doesn't look with me at second Peter chapter 3 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 10 second Peter 3 verse 10 but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up verse 12 looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat when you read Revelation 21 verse 1 it talks about a new heaven and a new earth right so go back with me to Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 4 Ecclesiastes 1 verse 4 but the earth abideth forever Ecclesiastes 1 verse 4 is not fat I mean it's not it is not correct it's not because the earth doesn't abide forever so I go Peter 3 tells you it's going to be destroyed now one way you can look at this is you can say well okay the Bible contains errors I'm done with this you know bla bla bla this makes life easier you know all that garbage what I would suggest to you is verse 3 told you how to think about this verse Solomon is writing from the perspective of a man under the Sun how does man think about his existence on the earth a generation comes a generation goes but what endures the earth now so what I want you to see here is this and by the way the Bible will record for example lies that people tell are there times in the Bible where someone will make a statement that is a false statement that the Bible will record it will write because there's people that tell lies so the but the Bible accurately records what was said right so what's going on in this verse is I think it's helpful because it's it's it's again confirmation that what the book of Ecclesiastes is is it is the perspective of the wisest man who lived under the Sun apart from revelation you follow me the key thing there is apart from revelation in other words they put it this way if you were to say what I want is set the Bible aside for a minute I want the best wisdom that man has well if you wanted the best wisdom that man has where would you go well obviously you would go to the wisest man who ever lived and so what Ecclesiastes essentially does is Ecclesiastes as the wisest man who ever lived recording the results of his investigation into wisdom apart from God's revelation now not to give away the punchline but vanity of vanities all is vanity in other words if you take man's wisdom all the wisdom man has as to life on Earth what does it amount to nothing if God left us here without the revelation in his word we would just spin in circles right there would be no real understanding that we would have and that's what the book of Ecclesiastes is really about so I'll say it another way the book of Ecclesiastes is the ultimate it's the sum it's the best of what man could learn apart from God's revelation okay Ecclesiastes chapter one verse five the Sun also arrives US horizon and the Sun goeth down and haste if to his place where he arose see how in verse 4 times what one generation pass away and then another generation cometh verse five is about the natural solar cycle how the Sun rises and the Sun sets verse six the wind goeth toward the south and turneth about unto the north it were with about continually in the wind returneth again according to his circuits so are there prevailing wind patterns on the earth where wind blows in a certain direction and then returns from whence it came and that's that's what's being observed in verse six verse seven all the rivers run into the sea yet the sea is not full under the place from whence the rivers come thither they return again what's the place from where rivers come clouds right so clouds rain they rain and the rain then descends to the lowest part of the land and then it descends into rivers the rivers run into the sea then what happens to the sea well see is this huge body of water that then causes evaporation the water evaporates goes up to clouds the clouds go and it just it's the hydrologic cycle that's being described in verse seven so what you notice from verses four five six and seven is it's talking about the cyclical nature of life on Earth there's the solar cycle there's a hydrologic cycle there's how winds operate there's the generations that occur and what happens is things just continue on in that circular pattern you can tell that it's that that's that's if you will scientific knowledge about how the earth operates and the perception that man has is that the earth endures forever of course it doesn't look at verse eight all things are full of labour is there anything that's easy do you ever encounter things where all you have to do is this one thing has to be repainted or fixed or whatever and you get into the job and most of the time it's just not easy because all things are full of labour I'll give you another example one of the things commonly said your house is your greatest investment does your house send you dividend checks never send you a payment your bank account gets bigger guess what happens when you own a house you've bought something that you will get to fix and maintain for as long as you own it right it needs to be repainted every mechanical thing in the house whether it's the HVAC or the plumbing or the disposal or the dishwasher or the refrigerator what happens spoiler I'm just gonna ruin it I guess for some folks but they break in that right all things are full of Labor that's just sort of how it is all things are full of labor man cannot utter it the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear with hearing there's a Navy SEAL saying that goes like this the only easy day was yesterday right because things just it's just how it is things are not easy look with me at Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 11 to verse 11 then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought and on the labor that I have labored to do and which by the way is considerable and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit and there was no profit under the Sun so what happens is life is full of labor and labor is full of vexation it's frustrating it's irritating it's it's troubling so go back to classes 1 verse 8 all things are full of labor man cannot utter it get with me Romans chapter 8 it's an interesting cross-reference Romans chapter 8 Romans chapter 8 and look at verse 26 likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered the groanings that cannot be uttered in verse 26 is not the spirit doing the groanings the Holy Spirit is perfectly articulate and can express his thoughts the groanings that cannot be uttered are defined in verse 23 verse 23 and not only they but ourselves also which have the firstfruits of the Spirit even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body so what that's a reference to what is where does the adoption take place right there the adoption to wit the redemption of our body it says before that time we groan within ourselves here's what I would describe that as the longer you live in this body the more frustrating the greater understanding you have that things are not the way they should be so I'll use this as an example think back to some of you are older than 20 think back to when you were 20 right and what happened at 20 is you felt invincible right you could run as long as you wanted you're flexible and limber and strong and all those things and what happens the longer you live well the longer you live you accumulate more scars on your body right that's the first thing that happens the longer you live the more things that you break right the longer you live the more things you have that just quit working properly that's just you know this is not news to most of you and so what happens is what Romans 8 is describing is we groan within ourselves even if you don't physically even if you don't verbalize this you have an awareness this you have an a a never-ending awareness and frustration that your body doesn't operate the way it should right we groan within ourselves the groanings that cannot be uttered in Romans 8:26 is a reference to our inner man you know our inner man has the mind of Christ this thing that we have what is it doing the outward man does what perishes right this body is in the process of falling apart and so there's this this tension this frustration the inner man has these groanings that cannot be uttered if you will it's the difference between how things are and how things should be that's what the Romans 8:26 is at the catching up what God does is he gives you the body that you are meant to have for all eternity and it doesn't grow sick and it doesn't grow weary and it doesn't malfunction well that's the same thing go back for me to Ecclesiastes 1 verse 8 Ecclesiastes 1 verse 8 all things are full of Labor man cannot utter it I'm gonna suggest to you here's what that is have you ever worked on something and you've had the thought or you've said it this shouldn't be that difficult doesn't that come up all the time you're working on some project and it what's always fascinating to me is you can frequently state in a sentence what you want to accomplish right you can say it in 10 seconds here's what I want to fix you state it to execute that and get it done effectively can be a long long long time right with twists and turns and bumps in the way well that's how life is on earth with our labor it's going to be very it will be so frustrating that man cannot utter it now I'll pause here so as we go through Ecclesiastes we're gonna encounter a lot of things like this and a lot of these things you know you might look at you say well that's sort of depressing and I'll say two things about that one you ought to take some reassurance because what I think the book of Ecclesiastes does is it speaks to the human condition and it ought to give you some comfort that okay this is just a natural state of affairs my circumstance isn't any different or worse it's just how life is on a sin cursed earth the second thing is what we're looking at here is we're looking at man's experience apart from Revelation so what cause there and then we'll pick up next time father thank you for this time thank you for preserving your word it's in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray amen

Channel: Columbus Bible Church

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Length: 44min 24sec (2664 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 17 2019