WEBVTT 00:00:00.750 --> 00:00:05.150 We take some time now to go to God's Word, and 00:00:05.150 --> 00:00:08.669 we're starting something new today. We're starting 00:00:08.669 --> 00:00:13.269 a sermon series on the Old Testament wisdom book 00:00:13.269 --> 00:00:17.329 of Ecclesiastes. So we're pausing our sermon 00:00:17.329 --> 00:00:19.750 series through some of the miracles of Jesus. 00:00:19.870 --> 00:00:22.489 We'll pick that up in a few Sundays to consider 00:00:22.489 --> 00:00:25.350 the resurrection of Jesus, perhaps the greatest 00:00:25.350 --> 00:00:30.030 miracle that there is. But for now, we go to 00:00:30.030 --> 00:00:34.929 the book of Ecclesiastes. I'm going to introduce 00:00:34.929 --> 00:00:37.810 the book today and go over some themes that are 00:00:37.810 --> 00:00:40.829 in the first half of that chapter. We're looking 00:00:40.829 --> 00:00:45.869 at verses one through 11 of chapter one. You 00:00:45.869 --> 00:00:48.689 may not be as familiar with Ecclesiastes. If 00:00:48.689 --> 00:00:52.649 you're looking for it, keep going past Job, past 00:00:52.649 --> 00:00:56.969 Psalms, past Proverbs. And you'll run into Ecclesiastes. 00:00:57.070 --> 00:00:59.030 If you see Song of Songs, you've gone just a 00:00:59.030 --> 00:01:02.270 little bit too far. But this is an incredible 00:01:02.270 --> 00:01:04.849 book. This is a useful book. This is a book of 00:01:04.849 --> 00:01:07.950 wisdom. And I think it's very applicable for 00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:11.769 our time. So we're going to spend quite a while 00:01:11.769 --> 00:01:15.290 on this. But by way of encouragement today, as 00:01:15.290 --> 00:01:18.049 we look at a book that may not be as familiar 00:01:18.049 --> 00:01:21.829 to you, I want to offer you a quote from a very 00:01:21.829 --> 00:01:25.969 good Bible scholar. named Sidney Gredanus. He 00:01:25.969 --> 00:01:32.469 says this, Ecclesiastes may be the most difficult 00:01:32.469 --> 00:01:37.769 biblical book to interpret and to preach. Sounds 00:01:37.769 --> 00:01:41.510 good. Let's go for it. Ecclesiastes one, one 00:01:41.510 --> 00:01:44.549 through 11. Please follow along and give attention, 00:01:44.909 --> 00:01:48.109 for this is God's word. I read today from the 00:01:48.109 --> 00:01:51.409 English Standard Version, the words of the preacher. 00:01:51.849 --> 00:01:58.489 The son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of 00:01:58.489 --> 00:02:02.750 vanities, says the preacher. Vanity of vanities, 00:02:02.950 --> 00:02:08.129 all is vanity. What does man gain by all the 00:02:08.129 --> 00:02:12.250 toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation 00:02:12.250 --> 00:02:16.590 goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains 00:02:16.590 --> 00:02:20.729 forever. The sun rises and the sun goes down. 00:02:20.990 --> 00:02:24.310 and hastens to the place where it rises. The 00:02:24.310 --> 00:02:27.210 wind blows to the south and goes around to the 00:02:27.210 --> 00:02:31.069 north. Around and around goes the wind, and on 00:02:31.069 --> 00:02:35.710 its circuits the wind returns. All streams flow 00:02:35.710 --> 00:02:39.229 to the sea, but the sea is not full. To the place 00:02:39.229 --> 00:02:42.289 where the streams flow, there they flow again. 00:02:43.090 --> 00:02:46.689 All things are full of weariness. A man cannot 00:02:46.689 --> 00:02:50.289 utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing. 00:02:50.509 --> 00:02:54.409 nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been 00:02:54.409 --> 00:02:58.030 is what will be, and what has been done is what 00:02:58.030 --> 00:03:01.270 will be done, and there is nothing new under 00:03:01.270 --> 00:03:04.270 the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, 00:03:04.550 --> 00:03:08.449 See, this is new? It has been already in the 00:03:08.449 --> 00:03:12.110 ages before us. There is no remembrance of former 00:03:12.110 --> 00:03:15.409 things, nor will there be any remembrance of 00:03:15.409 --> 00:03:20.300 later things yet to be among those. who come 00:03:20.300 --> 00:03:26.300 after. The grass withers and the flower fades, 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:33.599 but God's word stands forever. Let us pray. Lord, 00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:36.759 how we thank you for your wisdom and how we thank 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:40.460 you for your word and how we thank you for Ecclesiastes. 00:03:41.099 --> 00:03:44.580 Lord, I ask that as we study this book that you 00:03:44.580 --> 00:03:48.159 would give us great insight and application here 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:50.840 and that it would be the ultimate longing of 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:54.860 our hearts to always live for you. These things 00:03:54.860 --> 00:04:01.860 we ask in Christ's name. Amen. You all probably 00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:05.560 know fairly well or you've heard me or others 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:09.539 say it quite a bit. Westminster Shorter Catechism 00:04:09.539 --> 00:04:14.349 number one. What is man's chief end? And the 00:04:14.349 --> 00:04:18.410 answer, man's chief end is to glorify God and 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:22.069 to enjoy him forever. It's an incredible statement 00:04:22.069 --> 00:04:25.449 of purpose. It's an incredible statement of meaning 00:04:25.449 --> 00:04:29.509 for the Christian. Your job, your responsibility 00:04:29.509 --> 00:04:33.529 is to glorify God with everything you've got. 00:04:37.529 --> 00:04:43.069 Why is it then? that we come upon a book of meaning 00:04:43.069 --> 00:04:47.170 like Ecclesiastes and we don't get something 00:04:47.170 --> 00:04:50.930 like the Shorter Catechism. Why is it that when 00:04:50.930 --> 00:04:53.990 we go to Ecclesiastes we have these words that 00:04:53.990 --> 00:04:57.509 somehow don't give us the warm fuzzies inside? 00:04:57.850 --> 00:05:01.769 This is a book of meaning and we want some sort 00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:05.500 of a short pithy memorable statement that we 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:08.360 can utter, and yet the writer of Ecclesiastes 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:13.680 does not give this to us. Why? Why doesn't he 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:17.680 just come right out and say the gospel or something? 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:26.040 Zach S. Wine says, Ecclesiastes sounds like a 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:29.939 crazed man downtown. He smells like he hasn't 00:05:29.939 --> 00:05:34.100 bathed. He looks like it too. And as we pass 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:37.819 by, he won't stop glaring at us and telling us 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:41.360 our lives are built on illusions and that we 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:46.759 are going to die. If you know the book of Ecclesiastes, 00:05:46.939 --> 00:05:50.939 you probably agree with that statement. Ecclesiastes 00:05:50.939 --> 00:05:56.139 is a very unique book. Do you remember in high 00:05:56.139 --> 00:05:58.600 school, and some of you are there currently, 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:03.029 how you'd have superlatives? and you'd have the 00:06:03.029 --> 00:06:06.790 most likely to succeed, you might have the best 00:06:06.790 --> 00:06:12.149 athlete, the best dressed. Ecclesiastes would 00:06:12.149 --> 00:06:16.490 get the most unique, I think, because it is a 00:06:16.490 --> 00:06:19.930 unique book. And indeed, many people agreeing 00:06:19.930 --> 00:06:23.449 with Zach S. Wein's statement here avoid the 00:06:23.449 --> 00:06:27.949 book like the plague. They say this book is pessimistic. 00:06:28.589 --> 00:06:31.220 I don't want to read it. They say, this book 00:06:31.220 --> 00:06:35.899 is fatalistic. Can I give you a better istic? 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:40.959 Ecclesiastes is realistic. Ecclesiastes is realistic. 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:48.560 Look at verse two. Vanity of vanities, all is 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:52.300 vanity. This is one of the mottos of the book, 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:56.519 the most prevalent motto of this book. The word 00:06:56.519 --> 00:07:00.360 there in the Hebrew, the word for vanity, is 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:05.639 Hevel. Hevel. One commentator says of this word, 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:10.160 Ecclesiastes is the only book whose interpretation 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:14.259 is controlled entirely by the meaning of one 00:07:14.259 --> 00:07:19.920 word. The word Hevel. It's mentioned 78 times 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:25.439 in the Old Testament, but 38 times it's in this 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:31.300 book. Hevel? Now, what in the world does it mean? 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:33.740 Well, I'm reading out of the English Standard 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:36.579 Version, and many of you are as well. And so 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:38.579 you've heard the way that this is translated, 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:43.720 Vanity of Vanities. Anybody remember that song? 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:48.939 It goes back a ways. You're so vain, you probably 00:07:48.939 --> 00:07:53.259 think this song is about you. That's not really 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:56.160 what this is talking about. This is not talking 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:59.379 about the mirror. that maybe you have in your 00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:02.199 house, ladies, and you sit in front of it, and 00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:04.759 you do your hair, and you make up a vanity mirror. 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:08.839 That's not really what this is about. Years ago, 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:12.379 when the Latin Vulgate came about, this word, 00:08:12.620 --> 00:08:17.279 hevel, was translated into Latin with this word, 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:23.139 vanity. I think it's vanitas. It doesn't mean 00:08:23.139 --> 00:08:27.680 that. What are some other translations? Today, 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:32.320 you might be reading out of the NIV or the NLT. 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:35.200 And so the word that is used in the NIV, I believe, 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:40.580 is meaninglessness. Meaninglessness. All is meaninglessness. 00:08:41.580 --> 00:08:44.200 Is that a good translation? Well, I think the 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:46.720 translators of the NIV would say so, but when 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:51.019 I look at the book of Ecclesiastes, I see incredible 00:08:51.019 --> 00:08:55.360 meaning, not meaninglessness. I see Meaning. 00:08:56.740 --> 00:09:00.039 What about the NASB and the CSB? They use the 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:04.840 word futility. Futility of futilities. Kind of 00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:08.879 a similar definition of meaninglessness. Well, 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:12.200 friends, when you look at words, other words 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:17.279 for meaninglessness or futility within the Old 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:20.279 Testament, there are six other words that speak 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:23.279 in that way. And none of those other words are 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.500 present in the book of Ecclesiastes. And so I 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:29.220 think something else is going on within this 00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:32.740 book. And so let's take it back to the very literal 00:09:32.740 --> 00:09:39.379 definition of Heve. Very literally, that word 00:09:39.379 --> 00:09:46.100 means breath or vapor or mist. If you will, listen 00:09:46.100 --> 00:09:53.100 to this from Psalm 39 verse 5. Behold, you have 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:57.259 made my days a few hand breaths, and my lifetime 00:09:57.259 --> 00:10:01.600 is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:08.580 stands as a mere breath, as a mere hevel. Or, 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:12.600 for a New Testament equivalent, the book of James, 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:18.070 chapter four, verse 14. No surprise here. For 00:10:18.070 --> 00:10:20.769 James is wisdom literature of the New Testament. 00:10:20.950 --> 00:10:26.110 It says, yet you do not know what tomorrow will 00:10:26.110 --> 00:10:30.769 bring. What is your life? For you are a mist 00:10:30.769 --> 00:10:36.149 that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 00:10:38.129 --> 00:10:42.750 The word hevel means breath or vapor or mist. 00:10:43.470 --> 00:10:47.259 And what's being communicated is exactly what 00:10:47.259 --> 00:10:49.360 may have happened to you this morning when it 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.559 was cold. Maybe you were outside, maybe you took 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.679 a breath in the cold, and you can see the evidence 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:59.419 of your breath. But it doesn't stay there in 00:10:59.419 --> 00:11:01.500 front of you, does it? Matter of fact, if you 00:11:01.500 --> 00:11:04.899 tried to grab the breath that you can see, you 00:11:04.899 --> 00:11:11.720 can't, right? It just dissipates even more. Children. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.539 In the recent snowstorms, did any of you make 00:11:16.539 --> 00:11:20.879 a snowman? Okay, alright, I see some snowmen 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:22.620 that were built in the back, well done, good 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:27.100 job. Is your snowman still standing? Of course 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:29.740 not, it was nearly 70 degrees the other day. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.779 That's what's being communicated here, is that 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:37.259 things come and things go, and the only thing 00:11:37.259 --> 00:11:40.419 left of your snowman is maybe a cold carrot on 00:11:40.419 --> 00:11:44.879 the ground. That's what the preacher is communicating 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:48.759 to us. But he does it in a very special form, 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:54.779 a superlative form. Vanity of vanities, we can 00:11:54.779 --> 00:11:59.779 see this in the Hebrew, Hevo of Hevalim. It's 00:11:59.779 --> 00:12:03.700 very much like when you read King of Kings and 00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:08.259 Lord of Lords and the Holy of Holies. It is the 00:12:08.259 --> 00:12:11.360 greatest, grandest way of describing something. 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:14.220 And that's exactly what the preacher does here. 00:12:14.460 --> 00:12:19.120 As if to say vapor of vapors. It's the perplexity 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:24.279 of perplexities that life comes and it goes whether 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:29.600 or not we understand it. Professor Benjamin Shaw 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:34.620 says this, many interpreters misunderstanding 00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:38.759 the significance of vanity think that the message 00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:42.679 of the book, is that life without God is meaningless 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:45.940 and that only when one turns to God in faith 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:49.419 does life have any meaning. Thus the book is 00:12:49.419 --> 00:12:53.200 essentially seen as an evangelistic tract trying 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:56.720 to convince the unbeliever to turn to God so 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:00.100 that he might find meaning in his life. Solomon 00:13:00.100 --> 00:13:04.860 is leading the reader through a careful and sometimes 00:13:04.860 --> 00:13:09.539 painful examination of life under the sun. He 00:13:09.539 --> 00:13:13.039 wants the reader to see life in all of its complexity, 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:17.100 its difficulty, its evanescence, its disappointment 00:13:17.100 --> 00:13:22.600 and its frustration. And so rather than meaninglessness, 00:13:23.460 --> 00:13:27.419 this is a book about meaning. The preacher observed 00:13:27.419 --> 00:13:31.419 life under the sun to see how everything is marred 00:13:31.419 --> 00:13:35.419 by sin. Everything is marred by frustration. 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:39.659 Everything is marred by the endless cycle of 00:13:39.659 --> 00:13:43.000 the mundane. Everything is marred by injustice. 00:13:43.419 --> 00:13:47.740 These are his observations. And they may also 00:13:47.740 --> 00:13:50.980 be yours. As you read through Ecclesiastes, you 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:54.340 might say, hey, I've thought that too. Hey, I 00:13:54.340 --> 00:13:58.039 see that too. But at the same time, this may 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:01.090 not be the most delightful journey. Very few 00:14:01.090 --> 00:14:04.129 verses of Ecclesiastes outside of chapter three 00:14:04.129 --> 00:14:08.269 make their way onto a greeting card. But friends, 00:14:08.309 --> 00:14:12.289 if you like honesty, if you like it when someone 00:14:12.289 --> 00:14:17.250 just tells it like it is, you will like Ecclesiastes 00:14:17.250 --> 00:14:20.090 and you will learn to be honest with yourself 00:14:20.090 --> 00:14:22.590 and you will learn to be honest with others and 00:14:22.590 --> 00:14:25.009 you will learn to be honest with God and crying 00:14:25.009 --> 00:14:29.190 out to him and saying, God, I need you. I need 00:14:29.190 --> 00:14:33.840 your help. in all of the challenges of life. 00:14:35.820 --> 00:14:40.919 For the longest time, Ecclesiastes has been my 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:43.460 favorite biblical book. I don't know if we're 00:14:43.460 --> 00:14:45.480 supposed to have favorite books of the Bible, 00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:48.879 but I do. And yet for the longest time, I couldn't 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:53.120 figure out why do I love this book so much? Why 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:56.480 do I love to study it and why do I love to memorize 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:00.240 it? And friends, I think the answer to that is 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:03.259 that shortly after becoming a believer, I encountered 00:15:03.259 --> 00:15:06.360 Ecclesiastes. And when you become a new believer, 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:10.019 suddenly you have to reconcile why are things 00:15:10.019 --> 00:15:13.399 the way they are? And why am I the way that I 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:20.000 am? And why are you the way that you are? Why? 00:15:21.419 --> 00:15:26.080 Because of sin. Sin has thrown a ginormous monkey 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:29.450 wrench into the perfection of God's creation. 00:15:29.570 --> 00:15:33.110 And we are living in the aftermath. We are living 00:15:33.110 --> 00:15:38.110 in the aftermath of the fall. I was reading a 00:15:38.110 --> 00:15:41.210 comic strip this week. Anybody remember that 00:15:41.210 --> 00:15:46.850 comic strip called BC? I like that one. And in 00:15:46.850 --> 00:15:49.750 this strip, there's two men who are talking. 00:15:49.850 --> 00:15:54.230 And the first one says to the second, how powerful 00:15:54.490 --> 00:15:58.929 is this so -called creator of yours?" And the 00:15:58.929 --> 00:16:02.389 second one answers, he could trash the whole 00:16:02.389 --> 00:16:07.090 planet just like that. But there's a third person 00:16:07.090 --> 00:16:10.070 listening in who says, I don't think we need 00:16:10.070 --> 00:16:12.169 to be too worried about that. We're doing a fine 00:16:12.169 --> 00:16:18.470 job of it ourselves. You see, what the preacher 00:16:18.470 --> 00:16:22.950 is doing is he's observing the fallout from sin. 00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:26.659 And he sees a world that is fleeting. He sees 00:16:26.659 --> 00:16:29.519 a world that is passing away. And the writer 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:32.360 of Ecclesiastes wants us to see the good and 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:36.639 the bad and the ugly of it all. He gives us a 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:39.759 candid photograph without a filter and without 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:42.740 any edits. He shows us a portrait of life with 00:16:42.740 --> 00:16:46.940 warts and all. You might say, well, it's such 00:16:46.940 --> 00:16:48.960 a glowing review of the book. Who wants to read 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:53.120 this? Who wants to read about these things other 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:57.620 than maybe me? One commentator says, Ecclesiastes 00:16:57.620 --> 00:17:00.059 is the only book of the Bible written on a Monday. 00:17:01.580 --> 00:17:04.559 There's something to that. Ecclesiastes is a 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:07.779 book written in a minor chord. And so who does 00:17:07.779 --> 00:17:11.019 want to read this? And who wrote this? And why 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:14.839 does the Holy Spirit inspire such words? And 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:17.599 what does any of this have to do with Christ? 00:17:18.859 --> 00:17:21.460 Let's talk about authorship for just a minute. 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:24.740 If you look in verse one, you see the words of 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:27.880 the preacher. This starts off written in the 00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:30.720 third person before it switches to the first 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:35.519 person in verse 12. This has led many to believe 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:38.380 there may be a narrator involved in this book. 00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:41.500 I don't know if that's for sure or not, but even 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:44.839 if there is a narrator, he is communicating in 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:48.329 chapter one, one through 11. the words of the 00:17:48.329 --> 00:17:50.869 preacher. And so it's really all of the words 00:17:50.869 --> 00:17:55.309 of this preacher. You might say, well, who is 00:17:55.309 --> 00:17:58.750 this preacher? Does he have a name? Well, knowing 00:17:58.750 --> 00:18:02.309 that he is full of wisdom and knowing that he's 00:18:02.309 --> 00:18:04.849 the son of David and knowing that he's the king 00:18:04.849 --> 00:18:07.170 in Jerusalem, this leads many to believe, and 00:18:07.170 --> 00:18:10.269 I believe rightly so, this is probably Solomon. 00:18:10.769 --> 00:18:14.250 He's the one who fits this description. And as 00:18:14.250 --> 00:18:17.210 we get into chapter two, we'll see even more 00:18:17.210 --> 00:18:20.529 of that. So I do believe this to be Solomon. 00:18:21.130 --> 00:18:24.029 I also find it very telling the way that this 00:18:24.029 --> 00:18:27.450 begins that he is the king in Jerusalem. And 00:18:27.450 --> 00:18:32.049 yet what comes first in verse one? The preacher. 00:18:33.210 --> 00:18:36.470 He announces that he is the preacher or the teacher 00:18:36.470 --> 00:18:40.609 or quite literally the assembler before he ever 00:18:40.609 --> 00:18:43.619 says that he's king. This is how much he values 00:18:43.619 --> 00:18:46.839 what he is going to tell you, what he's going 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:52.720 to tell us. And this Solomon invites us to observe 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:57.039 life with him. I will call him Solomon. I will 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:59.460 call him preacher. I will call him teacher. And 00:18:59.460 --> 00:19:02.400 I will call him by the literal title, Kohelet. 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:05.039 Just know that any of those titles or names, 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:08.200 I'm referring to the same person I believe to 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:11.930 be. Solomon. And so Solomon invites us on this 00:19:11.930 --> 00:19:16.690 tour of life with him. Last week I went on vacation 00:19:16.690 --> 00:19:21.029 with my family and we were at a beautiful spot, 00:19:21.250 --> 00:19:23.809 Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean. It was wonderful. 00:19:24.410 --> 00:19:27.369 One of the things that we did while we were there 00:19:27.369 --> 00:19:30.950 is to get on a boat. And it was a very unique 00:19:30.950 --> 00:19:34.569 boat. It was like, think of a hybrid between 00:19:34.569 --> 00:19:39.089 Gilligan's boat and a submarine. And so beneath 00:19:39.089 --> 00:19:42.410 the submarine portion, obviously sitting below 00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:45.450 the water, but what made it great were all the 00:19:45.450 --> 00:19:48.910 windows around. So as you're traveling through 00:19:48.910 --> 00:19:52.589 the water, you are gliding past schools of fish. 00:19:53.009 --> 00:19:56.390 You are gliding over coral reefs. You are gliding 00:19:56.390 --> 00:20:00.130 past sea turtles to the delight of my family. 00:20:01.230 --> 00:20:05.009 Think about Ecclesiastes a little bit like that. 00:20:05.230 --> 00:20:07.450 not with the sea turtles and not with all the 00:20:07.450 --> 00:20:12.349 joy of it all, in that we get to travel with 00:20:12.349 --> 00:20:16.829 Kohelet to see his observations about life. And 00:20:16.829 --> 00:20:19.410 I want to share with you three observations in 00:20:19.410 --> 00:20:23.049 chapter one, very briefly, that we'll see throughout 00:20:23.049 --> 00:20:25.490 the rest of this book. And so these are three 00:20:25.490 --> 00:20:30.650 themes, work, death, and creation. Let's look 00:20:30.650 --> 00:20:34.380 at work first. Look at verse three. What does 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:38.980 man gain by all the toil at which he toils under 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:41.519 the sun? When he uses the word toil here, this 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:45.039 is expressing hard work. This is expressing the 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:49.460 misery of work. Sometimes we work and we labor 00:20:49.460 --> 00:20:52.599 so much and we strive and we sweat and we get 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:57.319 to the end of the day and we say, for what? Also, 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:00.660 we can do it again tomorrow. There is oftentimes 00:21:00.660 --> 00:21:04.690 repetition in our And so he asked this question, 00:21:05.269 --> 00:21:08.849 what's the gain? What do I gain out of all of 00:21:08.849 --> 00:21:12.950 this toil? And the implied answer is nothing, 00:21:14.210 --> 00:21:17.670 because he's looking back at life. Many believe 00:21:17.670 --> 00:21:20.049 this is Solomon at the end of his life looking 00:21:20.049 --> 00:21:23.369 back at all he did and wondering, was it all 00:21:23.369 --> 00:21:27.390 worth it? I remember feeling like this in the 00:21:27.390 --> 00:21:31.559 very first job that I got after college. Many 00:21:31.559 --> 00:21:35.420 of you know that I was a newspaper reporter for 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:39.339 several years before going into ministry, and 00:21:39.339 --> 00:21:42.900 my first job as the youngest reporter on staff, 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:45.720 I can assure you I did not get the best stories. 00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:50.140 When I got the job, I knew I had to dress the 00:21:50.140 --> 00:21:52.539 part, so I went to Belk and I bought four brand 00:21:52.539 --> 00:21:55.539 new shirts and four brand new ties, and I wore 00:21:55.539 --> 00:21:59.359 those shirts. out every single day going into 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:02.700 the newsroom. The only way I knew what day of 00:22:02.700 --> 00:22:05.240 the week it was was on Friday when they let me 00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:08.859 wear jeans. Perhaps you feel like that, don't 00:22:08.859 --> 00:22:12.000 you? Sometimes with your work, the repetition 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.700 of it all. I remember looking at my minuscule 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:18.900 paycheck and looking at all the work that I was 00:22:18.900 --> 00:22:21.140 doing and how hard I was working and thinking, 00:22:21.579 --> 00:22:23.700 this is what the next 40 years of my life look 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:29.539 like. Again, perhaps you have felt like that. 00:22:30.059 --> 00:22:32.220 Perhaps you have felt like you're on a bicycle 00:22:32.220 --> 00:22:34.880 and you are pedaling as hard as you possibly 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:38.019 can and you've gone for many, many miles until 00:22:38.019 --> 00:22:40.980 you realize it's a stationary bike and you've 00:22:40.980 --> 00:22:45.319 gone nowhere. That's how Kohel feels here. He 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:48.960 feels like what is the gain of all of these things, 00:22:49.220 --> 00:22:52.420 but it's not because his work is unsatisfying. 00:22:52.460 --> 00:22:56.099 We're unfulfilling. It's not just because Solomon's 00:22:56.099 --> 00:22:59.680 the lowest like I was in the newsroom. No, he's 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:04.140 the king of Israel. Look at verse four and you 00:23:04.140 --> 00:23:09.259 can see why he feels this way. A generation goes 00:23:09.259 --> 00:23:12.819 and a generation comes, but the earth remains 00:23:12.819 --> 00:23:16.599 forever. The reason he feels this way is because 00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:20.960 death is coming. This is our second theme of 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:26.380 death. And perhaps you feel the most like Kohelet. 00:23:27.420 --> 00:23:31.019 Whenever you experience a loss, a family member 00:23:31.019 --> 00:23:34.759 dies, a friend passes away, maybe with each high 00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:38.660 school reunion that you go to, the numbers are 00:23:38.660 --> 00:23:42.900 dwindling, and you feel like this. And yet, as 00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:46.339 those numbers dwindle, the earth continues to 00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:49.259 spin, doesn't it? It's said oftentimes as a means 00:23:49.259 --> 00:23:52.559 of comfort, the sun will come up. But with Kohelet, 00:23:52.619 --> 00:23:55.859 it's kind of the opposite. He acknowledges that 00:23:55.859 --> 00:23:59.079 one day the sun will come up, but I will not. 00:24:01.779 --> 00:24:05.220 That's why I've called this sermon series Life 00:24:05.220 --> 00:24:10.099 Under a Setting Sun. And yet, even under the 00:24:10.099 --> 00:24:13.420 setting sun, there is a meaning there. Socrates 00:24:13.420 --> 00:24:18.180 famously said, the unexamined life is not worth 00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:22.369 living. And that's what Solomon is doing. He's 00:24:22.369 --> 00:24:26.809 examining life. And as he does so, he recognizes 00:24:26.809 --> 00:24:30.369 the brevity of it all. Look in verse 11. He says, 00:24:30.589 --> 00:24:33.809 there is no remembrance of former things, nor 00:24:33.809 --> 00:24:36.430 will there be any remembrance of later things, 00:24:36.849 --> 00:24:42.329 yet to be among those who come after. Some translations 00:24:42.329 --> 00:24:45.490 don't say the word things. Some translations 00:24:45.490 --> 00:24:49.200 say the word. people there, that there will be 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:54.380 people who are just not remembered. A friend 00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:58.859 said to me once that she thinks a lot about who 00:24:58.859 --> 00:25:03.279 will be at my funeral when I die. What she was 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:06.319 really getting at is what kind of impact will 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:11.039 I make on others who are around me. The preacher, 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:13.690 though, takes it a step further. as if to say, 00:25:13.970 --> 00:25:17.809 they may show up for your funeral, but they won't 00:25:17.809 --> 00:25:23.690 always remember you. Friends, what a sobering 00:25:23.690 --> 00:25:28.769 and sad and traumatic thought. And yet, even 00:25:28.769 --> 00:25:32.470 as generations come and as generations go, look 00:25:32.470 --> 00:25:35.869 in verses five through seven, the world just 00:25:35.869 --> 00:25:41.960 keeps turning. Kohelet I believe here is reflecting 00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:44.980 on the creation account. He's looking back to 00:25:44.980 --> 00:25:48.559 Genesis and he sees the natural order of all 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:50.859 things and he sees it all happening and he says, 00:25:51.380 --> 00:25:56.500 what is accomplished? Don't we feel like that? 00:25:58.019 --> 00:26:01.559 Every new year that comes about, maybe every 00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:04.759 birthday and all of the running around that we 00:26:04.759 --> 00:26:07.880 do that we think is so important and yet at the 00:26:07.880 --> 00:26:10.009 end of the day, The end of the week, the end 00:26:10.009 --> 00:26:12.869 of the month, the end of the year, we ask, why 00:26:12.869 --> 00:26:16.170 do I do all of these things? What is the most 00:26:16.170 --> 00:26:19.910 important thing in my life? You can see here 00:26:19.910 --> 00:26:23.289 he talks about satisfaction in verse eight. All 00:26:23.289 --> 00:26:26.490 things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter 00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:29.809 it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor 00:26:29.809 --> 00:26:35.049 the ear filled with hearing. What a heavy statement 00:26:35.049 --> 00:26:38.029 to make, that all things are full of weariness. 00:26:38.329 --> 00:26:41.950 You can almost visualize the preacher crying 00:26:41.950 --> 00:26:45.869 out, is there anything else out there for me? 00:26:46.369 --> 00:26:49.930 He says, there's nothing new under the sun. Everything 00:26:49.930 --> 00:26:57.410 is mundane. Everyone will die. Again, why does 00:26:57.410 --> 00:27:01.710 the Holy Spirit breathe out such words? And what 00:27:01.710 --> 00:27:05.029 does any of this have to do with Christ? Friends, 00:27:05.029 --> 00:27:09.740 this is what I really want you to hear. This 00:27:09.740 --> 00:27:12.859 is the fleeting world that Jesus came to save 00:27:12.859 --> 00:27:16.559 This is the fleeting world that Jesus came to 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:20.980 save to make all things new Jesus came to redeem 00:27:20.980 --> 00:27:25.400 this world and make a place for us without the 00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:29.539 heavens Jesus makes a place of permanence without 00:27:29.539 --> 00:27:32.640 death without the toil of work Maybe just the 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:36.329 joy of work for you remember what happened When 00:27:36.329 --> 00:27:40.250 Adam and Eve, when the whole thing fell in, right? 00:27:40.690 --> 00:27:45.910 That God placed a curse on labor. In Christ, 00:27:46.329 --> 00:27:50.589 that will be lifted. And so the Holy Spirit breathes 00:27:50.589 --> 00:27:54.049 out these words for you. He breathes out relatable 00:27:54.049 --> 00:27:57.309 words. Solomon thinks the thoughts that we think. 00:27:58.049 --> 00:28:00.690 Solomon says the words that we say, or maybe 00:28:00.690 --> 00:28:03.529 he says the words that we're too scared to say. 00:28:03.819 --> 00:28:08.700 He shows how fallen the world is. But our purpose 00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:13.220 with this book isn't just to observe. No, our 00:28:13.220 --> 00:28:17.220 purpose with this book is to long for more. Our 00:28:17.220 --> 00:28:19.740 purpose with this book is to long for Christ 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:23.460 who makes all things new. And so when you lose 00:28:23.460 --> 00:28:26.500 that loved one, when your work feels cursed, 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:29.339 when the sun comes up but you don't feel like 00:28:29.339 --> 00:28:34.000 getting up yourself, look. To the truest preacher, 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:39.079 the truest teacher, the truest assembler. For 00:28:39.079 --> 00:28:44.640 you remember what sin has done. It has made a 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:50.559 mess of the world. But Christ comes to make all 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:54.880 things new. Jesus went through the heavens. to 00:28:54.880 --> 00:28:58.279 satisfy divine justice. Jesus entered into our 00:28:58.279 --> 00:29:02.299 world, the mundane, the toil, the injustice, 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:06.140 the sorrow, and he went through it all to the 00:29:06.140 --> 00:29:10.200 cross to ensure that you will be remembered. 00:29:10.759 --> 00:29:13.700 You will not be forgotten. You who are in Christ 00:29:13.700 --> 00:29:17.700 are in the Lamb's book of life. This book has 00:29:17.700 --> 00:29:20.980 us longing for something greater than the Heav 00:29:20.980 --> 00:29:25.740 'l of this life. As I mentioned, this has something 00:29:25.740 --> 00:29:28.900 to do with creation. Yes, we may look back at 00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:32.400 creation, but really what this book will do is 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:36.319 have us looking ahead, looking ahead to the new 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:40.859 creation, not to the old Eden, but to a renewed 00:29:40.859 --> 00:29:44.759 Eden. And so Christian, take heart that even 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:49.119 in the midst of the Hevel, Christ really is making 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:53.019 all things new. And in the meantime, There is 00:29:53.019 --> 00:29:57.579 Ecclesiastes to help us know how to live under 00:29:57.579 --> 00:29:59.819 a setting sun. Let us pray.