Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / The Vanity of Life (Ecclesiastes 2:12-26)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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The Vanity of Life (Ecclesiastes 2:12-26)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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  And today we continue in our sermon series through
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  the Old Testament wisdom book of Ecclesiastes.
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  And so I invite you to turn to chapter two of
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  Ecclesiastes and follow along there. Ecclesiastes
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  is a difficult book. There's no doubt about it.
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  but it is a book of incredible wisdom. And so
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  we should take it to heart. And so again, please
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  follow along. This is chapter two. The bulletin
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  has us going through the end of the chapter.
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  I'm actually going to stop that at verse 23.
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  Ecclesiastes two, beginning verse 12. So I turned
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  to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For
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  what can the man do? who comes after the king,
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  only what has already been done. Then I saw that
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  there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as
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  there is more gain in light than in darkness.
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  The wise person has his eyes in his head, but
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  the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceive
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  that the same event happens to all of them. Then
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  I said in my heart, what happens to the fool
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  will happen to me also. Why then have I been
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  so very wise and I said in my heart that this
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  also is vanity? For of the wise as of the fool
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  there is no enduring remembrance Seeing that
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  in the days to come all will have been long forgotten
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  How the wise dies just like the fool so I hated
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  life Because what is done under the Sun was grievous
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  to me for all is vanity and striving after wind
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  I hated all my toil in which I toil under the
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  sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who
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  will come after me, and who knows whether he
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  will be wise or a fool, yet he will be master
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  of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom
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  under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned
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  about and gave my heart up to despair over all
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  the toil of my labors under the sun, because
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  sometimes a person who is toiled with wisdom
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  and knowledge and skill must leave everything
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  to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for
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  it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What
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  has a man from all the toil and the striving
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  of heart with which he toils beneath the sun,
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  for all his days are full of sorrow and his work
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  is a vexation, even the night his heart does
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  not rest. This also is vanity. Let us pray. Father,
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  we come gathered around your text and we ask
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  that you would illuminate it for us and that,
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  Lord, you would help me to be faithful to this
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  text and apply it well for the sake of all who
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  hear it. We pray these things in the name of
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  the one who is the word, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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  Do you ever have that situation where you know
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  something is wrong with a loved one, and you
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  want them to tell you what's going on, but they
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  won't? Spouses, we have this. You know something
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  is going on with your wife. Something's bothering
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  her husband, right, or vice versa. And you want
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  to know what's going on with them. Or children,
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  sometimes. Brothers and sisters, you know something's
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  up with your sibling or a friend at church or
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  at school. You want to know what's going on,
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  and you feel like you have to pry it out of them.
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  Do you ever have that situation? Something is
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  eating at your loved one. Well, something is
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  eating at Solomon here in Ecclesiastes. And along
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  the way, he has told us what's bothering him.
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  But we perhaps get a clearer picture in the second
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  half of chapter two with what is really going
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  on with Solomon. He's going to return to wisdom.
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  He's going to share with us that that ultimately
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  doesn't solve his biggest problem. Earlier in
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  chapter two he went after self -indulgence. He
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  tried to cheer himself with all sorts of things.
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  And he said that this also is vanity and is striving
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  after wind. didn't really help him. And so there's
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  something more that's going on. And we need to
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  hear what it is. And it's this. It is death.
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  The second half of chapter two is about death.
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  The hevel of life, that word that gets translated
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  to vanity, the hevel of life is that it ends.
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  And that when life ends for our loved ones, it
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  hurts. Many of you know that this week I was
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  up in Connecticut visiting my grandmother. I
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  love her very much. And she is, she's not doing
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  well. And that was probably my last time of seeing
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  her, this side of glory. We had a good time together.
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  We drove around, saw the sights of Madison, Connecticut.
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  It's a beautiful little coastal town. She pointed
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  out to me where her church is and where the senior
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  center is. We went by the old house where I used
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  to play. And it was a great visit. I took her
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  to her favorite seafood restaurant. We had fried
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  shrimp. It was delicious. But when we got back
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  to her apartment, her assisted living home, there
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  was this heaviness, this weightiness over the
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  thing. Because she knows what's ahead for her.
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  She knows that she's going to die. You all know
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  what that's like. You have experienced loss,
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  and if you haven't, you will. That there is just
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  this fallenness to humanity and it's death, right?
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  And it's not supposed to be this way. For you
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  remember that death is a consequence. It's a
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  result of sin. Romans 6, 23. For the wages of
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  sin is what? It's death. Today, we're gonna see,
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  like I said, that death is really what is bothering
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  Solomon. And wisdom and toil, also known as work
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  here, cannot deliver him, and it can't fully
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  deliver us from evil, from death. And so what
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  we're looking at is wisdom and work. Now, we
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  saw this earlier in chapter two. Solomon... being
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  weighed down with all of these things, he sought
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  to self -indulge. And if Solomon cannot find
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  ultimate meeting and self -indulges, then guess
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  what, you can't either. Because Solomon had it
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  all at his fingertips. Solomon had access to
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  everything a person could possibly want, and
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  he says, no, it's fleeting, it goes away, it
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  does not have lasting permanence to it. And so
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  after checking out all of that, He goes back
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  to wisdom. Look in verse 12. So I turned to consider.
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  The word turn here has this idea of facing something.
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  He is facing yet again wisdom head on to see.
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  Maybe I need to retrace my steps. We saw it at
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  the end of chapter one. So I'm gonna retrace
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  my steps. I'm gonna go back to wisdom and see.
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  Maybe if I contrast wisdom with madness and folly,
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  I will realize that yes, it really is all about
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  wisdom. And he seems to show to us that as he's
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  looking at wisdom, he does this for the benefit
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  of others. He says, for what can the man do who
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  comes after the king? Only what has already been
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  done. So he's saying here, I've tried this for
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  you, and all you can merely do is copy what I
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  do. He's trying to figure it out, not just for
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  himself, but for others. And when he looks at
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  wisdom, he sees there is incredible gain there.
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  Look in verse 13. There is more gain in wisdom
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  than in folly. And this is a really important
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  statement for us to consider. Because he has
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  previously said that wisdom can't solve, it can't
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  fix everything. And he's going to say it again
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  later. But he still upholds the goodness of wisdom.
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  Look in verse 15. So he upholds wisdom, but then
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  he notes something about it. I said in my heart,
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  what happens to the fool will happen to me also.
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  Why then have I been so very wise? So Solomon
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  indeed is the wisest man, but then he recognizes
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  the limits of wisdom and says, it can't keep
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  my heart ticking, right? Because death is coming
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  for us all. But he still says it's better to
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  walk in the light than in the darkness. It's
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  better to be wise than a fool even though wisdom
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  will not ultimately save you. And actually as
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  we go further into the book of Ecclesiastes,
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  you'll see something that's even more perplexing
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  than this. You'll see that sometimes those who
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  exhibit the most wisdom will die and die first.
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  I want to take you to Genesis chapter four. If
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  you want to turn there, we have noted all of
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  the parallels, not all of them, there's still
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  more to go, we have noted many parallels between
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  Ecclesiastes and Genesis. We've actually, each
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  Sunday that we've been in Ecclesiastes, we've
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  also been in Genesis. And so Genesis four, You
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  probably remember this situation. I'm going to
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  read verses one through about eight. Now Adam
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  knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore
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  Cain, saying, I've gotten a man with the help
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  of the Lord. And again, she bore his brother
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  Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain
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  a worker of the ground. the course of time Cain
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  brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit
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  of the ground and Abel also brought of the firstborn
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  of his flock and of their fat portions and the
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  Lord had regard for Abel in his offering But
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  for Cain and his offering he had no regard Cain
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  so Cain was very angry and his face fell and
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  the Lord said to Cain Why are you angry and why
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  has your face fallen if you do well? Will you
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  not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin
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  is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary
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  to you, but you must rule over it. Cain spoke
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  to Abel, his brother, and when they were in the
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  field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel
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  and killed him. This is the first murder recorded
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  in Scripture, but I want to show to you why Abel
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  is a fitting name for this person. Because if
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  you were to look at this in Hebrew, you would
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  see that actually the name Abel is really Hevel.
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  The very word that is used throughout Ecclesiastes
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  is the same word that's used for Abel. And so
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  how is he like Hevel? Well, we've said what Hevel
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  means. Hevel is a breath. It is a mist. that
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  is there for a time and then goes away. It's
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  it's vapor. It doesn't it doesn't last. Well,
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  we can see from Genesis chapter four that Abel
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  does not last. And the perplexing thing for Solomon
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  over and over again through Ecclesiastes is that
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  sometimes the righteous are the ones who are
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  the have meaning they are the ones who are fleeting.
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  While the unrighteous live on through. Solomon
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  through his eyes, you can see that this is very
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  perplexing to him. It's very much like what one
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  commentator said, able of ables, everything is
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  able. Because friends, everyone will die. Everyone
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  is able. And so Kohelet, the teacher, the preacher,
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  the one that we call Solomon, he reflects on
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  what he observes that all will die. And then
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  he says, verse 17, look there. that he hates
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  life. I hated life because what is done under
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  the sun was grievous to me. As you come upon
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  a statement like that in Scripture, it's shocking,
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  isn't it? You might think, can you really say
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  this in the Bible? Can you really say that I
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  hated life? Are these really inspired words from
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  the Holy Spirit? Well, the Bible is full of shocking
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  statements, isn't it? Like the time that Job
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  cursed the day that he was born or like the psalmist
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  who said how long Oh Lord, will you forget me?
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  There are shocking statements because they reflect
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  the disastrous effects of the fall into sin after
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  all isn't perhaps the most shocking statement
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  the one that Jesus says on the cross my God my
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  God Why have you forsaken me? Perhaps it doesn't
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  carry the shockiness The force of it because
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  we're used to that but consider that the father
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  really did have to turn his back upon the son
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  In order that we would have salvation. And so
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  yes, there are shocking statements within scripture,
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  but there is reason for these things So let's
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  understand the context of this statement for
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  Solomon Solomon doesn't say that he hates life
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  for likes on Facebook He doesn't say this to
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  get for click bait or to sell newspapers or something.
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  No, there's real reason behind these words. So
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  what does he hate? Zach Eswine says he means
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  that it is right and good to cultivate a distaste
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  for the misery, the sin, the death, and the evil
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  and the havoc of this life. It's very much like
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  what Psalm 97 10 says, oh you who love the Lord,
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  hate evil. And so friends, we need to understand
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  this, that the wise person loves God. The wise
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  person loves his neighbor as himself. The wise
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  person hates sin, but the fool hates people,
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  hates God and loves sin. And so let me ask you
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  friends, what do you love and what do you hate?
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  You remember Jesus has two great commands, to
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  love God with everything you've got and to love
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  your neighbor as yourself. You can only love
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  God though, and you can truly only love your
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  neighbor because God has loved you first in Christ
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  Jesus. And knowing that, knowing the love of
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  God and how you cannot be separated from the
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  love of God because of Christ Jesus, that's what
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  gets us through the heaval of this life. That's
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  what gets us through the miseries of this life.
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  That's what gets us through the loss of a loved
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  one. That our hearts are regenerated, we are
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  made new. And so we look at death differently,
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  don't we? The believer in Jesus Christ looks
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  at death differently. We take an eternal view.
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  We look beyond the miseries of this life to see
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  exactly what Jesus Christ is doing for us right
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  now. And he says, I go to make a place for you.
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  A place where there's no more death. But I know
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  what some may say, well, all that sounds really
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  good, but what about the here and the now? I
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  live right now in this fleeting world where there's
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  all of this sin. How am I to live? And so Solomon
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  tries something else here. Look in verses 18
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  and onward. He looks at the vanity of toil. And
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  he continues with a difficult statement, just
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  like he says that he hated life, now what does
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  he say? I hated all my toil in which I toil under
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  the sun. Now, we should note what's really being
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  said here. Sometimes we associate toil with work,
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  and I think that's fine to do, and I will call
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  toil work. But we're not just talking about our
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  nine to five job here. We're talking, when we
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  talk about toil, everything that we do under
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  the sun, be it our job, be it the raising of
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  our kids, be it our hobbies, whatever it may
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  do, all of the things that we do under the sun.
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  But because of sin, the things that we do under
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  the sun have been cursed. You should see this,
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  that work is not a result of the fall. Cursed
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  work is. Work is not a result of the fall. Cursed
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  work is. We know what happened in the garden.
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  Adonis, they ate the fruit, they weren't supposed
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  to, and God cursed their labor, right? Friends,
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  you may love your work. You may love what you
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  do, but it's not frustration -free work, is it?
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  No, if it is, please let me know how to do it.
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  And so the problem isn't punching the time clock.
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  It's that we serve and we work and we exhaust
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  ourselves to do the best with all that God has
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  given to do. And then Solomon says, but what
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  then? I do all of this and then what's the gain?
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  Look at the second half of verse 18. Seeing that
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  I must leave it to the man who will come after
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  me. Where's the gain in that? Death doesn't care
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  about your resume. Death does not care about
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  your resume. Eventually, unless the Lord comes
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  in our lifetime, we will all die. And the wise
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  person takes that to heart. So I was trying to
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  think about how to illustrate this. How to illustrate
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  this point that Solomon is making where we labor
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  and labor and labor and then it's just left to
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  somebody else. I was thinking about baseball.
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  It's spring outside. Right? Baseball's about
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  to start up. Think of it like this. A manager
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  of a baseball team. The season lasts forever.
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  162 games. What happens if the manager dies right
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  before the playoffs? He's led his team for 162
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  games. And that's just left over some other coach.
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  Someone else who will manage the team. And who
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  knows whether that coach will be a good coach
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  or a bad coach. That's what Solomon is saying
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  here. that all of our days will come to an end.
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  And if we have tried to place our ultimate satisfaction
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  in our work and the here and the now, we will
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  be left very, very disappointed because it ultimately
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  does not satisfy. Solomon knows his reign will
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  come to an end. Look at verses 22 and 23. So
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  I turned about. and gave my heart up to despair
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  over all the toil of my labors under the sun
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  because sometimes a person who is toiled with
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  wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything
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  to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for
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  it. And so all of this striving, all of this
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  working, trying to find satisfaction in our work,
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  what is the result? What does it ultimately give
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  us? It gives us what he says in verse 23. For
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  all his days are full of sorrow and his work
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  is a vexation. He cannot even sleep. Friends,
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  when you lie down your heads at night on the
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  pillow, does your mind race sometimes? Do you
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  have a hard time shutting off your brain? What's
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  the reward for all of the anxiety and the worry
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  that we have? The reward for this is just more
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  worry, right? Jesus speaks on this in Luke chapter
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  12. You may be familiar with this passage, a
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  parable of the rich fool, that there was once
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  a landowner whose land produced crops just plentifully,
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  and he outgrows all of the storage that he has.
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  And so he says, what am I going to do about this?
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  And so he says, I know. I'll build bigger barns
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  and I'll put all my stuff in the bigger barns
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  and I will just enjoy it for the rest of my life.
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  And then what does Jesus say within the parable?
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  God speaks and he says, fool, this night your
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  soul is required of you and the things you have
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  prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who
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  lays up treasure for himself and is not rich
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  towards God. Friends, we must be rich towards
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  God. We must work, but we must understand the
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  limits of our work. We must have the proper perspective
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  of our work. So much toil and so much striving
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  apart from the Lord only brings frustration.
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  It brings restlessness. But what does Jesus say
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  in Matthew chapter 11? Come to me, all who labor
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  and are heavy laden. We labor, but we do so in
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  the Lord, knowing the limits of our labor. But
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  with Jesus, we get what we really need. We get
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  true rest for our souls. Friends, I hope in your
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  labor, in your work, whatever it is God has given
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  you to do, I hope that you are so very successful.
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  And I hope that you do all to the glory of God,
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  but you must keep it in perspective. And that's
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  a tough thing to do in this country. In a country
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  where we've got the American dream, right? The
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  American dream is only a dream if you think that
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  you can have satisfaction apart from God. It
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  will not work. Take it from Solomon, who was
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  so very successful and yet at the end he realizes
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  all of his work, all of his life is punctuated
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  by the same event that punctuates all of our
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  lives, that of death. You remember how as I began,
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  I was talking about how we try and know what's
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  really going on with a person. We try and figure
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  out what's eating at them. The thing that we
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  sometimes do when people try and pry it out of
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  us is we just say, fine, I'm fine. Solomon here,
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  though, is not fine with it. He realizes the
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  problem is death. And he wants to know, how do
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  I live in light of death? Well, friends, I could
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  give you application that says, be wiser. Be
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  more knowledgeable. Don't be ignorant. I could
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  give you application. that says pray for wisdom,
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  read your Bibles, certainly do those things,
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  definitely do those things. And I could tell
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  you for your application to do all of your work
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  to the glory of God, be thankful for your work,
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  serve one another, and do those things. But the
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  real application of a text like this is not what
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  you do, but it's what you believe. I mentioned
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  Romans 6, 23. Let me give you the second half
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  of that verse. The free gift of God is eternal
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  life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Friends, the solution
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  to the problem of death, the vanity of life,
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  is salvation in Christ alone. Jesus went through
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  the death. He went through the hevel to grant
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  eternal life to anyone who would believe in Him
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  as the Savior of the world and of the Son of
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  God. Jesus doesn't take away death completely.
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  No, not yet. But he does take away eternal death.
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  You remember what Paul says, how Jesus removes
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  the sting of death. What Jesus offers is the
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  opposite of Hevel. He destroys Hevel. John Owen,
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  who is a fantastic Puritan writer, has a book.
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  And I'm not going to quote from the book. I'm
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  just going to tell you the title because the
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  title alone sums up what I'm trying to tell you.
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  The title of the book is The Death of Death and
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  the Death of Christ. The point is that Jesus
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  kills death and he destroys the one who has the
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  power over it. And this is communicated, and
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  I'll begin wrapping up now. This is communicated
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  in 2 Timothy chapter 1. verses 8 through 10.
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  Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony
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  about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but
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  share in suffering for the gospel by the power
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  of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling,
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  not because of our works, but because of his
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  own purpose and grace. which he gave us in Christ
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  Jesus before the ages began and which now has
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  manifested through the appearing of our savior,
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  Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought
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  life and immortality to light through the gospel.
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  Jesus comes to do away with death and what he
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  grants to you is eternal life. And so, friend,
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  the application Believe in Jesus. Believe that
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  Jesus was born to save us from our sins. Believe
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  that Jesus went to the cross for you. Believe
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  that Jesus really died, really was buried, really
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  rose, really ascended, and that Jesus really
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  is coming again. Why? To take us to himself and
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  to grant us eternal life with him forever. Let
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  us pray.