Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / The Vanity of Self Indulgence (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11)- Rev. Kenny C. Maple

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The Vanity of Self Indulgence (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11)- Rev. Kenny C. Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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Let us take our Bibles now and open up to the
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Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes
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chapter 2. Today we'll look at verses 1 through
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11. Just a word of introduction while you're
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finding that. We started Ecclesiastes just a
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few weeks ago and Just to be reminded of some
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important things in Ecclesiastes, the beginning
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of the book says the words of the preacher. ESV
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uses preacher. Your translation may use a different
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word. It may use teacher. This is all coming
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from the Hebrew word kohelet. And so I may call
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him kohelet. I may say preacher. I may say teacher.
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I may call him Solomon, because that's who we
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believe wrote this book. But also, as verse two
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says, the vanity of vanities. Remember that we
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talked about the Old Testament, the Hebrew word,
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hevel. And so quite literally what that means
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is breath, or vapor, or mist. And it's translated
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a number of different ways, but what we've said
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is that all of life is fleeting and the things
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of this world are fleeting. So please keep those
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things in mind. As we read from chapter two,
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verses one through 11, please give attention
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to the reading of God's holy word. I said in
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my heart, come now, I will test you with pleasure,
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enjoy yourself. But behold, this also was vanity.
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And I said of laughter, it is mad. And of pleasure,
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what use is it? I searched with my heart how
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to cheer my body with wine. my heart still guiding
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me with wisdom and how to lay hold on folly till
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I might see what was good for the children of
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man to do under heaven during the few days of
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their life. I made great works. I built houses
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and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself
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gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds
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of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which
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to water the forest of growing trees. I bought
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male and female slaves and had slaves who were
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born in my house. I had also great possessions
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of herds and flocks, more than any who had been
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before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself
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silver and gold and the treasure of kings and
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provinces. I got singers, both men and women,
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and many concubines the delight of the sons of
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man. So I became great. surpassed all who were
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before me in Jerusalem also my wisdom remained
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with me and whatever my eyes desired I did not
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keep from them I kept my heart from no pleasure
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for my heart found pleasure in all my toil and
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this was my reward for all my toil then I considered
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all that my hands had done in the toil I had
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expended in doing it and behold all was vanity
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and a striving after wind, and there was nothing
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to be gained under the sun. Grass withers and
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the flower fades, but God's word stands forever.
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Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for
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this word. Even if it is perhaps perplexing to
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us, even if it's difficult for us to read, we
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ask that you, by your spirit, would grant us
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understanding and the application of this text.
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These things we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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Working our way through chapter one of this book,
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we noticed how often that Solomon seems to mention
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things related to creation. He talks about the
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sun coming up and the sun going down. He talks
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about the wind swirling around. He talks about
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the streams flowing to the sea, but saying that
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the sea is never full. He continues to talk about
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creation in chapter two. as you see some of the
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things that he was striving to do. He was making
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these vineyards and these gardens and these parks
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and these trees and these pools. All of it sounds
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just glorious, doesn't it? I would like to see
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this. Many have looked at this passage along
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with chapter one and said what Solomon is really
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doing is preparing a place of paradise. It's
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almost like a return to Eden. And certainly,
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if we could go back to pre -fall Eden, it would
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alleviate all the miseries of this life, all
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of the frustrations that we encounter in this
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life. What if the fall had never happened? Can't
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we just go back to that? The wise man and the
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wise woman knows you can't go backwards. And
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the more that you learn, the more that you know,
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the more vexation you have, for you remember
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how chapter one ends, for in much wisdom is much
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vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases
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sorrow. And so we need to be mindful of that.
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We need to understand that life is fleeting,
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isn't it? And yet, as Solomon recognizes this
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in his pursuit of meaning by wisdom, what does
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he really understand? That even the pursuit of
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meaning by wisdom can't deliver on all of its
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promises, can it? Wisdom cannot fix every problem
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in this life. Only the one who embodies wisdom,
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Christ Jesus, can fix all of the mess that we're
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in. And so, underlying this chapter, I believe
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is something that should remind us of Genesis
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chapter three. We should be reminded of sin.
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We should be reminded of the fall, right? Do
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you remember what stood in the middle of the
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garden? There was a tree there of the knowledge
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of good and evil. What was it about that tree
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that made it off limits for Adam and Eve? Was
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it just... forbidden fruit? No, certainly. God
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gave this command. You're not to eat of that.
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And they should have obeyed, right? But let's
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also ask this question. What was enticing about
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that tree? What was enticing about the fruit
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that grew upon it? You remember the serpent talking
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with Eve in the garden, and he has her questioning
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what God said. the serpent attempts to correct
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God and he says you will not surely die But what
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what will happen if you eat of that tree? Perhaps
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you remember Genesis 3 verse 6. Let me read this
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so when the woman saw that the tree was good
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for food and that it was a delight to the eyes
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and that the tree was to be desired to make one
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wise she took of its fruit and ate and she also
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gave some to her husband who was with her and
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he ate to make one wise. It was called the tree
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of the knowledge of good and evil for a reason
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because the fruit gave insight to Adam and Eve
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that they were not supposed to have. And so we
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should understand the limits of wisdom. Benjamin
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Shaw, who is a very fine professor, says, the
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supposition of the temptation is that wisdom
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will make life happy. But Solomon finds otherwise.
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His first conclusion is that this life is an
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unhappy burden. Why? Because there are simply
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some things that wisdom cannot fix. And when
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we understand that, then we are truly wise. But
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Solomon, seeing that, seeing that wisdom isn't
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delivering on all of its promises, he tries something
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else. And so look at verse one. He attempts to
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self -indulge. He attempts to find meaning in
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pleasure. I said in my heart, come now. I will
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test you with pleasure. Enjoy yourself. But he
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already tells us even this will not work because
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he calls it what? Vanity. And he says it's a
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striving after wind. We said last time that it's
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like a shepherding of the wind, a harnessing
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of the wind. It cannot be done. And so he's talking
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to himself. Notice all of the first person singular
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pronouns that are in this text. I said in my
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heart, I will test you. I said of laughter. I
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searched with my heart. I made myself all of
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these things. There is this focus from Solomon
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now upon himself. It's almost like Solomon gets
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a taste of these things. And he says, I'm going
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to give myself fully to them. Have you ever done
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that? And I'm not talking about bad things. I'm
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talking about good things. Have you ever just
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gotten a taste of something and you said, wow,
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I love this, and then you just pursued it with
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everything you've got? A few years ago, Brittany
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and I went up to Fairbanks, Alaska in January.
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That's right, it was her idea. It's very cold.
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We wanted to see the Northern Lights, and I knew
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I wanted to see these things, the Aurora Borealis,
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but once I got a glimpse of them, it was on.
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And I thought, I got to see these again and again.
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So we were setting alarms, getting up at the
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middle of the night. I had all these apps on
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my phone telling me when the aurora was coming
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out. We found ourselves on the top of a mountain
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at like 1 AM, negative 30 degrees. And we're
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looking for these things and just absolutely
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loving it. Sometimes when you just get a taste
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of something, you got to have more. And so this
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is Solomon. Giving himself completely to these
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things and it's not really these things are all
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necessary necessarily wrong It's just that he
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is he is finding satisfaction in them when his
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true satisfaction needs to be in God Look at
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verse 2 to see what he tries first. I said of
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laughter it is mad It's almost like Solomon here
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is saying if I could just have a laugh track
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in the background of life, everything would be
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great. Like, let's make light of things. And
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maybe the meaning is found in that. But he's
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going to tell us in chapter three, there is a
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time for laughter. Laughter is good. It's good
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medicine, so they say. There's a time for laughter,
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but there's also a time not to laugh. And so
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ultimately, meaning is not found in laughter.
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What's next? Look in verse three. I searched
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with my heart how to cheer my body with wine.
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And so up next is alcohol. Now I don't believe
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necessarily that this is talking about the abuse
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of alcohol. He may be talking about that. And
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we know from Solomon that the abuse of alcohol
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is wrong. He says in Proverbs chapter 20 verse
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1, wine is a mocker, strong drink a browler.
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and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
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So we know what he thinks about being intoxicated,
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but it's not necessarily that he's talking about
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that. Philip Riken says, maybe he was not an
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alcoholic after all, but a connoisseur. Solomon,
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who we'll talk about here shortly, had all of
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the money in the world. He could afford the fine
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wine. He could drink the king of beers if he
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wanted to. The emphasis, though, is on the result.
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It just doesn't fully satisfy. And so here's
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why I want to make application. The problem within
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this text is not the gifts that God gives. It's
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what do we do with these gifts? Solomon, at the
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end of chapter two, is going to talk about the
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gift of eating and drinking and being merry.
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And these things are good. They're gifts from
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God for us. But when we place our ultimate meaning
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in those things, They're all going to come up
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short. Look what else he looks at. Verses 4 through
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7, all of his building projects. This is further
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evidence that the author of this is Solomon,
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because we know in places like 1 Kings 7, 1 Kings
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10, 2 Kings 18 and 20, that he built all kinds
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of things. Again, it's almost like Solomon is
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recreating paradise. And what would you really
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need to recreate paradise? You would need a massive
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workforce. So Solomon talks here about these
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slaves, the servants who were born in his home.
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He has just this massive workforce that is tending
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to him hand and foot in building all of these
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things. You see, Solomon was not just the wisest
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man. Solomon was the richest man. And as Solomon,
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I believe, is at the end of his life, and he's
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looking back on all of it, and he's remembering
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the gold. He's remembering the food. He's remembering
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the music. Solomon's remembering how he tried
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out the good life. Look in verse eight. Towards
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the end, he mentions concubines here, the delight
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of the sons of man. This is an especially tricky
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verse because this is not the normal word for
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concubines. And so that's why if you're using
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a King James here, you're going to see. is talking
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about musical instruments. If you happen to be
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a Greek scholar and you're looking at a Septuagint,
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you're going to see something about cup bearers
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here. And so what gives, why are all these translations
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different? It's again, because this is the only
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place where this word is found in the Hebrew
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Old Testament. But we also know that Solomon
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did have a problem. How many wives and how many
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concubines did he have? He had hundreds, right?
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So even he knows this and he would tell you this
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ultimate ultimate satisfaction is not found in
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sex Sex is a gift from God is to be enjoyed within
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the bounds of marriage But even that does not
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give you ultimate lasting satisfaction Look at
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verse 9 All of these things he says and then
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so I became great and surpassed all who were
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before me in Jerusalem All right, so essentially
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Solomon had whatever he wanted, but was it enough
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for him? Excuse me. Were the servants and the
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money, sorry, week three of the cold, the servants
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and the money and the music and the women, was
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it enough for him? No, it wasn't. And yet sometimes
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people say things like, the person who dies with
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the most toys wins. Is that true? Of course not.
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Of course not. And so as he looks on all of these
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things, he tells you what he now thinks of them.
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It's all vanity. It's all fleeting. It all comes
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and goes like the wind. Now for us today, we
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might not describe ourselves like Solomon, right?
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We don't have access to all that he had. So we
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probably don't talk about it all in this way.
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But think about it for a second. What is it that's
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out there that you just wish you had? Fill in
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the blank, if I only had this, I would be happier.
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I think when we really search our hearts, there
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might be things. And again, the gifts aren't
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the problem. It's what do we do with the gifts?
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How do we think about the gifts? And are we content
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with what God gives to us? There is a slogan
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that says, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow
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we die. Have you heard that before? Eat, drink
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and be merry for tomorrow we die. Daniel Gibson
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says, people abide by that motto because they
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believe that this is all that life is. For the
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wise person. We don't believe that this is all
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that there is. And the things that we do have,
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we thank God for them. There's an illustration
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that is used by, it seems, just about everybody
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who preaches these days from Ecclesiastes, chapter
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two. And I'm gonna use it as well. It's by a
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football player who is mildly successful. You
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may have heard of him. His name was Tom Brady.
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After he won his third Super Bowl, He was interviewed
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by 60 minutes, and he said this, there's time
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where I'm not the person that I want to be. Why
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do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think
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there's something greater out there for me? I
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mean, maybe a lot of people would say, hey man,
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this is what it is. I reached my goal, my dream,
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my life. But me, I think there's got to be more
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than this. I mean, this can't be all it's cracked
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up to be. I mean, I've done it. I'm 27. And what
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else is there for me? And then the interviewer
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said to Tom Brady, well, what's the answer? And
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Brady said, I wish I knew. I wish I knew. Friends,
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the things of this life are fleeting. They are
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heathal. And fleeting does not equal meeting.
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It comes in a go as Brady is not still winning
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Super Bowls, and Solomon is not still building
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pools and projects and all of these things. No.
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We need to seek that which endures forever. Life
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is brief, but we have been given the answer to
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life. Our choir already sang these words. Seek
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first the kingdom of God. and all these things
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will be added unto you. Why should we seek first
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the kingdom of God? Well, anything else is idolatry.
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Anything else elevating any of the gifts of God,
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anything of this life above God is breaking the
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first command. It is idolatry. And secondly,
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Solomon tells you it just doesn't work. If you
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haven't experienced what Solomon did, you will.
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You will. You will recognize the things of this
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life are fleeting. But the kingdom of God and
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the righteousness of Christ endures forever.
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But you might say, well, how can I have the kingdom
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of God? How can I have the righteousness of Christ?
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Well, perhaps you remember 2 Corinthians chapter
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5, verse 21. This is. the kind of text that you
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need to hide in your heart. For it says, for
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our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin
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so that in him we might become the righteousness
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of God. You see, friends, the opposite of self
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-indulgence is what Christ did for us. The opposite
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of self -indulgence is the humility of Jesus.
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He did not indulge himself. He gave himself up
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for us. He took our sin upon him. Perhaps you
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remember these words from Philippians 2. I'll
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read 5 through 11. Have this mind among yourselves,
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which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he
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was in the form of God, did not count equality
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with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied
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himself by taking the form of a servant, being
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born in the likeness of men. being found in human
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form he humbled himself by becoming obedient
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to the point of death even death on a cross therefore
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God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him
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the name that is above every name so that at
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the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven
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and on earth and under the earth and every tongue
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confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
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of God the Father. Friends, do you know what
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you have in Christ? You have everything. The
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pleasures given by God are good things, but they
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don't compare to what awaits you. And so Christian
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keeps seeking the kingdom of God, knowing that
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in God's presence is the fullness of joy. Let
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us pray.