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Church dear God for wonderful brothers and sisters we thank you for our pastor and we ask them that you please ask you that you please bless him tonight as he preaches your word in Jesus name we pray amen amen all right we are in Ecclesiastes chapter number two this evening let me give you a bit of a review from last week from chapter or not from last week actually two weeks ago we took a break last week we had a guest preacher pastor Jimenez and so two weeks ago we went through chapter number one and really the summary of chapter one is the summary of the book of Ecclesiastes which is that all is vanity vexation of spirit and when you read that over and over again in the book of Ecclesiastes you can often think to yourself man it sounds so negative you know all this vanity vexation of spirit but really what he's saying is that you know this world that we live in the life that we live the actions that we take the work that we do the labor that we partake of the tasks that we do the ministry that we're a part of you know it's never enough so to speak okay it's always like a bottomless pit and the reality is is that one day you will die and you know there's still be more to do and so there's still more souls to win more sermons to hear more sermons to preach more work to be done and so what he's saying is that when all is vanity means it's just empty it's like a bottomless pit there's never enough if there's never enough to do never enough to see never enough to hear that's what he's stating there in chapter number one and he's basically saying hey do what you can while it is today okay sufficient until the day is the evil thereof and this is the attitude that we should have and it's important because of the fact that sometimes people think well you know I got to make sure that I get as much done I got to be able to accomplish this and achieve this task and that's great when we have goals that we want to achieve but at the end of the day if you feel like you never achieved that goal or never meet that deadline don't worry there's always gonna be another time to do so and even when you feel like you've achieved it it's still never enough okay that's basically what he's saying here now in chapter two we see Solomon is gonna seek out some in you know various indulgences so to speak and to prove what is the end of that matter okay and it's a pretty interesting chapter because he talks about mirth that's the main topic that we see in chapter number two and in fact if I were to title this chapter I would title it the worth of labor and mirth okay the worth of labor and mirth look at verse number one first inform us we're gonna we're gonna see what he pursues okay and says the first number one I said in my heart go to now I will prove thee with mirth therefore enjoy pleasure and behold this also is vanity I said of laughter it is mad and of mirth what do with it I saw in my heart to give myself into wine yet acquainted my heart with wisdom and to lay hold on folly till I might see what was that good for the sons of men which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life so we see here that he's gonna go on a quest for pleasure wisdom and folly you say that's kind of interesting you know why is he gonna I can see they can you know seek out pleasure or wisdom but why folly well the reason for that is because if you think about it these are three categories in which is really a part of our life for the rest of our lives you know we have mirth in our life you know there's parts of our life that have has wisdom and there's parts of our life that have folly and really our lives can be characterized by those three categories to a certain extent but here's the thing is that there's certain people in this world where only one of those categories applies to them okay people that only give themselves to mirth people that only give themselves over to wisdom or people don't only give themselves over to folly okay and so he's gonna investigate these three avenues and really see what is the end of that matter what is the conclusion of an individual gives himself over to pleasure gives himself over to labor gives himself over to folly now let me just clarify here is that when he says he's gonna investigate folly he's gonna search out folly I don't believe he's referring to like he's just gonna blatantly just make mistakes and act a fool and you know be foolish I believe what he's referring to is that he's gonna observe those who are being foolish okay and you see that throughout the book of Proverbs that the way to learn or to gain wisdom is through other people's mistakes right we are we obviously ask God for wisdom the beginning of the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom however you also gain wisdom when you look at the mistakes that other people make right the fool and you see throughout the book of Proverbs the fool being mentioned and it's there in order to instruct us and admonish us on what not to do so I believe that's what he's referring to when he says that he's going to seek out folly seek out wisdom and seek out mirth now what is mirth well mirth is basically amusement pleasure enjoyment you know they would say back in the day gaiety okay it's basically having a good time laughter amusement and enjoyment it's it's associated with abundance and laughter okay and he's telling his heart I'm gonna prove you with mirth now let me just start off by saying that there's nothing wrong with a little mirth okay in fact some people need more mirth in their life okay they need a laugh more and enjoy life a little more okay because you said why is that well sometimes people are just a little too serious about life okay and obviously we need to be sober we need to be grave we need to have sobriety in our lives but you know there's a time to laugh and there's a time to mourn okay there's a time to have mirth in your life and enjoy life enjoy pleasure enjoy these things but there's a time when you don't there's a time when you have to mourn there's a time when you have to weep there's a time when you have to be sad etc the the principle there is that we need to have balance and the problem is sometimes people decide to live in the house of mirth though you know the Bible says it's better to be in the house of mourning than in the house of mirth what is that someone who abides or resides in the house of mirth is just all they want to do is have fun all they want to do is have pleasure all they want to do is have enjoyment and amusement they want to pursue happiness and glee and when things don't go right for them it's like their world is just falling apart you know it's important to have mirth and mirth is important to to to experience but you can't live in the house of mirth you can't live for pleasure mirth is meant to be had but never at the expense of sobriety and mourning and look there are two extremes with this if you think about it you know some people have too much birth right too much fun and all they want to do every weekend is have a party they want to go snowboarding or see doing they always want to have some sort of adventure and an adrenaline and enjoyment and laughter and just they just want to have a great time and they don't want an absence of happiness in their life they don't want an absence of mirth in their life all they want is mirth okay but the Bible tells us that you know he that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man you know any individual that just wants to party and have fun and go clubbing and go to the bars and go do this and that is a poor man he says he that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich if you think about it if you think about it wine and oil they're commodities the luxury items right and so a person who loves wine and oil is willing to spend their silver and gold and the resources to get it if they love that pleasure they're gonna be a poor individual okay and look some people equate happiness with having money right you're like well they just they just can't wait till their paycheck comes they can't wait to make that extra hundred dollars thousand dollars ten thousand dollars whatever it is but you know what the Bible also tells us in Ecclesiastes chapter 5 he says he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver now is having silver wrong no it's having money wrong no it's having an abundance of money wrong no when does it become wrong when you begin to have a love for money and the Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil and he that loveth silver will not be satisfied with silver no matter how much money you get no matter how many you know how much overtime you work or whatever you may do you know thinking that that dollar is gonna make you happy it's not gonna happen he says he that loveth silver should not be satisfied with silver no he that loveth abundance with increase this also is vanity and so you know there's people who just want too much of that and you can't live like that you know we can't live laughing all the time we can't live in abundance all the time because that's just not the reality and look you know you think about for example the commodity of honey in the Bible okay honey is a commodity it's a luxury item in the Bible and the Bible tells us in Proverbs chapter 24 go with me if you would to Proverbs chapter 25 I'm gonna read you from Proverbs 24 verse 13 it says my son eat that honey because it is good and the honeycomb which is sweet to thy taste he's saying look son eat honey why does it taste good that's why well you know I don't think we should have anything sweet I don't think we should do and no eat that honey because it is sweet you know God made honey and he made it to taste sweet because when we put it in our mouths our taste buds rejoice you know when it touches the palate okay and so he's telling you look eat honey it's good and the honeycomb which is sweet to thy taste he's encouraging what mirth he says in Proverbs 25 verse 16 has thou found honey eat so much as it's sufficient for thee look did you get a little bit of an abundance did you get a little stimmy this week did you get a little extra ends this week okay eat so much as sufficient for thee lest thou be filled there with and vomited so he says yeah if you found honey eat a sufficient amount because if you go over and above that if you're the type of person who's given over to mirth where you just love pleasure and love mirth and love abundance you're gonna eat honey it's gonna make you throw up you're gonna eat so much honey do you throw up how many you've ever eaten honey to the point where your stomach stomach actually hurts okay I'll admit you bunch of self-righteous pharisaical liars you know I found honey and I don't remember I don't even know about this you know obviously I found out about through the Bible but I remember you know we would get these honey sticks and eat like two or three of them or something like that it's just like oh man why is my stomach hurting well it's a biblical principle you know it's a biblical principle that you're supposed to eat that which is sufficient lest you become disgusted by the abundance that you have it says in verse 27 it is not good to eat much honey so for men to search out their own glory it is not good in Proverbs 27 verse 7 says the fool so loathed than honeycomb but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet turn with me if you would to 1st Timothy chapter number 6 1st Timothy chapter number 6 so don't be the type of person that constantly has to have an abundance you always have to have luxury items you know an abundance of items and mirth because you're not gonna be satisfied with it in fact you're gonna be a very poor person or a very fat person okay you know diabetes is right around the corner for you right and so he's telling them hey try your heart with mirth and look he says that he was gonna drink wine this isn't referring to and the alcoholic beverage as we would think of wine today he's referring to grape juice okay he's like I'm gonna prove my heart with mirth I'm gonna drink wine but not at the exclusion of having wisdom I'm gonna have it in moderation I'm gonna do what I can to enjoy my life as much as possible and this is a biblical principle folks and let me just say this you know don't be the kind of Christian that can enjoy the Christian life all right you know and look folks it's important that when we're in church that when we're preaching God's Word we're taking it serious we're sober when we're listening to God's Word but folks it's okay to laugh every once in a while okay you know we we have the preaching of God's Word then after service we have fellowship and what do we do we laugh we cut up we have birth okay and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that now here's the problem is that some churches all they want is mirth yeah they want a happy-go-lucky sermon they want cotton candy type content in the preaching and they want cotton candy type fellowship thereafter with no substance whatsoever and all they want is mirth we have that both okay you need to have biblical content where you're getting the meat of the word and then after service have some fellowship and you know you never want to be the type of Christian where it's like well I come to church but I come for the fellowship though because I need fellowship yeah we all need fellowship but you need God's Word being preached at you too okay you need the meat of the word you need the milk of the word you need to have that spiritual diet where you're consuming your meats you're having your main course and then you have dessert later with fellowship where you're fellowshipping and let me just say this is that you know fellowship doesn't it doesn't always surround biblical content oh you know you don't have to talk about the Bible although most of the time I would say we talk about the Bible when we're fellowshipping sometimes let's just talk about random stuff that has nothing to do with church nothing to do with the Bible he said why is that because it's called fellowshipping because you're either gonna do it here or you're gonna do it somewhere else and possibly get in trouble you know the devil's fellowship is found at the club the devil's fellowship is found at the bar the devil's fellowship is found at some secular organization where there's no one saved they're cutting up saying disgusting jokes and things that don't pertain to the things of God or just you know being worldly and carnal you know better to just forsake that and choose God's alternative which is come get some preaching and then get some fellowship afterwards where you can go home with a clear clear conscience and a clean conscience right because you come to church you get your preaching in you laugh a little and don't be afraid to let your hair down a little bit when you come to church and you know don't let it down too much but let it down enough to you know relax a little bit laugh a little get a little mirth in your life okay smile a little bit okay laugh don't be this holier-than-thou individual in the church where no everyone has to walk on eggshells around you because you know they don't want to offend you or you're just you have this holier-than-thou disposition about yourself no be the kind of person who makes friends shows himself friendly right and enjoys a little mirth after service okay I'm gonna go get some mirth after service who's with me okay let's go enjoy life you know enjoy each other enjoy each other's company you know I like the fact and by the way we don't have problems with fellowship in our church at all you know I think sometimes a little too much mirth when it comes to you know when when the fellowship goes to like midnight okay it's like I think we've had enough mirth for the day okay but you know I don't think we have problems with fellowshipping here people I like the fact that when church ends people just don't shoot out the door you know sometimes they do maybe they have work or something like that but for the most part everyone sticks around and and like you know you got a group here and they're like all right man I gotta go good night good night and then it just moves right here for another hour I mean I gotta go and it just moves over here and somehow it ends up in my office and then now I got those couches in there so no one's leaving and then I gotta go and then we come back out to leave and it's just like then it's right here you know and then it goes to the foyer it's just like you know it's mirth okay but you know what I don't have a problem with it you know why because I know a lot of people in our church work in a secular world in a secular realm where there's a lot of you know worldliness and wickedness being taking place you know they have to deal with that throughout the week you know and it's a breath of fresh air to come to church and fellowship with your brother right get a little bit of mirth so some people have too much mirth but some people don't have enough mirth okay some people don't know how to enjoy life and you know what you need to learn how to enjoy life sometimes you know what if you have some luxuries you're not wicked just enjoy them what becomes wicked is when those luxuries begin to take the place of church attendance Bible reading you know when you begin to set your affections on the things of this earth and not on the things above because anybody could agree that when you get luxuries or an abundance who does it come from comes from God every good gift and every perfect gift coming from above from the father of lights and whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning so any good good thing that you have obviously come from God and he gives it to you so you can what enjoy it because you know that's what he does okay but look what it says in first Timothy chapter 6 verse 6 and 17 charge them that are rich in this world a rich person is someone who has an abundance that they be not high-minded nor trust and uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy okay and so we see here that God gives us mirth so we can enjoy and the reality is we only have so much time to enjoy the things of this world because we don't know when we're gonna go and that's what he's saying this is vanity because it's under the Sun the abundance is vanity because it's under the Sun so what should we do enjoy why you can't don't abuse it but use it and enjoy it while you can you know be married be a person of a merry heart and it's it's of my personal opinion that Christians should be the happiest people on earth right because we have salvation we have eternal life and you know if that was all we had then you know that would be enough to make us happy for the rest of our lives but you know that's not all we have we have a local church we have the Word of God we have God blessing us we have so much over and above that he gives us exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think he blesses us beyond what our comprehension that should cause us to be merry okay and you know the Bible says in Proverbs 15 verse 13 a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance now it's Thursday I get it we come from work and it's just you're tired makes total sense okay but hey how about on Sunday you know I have a strong belief that you should prepare for Sunday right and you know prepare for Sunday as in you know prepare mentally prepare your spirit prepare your countenance before you come into church don't come with a long face all mad and upset because your wife's yelling at you and you know your dog died and all these things you know just walk sometimes people come to church and they're just like morning you know they haven't had a cup of coffee yet and and it's just like they're just upset okay I don't want to look at anybody right now you know that person needs a little a merry heart because when you have a merry heart it affects your countenance yeah can't say that it doesn't the Bible tells us here a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken now look if your spirit is broken and going through a hard time obviously you can't you can't fake the funk all the time but sometimes you know maybe you need to meditate on you know encourage yourself in the Lord okay anoint your face and maybe something maybe you're just not going through a hard time maybe you're just a person who's given over to a sad countenance all the time or something you know you just have a long face you didn't get enough sleep too many energy drinks is destroying your adrenaline your adrenal glands you know a little too many monsters that make you a little too depressed make you a little too emotional boosting that estrogen and that's why you come in all long-faced and of a sad countenance folks quit the energy drinks that's what if that's what it's doing to you okay you know stick to coffee you know it's important that when you come to church that recognize you know most people don't want to ask you why has that countenance fallen you know the light of the eyes the Bible says rejoice at the heart you know when when you see someone coming to the church and they just have bright eyes and you're just going around and I mean it rejoices your heart it kind of puts you in a good mood when you see when you run into someone who is energetic they're excited to come to you with a smile that's why it's important that on Sunday morning you know you have a smile on your face and you have a good countenance you have a countenance filled with mirth because visitors are coming I want to come into a church where there's some person is just like he's got he's got he's got his energy drink he's got his monster he's just like how's it going morning you know just if you're barely surviving something needs to change folks where's the mirth and you know what I'm gonna start doing on Sundays when I start seeing that I'm gonna start asking where's the mirth where's the mirth where's the joy where's the happiness where's the merry heart and again I'm not saying no one can have a bad day because I have bad days we all have bad days and sometimes when you have a bad day just what happens you have it on a church day you come and you're just like you're crawling in to church you're just trying to make it here and and you're just you're hanging by a thread sometimes I get that but that shouldn't be every Sunday though okay have a little bit of mirth and look a merry heart do it's good like a medicine that's why I'm constantly laughing at the church I'm laughing I'm going to people that make me laugh I love to laugh I love laughing I love having a merry heart why because it's good for my soul it's good for my spirit it's good for my outlook in life to be able to laugh at things you know laugh at people you know and I'm just kidding a merry heart do is good like a medicine but a broken spirit drieth the bones the Bible tells us Proverbs 15 30 says the light of the eyes rejoice at the heart and a good report make it the bones fat so what is the key the key is this having moderation and mirth okay not only mirth but having moderation as well go with me if you went to Philippians chapter number 4 Philippians chapter number 4 we'll return to Ecclesiastes in just a bit the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 3 verse 4 there's a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance okay you know I think about you know this year in January I thought it was a time of mirth at first all the gods great we're gonna have a great year music training and do all these things and it was just a complete opposite at that point it was just a time of war and I had to put the smile away from me I had to put the joyful countenance away from me because it was a time to fight it was a time to be fierce and go to war right but we don't always live like that okay we're not always in that mode there's a time when we have to you know come down and there's a time when we have to eat drink and be merry yeah for tomorrow we may die but we'll go to heaven why because there's a time to do those things okay there's a time to weep hey the time to weep is not every day and if you're weeping every day then there's something there's an issue there's a heart issue or a dietary issue or something okay there's a time to laugh there's a time to mourn when is it a time to mourn when a loved one passes away okay or maybe when you're just going through a tough time you're going through a tough time and you weep you mourn a little bit but you draw nigh into God and God becomes the joy of your heart joy and rejoicing of your heart okay you know there's a time to mourn a time to dance the time to dance is not in church amen I'm just kidding you know there's a what it says dancing it's just referring to leaping being being joyous being happy okay when we're persecuted as a time to dance amen look at Philippians chapter 4 verse number 4 says rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice let your moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand skip down to verse 12 so he says to rejoice right but then he says in verse 12 I know both how to be a base and I know how to abound everywhere and all things I am instructed to be full and to be hungry both to abounded to suffer need I can do all things to Christ which strengthen it to me he says so he says look we got to rejoice always and let our moderation be known unto all men but at the same time we need to learn how to be a base and how to abound as well okay we need to learn how to suffer need and also how to deal with an abundance of resources all right hey when you have an abundance of resources enjoy it and be liberal with it be generous with the abundance that you have why because you know do you know if you're ever gonna have that again so you might as well use it for something significant what are the significant things you could use it for it to be a blessing to your wife be a blessing to your children be a blessing to a church member okay go back to Ecclesiastes so he says he's giving his heart he's proving his heart with mirth to be happy to be joyful okay but then we all we're gonna see his production so we see his pursuit now we're gonna look at his production the next couple verses will give us a glimpse of Solomon's wealth and prosperity and let me just say this Solomon was stinking rich that guy had an abundance okay an abundance that most people will never see in their entire lives and let me just say this he didn't get it by wicked means how did he get it from God and in fact when God told them to ask of him anything what did he ask for wisdom a wise and understanding heart to know how to lead his people and because he gave such a discreet answer and he gave he asked for something so noble God not only gave him wisdom and understanding and knowledge he gave him also riches and abundance and wealth along with that because that's not where his heart was set and he gave him those things because his heart wasn't given to those things so God basically understood this guy could probably handle riches and wealth because that's not what he's about look at verse 4 I made me great works I builded me houses I planted me vineyards I made me gardens and orchards and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits I made me pools of water to water there with the wood that bringeth forth trees man so I mean he's got gardens orchards he has these these these aqueducts that are feeding the trees and getting them all kinds of fruits it's an abundance right verse 7 I got me servants and maidens and I had servants born in my house also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me he's saying look man I had assistance to help me in my organization in my kingdom which is showing you that he's succeeding right because he's probably has to delegate a lot of responsibility of how big the kingdom is maidens even to the point where they're staying with him and they're bearing children he has great possessions he has livestock I mean think about that I mean livestock because of the sacrifices that he has to make it to the Lord and to feed his servants to feed his family etc and he had more than anybody who was in Jerusalem before him verse 8 I gather me also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of provinces what is he saying he was bling blingin got a lot of ice he was flossing is what he was doing he's like I got silver I got is this a rap song or what I gather me silver and gold peculiar treasures he sounds like a like a rapper just talking about all his all his flossing and his gold and stuff and he says look he says he has silver and gold peculiar treasure of kings so this is these are gifts that kings that are bringing to him from different parts of the world and of the provinces so he's like you know these are his resources here he not only has gold and silver he has rubies and different treasures that are foreign to his own land I mean pretty amazing if you think about it okay you know I get me men singers and women singers and the delights of the sons of men and musical instruments and that of all sorts okay so what is it what does this mean means he just has live music going on all the time if you wanted to and if he wants to listen to a male sing bring in the quartet if he wants to listen to female sing bring in the ladies to come and sing from he says of musical instruments and that of all sorts he's got his own little iTunes going on there better than iTunes right he's got his little iTunes going on he can play music anytime he wants okay live a live band going on all the time he says the first time so I was great yeah that sounds pretty great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem also my wisdom remained with me think about that so he says look I got my orchards my gardens all types of fruit you want mangoes I got it you want strawberries I got it you need silver and gold I got it you know I got women singers and male singers I got all types of instruments I'm great and you know the best part all my wisdom still remained with me so it's like even through all that he still had the wisdom of God he still had God's hand on him and here's like the icing on top the cherry on top verse 10 and whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from them I withheld not my heart from any joy for my heart rejoiced and all my labor and this was my portion of all my labor he goes and just let you know anything my eyes looked upon and wanted I got it for myself what everything anything now let's look a little deeper into that go to 1st Kings chapter 10 1st Kings chapter 10 let's take a little more extensive look at the list of possessions that Solomon had okay and that's pretty extensive there okay look at verse 14 of 1st Kings chapter 10 it says now the way to gold that came to Solomon in one year was 603 score and six talents of gold beside that he had of the merchant men and of the traffic of the spice merchants and of the kings of Arabia and of the governors of the country and King Solomon made 200 targets of beaten gold 600 shekels of gold went to one target and he made 300 shields of beaten gold three pound of gold went to one shield and the king put them in the house of forest of Lebanon moreover look what it says here the king made a great throne of wood no of ivory now where does ivory come from the tusks of an elephant okay I don't know how much how many elephants you got to kill in order to make a throne but I'm sure it's a lot and overlaid it with the best gold so it wasn't enough just to get ivory he overlaid it with gold after that the throne had six steps and the top of the throne was round behind and there were stays on either side of the place of the seed and two lines stood beside the stays and 12 lines stood there on the one side on the other upon the six steps there was not the like made in any Kingdom and all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold not like you know our glasses or anything like little plastic cups no he had gold vessels and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were a pure gold none were of were of silver it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon for the king had at sea a navy of Tharsis with the navy of Hiram once in three years came to the navy of Tharsis bringing gold and silver ivory and look what it says and apes and peacocks so every three years he would have this rotation he's like oh first words you guys are going to the the San Diego Zoo I'm bringing the San Diego Zoo to me yeah and it comes every three years I just bring peacocks and apes now do you think he's eating the peacocks and the apes no it's for his entertainment it's for his what mirth now I don't see God condemning him for that right then God's like hey you're mistreating the apes use them that's what they're for so you can look at them and laugh and then see how funny they are and how funny they behave oh man easy he's mistreating them I'm sure he's giving him food and dude he's a king you see all that stuff he just said he had apes and peacocks and because they're just beautiful to look at yeah I remember I had a I had a bus route and in Wilmington okay and Wilmington was kind of ghetto no it was really good okay but it was so weird because we would go to Wilmington on the bus and obviously you just see peacocks everywhere it's the most random thing ever in the hood we're in the hood and you just see peacocks on the roofs and fences and no one was allowed to touch them or mess with them yeah and it's just like you're going through this neighborhood and you're just peacocks and they're just kind of like they're just all prideful it ain't like what are you doing here you know he had them come to him it says so King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom go back to Ecclesiastes so he had everything that he could ever want he had really anything that anybody would even aspire to have but but here's the thing okay is that his heart wasn't rejoicing necessarily in his wealth but rather in his labor because he says in verse 10 the latter end of verse 10 for my heart rejoiced in all my labor and this was my portion of all my labor he's not rejoicing in the abundance he's more so rejoicing in the fact that he's working for this what does that mean he earned it right he earned what he has he earned the peacocks he earned the apes he earned all the gold and silver and all the jewels and everything that he had he earned these things and he's like I'm rejoicing because when I work this is what I can purchase this is what I can enjoy and what is what is what is he trying to basically say he's trying to say this you know it's okay to have mirth especially if you work for it look at verse 11 now we're gonna look at his perception it says in verse 11 then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought and on the labor that I had labor to do and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit and there was no profit under the Sun so it's like you just got finished you know listing all these great resources that you have and at the end you say it's all vanity it's all vexation of spirit why well think about this the more you accumulate the more maintenance is required right oh it's great to have the zoo come to you until you got to pick up the crap and everything right it's great to have all the orchards and the vineyards until you have to hire people to protect the vineyards from you know rabbits and anything that can destroy the crops and all the maintenance that's required to keep all that thing going it's great to have men servants and maid servants you know but you know what if they have health issues or something like that you have to pay for their health issues oh it's great to have men singers and women singers right until you know you get bored of that same song you like this song sucks I'm tired of hearing this you know and go I need to go get something you know eventually it just gets boring is what he's saying and a lot of these things become grievous and vexation to him because of the fact that it requires maintenance you know the Bible says we're no oxen are the crib is clean but much increased by the strength of the ox oh it's great to have an ox until you have to go clean up after the ox right so it became a vexation to him because the bigger his kingdom got the more maintenance are required to maintain all of those things okay and look having all that silver and gold you know I'm sure there's people maybe there's people in those days picking off from the top or something all kinds of employees you know trying to steal from him or whatever it may be I'm sure it existed in those days the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 511 when goods increase they are increased that eat them and what good is there to the owners thereof saving the beholding of them with their eyes so it's like hey the more you have the more you worry about the things that you have you know you got your uh got your Tesla does anyone have a Tesla in here got your Tesla's like yeah I got my Tesla yeah but you're probably waking up wondering like is anybody messing with my Tesla right why because now that your goods have increased those who eat them have increased as well understand so you can see how this could become a vexation of spirit to him it's like oh yeah this is great you know until you have to realize the bill you have to pay in order to pay for all this thing and continue gotta pay for all the employees all the maintenance all the singers you know why else is it a grief to him or in a a why is it vexation of his spirit because the abundance can cause grief folks having a lot doesn't necessarily make you happier sometimes it could just cause a lot of stress the Bible tells us in Proverbs 15 verse 16 better is little what the fear of the Lord then great treasure and trouble there with oh who's the one that wrote that Solomon and he knows what he's talking about obviously right he's saying look I rather just have a little and have the fear of the Lord than all the treasures and all the trouble that comes with that why was it a vexation of spirit to him because he set the standard so high for the coming generation that's why he says in verse 12 of Ecclesiastes chapter 2 he says and I turned myself to behold wisdom madness and folly for what can the man do that cometh after the king even that which hath been already done he's like who's gonna be better than me after me I've already achieved everything so his sons have you know big shoes to fill so to speak okay and then of course it's a grief to him or it's vexation to him because his end is no different than that of a fool and we would consider Solomon to be the wisest man in the Bible right I mean God gave him a lot of wisdom he's the exact opposite of what we would consider to be a fool in fact we go to Solomon to learn wisdom right but look at verse 13 then I saw that wisdom excel at folly as far as light excel at darkness he's talking about the value of wisdom he's like look I sought out wisdom I got it I got wisdom from God and I realized that wisdom excels folly like light excels darkness the wise man's heart excuse me the wise man's eyes are in his head but the fool walketh in darkness and I myself perceived also that one event happened unto them all then said I in my heart as it happened unto the fool so it happeneth even to me and why was I then more wise then I said in my heart that this also is vanity for there's no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool forever seeing that which now is in the days of to come shall all be forgotten and how diet the wise man as the fool therefore I hated life because the work that is wrought under the Sun is grievous unto me for all his vanity and vexation of spear what is he saying you know he sought out he purposed to seek out wisdom and he got it and he realized there's so much value in wisdom you know exercising biblical wisdom and and and and you know exercising prudence and knowledge and being discreet in matters but then he realized I'm gonna die just like the fool dies so even though the fool doesn't have wisdom he goes to the grave just as the wise man does that's why I said this is this stinks I hate life why is it like this where I I've sought out wisdom and it's almost as if like it doesn't even matter that I had all this wisdom I can't escape death I can't escape the possibility of being forgotten just as the fool can't escape it either we both suffer the same end so in spite of all the effort that he put in all the labor that he wrought his end would be the same as those who didn't put the effort or labor or apply any wisdom okay and which leads us to the next point we're gonna see his pain look at verse number 18 he says yea I hated all my labor which I had taken under the Sun because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me oh man who knows whether he shall be a wise man or a fool yet shall he have rule over all my labor when I have labored and where and I have showed myself wise under the Sun this also has vanity we're saying is like you know the worst part of this is I work so hard to get all this and I'm gonna die and some other idiot is gonna take it he's just gonna ruin it now isn't that exactly what happened to him with Raya Bohm Raya Bohm ended up taking the kingdom and he split it into two just ruin everything that his dad worked for so he he had the wisdom to know that this is this what was gonna happen to him so he's like oh man this is this is grievous to me because you know who's gonna take everything that I worked so hard to obtain you know it could be a wise person but at the same time it could be a complete fool that'll just waste everything and destroy everything that you work for and you know what that's sometimes how life is okay go with me if you would to Luke chapter 12 Luke chapter 12 now what's the application that we can add or that we can apply to ourselves well think about this you work so hard for that business that you have but when you're gone who's gonna take it over you work so hard for your household but who oversee your children when you're gone you know I would say you know what I work pretty hard to build this church and to pastor and to lead it to get it to the point that it's at but who's gonna take over this church when I'm gone this can be a vexing thought if you think about it and you know I've seen this even let's let's talk about in context of churches where a man will work extremely hard to build a church and lead it in the direction that he believes God is leading them to do and getting it to the point where he wants it to be and he works extremely hard something happens someone takes over after him and he just completely destroys that kingdom so to speak destroys the church takes in a different direction and just like all the work that that pastor put into it just down the drain down the toilet it happens yeah you know how about this let me give you let me give you an example Jack Hiles was a pastor of the largest independent fundamental Baptist Church of his time in the in the world really and man it was it was large large Sunday school classes I mean it was running I don't know thousands upon thousands of people yeah I think it was like 10 or 15 thousand people it was something ridiculously large actually I think it was probably more than that and you know he died you knew who took over his son-in-law yeah Jack Scott who was a false prophet and he ran that thing into the ground financially spiritually I mean he just completely Ray of Boem that thing and obviously because he's just a wicked person a sexual pervert deviant wicked reprobate who's doing time in prison right now for his wicked deeds and will one day split hell wide open thankfully but you know the conscious between brother Hiles and Jack Scott two different things and Jack Jack Hiles worked so hard to get first Baptist Church of Hammond to the place where it was and then you have Jack Scott come and just destroy it you know obviously we can exercise wisdom in that area you know I think to myself even when we started this church when it was still faithful word about this church I thought about this and I remember talking to my wife about this thinking you know I need to come up with the plan in case something does happen to me because you know when something happens to a leader often there's a vacuum of leadership and sometimes some of the worst people try to take over like Jack Scott okay and obviously I don't want that to happen to our church so I you know I have a plan set forth so that the church can continue in the direction that I've set the course in and you know it can be vexing to think about like man like put all this work into it lead all these people do these great exploits get all these people saved and then you go home and then just like gets destroyed but you know that is the history of churches period churches come in churches go churches get started they're fiery fundamental churches you know preaching thundering forth the Word of God and then they just die out no that doesn't happen what about the church at Ephesus what about the seven churches which are in Asia you don't hear about those churches anymore because it happens okay what I have you turn Luke chapter 12 so what he's saying is this it's vanity to think you know to to worry so much of what could be what you need to do is enjoy what you have while you can right enjoy what you have while you can and don't be like this guy right here look at Luke chapter 12 verse 15 Jesus speaking says and he said unto them take heed and beware of covetousness for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possess it and he spake a parable into them saying the ground of a rich man brought forth plentifully and he thought within himself saying what shall I do because I have no room or to bestow my fruits and he said this will I do I will pull down barns and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods and I will say to my soul who talks like this by the way soul that was much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be married but God said unto him thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou has provided so is he by the way my old pastor used to say this your wife's next husband verse 21 so is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God what was the mistake of this person well I'm gonna pull down my barns build up greater to bestow all my goods and then he did it and guess what he still didn't even enjoy it right and he had to depart from this world not knowing what was gonna become of all his labor under the Sun don't be this person okay enjoy while you can and I'm not saying be wasteful but you know what you can do is exercise wisdom and invest it into eternal things okay go back to Ecclesiastes lastly we see his portion so what's the answer so this is depressing yeah you're saying someone else is gonna take my stuff when I'm when I'm gone possibly what's the what should I do just don't have a whole lot of stuff I'm just kidding or you know if God's blessed you in a with an abundance of resources whether that's money you know possessions or whatever it may be invest it into eternal things because that's the only way you can make sure that you will see those riches again look at verse 20 therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which I took under the Sun he's like man I can't believe this but there's a man who whose labor is in wisdom and in knowledge and in equity yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave his shall he leave it for his portion he's like man I'm laboring in wisdom and knowledge and equity then this guy comes along doesn't even read the Bible doesn't even care about the things of God it's gonna you know go to him and by the way here's a good motivation you know to invest your things in eternal things and eternal investments so that it doesn't go to waste you know the government might take your stuff okay you know the government's gonna take all your stuff so hey invest it why you can't okay Ron Swanson wisdom there okay he says this also is vanity and a great evil so here we see that the importance of not glorying in our wisdom so go to Jeremiah chapter 9 if you would Jeremiah chapter 9 because here's the thing you know wouldn't you say there's people in this world who have wisdom that are not saved right people in this world who have wisdom and knowledge and prudence and they're not even saved because it doesn't take salvation to get wisdom wisdom could just be obtained through experience through life principles and in fact the Bible even says that the children of this generation are much wiser than the children of light sometimes so wisdom is not something that you should glory in look what the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 23 and again we're speaking of someone Solomon who had a lot of wisdom he says in verse 23 thus saith the Lord let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might let not the rich man glory in his riches well that's interesting it looks like Solomon had all these verse 24 but let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me and that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness judgment and righteousness in the earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord so here's the thing Solomon is saying it's vanity if all you use your wisdom for is the things of this world but if you understand and know God then you understand and know how to use that wisdom for eternal purposes there's a lot of wise people out there a lot of people who have wisdom and prudence and knowledge are not even saved but you know what our little ounce of wisdom of godly wisdom that we use with understanding and knowledge of God is worth way more than what that person has because we know what to invest in in order to receive eternal dividends we know what we have to do with the wisdom that we have or should I say the resources that we have in order to see a great payback so don't let the wise man glory in his wisdom nor the mighty man in his might nor the the rich man in his riches the person who should glory is the person who should glory in the Lord because we understand and know what he's asking us or commanding us to do our resources go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and here's the conclusion of the chapter the matter here enjoy the blessing of God while you still have it okay look at verse 22 for what hath man of all his labor and of the vexation of his heart where and he hath labored under the Sun for all his days are sorrows and his travail grief yay his heart taketh not rest in the night this also was vanity there is nothing better for a man and that he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor this also I saw that it was from the hand of God what does that mean God's telling you hey enjoy what I gave you don't be a stingy person don't be you know enjoy it by enjoying yourself and enjoy it by giving it to others don't be some stingy just covetous person tearing down your barns and building up greater understand there's nothing better for you then you should eat and drink and enjoy what your labor has provided because God is actually the ultimately the one who's provided it for you he says in verse 25 for who can eat or who else can hasten here unto more than I he's like look I can talk who's gonna attain to what I got I'm telling you cuz I got a bunch of stuff I got peacocks for God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledge and joy so you know if you have these things what does it tell what do we know about you that you're good in this height because God gives to those people who are good in his sight wisdom knowledge and joy but to the sinner he giveth travail when he says sinner he's referring to just unsafe people to gather up and to heap up that he may give to him that it's good before God this also is vanity and vexation of spirit I love this okay what is he saying here he says before you get down to the dumps about everything I just said just know this there's a sinner who travails who's laying up his treasure for you and this also is vanity and vexation of spirit for you know for that guy cuz he's like travailing he's gathering he's heaping up and you know what God says let me go ahead and just take that from you that's mine that was yours he takes it and he gives it to who he's like let me just give it to this person this is believer here because I know this person is gonna use it for something good and at that point you're not the one in vexation of spirit who is the sinner he lays up the wealth of the unjust for the righteous the Bible tells me so he said before you have a bad attitude about oh man all this so many so much bad news it's actually worse news for the sinner who's not even saved who's travailing and gathering up all these resources for you because God has no problem taking it from him and giving it to you but the point of the chapter is simply this get a little mirth in your life if you have mirth enjoy it while you can hey go laugh and play with your kids go enjoy you know there's nothing wrong with having like a family day where you go with your family and you just act silly with your kids you know you're playing your run with your kids you go chase each other's shadow be silly be be have folly with your kids hey have a little folly with your wife laugh with your wife tickle your wife dance with your wife oh man that's embarrassing yeah but you know what there's gonna come a time when you can't do those things right so I have a little mirth with your wife have a little mirth with your children hey have a little mirth with your pastor have a little mirth with each other have a little mirth with me why because maybe I'm not always gonna be here so laugh at my jokes every once in a while cuz I'm not always gonna be able to tell them amen inspire heads and I work for a father we thank you so much for your word thankful for the book of Ecclesiastes thank you for mirth I'm thankful that you laugh Lord you've said who even within your word that you laugh you have mirth and you want us to enjoy life and not live this ascetic life where everything just has to be serious and grave and there's no laughter Lord we can have the joy of the Lord in our lives we can have a merry heart because we're saved and even if we have a little we can still enjoy that which we do have and Lord I pray God that you'd help us in this area and Lord if you if you give us if you bless us what the abundance with which I believe every single one of us here has an abundance we as a church have an abundance help us to enjoy it by imparting it to others giving it to others and I pray God that that you continue to help us Lord and give us wisdom as we live this life under the Sun in Jesus name we pray amen