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You You All right brethren find your seats grab your hymnals we're about to begin Find your seats and grab your hymnals great to see everyone here this morning. I Hope you're ready to sing some praises to the Lord lift up your voices lift up your hearts your mouths and If you can please take your hymnals and turn to him number 143 143 please 1 4 3 will begin by singing blessed assurance 1 4 3 and if you can please stand please do 1 4 3 blessed assurance 1 4 3 blessed assurance Oh Oh Oh Is that Oh Oh Excellent singing let's go to a word of prayer having file Lord We do Come before you this Sunday Lord to praise you to worship you Lord to give you thanks for this week that you've given us And Lord we need your help for this coming week as well So Lord I just pray you'd be with us Use this opportunity that we're in church Lord to teach us great things from your truth from your word Well that we could go out this week Lord and just serve you faithfully all the days of our life and God I just pray that your Holy Spirit will touch our hearts touch our minds and Help us Lord to give you the worship and praise that you deserve. We pray all things in Jesus name. Amen You may be seated Okay our next hymn is hymn number 216 216 2 1 6 And we'll sing surely goodness and mercy surely goodness and mercy 2 1 6 Oh On the second Oh Oh Oh Me Oh And the scene sounds awesome one more him before the Bible reading let's go to 363 363 And I've got the wrong him bear with me brethren Bear With me Him number Three two three three hundred and twenty three 323 more about Jesus three two three I Think I have to explain this one a little bit So as we sing the stanzas you get to the last one where he goes more more about Jesus more more about Jesus Now notice when it says DS Alfini Alright, then we have to go back to the middle stanza Alright, and then we we end with that one more of his saving full messy more of his love who died for me But every stanza is going to be different so if you're up to the fourth one Then you're gonna be singing more of his kingdom sure increase more of his coming Prince of Peace Does that make sense I? Think you'll follow along just fine. You'll be just fine alright 323 more about Jesus three two three Oh Oh Oh All right, let me try again brother We'll get better at this we'll get better at it. I know we haven't sung it that often all right Let's try again. You can you know the tune a little bit better now. Okay, so let's start all over again Three two three all right more about Jesus Oh Oh More about Jesus let me learn more of his Spirit of God my teacher me Showing the things of Christ Jesus Jesus My teacher me showing the things of Christ Or about Jesus His word Make it I About Jesus on his throne Riches in glory all his own Kingdom sure increase more of his coming Prince Oh We got it great singing, please take your bibles now and turn to Ecclesiastes, please the book of Ecclesiastes and chapter number two Ecclesiastes chapter number two and Brother Hayden will be reading it for us Be good to go I Said in my heart go to now I'll 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 it in my heart to give myself unto wine yet Acquainting 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 Maybe great works. I builded me houses. I planted me vineyards I made me guns and orchards and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits I Made me pools of water to water there with the wood that bringeth forth trees I got me servants and maidens and had servants born in my house Also, I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me. I Gathered me also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces I get men singers and woman singers and the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments and that of all sorts So I was bright and increased more than all they were before me in Jerusalem Also, my wisdom remained with me remained with me and whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them withheld not my heart from any joy My heart rejoiced in all my labor and this was my portion of all my labor then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought and on the labor that I had labored to do and behold all was Vanity and vexation of spirit and there was no profit under the Sun And I turned myself to behold wisdom and madness and folly for what can men do that cometh after the king Even that which hath been done already Other than that which hath been done already done Then I saw that wisdom excel a folly as far as light exceedeth excel of the darkness The wise men's eyes are in his head, but the full walketh in darkness and I will and I myself perceived Also that one event happened to them all Then I said then said I in my heart as it happeneth to the full 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 is no remembrance of the wise more than of the full forever Seeing that which now is in the days to come shall 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 is vanity and vexation of spirit Yeah, 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 and who knoweth whether he Shall be a wise man or a fool Yes, shall you have rule over all my labor Wherein I have labored and wherein I have showed myself wise under the Sun. This is also vanity Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which I took unto the Sun So there is a man whose labor is in wisdom and in knowledge and in equity Yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion This also is vanity and a great evil For what hath man of all his labor and of the vexation of his heart wherein he hath labored under the Sun For all his days are sorrows and his travail grief. Yeah, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also 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 was from the hand of God But who can eat or who else can hasten here unto more than I? For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he giveth travail Together and to heap up that he may give to him that is good for God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit Let's pray Heavenly Father Lord. Thanks so much that we can meet here all again today Lord Thank you so much that we have a preacher to preach for us. Thanks so much for the book of Ecclesiastes Lord It's um, it's a really great book Lord and I'm sorry that we should all review But um, please help us all to learn something in Jesus name. Amen. Amen Thank you brother So good to have brother Cameron back It's been a while brother it's a good to have you in church and I was under the impression that pastor Stevenson and Was going to be here this morning, but maybe he's had a change of plans and that's okay as well But we are up to Ecclesiastes chapter 2 we are going chapter by chapter through this book And if we just look at verse number 17 in Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse number 17 King Solomon says therefore I Hated life. So the title of the sermon this morning Brevin is I hated life I mean what point do you have to get to to be able to say these words? I just hate life I mean, you know, I'm living I wake up in the morning. I just hate you know, every morning I wake I just hate the fact that I have to live today You know, what could possibly drive a man to say such words now as I you know As I said and I think I might have to say this on a regular basis But as I said in the chapter number one last week, you know We need to remember the book of Ecclesiastes is a journey the journey of King Solomon And so as he's going for this journey and it begins this journey without the Lord Okay, he's backslidden. He's trying to find meaning and purpose in life without the Lord God and it comes to that realization that You know at the end of the book of Ecclesiastes He realizes know that God was the most important thing that serving God is what gave him purpose And so he's on this journey and needs to remember that what he says is true Okay, but for that particular time of his journey and for example, you know I have children right and I tell my children. Hey enjoy being a child I have no problem my children playing games and and having fun and having a laugh You know, there's a time to be a child isn't there but I'm not going to tell my 40 year old child Okay, who's married with a whole bunch of kids? I just play games and just play video games for the rest of your life who cares about your wife and kids Obviously there's a time to grow there's a time to develop Alright, and so something that is true to one point in time may not be true later in your journey All right, and I've used the example before I don't want my little kids in the kitchen They might pull out a knife. They may burn themselves on the stove They're not allowed to be in the kitchen In fact, that's a rule that they can't touch the stove or they you know They can't make you know, they can't boil water because little kids say they couldn't hurt themselves or hurt other people But you know by the time my kids are teenagers, I'm there. Hey, can you make me bacon and eggs? Can you can you can you make me a cup of coffee? Okay, it's not that you know one was wrong and one was right It's just that late some time in their journey that has changed Okay And so this is what you need to remember as King Solomon is trying to find meaning and purpose about God the things that he Says are true, but as he gets through the journey, he realizes actually it's not quite true You know as he gets through that for that journey So you need to understand the context the journey that King Solomon is going through and again, you know, Klesias is a book That's best understood from start to finish. All right, so let's start there in verse number one Okay, it's a continuation of chapter number one We're trying to find meaning and purpose is doing a whole bunch of things in his life And he finds that when he does things without the Lord God in mind, it's all meaningless. It's all worthless Okay, so let's start there in verse number one. He says I said in mine heart go to now I will prove thee with mirth now that word mirth is The same kind of like what we use like amusements fun fun and games laughter. Okay, he goes, you know what? I'm gonna just enjoy life. I'm gonna find all the joys. I'm gonna laugh it up. I'm gonna go party in I'm gonna I'm gonna go to you know, Aussie world I'm gonna go down to the Gold Coast and and I'm going to experience all the great things all the fun that we can have In life, maybe that's the meaning of life just to have fun and enjoy and and be amused for the rest of my life Maybe that's the meaning he goes therefore enjoy pleasure and then he goes and behold this also is vanity All right, it's also his vanity he says I said of laughter he's just joking around having fun You know getting the comedians in to make their jokes and and laugh because I said of laughter it is mad and of mirth What doeth it? So there's a period of life. He's just having the fun. He's laughing it up having joy, right? And then like and that, you know, most people are seeking that aren't they, you know when it comes to life You know you work hard and then when it comes to the holidays You just want to go and enjoy yourself and have a good time Is there anything wrong with those things in of themselves? Of course not there are many things that King Solomon goes through that are not wrong in of themselves But if you're trying to find meaning in life in just those things brethren what doeth it? What's the point of it all? Okay, that's what he's saying. Right? What's the point of it all again? He's trying to find meaning and purpose without the Lord God Then we get to verse verse number three now He says to himself I saw it in my heart to give myself unto wine So it goes, you know what maybe drinking alcohol is the answer, you know, he looks at other people at the pub He looks at people drinking up the alcohol and the wine and the beer and you know getting drunk and off the face He goes it looks like these guys are having fun. Looks like these guys are enjoying life. So let's try wine Let's try that. Let's try the alcohol. He goes yet a quite a quaint in 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 heaven all the days of their life. So it looks at other men All right other sons of men. He sees them all drink drinking alcohol and he goes, you know, I'm going to apply wisdom and folly here I'm gonna see if drinking alcohol gives me satisfaction gives me answer get answers to life Do I enjoy drinking alcohol or is it foolish? That's what he wants to work out. Is it wise is it foolish? Let's work out as he drinks the alcohol Okay, and so he goes well this lifestyle seems to be good for some You know, I see people working and and at the end on a Friday after they worked hard on a Friday They go to the pub and drink it up with their friends and they're laughing. They're carrying on They seem like they're having a great time. Maybe that's the meaning of life Okay, and I want to talk to the children here. All right the children. Praise God. You've got a good church Praise God, there's a lot of young people in our church and you know One thing that you want to avoid in your life for children is the alcohol Okay, and again, you might look at people going out there and you're becoming your teenagers. They're becoming adults You're going to see people of your age group drinking it up And if you've got certain friends that are non-believers, they may even encourage you. Hey, just come and have a drink, you know Hey, you know, this is going to give you joy It's going to kill some brain cells and you'll be able to let down your hair and have fun And you might think that you may be pressured you may be tempted to think that way Okay. Now again, why is the book of Ecclesiastes here? It's to say hey if this is the meaning of life, this is going to give me joy Let's see what King Solomon went through. He did the same thing You know, do I need to learn from bad experiences or can I just learn from King Solomon? And so brethren, children, you know, and look, you know I have no doubt that some of your parents tried this as well They tried the substances not just alcohol But maybe other types of drugs the marijuana's and the cocaine's are out there children These things are dangerous for you and it's not going to give you purpose. It's not going to give you meaning. All right Look, he doesn't he tried King King Solomon's trying at all Whatever there is whatever it may look like according to the sons of men that gives satisfaction and joy. He's trying at all What else does he try? Verse number four. He says I've made me great works. I've builded me houses. I planted me vineyards He goes, oh, you know what? I'm gonna be a home. I'm gonna invest in property. Okay in houses I'm gonna invest in vineyards in land. All right Construction properties investments because maybe this is the meaning of life Trying to acquire as much property and land as I possibly can so he tries that as well And again, this is something a lot of Australians are trying to do they think if I just have the house If I just have the properties, it's going to give me what I want in life What else does he try verse number five? He says I made me gardens and orchids and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits So he tries gardening because there's some people that enjoy gardening and planting trees. There's all kind of fruit trees. Let's try that Let's see if that gives me meaning and purpose All right again out some of these things wrong in on themselves Wanted to purchase a house wanted to have some investment wanting to get into gardening. There's nothing wrong with these things in of themselves Okay Obviously, we've got to take the whole Bible into account here and just that reminder He's trying to find meaning in these things without the Lord God verse number six. I made me pools of water So he's got the swimming pool That's not really a swimming pool because the purpose of this pool is to water there with the wood that bringeth forth trees So he says, you know instead of going out of my out of my you know Getting out of the city to fetch water at a world. We'll just create some pools So, you know, there's always water on the land so it's easier to access and to plant the trees And so, you know, obviously his garden would have looked very lush There was always water even if there's a time of a lack of rain He had his reserves of water to make sure that his garden and his trees look as beautiful as they can You know, he tries that as well. What else does he try verse number seven? He goes I got me servants and maidens and had servants born in my house Also, I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me So why would you need servants and maidens? Obviously, they're going to work for you, right? You're sending them to labor to serve you, you know You're profiteering from their hands and also the cattle, you know They're going out there and they're plowing the ground and they're bringing forth You know, meats and milk and whatever it is that they were enjoying with the cattle Basically, Solomon says maybe being an employer, maybe owning a business And having employees under me and being able to be productive Maybe that's the point of life Maybe that's going to give me meaning and purpose To start my own business and having my own employees under me Obviously, as a king, he already had these things in the service for the kingdom But he's trying something different Maybe just being productive with my servants and my cattle, that's going to give me joy You know, being an employer, instead of being an employee, being an employer, starting my own business That's going to give me purpose and meaning in life, surely So you can see he's trying so many different things Again, is there anything wrong with starting your own business? Of course not Okay, there's so many things, he's just trying everything that he possibly can try That he can find under the sun Verse number 8 He goes I gathered me also silver and gold Maybe just trying to get as much wealth as I can for myself Alright And the peculiar treasure of kings and of provinces So he looks at other kingdoms, he looks at other kings He says what do these other kings have? I want that as well You know, other provinces, I want that for me You know, he just looks at other people I want everything that everyone has He goes I get me men singers and women singers So, you know, he's got obviously this is a different time But, you know, he gets the celebrities I suppose, the singers He goes they'll entertain me, they can sing We'll have music in the palace and, you know, we can sing and dance This kind of music, maybe that's the meaning Filling my mind with all the songs, you know, that come He goes and the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments And that of all sorts Now what I want you to do is keep your finger there And please go to 1 Kings chapter 10 1 Kings chapter 10 And good to have Pastor Stevenson here as well Welcome brother, I was expecting you But 1 Kings chapter 10 please and verse number 21 I just want to show you some other things Like within the context of what he's saying Because remember he's looking for peculiar treasures of kings And of provinces So I just want to give you some further detail as to what he tried to find satisfaction in Here in 1 Kings chapter 10 verse number 21 1 Kings chapter 10 verse number 21 Remember he saw it with silver and the gold It says here in 1 Kings chapter 10 verse 21 And all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold So anything he drank from had to be gold If someone came with even a silver cup Or a plastic cup, here you go King Solomon He goes no, it's got to be of gold I mean this guy is very wealthy He says and all the vessels We probably couldn't even own Like even with the wealth that you've got You probably couldn't even own a single cup of gold That he could drink from He's got several of these things And he goes and all the vessels Of the house of the forest of Lebanon Were of pure gold So we knew that he was building houses Well he had some I guess some country house Out there in the forest of Lebanon Because even in my country house All the vessels are of gold Even in the house that he barely frequents Just sometimes goes there It's all gold, he's so wealthy He says none were of silver Silver wasn't even good enough He went for the best It was nothing accounted in the days of Solomon Now look at verse number 22 For the king had at sea A navy of Tarshish With the navy of Hiram Once in three years came the navy Of Tarshish Bring in gold and silver So we know that already Ivory and apes And peacocks So when we think about Israel We think of it as a place with apes and peacocks Right? He goes look I've looked at the other kingdoms I've looked at the other kings I've looked at all their weird animals Maybe just get in these animals And bring it into my kingdom So I can set my eyes upon this You know if you knew about Australia He would have definitely brought in the kangaroos And the koalas All the weird creatures out there Because maybe this is going to give me joy Having my own little zoo So King Solomon exceeded All the kings of the earth For riches and for wisdom So keep your finger there In 1 Kings chapter 10 And let's go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 2 And verse number 9 Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and verse number 9 So then he says this in verse number 9 He goes so I was great And increased more Than all that were before me In Jerusalem My wisdom remained with me So as he's going through this journey of discovery Trying to seek meaning for life His wisdom remained God did not take away the wisdom And that's important because If he didn't have the wisdom Then his life would become a misery As I said to you The title of the sermon was I Hated Life He gets to that point where he says I hate life Thank God his wisdom remained Because he gets to the end of his journey And he realises no, life has meaning As long as you're serving the Lord Jesus Christ As long as you're serving the Lord God And you put him first in your life Then everything has meaning Everything has purpose if you do that So he's got that wisdom to get to that point in his life But I want to show you when he talked about his wisdom Was still remaining with him If you go back to 1 Kings chapter 10 Verse number 23 So just continuing on from there In verse number 23 So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth For riches and wisdom All the earth sought to Solomon To hear his wisdom Which God had put in his heart So what else have we learned about Solomon? That everyone knows, all the kings You know everyone in the earth Man, Solomon's so wise And they all travel from all over the earth To hear the wisdom of Solomon So Solomon becomes a celebrity as it were Not just in his own kingdom But across the entire world He becomes known as the man of wisdom Everyone comes to seek and listen to what he has to say Listen to what he has to say You know sometimes I hear of someone You know certain people that are life coaches Or they have certain types of wisdom You know they come and instead of selling out A stadium of people that listen to music People come to just listen to someone's wisdom You know what has someone learnt in life You know and they become a celebrity You know themselves for what they've learnt Or what they can teach Right, there are several people like this That even frequent today Like going from city to city To city to city teaching what they've learnt That was King Solomon Instead of him travelling to people They would travel to him Man, he's reached celebrity status Hasn't he? Not for foolishness Not for Hollywood movies or something He's reached celebrity status for his wisdom He's the smartest man on the earth at this point in time I mean you think man Solomon You've got it all What more could you possibly want? And he still says I hated life Doesn't he? When we get to verse 17 And brethren you know what If you seek Whatever pleasures you can on this earth You know and look Solomon's reached the heights You can't get more than Solomon got And you're seeking these things in life I want meaning and purpose Maybe it's the alcohol Maybe it's partying out there Maybe it's just having fun for the rest of my life Maybe it's getting into investment properties Maybe it's about the animals And just spending time gardening And looking at animals Whatever it is brethren Maybe it's just getting as much wisdom as I can So I can be the smartest man I can be the best of the best You're still going to hate life if you try to do that Without the Lord Jesus Christ It's not going to give you satisfaction It's not going to give you joy What else? We learn from Solomon Let's go to verse 10 Whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them You know He saw the Ferrari He said I'm buying that Ferrari The Lamborghini That's what he went for The Tesla, the electric car He didn't have those things But we learn something about King Solomon That his chariot Was layered with gold He had the Lamborghini of the day He had it You learn about that in Which book actually? I'm trying to remember Song of Solomon You learn about his chariot It was a sight to be seen He would use it in parades He'd be travelling it Whatever he laid his eyes on He received I withheld not my heart from any joy For my heart rejoiced in all my labour And this was my portion Of all my labour Shopping spree So I don't know ladies I don't know Maybe it's too general Men we like shopping as well We like to get things that we want Even if it's just bunnings But I know ladies I talk to men Even Christian men I'm not even talking about this church I'm talking about churches that I've grown up in And they're like I've got to withhold that credit card From my wife I mean there are several men like this I just trusted my wife with a credit card Man I really had to limit that I had to create a separate account And say honey this is your portion For this week you can only spend this much You know But here's the thing Solomon tried that Solomon said you know what I'm going to the Westfields I'm going to the mall I'm just going to shop And buy whatever I see Whatever I see I think is going to give me joy Whatever I think is going to give me happiness He's just going to buy it all Even the shopping spree An unlimited credit card is basically what he had You know what and that still just doesn't give him life He tries to enjoy what he has And then we get to verse 11 Look at verse 11 He comes to this realization After everything that we've just seen This is kind of the conclusion in this part of the chapter About everything that we just had a look at Everything that he's done The fun, the games, the gardening The gold and the silver And the houses He gets to verse 11 and he says Then I looked on all the works That my hands had wrought And on the labour That I had labour to do And behold all Was vanity And vexation of spirit And there was no profit under the sun He goes I got to the point When I had it all And I realized it's just vanity It's worthless Everything that he can chase for under the sun Anything he can profit from He gets to the point because it's just worthless It's meaningless It doesn't give me what I'm looking for Not only is it worthless It goes and vexation of spirit It vexed him It annoyed him, it frustrated him It's just more things to deal with I mean I'm kind of experiencing this again You know having the tenants In my house in Sydney Pass it must be nice having two houses Yeah but then there are bills you've got to pay I mean it's really A headache to have to pay your council Rates here on the Sunshine Coast And then having to pay the council rates down in Sydney Where you're not even living You know what, it becomes a vexation I'm just having more and more It's more problems More things to deal with Now I've got to look after the trees that we planted Now the peacocks and the apes They get taken care of And all the servants that I've got They need a place to stay You know what, I've got it all But now it all needs to be maintained Because everything tends toward disorder And then it requires labour Okay it's great you've got it all but now you've got to look after it Or it's just going to fall apart Man it's a vexation of spirit The more I have the more problems it creates That's true The more you have the more problems you create for your life He gets to that point It's all worthless It all requires maintenance It's vexation, frustration I wish I could just purchase something and it just lasts forever You guys know you buy a new car Wonderful, yeah nice car But then you've got to take it for a service Okay and then you've got to put fuel in that thing And fuel's gone up double then when you last remember It all starts to become vexation It all becomes an issue Then your turbo breaks down Then your transmission breaks down brother Whatever it is, vexation of spirit You know you try to find meaning in these things Brethren it's not going to give you joy It's not going to give you satisfaction It's not going to give you anything You know you'd rather invest in something That's going to give you purpose And what is that? It's your walk with the Lord That's going to give you satisfaction God gives you so many great things He gives you joy, he answers your prayers He helps you in the times of trouble He gives you wisdom and understanding So you can enjoy and experience life Life to the fullest God is the only one God is the only thing That will give you purpose in life It's true It's true again children Talk to your parents I'm sure your parents have stories Where they've sought things in life Thinking it's going to give them meaning and purpose You know And it's like you know what It doesn't satisfy The only thing that could satisfy The only thing I could satisfy Was my walk with the Lord Jesus Christ That's why we're in church this morning To be with the Lord Otherwise you turn around and say Well this is just vexation This is all vanity You know what we make the effort to wake up early on a Sunday Be in God's house Because this is the place God's word is truly what gives us satisfaction Truly It's true You know what children Because I wish it doesn't happen I hope it doesn't happen But with the amount of kids that we have I'm sure Even my own kids Some of them are going to grow up and say Dad I'm looking for joy somewhere else I'm going to start looking for satisfaction somewhere else Dad I'm not going to be in church this morning Dad I'm not going to be in church next week It's going to happen It happens And I'm telling you now Because kids I don't want you to make this mistake I want you to find joy It's not going to satisfy And again you're going to come back and say Pastor you were right Pastor the Bible was right It did not satisfy me Instead of learning the lessons In such a bad and horrible way Just learn it now God's given us his word to learn things now He's given us his wisdom So we don't have to experience this For ourselves and hurt ourselves I want to show you that In my notes I'm up to verse number 12 It clears the answer to verse number 12 He goes And I turn myself to behold wisdom So we know He sought more learning, more wisdom But don't forget from chapter number 1 Not only did he learn this He also says and madness and folly Because I even try to find joy And meaning in stupidity Okay The stupid things that people do What is fun You know Maybe that's what's going to give me joy right He goes look at this For what can the man do That cometh after the king Even that which have already been done He goes What possible man can come And do more than what the king has already done He goes I've done everything that can be done He's trying to find Is there anything else That will give me joy and meaning and purpose And then he starts thinking about it There is no man on the earth That can even do what I've ever accomplished He's done it all He's done it all And he still finds no meaning and no purpose Okay Verse number 13 Now we get to another learning here Something else that he's discovered in this journey Even though earlier we saw that Wisdom is a vexation of spirit and vanity And so is folly But he realises something in this journey anyway He goes in verse number 13 Then I saw that wisdom exceleth folly As far as light exceleth darkness Okay So he's tried it all He says it's all vanity But he says even though it's all vanity and emptiness Without the Lord God I still discover that wisdom exceeds folly Being intelligent Gaining understanding Learning, getting an education Is more important It's much higher than acting like an idiot Than being completely stupid Being an ignoramus That's something he's discovered That means more And again We ought to be people That seek wisdom and learning and education God's given us a brain God wants us to reason To learn not just the word of God But learn the truths of this world We ought to use the mind That God has given us To learn some great things As different as the light is from darkness So is gaining wisdom versus being a complete fool And some people I remember Most of you kids are homeschooled anyway But going to school There was always that class clown There was always that kid That would mess up That would interrupt classes The teachers would get frustrated at him And sometimes it was me Sometimes it wasn't me It just depends on how mature I was In my life But when it was me And I was the interruption I was called the interruptions I was a little bit smart about it I didn't get in trouble a lot I kind of got away with a lot of things But then I discovered When I'm just wasting my time As I'm supposed to be learning I'm falling behind in my studies Then everyone else in my class Is gaining wisdom and knowledge And I'm falling behind And I'm there looking at that Yeah it was a whiteboard I'm looking at that whiteboard I'm looking at those mathematical equations And I'm like what am I even doing here I don't get it And everyone's like yep Doing just fine When you muck around And you be silly and you waste your life I start to fall behind I'm behind everyone else Because there truly is Wisdom is something that we also attain Even though again In the journey of Solomon As he's trying to find meaning in wisdom Without God It's all vanity But don't forget King Solomon also wrote the Proverbs Which is all about wisdom It's all about learning He's just not there in his journey just yet To really appreciate what wisdom gives him But let's keep going there It says Verse number 14 So this is what he's learnt Why does wisdom excel folly Because in verse number 14 he goes The wise man's eyes Are in his head Everyone's eyes are in their head What he's saying is Obviously with eyes You can see You can see clearly If you have wisdom You can see more clearly Because then it says this But the fool walketh in darkness Because this is why Wisdom is better than folly Because when you're foolish You don't get wisdom, you don't get learning It's like you're trying to live life in the darkness You can trip, you can injure yourself You can hurt yourself You can cause all kinds of damages to yourself Because it's like you're walking blind At least when you have wisdom Your eyes are open You can watch for dangers You can make educated Responses to certain situations This is why wisdom is better Because if you have wisdom You're less likely to destroy yourself Than act in the fool Act in the fool is like walking blind And cause all kinds of damages to your life So wisdom does excel folly That's the conclusion that it comes to this Then it says this So the second half of verse number 14 And I myself perceived also That one event Happeneth to them all So it goes If you decide to be wise or you decide to be A fool One event is the same for everybody What event could that be? What event could that be? Well let's keep going there It says there, verse number 15 Then said I in my heart As it happeneth to the fool As it happeneth to the fool So it happeneth even to me We know that Solomon considers himself to be wise He goes what the foolish experience Is going to happen to me as well Okay And why was I then more wise So what advantage was there to be more wise If we're going to experience the same thing here Then I said also in my heart That this also is vanity So basically being wise Is also vanity Because the same thing that's going to happen to the fool Is going to happen to the person who is wise What does it mean by this? Let's keep going there Verse number 16 For there is no remembrance of the wise More than the fool forever Seeing that which Now it is in the days to come Shall all be forgotten And how dieth the wise man As the fool So what is the same thing that happens to all? Death We're all going to die The fool is going to die in the same way The man who is wise Is going to die He goes look Gaining wisdom is an advantage When you live on this earth But then we're all going to die And everything we achieved on this earth Is all going to be forgotten anyway I'm sure there are many wise men Many famous men that lived in the past And they're just forgotten The names are completely forgotten in history And so his end is the same As the fool Now again you need to remember He's not thinking about the afterlife At this point in time He's just thinking about the carnal The earthly, the things here and now Obviously in death There's an afterlife Obviously there's more Than just what we experience on this earth But while Solomon Is trying to find meaning on this earth He realises we're all going to die Wise or fool And we're all going to be forgotten anyway So it's all fancy, it's all worthless Okay, you know Now, let's keep going there Verse number 17 He goes, so when he realises this That I'm going to I'm going to experience the same as the fool Okay, my life is going to be the same As the fool after we pass away He goes, therefore I hated life You know what, and I don't know who the I mean, I think of Elon Musk As one of the richest men on the earth Like think about just the celebrities You know, the Hollywood celebrities Think about, you know The kings and the queens That live on this earth Think about the people of the highest positions With the greatest riches Where you look at their life and they just seem to have it all Okay brethren, they have it all And they gain more And they earn millions of dollars And you know, some actor Acts in some movie and they Pocket 20 million dollars or whatever it is 100 million dollars for their You know, you think, man, what a life Look at what they've got Look at their success Look how much they've got Now brethren, you know what's Going through their mind They're going, you know what, one day I'm going to die One day, you know I've worked up, I've got this position I've got this status in life I've got all this wealth I've got all these possessions But then one day I'm just going to die like the guy who's the poorest on the earth These people that have so much They're going to come Or they've already come To this same realisation of Solomon Therefore I hated life Why does so many of them commit suicide? Why does so many You know, music artists And so many Hollywood stars Seemingly at the top of the world Seemingly having everything They end up committing suicide Ending their life early, why? Because they realise it was all worthless I hated life I hate life So if I hate life, why should I live tomorrow? If I'm going to hate tomorrow And they end their lives early Suicide And you know, Solomon is a Saved man But as he's trying to live a life without the Lord God He's going through the same experiences You know, as Christians, we can hate life If you Decide to backslide and say, you know what I'm done with church I'm done with God's word I'm going to just enjoy what I have And I'm going to try and maximise my fun And I'm going to try and maximise my possessions You're going to wake up one morning and go Man, I hate life Even Christians commit suicide Even Christians get to a point where they think Man, I hate life You know what, we need to Be close to the Lord We need to draw nigh to him And he will draw nigh to us The Lord gives us meaning And waking up this morning Thinking that I'm going to be in God's house with God's people It gave me a lot of joy And excitement to be in God's house with God's people You know, going through the teachings Of Ecclesiastes Seeing what the wisdom of God will teach us This morning It gives us purpose Please keep your finger there and please Go to Philippians chapter 1 Turn to Philippians chapter 1 and verse number 20 Philippians chapter 1 And verse number 20 Sorry, I didn't finish verse number 17 Anyway, while you're turning to Philippians 120 I'll just quickly finish verse number 17 Solomon says Therefore I hated life Because the work that is wrought under the sun Is grievous unto me For all is vanity and vexation of spirit Okay Now, this is the problem With Solomon At this point in life We're going to compare Solomon With the Apostle Paul here What does the Apostle Paul say In Philippians chapter 1 verse number 20 Philippians chapter 1 verse number 20 The Apostle Paul says According to my earnest expectation And my hope That in nothing I shall be ashamed But that with all boldness As always So now also Christ Shall be magnified In my body Whether it be by life Or by death Brevin, you've got a choice Who are you going to magnify In your body Who's going to be magnified this morning This Sunday morning Are you going to be like King Solomon That seeks to magnify himself Trying to just seek his own will His own pleasures What he wants in life Or are you going to be like the Apostle Paul That says, you know what, I'm going to magnify God In my body I'm going to magnify the Lord God You've got a choice Who do you want to magnify in life Yourself And we already saw where magnifying yourself leads I hated life You hate life Paul says no, I'm going to magnify the Lord Let's keep going there Verse number 21 This is what it means to magnify the Lord He goes For to me to live is Christ And to die is gain It's the complete opposite to Solomon At this point in his life Solomon hates life You know what So Paul takes the approach No, you know what, I'm going to enjoy life In fact, I'm going to live for Christ Christ is the meaning of my life I'm going to seek his will I'm going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ And then when I die It's gain Not like Solomon thinks we're all going to die And it's all vanity It's gain I'm going to see my Lord Jesus Christ Face to face And I'm going to be rewarded by my Lord For all the things that I did on this earth Do you see the differences there brethren Depending on who you magnify And I know sometimes we live life I'm sure this morning we're seeking to magnify the Lord But when you leave church This afternoon You're probably going to magnify yourself a little bit We go through these little ups and downs In Christian life don't we Brethren, keep seeking the Lord Just decide, you know what, every day that I wake up Every day that God gives me in life I'm going to magnify the Lord, I'm going to serve the Lord I'm going to seek what God wants in my life Because I know That life then has meaning I know that even if I were to perish Like the fool, that it's gain for me I'm going to see my Lord in heaven Let's keep going there Verse number 22 He goes, but if I live in the flesh This is the fruit of my labour Yet what I shall choose I what not For I am in a strait Betwixt two Having a desire to depart And to be with Christ Which is far better Nevertheless to abide in the flesh Is more needful for you He goes, you know what, I can't wait It's not suicidal thoughts It's not like I hate life, I just want to die In fact he's enjoying living in the flesh He goes, what did it say there But if I live in the flesh This is the fruit of my labour He goes, look, I am labouring, I am being fruitful As I live in this flesh You know, sometimes I speak to Christians And they think, well If to die is gain, then maybe if I just Lord, take my life But no, you've got purpose and meaning Right now in the flesh As you're walking in this flesh You can still be fruitful You can still labour for the Lord Jesus Christ This is your opportunity on this earth To maximise your rewards in heaven This is your opportunity We don't want it to end early We want to be able to maximise See as many souls saved as we can You know, bring forth those fruits of the Spirit To serve Jesus Christ in his house To serve the brethren Right, even offering a cup of water to a little one You will not lose your reward Just serving Christ In everything that we do, brethren There's profit, there's meaning It gives joy And even you can be excited about death Man, when I die I don't really truly die anyway because I have everlasting life I get to be with my Lord Jesus Christ in heaven forever So You know, again, we want to take The Book of Ecclesiastes as a whole With the rest of the Bible Living a life without the Lord, magnifying yourself Seeking after the pleasure of this earth Is going to end up with you hating life I don't want you to hate life Do you want to hate life? Do you want to enjoy life? But you can only enjoy life You can only be satisfied if you magnify The Lord in your body Back to Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 18 Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 18 He goes Yea, I hated all my labour Which I had taken under the sun Now this is why he hates it He goes Because I should leave it unto The man that shall be after me And that shall be after me He goes Oh man, I've worked so hard for all these things And I just hate the fact that one day I'm going to Perish and my inheritance is going to be Given to another I mean, look how selfish it has become Alright I mean, I don't know about you but I'm hopeful that, you know When I pass on, I'm hopeful that I've got Something to pass down to my children I'm hopeful that my labour Is going to help my children I hope my children are a little bit in their life You know, I mean, I want my children to work hard And make sure they provide for themselves But I hope that, you know, in my work That I've done something to help them Live a life that's a little bit better, a little bit more productive But seeking Pleasures for yourself Just makes you selfish He can't even find joy That he's going to pass this down to his son Who's going to be the next king But this is why, if you keep going Look at verse number 20 Sorry, verse number 19 He goes, and who knoweth whether He shall be a wise man or a fool Because I don't know if my children Are going to be wise or foolish Okay Yet shall he have rule Over all my labour Wherein I have laboured And wherein I have showed myself wise Under the sun, this is also a vanity Because I'm concerned that everything that I've built In life That I'm going to pass it down to my kids, what if my kids are foolish What if they destroy everything that I've laboured for Then it's all going to be worthless You know, my legacy is not going to continue Look what he's worried about, brethren He's worried about the here and the now And I want to talk to my children right now If I perish today, if I perish tomorrow I don't care about my earthly possessions Because I've got heavenly ones And I've got a bank account where No thief can break in and steal Where moth cannot corrupt That's what matters, our treasure is in heaven But again, you focus on here and now All you focus on are the treasures on the earth And then, even after death You're worried about what's going to happen to those things Man, no worries in heaven Laying up your treasures in heaven Seek ye first the kingdom of God And his righteousness And all these things shall be added unto you No, our heart Where is our heart? King Solomon's heart is definitely on the earth It's so selfish It's so selfish It's so selfish What are my children going to do with my possessions? You're going to be dead, Solomon You're going to be dead Okay, you're going to be in heaven But his mind's not on eternity His mind is on earthly, carnal things Now the Bible, I'll just quickly read to you So this is also the writing of Solomon In the book of Proverbs In Proverbs 13, 22 It says A good man leaveth an inheritance To his children's children And the wealth of the sinner Is laid up for the just So obviously he learnt the lesson eventually Okay, he goes No, no, no, it's good to pass an inheritance You know, it's good to be able to Leave my children, even my children's children Something that's going to help them And benefit in their life And so, obviously, King Solomon Did not stay selfish forever Once he's gotten to the point that the meaning of life Was all about Christ at the end of the day Then obviously his perspective on all these things Change, okay Anyway, let's keep going there Verse number And actually, it is kind of important that problem That I just read, because the second part of that problem Says, and the wealth of the sinner Is laid up for the just Just keep that in mind as we keep going through The rest of this chapter, chapter number 2 Okay Verse number 20, we're up to verse number 20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart To despair All the labour which I took under the sun So instead of You know, he got all these possessions Instead of, like he's thinking it's going to give me joy But what he found was, once I had all these possessions It causes me to despair The complete opposite To what he was seeking for, right Left him in despair So again, the lesson, if you attain everything It will not satisfy you Again, it will just leave you in despair You know, the Bible says in Mark 836 For what shall it profit a man If he shall gain the whole world And lose his own soul Now praise God You know, you're saved You know, praise God for those that have believed In the Lord Jesus Christ You cannot lose your soul You've entrusted your soul to the hands of the Lord God forever You know what And that's what's more important Than gaining the whole world You don't have to be like Solomon And go, man, I want to get it all You've got it even better You're saved You're going to heaven You've got everlasting life And look, even if you lived a miserable life On this earth You're going to come back one day with the Lord Jesus Christ And you're going to rule and reign on this earth You're going to be here for a thousand years The best thousand years of life on this earth That you'll ever experience It's coming It's coming Okay, that time is coming So don't try to attain everything you've got So don't try to attain everything now You're going to inherit the whole earth When Christ comes back To establish his kingdom Okay Now, keep going to verse number 21 He says, for there is a man Whose labor is in wisdom and in knowledge And in equity Yet to a man that hath not labored therein Shall he leave it for his portion This also Is vanity and a great evil Again, he's thinking about everything that I attain Wisdom, knowledge, all the things It's going to be given to someone else So it's all vanity For what hath man of all his labor And of the vexation of his heart Wherein he hath labored under the sun Like, basically, when we die We can't take it with us For all his days are sorrows And his travail grief Yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night This is also vanity He's got so many possessions So many worries He can't even rest in the night He's tossing and turning when he's meant to be sleeping and resting He's tossing and turning, thinking about all the things That he's acquired You know, and he goes, I can't even take this with me It's going to be left to another man Again, this is true for the man Living without God Okay, this is true for that person Filling this way, trying to live a life without God Anyway, he gets to his next lesson here Verse number 24 So once he's considered all of this He gets to the next lesson So he's done all these works It's all meaningless, it's all pointless Okay, but he actually does find meaning At this point here in verse number 24 He goes, there is nothing Better for a man Than that he should eat And drink And that he should make his soul enjoy good In his labor Because I found something interesting here You know, when you labor And you can eat and drink from your labor And the things that you can enjoy with your labor There's nothing better than this But in what sense? Look at this This also I saw That it was from the hand Of God Reverend, this is So you can enjoy life You can enjoy a meal Okay, you can enjoy some possessions But this is the lesson Whatever you enjoy in life You must come to the realization That it was from the hand of God Now it has meaning Now it has purpose It wasn't just me And my labor and my efforts Whatever you have, Reverend You must realize it comes from God It comes from the hand of God When you realize that, how's that going to change your heart? Instead of being full of pride Look what I've achieved You're going to learn to be thankful to God You're going to learn to praise Him You'll wake up this morning Thank you for life I woke up this morning, God Thank you for life this morning Thank you for life I'm sure you woke up with a roof over your head Thank you, Lord, for this roof that you've put over my head I'm sure many of you had breakfast Thank you, Lord, for the breakfast For the meal that I was able to have this morning Whatever I have Whatever possessions that I've attained By the labor and the workings of my hand Came from the Lord God So he learns this lesson This is meaning This is purpose And gives you great things Great things for you to enjoy James 1, verse 17 Every good gift And every perfect gift Is from above And cometh down from the Father of Lights With whom is no variableness Near the shadow of turning The Father of Lights Your Heavenly Father has given you Everything that you possess That's how you ought to think about life You wake up, you know, whatever I have You look at your spouse Even if you had an argument Say, thank you, God, for my spouse Thank you, God, that I can wake up Next to somebody to share my life with You look at your children Say, thank you, God, for my children Every good and perfect gift Is from above So again Man, it's all worthless All this work But then he goes, no, there's nothing better than this As long as you realize Give credit where credit's due The credit is from the Lord God It's from Him, from His hand He's looked down upon me He's looked at my life And He's blessed me and given me the things that I needed That's going to give you, again, joy Again, I don't want you to walk away from Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and think Then everything is just worthless Everything I have, no, no The point is, you look at it and go, wow Thank you, God Thank you, God, for everything that I own Thank you for giving me life Thank you for giving me my food Thank you for giving me my family My friends, my church Whatever you can think about, Reverend Give glory and thanks to the Lord God Look at verse number 25 He goes, for who can eat Or who else can hasten here unto More than I So, he goes, who could possibly have more than me Okay Basically, he's going, everything I've got Must have been from the hand of God That realization, that learning Heart, okay Verse number 26 This is the conclusion of the chapter, he goes For God giveth to a man That is good in his sight Wisdom and knowledge And joy Okay, brethren, so, if you want joy I think a lot of us are seeking joy To enjoy life If you want wisdom and knowledge Then it's God that gives it to you He goes, for God giveth to a man That is good in his sight Those of you that are good In the sight of God He will bless You want to enjoy life more You want more of your prayers answered You want your will to be more aligned to God's will Then you need to do good in his sight I preached not long ago I think it was last month, a sermon on Obtaining favor from the Lord It's the same idea Making sure that you live a life Where you're seeking to please him and to honor him To do his will, to keep his commandments You're walking the path of the Lord And the Lord will look down at the good that you do And he's going to bless you He's going to give you the joy He's going to give you the wisdom, the understanding That you need to go through life You know, to maximize life To enjoy life at the fullest He goes, but But, to the sinner He giveth travail Yeah, if you don't sin It hurts you It hurts your life, it hurts those that you love He gathers and heaps up, right? Even the sinners out there have some possessions But then he says this That he, the sinner May give it to him that is good Before God This also is vanity And vexational spirit So to the sinner who's acquiring all the things All the possessions on this earth It's vexation to him Because everything that he acquires Is going to be given to those that are doing good In the eyes of God And God goes hand in hand with the problems that we learned earlier God, man, I can't wait Does that mean, pastor, tomorrow You know, all the sinners, all the things, all the possessions All the wealth they've acquired, you know, today We're going to receive that tomorrow No, no, no, not yet Not yet It will eventually, but not yet If you can please turn One more passage Go to Psalm 37 Go to Psalm 37, verse number 9 Psalm 37, verse number 9 I mentioned the millennial reign of Christ I mentioned that we're coming back You know, even if you are one of the poorest Of the poor Okay, but you're saved You're going to be one of the richest Okay, one of the richest And it's not magnifying yourself In that millennium It's all about magnifying the Lord Jesus Christ The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords Every king Every politician Everyone on earth is going to serve Jesus Christ For that thousand years And Christ is going to use us In that capacity Okay, in positions of prominence Of importance It says here in Psalm 37, verse number 9 Psalm 37, verse number 9 It says, for evildoers shall be cut off But those that wait upon the Lord Look at this They shall inherit the earth Brethren, we're going to have more Than Solomon in the millennium We're going to have the whole earth We're going to inherit the earth For yet a little while And the wicked shall not be Okay, it's coming Okay, yea Thou shall diligently consider his place And it shall not be But the meek shall inherit the earth Hey, that's what Christ taught As well, he took this from the Psalms But the meek shall inherit the earth And shall delight themselves In the abundance of peace So it's true You know, what the wicked What the sinners are trying to Amass for themselves on this earth It's all going to be given to us In that millennial reign of Christ It's all going to be given to the Lord Jesus Christ And of course he's going to then hand it down to us We're going to have greater riches Than King Solomon Again, but instead of magnifying ourselves We're going to be magnifying Christ Okay, it's all going to be about the Lord Jesus Christ Okay, it's all going to be about the Lord Jesus Christ Now I don't know how much is going to be left exactly We know that before Christ comes to reign That his wrath is going to pour upon this earth We know that a lot of it's going to burn We know that the mountains are going to shake And the islands are going to be moved But you know, there'll still be something left on this earth Okay, and then Christ is going to Of course, a thousand years, things are going to be rebuilt You know, it's going to be the greatest That's ever been on the earth as Christ rules And we're going to inherit all of that You know what, if you're saved Praise God So what's the point of acquiring wealth right now When you're going to get it all in the millennium And it's a real millennium It's a thousand years Not the 70, 80, 90 years that you get on this life You can get a thousand years on this earth With everything that you could possibly receive on this earth Okay And then, after that, even better The new heavens, the new earth Okay, no more sin No more wickedness No more wickedness Serving the Lord God for all eternity Even better Yeah So, I guess the conclusion of the matter is We need to make sure that our sight and our hearts Are on eternity It's on the heavenly Not on the earthly, not on the carnal If your heart is on this earth forever And you're quite intrigued on this earth You'll never be satisfied You'll hate life And you'll find out it's just a vexational spirit It's a vexational spirit, it's an annoyance It's a frustration But, you can still enjoy your life today As long as you live for Christ And to die is gain Amen, let's pray Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for your word Lord, thank you for the journey of King Solomon once again And I pray, Lord, that we will take all of this to heart Lord, think about the young people especially Our children, our teenagers, Lord Because they will be challenged, Lord I know I was challenged I know many of the adults were challenged, Lord, in those years Lord, it's been a million purpose, Lord In all the fun and games that are out there on this earth, Lord But, Lord, we know that if we live without you It's not going to satisfy you Lord, I pray that our children will remain in church Lord, even if it's not this church, Lord That they'll find a good church, a good pastor That will look after them That will teach them great things from God's truth And, Lord, they will seek you all the days of their life And, Lord, even for us adults that maybe have forgotten Maybe we've got a bit stale in life Maybe we're not enjoying it the way that we should Lord, I just pray that we will do good in your sights Lord, we seek your favor Lord, we seek your answered prayers We seek your movement and your will in our lives And, Lord, I just pray that we would walk away from church this morning changed Lord, seek and to serve you and to find meaning in you And, Lord, thank you once again for everything you've given us We pray this in Jesus' name Amen Alright, brethren, please take your hymnals And let's turn to hymn number 294 294 294 294 We'll end with stepping in the light Remember being foolish is like being in darkness Or getting the wisdom of the Lord is like being in the light So, stepping in the light 294 294 Stepping in the light 384 Stepping in the light 384 Stepping in the light 384 Stepping in the light 384 Stepping in the light 284 Stepping in the light 284 Stepping in the light 284 Stepping in the light 284 Stepping in the light 284 Stepping in the light 284 Stepping in the light 284 Stepping in the light 284 Stepping in the light 284 Stepping in the light 284 Stepping in the light How beautiful to walk in the steps Of the Savior Let him pass the fight On the third Walking in footsteps Of gentle forbearance Footsteps of faithfulness Footsteps of faithfulness Looking to him For the grace freely promised Happy, how happy Our journey above How beautiful To walk in the steps Of the Savior Stepping in the light Stepping in the light How beautiful to walk in the steps Of the Savior Let him pass the fight Trying to walk in the steps Of the Savior Upward, still upward We'll follow our guide We shall see him, the king In his beauty Happy, how happy Our place at his side How beautiful to walk in the steps Of the Savior Stepping in the light Stepping in the light How beautiful to walk in the steps Of the Savior Let him pass the fight Let him pass the fight Let him pass the fight