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Contemplating Your Legacy – Part 1
Ecclesiastes 2:12-26 (12-17)
May 23, 2021

By now you are settling in to the mindset of the preacher
Here in the book of Ecclesiastes.

He is cutting through all deception and lies
Of the great salesman this world faces.

We understand how this life works.
• We have an enemy who is a deceiver and a tempter. (the salesman)
• We have humanity with a fallen flesh that wants the world (the consumer)

And it is amazing how often
The world buys the sales pitch of the enemy hook line and sinker.

Because the salesman is offering what the consumer desires
It is far too often A VERY EASY SALE.

Paul spoke of it to the Philippians
Philippians 3:18-19 “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”

• Paul said their “god is their appetite”
• He said “their glory is their shame”
• He said their focus is “on earthly things”

That about sums it up.
We have a world filled with humanity
Who are seeking to find enjoyment and happiness in this life
And they are willing to sacrifice their conscience and morality to get it.

For this group of passionate consumers we have the salesman.
And he merely offers to the consumer that which they want.

James said it like this:
James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

It is a story that plays out in front of us daily.

How often have we seen humanity take the bait of the salesman
And purchase that which only brings momentary pleasure
But not lasting satisfaction?

We’ve seen it more times than we can count.
At times we have even been participants in it.

Well, TO SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE LUNACY of it all
The book of Ecclesiastes introduces us to the preacher.

We might better consider him the critic.
• He has also tried all that the salesman told him to buy
• Now he is writing the review for the young man to read.

And over and over and over we find that his assessment is the same.
“This too is vanity.”

HEBEL in the Hebrew (mist or vapor or smoke)
• It’s a mirage.
• It doesn’t bring the satisfaction it promises.

And we’ve already seen him write the review
On two massive attractions for the young man.

THE FIRST – is the one most commonly endorsed; KNOWLEDGE
The young man is most often promised that knowledge is power and the secret to success is an education.

• An education isn’t bad, but in and of itself it cannot satisfy.
• Namely because it cannot straighten what is crooked, nor can it supply what is lacking.
• You cannot educate a man into the kingdom of heaven.

So to sell knowledge as the all-satisfying objective of life
Is nothing but a mirage.

THE SECOND – is the one most commonly tried; PLEASURE
The young man may be offered knowledge, but far too often what he first pursues is pleasure.

• Like knowledge, pleasure isn’t bad. God created it and created you with the capacity for it.
• But if pleasure becomes the all-satisfying objective of life then again you are chasing mirage.

For one reason sin can be pleasurable as we saw with
The Preacher’s pursuit of wine, works, wealth, and women.
AND THAT LEADS TO JUDGMENT

But also pleasure is short-lived.
Seeking it LEADS EITHER TO FRUSTRATION OR BOREDOM.

It is a mirage.

Those where the first two attractions that the preacher sought to review, THIS MORNING WE MOVE ON.

And the issue contemplated by the preacher this morning
IS NOT typically one that is initially sought by the young man.

In fact, most young men don’t give much thought to it at all,
But the older a person gets the more they naturally begin to think about it.

And it is the issue of LEGACY
• Something that will last.
• Something that will cause men to remember me.

It is typically the last attempt of the old man
To leave his mark on the world.

But like the rest, he’ll find no satisfaction here.

Now again, don’t get me wrong,
THE BIBLE SPEAKS VERY HIGHLY OF LEAVING A LEGACY.

Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

Again:
Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;”

Often in the book of the Kings
• We read about how God’s favor rested on Judah,
• Not because their King was so good,
• But rather because the blessing of David trickled down.

1 Kings 15:1-5 “Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, like the heart of his father David. But for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem; because David did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.”

Legacy is important, so long as it is the right kind of legacy.

When Paul wrote to Timothy he wrote:
2 Timothy 1:5 “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.”

The write kind of legacy is very valuable.

But pursuing the wrong kind of legacy
Will only cause you to end up in frustration and despair,
And that is the message of the preacher here in Ecclesiastes.

There are actually 5 points to be made in our text.
And I warn you this morning that his outlook
Can appear very depressing and dark.

But I will say it to you again that
The book of Ecclesiastes is only depressing
If you are seeking to make this world your treasure.

If instead you are like Paul who has said:
Galatians 6:14 “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

• If you can say that with Paul then you’re not going to have any trouble at all with this message.
• But if you are also holding on to a foolish hope of somehow finding satisfaction in this world then the words of the preacher may rightly cut and sting you this morning.

But it is needed discipline to set right the mindset of God’s people.

So let’s begin to contemplate our legacy with the preacher this morning.
#1 HIS EPIPHANY
Ecclesiastes 2:12-14

An epiphany is an illuminating discovery or realization.
• In short, the Preacher is about to tell you something he learned.
• It is a conclusion he has come to.

He had given his heart to pursuing knowledge or philosophy.
He had given his heart to pursuing pleasure (even drunken folly).
And he had said that both of them were vanity.

Well after pursuing them to their full end
The Preacher then decided to compare them
So as to be able to tell the next generation about them.

(12) “So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done?”

• So in one hand he is holding “wisdom”
• And in the other hand he is holding “madness and folly”

And he sees them as the 2 great temptations of life
Which men continually pursue as the means of finding satisfaction.

And he knows that the person coming after him
Will LIKELY PURSUE one or both of them as well.

“for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done?”

This is what Paul was talking about when he brought up the past failures of the children of Israel.
• He mentioned how they craved evil
• He mentioned how they were idolaters
• He mentioned how they acted immorally
• He mentioned how they tried the Lord
• He mentioned how they grumbled

And Paul told us about them
Because he knew something about the way the tempter works.
1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man…”

That is to say nothing has changed.
All the way back in the garden
Satan was tempting men with KNOWLEDGE and PLEASURE.

Genesis 3:4-6 “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

Well the Preacher knows that too.
He knows that wisdom and folly are the two great offers of the salesman and he knows that he’ll offer them again to the man who comes after him.

Now, what you are seeing is the FIRST APPEARANCE of the Preacher’s CONCERN ABOUT HIS LEGACY.

• He has already started thinking about what is coming after him.
• He has already started thinking about the temptations the next King will face.

And his objective is to build a legacy
By basically steering humanity in the right direction.

SO HE’S GOING TO COMPARE WISDOM WITH FOLLY.

Well, what was his epiphany?
What was his revelation?
(13-14a) “And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.”

So in all his searching he did come to one conclusion.

If you must choose between wisdom and pleasure, which should you take?

Wisdom.
• It’s better.
• It’s better like light is better than darkness.
• It’s always better to know where you are going than to be clueless.

And we have no problem with that.
• No one applauds ignorance as a virtue.
• No one applauds foolishness as a desirable trait.

If I read Ecclesiastes 2:13 anywhere in the world
It would be the general consensus that it is true.

“wisdom excels folly”

And if we had the time we could insert the entire book of Proverbs here
As that is precisely the point made there.

Proverbs 3:13-26 “How blessed is the man who finds wisdom And the man who gains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit of silver And her gain better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; And nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways And all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who hold her fast. The LORD by wisdom founded the earth, By understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up And the skies drip with dew. My son, let them not vanish from your sight; Keep sound wisdom and discretion, So they will be life to your soul And adornment to your neck. Then you will walk in your way securely And your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden fear Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; For the LORD will be your confidence And will keep your foot from being caught.”

“wisdom excels folly”
• If you’re going to pick one or the other, obviously pick wisdom.
• If you’re going to college and you are offered there both an education and a good time, then by all means take the education.

No one argues with that, and certainly Scripture affirms it.

But even in that obvious evaluation
There was something else the Preacher learned,
And this is what is going to crush him.

(14b) “And yet I know that one fate befalls them both.”

And all of a sudden we jump right into
What is the ultimate futility and even insanity of life.

Take two young men,
• Both of them about to graduate high school.
• They are both offered the same two temptations of wisdom and pleasure.

“Young Man A” chooses wisdom and knowledge
• He goes to college and takes his studies seriously.
• He graduates with a high average
• He becomes an expert in his field
• He makes good decisions about life
• He succeeds in life’s endeavors

“Young Man B” chooses pleasure and folly
• He goes to college and skips class
• He stays out late partying and drinking
• He fraternizes with girls and sows plenty of wild oats
• He eventually drops out of college
• He spends his life paycheck to paycheck working a manual labor job

WHO WON?
Well the world tells you “Young Man A” won by leaps and bounds.

But did you catch what the Preacher said?
NOBODY WON, THEY TIED.

“one fate befalls them both.”
• How can that be?
• How can you say they tied?
• How can you say they all ended up dead even?

• We just said that it is obvious in the world and everywhere else that wisdom is way better than folly.
• We just said that wisdom was better than folly like light was better than darkness.

So how can you now say that they both end up in the same place?

Well let’s keep listening.
His Epiphany
#2 HIS ENIGMA
Ecclesiastes 2:15-16

An enigma is a mystery;
It is something that is hard to understand or explain.

And here is his.
(15a) “Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?”

Did you catch the riddle?
“Why then have I been extremely wise?”
• What is the point if we both end up at the same place?
• What is the point if there is really only one fate?

Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

We learned it way back in the garden; all men die.

• You can go to school and you can learn all there is to know.
• You can graduate at the top of your class.
• You can have all sorts of intellectual breakthroughs in your field of study.
• You can turn that education into success and wealth and prestige.

And you will still die just like the kid who learned nothing.

WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE CANNOT DEFEAT DEATH.

Think about it.
• Despite all our research and scientific advancement.
• Despite all our understanding of diseases and medication.
• Despite all our innovation of medical machines and procedures.
• Despite all our knowledge about diet and exercise.
• Despite all our investment in safety and precaution.
• Despite all our focus on prevention and testing.

Death remains our nation’s number 1 killer.

Wisdom cannot stop death.
If you believe in the sovereignty of God you know
It can’t even delay death.

Psalms 139:16 “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

Acts 17:26 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

IT IS THE SIMPLE TRUTH THAT DEATH IS COMING.

And it is indiscriminate.
• Death hits the wise and the foolish
• Death hits the moral and the immoral
• Death hits the cautious and the reckless
• Death hits the healthy and the sick
• Death hits the young and the old
• Death hits the hard working and the lazy
• Death hits the famous and the insignificant
• Death hits the useful and the useless
• Death hits the family man and the bachelor
• Keep going…

And this realization punched the preacher right in the gut.

“Here I thought that I was really doing something by pursuing wisdom, but in the end that wisdom could not keep me from dying.”

“Why then have I been extremely wise?”

But listen, IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT avoiding death here.
There’s a BIGGER FRUSTRATION here that the preacher is feeling.

(16) “For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die!”

Do you see the issue?
• It’s not just that wisdom couldn’t keep him from death.
• It’s that wisdom couldn’t even keep him from being forgotten.

Through wisdom he couldn’t escape death,
But he also couldn’t protect his legacy.

HE HAD NO CONTROL OVER IT.
• “no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool”
• “all will be forgotten”

How many people in here recognize these names?
(just raise your hand if you know who this person is. Don’t answer Peggy, just raise your hand if you know them)

Zachary Taylor
Chester Author
John Tyler
Benjamin Harrison
William Harrison
Those men were all presidents of the United States.

How about this guy?
Martin Cooper

• I promise you that our culture is captivated by the work of Martin Cooper.
• Teenagers wonder how their lives would have ever existed without his
accomplishments.

Martin Cooper invented the cell phone.

Sure there are exceptions to the rule.
There are some famous people or wise people that we haven’t forgotten.
Solomon is one of them.

But by in large, the truth remains
“there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool”

Not only can you not escape death,
But you can’t even create your legacy.

Our culture is filled with broken records and forgotten feats
• Massive buildings and structures that once were a testimony to their architect have long since been torn down.
• Fortunes built through enterprise blown by future generations.

Or think about this, it is especially relevant in our current culture.
• Men who history remembered as great men, and how easily that history can be rewritten to see those great men as evil.
• Did you ever think you’d live to see the day when George Washington or Thomas Jefferson or even Abraham Lincoln would be considered racist?
• Did you ever think you’d live to see the day when Mt. Rushmore was under attack?

Even a legacy is not safe.
• I don’t care how wise you are.
• I don’t care how much you accomplish.
• I don’t care how much good you think you are doing.

YOU CANNOT PROTECT IT.
Because you will die and you will be forgotten.

The history of this church
• Shows 24 men served here as Pastor before me,
• And if you can name 10 that means you’ve probably been here your whole life.
• Men who served God’s people in this church and they are forgotten.
• Someday my name will move up that list into oblivion as well.

And as the Preacher contemplated that
It broke his spirit and he cried, “Why…?”

WHAT’S THE POINT?

So the preacher figured out that wisdom is indeed better than folly,
But the sad part is that it’s not enough better
To keep you from death or from being forgotten.

Does that hit you sort of sideways?
• Were you under the impression that all your studies and wisdom and labor were worth more than that?

It crushed the Preacher.

His Epiphany, His Enigma
#3 HIS EMOTION
Ecclesiastes 2:17-21

It just threw him into a pit didn’t it?
• (17) “So I hated life…”
• (18) “Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor…”
• (20) “Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor…”

• All of a sudden he hated his education.
• All of a sudden he hated all his work.
• All of a sudden he hated all his accomplishments.

THERE WAS NO BENEFIT TO THEM.
At the end he was still no better off than the lazy, foolish, drunken bum.

They all ended up the same place – DEATH & OBLIVION.

(17) “So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.”

That is a pretty good pit he just fell into wasn’t it?

REMEMBER THAT
He is here talking about all that “which had been done under the sun”

Remember the differing perspectives.
• There is under the sun and there is above the sun
• There is under heaven and there is in heaven

And when he talks about
All the labors and dreams and ambitions and efforts DONE IN THIS LIFE
He realized that “everything is futility and striving after wind.”

THINK ABOUT IT.
• Can anything you do here cause you to skip death?
• Can anything you do here guarantee you’ll be remembered?

• How many of you know the name of your great-great grandfather?
See how fleeting it all is?

And HE’S NOT DONE lamenting, not by a long shot.
There’s more to hear that we’ll talk about next time.

But this morning it is enough that
You understand the truth about your earthly existence.

As you know we take our high school students to Glorieta, NM for Camp REGEN every year.

Well we recently found out that this year’s theme passage is
Psalms 90:12.

Psalms 90:12 “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

Psalms 90 was written by Moses and in that Psalm he contemplates
• The temporary nature of human life,

But then he says:
Psalms 90:3-6 “You turn man back into dust And say, “Return, O children of men.” For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away.”

Do you hear Moses talk about how transient and fragile life is?
He compares us to grass.

And so he says “teach us to number our days”.
That is to say: give us some perspective here.

Well that is what the Preacher just poured out on your head.
He just dumped out a 5 gallon bucket of perspective on us.
• You are the hamster in the wheel…
• You are the goldfish in the bowl…
• There is a real temporariness to our lives…

• Sure wisdom has value, this life will be better for you if you live it wisely
instead of foolishly…
• Sure knowledge and hard work and morality are virtuous things that can
make this life better…

Basic wisdom and proverbs says that the hard working humble wise man
Is going to have a better life than the lazy stubborn fool.

We are not discounting that.

You clean your house and wash your clothes,
Not because it will last forever,
But because it makes today more enjoyable.

There is truth there.

But what has the preacher frustrated is that none of it lasts.
• It’s all temporary.
• None of it can stop death.
• None of it can preserve your legacy.

Regardless of what you do on this earth,
You will die, and this earth will forget you.

Genesis 3:19b “For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

THAT’S THE TRUTH.

And as I said the preacher has much more to talk about here,
But we always want to end with a gospel perspective as well.

The problem explained here by the Preacher
Is a problem that is solved in Jesus.

The Preacher looked at the wise and the foolish and lamented that they shared the same fate:
• (14b) “And yet I know that one fate befalls them both.”
• (15) “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me.”
• (16) “And how the wise man and the fool alike die.”

That was his enigma, his mystery, his riddle.
Namely that the fool and the wise man both die.

But when we listen to Jesus, we have the solution to the problem.

In fact Jesus took the story a little further.

TURN TO: MATTHEW 7:24-27

There we see our two men again.
• We see the wise man.
• And we see the fool.

• Both men built houses, both men lived life.
• Both men faced death.

That’s what the storm is there, it’s death.
Death came for the wise man and the fool just like the Preacher said.

However, we learn from Jesus that one man survived the storm.
It was the wise man.

But it wasn’t because he had great knowledge,
But rather that he had obedience and faith.

Here we see the wise man who heard the words of Jesus
AND acted on them.

He built on the rock, who incidentally is Christ.

The true wise man
• Wasn’t wise in worldly wisdom or secular knowledge.
• Wasn’t trying to avoid death, but was preparing for it.

The true wise man believed that Jesus had the answer for death
And so he tied his life to Christ

He built his house on the only thing
That was going to survive the coming storm.

If wisdom for you is a means to a good life and a lasting legacy
I’m sorry to disappoint you, it will do neither.

But if you will embrace the wisdom that leads to Christ
Then there is life found on the other side of death
And your legacy is the glory of Christ.

Download Here:

He Is The Lord Our God – Part 2
Psalms 105 (16-45)
May 9, 2021

Last Sunday night we began looking at this great 105th Psalm of David.

It is the final Psalm in a trilogy of pure praise
In which David commands his soul to “Bless the LORD”

Each of these Psalms shares some common distinctions.

1) They are nothing but praise
• No complaints
• No requests
• No contextual indicators
• Just praise

2) They focus on something God has done as deserving of praise
• 103 – personal redemption (David looked inwardly)
• 104 – majesty of creation (David looked outwardly)
• 105 – God’s work on behalf of Israel (David looks historically)

3) They share a common method to motivate the soul to worship
• REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE

Psalms 103:2 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;”

Psalms 105:5-6 “Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth, O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!”

We have actually even talked about that forgetfulness is a sin.
We are called to never forget what God has done for us.
• If that means a rock pile, then pile up rocks
• If that means a journal, then start writing
• If that means a string on your finger, then put it there

But remember.
Count your many blessings.

And the simple reality is that
As you begin to recount God’s goodness in your life,
It is a natural motivation for the soul to begin to bless God.

When you remember that
• He has not treated you as you deserve,
• That He has forgiven all your sin, and healed all your spiritual diseases,
• That He has redeemed your life from the pit –
Then your soul should be motivated to bless God.

When you remember that
• He has created you, and the world around you,
• That He has provided for and sustained creation and your life forever
Then your soul should be motivated to bless God.

And here in Psalms 105, when you remember
• All that God has done throughout history for His elect,
Then again your soul should be motivated to bless God.

And that is actually where David began Psalms 105.

He doesn’t say to bless God specifically in this Psalm,
But he does spell out for us the things a soul does
When it seeks to bless God.

We saw it last time, we called it God’s Expectation
#1 GOD’S EXPECTATION
Psalms 105:1-7

We won’t spend time commenting on them again,
But you hopefully remember that David gave 8 expectations
That God has for His elect.

• Gratitude – (1) “Oh give thanks to the LORD”
• Trust – (1) “call upon His name”
• Evangelism – (1) “Make known His deeds among the peoples”
• Praise – (2) “Sing to Him, sing praises to Him”
• Meditation (2) “Speak of all His wonders”
• Boasting – (3) “Glory in His holy name”
• Satisfaction – (3) “be glad”
• Dependence – (4) “Seek…His strength”

These are a detailed picture of what a soul seeking to bless God does.

And David outlined them specifically for God’s elect.
• For (6) the “seed of Abraham” the “sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!”

Those who have experienced
The unfathomable grace of God to be chosen for salvation
Should most certainly be motivated to bless and be a blessing to God.

THAT IS GOD’S EXPECTATION

And after that sort of prologue, as he did in 103 and 104,
David began to recount and list the great benefits of God
That should motivate such a response from us.

There’s actually 4 benefits of God that David focuses on here in Psalm 105
We saw the first one last week.

It was our second point to the Psalm.
#2 GOD’S LOYALTY
Psalms 105:8-15

You of course remember that loyalty is different than faithfulness.
• Faithfulness speaks of one who keeps his promises.
• Loyalty speaks of the preference to continue to making those promises.

And God’s loyalty had been obvious to Israel.
• In His selection of Abraham
• In His selection of Isaac
• In His selection of Jacob

None of those men deserved the promises God chose to make to them,
But God made them anyway.

We even saw how God supernaturally protected Abraham and Isaac from the attacks of foreign kings.

And we looked at that marvelous story when Abraham’s servant was sent to find a wife for Isaac. How that man asked God to continue to show loyalty to Abraham and how God did, and how that servant praised Him for it.

The simple fact is that when you look back through history,
It is obvious that God has shown a special loyalty to His elect;
To those whom He has chosen.

And today we in the church enjoy that loyalty.

Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

It is a great reminder and a great reason for your soul to bless God.
• God is for you
• God is loyal to you
• God will not forsake you
• God will not send you away
• You are His, and He is yours.

It is a tremendous reason for your soul to bless God.

Well that’s where we ended last week, so let’s pick up now and see the other reasons David lists.
#3 GOD’S PROVIDENCE
Psalms 105:16-24

The flow of Genesis continues in these Psalms
• Psalms 104 gave us creation
• Psalms 105 first gave us election and loyalty

And now it follows the Genesis account and speaks of God’s providence.

Genesis cleanly breaks into these divisions.
• Genesis 1-11 take us through creation and the separation of the peoples
• Genesis 12-36 takes us through the election of Israel
• Genesis 37-50 shows us the providence of God toward Israel

Genesis 37 is where the Joseph story begins.

Hopefully you remember from our study of Genesis
What is the purpose of those final 14 chapters.

The temptation of most is to see Joseph
As sort of the 4th patriarch in the story, but that is not true.

Joseph is not the 4th patriarch, Judah is.
• Even at the end of Genesis it is Judah who is given the Messianic promise.
• It is from Judah that Jesus Christ will come who is to be God’s King.

Joseph becomes a focal point in Genesis
Because God uses Joseph to save Judah, and by saving Judah,
The lineage of Christ is preserved.

So the Joseph story is all about providence.

You remember the great culminating explanation.
Genesis 45:4-15 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. “Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. “Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. “You shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. “There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished.”‘ “Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you. “Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.”

There we receive one of those rare “Ah-Ha!” moments in history.
The purpose of Joseph’s suffering was actually revealed to him.

• God sent him to Egypt to preserve the line of Judah.
• God also sent him to Egypt because Egypt would be the sort of incubator that would allow Israel to grow into a people as numerous as the sand of the sea shore.

This is providence.

And that is what David brings to light here.

(16-22) “And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him. The king sent and released him, The ruler of peoples, and set him free. He made him lord of his house And ruler over all his possessions, To imprison his princes at will, That he might teach his elders wisdom.”

It is certainly an interesting note that
God is the One who “called for a famine upon the land;”

• The God we saw as the sustainer and provider of all things in Psalms 104
• Here becomes the God who also deprives the land of His supply
• In order to accomplish His purposes.

We understand that about God.
• He is undoubtedly the sovereign provider of all creation and He is good at it.
• If He withholds that provision it is not because He is somehow failing,
• But it is because to do so fits His eternal redemptive purpose.

Beyond that, even in His famine He did not break His loyalty to Israel.

It’s not like Jacob’s family was the only family living in Canaan during the famine, but Jacob’s family was the family God cared for.

We also recognize that while Joseph ended up on the throne, he began in “fetters”.

David said, “They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him.”

That is a unique perspective on Joseph’s affliction.
• God had promised him that his brothers would come and bow down to him.
• But before that happened Joseph became the lowest of all, even a slave.

And the phrase David used was that
“The word of the LORD tested him.”

It DOESN’T SAY Joseph tested God’s word,
It says God’s word tested Joseph.

God gave a promise and then delayed in its fulfillment
In order to prove the heart of Joseph.

Let that sink in as you walk with God.

God’s promises never fail, genuine faith believes that
Even when it looks like there is no way they can possibly ever come true.

But what you see here is that
• This God who had pronounced so many promises to Israel
• And who had shown such loyalty to Abraham
• All of a sudden placed them in a massive bind.

It sort of reminds of Jesus purposely putting His disciples on that boat,
Calling for a storm, and then going to sleep.

Throughout the trial the loyalty of God never waivered.
He was always for them.

And eventually God’s purpose came to light.
God was using the famine and Joseph to save Israel.

(23-24) “Israel also came into Egypt; Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And He caused His people to be very fruitful, And made them stronger than their adversaries.”

There we see why God sent them to Egypt.

In Canaan they were merely “The Hebrews”

• Remember that was sort of a derogatory term they had hung around the neck
of Abraham. It meant “One who crosses over”
• He was a river jumper
• He was a “wet back”
• He was an illegal alien

In Canaan the family of Jacob was unfruitful and unprotected.

God providentially designed to send them into Egypt
Where they would be protected and be given a chance
To grow into a mighty nation; which they did.

It was the providence of God to fulfill His plan for Israel.

And the beauty is, He did it in spite of them.
None of that plan hinged really on Jacob or Joseph or Judah at all.

It’s not like God told Jacob, “Now listen, you’d better figure out a way to start reproducing and multiplying your offspring.”

No, God did it all for them.
He worked it out.

And through that, God provided a Savior
Who would not only save Israel, but who would also save us all.

THE CHURCH,
• Like Israel, may have started small and seemingly insignificant,
• But as God’s chosen people, He has also providentially grown His church.

Matthew 13:31-32 “He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES.”

That sounds just like what God did for Israel.
They entered Egypt 70 in number and came out like the stars of heaven.

1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.”

Don’t you love that God is at work to save His people and grow His church?
• We are certainly thankful to join Him in this work through preaching the gospel,
• But we rest in knowing that it is God who is providentially growing His church.

And of course in the end we see the full effects of God’s providential work
To save the people He has chosen.

Revelation 5:8-10 “When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Revelation 7:9-10 “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

I absolutely love that.
The end is set.

God told Abraham
• That his descendants would be like the sand on the seashore.
• To Abraham who was old with a barren wife, that must have seemed impossible.
• But God through His loyalty and providence did just that.

And now God has told us that in heaven
There will be a multitude which cannot be counted
From every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues.

At times it might seem impossible,
But our loyal God through His providence
Most certainly will accomplish His purposes.

Certainly our soul is motivated to bless Him for that.

God’s Expectation, God’s Loyalty, God’s Providence
#4 GOD’S DELIVERANCE
Psalms 105:25-36

Here we move beyond the Genesis account
And have now entered the book of Exodus.

Exodus is where God took the people He had chosen and redeemed them.
• He saved them from the pit
• He rescued them from slavery
• He atoned for them and baptized them
• He led them to the land of promise

And again it begins in a way that perhaps we would find surprising.

The story of Israel redemption begins with
A story of how God caused them to be hated.

(25) “He turned their heart to hate His people, To deal craftily with His servants.”

Does that surprise you that the motivation behind Egypt’s hatred of Israel was God?
• Why would God do that?
• Why would God cause His people to be hated?

Well even in our day we understand how God uses things like persecution
To purify His people, to bring revival, and even to grow His church.

But in Exodus the reason is actually given to us.
God caused His people to be hated
So that God might put on display His mighty saving arm.

Paul made this clear to us.
Romans 9:17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.”

God made Pharaoh stubborn and obstinate and angry at Israel
So that God might show His great might and power.

Paul also tells us that God does these things
To demonstrate again His great loyalty to those whom He has chosen.

Romans 9:22-24 “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”

Paul says God also does that so that He can save
And show His great mercy on those He has called.

Well God clearly did that in Exodus.
He turned the Egyptians against Israel.

But God also raised up a deliverer.
(26-36) “He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron, whom He had chosen. They performed His wondrous acts among them, And miracles in the land of Ham. He sent darkness and made it dark; And they did not rebel against His words. He turned their waters into blood And caused their fish to die. Their land swarmed with frogs Even in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and there came a swarm of flies And gnats in all their territory. He gave them hail for rain, And flaming fire in their land. He struck down their vines also and their fig trees, And shattered the trees of their territory. He spoke, and locusts came, And young locusts, even without number, And ate up all vegetation in their land, And ate up the fruit of their ground. He also struck down all the firstborn in their land, The first fruits of all their vigor.”

You remember the plagues right?
• It was God’s way of demonstrating His mighty power both to Egypt and to Israel.
• In those plagues God targeted specifically the Egyptian gods and made fools out of them.
• Their gods that were supposed to protect the crops or who were supposed to protect the Nile or the famous Ra the sun god, or even Pharaoh who was considered god incarnate.
• God humiliated them all with His plagues.
• He gave a definitive statement to the word that He alone can save.

God showed Himself alone to be the deliverer.

And for years following that event Israel would gather every spring
To perform the same ceremony of remembrance.

They called it the Passover.
• They would eat again that unleavened bread
• They would eat again that roasted lamb
• They would eat again those bitter herbs

And they would remember how God delivered them
From the iron furnace of Egypt with a mighty hand.

Well, of course, you know we enjoy that too.
• Only on the night before He died,
• Jesus gathered His disciples to take the Passover
• He said from now on when you do this, don’t do it thinking about Egypt; “do this in remembrance of Me.”

We now are people who have experienced His deliverance.
• He has saved us.
• He has redeemed us.

Not from Egypt, but from our real enemy; sin and death.
He has saved us from that which truly bound us and would kill us.

We all have eaten of that Passover when we trusted in Christ.

And so we, with David and with Israel,
Most certainly are motivated fulfill God’s expectation
And bless Him as He deserves.

#5 GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
Psalms 105:37-44

And after the great deliverance from Egypt
We see the mighty faithfulness of God
As He led them through the wilderness.

(37) “Then He brought them out with silver and gold, and among His tribes there was not one who stumbled.”

This is another one of those areas where Hollywood does us no favors.
• You’ve all seen “The Ten Commandments” with Charlton Heston and all those people leaving Egypt.
• Some were really old
• Some were on canes and stuff like that.

NOT SO.
• They left Egypt rich and they left Egypt fleet of foot.
• “there was not one who stumbled”

God didn’t start them out on their journey as cripples.

And God delivered with a mighty hand.
(38-41) “Egypt was glad when they departed, For the dread of them had fallen upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to illumine by night. They asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock and water flowed out; It ran in the dry places like a river.”

David reminds of the remarkable and supernatural provision of God
For those people in the wilderness.

• The sun in the desert is brutal, so God provided a cloud.
• The night in the desert is freezing and dark, so God provided fire in the heavens.
• Food is scarce, so God sent quail and rained bread from heaven
• Water is even scarcer, so God “opened the rock”

It is the supernatural provision of God to care for His people.

But the real point of David here is not just that God cared for them,
But WHY GOD CARED FOR THEM.

(42-44) “For He remembered His holy word With Abraham His servant; And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout. He gave them also the lands of the nations, That they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor,”

God was being faithful to His word.
• This isn’t loyalty, this is faithfulness.
• God took care of these people because He promised He would.

Remember that promise?
Genesis 15:12-16 “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

God promised and God keeps His promises.
HE IS FAITHFUL.

And in order to keep His word “He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with joyful shout. He gave them also the lands of the nations, that they might take possession of the fruit of people’s labor”

• Not only did those people receive God’s provision in the wilderness,
• But when they finally did enter the land,
• They ate crops they didn’t plant and used vineyards they hadn’t worked.

God was faithful.

Now you understand that as well.

We also understand those wilderness wanderings.
• We have eaten the bread from heaven too, that is Christ.
• We also have drank living water from the rock, who is also Christ.
• We also have received an inheritance which we have not earned, and which we have not worked for.

God is faithful to us as well.

And these are the benefits that David wants Israel to contemplate.
• Can you see how loyal God has been to you?
• Can you see God’s providence in your life?
• Can you see God’s deliverance and salvation?
• Can you see God’s faithfulness to keep His promises?

All of these things are the things David lists
As the things that should cause your soul to bless God.

So let me give you the final point David makes.
#6 GOD’S EXPECTATION
Psalms 105:45

Yes, point 1 and point 5 are the same.
They are both “God’s Expectation”

That is where this Psalm begins and where it ends.

In the beginning we saw the expectations of:
• Gratitude
• Trust
• Evangelism
• Praise
• Meditation
• Boasting
• Enjoyment
• Dependence

And clearly all of those things are deserved.

But as David closes the Psalm he adds one more expectation to the list.

“So that they might keep His statutes And observe His laws, Praise the LORD!”

David adds a 9th expectation.
OBEDIENCE

A soul that wishes to bless God
Is most certainly an obedient soul.

There is no scenario in which a believer can claim a heart of blessing
If that heart is walking in rebellion.

Jesus said it far too clearly.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

John 14:31 “but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.”

The apostle John certainly picked upon the gist of the sermon, for in his first epistle, he wrote:
1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”

• We DON’T obey God because we’re trying to appease Him.
• We DON’T obey God because we’re trying to earn His favor.
• We obey God because we desire to bless Him.
• We obey God because we love Him.

And certainly God deserves this.

• Based on His mercy and grace to save us personally…
• Based on His majestic power to create and sustain this world…
• Based on His loyalty, providence, deliverance, and faithfulness to us as the church…

Then most certainly God deserves
To be blessed from our innermost being.

• He deserves gratitude
• He deserves trust
• He deserves evangelism
• He deserves praise
• He deserves meditation
• He deserves boasting
• He deserves enjoyment
• He deserves dependence

(1-4) “Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.”

And He also deserves our obedience.
(45) “So that they might keep His statutes And observe His laws, Praise the LORD!”

And we’ll just close tonight
Allowing you to do a little inventory on your own heart.

• Are you walking in obedience to God?
• Is your soul blessing Him?

IF NOT, YOU KNOW THE EXERCISE,
Spend time remembering what He has done
And then respond appropriately.

Download Here:

The Futility of Pleasure
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
May 9, 2021

I realize that there probably aren’t any other churches in the world this morning who are celebrating Mother’s Day while studying Ecclesiastes, but I’ll have to admit I’m totally intrigued and can’t bring myself to go anywhere else right now.

So, we’ll just wish all of our moms a Happy Mother’s Day
And honor them by preaching a message this morning
That godly moms have been preaching for years.

Perhaps there is no other person in our lives who shapes and molds our moral DNA like our mothers.
• She, more than anyone else is the one who cares about our manners and our behavior and our morality.
• She certainly probably prays about those things more than anyone else.

And every boy who grew up with a godly mother also knows that
Moms can do their fair share of preaching too.

• They will warn a young man about the dangers and temptations of life.
• They will correct a young man regarding his choices and the benefits of them.

So while Ecclesiastes may not be the obvious choice for Mother’s Day
I think I can accurately say that it is a fitting choice
Because godly moms have been preaching the message of Ecclesiastes
For years whether they realized it or not.

As you know we are now listening to “The Preacher”
And he is talking to the young man about life.

And he has started the book EXPOSING THE FALSE ALLUREMENTS
That life will often flash before the young man or woman.

In this way, last week, we referred to him as “The Critic”.
• He is the guy at the bottom of the Amazon page giving you the accurate
review of this new shiny product that the advertiser has assured you that you can’t live without.

Only the preacher isn’t talking about some tool or gadget,
The preacher here is giving you an HONEST REVIEW REGARDING LIFE.
• He has heard every sales pitch…
• He has listened to every gimmick…
• He has watched all the infomercials…
• And most of it he has bought and tried…

Now he is saving you the time and the heartache
By telling you what things aren’t as advertised.

LAST WEEK he began by revealing the truth about KNOWLEDGE.
• He actually said he sought out wisdom.
• What he spoke of was earthly wisdom, better known as philosophy.

Why did he seek it out?
• Because he thought he would find fulfillment there.
• Perhaps he was even told he would find fulfillment there.

WE SAID that knowledge was a great place for the preacher to start
Because often times it is the first promise handed out to the young man
As he is about to embark on life.

• The chief question often peddled to young people about to graduate high
school is: “Where are you going to go to college?”

• There is a sense in which this world thinks that the secret to happiness and
fulfillment and the satisfied life at least begins with a quest for knowledge.

• And sadly, many a young person is actually promised that if they will simply
obtain knowledge than they can have the successful life.

The Preacher gave his critique of that promise and called it “Fools Gold”.
It wasn’t true.

That’s NOT TO SAY knowledge is bad; certainly it isn’t.
Scripture affirms that you should get knowledge.

• But knowledge as the end goal
• Or knowledge as the sole pursuit
• Or knowledge even as the means to a fulfilling life
IS A LIE.

There IS a wisdom that brings fulfillment
But you won’t find it in the library or lecture hall of any university.

The only wisdom that brings any fulfillment in life
Is the wisdom that comes through Jesus Christ.

It is a wisdom that FULFILLS
• Because it reveals to us the glorious love God has for us,
It is a wisdom that SAVES
• Because it teaches sinful men how to be justified before God.

If you spend your life seeking the world’s wisdom
But never obtain God’s wisdom
You have successfully wasted your life.

• What benefit could it possibly be to know all this world has to offer but to still go to hell at the end?

So the preacher grabbed the young man and told him that
Worldly wisdom by itself is like striving after the wind.

Well as we begin chapter 2 we move on to the next area of Fool’s Gold
And that is PLEASURE

I think it is fairly safe to say that if you could list and rank all of the false promises of fulfillment that are tossed at young people.

• We could say that the most offered promise to young people is the promise
that knowledge brings satisfaction. I think that is probably the most offered.
• But if you wanted to say what is the most tried promise by young people then
we would say it is that pleasure brings satisfaction.

We’ve all seen it in the stereotype of the modern day college student.
• Many a student enrolled in college under the guise of getting an education,
• But what they were really after was the wild and raucous pleasure seeking life of the college student.

That is to say, some go to college for an education,
Some go to have a good time.

Well that certainly again makes the warning of the preacher so relevant,
For not only did he at one point give himself to knowledge,
But he also gave himself to pleasure.

This morning we examine his review or critique of that search.

We can break down this text into 4 points this morning.
#1 THE PURSUIT HE MADE
Ecclesiastes 2:1-2

Here we get the announcement and the immediate review of his search.

It sort of reads again like the title of his review.

“I said to myself…”

And I want to remind you that what we are talking about here is
A decision in the inner man, a decision of the heart.
• The KJV reads, “I said in mine heart…”
• These quests he’s talking about were not half-hearted searches.
• When he went in, he went all in.

After pursuing knowledge he then shifted to go after pleasure.

“I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”

That is sort of the title of this review.
• I sought pleasure.
• I wanted to laugh
• I wanted to feel good
• I did it, I tried it, I experienced it, and there was no value in it.

THAT IS THE TITLE OF HIS REVIEW.

What he is talking about here is a very common modern day mindset.
Philosophy actually has a name for this mindset.
It is called HEDONISM

Hedonism basically states that: “The meaning of life is found
Through acquiring pleasure and avoiding pain.”

That is the secret to happiness.
Store up as much pleasure as you can and avoid painful things.

The sort of chant or creed of hedonism would be:
“If it feels good, it is good” or “If it feels good, do it”

This is certainly the cry of our culture.
• Advertising actually runs on that premise.
• “Have it your way” or “Just do it”
• Many a young man or young woman have been lured into drinking or drugs or sex under the promise of how good it will make them feel.

I was in my mom’s store a couple of weeks ago and watched a young woman decide to buy a leather jacket and her statement was about how good she felt now and how she knew that now she was going to have such a good day.

We all understand that.

But LISTEN CAREFULLY here so that we don’t get our wires crossed.

Just as we said with knowledge, we say again with pleasure.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH PLEASURE.
Pleasure is not intrinsically evil.

When the God of the universe created you,
He did so with a nervous system and with emotions and with feelings.

If God had no intention of you ever feeling any kind of euphoria
Then He would not have created you with the capacity to experience it.
Pleasure is not intrinsically evil or wrong.

Some religious zealots have actually gone way too far the other direction with this thought thinking that to enjoy anything in this world is a sin.

Some even ascribe to things like self-abasement and self-flagellation
And things like that thinking that feeling good would be bad.

NOT SO
• God gave you life and He gave it to you with the ability to have pleasure.
• And when the God of creation gives you things that are pleasurable you do not have to feel guilty about it.
• You should enjoy it.

Two Sunday nights ago we studied Psalms 104 about the glory and majesty of God who created and sustains all things.

Some of you may remember that we read:
Psalms 104:14-15 “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart.”

You can’t just pluck such verses out of the Bible.
Pleasure is not necessarily wrong or evil.

HOWEVER: THE SOLE PURSUIT OF PLEASURE
AS THE SOURCE OF SATISFACTION WILL GET YOU IN TROUBLE.

And that is what the preacher did here.
• Like he had done earlier with knowledge, now he has done with pleasure.
• He has given himself over to hedonism.

This mentality will fail you every time.

The Pursuit He Made
#2 THE PLEASURES HE TRIED
Ecclesiastes 2:3-8

Here he gives you his list.

He wanted pleasure as the purpose and satisfaction of life;
Well, what pleasures did he pursue?

You can see 4 of them here.
1) WINE (3)

(3) “I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.”

Again the POINT here is NOT
• That he drank a glass of wine.
• It’s actually not even that perhaps he got drunk a couple of times.

But here the picture is that he gave himself over to alcohol
To find his happiness there.

Again, the KJV says, “I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine.”

We don’t have to have the whole alcohol debate here.
• Jesus turned water into wine.
• Jesus drank wine.
• Paul told Timothy to add a little wine to his water.

And you can dance and spin all you want to call it grape juice or highly diluted or whatever, but if you want to be accurate to the text, it will never fly.
The Bible speaks of people drinking wine.

You also know that the Bible unequivocally condemns drunkenness
And our culture is filled with examples of ruined lives and broken homes
Due to the devastating effects of alcoholism.

Proverbs 23:29-35 “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things. And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast. “They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.”

The issue isn’t wine, it’s lingering long there.
You know this.

But the even bigger issue here in verse 3 is that
Wine became for this man the means through which
He would find true happiness in life.

He wanted to understand the attraction to “folly”
He wanted to understand the attraction to drunkenness

It’s a peculiar attraction isn’t it?
• We see and hear people boast about the joys of getting drunk.
• We see and hear people boast about the stupid and even painful things other drunks do.
• And often times those stories are told as if they were the greatest and most fun moments of their entire lives.

Well, the preacher heard those stories as a young man
And he decided to jump in with both feet
To find all the happiness he could there.

He wanted to “take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.”

He decided to drink it up!

But that wasn’t all he tried.
2) WORKS (4-6)

(4-6) “I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself; I made gardens and parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees.”

Here he determined that happiness would be found in building something that lasts.
• He was going to accomplish great projects.
• He was going to build bridges and build parks and build reservoirs, etc.

Now it may seem strange
To link wine and works back to back like this under the same heading,
Because we perceive one of these things to be immoral
And the other we perceive to be noble,
BUT IN MANY WAYS THEY ARE THE SAME.

They both represent a man who is trying
To squeeze fulfillment and happiness out of life.

For a while he tried to find it in the bottle
And then he tried to find it in corporate America

But it’s the same guy.

There was a good feeling from WINE
And there was a good feeling from ACCOMPLISHMENT.

Both made him feel good and so that’s what he pursued.

And that’s not all.
3) WEALTH (7-8a)

(7-8a) “I bought male and female slaves and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces.”

Then he got rich.
Because money makes you happy right?
• He just bought everything he wanted.
• He just built the life of extravagance.

Like that guy in Jesus’ parable
Who had full barns so he tore them down and built bigger barns
So that he could just enjoy and be at ease the rest of his life.

Surely wealth was going to bring his sole the satisfaction he wanted.

But, like the first 2, it didn’t and so he moved on.
4) WOMEN (8b)

(8b) “I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men – many concubines.”

Next it is simply a search for SENSUAL PLEASURE.
Women to sing and dance and sleep with.

And we could spent a lot of time addressing all the passages in the Bible
About the dangers and consequences of sexual immorality.

Indeed WE COULD talk about the judgment of God on all these things.
• Drunkenness
• Pride
• Greed
• Sexual Immorality

We could talk about God’s judgment on all those things,
And the preacher will a little later.

But his point here is not that God judges those things,
But rather that those things never live up to what they promise.

And this is something that you should know.
Every young person should write this down in all caps.

SIN CAN NEVER BRING HAPPINESS

God won’t allow it.
The God who created you will not allow sin to bring happiness to your.

BUT…
Sin CAN bring pleasure…for a season.

Why else do you sin if it isn’t fun?
• That is in fact the lie we deal with when we are tempted.
• We believe that fun is found on the other side of sin, and we believe that if we don’t sin we won’t have fun.
• We actually link fun with sin because in our fallen mindset we think we can’t have fun without it.

And for a season sin does bring pleasure.

Proverbs 9:17-18 “Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Proverbs 20:17 “Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.”

How many drunks ever found pleasure in the bottle?
• (All of them, but they never find happiness there)

How many workaholics ever found pleasure in their work?
• (All of them, but they never find happiness there)

How many people ever found pleasure in shopping or money?
• (All of them, but they never find happiness there)

How many men ever found pleasure in sexual immorality or pornography?
• (All of them, but they never find happiness there)

And this is where pleasure leads us astray.
IT CANNOT SATISFY.

And that is what the preacher wants you to understand.
It will leave you just as empty as when you started.

In fact, it MAY LEAVE YOU EMPTIER
Because of the collateral damage you’ll do to those you love.

The Pursuit He Made, The Pleasures He Tried
#3 THE POSITION HE ATTAINED
Ecclesiastes 2:9-10

His point here to the younger man is that
When he pursued this life of pleasure, HE WENT ALL OUT.
He is eliminating the excuse that he just didn’t give it a chance.

HE’S NOT a teenage kid who went out one night, got drunk, woke up the next morning sick and said, “I’m never doing that again.”

Someone might well come up to that kid and say, “You didn’t try it enough, here try this and I’ll show you a good time.”

This guy was no light weight participant.
He went further after pleasure than anyone.

(9-10) “Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor.”

Did you catch that?
“I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure…”

RC Sproul was discussing this concept and talked about the old movie “Animal House” which was basically a movie about the wild and sinful fraternity life of a college student.

It was quite literally a picture of
A person killing themselves to have fun or pleasure.

This is what the preacher pursued.
You can’t talk about any pleasure that he didn’t try and try fully.
• You want to talk about drinking, he drank it all.
• You want to talk about accomplishments, he built it all.
• You want to talk about possessions, he made money and bought it all.
• You want to talk about women, he gave himself to it and experienced it all.

This guy is a QUALIFIED EXPERT to give a review on the life of pleasure.

You see that.

Well, let’s get to his conclusion.

The Pursuit He Made, The Pleasures He Tried, The Position He Attained
#4 THE PROFIT HE GAINED
Ecclesiastes 2:11

There it is.
“behold all is vanity and striving after wind and there is no profit under the sun.”

The promise of pleasure as the meaning of life was an empty promise.
• It brought no satisfaction.
• It brought no fulfillment.
• It was like grabbing smoke.
• It was like chasing wind.

There was “no profit” in it.
There was no advantage to it.
He left him just as empty as when he started.

I told you that the philosophical term for seeking a life of pleasure
Is called Hedonism.

Well in philosophy there is also a reality called:
THE HEDONISTIC PARADOX

The Hedonistic Paradox states this:
• If you seek pleasure and it alludes you, you are doomed to a life of frustration.
• If you seek pleasure and you find it, you are doomed to a life of boredom.

So even the philosopher realized that in pursuing pleasure
You are doomed to either a life of frustration or a life of boredom.

Can you not see that in our world?
• We see those who live life frustrated in sort of an unfulfilled covetous state where they are upset because they can’t have the pleasures they seek.
• But we also see those whose lives are filled with pleasure and success who also seem to never get enough.

THERE IS NO SATISFACTION.

And that is what the preacher said.
• Listen young man, you’re going to turn on the television and see a beer
commercial and it’s going to show you physically fit models drinking bear in
bathing suits and it’s going to look like the best life imaginable…

• Listen young man, you’re going to hear your buddies in the break room talk
about how much fun they had at the bar chasing women…

• Listen young man, you’re going to see the advertisements of wealth…

And this world is going to tell you that this is where satisfaction is found.
IT’S A LIE!

Even without discussing the ramifications of eternal judgment,
I’m here to tell you that even in this life it will not satisfy.

And so that’s review #2 from the preacher.
1. Don’t let someone tell you that knowledge and education is the secret to the fulfilling life.
2. Don’t let someone tell you that pleasure is the secret to the fulfilling life.

Both are false advertising.
Both are fool’s gold.
Both are merely a vapor and a mirage.
That’s the truth young man.

Pleasure will not satisfy, but there is One who does.

TURN TO: JOHN 4:1-10

Now, we don’t have to go into great detail about this story for it is a familiar one, but it is suffice to say that we have here a woman who has chased pleasure and come up empty.
• You know all the stories about here:
• Gathering water in the heat of day…
• Married 5 times and now living with a man…
• The life of pleasure alluded her.

I want you to SEE WHAT JESUS OFFERS THIS WOMAN
Who bought the hedonistic lie that pleasure brings happiness.

(READ JOHN 4:1-10)

Did you hear Him?
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

There is a simple analogy there.
Namely that living (flowing) water is better than dead (stagnant) water.

Jeremiah used a similar analogy to describe the difference between seeking God and seeking false gods.
Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”

• Obviously a fresh flowing spring is preferred over an old cracked cistern.

That’s the same analogy Jesus is making to this woman.

But His analogy isn’t so much to idolatry
(though here worldliness is clearly an idol),
Jesus is talking about the difference between
Seeking happiness through pleasure, or seeking it in Him.

Seeking pleasure is an old stagnant pool.
Seeking Christ is a fountain of living water.
That’s the analogy.

John 7:37-39 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

There it is again.
• Only Jesus satisfies because only Jesus can put inside of you that which brings satisfaction; namely His Holy Spirit.

Jesus is merely confirming the promise of another prophet; Isaiah.
Isaiah 55:1-2 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.”

You hear that same promise and plea don’t you?
• That’s the plea of the preacher here in Ecclesiastes.
• That is certainly the plea and the offer of Jesus.

Jesus promises satisfaction over this world.
You are familiar with the parable of the treasure in the field or the pearl of great value.

• In both of those parables Jesus reveals a treasure so valuable and so fulfilling
that if you could catch a glimpse of its worth you would part ways with every
earthly treasure to obtain it.

That is the kingdom of heaven.
That is true fulfillment.
Only in Christ, not in pleasure.

In Philippians Paul spoke of finding this same fulfillment.
Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

• There is Paul’s testimony (just like the preacher in Ecclesiastes).
• I tried it all, I experienced it all, and when I perceived Christ I gladly let it all go!
• Christ satisfied like this world never could.

Listen to the testimony of Moses.
Hebrews 11:24-26 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

• Moses had it all in Egypt, but it was so empty he chose slavery with Christ as a
greater reward.

Listen to them young man, they are showing you the path to walk.
Fulfillment is not found in seeking a life of pleasure, only in Christ.

One more text I want to show you and we’ll end with it.
(There is not enough time for these messages, my goodness the book of Ecclesiastes hits the nail on the head)

TURN TO: PSALMS 73

Again, many of you are familiar and we don’t have to work all through it.
• Basically you have Asaph who was captivated by the world (1-2)
• He saw their pleasure and their comfort (3-9)
• He saw their abundance and even their godlessness (10-12)
• And he decided that by not seeking that life he made a mistake (13-14)

He was buying the lie.
The salesman nearly had him.

But something pivotal happened in his life.
(READ 17-20)

He saw what the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote about.
HE SAW THE END.

And the end was not only futility, but also judgment.
The promises pleasure made, it could not fulfill.

And it changed Asaph’s perspective.
(READ 21-24)

• Only in Christ is there glory.
• Only in Christ is there fulfillment.
• Only in Christ is there eternal life.

And so listen to Asaph’s Review.
Listen to his answer to the false promises of pleasure.
(READ 25-28)

• Asaph learned what the preacher is talking about.
• Asaph learned what Jesus told the woman at the well.
• Asaph learned what Paul was talking about.
• Asaph learned what Moses had learned.

That the only true satisfaction you will find in this life
Is not through worldly knowledge and it is not through pleasure.
It is only found in Christ.

Young man listen!
Don’t let the flashy advertisements of this world drag you into a world of seeking happiness through pleasure.
• Sin brings momentary pleasure, but it cannot bring happiness.
• Seeking happiness anywhere other than in Christ is like chasing the wind.

Download Here:

He Is The Lord Our God – Part 1
Psalms 105 (1-15)
May 2, 2021

Tonight we study the final Psalm in this trilogy of sorts
Which focuses in on the praise which God deserves.

It is the culmination of the “Bless the LORD, O my soul.” Psalms.

Psalms 105 is often included in this group because many think that
The final two lines of Psalms 104 actually belong in 105.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!”

Perhaps that is true, I don’t know.

But even without that distinction
I still have no problem including 105 with 103 & 104
Because like those two Psalms, 105 is still pure praise.

Like the 2 before it,
• There are no complaints,
• There are no requests,
• There are no expressions of danger
• Or any predicament listed.

Psalms 105 is a reflection upon the goodness of God to His people
And a reflection that should motivate the soul to praise God.

In 103 we heard David tell his soul to “forget none of His benefits”

Things like:
Psalms 103:3-5 “Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

David looked inwardly to the spiritual work which God had done personally for him in regard to his soul.

And the question was simple.
How could you not be compelled to praise a God who has been so personal and thorough in saving you from your sin?

• This God who has removed your transgressions as far as the east is from the
west…
• This God who has not dealt with you like you deserve…
• This God whose loyalty to you is from everlasting to everlasting…

How could your soul not be motivated
To bless this great God who saved you?

That was the call of Psalms 103.

In Psalms 104 we said that David moved from looking inwardly at the benefits of his soul and started looking outwardly at the greatness of creation.

David examined the greatness of God
Through the world He made and the way He sustains it
And David once again commanded his soul to bless God.

• He is the God who created light, the heavens, the sea and the dry land, the
sun and moon, vegetation, and all the animals.

• He is the God who sends rain and fills the rivers so that His creation might
drink.
• He is the God who feeds all things.
• He is the God of great creativity in all that He has designed.

And again the question:
How can any living thing not be motivated to bless the God who gives and sustains life?

And so based on God’s greatness in creation
David again called his soul to bless God.

Tonight we move to Psalms 105.
• In 103 David looked inwardly…
• In 104 David looked outwardly…
• In 105 David looks historically…

To put it another way he begins to examine
All that God has done for him and his people throughout history.

And as David takes inventory of
The benefits of God for His people throughout history,
David is again motivated to praise God.

• Perhaps those last two lines of 104 DO FIT here and David again tells his soul to bless God.
• Or perhaps they are rightly placed in 104 and the praise David calls for doesn’t specifically use that phrase.

However, when reading the first 7 verses of this Psalm
We might say that David includes the specifics
Of what it means to “bless the LORD, O my soul.”

We have again a Psalm of total praise
With truth for you to ponder that your soul might also be motivated
To bless and be a blessing to God.

And TONIGHT we want to look at the history
Of who God is and what He has done for His people.

There are 6 points to be made in the Psalm.
#1 GOD’S EXPECTATION
Psalms 105:1-7

Since all Scripture is inspired by God we can accurately say that
THIS IS GOD’S EXPECTATION FOR THOSE HE HAS REDEEMED.

But at face value, it is also David’s expectation for the people of God.

And you actually see 8 commands here.
• All of 8 of these actually expound on the command to “Bless the LORD, O my soul.”
• If you were to ask what a blessing soul looks like, well, it would look like this.

GRATITUDE
(1) “O give thanks to the LORD,”

Based upon what God has done (as we will see in a minute)
The first and most obvious command is that you tell Him “thank you”.

• Acknowledge what He did.
• Acknowledge that He did it for you.
• Acknowledge that it was a benefit for your life.
• And tell Him thank you.

In high school my senior English teacher was Mrs. Johnson.
• She was a mild-mannered and soft-spoken lady.
• But one issue got her fired up like no other.
• Towards the end of the year she would address the senior English class
because she knew we would all soon be receiving graduation gifts from friends and family.

And she would say, “If someone sends you a gift or money for graduation and you do not send them a “thank you” card you are the scum of the earth.”

It sank in, I even wrote Mrs. Johnson a card for teaching me English
Just to make sure I didn’t get labeled.

She understood that if you were a beneficiary of grace
Then you were obligated to be a giver of gratitude.

Certainly that is true in regard to the God of our salvation.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Gratitude is important to God.

TRUST
(1b) “call upon His name;”

In our culture sometimes calling upon someone
Is perceived as a nuisance or a bother.

But it is not so to God.
It is in fact a compliment.

It is a declaration that God is capable
Of what we are not capable of and we are in need of Him.

And God desires this.
Psalms 50:15 “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

Even in the New Testament we are promised:
Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

Over and over and over in Scripture we are commanded
To honor the Lord by calling upon Him and placing our trust in Him.

EVANGELISM
(1c) “Make known His deeds among the peoples.”

Certainly when God does great things for us,
The expectation is that we so honor Him by telling of what He has done.

I actually love the title given to those who do this.
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

• Certainly there are those who are teachers.
• Certainly there are those who are preachers.
• And those are specific callings with specific gifts of the Holy Spirit.

But what we are called to be is “witnesses”
In fact many people even refer to evangelism as “witnessing”

What is that?
Acts 4:19-20 “But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

It is gratitude in the other direction.

When God does great things for us,
First we tell Him thank you and then we tell the world what He did for us.

PRAISE
(2) “Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;”

Why sing?
Why singing?
BECAUSE GOD LIKES IT.

We all understand this.
Years ago I helped Dancie Fulmer unload a trailer while they were moving to Spur,
• As a thank you she gave me some of those peanut batter crackle cookies with the cocoa puffs in them.

I helped Leo remodel his kitchen,
• I got one of Joan’s world famous apple pies.

Because I love those things.

Well, God doesn’t want crackle cookies and God doesn’t want apple pie,
(Though I feel certain that was probably Jesus’ favorite dessert on earth.)
He wants a song.
He wants you to sing praise to Him.

Of all the things He could demand as payment, this one is letting you off easy.
Ephesians 5:18-19 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;”

He likes singing.

MEDITATION
(2b) “Speak of all His wonders.”

The word “speak” there can also be translated “meditate”
(i.e. speak to yourself)

It is to give deep contemplation to all that He is and all that He does.
• Think on Him.
• Ponder Him.
• Focus on Him.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

There is only One who I know of who fits all of those criteria

It is the opposite of ignoring Him…
It is the opposite of giving Him no thought…
Instead we seek Him out, we read His word, we ponder who He is.

BOAST
(3a) “Glory in His holy name;”

This is actually the result of meditating on Him.

When you grasp who He is and what He has done,
Bragging on Him and boasting about Him is a natural response.

When we catch a glimpse of His majesty the boast is automatic.

• We all in a sense quickly become like those 4 living creatures who gaze upon the Lord and “day and night do not cease to say, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty’”

It’s just the natural response.

We understand this in our day
• As we brag about our kids
• Or we brag about our spouse
• Or some who even brag about their dog.

We get boasting, but the one place our boasting always fits
IS IN REGARD TO THE LORD.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

SATISFACTION
(3b) “let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.”

Don’t you like it when people enjoy the work of your hands?
• If you clean the house or cook a meal or wash a car or mow the grass or perform any other service…
• Do you like it when the people you did it for turn up their lip or complain?

No, you actually want to see their satisfaction.
You actually want to see their gladness in what you have done.

Well so does God.
Contentment and gladness are great elements of praise to God.

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”

DEPENDENCE
(4) “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.”

Here it is a seeking of Him because of who He is and what He can do.
• We seek Him because we need Him.
• We depend upon Him.
• We lean on Him.

This was the heart of Paul regarding Christ.
Philippians 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;”

Paul would actually also “boast about his own weakness” because it was then that he was made fully dependent on God and only then was he really strong.

This is an honor God deserves.
(He deserves for you to depend on Him)

If you ever watched Michael Jordan play basketball.
You saw time after time when the game was on the line they put the ball in Michael’s hands.

When it mattered most they depended on Michael.
• Do you think he saw that as a burden?
• Absolutely not, in fact, he would have considered it an offense if they would
have entrusted the game to anyone else.

It was his glory that when it mattered most the team looked to him.

Can you not see that also with God?
Why would you not put it all in His hands at every moment?

Now, that is a quick look at that list,
But these are the expectation of God as you relate to Him.

Gratitude – Trust – Evangelism – Praise
Meditation – Boasting – Satisfaction – Dependence.

These are things that you should give to God.

And if you are having trouble giving God those things
Then David again has the answer.

We saw it back in 103
Psalms 103:2 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;”

David taught us that if a soul needs motivation to bless God,
You provide that motivation through the memory.

• You simply start counting your many blessings.
• You name them one by one.
• And before long, your soul will be blessing God.

Well, David’s methodology hasn’t changed much here in 105.

If you are having trouble with gratitude or trust or evangelism or praise
Or meditation or boasting or satisfaction of dependence
THEN HERE IS THE WAY YOU FIX THAT.

(5) “Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth”

In short, if you are having trouble responding to God as He has desired
Then stop and remember the judgments He has rendered
And the miraculous way He has carried those judgments out.

Think about His miraculous works.
• Think about His unfathomable deeds.
• Think about why He did them.

All of that will make more sense in a moment
When David starts listing some of them.
But this is the cure for failing to meet God’s expectation.

And here to give FURTHER EXPLANATION
David actually mentions the TARGET GROUP we are talking about here.

Who is to be grateful and trusting and satisfied and boastful in God?
(6-7) “O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth.”

Who is David talking to?
• Those who are sharers in the covenantal promises to Abraham.
• Those who recipients of all the benefits of the promises God made to Abraham.
• Those whom God has chosen.
• Those who bear the distinction as “God’s people” or even more accurately, “God’s chosen people”

David says, “He is the LORD our God”

Think about that statement for a moment.

“He is the LORD” is alone a marvelous reality.

“LORD” there is the divine name of God – Yahweh
• He is the supreme authority and covenant savior of Israel.
• He can do whatever He wants.
• He acts and none can reverse it.

But He is not some distant unknown being.
He is “our God”
• We are His people.
• He has redeemed us.
• He has saved us.

And when David says “His judgments are in all the earth”
• He is talking about God’s judgments that are made on behalf of His people.

David now after calling Israel to praise God
Is beginning to remind them of their obligation to do so.

You of all people should be eager to praise God
For He has done things for you that He has done for no one.

• He continually works in this world on your behalf.
• He continually makes judgments in the world that benefit you.

Now that’s really just the prologue to the Psalm.
It is God’s expectation.

But, as has been the method for the last two Psalms,
David now will start chronicling all the evidence.

When David wanted his soul to bless God
• He started listing all those personal benefits of salvation.

When David wanted his soul to bless God
• He started listing all the realities of God’s creation.

Now when David wants Israel to join and worship God with all their soul
• He is about to start listing all the benefits God has shown to them as a nation.

Now obviously we are not going to get through all of them tonight,
But I want to start looking at the first one at least.

So you’ve seen God’s expectation, now let’s start talking about all the great things about God that should cause you to worship Him as He expects.

#2 GOD’S LOYALTY
Psalms 105:8-15

The word is not mentioned in these verses,
But the evidence of it drip out of every verse.

We remember that favorite Hebrew word CHECED.
Commonly translated as “lovingkindness”
But it actually speaks of the loyalty of God.

It is different than faithfulness,
• Which David will talk about later in verses 37-44.

Faithfulness is simply a reference to the fact that God always faithfully does what He promises.

If God says He will do it, then He will do it.

Where loyalty is different is that
GOD always seems to keep making the promises.

Regardless of their mistakes, God just never leaves them.
• God keeps working on behalf of Israel.
• God continues to make promises to them when He is under no obligation to do so.

At least when we say God is faithful we understand that
He is obligated to be faithful because He must keep His word.

But what obligates God to continue making promises?
Well that is the loyalty we are talking about.

The loyalty that the God of the universe looked down from heaven
And of all the people of the earth He decided that
He was going to show favor to one man and his descendants.

God looked down at Abraham and His loyalty has never waned.

(8-11) “He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan As the portion of your inheritance,”

It is one of the most peculiar occurrences in Scripture.
Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

And the question we would ask is “WHY?”
What had Abram ever done to warrant such a promise?
• And the answer is nothing.
• Abram was a pagan idol worshiper.
• Abram was a slave owner.
• Abram was a greedy seeker of worldly prosperity.

And Scripture doesn’t say that Abram approached God,
God approached Abram under absolutely no compulsion whatsoever,
God made this wild promise to Abram.

God decided that of all the people on the planet,
Abram would be the one He would bless.
It is the purest expression of grace imaginable.

And you know about the life of Abram.
• You know how God cultivated his faith.
• You know how God forgave his flaws.
• You know how eventually Abram became a man of great faith.

GOD NEVER GAVE UP ON HIM.

But what is even more remarkable is that
Even though He was under no obligation to do so,
God continued making that same promise to his descendants.

Next comes Isaac,
Who if there was a dud among the patriarchs, it is Isaac.

However:
Genesis 26:24-25 “The LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.”

You know what you call that?
Loyalty.
• God just was loyal to Abraham, and so he extended that same favor to his son.

And not just his son, even Jacob his grandson.
• Jacob you remember as a scoundrel.
• A raucous, arrogant, deceptive, conniving, worthless individual.

But…
Genesis 28:13-15 “And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Why?
Again it is unspeakable loyalty.

God just always seems to show loyal commitment
To Abraham and his descendants.

(12-15) “When they were only a few men in number, Very few, and strangers in it. And they wandered about from nation to nation, From one kingdom to another people. He permitted no man to oppress them, And He reproved kings for their sakes: “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”

Do you remember this?
We actually saw it twice.
(Once to correct Abram’s blunder, once to simply protect him)

First when Abram fled the Promised Land because of a famine and went to Egypt and told Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister.

Genesis 12:17 “But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.”

That was Abram’s blunder, but God protected him.

Later, Abraham was oppressed, and God protected him again.
This time it was Abimelech.

We don’t have time to outline again the entire chapter,
But the study is available on our website.

Most see Genesis 20 as another mistake by Abraham.
They see it as the old Abraham again passing his wife off as his sister.
• And they think Abraham is blowing it again.

But Genesis 20 never says that.
In fact Abraham never gets rebuked at all in the chapter.

The only rebuke is for Abimelech.
Genesis 20:3 “But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married.”

God again preserved Abraham.

It’s like he was God’s favorite or something.
God was always looking out for him.

I personally love the story about when Abraham sent a servant to go and find a wife for Isaac.

The servant was pretty nervous because
• He was supposed to travel back to Abraham’s land,
• Find a girl,
• And convince her to come back and marry Isaac sight unseen.

That servant thought it was a far-fetched plan,
BUT HE WAS SURE OF ONE THING.
He knew that God was loyal to Abraham.

Genesis 24:12 “He said, “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.”

• We have him praying to God on behalf of his CHECED that He always shows Abraham.

Remember the test was to find a woman
Who would draw water and water all of his camels.

After God honored that request, notice the prayer again of the servant.
Genesis 24:26-27 “Then the man bowed low and worshiped the LORD. He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

The servant marveled at how loyal God always was to Abraham.

We are simply talking about the benefit of being God’s children.
We are talking about the blessing
Of being able to say that the LORD is our God.

And David wants Israel to stop and ponder this great loyalty
As a motivation to fulfill God’s expectation of praise.

WE SHOULD TOO.
We also enjoy God’s loyalty.

The pinnacle passage on this is found in the book of Romans.
Romans 8:31-39 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do you understand what Paul is saying there?

You are treated by God every bit as well as God treated Abraham.
• You are under His favor
• You have His loyalty
• He causes you to conquer in the face of hostility
• Nothing can separate the bond He has with you

It’s God’s loyalty, just like He showed it to Abraham.

And based on that reality you too should be motivated
To fulfill God’s great expectation of worship and praise.

Gratitude, Trust, Evangelism, Praise,
Meditation, Boasting, Satisfaction, and Dependence.

That is the least we can do
Based upon the great benefit of God in our lives.

That’s all we have time for tonight, next time we’ll continue looking at these great benefits.

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The Futility of Knowledge
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
May 2, 2021

As you know last week we began looking at
This marvelous book known as Ecclesiastes.

• “Ecclesiastes” is a Latin word that means “The Preacher”
• In Greek the word for the church is EKKLESIA
• This is the one who stands before them.

And as we said last time,
“The Preacher” here is not the author of the book.

Rather, the author is merely reiterating to you
The message that the preacher preached.

It was so profound, so penetrating, so convicting, so relevant, so enlightening,
That the author recorded it and has preserved it for you.

IF YOU WEREN’T WITH US LAST WEEK during our introduction
I would simply remind you now of
THE PURPOSE OF THE SERMON that the preacher here preaches.

Very simply it is “TO KEEP YOU FROM WASTING YOUR LIFE”

It is apparent that as the preacher is preaching
He has set in his sights particularly the YOUNG MAN.

The man who is about to set out and embark upon life.
• He is filled with adventure…
• He is filled with ambition…
• He is filled with excitement…
• He’s going to go out and make his mark on the world.

The preacher is talking most specifically to him.

Perhaps my favorite quote that the preacher makes to the young man is this:
Ecclesiastes 11:9 “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.”

• Every year our church gives Bibles to the graduating seniors.
• Many seniors have received a reference to Ecclesiastes 11:9 in their Bible.

But you see the preacher here, presumably now an old man,
Is preaching to the young man,
And he is seeking to cut through all the nonsensical fluff
That is commonly peddled to young people.

Many have referred to the preacher by a different title.
Many have called him “THE CRITIC”

That’s sort of what he feels like.
• He just doesn’t seem to be able to find anything good to say about life at all.
• He comes across as that angry co-worker in the breakroom who you only wish him a good day as you walk out the door.

BUT THAT IS NOT THE PREACHER AT ALL.

The preacher here is merely an honest man
Who is filled with experience and who wants to save a young man
From the same pitfalls he made when he was younger.

Do you ever read the reviews before you purchase on Amazon?
Whose advice carries more weight with you; the advertiser or the reviewer?

This man is giving you honest reviews on the things the world is selling.
• He drips of practical wisdom.
• He drips of reality.
• He drips of the kind of tough love that will grab his son by the ear and yank
him away from the pitfalls of life.

• He has seen all the commercials…
• He has heard all the sales pitches…
• He has tried all the gimmicks…

And he is here to make sure you know the truth about all of them.

HIS MESSAGE IS SO IMPORTANT.

LAST TIME we called Ecclesiastes the Perfect Primer For The Gospel.

This world is filled with millions of shiny objects
That seek to attract your attention and devour your resources,
And all of them are FOOL’S GOLD.

There is only 1 true treasure.
There is only 1 object that is truly worth your sincerest affection.

Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

The Preacher is making sure you search for the right treasure.
And when you find it, it is the goal of the preacher to make sure that
You too will gladly sacrifice every other earthly treasure to obtain it.

THIS PREACHER IS VERY EVANGELISTIC.

But the book of Ecclesiastes is also a SANCTIFYING BOOK.

• Even as believers, who have seen the value of Christ, and proclaimed Jesus as Lord, and entered the kingdom of heaven…
• Even we can become distracted and confused as we live in this world with all its allurements.

• Even though Jesus told us not to store up treasure here, but to store it up in heaven…
• Even though Jesus told us that you can’t serve God and mammon…
• Even though Jesus told us that the world and its lusts are passing away…

Even though we know those things
Sometimes we still get sucked in to the perverted thinking of the world
And go chase after things that have no value.

The preacher here reminds us of what those things are truly worth.

THAT IS HOW YOU SHOULD READ THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES.
The Preacher is telling you about life
And about what infomercials you should pass on.

Last week in the prologue we got the title of the critique didn’t we?

When asked to review life, what was the title of the preachers review?

Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

Again “Vanity” is the Hebrew word HEBEL (he-vel)
It means “vapor” or “breath”

It’s all a Mirage!
It’s all False Advertising!
It won’t last!
It won’t satisfy!

To which he went on to say:
Ecclesiastes 1:3 “What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?”

There is no advantage.
There is no benefit to all the worldly endeavors.

Listen young man!
All the things that the world is offering you as satisfaction are not true! They won’t satisfy.
• It’s like trying to catch smoke!
• It’s like trying to catch the wind!
• You’ll chase it your whole life and never find it.

What a message!

This morning we start The Specifics, and first on the list is KNOWLEDGE

THIS IS OFTEN THE FIRST THING THE WORLD OFFERS

I think every young man or women ABOUT TO GRADUATE
Can identify with this one.

How many times do you suppose the question will be asked: “Where are you going to go for college?”

And we understand why people ask that.
• Much of our culture runs on the expectation of higher education.
• Many jobs require college degrees.
• Most see college as a necessary step to obtaining the successful and fulfilling and satisfying life.

And know from the outset here,
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH EDUCATION.

In fact, the Bible speaks highly of the importance of knowledge.

Proverbs 10:14 “Wise men store up knowledge, But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.”

Proverbs 19:2 “Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And he who hurries his footsteps errs.”

Proverbs 24:5 “A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power.”

KNOWLEDGE IS A GOOD THING.
If you want to be able to contribute to society you need knowledge.

Knowledge is even required for salvation
• For it was Paul who asked how can a man call on One in whom he has never heard?

The quest and THE GOAL of the preacher here IS NOT
To convince you that knowledge is bad and that it is preferred
That you just go out into life as an uneducated buffoon.

CERTAINLY NOT.

However, if you think knowledge is going to somehow
Be what brings you a fulfilling and satisfying life,
I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you.

Listen to the preacher.

Let’s break our text down into 3 points this morning.
#1 THE QUEST
Ecclesiastes 1:12-13

“I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.”

As we said, most think this to be Solomon.
• And we certainly remember Solomon as the man who prayed for wisdom.
• We certainly remember Solomon who was called the wisest man to ever live.
• And we also remember how Solomon fell prey to the temptations of life and didn’t finish as well as he started.
• We know about Solomon.

Well here he is passing on the lessons of his life to the next generation.

And he begins with the first box on his list
That HE THOUGHT would bring him satisfaction.

(13) “And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.”

Very simply put,
Solomon set out to be the man who was finally able to make sense of life.
(Many a philosopher after him has attempted the same thing)

Solomon could see, as could so many others, that this life “is a grievous task which God has given the sons of men to be afflicted with.”

Would we agree with that?
Life is hard

Sure you would, because life is hard.

There are all sorts of struggles and tragedies and hardships and frustrations that we face every day.
• Suffering is real
• Injustice is real
• Tragedy is real
• Disaster is real

Now, we are not confused as to why life is hard.
The gospel has given us this answer.
It’s called sin, and it’s called the curse.

This world wasn’t created bad, it was created good,
But when sin entered the world, God cursed this world.

• By the sweat of your brow you bring forth food – God said.
• And by the pain of your body you bear children – God said.

LIFE IS HARD.
SOLOMON KNEW THAT.

His ambition was to make sense of it all.
“I set my mind to seek and explores by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven.”

Now there’s a few things that need to be understood here.

1) You see the phrase “under heaven”

This is an IMPORTANT PERSPECTIVE that Solomon likes to reference.
Typically you read it as “under the sun”

• You already heard him use it last week twice (vs. 1:3 and 1:9)
• He uses it in our text this morning in verse 14.
• And he uses it a total of 29 times throughout the book.

The reason he speaks of “under the sun” or “under heaven”
Is because he is reminding you of your vantage point.

God is above the sun.
• God is in heaven.
• He sees and knows things that we do not see or know.

We are “under the sun” or “under heaven”
And we simply are not privy to the information that God has.

J.I. Packer spoke of this reality in his book “Knowing God” and likened it to the control platform above a train station that has the lighted grid which shows you all the trains and makes sense of their movements.

• We are not in that platform.
• We don’t see why one train stops and another moves.
• We are on the ground level.

So very simply you have Solomon saying here
That his objective was to observe what happens under heaven
And see if he could make sense of it all
As though he were in heaven with God.

He’s seeking to gain that eternal divine perspective and understanding.

2) We also see the phrase “I set my mind to…”

He uses such language often.
• (16) “I said to myself…”
• (17) “I set my mind to know wisdom…”
• (2:1) “I said to myself…”
• (2:3) “I explored with my mind…”

All of those phrases carry with them a SINCERE DEVOTION.
• The NASB translates them all “mind”
• But the actual word there is “heart” or his “inner man”.

What we are talking about here
Is a man who literally gives himself to these things.

When he says “I set my mind to seek and explore”
He is saying “I gave my heart and soul to this endeavor.”

Later in chapter 2 he will give his heart and soul
• To pleasure
• And then to wine
• And then to projects, etc.

My point is, he’s not a halfway kind of guy.

He is all in.
• This isn’t a peripheral study in his life.
• He puts everything aside to pursue these things.
• He is seeking with all that is within him to find.
• He set out to find, not just seek.

3) The other thing we need to clarify before we move on here is what he means by “I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom”

We need to clarify what is this “wisdom” he speaks of.

Now first,
You know that there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom.
• Knowledge = what you know.
• Wisdom = what you do with what you know.

A knowledgeable man KNOWS what is right.
A wise man DOES what is right.
(Whereas a fool may know and still do wrong)

But the greater distinction we need to make here is the source of wisdom.

There is in Scripture true wisdom from above
And there is natural wisdom from below.

Wisdom from God begins where?
“the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom”

But earthly wisdom comes not from a fear of God but from ambition and desire.

James 3:13-17 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.”

We might better make a distinction by altering the terms.
• We might refer to wisdom as that which is from God.
• We might refer to philosophy as that which is from man.
Now, in the book of Ecclesiastes
The preacher is seeking to drive you to Godly wisdom.

His goal is to get you to walk with a fear of the LORD.

BECAUSE THAT’S NOT WHERE HE STARTED.
(And he’s trying to save you)

When you read verse 13 and he says, “I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom”
• He’s NOT talking about the fear of the LORD kind.
• You’d be more accurate to understand him speaking about philosophy or
worldly wisdom.

He went searching through all of academia
To try and find the meaning of life and to gain an understanding
For why life is so hard, and how to fix it.

THAT IS HIS QUEST.

“And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.”

So just to make sure you see what is happening here.
• He recognizes the perplexity and hardship of life.
• He thinks the answer to life’s hardship is through knowledge and education.
• So he devotes his heart and soul to searching out that answer.

That is philosophy.
That is his first ambition in life.

He’s going to seek knowledge and education and reason
Until he understands life and how to fix it.

The Quest
#2 THE CONCLUSION
Ecclesiastes 1:14-15

And there it is.
“I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.”

He gave his heart and soul to understanding the human condition through education and philosophy and WHAT WAS HIS CONCLUSION?

It’s “vanity and striving after wind.”

It’s his honest review.
It’s his critique.

HE GAVE HIMSELF to human understanding
And applying his knowledge and philosophy to every situation
AND AT THE END OF HIS QUEST HE FOUND NO FULFILLMENT.

WHY?

(15) “What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.”

• There’s his problem.
• Actually it is two problems.

1) DEPRAVITY
“what is crooked cannot be straightened”

It is a moral depravity.
• The word for crooked there actually means “perverted”

That is a good way to describe our world.
It is morally deprave and perverse.

Solomon realized all the knowledge in the world couldn’t straighten it out.

The other problem was:
2) DEFICIENCY
“what is lacking cannot be counted”

It is not enough, it can’t satisfy.
(This world is a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle with only 999 pieces)

• He took this life which was full of grief and pain
• And sought to bring correction and meaning to this life
• Through human knowledge and education and philosophy
• But it brought him no comfort.

All the knowledge in the world couldn’t fix his depravity.
All the knowledge in the world couldn’t fix his deficiency.

Incidentally, if you’ve heard R.C. Sproul’s testimony, this was the verse that led him to salvation.
• He was a very intellectual young man,
• But he was crushed under the weight of his own personal depravity and
deficiency.
• And it didn’t matter how much he knew, his knowledge couldn’t fix his problem.

AND THAT IS SO TRUE.
Consider the Law.

The Law is full of knowledge and instruction and clarification
About the holiness of God and the mandate for human living.

But the Law never fixed anyone.
Romans 7:9-11 “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”

• Knowledge didn’t make Paul more upright, it only revealed how wicked he was.
• Knowledge didn’t give his life fullness, it only revealed his deficiency.

Remember the Centurion who had the sick slave and he wanted Jesus to heal him?

Matthew 8:8 “But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Literally that centurion said, “I am not enough”
• It is the very essence of being “poor in spirit”
• It is the idea of being spiritually bankrupt.

Knowledge won’t make you righteous.
Knowledge won’t make you complete.
All it will do is reveal that you aren’t.

And that is exactly what Solomon learned.
• Despite all that he knew.
• Despite all that he had learned.
• Knowledge provided no answers for how to actually turn depravity into righteousness or deficiency into something satisfying.

Continue on with Paul in Romans 7.
Listen to him lament his powerlessness to turn his knowledge into actual righteousness.

Romans 7:14-20 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

• Paul knew the Law.
• Paul agreed with the Law.
• Paul desired to obey the Law.

What was the problem?
Sin wouldn’t let him!

“What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.”

And the point?
While knowledge has great value in this life,
Knowledge alone will not bring you satisfaction and fulfillment.
And it certainly will not bring salvation.

It has been the misunderstanding of our culture.
Our culture thinks you can fix moral problems with education.

• I’ve seen the “shattered dreams” presentations where you instruct kids on
the facts about drunk driving.
• My kids just told me about a school program to give the facts about the
dangers of vaping.
• Countless sex education courses have sought to educate people to the
dangers of sexual immorality.

And yet, drinking, vaping, and sex are still going on!
If you want to help kids overcome sin
You’d better give them something more than knowledge!

Education and knowledge and philosophy
Cannot straighten what is crooked and cannot complete what is lacking.

That was Solomon’s Conclusion.

His Quest, His Conclusion
#3 HIS LAMENT
Ecclesiastes 1:16-18

Do you hear his despair?
“I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this is striving after wind.”

• What good did it do?
• What benefit did I receive from all my study?
• What advantage did I gain from my knowledge?

NONE!
It couldn’t make me righteous and it couldn’t bring me fulfillment.

WHY?
(18) “Because in much wisdom there is much grief and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.”

It is exactly what Paul spoke about.
• The more I knew the worse it hurt.

There is a since in which the axiom “Ignorance is bliss”
Is a true statement.
There is a since in which immoral sinners are actually happier
Without the truth of the knowledge of God.

Solomon sought to fix his problems through his knowledge
And it didn’t fix anything.
It only brought more pain and more grief.

Now listen to him young man.
Listen to him young woman.

As I said, knowledge and education are NOT BAD THINGS.
Scripture unequivocally says they are good things.

HOWEVER – If You Think that an education or knowledge or philosophy is going to provide you with the answers for life you are gravely mistaken.

• Your education may teach you how to coach a sport or work with children…
• Your education may teach you how to perform physical therapy…
• Your education may teach you how to install an air conditioning unit…

All those are fine things to know.

But your education will never make you righteous
And will never bring you fulfillment in life.

It is an empty hope to assume that it will.
1 Corinthians 1:20-21a “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God…”

It is “striving after wind”
It is trying to catch what cannot be caught.

1 Corinthians 3:18-20 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS”; and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.”

All the promises of our culture that fulfillment is found
In education and degrees are a lie.

I have no problem with you pursuing them,
But if you give your heart and soul to them
With the hope that it will give you fulfillment it will not.

Solomon learned it the hard way.
Learn from him.

And let him drive you to the gospel.
1 Corinthians 1:30 “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption”

Paul said that Christ Jesus “became to us wisdom from God”

1 Corinthians 2:6-10 “Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.”

There is a wisdom available in Christ that the world does not have.
• It is wisdom that can straighten what is crooked.
• It is wisdom that can complete what is lacking.

Because Christ CAN do those things.

PAUL LAMENTED in Romans 7 that all his knowledge in the Law couldn’t not help him.
Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

But Paul also found satisfaction in Christ.
Romans 7:25-8:4 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

• Knowledge couldn’t make Paul righteous, but Jesus could.
• Knowledge couldn’t bring Paul fulfillment, but Jesus did.

Jesus straightened what was crooked and completed what was lacking.

Listen to Paul speak to the Colossians.
TURN TO: COLOSSIANS 2:8-15

Do you hear Paul warn of the “empty deception” of philosophy and worldly wisdom?

Listen, human philosophy is totally unnecessary.
• When human philosophy is accurate it will agree with Scripture and therefore unneeded.
• When human philosophy is wrong it will disagree with Scripture and therefore dangerous.

It is not needed.
It only promises what it cannot offer.

And so Paul tells the Colossians not to be sucked into it.
Literally not to be “carried away” by it.

“takes you captive” is actually a Greek word which means “to carry off the booty” (as in a Pirate)

Where is fulfillment?
• If you have a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle and you’re missing a piece, there’s ONLY ONE who can count what is lacking…the manufacturer of the puzzle.
• Where is true righteousness? Only the creator can fix what is crooked.

True fulfillment and true righteousness are only found in Christ.

(Read 9-15)

Do you see that?
• Only Christ is complete and only Christ makes you complete.
• Only Christ can clean up your flesh (spiritual circumcision).
• Only Christ can forgive you of sin
• Only Christ can cancel out your debt
• Only Christ has authority over the enemy

Education and knowledge and philosophy certainly can’t do that.

And that is the message of Solomon this morning to the young man.

There’s nothing wrong with education
But if your whole life is spent in search of human wisdom
You will only find yourself still in your sin and still unfulfilled.

It is commonly said that “Knowledge is Power”
To an extent that is true.

But it’s not power to fulfill
• It’s not power to sanctify
• It’s not power to forgive
• It’s not power to redeem
• It’s not power to deliver

Only Christ is that.

That’s two sermons in and already it is obvious to me
That we just don’t have enough time.
This is such rich information.