It's such a delight to be with
you. Celeste, thank you for that song. Beautiful. And thank all
of you for your kindness to adjust the time to allow Sammy and myself
to be here today. We had a nice drive up from Middle
Tennessee and got my granddaughter married last night. We've had
a good weekend. I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 2. Ecclesiastes chapter 2. Solomon was a man that the Lord
greatly, greatly blessed with wisdom. And Solomon said, what would
you have me give you? And Solomon said, I would like
you to give me wisdom. Rule over your people. The Lord
said, because you didn't ask for your enemies, riches. He said, I'm going to give you
those things, but I'm going to give you what you want. But as
I've been looking at the book of Ecclesiastes, I've seen something
that I'd like to try to share with you this morning. I'm going
to look at the second chapter of Ecclesiastes. And as we're
looking at this chapter, I've realized that there was something
that the Lord graciously taught Solomon and teaches his people. He teaches us all the vainness,
vanity, vexation of spirit that comes to a believer when they
try to consider anything in this world except God's glory, God's
honor. Solomon was, by wisdom, He was
taught some of these beautiful lessons that we all need, but
oh, what a price he had to pay. You know, when you first think
of Solomon receiving wisdom from the Lord, you think, wow, just
to be able to make decisions and know by the grace of God
these things. As we look at this second chapter,
there's 12 chapters in Ecclesiastes, but you look at this second chapter,
and I pray that the Lord's pleased to bless it, and teach us something
concerning these things. Now I'd like to look at, I want
to first of all to look at the conclusion that Solomon came
to in this chapter, which is in verses 24 to 26. I want to
look first, I just want to read the conclusion. Then I'm going
to go back and Lord willing, I'm going to start at verse 1
and just kind of just touch on each verse of scripture and consider
the things that he experienced to come to the conclusion that
we're about to read. And then lastly, I want us to
look at the conclusion one more time. I've spent a lot of time
on the conclusion is what I want to do. Here's the conclusion. Ecclesiastes 2.24, there's nothing
better for a man than that he should
eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his
labor. This also I saw that it was from
the hand of God. For who can eat, or who else
can hasten hereunto more than I? For God giveth to a man that
is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy, to the
sinner he giveth travail to gather and to heap up that he may give
to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation
of spirit." Now, that was his conclusion. We'll look at it
again, Lord. We'll look at it just a minute
and take conclusion again. In the first chapter, and I'll
just tell you this, you go back and read the first chapter for
the sake of time. Solomon in the first chapter
concerning the wisdom that the Lord had given him, he came to
some of these observations. He noticed that one generation
comes and another generation soon takes its place. He noticed
that the sun rises sets all according to God's timing, God's power
of providence. He noticed that the wind blows
in a continual pattern, and that it returns to the origin. Notice
that there was a pattern to all the trade winds. He noticed that
the rivers run into the sea, but the sea's never full. Just,
everything's on its course. Then he saw that man was never
satisfied. with what he sees, what he hears. I've had people talk about, I
want to, man, if I could just tour the world. I'd like to go to Paris, I'd
like to go, you know. Solomon said, I realize that
man sees these things, hears these things, but he never finds
any satisfaction in them. He said, I notice that the details,
of things that were happening in a given generation. We know
them, we watch the news right now, and we, you know, this and
said this, and this and said this, and election coming up,
and that and said that. All these details that's going
on right now, he said, nobody's gonna remember this. It's all
gonna, you know. They notice that everything that
God had made that was crooked. Now what this means is everything
that God has made according to his good providence, power, that
man thinks is crooked. Man can't fix that. Man, y'all
might know a little bit about kudzu. Down in the South, many
years ago, they decided they were going to get some kudzu
from somewhere. Argentina, I think, Doug. You may know. I don't know
where they got it. Kudzu, that was going to help the ground
erosion. Yeah, it helped the ground erosion, but it killed
everything else. It just covers everything. What
God has made, what man considers crooked, he can't fix that. And
that, with much wisdom, Solomon said, is much grief. With all of his efforts to discover
wisdom, He went through, I almost want to just go back through
the first chapter again and just tell you what he said, but here's
what he wanted to do. He said, with much wisdom. He didn't want
to just know stuff. He wanted to know why. Why did
it happen? To study trees and flowers. But how do these things come
about? I want to study the innermost
beings of everything. He just said, with much wisdom. sorrow increases. And so here
he's come now to this second chapter. And he realized that
through the study, just the trials of study and study and trying
to get wisdom, that God had given him. He said it was just vanity,
just vain and vexation. Spirit just grieved me. Well,
now, here he is. He's in the second chapter. And
he said, I said in mine heart, go to now, I will prove thee
with mirth. Therefore, enjoy pleasure, and
behold, this also is vanity. Now, he's doing this by wisdom. He's not lost control. God's
given him wisdom. And now what he's going to do,
he said, I want by wisdom, he said, I want to do something
now. I couldn't find satisfaction
in studying all of these, nature and the sun and the patterns
and knowing why the winds blow and where they come from and
go back to. I couldn't find it. But now what I want to do is
I want to go a different approach. What I'm going to do is I want
to just have a happy activity. That's what I want to do. I want
to do things that are fun. I want to do things that just
makes my life easy. I want to be on a constant vacation. That's what I want. I'm going
to have this constant state of pleasure. All of the study and
the arduous But now, I'm going to find it by having this constant
effort of just satisfying myself with pleasure. He said, I realize that always
wanting to go on another vacation. You know, you plan. You know
the best time of vacation is planning it. I'm so excited. We're leaving in two weeks. And
we've got one more week. And you get there, and it's okay. I mean, it's okay. But it was
not as good as the anticipation. And by the end of the week, or
two weeks, or whatever, I want to go home. I'm just... I said
in my heart, go to now. I will prove thee with mirth. Therefore, enjoy pleasure. And behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, verse 2,
it's mad and of mirth. What doeth it? He said, laughter,
it mocked me. What it did? Laughter mocked
me. Laughter boasted itself. He's saying, I'm going to satisfy
you. happy all of the time and mirth,
that continual pursuit of merriment and pleasure. But that, at the
expense of responsibility, is a serious treacherous act. delusion. He said, there's nothing
wrong. Let me tell you this. There's
nothing wrong with taking some time and having a little rest
and relaxation. Sammy and I were talking about
this coming up. I told him, I said, I look so forward just to being
able to take a few days off. But this is what Solomon came
to the conclusion of. Though there's nothing wrong
with resting. It's good. But not at the expense
all the time. at the expense of doing that
which is honorable, right, concerning the glory of God. It's dangerous. He said in verse 3, I sought
in mine heart to give myself unto wine. He wasn't a drunkard,
but banqueting is what he was doing. Yet, acquainting my heart
with wisdom, he said, I wanted to give myself to the banquet. A lot of times I watch these
shows on TV, People are looking for a new house. They'll have
a realtor and they'll take them around. The realtor will say,
well, what are you looking for? Well, we'd like a three-bedroom,
two-bath. We like to do a lot of entertaining. That seems like to me everybody
wants to have room to open concept. And we do a lot of entertaining. This is what Solomon said. I
sought mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainted mine
heart with wisdom. and to lay hold on folly, till
I might see what was that good for the sons of man which they
should do unto the heavens all the days of their life." He said,
I want to, within the bounds of wisdom now, I want to make
sure we don't misunderstand. He's doing this, God is teaching
him something to show him and us These things that are vain
and vanity. He said, I gave myself, I wanted
the best food. I love steak, if it's a good
one. And if it's tough, I don't like
it. And I like it, I like it, but
I don't like it. I gave myself to the best food,
the best drink, to lay hold upon folly, to set my heart upon these
things to see if there was something good in it that would sustain
a man for the rest of his life. And what did he do? Look at 4
to 6. He said, I made me great works,
I builded me houses, I planted me vineyards, I made me gardens
and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits.
I made me pools of water to water therewith the wood that bringeth
forth trees. He made all of these things.
works, all of these things. He did what he did with great
zeal. He did what he did according
to his ability, according to his wealth, and nothing was spared. He had money. He had plenty of
money. And he's going to create a paradise. I want you to come out and look
at this. You know, people, if you like
to raise gardens, You know what's fun? What's enjoyable? Y'all
come out here and look at my garden. Come out here and look
at this. I made me a... I didn't actually,
but people say, you know, they like to golf, you know. I made
me a putting ground. I made me a, you know, and they...
He said, I made... I made everything that I wanted
to make according to my ability. He said in verse 7, he said,
I got me servants and maidens. I had servants born in my house. Also I had great possessions
of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before
me. Everything that he built had
to be maintained. And he kept, so he did what he
did by maintaining it. He got him some service. He borrowed
him some service. He had some people born in his
house to attend to the works that he had done, the daily provision
for his household. No problem. He had magnificent
possessions, he said, of great and small cattle. He had beef,
and he had sheep, he had goats, above all that came before him
in Jerusalem. He said, I had it. I had the
stuff. Look at verse 8. I gather me
also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and
the provinces, and I gather me men singers and women singers
and the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments,
and that of all sorts." Solomon had turned to 1 Kings 10.4. 1
Kings 10.4. The scripture declares that whenever,
I said 10, I meant 14, I'm sorry. I'll read you, this is where
the Queen of Sheba came to see him, but here's the conclusion. She saw everything she saw. She
said, the half of it wasn't told me. But look, 1 Kings 10, 14.
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year, was six
hundred, three score, and six talents of gold. Now, you know,
you're just going to have to kind of go by whatever somebody
that you trust tells you concerning this. It's got all kinds of different,
you know, interpretations of how much was a talent then, how
much do they figure a talent is now, but to the best of my
ability, if somebody finds that differently, that's okay. I like
whips, or whatever you say, but here's the thing. To the best
of my ability, I think it was John Gill that said this, that
basically this 666 talents of gold that would come in in a
year, 25 tons. 25 tons of gold. I tried to take my phone and I figured
$1,800 an ounce for gold And David, I tried to figure
it out. My phone wouldn't even give me a number. It was some
strange, like 925 tons of gold. Solomon
said, verse 8, I gathered me also silver and gold and all
the peculiar treasures of kings, provinces, men's centers. He said, I had choirs. I had choirs. that were employed
with me. And these singers and the lights
of the sons of men performed these musical instruments. He
said, I had everything. I had all of it. He says in verses
9 and 10, so I was great and increased more than all that
were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with
me. This is very key. You understand
this. He's not losing control of this. The Lord's teaching
him something. The Lord's giving him something.
He's giving him wisdom. But he has all these other things.
The Lord said, I'm going to give you all these other things that
you didn't ask for. But all the lesson that he's learning. And
whatsoever mine eyes desired, I kept not from them I withheld,
not my heart from any joy. For my heart rejoiced in all
my labor, and this was my portion. of all my labor." He said, I
was great. He said, I was great in wealth,
I was great in importance. Can you imagine somebody like
Solomon living wherever you were? I mean, everybody
knew Solomon was here, but here again, by wisdom, Solomon, from
all the things that this world could offer. He's seeking all
of this pleasure. I'm gonna find out if pleasure
is the key. Is that what's gonna make a man
happy? He said, whatsoever my heart
desired, I got it. I bought it. I had the resources
to do it. I tried it all. He said in verse
11, then I looked. on all the works that my hands
had wrought, and on the labor that I had labor to do. Behold,
all were vanity, and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit
under the sun." Here he was taught the reality of our foolish pursuits. that which we think's gonna give
us sustaining pleasure and satisfaction and we dream that if I had this
or if I had that, if I had that, that would be the catch me out.
If I had that right there, it would be all I need if I just,
if I could just get that. Solomon said, I had it all. I
had it all. You can't even think of it that
I didn't think of it. And he said, listen, here's what
it is. It's empty. It's empty. It's hollow. It's disappointing. You come
down to get ready to take your last breath. What matter? What does it matter what you
got? What you live in or what you drive or what you have in
the bank? What difference does it make? Verses 12-16, I turned
myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly. For what
can the man do that cometh after the king, even that which hath
been already done? Then I saw that wisdom excelleth
folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. The wise man's eyes
are in his head, the fool walketh in darkness. And I myself perceived
also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my
heart, as it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to
me. Why was I then more wise? And
I said in my heart that this is also vanity. For there's no remembrance of
the wise more than of the fool forever, seeing that which now
is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. Here he's coming
to this point. He said, I realize that everything
that I've tried momentarily gives a man some what pleasure. But he said, it's vain pleasure. There's nothing to it. He said,
what can a man do that's going to come after me? If I've done
and tried it all, And I found that none of it gave me any lasting
pleasure. He said, wisdom excels folly. It's better to be wise than to
be a fool. He said it's like the light that
excels in darkness. It's better for a man to have
some integrity about him than for him to go through life as
a fool. That's better. But when it's all said and done,
Here's what he said in those verses, right there. He was looking at verse 15, and
I said in my heart, as it happened to the fool, so it happened even
to me. You know, we're all going to
die. We're all going to die. son by marriage that sent me
a little thing on my phone the other day and it showed this
big, big mansion. Big, huge mansion. Out in front
of it was a grave. And it showed just a little shack.
And out in front of it was a grave. That's what Solomon said. All
this stuff that we're going after. All of it that we're seeking
after. He said it's all going to come
down to absolutely nothing. All the things of this world.
He said in verse 17, therefore I hated life because the work
that was wrought under the sun is grievous unto me. For all
is vanity and vexation of spirit. Solomon said, I hated life. He didn't hate that which the
Lord graciously gives. The sun, the rain, the air to
breathe. But he hated what this world
promised would give pleasure. He hated that which the world
promised but could not produce. Peace. Satisfaction. He hated it because he said,
I realize now that there's no happiness to be enjoyed in what
this world gives. Set your heart on this. He said,
I did that. Verses 18 to 23. Yea, I hated
all my labor which I had taken unto the Son, because I should
leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth
whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have
rule over all my labor wherein I labored, wherein I showed myself
wise unto the sons. This is also vanity. Therefore,
I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which
I took unto the Son. For there is a man whose labor
is in wisdom and knowledge and equity, yet to a man that hath
not labored therein shall he leave it, for his portion is
also in vanity. and a great evil. For what man
of all his labor, all the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath
labored under the sun? For all his days are sorrows,
and his travail grief. Yea, his heart taketh not rest
in the night. This is also vanity." Here's
what he's saying. All the works that Solomon had
done He did them in wisdom, according to the wisdom of God. And he
was truly seeking, and the Lord was truly teaching him. And here,
he said, all these things that I did, honestly, with integrity. And he said, I know that they
were profitable to many. I gave a lot of people jobs,
and they enjoyed the fruit. There's nothing wrong with enjoying
the fruit. of a man's labor, but he saw
these things to be what I've been talking about. There was
no lasting satisfaction. And he said, what's happening
is this, I know I'm gonna die. And he wrestled at night with
this thought. Day and night, he mentioned night.
He said, the things that I've been able, by the grace of God,
to produce or accomplish, what if somebody comes after me? Somebody's
gonna get this stuff. Somebody is gonna have the management
of this stuff, and what if these things that have been produced
and brought about, what if it's a fool that gets them? And all
the labor that I did is going to be turned over to somebody
else, and they're just going to squander it, all that they're
going to do. If they don't have any sense
of responsibility about it, I mean, he couldn't sleep all night,
now he's worried about it. You know, everything's always
worse at night. Man, if the sun would just come up. And when
the sun comes up, it seems to get a little bit better, but
here's, he's struggling and see, therefore he said, I hated my
labor. Now I've hated somebody that
did all this. I'm disgusted with what it took
to produce them. And I saw that they gave nothing
back. They promised me pleasure, they
promised me, they promised me, they just made fun of me. Well,
now I'm back to my third point. I want to come to the conclusion
again and see what the Lord was pleased to teach Solomon. The
Scripture declares, as Solomon said in verse 24, there's nothing
better. Now this is a man who had everything,
worldly speaking. He knew God, and God knew him. There's nothing
better for a man that he should eat and drink and that he should
make his soul enjoy good in his labor. As I said a moment ago,
there's nothing wrong. You go out and work hard, get
a job, be responsible. Woman, if she chooses to be one
that stays home and takes care of her home and keeps it up,
keeps it clean, makes her husband come home, He has him something
to eat and stuff like that. She provides. They have children.
There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with that.
There's nothing better that he should make his soul enjoy good
and his labor. This also I saw. It's from the
hand of God. He said this. He said, I realize
that God has created man with a work ethic. Turn to Genesis
1.26. Genesis 1.26. Man was created in the image
of God, and the Scripture says, in the beginning, God created. God worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will. God Almighty orders and designs
and produces. Man was created that way. Men,
women, we need work. There's an ethic about work. Genesis 1. 26, 28, God said, let us make man in
our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over the cattle,
over the earth, over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created him. Male and female created he them,
and God blessed them. And God said unto them, be fruitful,
multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it. and have dominion
over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over everything
that moveth upon the earth. Look at chapter 2, verse 15. And the Lord God took the man
and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep
it. According to the scriptures,
the Lord has given man from the hand of God the blessing to be
able to with the understanding that we are to seek the Lord
our God, seek He first, the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness. All these things will be added
up to you. Solomon said, I've tried all these things, and there's
nothing better, there's nothing better than for a man to be able
to eat, drink, enjoy the good of his labor, seeking God Almighty
first to enjoy the bounty of his labor. There's nothing better,
he said, than that. If the Lord increases and blesses
a man's efforts, he's able to have an increase in some riches. If riches increase, what's the
next part? Don't set your heart on that. Don't set your heart on that.
Don't let your life revolve around those things, but rather Use
them to the glory of God. Let those saints, let a man give. Give and it will be given unto
him. God promises it. But you know what we say? No,
I've got to hang on. You know how the economy is now.
God Almighty is going to bless His people. I'm not going to
leave you. I'm not going to forsake you. Is there anything wrong
with enjoying the fruit? No. The Lord says there's nothing
better. In Ecclesiastes 2, look at verse
25. For who can eat or who else can
hasten here unto more than I? Now here's Solomon. He's talking about this. He said,
man ought to know. He's being taught these things.
Now, he said, I'm telling you that there's nothing better eat
and drink and enjoy, for who can eat or who else can enjoy
the pleasures? More than me. He said, I know. I'm not telling you something
that's just a theory to me. I know what it is to happen. I'm telling you, by wisdom, there's
nothing better than to be satisfied with that which the Lord has
pleased to give. There's nothing better than that. It says in
verse 26, for God giveth to a man that is good in his sight, he
gives him wisdom, he gives him knowledge, he gives him joy. But to the sinner, that man that
doesn't know God, he giveth travail to gather and to heap up, that
he may give it to him that's good before God. This also is
vanity and vexation of spirit. Now, here's a wonderful truth
in closing that the Lord has been pleased to teach us. The
Lord giveth to a man that is good in his sight. You say, well,
I thought that none was good. No, not one. No born in Adam
there isn't. There's none good. No, not one. But found in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. God has chosen the people in
Christ, before the foundation of the world, that they should
be holy. Holy. And without blame, before
Him in love. And a believer is going to say,
I look at myself and I don't see that. I don't see that part. Well, we're not the one doing
the looking. God Almighty sees His Son. sees
us in Him, robed in His righteousness. We've been given faith to believe
God. Now, Solomon says, God giveth
to a man that is good in his sight. He gives him wisdom. He gives him Christ. The wisdom
of God. He gives the vessels of His mercy. the Son. He that hath the Son
hath life. Secondly, those that are found
to be good in the Lord Jesus Christ, He says He gives them
knowledge. You know the blessing of knowing
something, first of all, about ourselves. He gives us some knowledge. The Apostle Paul said this concerning
himself, Romans 7, 18, I know that in me, that is in my flesh,
dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. The Lord's going to give His
people, He's going to give them some wisdom, he's going to give
us some knowledge. We have some knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4, 6, God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus. Solomon found that this world
gives no lasting riches, but gives us some knowledge and some
understanding of true riches. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1. I'm going to wrap this up. Ephesians
chapter 1. Here's some riches right here. Ephesians 1. A passage that we're
all familiar with. Ephesians 1-4, according as He
has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, elicit
us into these riches, having predestinated us into the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ Himself, according to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He has made us accepted in the Beloved. in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself."
And then lastly, he gives us wisdom, he gives us knowledge
back in Ecclesiastes 2, 26, and he gives us joy. Joy. Romans 14, 17, for the kingdom
of God is not meat and drink, but it's righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost. Here's joy. Being able, by the
grace of God, to trust Him. Given faith to believe. To trust Him alone for salvation
and righteousness before God. We have reason. to be joyful
unto the Lord for his mercy. We were driving up a little bit
ago, and I told Sammy, I said, think about the privilege. I said, I know it's tiring. We
had a long day yesterday. We had all the preparation we've
been done. All the women did everything. We just showed up.
Men just showed up. They're still tired for us, you
know. But we had that, you know, that wedding yesterday and Sammy
and I trying to help my daughter Sarah to do some things around
the house that she's wanted to get done. And then we got up
this morning, dark, and got on the road and drove up here. And
Lord willing, after this, we'll probably go get a bite to eat.
We're going to turn around and drive four hours back, you know.
I told him, I said, do you realize the joy of wanting to do that? Of having a heart to want to
do that. An almighty God would give us a heart to want to come
and be with God's people. Nothing better, nothing better. You have to eat and drink and
enjoy the fruit of your labor. God gives to His people. He gives
them wisdom, He gives them knowledge, He gives them joy. We have it
all. We got it all. We are the circumcision,
Paul said, which worship God in the Spirit. We rejoice in
Christ Jesus. and we have no confidence in
the flesh. What joy to not have to trust me for anything. I pray God bless this to our
hearts for his glory and our good.