Well, I've felt compelled in
recent weeks to take a look at the book of Ecclesiastes in the
Old Testament, just after the Psalms and the Proverbs. Then
comes Ecclesiastes before the Song of Solomon. And Ecclesiastes
isn't easy to preach on. It isn't. I can tell you because
I've been digging hard and it's been a struggle. I love to preach
Christ. I love to preach the things of
Christ. I love to declare salvation accomplished and the blessings
on the people God has saved from their sins. The passages in Ephesians
that we were looking at in the last three times we were together
Ephesians 5, 25 to 27, Christ loved the church and gave himself
for it to cleanse it and sanctify it and present it holy to himself
as his bride, a glorious church for eternity and for sinless
bliss in heaven with him. That's what God's preachers love
to preach. But Ecclesiastes is in the Bible. And you know what Paul wrote
to Timothy? All scripture is profitable for doctrine and for
reproof. To teach us, all of it, all of
it. So why is Ecclesiastes in the Bible? Why is it there? I'll
tell you. It's so that the blessings of
the gospel shine more brightly when seen against the background
of the futility of life without Christ. All around us, in this
world in which we live, as never before, I would say, people are
living almost universally as if life is utterly self-fulfilling
and self-satisfying and they don't need any of this nonsense
about salvation and redemption and the gospel and all that voodoo,
all that stuff, all that hideous stuff that you believe. Why on
earth do you waste your times going there and gathering together
to think about that? No, no, we know that we don't
need any of that stuff. And Ecclesiastes puts the case
of God against that view. That's what it's all about. Let
me tell you a bit about the writer. Now, you read books of theology. I bought a book in the week called
Preaching Christ from Ecclesiastes. You would think that that would
be a good title, wouldn't you? It's by a theologian, a religious
theologian. It didn't take me many pages
to decide what to do with it. He hasn't got a clue. He's got
no idea whatsoever. And he spends a lot of time proving
that it wasn't Solomon. that wrote Ecclesiastes. Oh,
a lot of academic effort went into proving it wasn't Solomon.
No, it was Solomon. Listen, the words of the preacher,
verse 1 of chapter 1. The words of the preacher. Who?
Who? Who are we talking about? The son of David, king in Jerusalem. Solomon. It was Solomon. It was
Solomon. all those who know the truth
say it was Solomon that wrote this the son of David and Bathsheba
not the oldest son of David he had many sons Absalom who rebelled
against him and was killed no this is Solomon the son of that
union that was a false union a wrong union it was it was an
adulterous union between David and Bathsheba But nevertheless,
in God's purpose, this was the one who was to be king. And when
Solomon came to the throne of Israel after his father David,
God said to him, what do you ask of me? Here you are, the
settled kingdom. He took over a settled kingdom.
40 years David had reigned. And it was a glorious time of
military triumph for Israel. They lived safely because all
of their enemies had been subdued. Now Solomon, what do you ask
of me? And Solomon asked God for wisdom. He didn't ask for riches. He
didn't ask for possessions. He asked for wisdom. Give me
wisdom. And God gave him wisdom. and
God gave him all the other things as well. But God was pleased
that he'd asked for wisdom. I'll tell you the sort of wisdom
that Solomon displayed shortly after he became king. He used
to judge between the people and two women who were harlots who
were living in the same place and both had babies and one of
the babies died in the night. One of the women rolled over
and didn't realize in her sleep and she suffocated the baby and
it died. There was an argument between
them about the baby that was alive, that wasn't suffocated.
And one of them came and got it, and the other woman came
and said, that's my baby, she stole it from me when she suffocated
her baby. And they brought them to Solomon
to judge between them. And Solomon, in his wisdom, he
said, bring me a sword. Bring me the baby and bring me
a sword. and he said I'm going to cut the baby in half and this
woman shall have half and that woman shall have half and the
woman that was the true mother of the baby said don't give it
to her let her have it let the other woman have it right because
it was her child and she wouldn't have that child cut in half you
see the wisdom of Solomon displayed he wrote the Proverbs the book
of Proverbs great wisdom he wrote the song of Solomon lovely picture
we might move on to that after Ecclesiastes His kingdom was
renowned for opulence, for its richness and its splendor. We
read of the Queen of Sheba. who came from Africa, the Queen
of the South came, she'd heard with the hearing of the ear of
the opulence of the kingdom of Solomon. And when she came, she
said, I'd heard of it with the hearing of the ear, but I had
no idea what it was really like until I saw it for myself. She
was overcome with how majestic was this kingdom of Solomon.
And Christ, the Lord Jesus, spoke of that. When he was telling
the people, he said, but don't forget, a greater than Solomon
is here. Who is the one who is greater
than Solomon? He is, our Lord Jesus Christ. No, despite his
wisdom and his riches, Solomon was but a sinner. He was a sinner,
a great sinner. He was saved, but he was greatly
flawed in the flesh. greatly flawed in the flesh.
He went after too many women, that was his problem. We mustn't
judge him, we mustn't judge, you know, people are so quick,
religious folks are so quick to judge. They judge, they judge
Lot. They say, look at Lot, what a
terrible, disgraceful life that man lived, living in Sodom and
then committing incest with his daughters at their behest when
he got drunken. Do you know what the New Testament's
view of Lot is? Righteous Lot, righteous Lot. Samson, they talk about Samson
and they judge Samson as an example of how not to live the life of
a believer and the New Testament's view of Samson was that he was
a saved man who knew the truth of the gospel of grace. Now we
mustn't judge. How does Solomon write? You read
this book, you read these 12 chapters of Ecclesiastes, and
I really commend you to sit down and read it at one reading. Read
these verses. How does he write? Now some say
he writes inconsistently. Because one minute he's saying
one thing, and another minute he's saying something else. It's
a bit like sometimes people ask me a question, they say, what
do you think about such and such a thing? And I say, well, yes
and no. yes and no, I mean one answer
is yes it's such and such a thing and the other answer is well
no because I have two opinions at the same time I can see things
from two perspectives and that's what Solomon wrote like seeing
things from two perspectives but that's what believers are
their flesh and their spirit Solomon himself wrote in Song
of Solomon chapter six that the believer is a camp of two armies
a camp of two armies sometimes What he writes is the perspective
of the flesh. Look in chapter 2 and verse 10. Look in chapter 2 and verse 10.
Whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them. I withheld
not my heart from any joy. For my heart rejoiced in all
my labour, and this was my portion of all my labour. He's saying
how much he's loving life in verse 24 of chapter 2. There
is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink
and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This
also I saw that it was from the hand of God." See, he's saying,
I enjoyed life. I enjoyed life. It was good for
me. Chapter 3 and verse 12. I know
that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and
to do good in his life. You see, he's taking a very positive
view. Chapter 5. And verse 18, behold,
that which I have seen, it is good and comely for one to eat
and to drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he
taketh under the sun all the days of his life which God giveth
him, for it is his portion. You see, eat, drink, and be merry.
That was one perspective. But then at other times, you
read the rest of it. I'm not going to pick out verses
now. But he looks from the perspective of eternity. And he talks about
the futility of life without God. He talks about the fear
of God. He talks about the sinful state
of man. He talks about the mortality
of man. He talks about the experience
of all true believers, which is that yes, there are things
in life to enjoy, but don't forget eternal realities. Yes, We're
all, as believers, if we are believers, sinful flesh, certainly,
but with a sanctified spirit from God. So what is the thesis
of Solomon when he writes Ecclesiastes? What is his view of life? What
is the message that he's getting across to us? You see, this is
so important. This really is so important.
For people who think that your Christian religion is, it's okay
if you want to do it, and we find it quite, you know, we admire
you for doing it, taking the time and all that sort of thing,
but it has no effect on us whatsoever, it's irrelevant to us, don't
bother with, as far as I'm concerned there's nothing, so just leave
me out of it. What's Solomon's view of life?
His view is that without Christ, it is meaningless. It is utterly
meaningless. Look at verse two of chapter
one. Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher. Vanity of vanities,
all is vanity. Do you know what he's saying
there? This physical life is in itself meaningless. That's what he's saying. This
physical life, if that's all there is, is meaningless. You listen. to the great philosophers
down the ages. And without exception they come
to the same conclusion. It's meaningless. It's meaningless.
It's meaningless. It really is. You listen to the
likes of Richard Dawkins, the great proponent of evolution,
and he will tell you that, quite frankly, consciousness and everything
about it, it's just a huge great accident that has no purpose
or meaning whatsoever. People of all ages from the very
youngest to the very oldest in this flesh, that is your life. Meaningless. Meaningless. Look
at the world in which we live. Look in chapter 1 at verses 4
to 11. Look at the wisdom here. You know, this was written 3,000
years ago. You know, how do we understand
the weather? Yes, we've got a very good understanding
of the weather, we can model it, we can predict how it's going
to occur. This was written 3,000 years ago. One generation passes
away, another generation comes, but the Earth abides forever.
the sun rises the sun sets he goes to his place where he arose
and up he comes again the next day the wind blows to the south
and turneth about to the north and one day we feel cold and
the next day we feel warm and it whirls about continually can
you imagine three thousand years ago they didn't have a satellite
view of the of the cyclones and anticyclones of the weather systems
but there it is it's written there the wind goes round and
round all the rivers Have you noticed this? Think about it.
All the rivers. Go down to the River Thames.
Go down to all the great rivers of the world. They all flow into
the sea. But the sea doesn't get any more
full, does it? It never fills up. They turn
round, from where the water comes, it comes back again. It goes
round and round. He's talking about that cycle
of things. All things are full of labour.
A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with
seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath
been, it is that which shall be. And that which is done, is
that which shall be done. And there is nothing new under
the sun. Yes, we invent new machines.
Yes, we invent new gadgets, but that's all. Fundamentally, fundamentally,
life, this physical life in the flesh, is meaningless. It's meaningless. There's nothing new. Verse 11,
there's no remembrance of former things. Neither shall there be
any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall
come after. Don't think you're doing something
that's going to last. It doesn't. There are very, very
few who have any impact on history. You know, I've quoted before
that there's that well-known phrase that somebody once said,
that one of the main lessons of history is that we learn nothing
from history. It's just pointless, it just
goes on and on. So how does Solomon support his
contention? Well, in the verses from chapter
1, verse 12 to the end of chapter 2, he talks about an experiment
that he conducted, Solomon's life experiment. And the experiment
he conducted was to see whether he could get any meaning and
purpose out of life by following after wisdom, and following after
pleasure, and following after work and labour. First of all,
what does he say about wisdom? Wisdom. I, the preacher, verse
12, was king over Israel in Jerusalem, and I gave my heart to seek and
search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under
heaven. I'm going to try and find purpose
and meaning in life by education, by knowledge, by wisdom. You
see, Solomon had been given great wisdom. Solomon had been given
great clarity of thinking, sharpness of reasoning. Ignorance is our
enemy. No doubt, people's lives are
improved by education. Don't ever get me wrong on that.
Of course, education is a good thing. But look at chapter 2
and verse 13. I saw that wisdom exceleth folly
as far as light exceleth darkness." Yes, he agrees with that. Wisdom,
education, is a good thing. But, somebody once said, information
in the mind cannot itself satisfy the needs of the heart, nor can
it tame the unruliness of the soul. Oh, you can educate men
and women. You can make them very clever.
But how can you tame the unruliness of the soul? Some of the most
debauched parties and celebrations take place at the end of the
summer term at our most prized educational institutions. Don't
think that because of education you're going to get civilized
behavior. Some of the most uncivilized
behavior is seen in those situations. No. Human wisdom alone cannot
do it. This futility in godless thinking. Turn to Romans chapter 1 where
the New Testament, where Paul expounds this idea in verse 18
of Romans chapter 1. He's talked about he's not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, it's the power of God to salvation. He says in it the righteousness
of God is revealed from faith to faith, the just shall live
by faith, but then he contrasts that, the life of faith with
the life of no faith. He says the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven. against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has
showed it to them. For the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse, because that when they knew God,
people naturally know God, they know there is a God, They glorified
him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in
their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Listen
to this. Oh, professing themselves to
be wise. Oh, how much they know. You know,
I know I pick him out, but it's always because he's on the media.
He's on the television so much. Professor Brian Cox professing
himself to be wise. In the eyes of God, he became
a fool. and change the glory of the uncorruptible God into
an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and to four-footed
beasts, and to creeping things. Don't we worship? Do you know
it is said that the latest David Attenborough series of nature
programs, which is absolutely wonderful, the photography and
the detail of what's portrayed is absolutely marvellous, But
basically, that's got higher viewing figures than anything
else at the moment. This world worships the created thing, rather
than the creator, who is blessed. God, blessed forever. Wherefore,
God gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own
hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, and
so we could go on. That's the state of it. I saw
a thing the other day, some of you might have seen that I put
it, got it from somebody else and I shared it on Facebook and
he was talking about Darwinism, this idea which basically that
summarizes that we can explain everything without God and he
said it's too far-fetched to be credible if you believe that
you have to believe that nothing produces everything That non-life
produces life. That randomness produces order. That chaos produces meaningful
information, and consciousness, and reason. It doesn't make sense. It's just not credible. You see,
it isn't a lack of natural wisdom that is our problem. This is
Solomon's experiment. I'll try wisdom. We haven't got
enough wisdom. Get more wisdom and then we'll
know the meaning of all things. It isn't lack of natural wisdom
that's our problem. Do you know what our problem
is? It's our sinful nature. That's it. Our sinful nature. Look in verse 15 of chapter 1. That which is crooked cannot
be made straight. And that which is wanting cannot
be numbered. Do you know what the number of
man is in Revelation? 666. Why six? Because it's one short
of seven. Seven is the number of God's
perfection. Falling short, falling short,
falling short. That which is wanting cannot
be numbered. That which is crooked cannot
be made straight. The sinful nature of man is the
problem. Let me quote you, oh no, one
more reference. In chapter seven, turn over to
chapter seven. Chapter seven and verse 20. This
is when the man who is saying that it's great to eat, drink,
and be merry, for tomorrow we die, he sees it from the believer's
perspective. And he says, verse 20, there
was not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Not one. Not a solitary one. None righteous, says the scripture
elsewhere. None righteous. No, not one.
In fact, When we think back through the history of the last century
and the great scientists, you know, one stands out head and
shoulders, I think, in the public perception, and that's Albert
Einstein. And Albert Einstein said this. Listen to these words
of Albert Einstein. I don't know if he was a believer,
but he knew one or two things. He said, the true problem lies
in the hearts and thoughts of men. What terrifies us is not
the explosive force of the atomic bomb, but the power of the wickedness
of the human heart. That's it. That's the state.
Sinners, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Look in chapter three and verse 14. I know that whatsoever God
doeth, it shall be for ever. Nothing can be put to it, nor
anything be taken from it. And God doeth it that men should
fear before him. That's the beginning of wisdom. If you want true wisdom, if you
want true wisdom, I'll tell you where it begins. He wrote it
in Proverbs, in the early chapters of Proverbs a couple of times.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of God! That's what it is, the fear of
God. Look at chapter 5. Look at chapter 5 and the first
seven verses. where he talks about the worship
of God. This man who keeps seeing things
from these two different perspectives, he's seeing things from a heavenly
perspective now. Keep your foot when you go to
the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the
sacrifice of fools, than to spout your mouth off, for they consider
not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth. Let
not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God, for God
is in heaven, and you're on the earth, Therefore let your words
be few. It is better to listen than to
spout your mouth off. For a dream cometh through the
multitude of business, and a fool's voice is known by the multitude
of words. When you vow a vow unto God,
defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools. Pay that
which is vowed. You see, and he finishes up in
verse seven, but fear thou God. Fear God, fear him. Where does
true wisdom, meaningful wisdom, soul-satisfying wisdom lie? I'll
tell you where it lies, in the one who is the manifestation
of the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1.30, for Christ
is made unto us. If you know Christ, this pursuing
of wisdom, Solomon, it got you nowhere in the flesh, But if
you pursue Christ, for in Him, in Christ, is made unto us wisdom
from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. The thing that is our problem,
which is the sin of our hearts, and our standing before a holy
God, is satisfied only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. We read earlier in Proverbs chapter
8, I'll just turn back to it for a moment. Proverbs chapter
8 and verse 21, that I may cause those that love me, this is wisdom
speaking, this is Christ speaking, that I may cause those that love
me to inherit substance. What is the substance that you
inherit from Christ? I'll tell you. It's righteousness.
What do you need to stand before a holy God as a sinner? You need
righteousness. I need righteousness to stand
before him. He says, I will fill their treasures. Lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven. Treasures in heaven. He's blessed
us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.
For He, as Colossians 2 verse 3 tells us, in Him dwell all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. No, wisdom in itself is futile,
like the rest of life. But wisdom that is found in Christ
is that which is totally soul satisfying. How is it soul satisfying? It deals with our sin. Secondly,
in Ecclesiastes chapter 2, verse 1, Solomon continuing his experiment,
he's tried wisdom and found it wanting. He goes on, I said in
my heart, go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy
pleasure, and behold, this also is vanity. He had a go with pleasure,
and with mirth, and with joy. And it was all vanity. It was
all futile. All of it. He went on, if you
read the first 11 verses, and we won't for the sake of time
now, of chapter 2, you'll see he applied unlimited riches to
acquire whatever he desired because he was unparalleled in earthly
riches. This is what the Queen of Sheba
said. She must have had plenty of money, but when she came she'd
said she'd never seen anything like it. Is this not most people's
philosophy of life? You think about what your friends,
your acquaintances, your colleagues would say. If you were to say
to them, what's your greatest heart's desire, how many would
say, if only I could win the lottery, I would have a marvellous
life. Oh, that would, how are you going
to have a marvellous, oh, if only I could win the lottery,
then all my problems would be over, I wouldn't have to go to
work, I wouldn't, I'd be able to buy everything I wanted, all
my heart's desire. And Solomon said, I tried it.
I tried it more than you ever will. However big your lottery
win is, I tried it and I can tell you, all is vanity. All of it. You see, as Jesus
told the people in Luke 12, 15, a man's life consisteth not in
the abundance of the things which he possesses. He then went on
to tell the parable of the rich fool who in one very good harvest
year got so rich he had such a bumper harvest he pulled down
his old barns and he built bigger and he stored it all in there
and he said to his soul soul you've done so well oh there's
no need to worry about anything else your future is secure you've
got treasures beyond measure you just take your ease eat drink
and be merry and Jesus said, God said to him, thou fool, this
night your soul will be required of you. And whose riches will
those riches be then? Oh, how wise it is to learn the
parable of the rich fool. Think about the last 12 months.
How many rich fools passed from this life in the last year? Think
about it, an awful lot did. They thought that their goodness
and that their pleasure and that their self-satisfaction was in
the abundance of riches of the things they possessed. And God
said to them, thou fool, this night your soul is required of
you. Solomon's conclusion, look at
verse 10. whatsoever verse chapter 2 verse 10 whatsoever mine eyes
desired I kept not from them I had everything I wanted 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 I you know I got all
of these things and then I looked on all the works that my hands
had wrought and on the labor that I had labored to do and
behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit and there was no profit
under the sun. No, all fleeting, all vain. Moth, rust, decay affects all
of it because of sin. The whole of the creation is
groaning under the effects of sin. It's in what the scripture
calls the bondage of corruption. Romans 8.22, the whole creation
groans and travails in pain together until now because of sin. That's
the problem. Whatever you enjoy now in this
life, however much or little you have, a colossal debt is
hanging over you. It's appointed, says Hebrews
9.27, to man to die once and then the judgment and what will
those earthly riches be to you then when the one treasure that
you will find you must have is the righteousness of God and
that's only in Christ. Where is my true lasting pleasure
found? There is true lasting pleasure. Where is it found? Psalm 16 verse
11. Thou wilt show me the path of
life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there
are pleasures forevermore. At whose right hand? Christ's.
God in Christ. God revealed in Christ. That's
where true pleasures forevermore are revealed. Because those are
eternal pleasures. Those are pleasures that fade
not away. Those are pleasures that moth and rust in this life
does not consume. Because in Christ, that sin debt
is discharged in full. In Christ, those who believe
in him have peace with God. What riches is that? What's the
worth of all the treasures in the world if you don't have peace
with God when you die and go into eternity? Peace with God. Seek first, said Jesus. Seek
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these
other things in this life that are needed, they'll be added
to you. Then thirdly, so he tried pleasure and it was vanity. Thirdly,
work. He tried work. He turned myself
to behold, to work and to focus his efforts
on his work, and so many do that. And don't be in any doubt, work
is good for mind and body. I'm not for one minute saying
work is a bad thing. To live responsibly, to provide
for yourself and your family and further afield, to be able
to acquire possessions is good. In itself, it's not bad. But
work alone will never satisfy. Look at verse 20 of chapter 2.
Verse 20, therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair
of all the labor which I undertook under the sun. Some of you might
have seen on Friday a video clip that Christine put on Facebook,
which was of a bonfire taking place down the end of the garden.
We have an office in the house and in it there had been the
products of the best part of a 40-year working life. All of
my day books from the time when I was a business consultant.
Lots of stuff that really for commercial reasons should never
ever go to landfill or to a tip because people might see it and
I don't think there was anything particularly secret but you know
it would have been an embarrassment if some things had come out because
I got to see the inside of an awful lot of organisations, so
we thought the best thing to do with it, clearing the office
out, was to burn it. And it was quite a metaphor of
my career. All of that effort, all of those
years of work, all of that charging up and down the country, all
of that striving to earn a salary to feed my family, all of those
things, went up in smoke, and it just went up in flames. All
those papers, all that intellectual effort, all of that for which
people paid me good money, went up in flames, because what was
it worth to anybody? Absolutely zero. Absolutely. It may have had a value at its
time. It may have had a value in that somebody thought, now
it's relevant, I'll pay him something for doing that. But the end of
it all was just Solomon's view. It was all vanity. Because all
aspects of work, like everything else in this physical life without
God, are all corrupted by sin. You've got the greed of organizations. You've got the self-centeredness
that you see. You've got the exploitative aspects
of it. And at the end, it all goes up
in smoke. And it benefits, as Solomon says
here, it benefits only those who live on after you. I'm very
happy if people can benefit from what we've done and what we've
acquired, but don't think for one minute it does you ultimately
any long-term good. At the end, it just goes up in
smoke. It can be hard, it can be stressful,
it can be enslaving, sometimes it can be very satisfying, but
it can never provide eternal fulfilment. God is portrayed
as working. Work is good in that sense. He
created Adam to work. tending a garden and keeping
a private zoo if you read the first two chapters of Genesis
but Adam fell into sin and all his work under the curse of God
against sin became toil and frustration his garden grew thorns and thistles
and so it continues for you and me so that we say if we're being
honest as Ecclesiastes 4 verse 6 says I'd sooner have one handful
with contentment than abundance and there be toil and strife
in it. No. How to work? How to work in a
fulfilled way? As unto Christ. Ephesians 6 verse
5. Whatever you do, do it as if
you're working for Christ. And in that there's fulfilment,
in that. But in itself there's none. There's
none whatsoever. Ultimately, God's people will
serve him in heaven, as Revelation 22 verse 3 tells us, and his
servants shall serve him. But work in itself, Solomon's
life experiment found, it was vanity, it was futility. What's
the conclusion of this? Life in the flesh without God,
its wisdom, its pleasure, and its work without God, is all
meaningless and futile. As God said through Jeremiah,
we sang it in that last hymn, Jeremiah 2.13, my people have
committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain
of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, stone cisterns,
like stone water troughs, but they're broken, and they can
hold no water. And there was that verse of that
hymn that said, and this is the experience that Solomon's talking
about, I tried the broken cisterns, Lord, but ah, the waters failed,
and even as I stooped to drink, they mocked me. as they fled. Something like that. I didn't
get the wording quite right. But, you know, we try the things
of this life without God and it all turns out to be empty.
There's a broad way that leads to destruction. Jesus said that.
A broad way. The way of life, the way of true
life, of true satisfaction is a narrow way. And the reason
is sin. How blessed to know your true
condition before God. Because if you know you're a
sinner, you're on the path of God revealing to you the salvation
that he's accomplished in the Lord Jesus Christ. In closing
this, I just want to read what I put in the bulletin, and I
know you can read it for yourself, but I want to read it here for
the sake of this message, because I think in itself it speaks powerfully. It's called Two Strings to My
Bow, and it was in a sermon that Charles Spurgeon preached about
150 years ago. Let me read, you can follow it
as I read it out. A gentleman from London one day met a poor
countryman. It was a Sunday, and the person
from London had come down for a holiday. When he met the countryman,
thinking himself to be a very wise man, he said to him, Well,
Hodge, I suppose you've been taking a walk through the fields.
No, sir, replied the man. I don't waste my time on the
Lord's Day in that way. I have been worshipping him and
listening to his word. So you shut yourself up in a
stuffy building for a couple of hours and listen to somebody
talking all because you believe the Bible. Don't you know that
it is a pack of nonsense? The learned men have proved that
it is so, and everyone who believes it is a fool. "'Yes,' said Hodge. "'Very likely we are great fools,
but yet, after all, we country people do know one or two things.'
"'What do you know?' asked the gentleman. Hodge replied. "'Well,
we know that it is a good thing to have two strings to your bow.'
The gentleman responded somewhat puzzled. "'What do you mean,
my good man?' "'Well,' said Hodge, "'I mean that I have got two
strings to my bow.' If this book, and he meant the Bible, if this
book should not prove to be true, it has given me a deal of comfort
and made me a better man than I was before I learned to value
it. So that is one good thing. And if it should prove to be
true, that is a second string to my bow. And what a blessed
thing it will be to me that I have received it and have enjoyed
it. But look at you, sir, he said. You have not one string
to your bow. If the Bible is not true, I am
as well off as you are, and I think I am happier on the whole than
you are, whoever you may be. But if it should prove to be
true, what will become of you, sir? That is the question that
I should like to put to anyone who says that the Bible is not
true. Suppose it should be true, friend. What will become of you? We who know it is true ask you
to listen to the word of God. And that's what we pray, that
all, unbelieving and not thinking that this has any relevance to
them, might do if they hear this message.