Let's turn again tonight to Ecclesiastes,
tonight to chapter two. The title of the message is Happiness
is Not Found in Pleasures. I believe that as the scripture
is divided, in chapter one we have Solomon's observation concerning
the knowledge of things under the sun. The knowledge, the knowledge
of things done under the sun and he found it to be like feeding
on the wind. Now in this second chapter, it
is his observation especially of what men call pleasures. And
he finds it to be vanity and vexation of spirit and there
is no prophet under the sun. Robert Hawker, in his reflections
on this chapter, made this statement. Surely, he said, surely the preacher
intended by this way of preaching, in showing negatively what human
pleasure and human learning are not, to proclaim most loudly
what Christ and his graces are. For all short of Christ is vanity,
and Christ himself be the chief, the only, the substantial good. So as we go through this chapter
tonight, the Lord willing, we will divide it into three divisions. The first division, the first
11 verses, Solomon now takes what men call pleasures to examine. And he does so with purpose of
heart. If you notice in verse one, he
said, I said in my heart, go to now, I will prove thee with
mirth Therefore, enjoy pleasure." He's going to be speaking about
what men call pleasures. He's going to examine them in
the first 11 verses of this chapter. The first pleasure that he takes
up is found in verse 2. Laughter. Laughter. Mirth. I said of laughter, it
is mad and of mirth, what doeth it? It seems as though he took
this up first, laughter and mirth, but he dismissed it quickly. He dismissed this folly as mad. Now John Gill, in his commentary,
had some helpful comments on laughter. because we all know
that laughter is a part of our life. And John Gill said, it
is a faculty that was given to man and when it is used in a
moderate way and kept within due bounds is of service to him. Laughter is good. We've heard
people make that comment that it's good, it's better to smile
than to wear a frown. The proverb, and Solomon wrote
this proverb, a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. When laughter is used in a moderate
way and kept within due bounds, it is of service to man. It conduces to the health of
the body. That's what John Gill said. Yet,
and this is still what he said, yet when indulged to excess,
It makes a man look more like a madman and a fool rather than
a wise man. People that laugh at everything.
You know, fools make a mock at sin. Sin is nothing to laugh
at. And so much that we see that
is called entertainment if you pay attention and they have the
laughter already programmed into the show. Many times it is laughing
at things which is contrary to the Word of God. Many times it's
things that we know as wicked and evil things that the world
laughs at, but sin is no laughing matter. I've made this comment
many times to you concerning Satan. People make a joke about
the devil, and I always caution all of us We should never do
that. That is something we should never
laugh about. He is a real being, and he is
a powerful being, not all powerful. But he does, his desire, if you
are one of his children tonight, his desire is to destroy you. Now think about Lot. You know, Lot, if we didn't have
the New Testament, probably we wouldn't ever think that Lot
was a saved man. But the scripture in 1st Peter,
or 2nd Peter rather, tells us that he was a just man. But he made some terrible choices. I mean terrible choices. And
I just have to believe not only his flesh was involved in those
choices, but maybe the influence of Satan himself. He goeth about
as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And when Lot looked
on those fields and made that choice to take the best land
and let his uncle, who should have had the choice, Lot took
the best land, pitched his tent towards Sodom, he never, never,
never imagined that he would end up in a cave committing incest
with two of his daughters. But you know, sin is like that,
isn't it? It snowballs. It starts small, but it's not
happy there. But laughter. Solomon, he looked
at that first because he knew that men derive pleasure from
laughter, but he dismisses it quickly. He dismisses this right
away. I said of laughter, it is mad
and of mirth. What doeth it? What good is it? And then next, he goes to what
I've called fine dining, or what is called eating and drinking
in verse three. I sought in my heart to give
myself unto wine. Now it's not just wine, but it
is feasting as well, eating and drinking. Yet acquainting my
heart with wisdom and to lay hold on folly till I might see
what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do
under the heaven. all the days of their life. And
notice this as we go through these things that men refer to
as pleasures, Solomon always insists that he retained his
wisdom. That in these things that he
allowed himself to delve into and look into and investigate,
He never lost the wisdom that God had given him. So when he
makes a decision about these things, he is doing so with the
wisdom that he had, which was great wisdom. Fine dining, or
what is called eating and drinking well. And you know, we live in
a day, you and I do, And I'm thankful for all the benefits
and the blessings that we have in our country. But do you know
the two things that we find in Ezekiel that God said caused
the situation in Sodom and Gomorrah? It was fullness of bread and
empty our time. People didn't have to work. People
had much time for recreation and things like that. That's
not exactly the way it's stated there in Ezekiel, but that's
what it is. A fullness of bread and people had plenty of free
time. People in our day do not have
to work for the most part like men used to work. to earn their
bread by the sweat of their brow, and that's good, but fine dining. We don't, we shouldn't live to
eat, in other words. We should live to eat and not
reverse that. Now Solomon He was the son of
a king. And David was a mighty king.
He was a wealthy king. So all of his life, Solomon fared
well as the son of a king. But then when he became the king
himself, he had the very best, the very best of food and drink. And I noticed that Solomon is
the only king of Israel that the scriptures tell us what was
his daily provision. They do not tell us what the
daily provision was for David or for any of the other kings
that followed them or for Saul before them, but it does tell
us the daily provisions for Solomon. And as you listen to me as I
read this, you'll see how great they were. This is found in 1
Kings chapter 4, verses 22 and 23. For Solomon's provision for
one day, was 30, listen, 30 measures of fine flour. Now it's hard
to determine what is meant by a measure. Some suggest a bushel. Can you imagine how many biscuits
you can make out of 30 bushels of fine flour? Plenty of loaves
of bread. This was his provision. 30 measures
of fine flour, and then get this, three score measures of meal. Oh, we've got some cornbread.
Three measures of meal. And you know, some of us do like
cornbread. That's just the bread. 10 fat
oxen. 10 oxen that were fed, grain fed,
no doubt in stalls. And I'll tell you why I say that
in just a moment, because following that, those 10 fat oxen were
20 oxen out of the pasture. Just 20 oxen that were not fed
on grain. They were part of his daily provision. And 100 sheep, and hundred sheep, besides harts,
and roebucks, and fallow deer, and fatted fowl." So that was
quite a feast, quite a sumptuous feast that was set before him
every day. And though we do not read about
the wine, that which they drank, but we know it would have been
the best of wine of that day. Third, in verse four, so that's
one pleasure. The first pleasure is laughter.
He dismissed that one quickly. Fine dining and eating. But third, the building of great
houses. Notice that in verse four, the
first part. I made me great works, I builded
me houses. He had already built the temple
when he is writing this book of Ecclesiastes. We know the
scriptures tell us it took seven years to build the temple. Seven years in constructing the
temple. Do you remember how many years
he took in building his own house? Now the temple was a magnificent
house. He said it had to be. It had
to be because it was the house of God. It had to be magnificent. He took seven years in building
that house, but now he took 13 years in building his own house. Can you imagine what kind of
a palace that must have been? His own house, 13 years in building
it, and then he built a summer house in Lebanon. which was also a tremendous,
tremendous house. Do you ever watch these shows
on television of people building houses off the grid sometimes? I like those, off the grid. But
there has to be a very certain amount of satisfaction when a
man builds his own house. He just goes out there and he
clears the land and cuts the timber, mills the timber, and
builds his own house when it's finished and it's square and
everything fits together right, that has to be a lot of satisfaction. Can you imagine the satisfaction
that Solomon found in building great houses? Number four, he
took to gardening on a large scale, the last part of verse
four. I planted me vineyards. He didn't
have just a small space in the backyard. He had acres, acres
that he cultivated, orchards and all kinds of fruit trees
and vegetables and everything I'm sure that he could bring
to that country from other countries to plant as well as what they
already planted in Palestine. He took to gardening on a very
large scale, verse 4 and 5. I planted me vineyards, I made
me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees and them of all
kinds of fruits, every kind of fruit that they could bring.
And they had ships, remember, with Hiram, king of Tyre, they
sent out ships. and brought back gold, and they
brought back animals, they brought back trees from other countries,
and had a tremendous, no doubt, orchard, hanging gardens. He
built one of his wives a garden, the daughter of Pharaoh, I believe,
he built her a garden, special garden. And then the sixth thing,
he said he had a very large number of servants to attend him. In
verse 7, I got me servants and maidens, had servants born in
my house, also had great possessions. Great, well that's the next thing.
First of all, it was servants. He had a large number of servants
to attend him. to attend every whim and every
desire that he must have had. And then seven, he got into animal
husbandry in the last part of verse seven. Also, I had great
possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in
Jerusalem before me. No king ever had any more animals
than Solomon had. And then, more than any king,
at one time, listen, at one time, he offered a thousand burnt offerings
at one time. A thousand animals were slain
and offered up as burnt offerings. And I'm sure that wasn't that
much to him. because of the number of cattle
that he had, the number of animals that he had. And then the eighth
thing, he had gold and silver in abundance. I gathered me also
silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the
provinces. You know, he made that throne
out of ivory and they say it was the Lord's throne and he
overlaid it with gold. 660 talents, I believe it was, of
gold were brought each year to Solomon. And every vessel that
they drank from was out of gold. And the scripture says that silver
and gold was so plenteous in Jerusalem at the time of his
reign in 1 Kings 10 and verse 27, it says, and the king made
silver to be in Jerusalem like stones. There was such an abundance
of it. And you notice the peculiar treasure
of kings. What was that? Many believe it
was the precious stones, diamonds and rubies and emeralds and stones
like that. The precious or the peculiar
rather treasure of stones. And then number nine, he also
had the pleasure of music. The last part of verse eight.
I got me men singers and women singers and the delights of the
sons of men as musical instruments and that of all sorts. Every
kind of, every sort rather of musical instrument that could
be found, he had. And he had his singers there,
no doubt lovely and beautiful harmony. He was greater, notice
in verse nine, he says, so I was great. He's not bragging, he's
just stating a fact. So I was great and increased
more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. And notice also,
my wisdom remained with me. Now, this is important to say,
that his assessment of all the works that men call pleasures,
His wisdom was still with him, and he said that it was all vanity,
verse 11. Then I looked on all the works
of my hands, all the works that my hands had wrought, and on
the labor that I had labored to do, and behold, it was vanity
and vexation of spirit, and there was no prophet under the sun. Remember, he still had that wisdom
greater than any man. And as he observed, went through
the pleasures, investigated them, looked into them, that's his
conclusion. That all was vanity and vexation
of spirit. There was no profit in the things
which are done under the sun. Now, as you look at these things,
we've gone through them quickly, but looking at them, the things
that Solomon mentions, isn't it obvious, isn't it obvious
to us today that these are the very things that men are looking
after, seeking after, and they really believe that they are
going to bring them happiness, that these things will bring
to them happiness. These are all things, as we've
gone through them, these are all things that appeal to the
flesh. They appeal to the flesh. But
listen, not one of them can minister to the soul. Not one of them
can minister to the soul. Remember in Luke chapter 12,
the Lord Jesus Christ called that man a fool. He called him
a fool who said to his soul, Because his barns were filled
and full, he said to his soul, thou hast much goods laid up
for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. What
was laid up in his barns could not minister to his soul. Only
Christ, only Christ himself can satisfy the desire of an immortal
soul. I believe it was Augustine, one
of the early men in church history that is recognized as a true
believer and a champion of the faith. He made a comment something
like this once, that God had so created man that he'll never
find satisfaction in his soul until he finds it in his God. He'll never find it in the things
under the sun. the pleasures that are done under
the suns. And yet, this is what most people
believe will bring them happiness, fortune, fame, power. And yet, those things cannot
minister to the soul, only Christ and His Word. Now, the second
part of the the chapter in verses 12 through 16, Solomon turns
back again to knowledge. He's gone through these pleasures.
Now he turns back and investigates once again, knowledge. Maybe
I missed something. He had said before about knowledge
that it was vanity. It was like feeding on the wind,
but maybe I missed something. And so he turned back. I turn
myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly. For what
can the man do that cometh after the king? Now he's the king.
What can any man do? What can any man learn that comes
after the king, comes after me? The only thing he can learn,
a person who follows me, the only thing that he can learn
is the same thing that I learned. Even that which hath been already
done. Then I saw that wisdom exceleth
folly, as far as light exceleth darkness. The wise man's eyes
are in his head, but 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. And why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart that
this also is vanity. For there is no remembrance of
the wise more than of the fool forever, seeing that which now
is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how doth
the wise man as a fool? After reviewing the matter, he
does recognize that he's turned back to knowledge, he's gone
through the pleasures, he's turned back to knowledge, and he he
recognizes that anyone who comes after him and makes the same
investigation is going to find the same thing out. This is never
going to be improved upon, it's never going to be proved to be
wrong, that knowledge cannot bring happiness. But then, after
reviewing the matter, he does recognize that while there's
no true happiness to be found in knowledge, It does, yes it
does, excel folly. There's no true happiness to
be found in knowledge, but yes, it does excel folly. It excels folly like light excels
darkness. And he tells us that the man
of wisdom, or the man of knowledge, uses his eyes. The fool has eyes,
the wise man who has knowledge, both of them have eyes in their
head. Both of them can see. But the
man of wisdom, he will use his eyes to walk. To walk with caution
and with carefulness. While the foolish, he walks without
using his eyes. He's not cautious, he's not careful. He doesn't really look and see
where he's going, what he's going into, while the wise man, he
does. He uses caution as he walks. But, he said, both of them, in
the end, are liable to the same thing. The wise man who walks
with caution, the fool that walks without caution, they're both
liable to diseases, and in the end, death, because it happens
unto all. Death comes both to the wise
and to the fool. Death is the end of both, and
they are soon forgotten in this world under the sun. When I was preparing these notes
and reading over this chapter, I could not help but think, when
he says they're soon forgotten, of those that we know who we
would refer to as heroes of the faith. I've heard people refer
to Hebrews chapter 11 as God's hall of fame, and they're not
forgotten, are they? that served the Lord and that
God used in their day, they're not forgotten. The memory of
the wise, Solomon wrote in one of the Proverbs, is blessed.
It's blessed. But generally speaking, when
one generation passes away, the next generation pretty much forgets
the third generation and the fourth generation, they're not
thought of. People like to be remembered,
don't we? We all do. We like to be remembered. In
the Psalms, the psalmist spoke about those who name their farms
or ranches after themselves, name their property after themselves.
Why do they do that? They want to be remembered. But we're all soon forgotten. And it has to be that way. It
has to be that way. It doesn't mean the wise, those
who know God, are in eternity without any hope. Who cares if
our name is remembered in this world? I'm concerned about it
being registered in the Lamb's Book of Life, aren't you? I'm
not worried about people remembering my name in this world. Well, here's the third part of
the chapter. Solomon named something more
in that under the sun in which he found vanity and vexation
of spirit in verses 17 through 26. He labored to do. Solomon, we've seen what he entered
into, all these projects that he had, building, raising cattle. orchards and all of gold and
all of those things that he entered into. He said, I labored to do. I labored to get. And I labored
to keep. That's the thing about riches
the scripture says, isn't it? Men labor to get them, then they
labor to keep them, and then they hate to leave them. Solomon
said, I labored to get these things, to do these things, to
keep them, all these things under the sun, but I'm going to leave
them all. I'm going to leave everything.
I'm not taking anything with me. Naked came I into this world,
and naked I'm going to leave this world. And Solomon thought,
and here's the sad thing, whoever inherits what I leave, whether
he be a fool, He got it all free. He didn't work for it. And you
know, people don't usually appreciate what they don't work for. Solomon
said, I don't know the person who comes after me if he's going
to be a fool and appreciate what I've done and continue my work
or not. And none of us know that. Verse
17. Therefore, I hated life because
the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me,
for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Yea, I hated all my
labor which I had taken under the sun, because I should leave
it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether
he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all
my labor wherein I have labored. And wherein I have showed myself
wise under the sun. This is vanity. Therefore I went
about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which I took
under the sun. For there is a man whose labor
is in wisdom and in knowledge and in equity. Yet to a man that
hath not labor, therein shall he leave it for his portion.
This also is vanity and a great evil. For what hath man of all
his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath
labored under the sun? For all his days are sorrows,
and his travail grief. Yea, his heart taketh not rest
in the night. He's awake at night. Why? He's afraid someone's going to
steal what he's accumulated. That's what he's saying. He's
set up at night, worrying about his plans, and thinking about
his plans. if someone was going to take
it away from me. And in the end, I've got to leave
it all and who knows the man who receives it, if he's going
to be a fool or a wise man. There's nothing better, notice
this. 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. And I see in that, that it is
God who gives to man through his labor. The man labors, yes,
but it's God who blesses his labor and gives to him. But it is also God who must give
that man the power to enjoy the fruit of his labor. There's many wealthy people tonight,
my friends. I mean, we'd be amazed at the
wealth that some people have, and yet they don't enjoy their
wealth. They're covetous, and they're
hoarders, and they have the wealth, and God's given it to them. Yes,
they work for it, many of them, but they don't have the power
to enjoy it. They're so afraid they're going
to lose it. And so they hoard what they have.
In verse 26, he confesses that it is God who gives wisdom, knowledge,
and joy to a good man, and vanity and vexation of spirit to sinners. And you and I know that there
is no man who is naturally good. There's none good but God. There's none that doeth good,
the Apostle Paul, quoting in Romans chapter three. So this
good man is someone who has been made good by the grace of God. There are only those who are
born again and who are made new creatures in Christ Jesus. And
to them, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy. That joy that man sought
in the pleasures, the natural man seeks in the pleasures of
this world, escapes him. But to the believer, to the man
that has been made good by God's grace and mercy, God gives him
wisdom, knowledge, and joy. The Apostle Paul, remember he,
exhorted the church at Philippi, the believers there, rejoice
in the Lord. He's our joy, isn't he? The Lord
Jesus Christ, He is our joy. I pray that the Lord would bless
this word to all of us here this evening. Once again, we say the
all-importance of knowing Christ, the futility of life, and the
things in this world apart from Jesus Christ, our Lord. Bill,
if you will, let's sing a couple of verses of a hymn.