I'm going to ask you now to take
your Bibles and turn back to the second chapter of the book
of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter 2. I'd like to consider this whole
chapter. And I'm going to look first at the conclusion. Solomon concerning some things
that he's wisely observed. Then secondly, I wanna consider
the things that he observed wisely to come to the conclusion. And
then lastly, thirdly, I'm gonna consider his conclusion again. All right, first thing I'd like
to do, look over verses 24 to 26. I'd like to look at Solomon's conclusion to some
things that he considered. He said in Solomon 2, 24-26,
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. But to
the sinner he giveth travail, gather and to heap up that he
may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity
and vexation of spirit. So that was his conclusion. On my third point, I'm going
to consider that conclusion in detail. But secondly, I'd like
for us to, according to the wisdom that Solomon was given by God,
I want us to consider What caused him to come to the conclusion? There's nothing better for man
that he should eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of his labor. What did he do? He considered in chapter one,
he considered that generations come, generations go, the sun
rises and sun sets and the wind blows It's in a continual pattern. It returns back to its origin.
He concluded that the rivers all run to the sea, and the sea
is never full, and man's never satisfied with what he sees or
what he hears, and that there's nothing new in the world. The
details of things done years ago are forgotten, and things
that we're doing, the details that we're doing right now, going
through right now, nobody's gonna remember this in years to come,
and that it much wisdom, he concluded that there's much grief. He was
trying to come to the conclusion of not only things that happened,
but why they happened. How was it that they happened?
So with all the efforts that he had considered in chapter
one through wisdom. He concluded that everything
that would be found out was just vanity, vexation of spirit, just
came to nothing, trying to figure out the depth of all this. Now,
in this chapter two, he's going to try to find out and remember
now, He's doing this through wisdom. God's given him wisdom. And he's looking at this thing
wisely. And he's trying to wisely consider. And he's going to try to figure
out satisfaction in another way. With gleeful pleasure. That's what he said. Chapter
2, verse 1. I said in mine heart, go to now,
I will prove thee with mirth. Therefore, enjoy pleasure. And behold, this also is vanity. He resolved to seek by wisdom
that which would settle a man down and give him some real comfort. I'm going to entertain myself. I'm going to find happiness in
just gleeful activity. I'm gonna do some things that
are fun. I'm gonna take it easy and I'm
gonna live out my life on a constant vacation. That's what I'm gonna
do. And after he tried that, he said
for a while, all he tried, he discovered that that constant
effort to try to do more and more activities. This sounds
great. You ever notice how excited you
are? You got a vacation coming up.
Man, we're going on vacation. Man, we're packing. We're gonna
have a blast. And then you're there. Okay,
you're there. And now you're going through
it and we're having fun. We're having fun. About the end
of the week, end of two weeks, and I'm ready to go home. I want
to go back to the house. This well-deserved vacation,
when it was all over, it didn't happen for me. Verse 2, I said
of laughter, it's mad. and of mirth, what doeth it? He came to the conclusion just
laughing, having a good time. It mocked him, it mocked him. And mirth, mirth, the continual
pursuit of merriment and pleasure at the expense of responsibility. It's just a treacherous delusion.
There's nothing wrong with having a good, responsible time of rest
and relaxation, but to make that the goal of one's end of life
at the neglect of honor unto the Lord and respect unto the
Lord is dangerous. He said, I thought I'm going
to find out. I'm going to have a good time.
That's all I'm going to do. And he could afford it. We're
going to see it. He could afford it. Verse three,
I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting
mine 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. He said within
the bounds of wisdom. He sought to give himself, when
it says wine, it means banqueting. I'm gonna have parties. I'm going
to, you know, I watch on this TV and you people looking at
houses, you know, we're going to, mainly what they're talking
about is entertainment. We're going to be able to entertain.
We're going to have people going to have a, you know, we're going
to get our stuff, we're going to entertain. Man, you know, that gets old. It gets old fast. I gave myself,
I was going to give myself to wine, to banqueting, and to,
I'm gonna eat the best food, I'm gonna have the best wine,
I'm gonna lay hold on folly, and I'm gonna set my heart to
do these things that's gonna be gleeful for the rest of my
life. And what else did he do? He said,
look, verse four to six, I made me great works. building 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
the trees. He said, I made me great works. Really what he said was he did
what he did with great zeal. I mean, it wasn't done halfway.
I mean, he was going all that, what he did, he did according
to his ability and wisdom and wealth. Nothing was spared because
of expense. He was gonna create a paradise. Y'all come see this. Y'all, you
come and look at this and see what this is. Look at verse seven.
I got me servants. 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 and had had to be maintained. So he had servants,
he had those born in his house, but he bought the rest of them.
He just hired them, bought them, they were his, along with those
that were born into his house to attend to these works. And so, and the daily provision
for his household, no problem, no problem. How much did it cost?
Right him a check, right him a check. He had magnificent possessions. He's a great and small cattle.
It was beef and sheep and goats above all that was before him. Then verse eight, I gathered
me also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and
of the provinces. I got me men singers, women singers
and the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments
and that of all sorts. He had tributary, had money that
was pouring in. Turn to, hold your place, turn
to 1 Kings 10, 14. 1 Kings 10, 14. Now this is just one scripture,
one scripture concerning Solomon's wealth. First Kings 10, 14, now
the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 603
score and six talents of gold. Now I looked up and just assuming
that Those that were telling me, this was telling me right,
based on what that was back then, how much that was. And they said
that the best of our ability to be able to comprehend how
much gold came in in a year, 25 tons, 25 tons of gold. My phone calculated that and
I couldn't even understand the number that he gave me. It was
a funny number. I couldn't get it. 25, he said back in verse eight,
I gathered me silver and gold and peculiar treasure of kings.
He had money to burn. He had choirs of men, choirs
of women singers and the lights of the sons of men referred to
those musical instruments that accompanied the singer. He said
it had all kinds. You know, the tabernacle choir
or whatever we got nowadays. He said, I had choirs. Look at verses nine and 10. So
I was great. and increased more than all that
were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with
me. That's a key right there. He
was doing this according to wisdom. 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 it was, I was great,
I was great. He was great in wealth and great
in importance. Queen of Sheba. You know what
she came to see? I just want to see what I've
heard concerning Solomon. She said when she looked at what
he had, the assent of his servants, the tables, the food, the houses,
she said the half of it wasn't. This is the queen of Sheba. And
here again, by wisdom, Solomon, from the things that this world
could offer, He sought out through pleasure. I want one of every
kind of tree there is. Every kind of flower there is,
I want them. I want pools, I want everything. Everything that could satisfy
a man with pleasure. God tried it. Verse 11, then I looked on all
the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labor
to do, and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there
was no profit under the sun. Now here's, we're taught the
reality of our foolish pursuits. I'm gonna live out there. I've worked hard all my life.
I did this, I did that. And all of these things that
we think are gonna sustain us, pleasure, satisfaction, we dream
that if this or that, if I could have that, that'd be the cat's
meow. That's it. If I get that, Solomon said,
I did it by wisdom, by wisdom. He wasn't, he wasn't, I mean,
he was looking at this thing according to the wisdom of God.
And he said it, you know what? I looked around at all this stuff
that I was doing, all this stuff I built, all of this stuff that
I had. And he said it was empty. It
was hollow, disappointed. You know, it takes some time. It takes some time. You get a little older. You know,
when you're young, you get out of school, I'm going to do this,
I'm going to do this. I'm going to have this world by the tail.
I'm going to do all these things. And after a while, you get to
a point in your life to where you start realizing, you know,
what I thought was going to be, this is going to be it right
here. This is gonna be it. Man, if I could just, man, if
I could just, if I could pay all my bills, and if I had just
a little bit left over, a little bit left over, it would be fantastic. And then, by the grace of God,
you end up, you get a little bit left over, and let me ask
you this. Now, seriously, how much pleasure are you finding? Told somebody one day, if I inherited
a billion dollars, by the grace of God, you know what I'd do?
What do I do tomorrow? By the grace of God. If God leads
me myself, it's not what I'm gonna do, but by the grace of
God, if it's what I do, I'll be in that study right there,
sitting there. Solomon, by wisdom, said, I realized
something. Everything that I thought about
pleasure, vacation, fun, it's gonna be great, we're gonna party.
He said, it's vanity, it's nothing. Verses 18. 18 to, uh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Verses 12, 16. I turned myself to behold wisdom
and madness and folly. And what can the man do that
cometh after the King, even that which has been already done. And I saw that wisdom excel at
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 all, that which I then said I in my heart, as it happeneth
to the fool, so it happeneth unto me. Why was I then more
wise than said I in my heart? This also is vanity. For there's no remembrance of
the wise more than the fool ever and forever, seeing that which
now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth
the wise man as a fool? Solomon said, he said, I've come
to this realization by wisdom of all that I've been seeking
after. What can somebody do after me
that I hadn't done? He said, now who is gonna come
after me? Who's gonna excel more than I
have? He said, I've done it all. I've
tried it all and I've found all of it to be vanity. I know what
it is. He said, I've tried and I've
found that it's better to be wise than foolish. It's better
to, he said, wisdom excels folly as far as light excels darkness.
It's fine, it's good, it's good to have a little bit of wisdom
and to handle yourself with wisdom and discretion. But it's, he
said, it's better to be having some integrity than to go through
this life as a fool, but when it's all said and done, it's
good to be an honorable man, an honorable woman, and walk
with integrity, walk with some discretion, walk with being respected
by others. I wanna be respected by others,
but realize something. When it's all said and done,
when that last shot's fired, here's what Solomon says. I'm
going to die. This is what's going to happen.
That's what he said. He said in verse 12, I turn myself
to behold the wisdom, the madness and folly of laughter that we
just considered. What can somebody do that cometh
after the king that's not already been done? What are you going
to do? Are you going to build more gardens than I did? Are you going
to have more fruits and vegetables? Who in this room right here has
ever possessed every one of the trees that there is to possess?
Solomon did. How many choirs do you have? How many men singers, how many
maidservants do you got? He said, I saw it. Wise man's
eyes is in his head. He sees with some discretion. Fool walks in darkness. That's
what he knows. And he said, verse 14, I perceived
also that one event happeneth to all. What is this? You're
gonna die. You're gonna die. I said in my
heart, 15, I said in my heart, as it happened to the fool, it
happens even to me. Same thing. I'm gonna come to
the end of my life. Look at verse 17. Therefore I
hated life, because the work that was wrought unto the Son
is grievous unto me. For all is vanity and vexation
of the Spirit. It wasn't that he hated that
which the life that God graciously gives to his people, this life. I enjoy living. I really do.
I enjoy eating. I enjoy, I enjoy, I enjoy, I
enjoy. I enjoy going on vacation. I
enjoy that. I enjoy, if you got a garden,
if you went out there and planted that garden, I mean, enjoy it.
You got some fruits and vegetables and stuff. Enjoy it. Enjoy it.
That's not what he hated. He hated what this life promises
to be able to completely satisfy. That's what he hated. He hated
that life that this world promises but can't produce. Satisfaction
and peace. He said there's no happiness
in that. There's no happiness. Verse 18 to 23, yea, I hated
all my labor which I'd 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've labored, wherein I've showed
myself wise under the sun? This is also vanity. Therefore
I went about to cause my heart to despair for all the labor
which I took under the sun. And 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 disadvantaged
in great evil, for what hath a man of all his labor, and of
all the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under
the sun? For all his days are sorrows, his travail grief, his
heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity."
He said, here's the problem. Here's the problem. He said,
I've worked through wisdom. I've done all this. I've got
it all. I've got it. I got money. I got
money. 25 tons of gold is a lot of money.
All of the stuff. And he said, here's what I've
concluded. After all these things that I've
done, after all of them's proven to fail to produce any kind of
lasting satisfaction, he said, after I've gone through all of
this work, produce all that I've done. And all of this stuff is gonna
go to somebody else. Somebody gonna get it. I don't
know how many kids, I don't know. He had a lot of wives, I know
that. But somebody's gonna get it, and he said, how do I know
whether or not they're gonna take all this stuff that I've
done and produced and worked for, and it's been brought about
through my labor, and then after I've toiled all of this, somebody's
gonna take it? that doesn't have any kind of
discretion about what to do with it. And then he said, I'll tell
you right there toward the end, he said, verse 23, all his days
are sorrows, his travail, grief, yea, his heart taketh not rest
in the night. What was he doing? Worrying about it. What's gonna happen? What's gonna
happen to all my choirs? What's that gonna do with that?
Just laying there worrying, he said, it's nothing. It's nothing. All this stuff
that I've got sitting there in my treasury. Now my third point in closing.
I want to come back to his conclusion. He said 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, this
from the hand of God. Who can eat? Who else can hasten
here unto more than I? For God giveth to a man that
is good in his sight, wisdom, knowledge, joy, but to the sinner
he giveth travail to gather and to heap up that he may give to
him that's good before God. This also is vanity and vexation
of spirit. Solomon lastly was moved by the
spirit of God to behold that which was right and honorable. For himself, it's peace and comfort
before God. There's nothing better for a
man that he should eat and drink. Man was created by God with a
work ethic, to work, to work. Hold your place, turn with me.
Genesis 1, 26 to 28. Genesis 1, 26, 28. Genesis 1,
26 to 28, God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. 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 him, and God blessed
him. And God said to them, be fruitful,
multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it, have dominion over
the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over every living
thing that moveth upon earth. Look at chapter two, verse 15. Lord God took the man, put him
into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it, you know.
So according to the scriptures, God created man and gave man
the blessing to, in moderation, with an eye of thankfulness before
the Lord, to have a work, to eat, drink, enjoy the good of
his labor, But man is first to obey God, to seek the kingdom
of God, to work hard. I said it, there's nothing wrong
with enjoying the fruit of your labor. You men, you women, you
got a job, you go out and you work, you come home and you buy
your house, get your car, go shopping, you wanna get you a
new pair of pants or a shirt, dress, There's nothing wrong
with that. Enjoy it. There's nothing better
for a man that he should eat and drink, that he shouldn't
make his soul rejoice in the good of his labor. If God blesses
the efforts of a man, he's permitted to have increase of riches. Don't set your heart on them.
Don't set your heart on those things that are perishing. We
don't have much as Solomon did, but if you've got enough, if
you've got something to eat and drink in moderation, moderation,
you know. But consider, not only the human
aspect of this, there's nothing better for a man than he should
eat and drink, and that is eat and drink spiritually. Eat of
the flesh. Turn to John 6, John 6, 53. This is what the Lord said concerning
eating and drinking, spiritually speaking. John 6, 53, then Jesus
said to them, verily, verily, truly, truly, I say unto you,
except you eat the flesh of a son of man and drink his blood, you
have no life in you. You know what, we've said this
before. What is that, to eat the flesh of a son of God? To
eat of his work, he was a man. He came into this world, he was
made flesh and earned a righteousness. And by faith, we partake of that
and drink of his blood. What is that? His substitutionary
death at Calvary. that He put His life, laid His
life down for the sheep. There's nothing better, nothing
better. And I can only sum that up by
saying, in the day of our parting, I mean, we talk about it right
now, but I'm telling you, if we were on our deathbed, what
would be the best thing? There's nothing better than to,
by faith, to partake of the glory of God, to eat and drink of Him,
By faith, there's nothing better. Ecclesiastes 2, verse 26, for
God giveth to a man that is good in his sight. He giveth to a
man that is good. Now notice how it said it. He
giveth to a man that is good, but you know, I thought that
there was none good. No, not in yourself, there's
not. That which is born in Adam is not good. But God, by the
grace of God, having placed men and women in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Christ having redeemed them by His blood, the Spirit of God
regenerated them by His Spirit, gave them a new heart, a new
will, robed them in the righteousness of Christ. What are they? They're
holy. and without blame before God
in love. So God giveth to a man that is
good. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. So men are not good in themselves.
I'm not saying that. I'm saying that we are what we
are by God's grace and God's power and God's mercy accepted
in the beloved. And he gives And that last verse,
he gives them three things. Solomon said, I've come to this
conclusion. I've had the rest of it. I tried to vacation. I was on vacation for the rest
of my life, and this is what I've come to conclusion. God
giveth to a man that is good in his sight. He gives him, first
of all, wisdom. What is that? It's Christ. You
know that. It's Christ. Proverbs chapter
eight. He gives them Christ, our wisdom. Secondly, he gives them knowledge. He gives wisdom, he gives knowledge. Scripture sets forth that Paul
said in Romans 7, 18, I know, I know. Now here's some knowledge. I know that in me, that is in
my flesh, There dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me. Here's what else he knows. I
know how to perform it, which is good. I find not. I know that.
God gives the light of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians
4, 6. For 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 Jesus Christ. And thirdly, Solomon says, he
gives joy. He gives joy. Romans 14, 17,
for the kingdom of God is not meat, drink, but righteousness
and peace and joy. in the Holy Ghost, being found
in Christ, believing, trusting him alone for salvation and righteousness,
we have reason to be joyful. Paul said in Philippians 3, 3,
for we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. It's good for us to hear these
scriptures. You think about this. This book
of Ecclesiastes, the Spirit of God penned that through the hand
of a man. God wrote it, God wrote it to
tell us something, to remind us of something. While we're
running around, you know, and going through this life, it's
good, it's good. Good in your work, When you got
a job and you're going to work, do it with all your heart. Do
it as unto the Lord. Give them eight hours of work
for eight hours of pay. Give it to them. Don't try to
slough off. Be right, be honorable. When
you get that paycheck, it's good. It's good for you. It's nothing
wrong with you taking it honorably, providing for yourself, providing
for your family. But don't let the things of this
world lie to you. Solomon said, I saw it was laughter
with madness, boasting something he couldn't produce. Don't let
just frivolousness steal our hearts. May God bless this to
our understanding, his glory, our good. Amen.