May I please the Lord to bless
us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us
turn to the book of the Ecclesiastes in the second chapter and reading
verse 11. The book of the Ecclesiastes,
chapter two and reading verse 11. Then I looked on all the
works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had
laboured to do. And behold, all was vanity and
vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun."
I remember many years ago hearing
Frank Gosling preach, and he preached from a verse in this
book of the Ecclesiastes and he spoke in a particular way
to the young people and he said you young people read the book
of Ecclesiastes because it has much instruction in it and truly
such a desire is the same today that our young people might read
this book of the Ecclesiastes, because it points out to us in
so many ways the vanity of all the things in this life. And we should be thankful that
God ordained that King Solomon, that most wealthy king and the
man granted such great wisdom, he tried to the best of his ability
to find happiness in this life. You see, really, we're no different
today, aren't we? By nature, we're always looking
to try and find happiness and more happiness in the things
of our natural life. Well, Solomon had everything
at his disposal. He could call on anything to
try and achieve his objective, to therefore find happiness and
in the things of time. But he did all that he could
and he had to conclude that in actual fact all was vanity and
vexation of spirit and there was no profit under the sun. Now that may be something which
we perhaps think well I don't agree with Solomon because I
really enjoy some of the things that I do and I look forward
to and I work hard and I receive all these things, but the real
essence is this, is to consider it in the light of eternity. That's the real test. As to whether the things that
we involve ourselves in, and we have to of course earn our
bread, we have to work, we're not told that we can sit down
and do nothing. to work and to work hard to the best of our
ability. But we are not to try and find satisfaction in the
things of this life. Because we will find that, pleasing
as they may be at the time, as we sit back and consider, we
will recognise what Solomon Cain's inclusion was true. when he said,
I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and we
read together some of those things that he had wrought, and there
were very many, and on the labour that I had labour to do, and
what was his conclusion? Behold, all was vanity and vexation
of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. Will it be a blessing
for all of us today If we're given that grace to examine our
lives, perhaps to sit down and think, well, I worked hard to
achieve that and now I've obtained it. Well, just sit down and ponder
whether it really is going to bring lasting blessing, lasting
favour, and you'll have to conclude that it does not do so. You'll
have to conclude that all the things that you and I work, all
the things that we have, the many things perhaps we've built
and possessed, we have to leave them all, leave them all behind,
we can't take them with us out of this world, and in actual
fact they're there for a really little value. And compared with
the things of eternity, they really have no value. And it's
good to realise how Solomon commences of this book of the Ecclesiastes,
because he tells us, one generation passeth away, another generation
cometh, but the earth abideth forever. And we see that, don't
we? We see generations passing away. I've seen in my life generations
passing away. I suppose I've seen two generations
pass away. Now of course I stand in in that
generation which itself will pass away. And many who are young
here perhaps haven't seen the generation pass away, but you
will. You'll see the generation pass
away. And so Solomon is so truthful
when he gives us this very clear indication and then he speaks
really about the things of the earth, the things that God has
ordained. He gives us a very clear illustration when he says,
the sun also riseth and the sun goes down and hasteth to his
place where he arose. Continually, isn't it? The sun
rises, the sun sets. The sun rises, the sun sets. But one day it will rise, never
to set again. We may be on the earth when that
happens. We may not be. But sure it is. it will come
to pass. And then he tells us about the
wind. The wind goeth toward the south
and turneth about to the north. It whirleth about continually
and the wind returneth again according to its circuit. Sometimes
it's good just to stand and think of the wind, it comes from one
direction and then the direction changes and Well, where does
the wind go? We don't know, do we? But it's
all in the Lord's hands. And then about the rivers. All
the rivers run into the sea. The sea's not full. And unto
the place from whence the rivers come, there they return again. You see how the Lord ordains
very wonderfully that vapour arises from the The sea and the
lakes and then comes down again as rain. What a wonderful provision
this is. How wonderful it is that God
has ordained all these things. And then he says, all things
are full of labour. 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 no new
thing under the sun. Because if you actually break
down the inventions of men, you will find that there is not really,
therefore, any true new thing. And so we have these truths,
and King Solomon says, there is no remembrance of former things,
Neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with
those that shall come after them." And things come, don't they?
And the things that occurred 500 years ago, nobody today actually
remembers them, do they? They've come and they've gone.
The same with your life and my life. We're remembered today,
aren't we? People can speak about us, speak
about every one of us, young and old. But when we pass out
of time, we're soon be forgotten. We won't be remembered. And therefore
Solomon comes and he tells us, I, the preacher. Of course, Ecclesiastes
is also termed, or the preacher. And here we have Solomon then
telling us, I, the preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. He tells us what he did. He says,
I gave my heart. He gave his heart. not just the
things in his mind, that which he really desired. He gave his
heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things
that are done under heaven. This sore travail hath God given
to the sons of men. And I have seen all the works
that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and
vexation of spirit." Well, he'd got the wisdom to observe all
these things, and that was his conclusion, therefore. So, as
we read in the first few verses in this second chapter, the things
that he'd actually done, and yet they didn't prove any of
real benefit to him. Yes, he'd given his heart. He said, I will prove thee with
mirth in his heart. He wanted things of mirth. Today,
surely that's true, isn't it? People think they can have a
good laugh and that will satisfy them, that will make them happy. Well, it's empty, isn't it? The
laughter, we're told, is like the cracking of thorns under
a pot. Nothing really of any benefit. And he said of laughter,
it is mad and a mirth, what doeth it? And he says, I sought in
my heart again, remember it is his heart he is speaking about,
his innermost being, to give myself unto wine. He thought
perhaps that would give him satisfaction. And again, sadly today we see,
don't we, people give themselves to alcohol, thinking that that
will make them happy. To try and escape perhaps difficulties
and sorrows, they go and turn to drink. Well, does it make
them happy? Not at all. What is it? Vanity. Vanity of vanity and
vexation of spirit. You know, you may say, well,
what is vanity? Well, vanity really is emptiness. It's really something which is
empty and unsatisfactory. It doesn't really bring with
it lasting Satisfaction. You think of that. Vanity, emptiness,
no lasting satisfaction. Doesn't that describe the things
that we find ourselves occupied with? And so Solomon tells us
he did great works. He built houses, vineyards, gardens,
orchards, planted trees, made pools of water. You think, well,
was that satisfying? Well, at the time, perhaps he
was pleased with what he'd done. But as he sat back, then I looked
on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour
that I had laboured to do, and behold, all was vanity and vexation
of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." Well, you can
read on, and it will be good if you do. Perhaps in the week
ahead, and especially as you children will be on holiday soon,
just to read perhaps a chapter a day in Ecclesiastes. There's
12 chapters, it's not too long. And you'll be able to observe
what Solomon found out about the things in this world, and
how he had done all he could to make himself happy in the
things of time. Remember, he had plenty of money,
he could do all that he wanted to do. But his conclusion was,
all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That means there was
something there which vexed him, and nothing was perfect. There
was always something lacking, something missing. Sometimes
we set our hearts on things, don't we? We look forward to
things. We look forward perhaps to birthdays
or that kind of thing or to going out somewhere and we look forward
to it perhaps for a long time and when it comes, it usually
does not actually come up to our expectations. When it's all
finished, it's gone, it's past. What is it left with it? Has
it left any real lasting benefit? No, it's just vanity, it's really
emptiness. And so it's good to realise that
the Lord God in his great mercy has given us this book written
by Solomon so many years ago that we might be able to read
it and recognise the truth of these words. And as we recognise
the truth of these words you may say, well, what's the outcome? Well, we know what the outcome
is because Solomon tells us. And right down at the very end
The last two verses in the twelfth chapter, this is what we read.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Well, I wonder
what you might think the conclusion is. This is the conclusion. Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every
work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good
or whether it be evil." Well, having examined everything, this
was Solomon's conclusion. And prior to that, in the beginning
of this twelfth chapter, he tells us, remember. What are we to
remember? Remember thy Creator, who's that?
The Lord God. When? In the days of thy youth. That means when you're young.
You are to remember the Lord God. In the days of thy youth,
while the evil days come not, nor the years drawn nigh, when
thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. What a good thing it
is for you and me to come and to remember the days of our Creator. Because if we remember the days
of our Creator, what will it do? It will direct us to the
Lord God. And if we remember the days of
creation, and remember those things which God did, and then
the words that he spoke, he looked on everything and he beheld,
and everything was very good. There was no sin. It was a perfect
world. And that was the wonderful time
of creation. It didn't last long, did it?
We don't know exactly how long it did last. But it wasn't long
before Satan came and tempted Adam and Eve. And really, what
did he do? He tempted her, you know, with
vanity. He pretended that if she partook
of that fruit which he'd been forbidden to take, that things
would be much better. And there you see, we see our
human nature thinking, well, if I just do this, then things
will be much better. In actual fact, in her case and
all of our cases through, that sin, the world came into a most
terrible situation. When we look at these things
and remember our Creator, we remember what God did, we remember
how he made everything, we remember then how man came and how man
sinned. But the great blessing for us
today in remembering our Creator, it doesn't say just remember
the creation, it says to remember now thy Creator. And it's a good
thing to remember what God has done. and what God has promised,
what God has said in his holy word. And right back there in
those days in the Garden of Eden, the Lord God came and spoke to
Adam and Eve. They were embarrassed. They tried
to hide from God. It may be the same in your life
and my life. If we've done things which are
wrong, and you and I know when we've done things which are wrong,
We may try and hide those things from God. Well, you and I will
never be able to, because God sees everything. You can never
hide from God. You can never hide from God,
and don't think you can. Well, the great blessing was
that God knew where Adam and Eve were, and He came and He
walked in the Garden of Eden, and He spoke to them. And at
that time, they didn't deserve any blessing and didn't deserve
any favour but he spoke to them and he told them that there would
be a saviour. Just think of that. Disobeyed
God. He directed them to the truth
that there would be a saviour and it was spoken in these words,
the seed of the woman would bruise or would crush the head of Satan. And so it came to pass, because
the seed of the woman was the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born
of Mary. So many, many years afterwards,
some approximately 4,000 years after it was spoken. And so when
you and I are told here to remember, now thy creator in the days of
thy youth, to think of the great good news of the gospel, the
Lord Jesus Christ. So as we may be found in this
world and seeking after natural things and trying to make ourselves
happy and find that we don't do so, we find that all the things
that we're involved in are really just vanity. There's no real
lasting satisfaction. No real lasting satisfaction.
And it's good to be able to just sit down and Just think of that. Am I really, really happy? Am
I really, really pleased with everything? Or perhaps you think,
well, I've done quite well, but perhaps I could have done a bit
better. And you see, what's that? That means that there's no real
satisfaction, is there? There's no real recognizing that you're in that
perfect condition. Because there is no perfect condition.
in this world. And the reason is that sin, sin
is in us. And sin is mixed with everything
that we do and say. Perhaps you young people might
think, well, surely that is not so. Well, let me explain it like
this. You know, when you've done something,
perhaps you've made something, perhaps you've said something,
and you may have thought, well, I spoke that rather well. You
won't say that out loud. You just say it in your heart.
Or you made something very nicely. You may perhaps boast about it
with your mouth, but you may think it in your heart. And what
is that? What are you really doing? Well,
you are committing the sin of pride. You see, pride is a very
evil sin, and it's something which is not easy to discern,
not easy to find out. It's a blessing though if the
Lord enables us to look right into our heart and say, oh, I'm
not quite as good as I thought I was. The problem is, I was
pleasing myself for saying something or doing something. And what's
happened? You'll find that sin has crept
in, has entered in. You see that's just what the
devil wants to happen. He wants us to be unclean. And perhaps the effect will be
just like it was in the Old Testament in those days when the lepers
were found out that they had that illness of leprosy. And you know what they were told
to do? They had to call out so the people
who didn't get near them, they had to call out unclean. unclean. They weren't clean, were they?
They're leprosy. And it's just the same with sin. We have to perhaps call out,
I'm unclean. I'm not as clean as I thought
I was. There's some evil in my heart,
some little bit of pride, and therefore I'm unclean. And therefore what does it mean?
It means that the things which we thought we would be pleased
with and satisfied with, well, they prove to be empty. They prove to be unsatisfactory. They haven't brought us really
the joy that we thought they would, because of the sin which
dwells within it. Well, it's good therefore that
we are able to look and recognise what Solomon said, and I looked,
on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour
that I had laboured to do. And behold, and behold, we might
say, surprise, surprise, all was vanity and vexation of spirit,
and there was no prophet under the sun." But, you know, we don't
want to stay there, do we? We want to look beyond those
things. We want to look out of ourselves.
We want to look who to. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, consider now thy Creator
in the days of thy youth, and if we are to consider our Creator,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and to remember, we are to remember
Him, and to think what He's done. It'll be a good time if you and
I are able to remember what He's done, and what He's done is clearly
set before us in the Word of God. And what a mercy we are
able to consider the truth of God's Word. And the Colossians
give us some encouragement with regards to seeking not the things
of time, but the things which are heavenly. And he tells us
in the second chapter of Colossians, the second verse, he says, that
their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love,
and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to
the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and
of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Now then, this is heavenly treasure. We seek, you young people may
be seeking for, earthly treasure, but you know that passes away.
You have to leave it all behind. You might find that thieves break
in and steal it. But here the Apostle Paul is
speaking to the Colossians in this wonderful way, in whom are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Well, it would
be a wonderful blessing for us today and in the days ahead if
as we consider, if we remember our Creator in the days of our
youth to realize that in Him are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. And you see, again we read, if
any man lack wisdom, Solomon tells us that in the
Proverbs, if any man lack wisdom, let him seek unto the Lord. Let him ask of God, because God
giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. Well, that's
a wonderful blessing. If you don't understand the things
of God, if you don't understand the things about the Lord Jesus
Christ, you know you can pray to Him that He will give you
a right understanding to realise that To know the Lord Jesus Christ
as your Saviour, to save you from your sins, is so, so valuable. And that's not vanity. That won't
pass away. That is an eternal blessing.
That's something which you won't have to leave behind when you
pass out of this life, but to take with you. And that's why
we have the line in the hymn which says, The knowledge of
God is more precious than gold. The knowledge of God the Father,
the knowledge of God the Son, the knowledge of God the Holy
Spirit, more valuable than all the things of this vain world. Well, what a blessing then if
your hearts and my hearts are moved by the Holy Spirit as we
read this book of Ecclesiastes And the Spirit shows us the vanity,
the emptiness of the things of time, and to direct us to those
things which are not empty, those things which bring with it a
fullness. The hymn writer tells us, a fullness
resides in Jesus our Head, which ever abides to answer our need. There is a fullness. Christ is
not empty. Christ, my friends, is full.
What a fullness there is. And it's a fullness which you
and I will never be able to fully understand this side of glory,
but to have the blessed comfort to know that the Lord has planted
in our heart that desire to remember the Creator while we're young
and to hear the whole conclusion of the matter, fear God and keep
his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. Well,
it's not keeping those things which do not profit, it's keeping
those things which do profit and this is the, remember the
conclusion of the whole matter. That's what the God's servant
Solomon tells us having exhausted his efforts to try and find lasting
happiness in the things of time. He concludes then with this statement,
fear God. You know, read again what Proverbs
this time, Solomon does say, the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. That means the beginning of heavenly
wisdom. If God gives you and me his fear,
and that means a fear to do his will, a fear to please him. We don't want to be found offending
God. We don't want to walk in an opposite
direction away from God. We want to walk with God. Now
then, what a mercy it is that the Lord draws us then, draws
us to himself, so that we might indeed be found remembering thy
creator in the days of thy youth. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
was on the earth, He preached that wonderful sermon, the Sermon
on the Mount, which we're gradually going through in our Friday evening
prayer meetings. But there's much in this glorious
sermon which is there for our instruction and for our encouragement. And he tells us, the Lord Jesus,
his own words says, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth. where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal. But lay out for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not break through nor steal." You see, our treasure
is safe. For where your treasure is, there
your heart be also. And that really gives us a definition,
to have some understanding that where our treasure is. Because
our heart, what does our heart mean? Our innermost feelings,
our innermost beings. Do we desire just the things
of this earth? Or has the Lord given us a desire
for spiritual blessings, for heavenly things? This is the
real treasure. This is everlasting. You won't
have to leave that behind. What a mercy then, if you and
I are blessed by the Holy Spirit to seek after these things and
to lay them up. And what does that really mean?
When I believe it means that you and I will seek, we will
pray that the Lord Jesus Christ might reveal himself unto us
as he does not unto the world. And this is remembering our Creator. Because the Lord Jesus was the
Creator. We're told so in the Word of
God. But to remember Him and to remember, therefore, His words. Remember His words. And remember
then what He came into this world to do. What did He come to do? He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. He came to give them treasure
in heaven. He came to give them spiritual
life. He came to bring them out of
darkness into the glorious light of the everlasting Gospel. And
what a blessing if you and I are able to remember these great
favours of what the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, has done. And then to come and be brought
to that place to think that this great and glorious Saviour, He
came into this world as he said in that Garden of Eden so many,
many years ago, in order to save my soul from going to hell. So if we're left to ourselves,
if we're only seeking the vanities of this life, if we're only concerned
about these passing things, what would happen when we come to
the end of our life, we won't go to be with Jesus. will go
to be with that one that we've been worshipping, who is the
devil. See, all the vanities the devil
places before us to try and attract us away from the things of God. That's why you and I should be
very thankful today that it was given us such gracious words
of encouragement to remember now. That's what the Word says,
isn't it? It doesn't say you know tomorrow. It doesn't say when you get an
old person. It says remember now. Today. Tonight. Remember now. Thy Creator, in the days of thy
youth, when the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh
when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Because there
will be an end of all things. And you and I need then to know
that we are not content with the poor things of this world,
which vanish away, but that we are concerned about the condition
and the state of our never-dying soul. And to realize that in
the things of this world, as Solomon said, and don't forget
King Solomon was ordained by the Holy Spirit to write these
things for your and my instruction today. God's given us these words
to take to our heart and to realise the relevance of them. And then
as we do remember now our creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, what did
he do? He came into this world in order
to take away our sins, in order that our sins might be taken
away, what was needful. What was needful was that there
would be something which was going to be satisfying to God
in heaven. That was going to be valuable
enough to pay for our sins. It's called a ransom. You know,
people sometimes, you know when you get pirates, don't we, on
the seas perhaps, and people taking ships and they demand
a ransom in order they can give the boat back. It's a ransom
price. Well, there is a ransom price
on our heads because of our sins. And that ransom price had to
be paid. has to be paid. Well, bless God,
there was a great and glorious Saviour who did pay that price
so that you and I might be delivered, freed from that condemnation
which tells us the soul that sinneth, what's going to happen? The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Well, to be delivered from that
spiritual death, and to be brought by the price demanded for our
ransom. What was it? Well, we are to
remember now, the High Creator, what was the price? It was the
death, it was the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now just think, that Almighty
God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, so willingly came
to die and to shed his precious blood on Calvary's cross in order
to pay the ransom price so that our souls might be freed. Freed from sin. You see, no sinner
unsaved, no sin can enter into glory into heaven. Heaven is
a holy place. There's no sin there. And you
and I cannot enter into heaven if we have any sin. And therefore
what a blessing it is. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
from all sin. That's the word of God. Now then,
remember, now thy creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, in all that
he's done, in that great and glorious plan of salvation. So when you think of the vanities,
when you think of the poor things of this world which only bring
with it vanity and vexation of spirit, to be directed to hear
the conclusion of the whole matter, to fear God, to desire to do
His will, to desire to be found walking in His commands, The
Lord Jesus, you know, very wonderfully has given us a wonderful pattern
in the Word of God which we are to follow. Many people ignore
the truth of God's Word, but he gives us a wonderful pattern,
and that pattern is to follow his gracious example. And what was his example? What
was the first thing Jesus did when he was revealed as the Son
of God? Well, he submitted himself to
be baptised. And we have the wonderful statement
that Almighty God came and descended upon the Saviour on that occasion
and said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He submitted himself to his Father's
will. So should we in our little lives
submit ourselves to our Father's will, to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ, indeed in that wonderful act of being baptised. And of
course we know that that leads on to remembering him in a particular
way on the Lord's Supper, that supper which the Lord instituted,
which superseded the Passover which was instituted. On that
time when Israel came out of Egypt, on that never-to-be-forgotten
night, when the firstborn was slain and Israel came out. Why? Because the blood was on
the doorposts and lintels. They were under the blood. And
that's just the same for you and me today, my friends. There's
only escape as we are under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you see, what did this
example of the Saviour set before us? the Lord Jesus Christ, he
went about doing good. Yes, and he did not please himself. He pleased his Father in heaven.
We have those wonderful words when he was in the garden of
Gethsemane, when he said, nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. What was he doing? He was submitting
to his heavenly Father. And if we are to therefore remember
now our Creator, If we are to hear the whole conclusion of
the matter, then surely our concern will be to follow the gracious
example of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when we come to that
time of our death, we shall hear those words, Come in, thou blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation
of the earth. And what does that show us? That
shows us his love, his grace toward us. His love, before all
time began, he set his love upon us, that we should be amongst
those who are called by his grace, amongst those who do come and
remember thy creator in the days of thy youth. Now, let us not
then forget that this Book of Ecclesiastes is written for our
instruction. God has given it to us so that
we might be able to follow the words and believe that what Solomon
tells us is true. The whole of the Word of God
is true. There's no lie. There's no vestige
of a lie. Everything is perfectly true.
And you and I can rely upon it for our sole salvation. So let's
remember these words then, especially that Solomon comes to in this
second chapter, he goes on and confirms it in various ways,
but it is here. And when he says, 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. Let us therefore recognise that
and by God's grace set our hearts and our affections upon things
above. Those things which concern our
Lord Jesus Christ and to be found looking forward to that inheritance
which is incorruptible and which is undefiled and which is reserved
in heaven for those who are kept by the power of God through grace,
under salvation, ready to be revealed in the last day. It's a wonderful prospect to
the Church of God. Well may we have that grace given
us to understand, to believe, that here we have, and here we
have to contend with, day by day, all that which is vanity
of vanities, and brings no satisfaction, but the things of God, the things
of the Saviour, bring with them peace and solid joy, which we
can rejoice in, and our heart will be thankful. We should know
then something of the peace of God. There's no peace to the
wicked really, but there is peace. And the hymn writer tells us,
peace by his cross, as Jesus made. Peace between man and God. Oh, what a blessing. If we tonight
can remember now the eye creator in all that he's done, and praise
and bless him for his love, for His grace, for His mercy. Amen.