Ecclesiastes chapter 4. We ended
the last study we had in this book with verse 6 which said,
Ecclesiastes 4 verse 6, better is an hand full with quietness
than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit. He said it is better to lay hold
of Christ It is so much better to lay hold of Christ and let
everything else go. And I pray the Lord as we get
older will teach us that, cause us to learn that. It's better
to lay hold of Christ and let everything else go. Better is
a handful with quietness. Quietness of the soul. Peace
and quietness in the soul. Then both the hands full, trying
to add something to Christ for our peace and our comfort and
our rest. Trying to add anything to that. He said, with travail and vexation
of spirit. And he's going to continue that
truth through our text this morning. So verse 7, this is where we
pick up. Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. There is one alone, and there
is not a second. Yea, he hath neither child nor
brother, yet is there no end of all his labor, neither is
his eye satisfied with riches. Neither saith he, for whom do
I labor and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea,
it is a sore travail. This flesh is self-ish. That's what the flesh is. The
flesh is self-ish by nature. That's what it is. Man naturally
looks out for number one. Isn't that right? Number one. Everybody, you know, we want
to be kind and good and people start these non-profits. We're
a non-profit organization and they set themselves a salary
of $250,000 a year as a non-profit. But we, by nature, look out for
number one. This flesh is selfish. Verse
8 says, there is one alone. Man cares for himself alone. Solomon said in verse 8, there
is not a second. Man doesn't want there to be.
Not naturally. I want to be first. I'll take
first, second, third, fourth, and fifth place. You guys can
have sixth and below. Verse eight says, he hath neither
child nor brother, yet there is no end of all his labor. He works, he works. Man, if he has any drive about
him, pride about him, he's gonna work. He works and he works and
he does it to hoard up. That's the purpose. of our work. That's the purpose of it, to
hoard up. Other than that, there's really no purpose in it. And
it just reveals the covetousness of a man's heart, the covetousness
of the flesh. He just wants it. He just wants
it. And I can relate. I can relate. We're flesh, right?
We understand that is so. Man just wants it. He wants to
hoard it up. Being a slave to working for
self, we work and we work and we work. How much can I get? That's the question. How much
can I get? How many more years do I have?
How much can I attain? How much can I accomplish? How
much can I achieve? In the end, how am I going to
stack up? Where am I going to leave my name and my position
in this world? Look with me at Psalm 127. Psalm
127 verse 1. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the
city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to
rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows,
For so he giveth his beloved sleep. Is he saying that it's
pointless to work hard? Is that what he's saying, it's
pointless to work hard? Absolutely not. The disciples
asked the Lord, you're going to go back to Jerusalem? He said,
are there not 12 hours in a day? I have to go to work. Man has to work while it's day,
12 hours a day. What he's saying is, if our heart
And if our affection is set on the work and set on the treasure
that comes from the work, if all my heart feeds on is the
bread of my own labor, in the end, all I'm going to taste is
the bread of sorrows. That's what he's saying. the
bread of turmoil, the bread of travail. But if I feast on, Christ
kept talking about the bread of heaven. He said, I'm the bread
of heaven, I'm living bread. If I feast on that bread, if
my heart and my affection is fixed on Christ, the heavenly
bread, then the end of that is rest. He gives his beloved sleep,
he gives his beloved peace, and rest. Go with me back over to
Ecclesiastes 4. Verse 7 says, Then I returned,
and I saw vanity under the sun. There is one alone, and there
is not a second. Yea, he hath neither child nor
brother, yet is there no end of all his labor, neither is
his eye satisfied with riches. Never, not in this world, not
in the things that pertain to this world, never will a man
say, I have enough. Never. He'll never say that.
I have enough. It's done. That's it. Our Lord
told us to live in today. None of us do it. But our Lord
told us to live in today, didn't he? Live in today. He said, there's
plenty of evil in tomorrow. You can deal with all that tomorrow.
Live in today. There may be no tomorrow. There
really might not. There may be no tomorrow. Whether
he comes back or whether he takes us, that man said, I tell you
what, I've outgrown my barns. So what I'm going to do is I'm
going to tear these barns down and I'm going to build me bigger barns.
And the Lord said, tonight your soul is required of you. So there
may be no tomorrow. Today, our bellies are full. They're satisfied. We have all
the food we need for today. Today, our backs and our bodies
are satisfied. I have all the clothes I need
for today. I have all the shelter that I need for today, but I
tell you what will never be satisfied is this eye. This eye will not
be satisfied. Not as long as we're looking
at the things of this world. Go with me over to 1 John chapter
2. First John chapter 2, look with
me at verse 15. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. Man, that's convicting,
isn't it? If the heart of a sinner is more
drawn to, if it is more taken with, and if that heart is more
given to the world than Christ, God the Father told this Apostle
John to write, the love of the Father is not in that person.
And what he's saying is, it's a terrible evidence. That's what
he's saying, it's a terrible evidence. It reveals that God
is leaving us to ourselves. If we personally would rather
have the things of this world than Christ, it's an evidence
that God is leaving us alone, leaving us to ourselves. Verse
16, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, And the
lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father,
but is of the world. And the world passeth away. This world is going to be gone
soon. The world passeth away and the
lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God. What is the
will of God? God the Father said, this is
my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased, hear Him. That's what He said. You hear
Him. You bow to Him. Believe on Him. Trust Him. Wait on Him. Verse 17 says, He that doeth
the will of God abideth forever. So go with me back to the text
now. Ecclesiastes 4. Verse 7 says, then I returned
and I saw vanity under the sun. There's one alone and there is
not a second. Yea, he hath neither child nor
brother, yet is there no end of all his labor. Neither is
his eye satisfied with riches. Now, I want to make it clear
that I am not against setting something aside for retirement. I'm not against that. because
of what we're dealing with here. I want to make it very clear.
I'm not against that. Your companies offer 401k or they offer something
usually. They'll match what you put in,
all those kinds of things. And let me show you something
in Proverbs 6. Look with me over at Proverbs
chapter 6. Proverbs 6 verse 6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard,
consider her ways and be wise. That means we don't just sit
on the couch all day and say, well, you know, the Lord's going
to provide, you know, this and that. He said, you look at the
ant. Verse 7, which having no guide,
overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth
her food in the harvest." I believe we ought to be wise as the ant. The Lord said so. I believe we
ought to prepare for winter. I also believe that the just
shall live by faith day by day. I also believe that not one believer
is going to be forsaken or begging bread. I also believe that. But I don't think there's anything
wrong with somebody setting something aside for retirement. But here's
the danger. Here is the danger that every
man faces in gathering up the world. That's what we're doing
is we're scooping up a little bit and setting it over there. And we're
scooping up a little bit, setting it over there. The lust of our
eyes becomes consumed with it. We can't. that this flesh overtakes
us. We stockpile and we stockpile
and we never end up using it. We never end up using it. Once
we have enough money, and I'm speaking from the flesh here,
once we have enough money, we say that's not enough. Now I
want that number to go high enough so that I can live off the interest
and never touch the principle. How many times have we all said
that? But that's my goal here, I'm going to get it up where
I can live off the interest, never touch the principle. Solomon said, for what? That's what he said, for what?
Look back in the text in Ecclesiastes 4. Verse 8, he said, There is one
alone, and there is not a second, yea, he hath neither child nor
brother, yet is there no end of all his labor, neither is
his eye satisfied with riches, neither saith he, For whom do
I labor, and bereave my soul of good? He's saying man never
says that. He never asks himself why. Why? When there are so many poor
believers in need. When there are so many ways the
gospel could be promoted to a town, to a state, to the world. Moses said, oh that they were
wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their
latter end. And Solomon right here is saying that we would
consider the latter end of this world. I pray that the Lord would
allow me, allow us to consider my latter end and consider the
latter end of those people out there. Verse 8 says, there is one alone,
there's not a second. Yea, he hath neither child nor
brother, yet is there no end of all his labor, neither is
his eye satisfied with riches. Neither saith he, for whom do
I labor and bereave my soul of good? Bereave means deny. It
means cause to lack. Man never says, why do I deny
my soul? Why do I cause my soul to lack
good? What is good? None good but God, right? Only Christ is good. Solomon
says, why will a man not ask himself, is this really worth
missing Christ over? That's what he's saying. Is this
really worth missing Christ over? He said in verse 8, this whole
thing is vanity. It's also vanity, it's a sore
travail. Now here is riches. Alright,
here is riches. Here is the only thing that matters. Here is the only thing that will
amount to anything. The only thing we can count on.
Verse 9 says, two are better than one because they have a
good reward for their labor. The only mercy that there is
for a man at the end of it all, the only thing that redeems him
from himself and his selfishness is the fact that God the Father
said it is not good for the man to dwell alone. That's the only
thing that redeemed us. The only thing that added any
value to us. And it is good for a man to have
a wife. It is. It is good and profitable and
wonderful to have a wife on this earth. But the ultimate union
every soul on this earth needs is to be in the union with Christ. It's not good for a man to dwell
without Christ. And that's what Solomon's saying
here. And that's what I wish I could have the opportunity
to declare to this world. This is a busy world we live
in. This is a business world we live
in. We now have e-commerce. We can do commerce all over the
world. Is it really worth missing Christ
over? That's the question. That's what
Solomon's saying. Is it really worth missing? It doesn't matter
how much it is. Yeah, but we did. I can retire
in... It doesn't matter. It just does not matter. The
only union, the only thing a man needs is that union with Christ.
That's all he needs. Verse 9 says, Two are better
than one because they have a good reward for their labor. good
reward for their labor, it says. Turn with me over to Romans 4. Romans 4 verse 1 says, What shall
we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh
hath found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. The righteousness that Christ
earned, all of his work, was counted unto Abraham as though
Abraham did it. That's what that's saying. It
was counted, it was applied to his account just like Abraham
did it. And that's how it is for us.
For the soul that is united to Christ, the labor of Christ is
counted as my labor. It's counted as what I did with
my life, all through my life. And he said there's a good reward
for that soul that's united to Christ. Go with me back over
to Ecclesiastes 4. Verse 9 says, two are better
than one because they have a good reward for their labor. For if
they fall, and it's sad to say, but man has fallen. We've all
fallen all the way down into the grave. But verse 10 says,
if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. The only way that
a dead sinner, you know the Lord told Adam, in the day you eat
thereof thou shalt surely die. You're going to die. And the
only way that a dead sinner can be raised back up is if Christ
raises him up. That's it. Verse 10, for if they
fall the one will lift up his fellow but woe to them, woe to
him That is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help
him up. If we don't have Christ, we don't
have anything. We just don't have anything. We can achieve great things in
this world. There are things that we can
be truly proud of for achieving. really lay hold of the world
in the time that we have. But if we don't have Christ in
the end, we don't have anything. We just don't have anything.
It's all going to be nothing. And souls are going to go meet
God. I wanted to check our volume
of the radio broadcast this morning. I don't ever listen to the broadcast
because I don't care to hear my own voice. But after our broadcast,
a man came on and Man, everything he was saying was just so good. I mean, it was just so
happy. It was so encouraging. It was so uplifting. It was just
so sentimentally, I thought, oh, if it were only true. Oh, if it were only true, I mean,
And I thought about the poor souls, these massive buildings
are going to go stand before God. And as soon as their eyes
are opened, if our eyes are not opened here, they are going to
be opened there. And as soon as they're opened,
masses of people are going to start crying, vanity of vanities. All was vanity. It's all vanity. It was just all vanity. But if we have Him, Aren't you
so glad God raised up Solomon? Gave this man some wisdom. This
flesh hears this and this flesh, and I'm talking about myself,
says, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Yeah, I know. I got you,
I got you. But all of a sudden, if God sends
the wisdom of Christ into the heart and says, whoa, wait a
minute. Thank God for the truth. Thank God for the word. If we have Him, we have all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. We have it all. Look with me
at Proverbs 18. I'll be quick. Proverbs 18.24 says, A man that
hath friends must show himself friendly. If you want to have
friends, you've got to be a friend. And he said, There is a friend
that sticketh closer than a brother. If we have him, we have a friend
that sticks closer than a brother. Over in John 15, let me just
read this to you, just for the sake of time, don't turn. But
John 15, this is what our Lord said. Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. He said, you are my friends if
you do whatsoever I command you. What has he commanded us? Lay
down your works. beg for mercy. And if we do that,
that's the evidence that we were his friend. And he went on to
say, Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth
not what his Lord doeth, but I've called you friends. For
all things that I've heard of my Father I've made known unto
you. I've revealed everything I've
heard from my Father to you. So he said we're his friends.
So in Ecclesiastes 4, Verse 9 says, two are better than one because
they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the
one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone
when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up. Again,
if two lie together, then they have heat, but how can one be
warm alone? The love of Christ warms his
people. The love of Christ in a sinner,
the heart of Christ, the spirit of Christ in a sinner provides
that sinner heat. It provokes that sinner to love,
to good works. It warms the heart. You ever
feel cold? It could be 94 degrees outside. Do you ever feel cold? Feel that
coldness? I don't feel like a believer.
I feel so dead to the Word. I feel so cold toward Christ. Just that coldness. As soon as
Christ comes, He brings warmth. He brings heat. As soon as Christ
comes, that child of God starts saying, does not my heart burn
within me? Every time He comes. Those two
on the road to Emmaus, that's what they said. When two believers
come together in fellowship, there is warmth there. There's warmth. Our Lord said
it is not good to be unequally yoked, and the reason is because
There cannot be any spiritual warmth with an unbeliever. It's
just not there. It's just cold. It's cold. But
if God will give us a union with Christ and a union with His people,
union with those who have Christ in them, there's warmth there. He said, where two or three are
gathered in My name, I'm in the midst of you. And when He comes
in, there's heat. There's heat. So verse 12 says, If one prevail against him, two
shall withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Our
adversary as a roaring lion seeketh whom he may devour." And, you know, we've read about his
fiery darts, and he truly does assault God's people. He assaults
the mind. He assaults the heart. We wrestle with spiritual principalities
and powers. We don't wrestle with flesh and
blood. And one example of that, and I'm speaking from experience
with us, is when the gospel goes out, There is a heaviness, there
is a tiredness that comes over us that we don't experience anywhere
else. Do you find that to be true?
There is a hindrance that takes place and it takes the Spirit
of God to overrule that. It takes one, how can one be
warm alone? It takes him coming to overrule
that. But these assaults constantly attack God's people. Constantly. I am not excluded because I'm
the preacher. I wonder if I'm assaulted more
than anybody. Our adversary has one purpose,
one goal, one mission. Stop God's people from hearing
the gospel. How does he do that? Job promotion
in a state where there is no gospel. How does he do that? Tuesday night, let's go to dinner. Yay! Thursday night, what do
you want to do? I don't know. Wednesday night, I just can't
make it. Why is that? I mean, I'm speaking from it.
Don't think I'm not exempt from these things. One purpose, keep
that child from the gospel. Keep that child. We're constantly
assaulted. We're no match either. Michael,
the archangel, would not contend with him. He said, the Lord rebuked
thee. He wouldn't do it. Neither can we. We're no match.
But if we have Christ, here's the good news. Christ will withstand
him. He will. Christ, the threefold
cord of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, that
cannot be broken. It cannot be broken. Let's lay hold of Christ. That's
the ultimate message here. Of everything that this world
offers us to lay hold of, let's lay hold of Christ. We must have
Christ. All we need, Christ is all. Okay,
you're dismissed.