deal with Old Testament pictures
of Christ. And I wanna talk this evening
about the conclusion of the whole matter. Now the doctrine of this scripture,
principle doctrine, is that the world and all things in it is
vain. They're vain, they're mostly
vain things. Paul said, the fashion of this
world passes away. And our Lord said, what shall
it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his
own soul? What would it profit him? You
know, when you look at this world and when a man leaves this world
with all his labors, with his glory, with all his relationships,
his titles and his honor and his wealth, What remains after
man is dead? What remains? Nothing, nothing
at all. They all die with him. He came
into this world naked, didn't have nothing. When he leaves,
he ain't taking nothing with him. And you know, I was thinking
about this, that people give great homage to a lot of men
and that when they, when they, the Lord takes them out of this
world. And there's a lot of folks that's left that I dearly love,
and I speak very highly of them. But you know, a man, I don't
care how wealthy he is, what kind of title he has, how much
glory he had in this world, and they can build a statue over
his grave, and you know what he knows about it? Nothing. He never, he won't hear a word.
He won't see the statue. He won't see nothing about it.
He won't see nothing about it. Then he'll realize that this
world, now I want you to notice there in verse one, it says,
the words of the preacher, Ecclesiastes one, the words of the preacher,
the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the
preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Now, down in verse
12, I, the preacher, was king over
Israel in Jerusalem. Solomon was a preacher of God
first and foremost. He called himself a preacher
right off the bat. He was God's preacher first and
king of Israel second. And being the preacher, he is
qualified, very well qualified to teach and instruct people
because God blessed him like he did nobody else. And as being
king over Israel, he didn't lack for wealth, he didn't lack for
power, he didn't lack for the opportunity because of his position. The opportunity to search in
and participate in all, anything he wanted to do under the sun.
And I tell you, everything that he could want in this world,
he could get, he could get. If there's anyone who could talk
about firsthand of the vanities of the world and the true riches
of God, it was the preacher, King Solomon. I want you to look
with me now. I want you to keep Ecclesiastes
and go over to 1 Kings, 1 Kings, and look in chapter three. I
want you to look in chapter three with me in verse 12. You know, He understood the vanity. I mean,
he could do anything. He could have, he searched things
out, participated in things. Didn't lack for anything that
he wanted to do with. Wanted to make an opportunity,
he could. But look what it says here now. Look what God says
about him. Solomon was a child and God, he asked God for one
thing. Give me wisdom, give me understanding. And God spoke to him, said, behold,
I've done according to thy words. Lord, I've given thee a wise
and an understanding heart, so that there was none like thee
before thee, and after thee shall none, there shall any arise like
unto thee. So I tell you, then he gave him
riches and honor, even though he didn't ask for it. He just
wanted to be a child and know how to discern things. And then
he says there, and I want you, he said in verse 13, I gave my
heart. I gave my heart to seek and search
out wisdom concerning all things that are done under the heaven.
You know, and this is a sore travail God had given to the
sons of men to be exercised therein. I looked at how many times he
spoke about his heart. I gave my heart. I talked to
my heart. I looked in my heart. And I tell
you what, here he's talking about his heart. Now the heart are
the issues of life. As a man thinketh in his heart,
so is he. And I tell you what, he mentioned
his heart 10 times. 10 times, that heart, what he
actually is. And what we are is what we are
in our hearts. And God sees our hearts. He don't
look on the outward appearance. He looks on the heart. And he
said, I gave my heart. I put my whole heart into seeking
out and searching out wisdom. Now I'll tell you, here's a man,
he said, I want to learn about art. So he delved into art. He said, I want to know the sciences
of the day. So he got into sciences. He said,
I want to know all the different kind of trades that people do
in this world. So he wanted to know all the
different trades that people had, the people, things that
they'd done. And I tell you what, he studied politics, he studied
philosophy, education, history. He pursued human wisdom. And not just a superficial knowledge
like I have, or me and you have. But oh, he got down into the
depths of all that men can know, and all that men know. He got
down into the depths of it. And you know what his conclusion
was? He said, oh, this is vanity and
vexation of spirit. And look what he says down here.
And I'll look down here in verse 17 with me now. And he said,
like I said, I gave my heart to know wisdom. Oh my. And to know madness and folly.
And what was my conclusion? What was my conclusion? I perceive
that this also is vexation of spirit. You know what vexation
is, is to be very, very troubled, very troubled. Everybody knows
what it is to be vexed. Most of the time, vexing means
that you got angry about something, that something troubled you till
it really bothered your heart and your soul and you was upset.
That's what vexation means. And he also said this, In verse
18, for in much wisdom is much grief. Oh, the wiser a person
gets, the more grief he has. The more a man knows, the more
he wants to know. And one thing, when you live
a little while, and he that increases in knowledge, increases sorrow.
We know this, that the more we seek to know, And the older we
get, the more we understand how little we do know. The more wisdom
you get, the more knowledge you get, then you turn around and
say, I ain't learned nothing after all these years. You ever
feel that way? I've been spinning my wheel for
70 years. Why didn't I learn something
by now? Why didn't I learn something, huh? And I tell you, he'll learn
of his ignorance And he'll learn this, that what knowledge he
has and wisdom, it's insufficient, it's not sufficient to make a
person happy. I don't care how smart you are,
it can't make you happy. All that will and knowledge and
wisdom can do is cause vexation to the spirit and promote grief
and sorrow. The more we see, the more we
know, and the more we hurt. The wisdom of God is the wisdom
of man's foolishness with God. And all that this worldly knowledge
and worldly wisdom does is takes a man farther and farther and
farther away from God. And when the end's said and done,
it just promotes misery of soul. And then look here in verse two,
just go to these first three verses. Here he says in his heart
again, I gave my heart. I communed with my heart. I gave
my heart. And he said, I said in my heart.
He's gonna have a conversation with himself. He said, I'm gonna
have a conversation. I said to my heart. I said in
my heart. I'm gonna prove you. I wanna
prove you. And I'm gonna prove you with
mirth, laughter, having a big time, and therefore enjoy pleasure. And behold, this is vanity. I
said of laughter, it's mad, and of mirth, what does it? I sought
in my heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting my heart
with wisdom, and to lay hold on folly or foolishness till
I might see what was that was good for the sons of men. Said
I've done everything that a person could do, see what was really
good for other men. which they should do unto the
heaven all the days of their life. Solomon, he decided, I'm
gonna do some things for myself. I'm gonna find out just exactly
how much pleasure it'd take to make me feel good. I wanna find
out how happy I can be. I wanna have pleasure. I wanna live in a life of leisure,
a life of pleasure. And I tell you what, he gave
himself to laughter. He gave himself to have great
entertainment. He had mirth, foolishness. That's
what mirth means, foolishness. Oh my. And then he had feasting. Oh, taking that, you know mirth
means taking nothing seriously. And feasting, oh my. By giving
himself to wine, he said, well I'll see if wine will make my
life better. Wine will make me enjoy myself.
And oh my, he gave himself to the good life. Banqueting, entertaining,
living luxuriously and keeping back nothing that could give
his pleasure and comfort. He didn't keep back anything.
And what was his conclusion? What was his conclusion? Vanity,
this is vanity. He said of laughter and pleasure. It's mad, it's mad, it's mad. Then ask what good does it do?
You know you'll have a good time, you'll have a laughter and you'll
all have a big laugh and everything like, but when it's over and
done with, it's done, it's gone. And that's what he's talking
about. There's no solid, there's no substantial happiness and
lasting peace in anything, no matter how pleasurable it might
be. And that road ends in hunger
and thirst, and they'll never be satisfied. And Solomon was
a man that knowed how to, if he wanted a huge feast, he could
You read over, you look and do it yourself. You go back and
look at Solomon and read about him and start in chapter three
and go through first Kings and read about him there. Here's
a man, I mean, they came from all over the known world to set
at his feet. They brought him gold by the
truckloads. They brought in great spices,
they brought in silver. The scripture says that gold
and silver was like pebbles by the side of the road. That's
how much he had. So he had all this and he said,
listen, we all had a big time, all had a great time, but it
was all over. It didn't amount to anything,
didn't amount to nothing, didn't amount to nothing. Huh? Didn't
look quite as he says. Let's go down through verses
four through 11. Chapter two. And I made me great
works. I made me great works. I builded
me houses. Not just a house, houses. He
had a house that took him 11 years to build. You think about
seeing some of these houses around here worth millions? Go around
and see these people's houses worth millions? And don't take them 11 years
to build it. It took them 11 years to build his. They brought
stuff from all over the world for him to put in his house.
Houses, oh my, he said, I've made me great works. Houses,
oh, turned to his, he said he turned to his great works and
he looked back over his works. And he didn't spend his time
with little old small projects and trifling things like I do.
No, no. He was the richest, the wisest,
most powerful man in the world at this particular time. He made
great works. He made houses. Oh, he made great
houses. He had a summer house. He had
a winter house. He had gardens, big gardens. Not gardens like you and I talk
about raising vegetables. He had gardens made out of flowers
and trimmed and made beautiful and glorious to look at and walk
among. He had great orchards. And he built lakes. He built
pools, he said. I made me pools of water to water
the wood therewith. I planted trees and all kinds
of fruit. Look what I said in verse seven. I got me servants
and maidens, and had servants born in my house. Also I had
great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were
in Jerusalem before me. Oh my, he looked at all that
he did. Look at his treasure, look at
his treasure now. Verse eight, I gathered me also silver and
gold, and to procure your treasure of kings of the provinces, Oh
my, he had all, he had, he had such wealth, great big treasure. And then he had a staff, had,
oh my goodness, he had more services than you know what to do with.
And then look what he said, I got me a, I got me some singers.
I got me some men singers and women singers. He said, I got
me a great big choir. Got me a great big choir. And
then I got some people to play instruments. I had musical instruments
of all sorts. So when they sang, I could have
them to make music for me. Make music for me. And he said,
and so I was very great, increased more than all that before me
in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with
me while all this was going on. He didn't become a fool. And
then he said, and whatever my eyes desired, Oh my, God keep
me from this. Whatsoever mine eyes desired,
I kept not them 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. Now then, look what he says now.
Then I walked around, I looked on all the works that my hands
had wrought, and on the labor I had labor to do. And I walked
around in all of it and I said, vanity, fixation of spirit, all
the trouble that I went through to do all these things. And then
what profit is it to me under the sun? And then look what he
talks about wisdom, better than foolishness. He says there in verse 12, and I turned myself to behold
wisdom, Watch madness and folly. For what man can the man do that
comes after the king? One like me. Even all he can
do is that that's already been done. He can't do any more than
I've already done. And listen to this. This is so
true, especially for those who know Christ, for those who see
Christ as the light, Christ as their wisdom, Christ as their
hope. He said, I saw that wisdom excels folly, foolishness as
far as the light, excels darkness. I remember years and years ago,
my brother Jimmy was down here. And there's a fella who lived
down in an old house down the road from us. Didn't have no
lights in the house or nothing like that. And it'd be cold,
he wouldn't go out and get wood. He'd just stay in bed and cover
it up until somebody else brought him some wood. He was a sorry
man. And he got to talk to my brother
Jimmy and told him, well it ain't no use. What's the use of doing
anything? What's the use trying to make it? What's the use trying
to do anything? You know, why do we want to do
anything? And he had my brother, he had
my brother said, well, what in the world do I need to do that
for? I said, it just, you know, it ain't going to amount to nothing.
I said, well, for one thing, I'm paying you, I'll put you
in an apartment where you're at right now. That's one thing
I've done. And if you hadn't of done it, you wouldn't have
a place to live. So I would have done all things that I tell you
what, if it wasn't for, you know, but what I'm saying is this,
that there are people that are so foolish and so sorry. The
scripture says that the sluggard turns on his band. This turns
over from one side to the other. And you go around the sluggard's
house and it's all grown up. And that's what Solomon's talking
about here. He said, wisdom excelleth Foolishness is darkness and light
is. And it is so strange. I see some
folks do some crazy things. Then it goes on to say, verse
14, the wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks
in darkness. But I myself perceived also that
one event happens to them all. Whether you're a fool, And whether
you walk in darkness or whether you're a wise man and you're
walking in the light, same thing happens to both. Same thing happens
to both. Huh? Same thing happens to both. One perceives that one event
happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, as it
happened to the fool, so it happened even to me. And why was I then
more wise? Why did I do this? Then I said
in my heart that this also is vanity. For there's no remembrance,
oh, there's no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool
forever. Seeing that which now is in the
days to come, everything about it shall be forgotten. Like David
said, whereas a tale has been told. And how does the wise man,
he dies, how? Just like a fool does. Fool and
wise men both die. And therefore I hated life, my
soul. Because the work that is wrought
under the sun is grievous for me. Vanity and vexation of spirit.
Yea, I hated my labor, which I take another son You know why
he said because I'm gonna leave it under a man that shall be
after me all that I've accomplished in this life gonna leave somebody
else and Who knows? Is he gonna be a wise man or
is he gonna be a fool? But whether he's wise or a fool
he gonna rule over all my labor that I've done and When I showed
myself wise under the sun, he's gonna get it all. This is vanity. Therefore I went about to cause
my heart to despair of all the labors which I looked 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 labored therein, he
shall leave it for his portion. This is also vanity and great
evil. For what hath man of all of his
labor, and of the vexation of his heart, where it hath labored
under the sun? For all his days there's always
sorrows, and with all his troubles and travail there's grief. Yea,
his heart taketh not rest at night. Sometimes he gets to trouble
he can't sleep at night with the trouble that goes on. That's
even a wise man he's talking about. And then look what he
says in verse 24. There's nothing better for a
man 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. Now listen to me, we went through
all the things that Solomon said he'd done. He said, this is just
vanity and vexation. That's all he said. That's his
position. He tried everything and it didn't
amount to nothing. He didn't get no great pleasure
from it, didn't get happiness from it, didn't get peace from
it. His peace came from God. But is it wrong for a man to
study? Is it wrong for a man to improve his mind? Is it wrong
for a man to get an education? Is it wrong for him to become
a teacher, a mechanic, a builder, an artist? Is it wrong to marry? Build a house? Plant a garden? Raise a family? Enjoy your friends
and your life? No, he said, there's nothing
better, nothing better for a man that he should eat and drink,
and listen to this, and enjoy good in his labor. He said, he
ought to do this. Why? Because this I saw, it come
from the hand of God. It comes from the hand of God.
That makes the difference. That makes the difference. And
Solomon says this, for who can eat or else hasten thereunto
more than I? Who knows this more than I do?
And what he's saying, who knows more than that? God make me wise.
God made me a king and God gave me what I have. That's what he's
saying. And here's the key. Here's the key right here. Look
in verse 26. For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight,
wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he giveth travail,
to gather and heap up that he may give to him that is good
before God. God giveth to a man that's good
in his sight, wisdom, knowledge and joy. Who's the man that's
good in his sight? And it certainly ain't me. There's
none good, though the scriptures tells us. This man that he's
talking about here is the man whose righteousness and good
is only found in Christ, through faith in the blessed Son of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He trusts Christ, he believes
Christ. Christ is his righteousness. So if there's any goodness about
him, God gave it to him. And then it says God gives him
that wisdom and knowledge and joy. And he gives us these things
to properly, rightly enjoy the good of our labor. He does that. Man's not spiritually wise by
nature, but he becomes wise by the regenerating power of God
himself, by the grace of God. What he knows, And what he has
are the gifts of God. Ain't that right? What do we
got that we didn't receive? What do we know that God didn't
give us? Huh? Oh, Christ. Christ has given
to us. And then God gives the believer
wisdom. Oh, he gives him wisdom. And
oh, we enjoy what God's blessed us. I've told you that time and
again. Your God gives the believer wisdom. And this wisdom that
God gives a man, it enables him to understand something about
Christ, enables him to understand something about himself, understand
something about grace, understand something about life, and especially
to understand what true riches are, true riches are. And remember
this, that a man's life does not consist in food or drink
or what he wears. In all his possessions, or even
in his relationships, for every one of them are temporary. Every
one of them is temporary. And I tell you, what we look
on is things that are not seen. That's what we're looking at.
And load lightly, really hold lightly to what we have in this
world. Because God can come and take it anytime he pleases. He
can come and take a child, it's His. Come and take a husband,
it's His. Come and take a wife, it's His. He's the Lord. And I'll tell
you what, and I've said this before and I'll say it again.
If God's blessed anybody more than me, I don't know I've yet
to meet them. I've yet to meet them. And this
is the difference. God gives us these things. God
gives us these things. What seems good in His sight.
That's what we're interested in. What seems good in His sight.
And God gives the believer knowledge. He said He gives him wisdom and
knowledge in His sight. Knowledge. Oh my. You know what knowledge He gives
us? This is eternal life to know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. He knows that the source of all
the mercies and all the blessings, that He knows how to use and
use them and not be used by them. You see, here's the thing about
it. You can have things, but don't let things have you. That's
the difference. That's the difference in a believer
and somebody in the world. A believer, he uses things, but
he don't, and God gives him things, but the things don't possess
him. I really believe that. And he knows how to be generous.
He knows how to be a good steward. He knows how for God to bring
him down. He knows how God to bring him up. He knows that the
lower earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And then
look what he says, and then he give us the center joy in his
sight, not wisdom, knowledge, and joy. And we have true joy. Oh, our joy is in Christ. Our
joy is in God. Our joy is not in this world.
No. Nor in anything that this world
holds for us. Our joy and rejoicing are in
the Lord Jesus alone. And I tell you something we really
rejoice in. He told the Philippians, rejoice
Rejoice that your names are written in the book of life. Huh? If you want to rejoice in anything,
rejoice in that. Rejoice in that. And the key
to that is that what God seems good to give it in His sight.
Now I know people that's in the world and all they're interested
in is what kind of car they're driving, how expensive their
clothes are, How big their houses are. How much money they make. But not us. We know why we enjoy
what God's given us, even the labor of our hands, is because
God gave it to us. He gives us the ability and the
strength to do anything we have. If you got a job, God gave it
to you. I'm serious, you know that as well as I do. If you
got sense enough to get in out of the rain, God gave you that
sense. We've heard people say that all the time. He ain't got
sense enough to get in out of the rain. Well, the other day,
I didn't. I stayed on the moor and it poured
down to rain. I thought when I got done, I
said, boy, what a fool. I felt like a fool. I said, boy,
what an idiot. It's not good to mow in the rain.
It's not good to pour down. But that's what I'm talking about.
That shows how foolish a person can be just that quick. But I
tell you, everything we have that's right, that's good, that's
true, God gave it to us, and it seemed good in His sight. Amen. Our Father, oh, our blessed,
blessed Father, Thank you for your good, abundant mercies given
us in Christ. Oh, your grace abounds in him.
Oh, it abounds. Where sin abounded, grace does
much more abound. And Lord, let us understand that
this world, that we're to use it, but not
to abuse it. Because this world and the fashion
of it is just gonna pass away. And we're looking not at the
things that we see, but we look, oh Lord, by your grace, at the
things we don't see, the things that are unseen. And we're looking
for that house, not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens. We look for that blessed place,
because we understand this world's not our home. We've got a home. We've got a home we're going
to. We're like Abraham, we're looking for that city whose builder
and maker is God. And we're already on the foundation,
the Lord Jesus Christ. So Lord, one of these days, one
of these days, this world in all of its vanity, all of its
vanity and all the trouble that we have while we live in this
world, all the vexation that we go through, will all be over
one of these days. And so, Lord, make it in our
hearts to seek you, to seek you above all seeking, to know you
above all knowing, to find in you to be our wisdom, our righteousness,
and our redemption, and create in our hearts a greater, greater
love for you, and create in our hearts a greater love for one
another. And we ask these things in our Lord Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. He's the Savior of my soul. Jesus, my Jesus. He's the Savior of my soul. He's the Savior of my soul. Jesus, Jesus, He's the Savior of my soul. He's the Savior of my soul. See you soon.