We're going to unpack the book of Ecclesiastes
today, friends, and the title of the book
of Ecclesiastes gets its English name from the
transliteration of the Greek word Ecclesiastes, which means
speaker of a called out assembly, and is
derived from the word Ecclesia, which is the
New Testament word for church.
Solomon is the preacher here, and he has
some truths he wants to share with us.
The book of Ecclesiastes is proof Solomon turned
back to God with a repentant heart, as
did David his father.
And Ecclesiastes is the extension and overflow of
one who has experienced humility, contrition, penitence, and
God's forgiveness, resulting in further blessings upon him
from a deeper knowledge of God.
Solomon learned to fear God as well as
love God.
King Solomon was a man who had had
it all, seen it all, and done it
all, and he was sick of it all,
until he made God his all in all.
I used to like watching the old detective
show Columbo, and the actor Peter Falk, who
skillfully played that bumbling detective, but who always
got his man, because really he was a
genius.
And I was watching an interview one time
with Peter Falk, and the person conducting the
interview asked him a question.
He said, is it true that money buys
happiness?
And Peter Falk laughed and said, I'm friends
with the richest people out here, and I
can tell you this, truthfully, they are all
miserable, miserable.
Well, I never forgot that.
And King Solomon, in his book, has a
major theme running through its pages, and that
is, the things which men commonly look to
for happiness, like riches, power, fame, sex, and
the pleasures of this world, in the end,
are all an empty bubble of vanity of
vanities.
When we read vanity of vanities, say it
the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
That's why when you read about the personal
lives of celebrities, you'll find drug addiction, alcoholism,
and multiple divorces.
They can't even find a partner to satisfy
them.
All is vanity.
And they live in the limelight and go
down to the grave in darkness as they
enter a crisis eternity.
The book of Ecclesiastes begins with a graveyard
and ends with a funeral, thus demonstrating the
brevity of life and the certainty of death.
For we read, one generation passeth away, and
another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever.
Solomon spent his life seeking satisfaction in things
he could see, touch, and taste, yet he
laments in verse 8 of chapter 1 that
eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the
ear filled with hearing.
Solomon found that he could have all the
money in the world, to do all the
things he wanted to in the world, that
his heart desired.
He sought out pleasure of every kind, from
eating to laughter, to building things like houses
and vineyards and gardens and orchids, things pleasing
to the eye.
He built pools of water to bring forth
more trees for shade and lumber.
He got him manservants and maidens, and he
had great possessions of cattle and silver and
gold, and he entertained himself with men singers
and women singers and a vast array of
musical instruments.
And of it all he breathes a deep
sigh and exclaims, 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.
Then I looked on all the works that
my hands had wrought, and on all the
labor that I had labored to do, and,
behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit,
and there was no profit under the sun.
Solomon was as happy as this world can
make a man, but it was empty happiness,
void of any reality of worth.
The world was just an empty bubble that
satisfied poor time, but then it popped.
Men seek to find satisfaction in their businesses
and careers, and they spend their days in
a vain pursuit of money and position, and
in the end they lie on a hospital
bed dying, rich in the things of this
world, but bankrupt in the soul.
For what profit a man shall he gain
the whole world and lose his own soul?
So said Jesus.
Well, there are several valuable lessons, friends, found
in Ecclesiastes, that we can relate to.
We read in chapter 3, To every thing
there is a season, and a time, to
every purpose under the heaven, and Solomon goes
on to list the various seasons of life.
Birth and death, planting and harvest, killing and
healing, breaking down and building up, weeping and
laughing, mourning and dancing, casting away and gathering,
embracing and not embracing, getting and losing, tearing
apart and sewing together, keeping silence or speaking,
a time to love and a time to
hate, a time of war and a time
of peace.
And what Solomon learns from all of this,
friends, is those things that he thinks provide
him with peace and security are really empty.
He discovers that it is God who keeps
the world in order, that God in His
sovereignty causes all things to happen in their
seasons, and it is a sovereign God who
gives everything a purpose from His perspective.
That He is all-knowing, for He knows
the end of everything before it even happens
to us.
All is controlled by His providential hand, and
all events of history, both nationally, corporately, and
personally, will fit into God's own timetable.
For we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called, according to His
purpose.
Solomon comes to realize that God is able
to use anything or anyone for the carrying
out of His purposes, that a sovereign God
knows the end as well as the beginning,
and knows the outcome of how each piece
will fit into His providential plan.
And since Solomon can't see the end from
the beginning, he must trust completely in God
and not in the material and passing things
of this world.
Solomon also learns you can't serve God with
a divided heart and have any real usefulness
to Him.
You're either all out for God or you're
not.
And he learns the painful lesson that old
age can be a spiritually dangerous time, as
we see it was when Solomon was old
that his wives turned his heart away from
the Lord.
And in the case of Abraham, it was
in his old age foolishness he went into
Hagar, his wife's maid.
Well, that's a warning to all of us,
especially us old folks.
And it seems when the physical body is
breaking down, if we're not guarded, there can
be a breakdown spiritually.
Another lesson learned by Solomon is the sovereignty
of God over the affairs of our life,
and that there is no guarantee of tomorrow.
For man also knoweth not his time, as
the fishes that are taken in an evil
net, and as the birds that are caught
in the snare.
So are the sons of men snared in
an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon
them.
The lesson of life that Solomon learns is
that in God's providence He is over and
in all things that pertain to us.
In the end, all that matters is that
we obey God and fear Him.
For there is a common judgment day that
is fast approaching, where every mother's son will
be judged.
Solomon's new favorite hymn is trust and obey.
And he ends his book with both an
admonition and a warning to us.
If I may so speak, Solomon is pointing
us to Revelation chapter 20, where there is
a great white throne, and seated there is
the judge of all the earth.
And standing there is all mankind from every
corner of the globe and from every generation.
And books are opened, and men are judged
by the things that are written in the
books.
And all men will be held up against
the strictness and severity of God's unbending law,
as He reviews their life under His intense
scrutiny.
And all will fail that test for all
have sinned and come short of the glory
of God.
If you stand there, friend, in your own
merits, you will fail that test.
You must stand in the merits of another,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
And another book is opened, which is the
book of life.
And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake
of fire.
Listen, friend, I hope this little study from
the book of Ecclesiastes has been helpful to
you.
And as we have seen, that whosoever was
not found in the book of life was
cast into that burning lake of fire, I
would be remiss if I failed to tell
you there is another whosoever found in the
book of Revelation.
It's found on the last page of the
book of Revelation.
And it is the last call to a
lost sinner.
Are you a lost sinner?
When Jesus was here in His earthly ministry
and in His humanity, He was dog-tired
and He stopped to rest at Jacob's well.
And a woman of Samaria came by to
draw water, and she encounters Christ.
Oh, friend, have you ever encountered Christ?
And He tells her, if you drink the
water of this well, you will thirst again.
And He goes on to tell her of
the living water.
In John 4.14 we read, But whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst, but the water that
I shall give him shall be in him
a well of water springing up into everlasting
life.
But first, Jesus must confront this woman of
her sinfulness in living with a man and
having had five husbands.
She has to feel her need of a
remedy for sin, and so do you, friend,
so do you.
The gospel is for the hungry, the weary,
and the thirsty.
Let me ask you, friend, are you hungry
for the reality of God?
Are you sick and tired of your dirty,
rotten sins?
Are you parched and thirsty for relief in
Christ?
Then perhaps, as I read Revelation 22.17
to you, through God's grace, you just won't
hear the shaky voice of this old preacher,
but you will hear God's voice speaking to
you by His Spirit as it comes to
you in all authority and power.
Listen to the Word of God.
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
And let him that heareth say, Come.
And let him that is athirst come.
And whosoever will, let him take the water
of life freely.