Let's turn in our Bibles to 1st John,
chapter 5.
Go to Revelation and then go left a
couple of books.
1st John, chapter 5, through verse 13, 1
through 13.
I'll read the first, the odd-numbered verses.
Pastor Brian will lead the congregation in the
even-numbered verses, and so we stand as
we read the Word of God.
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is
born of God.
Everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him
also that is begotten of him.
By this we know that we love the
children of God.
When we love God and keep his commandments.
For this is the love of God that
we keep his commandments and his commandments are
not grievous.
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the
world and this is the victory that overcometh
the world even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world but
he that believeth that Jesus is the Son
of God.
This is he that came by water and
blood even Jesus Christ not by water only
but by water and blood and it is
the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit
is true.
For there are three that bear record in
heaven the Father the Word and the Holy
Spirit and these three are one.
And there are three that bear witness in
earth the Spirit the water and the blood
and these three agree in one.
If we receive the witness of men the
witness of God is greater for this is
the witness of God which he hath testified
of his Son.
He that believeth on the Son of God
hath the witness in himself.
He that believeth not God hath made him
a liar because he believeth not the record
that God gave of his Son.
And this is the record that God has
given to us eternal life and this life
is in the Son.
He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life.
These things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of
God that you may know that you have
eternal life and that you might believe on
the name of the Son of God.
Let's pray.
Father we are so thankful for that life
that we have in Christ Jesus.
The life that is in the Son.
Father we pray that this day you'll help
us to understand the difference between life under
the Son and life in the Son.
And may we come to know Lord the
richness of that relationship that is possible for
us to have with you because of your
Son.
Bless the study of the Word today Lord.
Open our hearts now that you might be
able to speak to each of us Lord
through the Word.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
As we are journeying through the Bible on
Sundays we've come now this week to the
book of Ecclesiastes.
We plan to take Ecclesiastes in three Sundays.
So four chapters a week for the next
three weeks as we go through Ecclesiastes.
And I'm sure that you're going to find
this a very fascinating book and one that
gives us great and rich insights into life
itself and into the vanity and the emptiness
of a life that is lived apart from
the purposes of God.
So read over the first four chapters of
Ecclesiastes.
Join with us tonight as we begin our
study through this book of Ecclesiastes.
This morning we'd like to draw your attention
to the first chapter verse 14.
Where Solomon here declares, I have seen all
of the works that are done under the
sun and behold all is vanity and vexation
of spirit.
This phrase under the sun, life on the
human level.
Throughout the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon is going
to use this phrase life under the sun
many times.
Solomon wrote this book of Ecclesiastes when he
was an old man.
He had had the opportunity to observe life
from the top.
He was the richest man in the world.
The daily supply of food that was necessary
to feed his household and servants was 150
bushels of flour every day, 300 bushels of
grain, 10 prime beef, 20 commercial beef, a
hundred sheep beside the deer, the roebucks and
the gazelles and the fat fowl.
Every day needed that just to supply the
needs of the household.
He had lived life to the fullest.
He testified of himself, whatever my eyes desired
I kept not from them.
I withheld not from my heart any joy.
He had done it all.
And then he asked, what can a man
do who comes after me that is more
than what I have already done?
Having seen it all, having done it all,
he's now coming to the end of the
road.
He's looking back over his life.
He realized that he lived life at its
best under the sun.
And yet he concluded that it had left
him empty, unfulfilled and frustrated.
He said, I have seen everything that is
done under the sun and all is vanity
and vexation of spirit.
It's all empty.
It seems like we go through seasons of
life.
The dream world of early childhood.
Life is fun and games.
Chuck E.
Cheese's and Toys R Us.
Birthdays and Christmas with it seems like eons
of time between them.
And then we go into grade school, the
beginning of true socialization, no longer just parents
and doting grandparents, but other children, rivalries, choosing
friends, minor spats, no longer just fun and
games, but reading, writing and arithmetic.
And then on into high school and college.
And here's where we begin our dreams for
the future.
What we want to be or what we
want to accomplish in life.
We have the feeling of immortality.
Like we've got forever to do it.
No real thought of death or dying.
Choices, many choices that will affect and influence
our future, either good or bad.
And then on into the 20s.
College behind us.
And now the beginning of the pursuing after
our dreams.
You've got good health, a strong body, energy
to spare, exuding with confidence as you begin
the race.
And for most, the choice of your life
mate.
And then the 30s.
You begin to see the potential of accomplishing
your dreams, the raising of the family, the
glorying in the accomplishment of your children.
On into the 40s, your children are now
graduating from high school and college.
As your goals are now being accomplished, you
begin to discover that they have not brought
to you the happiness and satisfaction that you
thought that they would.
You begin to question the choices that you
made when you were young and immature.
Did you choose the right career?
You're not really satisfied or happy.
Maybe you should have chosen another career and
maybe it's time for a career change.
I've got half my life ahead of me
and usually it's time when a person takes
inventory.
Half my life is gone.
I made choices.
I've accomplished the goals.
I'm not happy or satisfied.
Do I want to spend the rest of
my life in the same way that I
spent the first half of my life?
Did I choose the right partner?
And you think that you're still young.
In your mind, you're very young.
But your body is beginning to get a
little bit out of shape.
And so maybe you should go to the
gym and work out because you know that
you can still get in shape.
All you have to do is commit yourself
to it.
And many people then face what is known
as the midlife crisis.
Then you get into the 50s.
You notice that your parents are aging.
You've lost some of your aunts and uncles.
The thought of death now occasionally crosses your
mind.
Some of your friends that you had in
high school have actually died, but that's still
very far off for you.
You still have plenty of time.
Then you get into the 60s.
The thoughts of retirement begin to come to
your mind.
What will I do when I retire?
Am I ready to lay down the trowel
and search for a rocking chair?
Where is the contentment and sense of fulfillment
that I thought I would have when I
came to this stage of life?
Have I achieved all of the goals?
What will happen to me after I die?
Well, I still have plenty of time to
think about that.
We enter into the 70s.
And finally, we begin to get a sense
of our mortality.
We know that at this point, our days
are numbered.
The body functions begin to slow down, as
do our steps.
We no longer are interested in engaging in
sports.
We can be content to just sit and
watch others pass the ball and catch it.
We begin to think very seriously of just
how short the future is.
And we finally have come to the realization
of mortality.
You recognize that the future has its time
limits, and so you begin to look back
on life and try to analyze life from
this perspective.
That's where Solomon was when he wrote Ecclesiastes.
He was at that stage of life where
he had done it all, experienced it all,
accomplished all of his goals and ambitions.
And now realizing that time is about up,
recognizing his mortality, he's looking back over life
and he's seeking to analyze his life.
Life that he lived under the sun.
And in verse 3 of chapter 1, he
began to wonder what profit a man had
for all of his labor under the sun.
We often get the same kind of thoughts.
We used wisdom and prudence to develop our
estate.
We were careful with our pennies.
We did not live lavishly.
We drove an extra mile to save five
cents on a gallon of gas.
We didn't drive the latest model car.
We didn't have the biggest TV screen.
We were careful on how we spent our
money so we could save it and have
a sense of security in our later years.
But we realized that we are soon going
to die.
We have more than what we needed.
The excess will be left to our heirs.
And as I've watched these kids and their
careless expenditures, they're going to go out and
blow it all.
Why did I work so hard to save
it?
Why did I scrimp?
Why did I cut myself short?
I saw a big beautiful motor home the
other day and on the back it says,
we're enjoying our kids inheritance.
And I sometimes wonder, you know, and that's
where Solomon was.
I've amassed this fortune and yet it's empty
because I look at my son and I
realize that he's foolish.
He doesn't use good judgment.
He doesn't have good sense and to think
that he's going to have it all and
he's probably just going to go out and
waste it.
Solomon there in chapter two, verse 17, as
he looked at all of this, he said,
therefore, I hated life because the work that
I wrought under the sun became grievous unto
me for all is vanity and vexation of
spirit.
I hated all of my labor for which
I'd taken under the sun because I'm going
to leave it to those that will come
after me and who knows if they will
be wise or be fools.
Yet they're going to rule over all of
my labor wherein I have labored and wherein
I have showed myself to be wise and
prudent under the sun.
Solomon looking back sees that life sort of
moves in cycles and sort of a monotonous
kind of a cycle.
He said one generation passes away, a new
generation takes its place.
The sun rises, the sun sets, the rivers
run into the sea and yet the sea
isn't full.
The waters evaporate into gas and are carried
by the clouds back over the land where
they are deposited to run in the rivers
back into the sea.
Life gets so tedious, don't it?
And I mean, it's just that monotony, it
seems, of life.
And then Ecclesiastes 1.9, he says, the
thing that has been is that which shall
be and that which has been is done
is the same that shall be done.
And there's nothing new under the sun, it
just goes in cycles over and over again.
And so he began to search for things
that were meaningful in his life under the
sun.
He thought to know, to understand, to have
wisdom.
His father had told him to get wisdom,
get understanding, and so he applied himself.
He said, I gave my heart to know
wisdom.
That must be the chief goal of life.
And then 1 Kings 4.29, we read
concerning Solomon, God gave Solomon exceeding great wisdom
and understanding.
And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all
of the children of the east country in
Egypt.
For he was wiser than all men and
his fame had gone out through all of
the nations.
He spoke three thousand proverbs, he composed a
thousand and five songs.
He spoke of trees from the cedar tree
in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springs
out of the wall.
He spoke also of beasts and of fowl
and of creeping things and of fish.
People came from all over the world to
hear the wisdom of Solomon.
This guy could talk to you about zoology,
biology, or just any subject and full of
wisdom.
But as Solomon now looks at his wisdom,
he found that it also was empty and
meaningless.
For now, at the time of death, he
wrote, I saw that wisdom excels folly as
far as light excels darkness.
And yet I observed that death comes to
the wise and to the fool.
Then I said in my heart, as it
happens to the fool, it will happen to
me.
So how was I more wise?
I said in my heart, this also is
vanity.
For how does a wise man die just
like a fool?
Therefore, I hated life because the work that
is wrought under the sun is grievous unto
me for all is vanity and vexation of
spirit.
So what did all of my wisdom do
for me?
Here I am at death's door and I'm
going to die just like a fool.
All of the wisdom that I've amassed, what
value is it now?
It may be that you are seeking to
find meaning and satisfaction in life under the
sun.
But take a page out of Solomon's book.
You'll never find true fulfillment in life under
the sun.
God did not intend that we should just
know life under the sun.
He thought maybe he could find it in
wealth, that that would bring him satisfaction.
But yet he had wealth above all that
were before him.
But now he hates the riches because he's
going to leave them to his foolish son.
God has ordained that true life is not
found under the sun.
S-U-N.
But true life is discovered in the sun.
S-O-N.
As we read in our scripture reading in
1st John 5, this is the record.
God has given to us eternal life.
And this life is in the sun.
And he who has the son of God
has life.
Jesus said, I've come that you might have
life and that more abundantly.
Real life is more than just breathing and
eating.
There are people that do that every day,
but they don't have a clue as to
what real life is all about.
Paul said if a person was just living
for pleasure, they were actually dead while they
were still alive.
You remember one day that rich young ruler
came running up to Jesus, fell on his
knees before him and said, good master, what
good thing must I do to inherit this
age abiding life?
He had watched Jesus.
He had seen that Jesus had a quality
of life that exceeded anything he had yet
experienced with all of his riches and youth
and so forth.
Yet here's a man who has a quality
of life.
There's a peace that is there.
There's a assurance that is there.
There's a joy that is there.
Things that I have not yet experienced with
all of my money and with all of
my position.
And thus he comes to Jesus seeking the
secret of this age abiding life.
In the 17th chapter of John, John records
for us the prayer that Jesus prayed the
night that he was betrayed when he said,
father, the hour has come.
Glorify your son that your son may also
glorify you.
You have given him power over all mankind
that he should give eternal life, age abiding
life to as many as you have given
him.
And this is life eternal that they might
know you the only true God and Jesus
Christ whom you have sent.
Living in fellowship with God, that's where life
really exists.
It isn't life under the sun.
It's life in the sun.
Of course, we have John 3 16 with
which we are all familiar.
For God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son that whosoever would
believe in him would not perish but have
everlasting life.
For God did not send his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through him might be saved.
And he who believes in him is not
condemned.
But he who believes not in him is
condemned already.
Life under the sun, no hope, no future.
It's vain, it's empty.
Whereas life under the sun is empty and
unfulfilling, life in the sun is total fulfillment.
It all goes back to the purpose of
your existence.
When God created man, what was God's purpose?
When God created you, what was his purpose
for your existence?
We're told in Revelation chapter 4 that the
purpose of God for our creation is that
he might be pleased with us.
And for his pleasure you were and are
created.
Now if that is basic, if that's the
very basic purpose of your existence, is to
bring God pleasure.
Then that would mean that if you are
living for your own pleasure, you're missing the
purpose of your existence.
And no wonder you feel when you're through
with the experience, you feel empty.
You feel like life has to be something
more.
You start looking for the next adventure or
the next goal.
Because having satisfied the goal, you find that
it didn't do for you what you thought
it was going to do.
It didn't bring you that sense of fulfillment
that you thought you would have.
And so the quest, the search.
And so life under the sun is a
constant quest and search.
And it always comes up empty, empty.
Everything is empty.
I'm frustrated.
Whereas life in the sun, if you will
live your life to please God, then you'll
find that your life will be rich.
It's very fulfilling.
It's very satisfying.
Paul the apostle said, for me to live
is Christ.
And then to die, well, that's gain.
What a contrast between the end of Solomon's
life, lived under the sun, and the end
of Paul the apostle's life, lived in the
sun.
As Paul came to the end of the
road, he's now ready to face the executioner.
The Roman government under Nero will soon sever
his head from his body.
And so Paul writes, the time of my
departure is at hand.
I have fought a good fight.
I have finished my course.
And I have kept the faith.
Henceforth, there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, our righteous
judge shall give to me.
And not only to me, but to all
of those that love his appearing.
What a contrast.
What a difference.
The person who lives his life under the
sun, pursuing his own goals and ambitions, living
for pleasure, ends up empty, cynical, hating life.
Whereas that one who has dedicated his life
to Jesus Christ, to serve the Lord in
whatever capacity he might desire that I serve
him.
When you come to the end of the
road, it's rich.
It's been full.
It is so satisfying.
And you take that next step on into
the presence of the Lord.
Life in the sun, life under the sun.
It's one or the other.
Today you are living your life under the
sun or life in the sun.
And it's your choice.
The one will end as did Solomon with
cynicism and emptiness.
The other will end in glory with our
Lord throughout eternity.
What will it be?
Your choice.
Father, how we thank you for that rich,
full, abundant life that you have given to
us in Christ Jesus.
Lord, we do pray that today we might
stop and analyze our life.
Am I living, Lord, the life that pleases
you?
Or am I living, Lord, to please myself?
Help us, Lord, to in analyzing things, to
make the right decisions and the right choices.
Not to live for just now life under
the sun, which will one day quickly come
to an end.
But may we live that life in the
sun that never ends.
And enjoy, Lord, forever life in the kingdom
of God.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.