 With that, beginning at verse 1 in chapter 6, this is only 12 verses, and you would think I'd get through it very quickly, but I probably won't, but I'm going to do my best to probably cut out some things. But with that said, verses 1 and 2, there is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men, a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires yet. God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it's an evil affliction. And so as we enter into this, let me remind you that Solomon had just written that a person who rejoices daily in God will always have few regrets. In chapter 5 verse 20, he had said that God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart. So in his enjoying of the gifts of God, he doesn't think too much about the sorrows of life. It isn't that he has an experienced sorrow, it's not that he has an experienced grief. It's just that the joy that he has in the Lord has overcome all of that. He had pointed out that God had provided for him, and the blessings have been greater than the hurts. Just in contrast with the rich man, the rich man who has made bad choices and due to that has lost everything. The man left nothing to an heir, and he died, Solomon says, and the way that he was born, he died naked. He didn't use this money or enjoy it. He died with sorrow and sickness and anger. So he's been pointing out that making wise choices in life, especially in our loving of God, will make a lifetime of joy. And the life that we have, and he's been pointing this out over and over again, is that we should see this as a gift from God. So knowing this provokes us to store up happy memories, knowing this should provoke us to enjoy our life. So in chapter six, Solomon is returning to his thoughts on the futility of wealth. Now at first it may seem as we've been going through ecclesiasties that he's basically talking in circles, because he has said to enjoy money. He's also said to enjoy the advantages that having money will bring to us. But he had said in Ecclesiastes 5.10, he had said, silver and abundance can be vanity. In other words, he seems to be saying that we should know that God is the giver of all good gifts. With that in mind, we should enjoy our relationship with God and not rely on personal wealth. That Proverbs 23.5 says, cast but a glance at riches, they're gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sea like an eagle. So the key to joy in life is pursuing God, trusting him for daily blessings. Why is that? Well, because it provides for us what we eat, what we drink, what we put on. And those are the things we should be satisfied with. That's the key to contentedness, enjoying the things that God has provided. So what should our first pursuit be? What would Solomon be pointing us to? Our first pursuit should be God and his kingdom. Later on, Jesus in Matthew 6.33 would say it like this, he would say, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. So the key is seeking the giver of the gifts and not just the gifts. First Chronicles 16.11 says, seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually. Isaiah 55 verse 6 says, seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he's near. And again, Psalm 105 verse 4, seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually. So we receive his gifts and we do so with gratitude. We bless others because we've been blessed. And when we yield to his will and use what he gives us to his glory, he is saying you can have a great life and be satisfied. And so Solomon is continuing his thoughts on the vanity of trusting in wealth in chapter 6. And he points this out in verse 1. He says, there's an evil which I have seen under the sun, it's common among men. And then he says what this evil is, a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires. And yet God doesn't give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, it's an evil affliction. There are many wealthy people who can't enjoy their abundance. Notice he said, God has given them riches and wealth and honor. And he says they lack absolutely nothing. So that distinguishes him from the one who has gained wealth through oppression. He has a glorious abundance of treasures and a spotless reputation, materially he's saying he lacks absolutely nothing in any way. And all of this honor and wealth has come from the Lord, but even so he's unsatisfied. God gave him all of this, but he never enjoys it. The ability to simply enjoy what he has is beyond him. You know there are wealthy people who never enjoy the advantages of their wealth. They work hard, they save, they look forward to a comfortable retirement, but in the end because of a bitter spirit they never really enjoy those things. Others have been blessed, but they don't have the ability to make use of it. They may have been blessed financially, but they become an invalid or contact a disease and sometimes they may even die suddenly. And because of this they never get a chance to enjoy it. And they may lose their family. Now they have no child to inherit any of the wealth. Notice he says that in verse two, God doesn't give him power to eat of it, a foreigner consumes it. They're not related to him is going to get it and they're just going to spend it. And they're going to use it all up, they're going to exhaust it. He doesn't have the ability to enjoy it and he leaves it for someone else to enjoy. Now he said that in chapter two, verse 21, when he said there's a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge and skill, yet he must leave his heritage to a man who hasn't labored for it. It's also his vanity and a great evil. For verse eight, he said there's a man all alone without even a son or a brother. And though there's no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth. For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment? This too, he said, is futile. It's a miserable, miserable task. So what is it that you have all of this and you end up with vanity and an evil affliction? It's such a waste to have so much and yet to enjoy life. So little. And so as he's speaking of this, he goes on in verse three and he says, if a man begets a hundred children, I'll stop for a moment, think about that. No, that's terrible. If a man begets a hundred children and lives for many years so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness or indeed he has no burial. Notice this, I say that a stillborn child is better than he. For it comes in vanity and departs in darkness. Its name is covered with darkness. Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man. Even if he lives a thousand years twice, but has not seen goodness, do not all go to one place. Well, let's develop that for a moment, shall we? Notice how he begins by saying in verse three, he has a hundred children and lives many years. Why is that significant? It's significant because having many children and a long life has been seen as a blessing of God to men. To have many children to the Jewish family was a very important thing. It was a demonstration of God's grace. But I was thinking of that and I was reading this, so I'll just read a couple of things to you. A recent survey showed that people said they didn't want kids for various reasons. These are people who never have had a child. And when they were being questioned in the survey, they said, I never want to have one. They're very wise. But out of the 1,000 surveyed, 52% said they didn't want kids. 20% were unsure. And when asked why they decided to not start a family, 54% of them said they didn't want kids because, listen to this, it will interfere with their personal lives. 54% of those surveyed said I don't want a kid because it interrupts my life. And that reveals something about the American character to this day. It reveals something about us. I don't want anything in my life that will interfere with my enjoyment of it. And children will require too much time and sacrifice. Therefore, I don't want children. And the result has been that the US has a declining birth rate and it is now affecting our nation's future. We have what is called a shrinking replacement birth rate. Because of that, we will not have future workers. There will be no future taxpayers. Our economy will dry up. We will not have hospital staff. We will not have workers in nursing homes who will care for the aged. Our military will dry up. In the 60s, there were six people of working age for each retired person. Today, the ratio is three to one. And by 2035, it will be two to one. Our economy can't survive without consumers, without healthcare, and without pensions. So the question has been asked, who's gonna fund healthcare? Who's gonna fund the pensions when the population average is old? So many don't value children and many don't want them. And they mess up their plans for their good times and that's why they don't want them. Now with women finding their value in work, many women have decided to not have children. They now have good incomes, but they have no sense of purpose. At an age beyond childbearing, many are sorrowing over their choices because they say, I've achieved my financial goals, but I have no one to share them with. This is what Solomon is talking about. I have things, but no one to share them with. I've achieved my goals, but I have no pleasure in them. You see, the man and the woman in Jewish theology in the way that is presented scripturally, the man and the woman represent two halves that join together in order that they may be completed. And in marriage, parents are partners in God's creation of creating a human being. And it is also God's way of caring for the parents of the children when they're aged. You see, to the Jew having children was regarded as a blessing. It guaranteed the continuance of the race into the future. And that's why the Psalmists in Psalm 127, 3 and 4 said it like this. He said, behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. And blessed is the man who's quiver is full of them. So Solomon is making a point. There's a man who has many children. And these many children will care for that man when he's old. And he might live for many years, which again was considered a blessing. So he has long life with these children. He has a comfortable support system. But in spite of this, his soul isn't satisfied with goodness. He's not contented in what he has. He has no pleasure and he has no enjoyment of them. He hasn't understood that his blessings have come from God and he's not thankful to God. You see, to know the Lord and to know his blessings auto motivate us to be thankful. But instead, verse three says he's miserable and a stillborn child actually seems better off than he is. Why is that? Well, because neither one of them have enjoyed life even though the man lived for many years. At least the baby didn't have a long miserable life. That's what makes it better off than that man. In verse three, he said the man has no burial. That's another way of saying this man died unloved and unmoored. He died unloved and unmoored. I think about that often. Not because I'm anticipating dying soon, because I'm not, but because I've known people who are similar to this, who have pursued things, fame, so many different objects, to the point that they've excluded people from their personal lives. They have no friends and kind of like that old Christmas tale by Dickens, like when Scrooge dies. Some of you may remember it. If not, it's too bad, I'll tell you it anyway. These ghosts of Christmas present and past and future and all visit him. It's a morality tale because he has the opportunity of attending his own funeral and nobody's there to mourn him. And the only ones who say they'll go, they'll say we'll go if they provide something to eat. And Scrooge had so much money, but he had no friends. He had nobody to mourn him when he died. And I have done funerals with a handful of people who showed up, a handful of people who had come to say this person meant something to me. And that's what this man had. He had everything he wanted, but he didn't have anybody to share it with. He had everything he wanted, but he had nobody to mourn him when he died. Nobody cared that he died. He had a long life. He had many wives, he had many children, but Solomon says he died alone. He died without love in his home and as a result, he was empty. He says in verses four through six, it comes in vanity and departs in darkness. Its name is covered with darkness. Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man. Even if he lives a thousand years twice, but he has not seen goodness, do not all go to one place. The stillborn child never had the chance to achieve anything. His life was really vanity. It departed in darkness, meaning it died without any ever even knowing it. And the result will be that, will be like that for everyone except its parents. Parents remember, but even so, eventually they forget. So ultimately the ability to enjoy life will always come from within a person. The labor of a man verse seven is for his mouth and yet his soul is not satisfied. So he's speaking of the rich man a moment ago. Now he's speaking of a regular person, a regular laborer. And so he's saying the labor of man is for his mouth, but his soul isn't satisfied. Man works long hours in order to satisfy physical appetites. He knows that for him to eat. He needs to work hard so that he can eat. And if he desires other things, it takes long hours of labor to make that possible. And even when he achieves all that he's desired, none of that will ever satisfy your soul. That's because things don't bring inner satisfaction. They don't bring peace. You know that and I know that. If you pursue things, material objects, if you pursue things, expecting them to bring contentment to you, they can bring a short period of pleasure, but it's not lasting. Think about, I'll give an illustration like this. There are people who say I want this particular vehicle. We'll say this is a car guy. I want this particular car. I want a 56 Chevy with a 427, 475 horsepower, six speed, dual exhaust. I've never thought about that car. It just came to mind at the moment. And so finally you work and you get it. I don't have it, by the way. And you turn the car on, you get the sound. It gives you great pleasure, it really does. If you get something like that, it really does. Drive out, go around the neighborhood. Your friend's going, wow, that's a good car. You go, yeah, it is. Then you go to the supermarket and somebody swings their door open or they let go of a cart and you almost have a heart attack. See, it's beautiful until it gets its first scratch. It's beautiful until you have to go to the gas pump and you put $120 in the tank as it gets six miles to the gallon. It's pleasurable in the mind, but not in the reality. That never gives you lasting pleasure. It never does. You might have this desire for a certain person. You think about them, you wish for them, you pray for them, you end up with them. And after a while, you realize, there are things that you thought were there that are not there and you don't have the pleasure anymore because you're trying to have things or even human beings fill a hole in your heart. The only God himself can fill. That's how I got saved. I won't go into it, but that's how I got saved is trying to grab this to fill this emptiness, trying to grab that to fill this emptiness, trying to dull myself through this in order to fill the emptiness or at least dull myself for a while so I don't fill it. And then one day the Lord, like the rising sun breaks into your darkness and you see things clearly for the first time and you realize that your greatest hunger hasn't been a human being. Your greatest hunger has been God in the flesh because your greatest need was forgiveness. And your greatest lack was you didn't have any hope. And then when you receive Christ and you're forgiven, He also gives you joy. He gives you peace. He gives you hope. And you come to grow and realize that so that the things you have now you can use rather than the things owning you, you can now use those things because there are some people who are owned by their things but now you just use things because they're just things. They don't last, right? And so you can have so many things and have nothing. You can work long hours to satisfy your physical appetites. You can eat, you can drink, you can survive but you're not satisfied. Why? Because again, enjoying life is a matter of the heart. Contentment comes from a life that's centered on eternity and not on the temporary. Contentment is a fruit of having a hope that is anchored beyond our present life. That's why Jesus in John 6.27 said, do not work for a food that spoils but for food that endures to eternal life which the Son of man will give you for on him God the Father place his seal of approval. Now our present conditions often may speak differently. The way some things are going we can get to the point of thinking. So what's the point? As a Christian I'm following the Lord but it doesn't seem that it's done me any good. Is what Paul would be speaking of in 1 Corinthians 15, 19. When he said, if only for this life we have hope in Christ we are of all people most to be pitied. Because you're doing your best with what you have and this heathen neighbor comes driving up in a brand new Lexus or whatever and every time you start your car it's like it makes smoke signals, you know. And so he's saying that material things don't matter but sometimes we may think that they are. And so life has to consist in more than just eating and working because if that's our whole purpose in life we're no different than animals. But we have been created with a higher purpose and that higher purpose defines our lives. Our real hunger is spiritual and it can only be satisfied by the bread of life. So he says in verse eight what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have who knows how to walk before the living better in better is the side of the eyes and the wandering of desire. This also was vanity and grasping for the wind. And so the fool when he says what is more what more has a wise man than the fool the fool speaks of somebody who is arrogant. It speaks of literally this is what it's saying a stupid fellow, a simpleton. So the poor man is said to be wise. So what advantage is wisdom over foolishness? If all a person does is satisfy their wants then a wise man has no advantage. That's because both only exist to satisfy their needs and that would mean there's no advantage to having wisdom at all. But that would not be so because in scripture it says the fool says that there is no God and wisdom comes from above. So for the believer contentment comes from knowing God. For the unbeliever contentment is something they never truly completely have. Think of your own life prior to coming to faith in Christ and if you were anything like me again you never were really contented for long. Sometimes you could feel at peace and sometimes you could feel a bit of contentment but it always evaporated. As a believer it's not that I don't go through periods of thinking what's going on Lord what's happening I do. But at the end I always remember one thing I've said it so many times but not recently I see things happening. I look at my world right now for example and I say Lord and then I have to remember I've read the last page of the last chapter of the book and we win in Christ. And I have to remember that because I cast my eyes on him my cares on him and my trust is in him. And I know that the Lord is gonna take us through all of these things and therefore I just hold fast to him. And so the Lord would have us to know that. In verse 10 it says whatever one is. This is interesting. Whatever one is he has been named already for it is known that he's man he cannot contend with him who's mighter than he since there are many things that increase vanity how is man the better? For who knows what is good for man in life all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow. Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun? Oh that's an encouraging way to close a Bible study. In verse 10 whatever one is has been named already. Everything that a person does has been previously known. Nothing that we do will ever catch God by surprise. God knows us and God also knows of our sinful nature. In John 2.25 in the new living translation it reads no one needed to tell him tell Jesus about human nature for he knew what was in each person's heart. He knew the essential part of man. He knew what is in man and because we're human it is unwise to attempt to argue with him. We can't argue that we're right and good when God says otherwise. It's interesting how many people actually really seem to think they're good. We need to remember that there's none good no not one. And that the only good person who ever lived was hanged on a tree. That was Jesus Christ. He's the only one who was ever good. All the rest of us are born with a fallence in nature. And when we try to argue with God that we are indeed good no God knows what's in man. In Jeremiah 10.23 Lord I know the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. We aren't in control of our own life in the way that we think and no we're not that good and we can't argue with God and tell him that we are. Romans 11.34 who has known the mind of the Lord who has been his counselor. And so because that's true we need to seek the Lord for direction. Verse 11 says since there are many things that increase vanity how is man the better? Many things increase vanity. The word things there is interesting. The word things speaks of speech or sayings. It speaks of words and utterances. So many things contribute to a man's sinful sense of importance. Because he has many advantages he does think himself to be good. And again they may argue that they're good but their arguments are futile. Man's argument that he's good is futile because he'll never be good enough. How do you become better? We become better when we admit that we need help and agree with God. And like again on that day that I heard the gospel I was talking to my wife just today a little bit about this and I was sharing with her that as a young person I felt that what I needed was gonna be in a relationship but I aimed too low. I thought that the relationship that would make me well was gonna come through a human being through a person. I thought it was gonna come through having a girlfriend that could help me to get well because I knew that I wasn't. So I thought perhaps I could have somebody who could help me to straighten my life out. Somebody that I would want to be a better person for. And then I realized that that was never gonna happen because it came to realize that the hole in my heart was so deep and so dark that no human love could ever fill it to its capacity. It was so empty that no matter how many people would throw into that hole love it just would be taken in. It was God. I needed a greater love than any human being could give to me. And that love came through God himself. It came through Jesus Christ. That's what made me whole when I stopped looking for man or for a girl to make me feel better about me. And I realized that I was worse than I was pretending to be. I was never as good as I thought I was. And that no human being could ever fill that gap. And that's how I got saved. I was seated there in that Myrnotha concert. And I saw all these people around me and I heard this music about God and Jesus. And I saw people actually putting their arms around other people and having affection and not wanting something in return for showing kindness because the world I lived in was filled with reciprocal kinds of things. If I give you a ride, you have to give me a joint. There was never just giving you a ride. Hey, Dave, can you give me a ride? You got a car. I'm walking and I'd say, what do you have? Well, you know, what do you have? I can give you a couple of joints. Yeah, okay, I'll give you a ride. That's how it was. That's how it was. It was never, you know, you need a ride, bro. Let me give you a ride. It was never that. It was, you need a ride, I got a car. I don't have money for gas. You want to put some gas in my car? That's how it was. And that's how my world was. And when I encountered Christians who were the real deal, who actually saw that was more blessed to give than to receive, that was mind blowing. I'd never seen that. I'd never been around that. I found that attractive. I wondered why they were that way. Well, I ultimately found out is because they were sinners saved by God's grace and they were thankful and loving as a result of that. See, so the only way that we can ever have a real, a life that's filled with contentment is to realize that we need the Lord. We need God. We're not good enough. That's why Psalm 41 verse four says, Lord be merciful to me, heal my soul. I've sinned against you. And then finally in verse 12, who knows what is good for man in life all the days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow. Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun? Who knows what is good for man in life? God does. And God knows what will happen next. The fact is, every one of us have one appointment that we will definitely keep and it will be right on time. And that is our death. It's appointed unto men to die once after this judgment. So we all have an appointment. So who knows? God knows. And seeing that God knows what happens next, what should we do? We should align ourselves with him. And that's what we do when we come to faith in Christ in second Corinthians five, six through eight. Paul said it like this. We are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, we're absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith and not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. I've been at the bedside of more than one person who's about to go to heaven, talking to them and watching them as they breathe the last. And I can tell you that the believers that I've been around when they've passed on to go to heaven, that there's something about them, there's something different, the ones that I've seen. It's a confidence. It's a confidence because they know where they're going. I was at my uncle's bedside. He was very dear to me, my uncle Ray. He had this real loud voice, the kind of voice that scares you when you're a little kid. My father's side, they all yell. And they used to scare me as a kid because I have like a shy spirit, you know? And so they would yell and scare me, you know? And my dad yelled. I mean, like he'd get a phone call and you'd hear him yelling and you'd think he was angry and he was and he was talking to a brother. You know, they're just loud, you know? And I never liked it. And so my uncle Ray was scary. He was about 5'10", 190, 200 pounds, broad shoulder, very handsome man, my uncle Ray, very handsome man. My brother, my father's younger brother. And he had a mustache, a little straight pencil mustache. Bright green, green, green, blue eyes. Very handsome man. And my aunt called me and said, David, can you come and see your uncle? He's dying. And so I went to see him in Riverside in hospital in Riverside. And I walked in the room and as I walked into the waiting room, the room was filled with all of these people. There were, I don't know, 20, 30 people at least. It was full. And when I walked in, I looked at all these people and every one of them was a cousin. Every one of them. I didn't know a single one of them. In my family, I was the only one with light skin, light hair. Every other one looks like chocolate bars. They all do. So when I walked in, they didn't know who I was. And I remember that. I later did his memorial to over 200 cousins that I've never met. I had to introduce myself to them, tell them who I'm related to, and then shared with them the gospel. But when I walked into his room, my uncle who had been around a 200 pound man was down to about 90 pounds. And he had taken radiation and all the different things. So he was bald. He had no mustache, eyebrows. He was a skeleton. And I walked in and I saw him. And as a man, I'm looking at this man who used to scare me when I was little. And remembering that he was the most affectionate uncle I had because when I got older, he hugged me and loved on me and all. And I realized that his voice had scared me, but his heart was soft. So as I was there looking at this skeleton, my auntie says to me, my aunt says, your uncle has been in a coma. He hasn't stirred and he hasn't spoken, David. But talk to him. She said, talk to him and do it like a Rosalis, meaning talk loud. And I started laughing because that reminded me of how scared I was of this man's voice. And I said, Uncle Ray, I'm here to pray. It's your nephew, David. I'm here to pray for you. He had been in a coma, but his mouth moved. And he said, he spoke, he said, pray. And I held his hand and I prayed for my uncle. I said, a prayer asking God to be good to him. And then I said, you know, that Jesus said that he has gone to prepare a place for you. And if he has gone to prepare a place, he will come again and receive you unto himself for where he is, my uncle, there you shall be also. And the next day he died. And again, I did his memorial. But my uncle died with peace. Why? Because he had made his peace with his God. So a person who doesn't have a relationship with God doesn't have contentment and they don't die in peace. They're afraid because they don't know what's going to happen. Solomon pointed that out. But we who know God absent from the body, present with the Lord, we will close our eyes here only to see him there. And so that's the hope we have, isn't it? The hope of eternal life that was given to us through Jesus Christ. And so the unbeliever doesn't have that hope. I sure hope you do.