 We'll begin here in a chapter 1, reading verses 1 through 3. I'll give to you an introduction, some background to develop this, and we'll move into our study. So Ecclesiastes chapter 1, beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 3, the words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem, vanity of vanity, says the preacher. All is vanity. What prophet has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? So we'll begin this series here in the book of Ecclesiastes, and I wanted to teach this particular book because of the timelessness of its message. Also, because it encourages us to discover our highest purpose. We're going to see as we go through Ecclesiastes that everything that disregards God is without purpose, ultimately, it's meaningless. Now that would include all human efforts. All that which is, he would say, is under the sun. The term under the sun, if you take notes, you might want to note this. That phrase under the sun is used 29 times in the book of Ecclesiastes. Another way to describe life without God, Solomon will point out to us, is by using the word vanity. The word vanity is used 37 times to describe a variety of things. Vanity speaks of human labor, wisdom, prestige and pleasure, youthful strength, knowledge. Everything that is done under heaven without God is completely useless, is what he's going to point out, or simply vanity. Now I'll conclude the book in its introduction, because at the end of the book Solomon concludes what is the purpose, what is the purpose of our lives. See, life's purpose, he's going to point out, is found only in a relationship with God. He'll say then in chapter 12, verses 13 and 14, where he writes, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep his commandments. For this, he says, is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it's good or whether it's evil. So he concludes by telling us the purpose of the entire book. Everything done under the sun is meaningless without God. Now, couple basic things, notice there's no introduction with a name. It doesn't say, this is written by Solomon. But the book is attributed to King Solomon. Eight times when you go through this book, he'll infer that he is the one who is the author. Notice verse 1, he calls himself the son of David, king of Jerusalem. In verse 16, he speaks of himself as the wisest man of chapter 1. That reminds us of 1 Kings chapter 4, verses 29 and 30, where it says, that God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight and a breath of understanding, as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. And so he's referred to as the wisest man. In chapter 2, he speaks of himself as a builder of great works. He speaks of himself as having numerous servants, possessing great herds, having great wealth. In verse 9 of chapter 2, he speaks of himself as greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem. And so for these reasons, Solomon's considered the author of ecclesiastes. Now, Solomon was son to the King David and Bathsheba. He was the wisest man of his time. For dates, he was born in 990 BC. He was crowned the king in 970 BC, and he died around 930 BC. Now, in 1 Kings, 1 Kings records that God appeared to Solomon. And I want you to think about this for a moment. And he asks, what shall I give you? So often we ask for the wrong things. And rather Solomon's going to point this out as we go through the book. We ask for the wrong things, and when we actually receive those things or achieve those things, we know that they're not satisfying. I want this job. I want this car. I want to go to this school. I want to look like this. I want to have this relationship. I want to have this fame. I want to have these children. Sure you do. So, what would you ask for if you were given an unlimited line of credit? What would you ask for? Many years ago, I've shared this before, someone will remember this, but it's a true illustration, and it comes to mind that whenever I see things like that or we look at a subject like this. I used to give my children devotions when they were small. I gave them devotions all their life until they were in their teen years, and they had places that were going and things that were doing. But they grew up with devotions, and we were going through a devotion. And I asked my children, if you had the ability to ask God for anything, anything at all that you would like, what would you ask for? I started from the oldest to the youngest, and my daughter, Corinne, who was probably eight and nine years old at the time, I would ask, and she gave a spiritual answer in David Aaron, gave a spiritual answer, and so did Joseph. Then I went to my Anna, who was the baby. And I said, baby girl, what would you ask for if you could have anything you wanted? What would you want? She looked at me, she said, gum. And that's kind of, that's kind of how we are. You know, what would you want? Ask as high as the, the highest of the high. Ask for whatever you want. And then we asked for things that really don't last. We asked for the things that don't matter. Well, his answer in 1 Kings chapter three, verse nine was this, give your servant an understanding heart. To judge your people that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours? And so God responded in chapter three of 1 Kings by saying in verses 10 through 13, well it says first that the Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies, but for discernment and administering justice. I'll do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart so that there will never, there will never be anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you've not asked for, both wealth and honor, so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. You didn't ask for things that you could have very well asked for. And they were small things, but you asked for a great thing. You asked for wisdom to care for my people. And for that I'll give you what you didn't ask for as well as other things. Later on in 1 Kings in chapter four, verse 34, it says that the men of all nations from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Well, the time of the writing is estimated to be around 935 BC. It's actually the third of three books that are attributed in Scripture to Solomon. We all know that he wrote the song of Solomon, the word, the book of Proverbs, as well as the book of Ecclesiastes. And there are those commentators who like to point out that he would have written Song of Solomon as a younger man. Because when you read Song of Solomon, you see that it's a love song. It's a song of songs. He wrote Proverbs as he had grown and had aged and had maturity and experience. And then he would have written Ecclesiastes as he's near in the end of his lifetime. And that's how it's normally broken up. He wrote Song of Solomon as a young man, Proverbs, middle age, and Ecclesiastes as an older man. And so he begins in verse one by saying the words of the preacher, the Son of David, the king of Jerusalem. So he identifies himself. Notice this. And again, I'm giving you some basic things so you can use those as we said in the book. You notice he identifies himself as the preacher, the Son of David. He's the king in Jerusalem. He's the preacher, the Son of David. The word preacher is a word that's referring to a public speaker, a speaker in an assembly. That's a title. And it's a title that you'll see repeated once again as part of your introduction various times. It's found here. It's found in verse 12 and chapter 7, verse 27, as well as chapter 12, verses 8 through 10. He's the preacher. And so this preacher says vanity of vanities, all is vanity. So he begins this book as a preacher with a very strong statement. Everything that he's encountered in life is categorized as futility. The word vanity simply means futility. He's saying a life not dedicated to God is aimless, it's empty, and it's unsatisfying. And that's why he begins in verse three by asking a question, what prophet has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? He begins with a question that people relate to. In other words, why do this? What's the use of all of this? Why am I working in the first place? There are a lot of people who don't, but those who work, they can't ask, why am I working in the first place? You see, I can find or try to find meaning in my job, but that will always be unsatisfying. I can work so hard that I become very rich and well known, but at what price? Now, of course, our work can bring a certain level of satisfaction, but at the end of the day, it leaves us empty. It provides, and thank God, it provides for my physical needs, but my job, if I'm driving a car, driving a truck or working in a field or in a factory or whatever, my job won't meet my spiritual needs. Later on in chapter six verse seven, he says it like this, all the labor of a man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied. Physical labor, in other words, alone can't produce spiritual abundance, and it certainly doesn't bring us to completeness. Again, life without God is a life lived without meaning. It's simply grasping for straws. In chapter two verse 11, he's going to say, I looked on all the works that my hands had done, and on the labor in which I had toiled. Indeed, all was vanity grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. Jesus said it like this in Mark 8, 36 and 37. He said, what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? What will a man give in exchange for his soul? So a life lived without God and hope for eternity has no purpose, and that's why the Bible teaches us that we should labor for the things that last beyond our lifetime. In John 6, 27, Jesus said, don't labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him. You see, ultimately, all the work, all that we do, all the saving, everything, ultimately, we leave it all behind, everything. We don't take it with us. You can't take it. That's an old saying, but it's out of Scripture. You can't take it with you. Now I've heard of people who have tried to. I remember hearing of a man who was buried in his Ferrari. It was pointed straight down, but again in chapter 2, and I'm kind of leading into chapter 2 without reading and teaching it yet, but in chapter 2, verse 18, he said this. He said, I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. In chapter 2, verse 21, there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, yet he must leave his heritage to a man who is not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. All the work that you did to build up that business, and you die and somebody else gets it. Somebody else uses it. Somebody else owns it. I was speaking to a pastor years ago and he said this to me, and it's interesting because he was speaking in a spiritual sense and I hope it makes sense in that way to you, but he said, you know all the years of ministry and labor, all the tears, all the duress, all that went into my ministry. He said it like that. He said, I'm going to leave in the hands of somebody who will one day pastor this church. He goes, I'm going to leave it in the hands of a man who never cried one day over this church. And it's true. That's absolutely true. When the day I step out of this ministry, I will leave it behind in the hands of a man, preferably will take it further on, but he will not have cried one day for this church. He will not have. He'll leave everything behind. Never forget that. And Solomon is pointing that out. He points that out. He says, I have to leave everything to the one who comes behind me. So the only thing that lasts eternally is what we've done for the Lord. Matthew 6, 19 through 21, Jesus said, do not lay up yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So he's going to point out the answers found in a relationship with God. And we know that it's a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And that's why we prioritize our lives on a relationship. Now he says in verse 4, one generation passes away, another generation comes, but the earth abides forever. So he compares the permanence of the earth with the impermanence of man. From outward appearances alone, nature endures longer than human flesh. Nature seems to be simply an endless cycle of activity and nature seems to go on forever. In contrast, man is passing through from generation to generation. His lifetime is short compared to the creation that surrounds him. That's the point he's making. In verse 5 he says, the sun also rises, the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it arose. And so the sun he's pointing out is simply an endless repetition. It rises and it sets repeatedly over the years. The wind verse 6 goes toward the south, turns around to the north. The wind also has cycles, continually moving, never resting. Then he points out again, another natural point, verse 7, all the rivers run into the sea if the sea's not full. To the place from which the rivers come, there they return again. So though the river's run into the sea, the sea is never completely full, even if Al Gore says that it is. Seawater evaporates, it forms clouds, brings rain. It's an endless hydraulic cycle. Compared to nature's cycles he's saying man is here today, he's gone tomorrow. His life span is short in comparison to the mountains and the seas, to the rivers and the deserts. Job said it like this, he said in Job 14, 1 and 2, a man who was born of woman is a few days full of troubles. He comes forth like a flower does not continue. So compared to the centuries that some things exist, he's pointing out man's lifetime is brief. In Psalm 90, verse 10, Moses said it like this, he said the days of our lives are 70 years. And if by reason of strength they're 80 years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow. For it is soon cut off and we fly away. So that's supposed to cause us to pause, to consider making the best use of our time. Here's something that you learn as you grow older, those of you who are gray-haired, silver saints, even if you try to wash away that gray. It should cause us to pause and make the best use of our time. Why is that? Because every moment that we have is a moment that will never again be repeated. My grandson David turned nine. I didn't tell him this because I didn't want to bum him. I and he's very sensitive, so I wouldn't. But I thought and I've done this with so many of my children, grandchildren. They went to bed at the age of eight. But they woke up at the age of nine. And that age of eight will never be repeated. You never return to that age. It passes by. I didn't want to tell him that because he'd cry. So I didn't tell him. I just thought it. And I cried. Some parents are listen up. Some parents are saying, I can hardly wait till they go. I can hardly wait until my children are out of the house. Then we'll be free again. Free at last. Thank God almighty. Free at last. But you know what, as you grow older you look at your children as they grow older and you begin to wish sometimes that they were young again. Just for one day. Just for one moment. I wouldn't want to go through that again. But that moment is true. Those of you without children or maybe even have small children you won't relate to this that well. Those of us who have been around for a while and we've had our children you ask yourself where did the time go? How did it move so quickly? We were so little at one time and you can. If you have even a small amount of sentimental heart and I happen to have one everybody knows that. You look at them and you wonder where did the time go? Where did the little girl where did the young boy go? Where did he go? Sometimes you say I wish he'd go but sometimes you'll think where did he go? And you can look at him and you can regret some things. You can say gosh I wish I'd have known I wish I'd have thought life seems to just creep on and then one day you realize it flew by. Many years ago and I'll say this hopefully without showing much emotion. It's one of the things that hit me when my children were very small and I was given a lady in our fellowship at the time, way back when we were in Ontario High School meeting there on Sundays approached me and gave me a hand written letter. It was not really a letter it was a poem it was called a poem of a grown up son and it's from the perspective of a mother who wrote to her boy and I'm going to read this and preferably I won't get overly weird about it but it touched me then and I have to tell you my kids are smaller than they are now but this is the poem and I'm saying this to parents right now those of us who are parents and for those who are not parents one day perhaps you'll appreciate this that some of us may at this moment but this mother writes my hands were busy through the day I didn't have much time to play the little games you asked me to there we go I didn't have much time for you I'd wash your clothes I'd sew and cook but when you'd bring your picture book and ask me please to share your fun I'd say a little later son I would tuck you in and at night hear your prayers turn out the light and tiptoe softly to the door I wish I'd stayed a minute more life is short the years rush past the little boy grows up so fast no longer is he at your side his precious secrets to confide no picture books are put away they're no longer games to play no good night kiss no prayers to hear yesterday my hands once busy now are still the days are long and hard to fill I wish I could go back and do the little things you asked me to we have to be aware that time moves we have to take every moment that God gives to us and enjoy those moments because once they're past they never return in James 414 it says you do not know what will happen tomorrow what is your life it is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away he says in verse 8 all things are full of labor man cannot express it the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing it's not just that man is working all the time nature itself is constantly at labor it is continually restless going through constant change he's saying that nature is in constant activity it is never resting and man for all his activities also constantly in motion and never resting and he will never really have rest outside of resting in the Lord notice how he says in verse 8 we are not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing in an entire lifetime we never completely exhaust our ability to see as long as we have vision and to hear as long as we have the ability to do so our eyes and our ears never register full there's always something else to see in every way sight can be used there's always something else to hear and we never stop seeing and we never stop listening no matter what it is that we see no matter what it is that we hear we always desire to see and to hear more and beauty doesn't necessarily fulfill us because we always want to see something different and again in verse 8 at no point do we ever stop desiring and no longer we stop longing for the novel at no point do we desire to see being able to see and hear so he says in verse 9 that which has been is what will be that which is done is what will be done there's nothing new under the sun is there anything of which it may be said see this is new it has already been in ancient times before us man's desires complaints his pursuits are always basically the same and as far as something completely new ultimately we don't create we simply innovate people constantly look for something new and different but there's no such thing that's why again as a parent that's why you can take your child we'll say to the edge of the Grand Canyon stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon and they get bored okay you saw it let's go you're standing there holding hands man look how amazing you got this kid saying I see more than this you know on my iPod who needs this they get bored and that kind of shows what happens styles and music are constantly recycled comes around goes around so there's nothing really that's completely new is the point that he's making he says in verse 11 there's no remembrance of former things nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after people don't remember their history they don't remember what is taking place they're not aware because history is forgotten it's forgotten in that never ending quest for something new and improved he's saying you know you're here today but you'll be gone tomorrow and nobody's going to remember you nobody will remember your accomplishments and that's a very true that's true of all human beings and that's true of some of the greatest people will say things like Chuck Smith didn't he use a pastor at church somewhere I think I've heard of him as accomplished as he was in the Lord as many great things as God used him to do people forget you can go into the Calvary Chapel today and you won't see any remembrance of him church you pastor for all those years because they come and they go that's what happens Billy Graham at one time was the greatest world evangelist known but you forget about him that's what happens that's the whole point he's making is that it's always a quest it's always different or new and so we're constantly searching for that we forget well in verse 12 he says I the preacher was king over Israel and Jerusalem I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man by which they may be exercised he speaks of that and he says I set my heart the word heart is not speaking of his emotion it speaks of his intellect I applied my mind is what he's saying I determined to search out by wisdom everything that has been done under heaven I searched out the meaning and the purpose of life here on planet earth I wanted to understand why men do what they do socially and politically and even privately I wanted to know these things in verse 13 that this burdensome task has been given to the sons of man now it calls a burdensome task you see in the garden these things were already known but after the fall these things became a task it's something that we actually are trained by we seek out purpose we seek out meaning and then we find that life is difficult it's filled with pressure which helps us to seek the things of the Lord and to grow in him he goes in verse 14 I've seen all the works that are done under the sun and indeed all this vanity grasping for the wind I've looked how how human beings act and what drives them and I see that they're unsatisfied I see that life on earth is painful and I see that it can be so terribly painful when we break a person he's saying human effort and human achievement ultimately has no meaning in verse 14 again I've seen all the works that are done under the sun indeed all this vanity so frustration arises when one attempts to correct the problems of man without God when we encounter problems and we try to solve them without moral directions without considering God's help or looking for him in his word to fix our lives without him when it comes to a place of frustration what do we do when we try to solve the problems that we might have or that we see other people have I wrote a few things down what do we do to solve problems while we we prescribe puberty blockers for children wanting a gender change without notifying parents we legalize drugs we provide clean syringes to junkies we call various sexual partners lovers and we classify homosexuality as a normal way of life we say that AIDS is caused by a virus not drugs or promiscuous sex we refer to abortion as a woman's right to choose we call alcohol or drug dependency a disease we say men can compete with women in sports they can share locker rooms and bathrooms we have drag queen story hours for preschoolers and we provide porn in our schools for our children that's the answers people will provide for problems when they don't have God you're seeing that right now that's what we do so he's saying human wisdom excludes the spiritual and because it excludes the spiritual human wisdom is bankrupt he says in verse 15 what is crooked cannot be made straight and what is lacking cannot be numbered what is crooked can't be said in order what is lacking is something that cannot be provided he's saying by our own efforts somebody said human wisdom cannot make straight that which is crooked human deficiencies cannot be cured through man's vain attempt at solving problems that in their root is spiritual he says in verse 16 I communed with my heart saying look I have attained greatness I've gained more wisdom than all who are before me in Jerusalem my heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge I have great knowledge but I didn't apply wisdom to the knowledge that I have and because of my great knowledge I've become proud of all that I've known in 1 Corinthians 8 when it says it very simply so this is what I've discovered with all this wisdom and understanding if I'm excluding the things that are built on God and faith in him it's just vanity he says in verse 17 I set my heart to know wisdom to know madness and folly I perceived that this is also grasping for the wind I sought to become wise I wanted to understand what is madness and what is foolishness I desired to know why some people are wise and others are crazy fools I studied them I watched them I spoke to them the word study you do study people you may or may not realize that I think you do but perhaps you don't I've said this before but I'll say it very quickly you study when Peter was saying to husbands that we're to dwell with our wives with understanding when we are to observe them he is simply saying that the way that we'll understand our wife is by learning her men can observe and by behavior can begin to kind of understand and as chauvinistic and as politically incorrect as this is I'll say it anyway doesn't matter right I'm an old man you can just say that your wife can say something as blue for 40 years and then one day it turns yellow I thought I knew you you did then this is me now you have to watch them constantly husbands do that by the way ladies you may not hear the multitude of your words but we do watch your behavior and that's how we figure you out that's how we come to understand you I could go into this a lot I won't but that's just the truth I know my girl not simply by what she says I know my girl by what she does and when we were first married I said something like all day long that you love me but to me that's just a word it's just a word I'm gonna know that you love me by how you treat me that's how I'm gonna know you love me and the way that I know you love me and the way you treat me is gonna be demonstrated in love by the respect you have for me because that's how men understand love that's why Paul in Ephesians 5 would say that the wife is a reverence or to respect her husband why is that? because that's how he understand that she loves him and when she doesn't respect him when she puts him down in front of people when she makes him feel stupid that's her way of saying I don't love you that's how men hear and all day long we can argue about the words and what we meant but men don't worry about the words ladies you know that those of you who are married probably know that if you don't I hope you learn it because that's how we that's how we understand things that's how the average man understands it's not what you say it's what you do and when you say you love that's how you act that's how it works right and so we can do all that we want we can apply our knowledge to try and understand different things what human wisdom is I wanted to understand what craziness is I want to know what makes people tick it's like he took a sociology class I want to see this psychology class I want to learn these things that's the point he's really making and then he goes on to say verse 18 in much wisdom is much grief and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow isn't that interesting that's absolutely true actually has the result of sorrow and grief why is that I'll say it quickly because we're going to have communion in a moment it's because the more you gain the more you understand the more you learn the things of life and all the greater sorrow you can have when people don't care about those things that is one of the motivators of every pastor by the way as they grow in the things of the Lord and as they grow in the things of the Lord they want more people to see these things and that's what they try to do they try to teach these things to people and then what happens the people many people don't care all of the prayer all of the study all of the seeking of the Lord in every variety of ways it is done preparation and it's raining and people say it's raining I'll just stay home and he's thinking why didn't I just stay home I could stay home just like you why did I come and you didn't well maybe because you're supposed to be there you're the pastor that kid who got up his mother says it's time to get up got to get to church and he says I'm not going today she says you have to and he says I don't have to give me a reason why I have to go she says honey it's Sunday we go to church and secondly you're the pastor you have to go I made it my aim Solomon says to understand these things and at the end of the time I just discovered that with more knowledge comes greater grief the knowledge that ultimately satisfies and will bring peace is the knowledge of God in Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24 thus saith the Lord let not the wise man glory in his wisdom let not the mighty man glory in his might nor let the rich man glory in his riches but let him who glories glory in this that he understands and knows me that I am the Lord exercising loving kindness judgment and righteousness in the earth for in these I delight saith the Lord where is true wisdom wisdom is found in the knowledge of God he's beginning to lay that foundation the foundation that leads to the conclusion when he says this is summation of all things obey the Lord know him pursue him because in him is true life and so we're going to be looking through the book of Ecclesiastes and we're going to watch a man in pursuit of that which he is revealing to us what it means to have a relationship with God