Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

All right, very good. Please take your copy of God Word out and turn to the book of Ecclesiastes.

Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes chapter 2.

Ecclesiastes 2 · chapter mention

We've had some technical challenges as of late around here, so I imagine there'll be some fluctuation in the sound of my voice.

A couple of weeks ago, the projector literally shook itself to death.

And in the midst of all that time, also a piece of our soundboard, which I don't understand, went out, and it has been shipped away.

And we are using a tiny little mini board back there right now, and I think the guys are all, there's a cluster trying to sort out what's happening with our sound this morning.

At some point, we may just can it, and I'll yell a lot this morning.

We're going to continue our study of Ecclesiastes today in chapter 2.

But before we get there, before I read the text for this morning, I just want to remind you that this book is, in a sense, a sermon.

In fact, the title Ecclesiastes is our Anglicanized version of the Latin Vulgate of the translation of the preacher.

Quoholeth from Hebrew is where we get this idea, this Ecclesiastes.

It's a sermon preached by the preacher.

Most presume that the preacher is Solomon, but we don't know that for a fact,

and so I'm going to maintain calling him the preacher throughout our study of this text.

And he begins his sermon in chapter 1, verses 2 and 3 by saying,

Vanity of vanities.

Vanity of vanities.

All is vanity.

What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun, that is, on the earth?

And then the preacher gives us a personal biography of his search for gain under the sun.

We see the beginning of this in verse 13 of chapter 1 and into 14.

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.

It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

I have seen everything that is done under the sun.

And behold, all this vanity or meaningless and a striving after wind.

He begins the story of his search with a number of self-indulgent pleasures.

These are his experiments in gain.

He looks at the things that men seem to find satisfaction in in the world.

And he picks up those things and he chases them out to their very end, only to find that they're all vain.

They're all a chasing after the wind, that none of them are ultimate gain.

And beloved, as we look at these things together, we need to recognize that there is no new thing.

New forms of the same old things.

And we need to let God's word speak to us about the things that we chase in this world to find pleasure and gain.

So I'm going to read to you the first 11 verses of chapter 2.

And this will be our text for some coming weeks.

I don't know how many it will be, but we're going to kind of take it a piece at a time.

So let me read to you chapter 2, beginning in verse 1.

I said in my heart,

Come now, I will test you with pleasure.

Enjoy yourself.

But behold, this was also vanity.

I said of laughter, it is mad.

And of pleasure, what use is it?

I searched my heart how to cheer my body with wine,

my heart still guiding me with wisdom,

and how to lay hold on folly

till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven

during the few days of their life.

I made great works.

I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

I made myself gardens and parks

and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.

I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

I bought male and female slaves

and had slaves who were born in my house.

I had also great possessions of herds and flocks,

more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

I also gathered for myself silver and gold

and the treasure of kings and provinces.

I got singers, both men and women,

and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.

So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem.

Also my wisdom remained with me,

and whatever my eye desired, I did not keep from them.

I kept my heart from no pleasure,

for my heart found pleasure in all my toil,

and this was my reward for all my toil.

Then I considered all that my hands had done

and the toil I had expended in doing it,

and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind,

and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

This is God's word to us.

It was written for His glory and our good,

and we would all do well to listen to it

in order to believe its promises

and obey its commands.

Now this morning my remarks on this text

are going to be brief.

For the sake of time, I've promised

you'll be able to get to the Life Chain event at 1215,

but also because I believe it's important

for us to take some considerable time

to consider this phrase in verse 2,

I said of laughter, it is mad.

We as American people have much time for leisure,

much time for frivolity.

We don't live in a place where we're concerned

that we may be bombed on our way home.

We don't live in a place where the ravages of disease run rampant.

We typically live in a place that's fairly comfortable.

And so for us to stop and consider

what place does laughter have in our lives,

I think it's important for us this morning.

This is the preacher's first experiment

and self-indulgent pleasure.

Laughter.

This word for laughter in Hebrew

has a very broad and varied meaning to it.

It means to play,

to act clumsy,

to joke,

mock,

deride,

to make a laughing stock

of an individual.

It could be thought of as

the pleasure of comedy.

If there's a noun given to this pursuit

that he goes into,

the pleasure of comedy,

or we could think of it as just general silliness.

So it's an experiment with this type of thing

that he picks up

and he takes a look at

and he runs it out

and considers,

is this a thing to be gained

under the sun?

Comedy is often

an entertainment

that many people use

to make it through life.

It could take the form of

jokes that mask insecurities,

the abuse of others

for the sake of one's own esteem,

countless wasted hours

to numb boredom,

and the making light of grievous sin

in order to justify it.

After all,

something laughed at

can't be something serious,

can it?

It is this type of laughter

that the preacher calls mad.

Mad in Hebrew

does not refer

to being out of one's mind.

The late Old Testament theologian

Derek Kidner says

that it indicates

moral perversity

rather than mental oddity.

He's saying that this is a thing

not fitting to one

who follows God.

God.

This makes no sense

for the godly.

So,

it is improper

or misplaced

laughter.

Now, as children,

we all had,

and probably

even still have,

some form of acquaintance

that are always

misplacing

inappropriate jokes.

Being silly

at the wrong times.

they just don't seem

to know

when to stop.

In fact,

I would define maturity

just for the average individual.

Not Christian maturity,

but just maturity.

Not somebody who

no longer has fun,

but they know

when it's right and proper

to have fun

and when it's not

okay to have fun.

Some of you may be thinking

of those people

now in your own mind.

You may be

that person.

But as the people of God,

are we meant

to laugh?

We've already laughed

some together

this morning.

Here,

in Ecclesiastes,

he seems to be very

point blank about it though.

Laughter is

madness.

So, we need to

understand rightly.

It's of course okay

for us to laugh,

but we need to do

a bit of work

to suss out

what he means

by this.

What is the place?

What is the proper use

and proper place

of laughter

in our lives?

After all,

the preacher goes on

to say in Ecclesiastes 3,

4,

that there is a time

to laugh.

In Proverbs 31,

25,

it is said

of the excellent wife

that she laughs

at the time

to come.

You have likely

heard the folk wisdom

that laughter

is the best medicine

or maybe heard a story

of someone

who laughed

themselves back

to hell.

I am incredibly

thankful

for my family

for the laughter

they bring

to my life.

I tend to be

a bit of a dark cloud

and they are

rays of sunshine

in my day.

Apart from my wife

and my two children,

my home is a really

dreary place.

I don't need to be

left there by myself

for very long

because they are

constantly filling

our home

with laughter.

This is one of the

great blessings

of children.

Judah now is a little

over three and a half

months

and maybe six,

six to eight months

ago,

we learned that he

knows how to cross

his eyes and nobody

taught him how to do

that.

He calls them crazy

eyes.

Judah, will you do

crazy eyes for everybody?

Will you stand up

and do it?

Stand up and do it.

Will you?

Okay.

Going to be shy

this morning?

We discovered this

at dinner one night

where he said,

look, crazy eyes.

He crosses his eyes

and he opens his mouth

really wide.

It's really,

really cute.

And we laughed

and laughed

and laughed

and laughed

as he did it

over and over

until we became

concerned that they

would stick that way

and we made him

stop.

It was so precious.

I still can think

about it.

It just brings me joy.

Try to get him to do

it for you individually

later on.

But healthy laughter

is a timely laughter

put in its proper place.

Ecclesiastes 3, 4

I'll reference again.

Healthy laughter

has its source

in the goodness of God.

Proverbs 31, 25

Healthy laughter

does not have

as its source

coarse joking.

There's so much comedy

in our day

that is entirely inappropriate.

Have you ever watched a show

and found yourself

laughing at something?

You're going,

I shouldn't be laughing at that.

Stop watching such things.

Stop laughing at such things.

Ephesians 5, 4 says

let there be no filthiness

nor foolish talk

nor crude joking.

We ought not joke

in that way

and we ought not laugh

at those who drew.

But the trouble

with laughter

the madness of it

is when we try

to find our gain in it.

When we look to frivolity

for ultimate satisfaction

we will come up lacking.

We will say with the preacher

laughter is meaningless.

The preacher talks more

in the book of Ecclesiastes

about laughter.

Turn with me

a few pages over

to Ecclesiastes chapter 7.

Ecclesiastes 7 · chapter mention

Beginning in verse 2.

It is better

to go to the house

of mourning

than to go to the house

of feasting.

For this is the end

of all mankind

and the living

will lay it

to heart.

Sorrow

is better

than laughter.

For by sadness

of face

the heart

is made glad.

The heart

of the wise

is in the house

of mourning

but the heart

of fools

is in the house

of mirth.

It is better

for a man

to hear

the rebuke

of the wise

than to hear

the song

of fools.

For as the

crackling

of thorns

under a pot

so is the laughter

of the fools.

This

is also

vanity.

It's sobering words

that he's saying

to us here.

It's better

to mourn

than to laugh.

It's better

to be around

people who

are mourning.

The house

of mourning

as was the

constant

and likely

habit of visiting

one who had

somebody die

in a household

they would gather

there at the house

to pay their respects.

This is the house

of mourning

a home in which

someone has died.

It's better

to be there

than to go

to the place

where feasting

is taking place.

It's better

to have sorrow

than laughter.

He says

by sadness

of face

the heart

is made

glad.

Why?

What is he

talking about

here?

What he's saying

is that for us

to be around

the reality

of this life

this once

Eden

the place

in which we live

that has been

corrupted by sin

and the major

corruption

the final

corruptive work

is death.

To be around

that and to be

reminded

that this is

a place

of lesser

joy.

That the house

of mourning

teaches us

to be wise

in the way

we live

and in the way

we prepare

to die.

If you go to

the house

of feasting

you go to

a birthday

party

people never

talk about

the serious

things.

You never

at a birthday

party

celebrate

somebody's

birth

and also

mourn

their coming

death.

It's a reality

that still exists

but we don't

talk about

these things.

It's light

and it's

jovial.

Rather than

being in a

place where

people say

this is

the reality

of life

someday

like a

vapor

passes

I will

pass

and do I

live my

life wisely

now for

the kingdom

of God

preparing

myself

for the

coming

day

when I

will die.

Recall the

preacher's

conclusion

in Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 12:13

12

verse 13

fear God

understand

who he

is

and his

created

order

understand

your place

in that

created

order

see yourself

rightly

as his

creation

made

to worship

him

and the

proper

response

of that

is then

the keeping

of his

commandments

to recognize

this

the house

of mourning

is a benefit

to us

in that

sorrow

the sorrow

of the heart

that looks

at this

world

and says

it is

broken

serves us

in this

way

so what

do we do

with the

joy of

the scripture

because it's

everywhere

in the

scripture

one fantastic

example

psalm

34

8

says

oh

taste

and see

that the

lord

is

good

blessed

which is

to say

happy

truly

and

lastingly

happy

is the

man

who

takes

refuge

in

him

there's

much

language

in the

scripture

about this

I came

across a

fun article

this week

that asked

the question

what was

Jonathan

Edwards

favorite

word

and this

man

had done

quite a

bit of

studying

to realize

that it

was

the word

joy

or some

variation

of it

to rightly

see

that the

response

of the

Christian

to the

gospel

of Jesus

Christ

is joy

so we've

got to

make some

reconciliation

of all

of this

let me

read to

you the

quote

that's

on the

front of

your

bulletin

this

morning

by

Edwards

he says

God

is the

highest

good

of the

reasonable

creature

the

enjoyment

of him

is our

proper

and is

the only

happiness

with which

our souls

can be

satisfied

to go

to heaven

fully

to enjoy

God

is infinitely

better

than the

most pleasant

accommodations

here

better than

fathers

and mothers

husbands

wives

or children

or the

company

of any

or all

earthly

friends

these

are but

shadows

but the

enjoyment

of God

is the

substance

these

are but

scattered

beams

but God

is the

sun

these

are but

streams

but God

is the

fountain

these

are but

drops

but God

is the

ocean

so recognize

we look at

psalm 34

8 and

then hear

what

Edwards

has to

say about

the high

good of

enjoyment

in God

is that

for us

as we

walk in

this

world

and we're

sorrowful

in it

we see

the broken

nature

of it

we see

this

once

eaten

place

in which

we live

that we

can be

blessed

we can

be happy

truly

and

lastingly

happy

because

we take

refuge

in

God

because

we take

refuge

in the

promises

of God

to us

in Christ

that

happy

person

the

one

who

laughs

out

of

joy

because

of

their

happiness

does

so

because

of

the

goodness

of

God

in

Christ

we

rest

from

our

sorrow

in

him

most

of

you

are

probably

familiar

with

Jesus

title

the

man

of

sorrows

and this

comes from

Isaiah

53

3

which

reads

he

was

despised

and

rejected

by

men

a

man

of

sorrows

and

acquainted

with

grief

and

as

one

from

whom

men

hide

their

faces

he

was

despised

and

we

esteemed

him

not

and

then

verse

4

says

surely

he

has

borne

our

griefs

and

carried

our

sorrows

yet

we

esteemed

him

stricken

smitten

by

God

and

afflicted

John

Calvin

wrote

verse

4

Christ

has

put

on

our

feelings

along

with

our

flesh

and

as

people

made

aware

of

the

state

of

this

once

eaten

in

which

we

live

we

are

apt

to

be

sorrowful

rightly

but

we

can

err

toward

hopelessness

as

we

are

people

of

the

cross

and

we

consider

the

cross

the

darkest

moment

in

all

of

history

we

can

be

apt

to

that

we

can

err

in

that

way

to

be

hopeless

to

see

the

brokenness

of

the

world

and

to

see

the

great

high

climax

of

the

brokenness

of

the

world

the

death

of

the

Savior

Jesus

Christ

we

can

be

hopeless

if

we

fail

to

look

beyond

the

cross

if

we

fail

to

remember

on

the

third

day

Jesus

rose

from

the

grave

an

old

Latin

phrase

says

post

tenebrous

lux

which

means

after

darkness

light

if

we

fail

to

remember

the

light

of the

resurrection

the

death

of

the

cross

leaves

us

with

no

hope

at

all

John

says

of

Jesus

Christ

in

John

1

5

the

light

shines

in

the

darkness

and

the

darkness

has

not

overcome

it

so

as

followers

of

Jesus

Christ

we

need

to

recognize

that

this

broken

world

in

which

we

walk

will

rightly

bring

us

sorrow

we

know

what

this

world

was

meant

to

be

we

have

had

this

restored

ability

to

love

and

to

worship

God

and

be

brought

into

relationship

with

him

and

everything

around

us

is

spiraling

down

to

rightly

bring

us

sorrow

but

we

have

great

reason

for

great

joy

beyond

it

in

the

goodness

of

God

to

us

in

Christ

so

we

must

walk

wisely

we

must

consider

how

we

are

to

spend

our

time

are

we

a

people

entertained

by the

frivolity

of the

world

or are

we

a

people

who

fear

God

and keep

his

commandments

are we

a

people

who

live

for

today

in the

momentary

fleeting

joy

of

today

or are

we

a

people

who

live

for

eternity

and in the

coming weeks

I'm going to read

to you

probably a

fair amount

from a book

called

the pilgrim's

progress

progress

I hope

as I say

that title

you're very

familiar

with this

I want

you

as a

person

of Christ

to read

the word

of Christ

more than

anything

else

absolutely

wear the

pages of

your scripture

thin

if you're

going to

read another

book

this is the

one

I think

you should

read

I know

many of

you are

not

readers

read

these

two

well

reading

Bunyan

and reading

this story

which is an

allegory

of the

journey

of a

character

called

Christian

to the

celestial

city

is much

like

reading

the

scripture

as it

is just

full

and full

of

quotes

from it

as we

look at

chapter 2

I'm going

to drive

you to

I'm going

to pull

you into

a bit

of the

story

where

Christian

and his

travel mate

at the

time

faithful

into a

place

called

Vanity

Fair

where

all of

the

things

the

world

has

to

offer

is

there

being

sold

but before

we get

that I want

to read

you a

story

when

Christian

goes to

the

house

of

interpreter

it's

very

early

in

his

Christian

journey

and

there

he's

taught

many

of

the

basic

things

of

Christian

faith

and

there's

this

wonderful

little

interchange

as they're

in this

house

of the

interpreter

looking

at

scenes

and

the

interpreter

is

interpreting

for him

what

these

things

mean

and so

I read

then I

saw in

my dream

that the

interpreter

took

Christian

by the

hand

and led

him

into a

place

where

was

a

fire

burning

against

a

wall

that is

not the

right

page

I'm

so

sorry

that is

also

a

really

good

part

of the

interpreter

singing

I

bookmarked

it

and I

missed my

bookmark

by a

page

all right

I

saw

moreover

in my

dream

that the

interpreter

took him

by the

hand

and had

him

into a

little

room

where sat

two

children

each

one

in

his

chair

the

name

of

the

eldest

was

passion

and the

name

of

the

other

patience

passion

seemed

to be

much

discontented

but

patience

was

very

quiet

then

Christian

asked

what is

the

reason

of

the

discontent

of

passion

interpreter

says

the

governor

of

them

would

have

him

stay

for

his

best

things

till

the

beginning

of

next

year

but

he

will

have

all

now

but

patience

is

willing

to

wait

then

I

saw

that

one

came

to

passion

and

brought

him

a

bag

of

treasure

and

poured

it

down

at

his

feet

the

which

he

took

up

and

rejoiced

therein

!

and

withal

laughed

patience

to

scorn

but

I

beheld

but

a

while

and

he

had

lavished

all

away

and

had

nothing

left

him

but

rags

and

Christian

says

expound

this

matter

more

fully

to

me

interpreter

responds

these

two

lads

are

figures

passion

of

the

men

of

this

world

and

patience

of

the

men

of

that

which

is

to

come

as

here

thou

seest

passion

will

have

all

now

this

year

that

is

to

say

in

this

world

so

are

the

men

of

this

world

they

must

have

all

their

good

things

now

they

cannot

stay

till

the

next

year

that

is

until

the

next

world

for

their

portion

of

good

that

proverb

a

bird

in

the

hand

is

worth

two

in

the

bush

is

of

more

authority

with

them

than

all

the

divine

testimonies

of

the

good

of

the

world

to

come

but

as

thou

sawst

that

he

had

quickly

lavished

all

away

and

had

presently

left

him

nothing

but

rags

so

will

it

be

with

all

such

men

at

the

end

of

this

world

Christian

says

now I

see

that

patience

has

the

best

wisdom

and

that

upon

many

accounts

first

because

he

stays

for

the

best

things

and

second

also

because

he

will

have

the

glory

of

his

when

the

other

has

nothing

but

rags

interpreter

says

nay

you

may

add

another

to

wit

the

glory

of

the

next

world

will

never

wear

out

but

these

are

suddenly

gone

therefore

passion

had

not

so

much

a

reason

to

laugh

at

patience

because

he

had

his

good

things

first

as

patience

will

have

to

laugh

at

passion

because

he

had

his

best

things

last

for

first

must

give

place

to

last

because

last

must

have

his

time

to

come

but

last

gives

place

to

nothing

for

there

is

not

another

to

succeed

he

therefore

that

half

his

portion

first

need

to

have

to

spend

it

but

he

that

hath

his

portion

last

must

have

it

lastingly

I love

that

sentence

therefore

it is

said

of him

in thy

lifetime

receivest

thy

good

things

and

likewise

Lazarus

evil

things

but

now

he

is

comforted

and

thou

art

tormented

!

Christian

says

then

I

perceive

!

it is

not

best

to

covet

things

that

are

now

but

to

wait

for

things

to

come

interpreter

responds

you

say

truth

for

the

things

that

are

seen

are

temporal

but

the

things

that

are

not

seen

are

eternal

let's

pray

together

let's