Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26

Would you listen if I told you the secret to a life of joy?

It's actually an open secret, but I can take you to a man who has done extensive research

! That has been widely reviewed and weighed.

It's been around for a long time. In fact, the study has been about for quite a long time. It's been published. It's been republished.

And you can actually get it for free on the internet. So it is very much an open secret.

But this man has an answer to the question of where we can find joy.

It seems so that people aren't listening. When we look around, do you think, looking inside at your own heart,

that there's really enough joy in there? When you look around, people you work with,

people you brush up against each day, do you think, do you know, we are absolutely swimming in joy?

People aren't listening. Let me take you to that man. Turn to page 553.

The man is called Solomon. And we saw last week, chapter 1, that part of his research was into an earlier study of generations and the natural world around him.

Our world. And our researcher concluded that it was all vanity.

It was vanity of vanities. Chapter 1, verse 2.

All is vanity.

We said that word is vapor.

Foggy vapor.

Mist.

And his research last time showed us that generations, they come and they go,

and the world keeps turning as it always had,

and yet all he sees is vapor.

But he wasn't content to stop his research at that point.

He has seen, yes, that we can't control the world around us,

but really, is there no gain?

Is there no profit in the world in learning,

or building wealth,

or creating jobs,

or enjoying laughter and culture and things like that?

Is there no profit or joy in these things?

Because these are the things that we're told will actually give us the good life.

These are the things that our culture tells us that if we can get a grip on them,

if we can get enough of them into our lives,

then that's where joy is.

And yet our experience tells us something else.

So Solomon, verse 13 of chapter 1, if you can look down,

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

He wants to be sure that his initial conclusion,

that as the world keeps turning,

as generations come and go,

we have no control over them,

as we grasp after gain there,

his conclusion that that is all vapor,

he wants to be sure.

So he checks out all that is done under heaven.

Is there no gain to be had?

And we see as well that this is an arm's length project.

He went all in, chapter 1, verse 16.

He said in his heart, chapter 2, verse 1,

he said in his heart, chapter 2, verse 20,

he gave up his heart.

If there was gain to be had in these things,

he was going to find them.

He went all in.

If these things could deliver the joy that he's looking for,

he would find out.

And this evening, I want to take us through his research,

and I want to highlight what it revealed.

So that's our first point, his research.

Let's look at that.

Solomon's research.

He starts with the pursuit of wisdom.

Chapter 1, 16 and 17,

I said in my heart,

I have acquired great wisdom,

surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me,

and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge,

and I applied my heart to know wisdom

and to know madness and folly.

I'm going to acknowledge that I'm already wise,

but I need to give myself further to wisdom and to knowledge.

So Solomon gives himself to great works of literature and science.

He scars the corridors of learning for answers.

He wrestles with the great ideas of philosophy,

and he studies the opposite of sanity and wisdom.

There they are, madness and folly.

We need to understand sanity and wisdom.

If we're going to do that, well, we need to understand the opposite,

madness and folly,

in order to understand the human psyche,

the whole human being more deeply.

He is a forerunner of 90s new labor,

education, education, education.

He thinks,

if I can get more wisdom, more knowledge,

let's see what's there.

But look at 1 verse 18,

the more he learned,

the less he knew.

He says it was a striving after the wind.

It was like trying to go and direct the wind

in a particular course or direction.

It was like grasping handfuls of fresh air.

There was nothing there.

And he says it's not simply vexing.

It's not simply frustrating.

It actually made him sad.

Do you see?

In much wisdom is much vexation,

and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

All of this wisdom actually has just made me sad.

All the effort,

it has felt like a complete waste of time

because I'm no further on.

And that's true, isn't it?

Learning, like everything else,

if it is motivated by a desire for you to be clever,

if it is motivated by a desire for you to be wise

for your sake,

so you can demonstrate to other people

how smart you are,

well, it's like this.

You find the more you know,

the more you know how little you actually know.

The search for wisdom is like vapor.

It eludes your grasp.

Solomon then changes tack.

Do you see?

He leaves the library and heads into town.

Chapter 2, verse 1.

I said in my heart,

Come now, I will test you with pleasure.

Enjoy yourself.

The word for pleasure here is joy or happiness,

so we're really getting to the heart of things now.

We're getting to the heart of this research project.

I'm going to go in pursuit of this.

I'm going to test myself

that everything that I've been told

will deliver the joy that I'm looking for.

Now, I don't necessarily think here

that we should see that Solomon

is just letting the bricks off completely.

He mentions several times, like in verse 3,

how his heart still guides him with wisdom

in this pursuit.

I don't think he's describing here

complete unchecked hedonism

in the way some people have interpreted this section,

but he is pressing in.

He's pressing in hard to see what he can gain,

to see how he can profit in his search for joy.

First place to start, laughter.

Verse 2.

Maybe this stand-up scene

or giving myself into comedy box sets

or something like that,

maybe that will bring the sort of pleasure

that I'm looking for.

Verse 3.

He then opens a bottle to gladden his heart,

and then he tries to lay hold on folly

to see if, unlike wisdom,

it can bring the kind of gain

that he's looking for

because he is,

verse 3,

looking for the good for mankind.

Laughter,

a glad heart with wine,

maybe folly,

not taking life so seriously,

maybe just being a bit more carefree.

Next he gives himself,

verse 4,

to achievement.

I made great works.

I built houses.

I planted vineyards for myself.

I made myself gardens and parks

and planted them,

all kinds of fruit trees.

Hard work.

That's going to deliver.

Making stuff happen.

Getting things done.

Being productive.

If I can be productive,

I'll feel like I've achieved something,

and there'll be a sense of joy.

He grows his staff.

He grows his wealth.

He grows his cultural CV

and his women,

verse 8.

Singers will play music for him on demand,

and his concubines will give him

other things on demand as well.

He has at his disposal,

at the very tips of his fingers,

whenever he wants it,

the things that we are told

everyone wants.

Money,

sex,

and power.

These are the things

that promise to deliver

what we desire,

and these are the things

that we give ourselves to.

And then,

he tops even that.

Look at verse 9.

He tops that

with the intoxicating thrill

of the recognition

of his peers.

He was a great one.

He was a great one.

There were plaques

all over Jerusalem

with his name on them.

Anything there

in what he's talking about

that you haven't thought

at some point

that if you had it,

then you'd be happy.

If you had more of it,

then you would find the joy

that you long for.

More pleasure,

more possessions,

more productivity,

more power,

more prestige,

then you'd be happy.

Then you would remain,

then joy would remain

in your grasp.

It wouldn't slip

through your fingers

like it always seems to do.

That's what we want,

isn't it?

That's what we've been

trained to believe.

That's what our culture

is telling us we need.

More pleasure,

more possessions,

more productivity,

more power,

more prestige.

Then you'll have

the good life.

Look at 2 verse 10.

Whatever my eyes desired,

I did not keep from them.

I kept my heart

from no pleasure.

Now, if I was to say that to you,

there would be a limit

to what I could actually

get hold of.

Not the king,

with all his royal privilege.

When he said,

I kept my heart

from no pleasure,

you can't think of a pleasure

that he didn't try.

And look at his conclusion.

Chapter 2 verse 11.

Here's where his research project

got him.

Then I considered

all that my hands had done

and the toil I had expended

in doing it.

And behold,

all was vanity,

a striving after wind.

And there was nothing

to be gained

under the sun.

All the learning

and all the laughter,

all the work,

all the wealth,

all the silver,

all the servants,

and what's he left with?

Vapor.

Handfuls of vapor.

Bagfuls of vapor.

Bin bagfuls of vapor.

It's all a striving

after the wind.

That phrase,

striving after the wind,

means literally

shepherding the wind.

In this research project,

Solomon has given his heart

to a search for joy

and he reports back.

He says,

looking for gain

in these things,

looking for meaning,

in laughter,

work,

possessions,

power,

is the same kind

of madness

as standing on a headland

on a windy day

and trying to direct the wind.

That's his research.

But Solomon doesn't simply

share this discovery with us

from his own bitter experience.

He explains that he's made

another discovery in the process.

His research actually leads

secondly to his realization.

His realization.

Go back up to 113 again.

He says,

He realizes

that the misty nature of things,

the vaporous nature of reality,

flows from a world

that is broken.

His language here

takes us right back.

The children of man here

is literally

the sons of Adam.

And the painful business

and the crooked things

that cannot be straightened,

they are the fruit of the curse

that God has laid on the world

in Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

after Adam's fall.

This is why

Solomon's search

for gain

gleaned nothing.

And this is why

all our works

that are done under the sun,

verse 14,

our vapor

and an exercise

in directing the wind.

God has subjected

our world

to futility.

We can't

straighten out

the things that are crooked

because God has made them

that way.

We can't count

the things that are lacking

because God has made it

that way.

That is just

how it is

in this world

in which we live.

When you choose

to live life

on your terms

in God's world,

that's what Adam did

in the garden.

He grasped

after gain

in a garden

of gift.

Now that's important

that we know that.

People think that God

was being mean

when He told Adam

not to touch the tree

of the knowledge

of good and evil.

But there was

a whole garden

of gift.

There were lots

of other trees

that he could have had.

There was one

that he was not

allowed to touch yet

because the knowledge

of good and evil,

he wasn't yet ready

to handle that.

He wasn't yet mature

enough to discern

good and evil.

That belonged

to God alone.

But Adam

grasped.

He grasped

for profit

for himself.

And in disobeying God,

he plunged

the whole world

into sin.

He drug us

with Him.

That's the reason

why we do the things

that we don't want

to do in life.

That's why

those things

that we wish

were true

of our character

more and more

seem to elude us.

That's why we sin.

And that is why

God has judged

the world in this way.

Solomon has come

to recognize

that the world

is like this

because it's broken.

But it is also

the fruit

of our rebellion.

It is the fruit

of this sin

that Solomon's research

has led him to realize.

The fruit

of that rebellion

is this.

Death steals

everything.

And Solomon says,

look,

if you've got to choose,

wisdom is better

than folly,

2 verse 14.

Better to make

good decisions

in life

than bad ones.

Basic common sense.

But,

whether you're

the wisest man

in the world,

2 verse 14,

or you're

the biggest idiot

that has ever

walked the face

of the earth,

the end is the same

for both.

The professor

of wisdom

and the guy

who makes

dumb decision

after dumb decision

will,

in the end,

both find themselves

in the grave.

One out of one

dies.

That's the bottom line.

But there are,

do you notice,

two implications

of this

that Solomon

finds particularly

galling.

The first is

in verse 16.

It's this.

It's not just

that you're going

to die,

but you're going

to be forgotten.

Verse 16,

four of the wise,

as of the fool,

there is no

enduring remembrance.

Seeing,

as to come,

all will have

been long forgotten.

How the wise

dies just like

the fool.

He's saying,

death doesn't

discriminate

from the top

of society

to the bottom.

No one can

outsmart,

no one can

anti-aging

protocol

their way

out of it.

And while

there may be

a funeral

with a few

warm words

offered in

your memory,

there is a

good chance

that your

children's

children won't

know your

name.

And if they

do,

their children

probably won't

know your

name.

I remember

a few years

ago,

my uncle,

my dad's

brother,

he was in

his 80s,

and he was

coming to the

end of his

life,

and I asked

him about

his grandparents,

so my

great-grandparents.

What was

your

grandfather's

name?

This was

his grandfather,

he's towards

the end of

his life,

he's not in

great health,

but it took

him a long

time to

remember.

Do you

remember the

first name of

your great-grandparents?

Do you remember

what they did

for a living?

Do you know

that?

There was a

time when

they thought

that the

world revolved

around them

the way we

think that it

revolves around

us.

There was a

time when

they thought

they were

the

generation,

and yet

you don't

know their

names.

It's

vapor.

We'll all

be forgotten.

But you

won't just

be forgotten,

verse 18.

Whatever

you've

managed to

store up,

you'll

leave it

all to

someone else.

I hated

all my

toil in

which I

toil under

the sun.

This

research

project made

him really

cross.

Why,

seeing that I

must leave it

to the man

who will

come after

me,

and who

knows

whether

he'll

be wise

or a

fool,

yet he

will be

master of

all for

which I

toiled and

used my

wisdom under

the sun.

This

also is

vanity.

Everything

that you

worked for

will be

left to

those who

follow.

Every

single

penny

that accrues

to your

name will

go to

someone else.

As of

this

afternoon,

Elon Musk

is the

richest man

in the

world.

Do you

know how

much he

will leave?

All of

it.

That old

adage,

you can't

take it

with you,

is true.

And Solomon

says that

even with

whatever clever

stuff you're

able to do

with wills,

you don't

know whether

you're leaving

it to a

fool or a

wise man.

Whatever

control you

want to have

over your

wealth,

you lose

all of

that when

you die.

It's a

stark

realization

for

Solomon.

And I

wonder if

this research

actually became

an attempt to

chase this

basic reality

from his

mind.

That's what

we do,

isn't it?

When we

experience some

of the

vapor of

life,

when we

feel this

sense of

vanity

about

everything,

we know

that laughter

doesn't fix

the problems

of the

world.

Just

listen to

a single

interview

with a

comedian.

Their

lives are

completely

surrounded

with

laughter,

and yet

there's

rarely any

joy when

you get

behind the

mask.

We know

that wine

doesn't work,

and we know

that any

achievements

that we've

made didn't

deliver the

lasting joy

that we'd

hoped for,

plus we

know that

anything that

accrues to

our account

now will

be wiped

out by

death.

This is the

world we

live in.

So what

can we do

but distract

ourselves with

anything that

we can find?

The

alternative to

distracting

ourselves is

there in

verse 20.

And gave

my heart

up to

despair.

Very

honest.

But let's

be honest

ourselves.

What else

is there?

There are

lots of

addicts that

live on the

streets around

where we

live, and

you see

them in

various

states, and

my heart

goes out

to them.

But there's

an honesty

about the

way that

they live.

All they

want is to

shut out the

despair.

All they

want is to

be taken

for a few

moments out

of their

days that

are full

of sorrow.

And that's

what that

hit will

do for a

few minutes

and they'll

do anything

to get

it.

It is an

escape from

the pain.

It is a

release from

the despair.

We have

our own

ways of

doing the

same thing.

Some are

more respectable

than others,

some not so

respectable.

Solomon gathered

singers to

play for him

at his

request to

keep him

from silence

and his

inner thoughts.

We do the

same thing

with earbuds.

We don't

need to hire

singers to

follow us

around and

be a little

bit anti-social

I suppose in

some ways.

But we do

exactly the

same thing.

We just plug

our earbuds in

and put the

music on.

Or the talk

show or the

radio or

something.

Just some

noise or

other to

shut out

the despair.

Screens,

social media,

any digitized

diversion from

the reality of

this sorrowful,

vaporous world.

Well, is

despair the

only option?

Happily not.

Solomon has

actually discovered

that there's

another way to

think about

death and

that it is

not to

close our

eyes and

shut it

out.

But actually,

to stare at

it and to

stare at the

reality of

that and to

allow it to

reshape the

way we think

about the

present.

To allow the

future,

whenever that

will be,

and our

death to

teach us

how to

live now

in the

present in

God's world.

All is not

lost.

When we

accept that

this life is

vapor,

when we stop

trying to

resist it

and try to

store things up

for ourselves,

to try and

make some

gain in

this world,

when we

accept that

this life is

vapor, we're

actually liberated

from trying to

control it for

our gain.

We're set free

to enjoy

actually receiving

what we have

as a gift.

Solomon identifies

this then as our

third point,

his resolution.

He's given us

his research,

he's told us

about his

realization,

and thirdly,

here's his

resolution.

There is nothing

better for a

person than that

he should eat and

drink and find

enjoyment.

That's what we're

looking for,

enjoyment in

his toil.

This also I saw

is from the

hand of God,

for apart from

him who can

eat or who

can have

enjoyment?

For to the

one who pleases

him God has

given wisdom

and knowledge

and joy.

Enjoyment.

Enjoyment.

Joy.

A life marked

by joy is

available in a

world of vapor.

How is this

so?

Well, did you

notice?

Given from

the hand of

God.

The theologian

Ian Proven

summarizes the

point, which is

the point of

the whole book,

saying this,

life in God's

world is gift,

not gain.

And that is

the open secret.

That is the

open secret.

Life in God's

world is gift,

not gain.

When we use the

world for our

own ends,

our gain,

we're just left

with handfuls of

vapor.

We're just left

directing the

breeze.

But while the

vapor remains,

and it does

remain,

understanding that

life is a gift

from God doesn't

automatically make

it easy.

We're going to

see that again

and again and

again.

You know it

from your own

experience.

But there is

real joy in the

receipt of the

gift.

I said last

week, God

gives two gifts.

One is the food

and the drink,

and the other is

the ability to

enjoy them.

And that is

clear with a

more literal

translation,

actually, of

verse 24.

Have a look at

verse 24.

More literal

translation would

be this.

There is no

good in a

person than

that he should

eat and drink

and find

enjoyment in

his toil.

This also I

saw is from

the hand of

God, for

apart from

him who

can eat or

who can

have enjoyment.

There is no

inherent good

in a person

that they

should be able

to find

enjoyment in

their work.

He is

saying the

only way that

we can enjoy

the things that

are given to

us by God

is from

God, and

recognizing that

he is the

one who gives

the gift.

Just with

food, think

about it, just

with food, there

are loads of

reasons why we

aren't able to

enjoy it.

We think, oh,

there is better

quality elsewhere,

and we think, oh,

this maybe isn't

the best thing I

could be eating.

Oh, there is a

different restaurant

that is better.

You can't enjoy

the seven-pound

bottle of wine

because you know

that there is a

seventy-pound bottle

of wine that is

better.

And the seventy-pound

one was okay,

but it is not as

good as the

seven-hundred-pound

one or the

seven-thousand-pound

one.

That never stops.

That is the

treadmill of

never being

satisfied.

That is why

all of these

things are

vapor.

If even

eating and

drinking needs

to be about

gain rather

than receiving

what God has

provided and

saying thank

you and

enjoying it,

then it will

never satisfy.

The same is

true of all

things that

Solomon tried.

Wisdom,

knowledge,

money,

sex,

power.

There is no

inherent joy in

any of these

things if we

don't acknowledge

the divine

giver.

You don't need

me to provide

you with examples

of people for

whom these

things have

become a

source of

misery despite

having them

in abundance.

But I

can't get

old Matthew

Perry out

of my

head.

Chandler

Bing from

Friends,

he had

superstardom

and he

pursued gain

in laughter

and wealth

and wine

and sex

and fame.

And a

couple of

months ago

he wound

up addicted

to pain

medication

and a

couple of

months ago

we discovered

that he had

a live-in

servant

whose job

was to

inject him

with ketamine

every day.

When we

pursue gain

in those

things,

rather than

receiving them

as gifts

to be enjoyed,

they don't

just leave

us empty

vapor,

but they

can consume

us.

Solomon has

discovered

that God

is the

source of

joy.

In verse

26,

he has

given wisdom

and knowledge

and joy

to those

who please

him.

When you

grasp for

joy on your

own terms,

it always

eludes you

but when

you trust

God,

he gives

joy and

like all

his gifts,

he passes

it out,

not with

a teaspoon

but with

a shovel.

If we

can let

go of

grasping

for these

things,

if we

can let

go of

thinking

that if

we get

that,

then we'll

have some

gain in

God's

world and

if we

just receive

what he

gives us

and we

say thank

you and

we enjoy

it in

the moment,

we're set

free.

That is

joy.

And that is

the offer

that Jesus

makes to

his disciples.

You remember

in John

John 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16,

they have

been with

Jesus,

he has

told them

that he'll

be going

to the

cross for

their sin

and then

returning

to the

father and

they're

anxious.

They want

to hold

on to

him for

themselves.

But he

says he'll

send his

spirit and

he will

give them

joy.

He says,

ask and

you will

receive that

your joy

may be

half full.

Your joy

might just

be enough

to get

you to

the end

of the

day.

That's

not what

he says,

is it?

Ask and

you will

receive that

your joy

may be

full.

The

fullness

of joy.

That is

the offer

of the

gospel.

That is

the openness

of all

open secrets

that in

the Lord

Jesus,

the one

who holds

you fast

even in

the vapor

of real

life.

while she

may not

be able

to master

life,

you can

enjoy it.

Let's pray

together.