Wealth Is But A Breath

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 5, starting at verse 8, and we're

Ecclesiastes 5 · chapter mention

going to go to Ecclesiastes chapter 6, verse 12.

Ecclesiastes 6:12

We've been in this sermon series for a couple months now.

It's been a wonderful series, a humbling series, and it really is my joy and privilege to preach

God's word to you.

I say that to you every week, and I mean it every week.

It's an honor, and I can't believe that I get to pastor you guys and get paid for it.

Serving God and getting paid for it, it's amazing.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father, you know that nobody sitting here needs any word from me.

They need a word from you.

So we open up your word because we want to hear from you.

We are clinging to your every word because man does not live by bread alone, but by every

word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Lord, you're in this sermon.

So feed us, Father, now.

Help us to behold the Jesus in all his glory, his love, his grace, his mercy, so that we

might be humbled to live in a manner that pleases you, that we might be able to receive life

humbly as a gift as you teach us to do so in this word in Ecclesiastes 5 and 6.

Give us listening ears, open hearts.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Please stand, and if you are able, in honor of God's word, as I read Ecclesiastes 5, 8 to 6, 12.

Amen.

If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness,

do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there

are yet higher ones over them.

But this is gain for a land in every way, a king committed to cultivated fields.

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income.

This also is vanity.

When goods increase, they increase who eat them.

And what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of

the rich will not let him sleep.

There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun.

Riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture.

And he is a father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand.

As he came from his mother's womb, he shall go again, naked as he came,

and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.

This also is a grievous evil.

Just as he came, so shall he go.

And what gain is there to him who toils for the wind?

Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, in much vexation and sickness and anger.

What I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil

with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him,

for this is his lot.

Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them

and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil, this is the gift of God.

For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind.

A man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires,

yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them.

This is vanity.

It is a grievous evil.

If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many,

but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial,

I say that a stillborn child is better off than he, for it comes in vanity and goes in darkness,

and in darkness its name is covered.

Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he.

Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good, do not all go to the one place.

All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.

For what advantage has the wise man over the fool?

And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before living?

Better is the sight of the eyes than the wondering of the appetite.

This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is,

and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.

The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man?

For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life,

which he passes like a shadow?

For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

After many millennia of lived experience,

we might expect humanity to have learned the lesson that wealth does not buy happiness,

that it does not make people happy.

But according to a survey conducted by a financial services company called Empower,

still, to this day, six in ten Americans answer yes to that question,

can money buy happiness?

Similarly, researchers at the University of California lost an annual survey every year.

Guys, is my mic going in and out?

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, you got another one?

Okay.

Thank you, Gary.

Similarly, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles,

conduct an annual survey asking incoming college students what their highest priorities are,

what their goals are, objectives for their time in college are.

And there's something that's been on the top or near the top of their priorities list every single year,

and that is being very well off financially.

But Ecclesiastes 5 to 6 teaches us a truth that is far deeper and far wiser.

It tells us to forsake the vain pursuit of wealth and enjoy life as a gift from God.

And there are two imposing rocks of reality upon which the preacher of Ecclesiastes builds his case.

And these two twin truths are this.

One, the uncertainty of wealth, and two, the certainty of death.

And we're going to explore those two things in turn.

And the first reality is the uncertainty of wealth.

Wealth is undependable for many reasons.

And the first reason highlighted in this passage is injustice.

It says in verse 8,

The word oppression literally is robbery.

The preacher observes that the robbery of the poor by the powerful,

by the ones who have authority over them, is all too common.

It is the norm and not the exception.

And therefore you should not find that to be remarkable.

You should not be amazed by it.

Proverbs 10.15 says,

A rich man's wealth is his strong city.

The poverty of the poor is their ruin.

The rich use the resources at their disposal to protect themselves.

They hire the best lawyers.

They build for themselves literal fortresses sometimes on the highest hill of the city.

They take advantage of the poor.

They can bribe the judges in their favor.

The poor, on the other hand, are powerless.

They have no such recourse.

And so their own poverty becomes their ruin.

They are more likely to be oppressed and violated because there's not much they can do about it.

And the end of verse 8 gives a reason why this happens.

For the high official is watched by higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.

The reason why there's this robbery of the poor throughout the world,

and why that's allowed to go on,

is because there is an official who is supposed to safeguard justice and righteousness who is corrupt.

Well, how does he get away with that?

Well, because there's a higher official who's supposed to be keeping that official accountable,

but he's corrupt too.

So he watches his back.

They have each other's back, so to speak.

So there's this hierarchy of impunity,

which enables those in power to abuse their power without accountability.

We see an example of this in 1 Kings 21.

King Ahab, he's the king of Israel,

he covets this vineyard.

He really likes his vegetable gardens.

And he says, you know, that land looks really nice.

And it's really close to my palace.

I really want to grow my vegetable garden there.

So he says, hey, give me that piece of land.

Or you could sell it to me.

The owner's name is Naboth, or Naboth.

And Naboth, remembering that these lands are ancestral lands

that God has given to various tribes of Israel,

and therefore are not meant to be sold outside of their tribe,

refuses to relinquish his God-given property.

Says, this is not for sale.

I can't give this up to you.

And then Ahab goes home disappointed,

and he's refusing to eat.

And then his wife, the queen, the wicked queen Jezebel,

sees him, and then she mocks him, saying,

do you call yourself the king of Israel?

Get up and eat your food and cheer up.

I will give you the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite.

And then first she writes letters in the king's name

to the elders and the leaders of the town that Naboth lived in,

in the city.

He instructs them to convene a gathering,

and at that gathering to seat Naboth at the head of the table.

And then he tells them to hire some worthless men

who will be false accusers and perjurers in that gathering

to accuse Naboth of cursing the king and cursing God.

They do that.

They stone Naboth to death.

And then she tells Ahab,

arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite,

which he refused to give you for money,

for Naboth is not alive but dead.

The elders of the town were able to violate justice

and righteousness and rob the poor

because they had the backing of another higher official

watching over them, namely King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.

Many poorer countries, if you read the news,

throughout the world, they're run,

they're basically narco-cleptocracies,

basically governments that are heavily influenced by

or run by those who are involved in the drug trade.

Gangs, so on.

The closed electoral system rewards

and keeps corrupt officials in power,

and then these corrupt officials then use the justice system

that is at their disposal

to punish those who oppose them,

the whistleblowers and honest members of the city

and the media that cry out for justice.

Of course, wealthier countries are not immune to this problem.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant

for Vladimir Putin,

which, of course, is symbolic at best.

Most election observers note

that at least 22 to 31.6 million votes

are manipulated in Russian elections in recent years.

But there's this hierarchy of impunity

with no accountability.

Even in our country, right?

We're witnessing Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City,

being indicted,

the first sitting mayor of New York City to be indicted.

The charges haven't been proven yet,

and I don't presume that he is guilty,

but they're accusing him of misappropriating

more than 10 million in public funds

during his election campaign in 2021

and receiving benefits from the Turkish government

in return for favors

that he was giving them in his official capacity.

We don't know if that really happened or not yet,

but this is a reminder to us

that these kind of things really happen,

and they have happened before.

In contrast to this reality of corruption,

verse 9 says,

but this is gain for a land in every way,

a king committed to cultivated fields.

This is hard to translate, interpret,

and many different interpretations have been proposed,

but based on the context

and the contrast from the high officials

who pervert justice,

the last clause seems to mean

that a king who recognizes

the importance of cultivated fields

is good for the land.

Unlike the high officials

who oppress the poor and the weak,

a king who recognizes

that the food producers

at the bottom of the societal hierarchy,

the manual laborers,

the farmers,

the ruler who recognizes

that these people are foundational

for a healthy kingdom,

a king who takes an interest

in the cause of the common laborer,

is gain for the land in every way.

I think we can take this interpretation even further.

The last clause can be translated,

a king who cultivates the field,

which is the way the NASB translates it.

A commander-in-chief

who no longer marches out into battle

with his soldiers,

can forget the painful toll of war

and the sacrifices that his men make

daily in the field.

This is precisely what we see

with King David in 2 Samuel 11.

He remains in his comfortable palace in Jerusalem

while his men are dying

and shedding their blood for him.

And because of that,

he takes that for granted

and he treats them like mere numbers,

disposable numbers in his war game.

Similarly, a king who never cultivates the field

can lose touch with the day-to-day realities

of his subjects and servants.

But a king who gets his hands dirty once in a while,

a king who surveys and familiarizes himself

with the plight of his subjects,

that kind of ruler is gain for the land

in every way.

This reminds me of the invaluable counsel

that I received from David Powelson

on pastoral counseling.

He writes in one of his books,

talking with people is the best way

to measure the pulpit ministry's effectiveness.

Does what you know, believe, and preach

actually help people?

Talking one-to-one about what matters in life

is the only way you'll ever really get to know people.

And knowing people is the only way

you'll ever learn to preach to them.

And then later he says,

my second rule of thumb is that you should

always be involved with a few people

who are slow movers, with strugglers.

The temptation is to counsel leader types,

gifted people who want to grow,

people who are a quick study,

people who get it,

educated, independent, competent people,

influential people.

Such people often make for efficient counseling,

though not necessarily.

David Powelson here echoes

the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 5.9.

Are you a manager at your work?

Or are you a parent in the home?

Or are you a professor at a school

with people under your charge?

If so, are you in touch

with the day-to-day realities

of the people that work for you?

Do you actually know them?

Do you understand their struggles?

Do you see your authority

as a means to serve them

or as a means to get them to serve you?

So to summarize verses 8 and 9,

rulers who use their positions and power

for their personal benefit

are bad for the land,

but a ruler who seeks the benefits

of the people who serve,

that he serves,

is good for the land.

And unfortunately,

the latter is rare

and the former is all too common,

according to Ecclesiastes.

And it's this injustice of the world

that robs the poor

that makes the pursuit of wealth

vain,

futile.

But what about these people

who have power

and are oppressing people

and robbing the poor

and enriching themselves?

Surely they're getting what they want

and surely they must be satisfied, right?

No.

Verses 10 to 12 tell us

that even they are not satisfied.

It says,

He who loves money

will not be satisfied with money,

nor he who loves wealth

with his income.

This also is vanity.

When goods increase,

they increase who eat them.

And what advantage has their owner

but to see them with his eyes?

Sweet is the sleep of our laborer,

whether he eats little or much,

but the full stomach of the rich

will not let him sleep.

Ultimately, money is dissatisfying.

He who loves money

will not be satisfied with money.

If you doubt this,

take a look at this graph

from the Wall Street Journal.

This was people's answer

to a survey question.

How much does your annual salary

need to be

for you to feel happy,

to be less stressed?

People who make $25,000 a year

said,

Oh, I just need to make $50,000

in order to be happy.

Okay, well, so then let's ask

the people who make $50,000

if they're happy.

They say,

No, no, I need to make $75,000

in order to be happy.

Well, okay,

then let's ask the people

who make $75,000.

Maybe they're happy.

They say,

No, we need to make $100,000

in order to be happy.

Well, and then let's ask

the people who make $100,000.

No, they say,

No, we need to make $150,000.

And then people who make $150,000

say they need to make $200,000.

And people who make $200,000

say they need to make $350,000.

And it's not on this graph.

There's another survey

that asked millionaires,

Do you feel happy?

Or how much money

do you need to make

in order to be happy?

And they say,

We need to make $10,000,000

in order to be happy.

It's a never-ending hamster wheel.

You think you're getting somewhere.

You're spinning your wheel.

But you're actually

in the same exact spot

you've always been at.

He who loves money

will not be satisfied with money,

nor he who loves wealth

with his income.

This also is vanity.

Once I make this much money,

once I get to this stage

of my career,

once I get to,

you fill in the blank,

then I will finally be satisfied.

That is a pernicious lie

that humanity has believed

ever since the fall in the garden

when Adam took that forbidden fruit.

17th century English pastor

Jeremiah Burroughs

distills the wisdom of God's word

when he writes this in his book,

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.

He says that the way to contentment

is by subtraction,

not by addition.

What does he mean by that?

We find satisfaction

not by bringing our possessions

up to the level of our desires,

but by bringing our desires

down to the level of our possessions.

By subtraction,

not by addition.

If you can't afford

to take beach vacations

in the Caribbean,

then instead of trying

to earn and earn

and grind and grind

so that you could afford

a vacation in the Caribbean,

learn to enjoy

a vacation at Cape Cod.

Learn to enjoy

Revere Beach.

I love Revere Beach.

It's a lot cleaner

than it used to be.

If you desire fine dining

and wine tasting

at expensive restaurants,

instead of trying

to bring your wealth

up to the level

of your desire,

learn to appreciate

and enjoy

the pleasures

of simple food and drink

that's at your dinner table.

Bring your desires down

to match what you have

because having more

will not satisfy you.

Verse 11 continues,

When goods increase,

they increase who eat them.

And what advantage

has their owner

but to see them

with his eyes?

The more money you make,

the more things

you find to spend money on.

Now that you have

so much money,

things that you never

used to notice

catch your eyes.

Those luxury handbags

and jewelry

and perfumes

and watches

and cars.

Now that you have

so much money,

you buy a bigger house.

And now that your house

is so big,

you need to hire someone

to clean it for you.

And now that you have

so much money,

you need a financial advisor

that you need

to pay a financial manager

to invest your funds

for you.

Now that you have

so much money,

you need a vault

and then you need

a security system.

Now that you have

such a high net worth,

you need bodyguards.

Now that you have

so much money,

like thousands of people

or thousands of people

come calling,

asking every single day

for donations

to this cause

and seed money

for this company.

Now that you have

so much money,

there are people

who want to sue you

for various things

to take your money.

So now you need

to pay for lawyers too.

When goods increase,

they increase who eat them.

And what advantage

has their owner

but to see them

with his eyes?

When your wealth grows,

the number of people

who want a slice

of that pie

also grows.

And instead of feasting

on your pie

with your mouth,

you are left feasting

on it with your eyes only.

As you look on

as all these mouths

are feeding on your pie.

Wealth ultimately

cannot satisfy us.

not only does it fail

to satisfy us,

wealth also gives us

indigestion

and insomnia.

Verse 12 says,

sweet is the sleep

of a laborer,

whether he eats

little or much,

but the full stomach

of the rich

will not let him sleep.

This is personal for me

because it's not

because she eats a lot.

My wife doesn't

eat that much,

but she does have

a physical condition

that has restricted

blood flow in her body,

so she often has

indigestion.

So I'm very often

massaging her stomach

at night

so that she can sleep.

She can't sleep

after she eats.

And most of us

don't do too much

manual labor.

Manual labor,

I'm sorry,

I shouldn't have

shared that.

And this is,

sometimes you just

have to say no

to the thought

that comes to your mind.

And then,

wait,

I was talking

to some people today.

We don't do a lot

of manual laboring.

Most of us sit

in front of a computer

all day.

But when you've done

hard labor,

a hard day

of good manual labor,

let's say on the day

we moved the Borens

and Aubrey in,

for example,

like I remember

Kevin,

where's Kevin?

At the end of the day

he worked for probably

like eight hours straight.

And he's just sitting there

and he's like,

I think this is the definition

of a hard work day,

of an honest day's work.

And I bet you anything

that he slept

really well that night.

And that's the case.

For all of us,

we sleep well

when we work

with our hands.

But the full stomach

of the rich

will not let him sleep.

This is literally true

and figuratively true.

If you have a full stomach,

the undigested food

can flow back

into the esophagus

and then it causes

heartburn

and acid reflux.

You guys have experienced

this before.

Makes you uncomfortable

and you can't sleep.

It makes you gassy

and makes you feel bloated.

And even if you do

end up falling asleep

because your body

is working so hard

to digest

all that food,

you can't get into

the deep

REM cycles

of sleep.

So you don't wake up

refreshed

and rested.

And figuratively,

wealth of possessions

means you have

more to worry about.

I have a friend

who invested

early in Bitcoin.

And I told him

that he must be

quite happy

with the returns

that he has had

from this investment.

Bitcoin used to be

worth less than a cent

and now it's like

$65,000 per Bitcoin.

But he told me

something really interesting.

He says it gives him,

it nearly gives him

heart attacks

like every other day.

Because now that he has

so much money

invested in it,

like one day

you gain tens of thousands

of dollars

and another day

you lose tens of thousands

of dollars

and then you're just

glued to the screen

and checking the ups

and downs

and the fluctuations

of the stock market.

You lose sleep.

The full stomach

of the rich

will not let him sleep.

I think the 19th century

English pastor

J.C. Ryle

got this exactly right.

He says money

in truth

is one of the most

unsatisfying of possessions.

It takes away

some cares no doubt

but it brings with it

quite as many cares

as it takes away.

There is trouble

in the getting of it.

There is the anxiety

in the keeping of it.

There are the temptations

in the use of it.

There is the guilt

in the abuse of it.

There is a sorrow

in the losing of it.

There is a perplexity

in the disposing of it.

Two-thirds

of all the strifes,

quarrels,

and lawsuits

in the world

arise from one simple cause.

Money.

That brings me

to another related reason

why the pursuit

of wealth is vain.

The impermanence

and the insecurity

of wealth.

He says in verses 13 to 14,

there is a grievous evil

that I have seen

under the sun.

Riches were kept

by their owner

to his hurt

and those riches

were lost

in a bad venture.

And he is a father

of a son

but he has nothing

in his hand.

Some people

gain wealth

and try to keep wealth

at great cost

to themselves.

Sometimes even

at the cost

of their integrity,

at the cost

of their relationships,

at the cost

of their health.

That's what's

in view here.

Riches were kept

by their owner

to his hurt.

But despite the fact

that he made

so many sacrifices

and hurt himself

in the process

of gaining

and keeping

this wealth,

they're lost

in a bad venture.

He has nothing

to leave behind

for his son.

I remember

after what we now

refer to as

the Great Recession

of 2008,

2009,

there was a string

of suicides,

dozens of

high-profile suicides

by formerly

extremely wealthy

people who lost

a fortune

during the Great Recession.

Even when you

try to grasp

hold of it,

sometimes chasing

after wealth

is like chasing

after wind.

It just slips

through your fingers.

As verses 15,

16 say,

as he came

from his mother's womb,

he shall go again,

naked as he came

and shall take

nothing for his toil

that he may carry

away in his hand.

This also is

a grievous evil.

Just as he came,

so shall he go.

What gain is there

to him who toils

for the wind?

We don't stand

to gain anything

from our toil

on earth

because in the end

we can't take

anything with us.

And not only

is there no gain

for our toil

at the end

of our lives,

throughout our lives

there is much

difficulty,

as it says

in verse 17,

all his day

he eats in darkness

in much vexation

and sickness

and anger,

toiling and toiling

to earn and earn.

But why do we

toil so for wealth

that we cannot keep?

Naked come,

naked go.

Zero in,

zero out.

That's the reality.

Life is like

a balanced budget

that always ends

in zero.

I know that's

what you wish

your budget

was like sometimes,

but life is like that.

It always ends

as a balanced budget

in zero.

There's never a surplus.

There's no carryover

into the following

fiscal year.

Death is a thick

black sharpie

that zeroes

everything out

at the end

of your life.

And we never know

when death will come.

That's the point

of the parable

of the rich fool,

right,

that Jesus tells

in Luke 12.

This rich man

has so much produce

that he doesn't

have enough barns

to keep all his wealth.

So he's like,

okay,

well then,

I'll just tear down

all my barns

and build new,

bigger ones

so that I can keep

all my wealth

to myself.

And then God

says to him,

fool,

this night your soul

is required of you

and the things

you have prepared,

whose will they be?

So is the one

who lays up

treasure for himself

and is not rich

toward God.

I don't know

if arcades still use this.

Chuck and Cheeses

are still around,

right?

They use these

Chuck and Cheeses coins,

arcade coins.

You guys know

what I'm talking about?

If you go to an arcade

and they have arcade coins,

you have to exchange

your money

because your money

is not,

you can't use

your money

in the arcade.

You need to exchange

your money,

pay money

to get these arcade coins.

And with those arcade coins,

you can do many things.

You can play games

and you can buy food.

But imagine,

you know this arcade

is shutting down tomorrow

and you've exchanged

all of your money

for this arcade coin.

Would you keep that?

It's going to lose

all of its value

when that arcade closes.

All of it.

It's expiring currency.

And that's what

money on earth is like.

All of it.

All the money on earth

is expiring currency.

And yet,

we like this foolish kid

in the arcade

just hoards

this arcade coins.

Like,

it's going to take us somewhere

when it's all coming due.

That's why God tells us

not to store up

treasures on earth,

but to store up

treasures in heaven

where it does not rust.

It's not stolen by thieves.

Let Job's profession

in Job 121

be the starting point

of your perspective

on money,

your relationship

with money.

He says,

naked I came

from my mother's womb

and naked shall I return.

The Lord gave

and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name

of the Lord.

It is the Lord's prerogative

to give and to take away

and he has ordained

that we can't take

anything out with us

when we die.

If that's the starting point

of your relationship

with money,

then you will have

God's wisdom

to guide you

in all your earning

and saving

and spending

and you will forsake

the vain pursuit

of wealth.

That brings me

to my second main point,

the certainty of death.

Wealth is uncertain,

but death is certain.

He says in chapter 6,

verse 7,

all the toil of man

is for his mouth,

yet his appetite

is not satisfied.

Proverbs 27, 20 says,

Sheol and Abaddon

are never satisfied

and never satisfied

are the eyes of man.

These are two things

that are never satisfied,

our desires in life

and death.

Life never gives us enough,

we're never satisfied.

Death never stops

taking enough.

We always die.

The grave,

like our mouths,

never stops being hungry.

In light of this,

what advantage

has the wise man

over the fool?

The preacher asks

in verse 8,

And what does the poor man

who knows how to conduct himself

before the living?

In other words,

what good is wisdom

when both the wise

and the fool

die in the end?

There's a slight qualification

in verse 8.

Better is the sight

of the eyes

than the wandering

of the appetite.

Remember from verse 8

that the preacher

is here comparing

the wise man

and the fool.

The sight of the eyes

here is a metonymy

for wisdom,

the wisdom

that the wise man has.

And the going

of the appetite

or the wandering

of the appetite

represents the hedonistic

fool's life

driven by appetite.

And the preacher

admits here,

he qualifies

his thesis statement

a bit,

saying that it is better

to have

the sight of the eyes.

It is better

to be wise

than to be a fool

who is driven

by his appetite.

Nevertheless,

he concludes,

the wise and the fool

both end up in the grave.

That's why he says

in verse 9,

this also is vanity

and a striving

after wind.

This parallels

Ecclesiastes 2,

13 to 15,

then I saw

that there is more gain

in wisdom

than in folly.

Wisdom is better

than folly.

As there is more gain

in light

than in darkness.

The wise person

has his eyes

in his head

but the fool

walks in darkness.

And yet I perceive

that the same event

happens to all of them.

Then I said in my heart,

what happens to the fool

will happen to me also.

Why then have I been

so very wise?

And I said in my heart

that this also is vanity.

Imagine two trekkers

who are stuck

in the wilderness.

One person

has eyes,

he could see,

the other person

is blind.

The one,

the trekker

who can see

can avoid

the bears you see

or if you're like Josh

you can run into them

and if you're,

or they could

avoid the pitfalls,

they could

cross the streams

but the blind

trekker

is falling over

root

and rock

and scraped

all over.

Which is better?

Well obviously

the one who has eyes

is better.

it's better

to navigate

the difficulties

and the complexities

of life

with wisdom

to be able to see

where you're going

and to understand

what's happening

that is better.

But this is the kicker.

They're both gonna die

in the wilderness.

So why?

What's the ultimate benefit

of wisdom

over folly?

Death is coming

for us all.

That's the point.

Verses 10 to 12

continues this line

of thought.

Whatever has come

to be

has already been named

and it is known

what man is

and that he is not able

to dispute

with one stronger

than he.

The more words

the more vanity

and what is the advantage

to man

for who knows

what is good for man

while he lives

a few days

of his vain life

which he passes

like a shadow

for who can tell man

what will be after him

under the sun.

The expression

whatever has come

to be

has already been named

that phrase

naming

is used

in Psalm

147.4

and Isaiah

40.26

to refer to how

God

has determined

the number

of the stars

and has named them

given to all of them

their names.

Scientists

estimate

that there are

200 billion

trillion stars

in the known universe

the observable universe

which is about

10 times

the number

of cups

of water

in all of

the earth's ocean.

Imagine

moving

all the water

in the ocean

with a measuring cup.

Yet God

has numbered

all of those stars.

God has named

all of those stars

and add to that

the fact that

these stars

are light years

away from us.

The constellation

Andromeda

is 2.5 million

light years away.

But we can see

it with our eyes.

That means

that light's been

traveling for

2.5 million

years

at the speed

of light.

That's how far

away it is

and that's how

big this universe

is.

And God

knows all the stars.

He's named

all the stars.

He has numbered

all the stars

and he has numbered

all our days

and he has numbered

all the times

of our lives.

Who are we?

Insignificant creatures

that we are

to try to take

control of those

times.

And that's the

point he's making

here.

He is not,

man is not able

to dispute

with one stronger

than he.

Who is the one

stronger than us?

It's the Lord.

Job says in

Job 9.19,

if it is a contest

of strength,

behold,

God is mighty.

If it is a matter

of justice,

who can summon him?

Our lives pass

like a shadow

and it is not

our place

as finite creatures

to grasp

the infinite

mind of God.

So he calls

for surrender.

So if that's

the case,

how then

shall we live?

That's the question

that the preacher

asks in the middle

of this passage.

In chapter 5,

verses 18 to 20

and chapter 6,

verses 1 to 6,

there are two

contrasting pictures,

profiles,

and they are

connected by this

key word,

enjoy,

or joy,

rejoice.

Both sections

begin with what

the preacher

has observed

and it begins

with the phrase

I have seen

and then both

sections concern

someone to whom

God has given

wealth and possessions.

You can see that

in 5.19 and 6.2.

However,

there is a crucial

difference between

these two people

whom God has blessed

with possessions

and wealth.

He says in 5.19

that God has given

one man

a power

to enjoy

his wealth

and possessions.

But in contrast,

6.2 says that

God does not

give the other man

power to enjoy

his wealth

and possessions.

And this makes

all the difference.

It says of the man

who doesn't know

how to enjoy

his wealth

in chapter 6,

verses 3 to 6,

verse 3.

No matter how long

you live your life,

even if you live

a thousand years

twice over,

and even if you father

a hundred children

who will live on

after you

to follow your legacy

or whatever you want,

the destination

on our train ticket

is death.

It doesn't change.

We all go to the one place.

So what does

living a long life

and having children

who can continue

your legacy

really accomplish?

Whether your train ride

is one hour long

or one week long,

you're all going

to the same place.

In fact,

the preacher contends

that a stillborn child

is better off

than the rich man

who does not know

how to enjoy

life's good things.

They both end up

in the same place,

the grave,

but the stillborn child

has been spared

the vexations

and the injustices,

the evils

of this world.

the stillborn child

finds the rest

that ever eludes

the rich man

in his life.

But look at verses

18 to 20.

This is the contrast.

Behold,

what I have seen

to be good and fitting

is to eat and drink

and find enjoyment

in all the toil

with which one toils

under the sun

the few days of his life

that God has given him.

For this is his lot.

Everyone also to whom

God has given wealth

and possessions

and power to enjoy them,

and to accept his lot

and rejoice in his toil.

This is the gift of God.

For he will not much

remember the days

of his life

because God keeps him

occupied with joy

in his heart.

A man who is able

to enjoy the gifts

that God has given him

is fortified against

the evils

and the vicissitudes

of life

because it keeps him

preoccupied.

This is the third

of five Carpe Diem passages

we've encountered so far

in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Carpe Diem is a Latin phrase

that means seize the day

and it's an exhortation

to make use

of the present opportunities

and to enjoy today,

life today

while it still lasts

instead of counting

on tomorrow

which may never come.

This is different

from hedonism

which pursues pleasure

as the highest goal.

In this Ecclesiastes worldview

our highest good is God

and because we have God

we are enabled

to enjoy the good gifts

of life that he gives.

He is the giver

of every good

and perfect gift.

The wisdom of Ecclesiastes

counsels us

to receive our lot in life

as a gift of God

rather than striving

in vain for gain.

If you've been with us

in this series

you know the word gain

or profit

is important

in the book of Ecclesiastes.

It's a key word

and it's related

to the word advantage

that occurs several times

in our passage.

We humans have

an innate desire

to make a profit

to earn something

and to have something

to show for our labors

but because we live

in a world

that is mere breath

that ends in death

there's nothing actually

to be gained.

We tend to treat life

as a means for gain

as a means to gain control

as a means for self advancement

to get ahead

of other people.

We tend to use

the world around us

as leverage

for attaining our own goals

and the relationships

that we have around us

as stepping stones

we can step on

to build ourselves up

and to lift ourselves up

to gear up

for the next big thing

and to greater things.

But it's all futile

because it all ends in death.

What if God gives us

these things

not to be used

or mastered

but simply to be enjoyed?

What if our work

and indeed life itself

are not something

to take advantage of

something with which

to turn a profit

but a gift

that you freely receive

and enjoy?

this is the main point

of the book of Ecclesiastes.

We're all on a hamster wheel.

It tells us again and again

we're all on a hamster wheel

but if we know

that we are on a hamster wheel

then you're not gonna burn yourself

out on that wheel.

You can take some time

to slow down and rest.

We can take ourselves

less seriously.

This is what I've been calling

the freedom of insignificance.

The humility of wisdom.

Instead of pounding coffee

for that caffeine kick

you can actually

maybe slow down

and enjoy

a nice cup of pour over.

Instead of

yes we're all on that train

the destination on the ticket

is death

but if you know that

you don't drive the train

you're sitting on the train

as you're going on the train

then you can actually

enjoy the scenery.

If you know that

you're on a hamster wheel

if you know this then

you're not gonna see

all of your neighbors

and peers

and friends

and colleagues

as people to step on

and to get ahead

of your competition.

Instead

you can love your neighbor

and you can actually

pause

and stop on the way

to help the Samaritan.

I'm naturally

very bad at this

so

it's okay

if you're feeling

really bad

about yourself right now.

I'm with you.

I understand.

That's why

in his kindness

God gave me

Hannah as my wife.

I have to make up

for what I said earlier.

I was a

this was actually planned

I was gonna say this.

I was a college student

who survived

on a diet of rice

potatoes and eggs

most of my study abroad year.

so much for enjoying

my meals.

No this is fuel

to get by life right.

I mean that's my

that was my perspective

in college.

I was very utilitarian

my outlook

needed.

Most of the clothes

I owned

were plain white t-shirts

so I never have to think

about what I'm gonna wear.

Well I'm wearing

that same thing again.

And I was

so very stingy.

Scrupulously avoided

spending money

wherever I could.

But Hannah

really helped me

to loosen up

quite a bit.

She has taught me

to enjoy good food.

She's taught me

to dance

which I would never do

in my younger self.

She taught me

to hold my money

with open hands

instead of

with clenched fists.

Daniel's visiting.

Daniel's really good

at that too.

He's probably

bought me more food

than anybody I know.

Behold

what I have

seen to be good

and fitting

is to eat

and drink

and find enjoyment

in all the toil

with which one

toils under the sun

the few days

of his life

that God has given him

for this is his lot.

forsaking

the vain pursuit

of wealth

we should enjoy

life as a gift

from God.

He's so wise.

Social scientist

Elizabeth Dunn

writes this

in her book

Happy Money

the Science

of Smarter Spending

have you guys

read that

anybody?

You guys

don't read

self-help books.

That's not a bad thing.

I think that's good.

Yeah.

The people

who know how to

she writes

that people

who know how

to spend money

for experiences

that they enjoy

tend to be happier

in general

than people

who try to

accumulate things

people who buy

things.

She writes

quote

stop trying

to get more money

our goal

is to help you

use the money

you have

to get more

happiness.

In other words

don't forget

to enjoy

what you have

in your pursuit

of more.

According to

neuroscientist

Kent Berridge

his research

published in

the Journal

of American

Psychology

are wanting

something

and are liking

and enjoying

something

are mediated

by different

circuits in the brain.

So they actually

function independently.

In other words

you wanting

something

and getting

what you want

has nothing

to do

with your

actual enjoyment

and liking

something.

so don't

get lost

in pursuing

your wants

and forget

to enjoy

what you

already have

the things

that you like.

Here is

the best

this is

they published

this as like

the latest

research.

It's been in

here for

3,000 years.

But the

Bible of course

goes far

beyond

mere self-help

advice

which

when taken

to their

logical

conclusions

still ring

hollow

in light

of the

penetrating

observations

of the

despair

of life.

What's

missing

in these

scientific

papers

and self-help

books

is God.

we have

something

we can

enjoy

that goes

far

beyond

eating

and

drinking.

We have

this week

three days

of prayer

and fasting

that we do

every month.

It's a great

time to take

time to

fast

and to

pray

especially

with

significant

life events

happening

to many

of our

members.

Praying

for Jenny

praying

for the

Bournes

and Jesus

said this

about fasting

that man

does not

live by

bread

alone

but man

lives by

every word

that comes

from the

mouth

of the

Lord.

And then

Jesus

in his

last supper

with his

disciples

he broke

bread

and he

poured

wine

which is

what we

do

in our

celebration

of the

Lord's

supper

and he

said this

is my

body

which is

for you

and this

cup

is the

new

covenant

in my

blood.

Jesus

is the

word of

God

that we

live by.

Jesus

is the

bread of

life that

we enjoy

above all

other

breads

and that's

why Paul

commands

the Philippians

to rejoice

in the

Lord

Jesus

in

Philippians

4

to enjoy

the

Lord

Jesus

and that's

why

because Paul

enjoys

the Lord

Jesus

because he

eats the

bread and

drinks the

cup.

He says

I've learned

in whatever

situation I am

to be content.

I know

how to be

brought low

I know

how to

abound

in any

and every

circumstance

I've learned

the secret

of facing

plenty and

hunger

abundance

and need

I can do

all things

through him

who strengthens

me.

Here's something

that people

can't do

people of this

world without

God

cannot do

because if you

want to enjoy

the things you

have you still

have to have

something to

enjoy don't

you?

But if you

have Jesus

you can be

poor

you can be

rich

you can be

low

you can be

high

you can be

sick

you can be

healthy

and you can

still rejoice

in Jesus

you can still

enjoy

Jesus

whatever

my lot

my heart

has learned

to say