The Vanity of Joy Apart from God (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

Would you now take your Bibles and open them

to Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter 2. We're

Ecclesiastes 2 · chapter mention

going to look at just three verses today, 24

through 26. And we are returning there after

a few Sundays away from this book. So just to

remind you what we've already seen. Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, we have seen Kohelet, which is the

Hebrew name for teacher or preacher or very literally

the assembler of people. He has been talking

about finding meaning in life and he has gone

through so many different avenues to try and

find such meaning and he's found that there is

so much, as he says, heathel, the word that's

used for vanity in your translations or futility.

He has found that everything is passing. But

what he's going to do for us today is to look

beyond those things, to look to the God who gives

the good gifts. And he's going to tell us to

enjoy those gifts, but to enjoy those gifts responsibly.

And so would you look at this with me, Ecclesiastes

chapter two, 24 through 26. For it reads, there's

nothing better for 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?

For to the one who pleases him, God has given

wisdom and knowledge and joy. But to the sinner,

He has given the business of gathering and collecting

only to give to the one who pleases God. This

also is vanity and a striving after wind. This

is God's word. Let us pray. Father, we give you

thanks and praise for the book of Ecclesiastes,

but certainly as we look at it, we at times don't

understand. And so we need ears to hear and eyes

to see. I pray that you will grant us these things.

Give us discernment and understanding. We pray

now in Christ's name. Amen. He really had it

all when you think about it. He had money. He

had power. He could have had pretty much any

wife that he wanted. When you really think about

it, Moses had everything. And yet we know this

about Moses, that he gave up nearly everything

in order to follow after God. This is the point

of the book of Hebrews, or the point of chapter

11 of Hebrews, 24 to 26. By faith, Moses, when

he was grown up, refused to be called the son

of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be

mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy

the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered

the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the

treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the

reward. Moses forfeits temporary pleasures in

order to please God. And what this text shows

us and what the life of Moses shows us is that

pleasure is not wrong. Pleasure is not wrong,

but ignoring the source of pleasure is. It's

very much like what C .S. Lewis once said, a

famous quote. It would seem that our Lord finds

our desires not too strong, but too weak. We

are half -hearted creatures. fooling about with

drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy

is offered to us like an ignorant child who wants

to go on making mud pies in a slum because he

cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of

a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Friends, in order to be pleased, in order to

really enjoy God's gifts, we must first enjoy

And that's what we see today in our text. I want

to see it in two different ways. First of all,

we're going to see what God gives to the believer,

and then we're going to see what God gives to

the unbeliever. Verse 24, go ahead and look there.

There are three possible interpretations to,

well, I'm going to combine two of them together.

There's two possible interpretations to verse

24. Let me read it again. There's nothing better

for a person than that he should eat and drink

and find enjoyment in his toil. And so what some

say as they look at this is to say, well, life

is meaningless. So just go ahead and eat and

drink and live it up. Live it up while you can

because it'll soon all be over. That's one interpretation.

I don't believe that it's correct. The correct

view is this. It's not with sarcasm. And it's

not with fatalism, but we are to recognize that

God gives good gifts to be enjoyed in Him. And

I think that you would all agree with me here,

for you're in this place. We are here for a very

good thing. We are worshiping, and we are to

worship the way that God tells us, but we're

also to enjoy the other things of God as He would

have us to do so. And yet, there are two dangers

to this, and I've used this analogy before. You're

on the road. And on one side is a ditch. And

on the other side is another ditch. These are

two dangers, okay, when it comes to our pleasures.

One, this side, we forget the giver and we abuse

the gifts. Meaning we elevate the gifts to a

status that they ought not have. But on the other

side, the other ditch, is that sometimes we forget

how to enjoy life altogether. Friends, you're

not more spiritual because you refuse to smile.

And you're not more spiritual because you refuse

to have a good time. No, this passage right here

commends enjoyment, which is one of the things

I think is wonderful about the book of Ecclesiastes.

I know how you've probably felt about chapters

one and two. I know, I get it, right? But actually

we see over and over again that Solomon within

Ecclesiastes He upholds joy. He tells us how

to have it, right? Firstly, he mentions here

eating and drinking. I think we could see this

as kind of a metaphor for all of joy in life,

right? We should understand that God does want

us to have joy in this life, and he does give

us these good gifts. But sometimes, As Kohelet

is here, we live in a life that is difficult,

that it's very trying, that it weighs us down.

Can we still have joy in the midst of all of

the hardships of this life? I would say absolutely.

I've already referenced Moses. Psalm 90, Moses

speaks about this. For he says in verses 14 and

15, satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast

love that we may rejoice and be glad all of our

days. Make us glad for as many days as you have

afflicted us and for as many years as we have

seen evil. This is Moses's prayer and if you

read the rest of it you would see his prayer

amidst hardship. that he's saying life is tough

but oh Lord please continue to make me joyful.

Help me to enjoy the good gifts that you give.

But sometimes we misplace those things or as

I said we elevate those things to a place that

they ought not be. Have you ever heard of something

called the World Happiness Report? Maybe some

of you saw that. I think it was released this

week, it was very recently, the World Happiness

Report. I wonder what you would guess would be

the happiest countries in the world. I'll tell

you it was Scandinavian countries for the most

part because I think they get to see the northern

lights. But the World Happiness Report, it sounds

like a useful thing until you look at the criteria

for happiness. The World Happiness Report, that

has Finland in the top spot, it points to money.

It points to social factors. It points to the

government. But the World Happiness Report misses

the source of happiness. It misses the source

of all joy. Where does joy really come from?

This text is clear. It comes from God. That's

not the only place. Let me take you to another

thing that Solomon wrote. Proverbs, or no, Solomon

didn't write this one. I'll get to Proverbs later.

Psalm 1, verses 1 and 2. Blessed is the man who

Psalms 1:1

walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands

in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of

scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the

Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Some translations use the word happiness there

instead of blessedness. Either way, we see that

our delight is to be in the Lord. Now why is

that? How is that? Amidst everything that we

go through, can we really have such joy in God?

Absolutely. For one, the word says it. But two,

your joy comes from somebody who doesn't change.

In our lives, circumstances change, and sometimes

that changes our demeanor, who we are, right?

But we can have joy in one who is steadfast.

We can have joy in the immutable God who doesn't

change at all. Therefore, when the storm clouds

roll in, when we have a really bad day or we

go through something very, very difficult, we

can still have joy because it comes from God.

And it is true, God does give us good things,

and sometimes the best things are the most simple

things. The seasons. How many of you are delighting

in springtime, right? The azaleas are blooming

outside, the grass is green, right? It's beautiful.

This is one of God's gifts. Or maybe you're more

like me and you like the cold weather. What about

when the weather turns to autumn and the leaves

change, right? It's sweater weather. What about

the good gift of the smell of coffee in the morning?

What about the taste of a sweet, juicy apple

picked right from the tree? What about when you're

at the beach and the waves are just slowly crashing

against the shore? What about when you're in

the woods by a babbling brook, like a little

small creek we have in the woods behind this

church? Friends, these are God's good gifts.

They are to be enjoyed. And God has made us,

He has designed us for pleasure. Think about

the very garden of Eden and what that must have

been like, truly beautiful. What about the promised

land that God brought his people into, a land

flowing with milk and honey? What about the description

of the new heavens and the new earth? At the

end of Revelation, these all sound just glorious,

don't they? And very pleasing. God is the source

of all of that. But according to our text here,

he's not only the source of joy, he also gives

wisdom and knowledge there in verse 26. For to

the one who pleases him, God has given wisdom

and knowledge and joy. Yes, God is the source

of those things. Proverbs 1 -7, the fear of the

Lord is the beginning of all knowledge. And friends,

this is not something that we just put off till

later. This is not something just for eternity.

This is for something right now. You can have

real joy and real knowledge and real wisdom right

now. But friends, if you do not know God through

Christ, what does God give to you? Look at the

end of verse 26. This is probably a metaphor

for work, for labor, for toil. Those who toil

but don't know God cannot truly enjoy it. And

when it uses the word sinner here, this is quite

literally one who misses the mark. They miss

the purpose of labor. They fail to see that everything

that we do is to be done with God in mind, to

please God. A person who doesn't please God will

not be pleased by God. A person who doesn't please

God will not be pleased by God. And so verse

25 seems to ask this rhetorical question, apart

from him, who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

Can a person have real, true, lasting enjoyment

apart from God? The answer to that is emphatically

no. And friends, life is hard enough as it is.

Don't take God out of the equation. We need the

source of joy. And we need to recognize that

these joys may be given to people, but ultimately

for those who miss the mark, who are sinners,

who don't know God, they will be unable to please

God. And this text even shows us that those pleasures

will be given to those who please God. And so

yes, it is true that we look around and sometimes

we see that There are all kinds of people out

there who do not know Jesus Christ, they don't

know God, they don't submit to Him, they don't

respect Him, they don't honor Him, and it seems

like they're living their best life. But what

is communicated here is that they will not always

live their best life. That those pleasures will

be given to those who do know and please God.

And this isn't merit theology. This is not prosperity

gospel here. You don't earn God's favor. And

there's no guarantee of material blessing. But

we do see this time and time again in Scripture,

actually. If I can take you to another thing

that Solomon said here, Proverbs 13 22, this

illustrates perfectly what I'm saying. A good

man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.

but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

Or even think about, think about some of the

stories from scripture, the unrighteous versus

the righteous. Think about in the book of Esther,

right? So you've got Mordecai and you've got

Haman, right? And Haman is working to destroy

Mordecai and ultimately the Jews, right? But

God has different plans in store. Haman thinks

that he is working his way up the ladder. He

is soon going to be clothed with the best crown

and the best robe and there's going to be parades

for him and all these things. But actually what

happens according to the book of Esther, those

things that Haman wanted, that he desired are

ultimately going to be placed upon Mordecai,

right? And what does Haman actually get? The

very gallows that he built. It's there in the

stories of Joshua with the Israelites in these

Canaanite cities. The Israelites did not build

these Canaanite cities, but they got to take

them over. Or maybe you remember the parable

of the 10 pounds or the minas in Luke 19. You

remember how there is a There is a master who

goes away for a time and he has servants and

he leaves his money with the servants and says,

do something with them. But when he comes back,

there is one servant who has done nothing with

his. And so he takes that money and he gives

it to the one who has invested much. Friends,

all this to say, don't miss the mark. People

coast through this life. Without thought to God,

without thought to his creation, without thought

to his word, without thought to what he promises,

people go through life convincing themselves

that nothing is wrong. But isn't that one of

the humongous points of Ecclesiastes? Friends,

something is wrong. And pleasures won't fix it.

I think this is accentuated by the very fact

that as you read through the beginning of Ecclesiastes

in chapter one through, in chapter 114 through

about chapter two, verse 23, the very name of

God is absent. But what happens when you get

to 24? You have the name of God there. And then

you see it again in verses 26. You see it twice

in verse 26. Kohelet Solomon here is being reminded

that God is the one to be enjoyed and he is the

one who gives the gifts. Friends, God doesn't

want you to find your meaning in stuff. He doesn't.

Daniel Gibson says this, endless enjoyment does

not come in the box with your iPhone. If it did,

why have you been considering that upgrade? That's

a good question. Enjoyment is not automatically

part of sex, and it's not the key ring to your

dream house. It doesn't ride with you on the

passenger seat in your new car. We all know what

it's like to have tasted the best life has to

offer and still to be left wondering what comes

next. Recently, my children have turned me on

to a really good song. It's by an artist, a contemporary

artist named Josiah Queen, and his song is called

Dusty Bibles. He says this, we got dust on our

Bibles, brand new iPhones, no wonder why we feel

this way. We walk with our eyes closed, blind

leading blind folks, and I'm done with these

idols in Dusty Bibles. Friends, are you done

with idols? Are you done with elevating the pleasures

of this life above God? We live in a culture

that is just governed by pleasure. We live in

a culture that says live your best life while

we ignore the one who gives us life. We all know

this, I know it repeated a lot. Westminster Shorter

Catechism number one. Man's chief end is to glorify

God and to enjoy Him forever. We are to enjoy

Him. Do you enjoy God? Do you ever just sit in

quiet and ponder upon who God is? Philosopher

Blaise Pascal once said, all of humanity's problems

stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a

room. We want to be constantly bombarded with

pleasures and entertainment. And if I can show

you how this has been in my own life. Many of

you know I love music. If you ask me on a random

Tuesday, what are you thinking about? There's

probably a song going through my head and I'm

thinking about the lyrics. For many years I would

have music on nearly 24 -7. I would go to bed

listening to music and I would sometimes leave

it on all night and wake up to it. But somewhere

in there I realized it was crowding out prayer.

It was crowding out Bible study and Bible reading.

It was crowding out service to others. And I

had to learn to turn it off. And I wonder, in

your life, is there something that you just need

to turn off? Is there something that you just

need to put it away? And so ask these questions

about yourself and about your pleasures. Do your

pleasures come from God? Music, as I said, it's

not a bad thing, but there need to be restrictions

on these things, right? So, do your pleasures,

secondly, help you enjoy God more? And thirdly,

are your pleasures replacing family, church,

work, service, or your walk with Jesus? Friends,

our pleasures, they can be good things, but there

need to be limits on how we enjoy them. Sex,

for instance, is, as we know, to be enjoyed simply

within the confines of biblical marriage between

man and woman who love Jesus. There are limits

to this. Food. Food is to be enjoyed. We even

have a term for this, foodies. It's to be enjoyed,

but with self -control. Gluttony is sinful. We

ought to avoid overindulgence out of control,

eating, drink. Solomon has already talked about

this earlier in Chapter two about trying to find

enjoyment in meeting in life simply in strong

drink. Friends, he doesn't say that drinking

is wrong, but he certainly says it is wrong to

be drunk or to find your meaning in this. And

Paul affirms this later in the scriptures. All

that to say, you could probably do this with

any of these pleasures. They are to be enjoyed

the way God would have us to enjoy them. One

more example for you as I begin to close, and

I think this is a good example. We return to

Eden. We see this over and over again in Ecclesiastes,

this return to Genesis. In Eden, Adam and Eve,

they had it all. Really, they did. Even more

than Moses has, as I've already referenced him.

They had it all, including God himself, but unrestrained

pleasure led to the fall. Eve looked at that

fruit, she saw that it was a delight to the eyes,

and she decided her pleasure and the possibility

of what it might bring was more important to

her than obedience. And we can say the same thing

for Adam. Friends, the pleasures we enjoy should

lead us closer to God, not in rebellion. against

him. Can I give you one more concluding thought?

Would you like to know what Jesus's joy is? Hebrews

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, one and two. Therefore, since we

are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us also lay aside every weight and sin which

clings so closely And let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us looking to Jesus,

the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for

the joy that was set before him endured the cross,

despising the shame and is seated at the right

hand of the throne of God. What is Jesus's joy?

It's accomplishing the Father's will to secure

redemption Jesus's joy is in his father and Jesus's

joy is in you and friends there is no vanity

no heathel in that because this what Jesus offers

for us is eternal let us pray