The Vanity of Life (Ecclesiastes 2:12-26)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

And today we continue in our sermon series through

the Old Testament wisdom book of Ecclesiastes.

And so I invite you to turn to chapter two of

Ecclesiastes and follow along there. Ecclesiastes

is a difficult book. There's no doubt about it.

but it is a book of incredible wisdom. And so

we should take it to heart. And so again, please

follow along. This is chapter two. The bulletin

has us going through the end of the chapter.

I'm actually going to stop that at verse 23.

Ecclesiastes two, beginning verse 12. So I turned

to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For

what can the man do? who comes after the king,

only what has already been done. Then I saw that

there is more gain in wisdom than in 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? For of the wise as of the fool

there is no enduring remembrance Seeing that

in the days to come all will have been long forgotten

How the wise dies just like the fool so I hated

life Because what is done under the Sun was grievous

to me for all is vanity and striving after wind

I hated all my toil in which I toil under the

sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who

will come after me, and who knows whether he

will 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. So I turned

about and gave my heart up to despair over all

the toil of my labors under the sun, because

sometimes a person who is toiled with wisdom

and knowledge and skill must leave everything

to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for

it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What

has a man from all the toil and the striving

of heart with which he toils beneath the sun,

for all his days are full of sorrow and his work

is a vexation, even the night his heart does

not rest. This also is vanity. Let us pray. Father,

we come gathered around your text and we ask

that you would illuminate it for us and that,

Lord, you would help me to be faithful to this

text and apply it well for the sake of all who

hear it. We pray these things in the name of

the one who is the word, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Do you ever have that situation where you know

something is wrong with a loved one, and you

want them to tell you what's going on, but they

won't? Spouses, we have this. You know something

is going on with your wife. Something's bothering

her husband, right, or vice versa. And you want

to know what's going on with them. Or children,

sometimes. Brothers and sisters, you know something's

up with your sibling or a friend at church or

at school. You want to know what's going on,

and you feel like you have to pry it out of them.

Do you ever have that situation? Something is

eating at your loved one. Well, something is

eating at Solomon here in Ecclesiastes. And along

the way, he has told us what's bothering him.

But we perhaps get a clearer picture in the second

half of chapter two with what is really going

on with Solomon. He's going to return to wisdom.

He's going to share with us that that ultimately

doesn't solve his biggest problem. Earlier in

chapter two he went after self -indulgence. He

tried to cheer himself with all sorts of things.

And he said that this also is vanity and is striving

after wind. didn't really help him. And so there's

something more that's going on. And we need to

hear what it is. And it's this. It is death.

The second half of chapter two is about death.

The hevel of life, that word that gets translated

to vanity, the hevel of life is that it ends.

And that when life ends for our loved ones, it

hurts. Many of you know that this week I was

up in Connecticut visiting my grandmother. I

love her very much. And she is, she's not doing

well. And that was probably my last time of seeing

her, this side of glory. We had a good time together.

We drove around, saw the sights of Madison, Connecticut.

It's a beautiful little coastal town. She pointed

out to me where her church is and where the senior

center is. We went by the old house where I used

to play. And it was a great visit. I took her

to her favorite seafood restaurant. We had fried

shrimp. It was delicious. But when we got back

to her apartment, her assisted living home, there

was this heaviness, this weightiness over the

thing. Because she knows what's ahead for her.

She knows that she's going to die. You all know

what that's like. You have experienced loss,

and if you haven't, you will. That there is just

this fallenness to humanity and it's death, right?

And it's not supposed to be this way. For you

remember that death is a consequence. It's a

result of sin. Romans 6, 23. For the wages of

sin is what? It's death. Today, we're gonna see,

like I said, that death is really what is bothering

Solomon. And wisdom and toil, also known as work

here, cannot deliver him, and it can't fully

deliver us from evil, from death. And so what

we're looking at is wisdom and work. Now, we

saw this earlier in chapter two. Solomon... being

weighed down with all of these things, he sought

to self -indulge. And if Solomon cannot find

ultimate meeting and self -indulges, then guess

what, you can't either. Because Solomon had it

all at his fingertips. Solomon had access to

everything a person could possibly want, and

he says, no, it's fleeting, it goes away, it

does not have lasting permanence to it. And so

after checking out all of that, He goes back

to wisdom. Look in verse 12. So I turned to consider.

The word turn here has this idea of facing something.

He is facing yet again wisdom head on to see.

Maybe I need to retrace my steps. We saw it at

the end of chapter one. So I'm gonna retrace

my steps. I'm gonna go back to wisdom and see.

Maybe if I contrast wisdom with madness and folly,

I will realize that yes, it really is all about

wisdom. And he seems to show to us that as he's

looking at wisdom, he does this for the benefit

of others. He says, for what can the man do who

comes after the king? Only what has already been

done. So he's saying here, I've tried this for

you, and all you can merely do is copy what I

do. He's trying to figure it out, not just for

himself, but for others. And when he looks at

wisdom, he sees there is incredible gain there.

Look in verse 13. There is more gain in wisdom

than in folly. And this is a really important

statement for us to consider. Because he has

previously said that wisdom can't solve, it can't

fix everything. And he's going to say it again

later. But he still upholds the goodness of wisdom.

Look in verse 15. So he upholds wisdom, but then

he notes something about it. I said in my heart,

what happens to the fool will happen to me also.

Why then have I been so very wise? So Solomon

indeed is the wisest man, but then he recognizes

the limits of wisdom and says, it can't keep

my heart ticking, right? Because death is coming

for us all. But he still says it's better to

walk in the light than in the darkness. It's

better to be wise than a fool even though wisdom

will not ultimately save you. And actually as

we go further into the book of Ecclesiastes,

you'll see something that's even more perplexing

than this. You'll see that sometimes those who

exhibit the most wisdom will die and die first.

I want to take you to Genesis chapter four. If

you want to turn there, we have noted all of

the parallels, not all of them, there's still

more to go, we have noted many parallels between

Ecclesiastes and Genesis. We've actually, each

Sunday that we've been in Ecclesiastes, we've

also been in Genesis. And so Genesis four, You

probably remember this situation. I'm going to

read verses one through about eight. Now Adam

knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore

Cain, saying, I've gotten a man with the help

of the Lord. And again, she bore his brother

Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain

a worker of the ground. the course of time Cain

brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit

of the ground and Abel also brought of the firstborn

of his flock and of their fat portions and the

Lord had regard for Abel in his offering But

for Cain and his offering he had no regard Cain

so Cain was very angry and his face fell and

the Lord said to Cain Why are you angry and why

has your face fallen if you do well? Will you

not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin

is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary

to you, but you must rule over it. Cain spoke

to Abel, his brother, and when they were in the

field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel

and killed him. This is the first murder recorded

in Scripture, but I want to show to you why Abel

is a fitting name for this person. Because if

you were to look at this in Hebrew, you would

see that actually the name Abel is really Hevel.

The very word that is used throughout Ecclesiastes

is the same word that's used for Abel. And so

how is he like Hevel? Well, we've said what Hevel

means. Hevel is a breath. It is a mist. that

is there for a time and then goes away. It's

it's vapor. It doesn't it doesn't last. Well,

we can see from Genesis chapter four that Abel

does not last. And the perplexing thing for Solomon

over and over again through Ecclesiastes is that

sometimes the righteous are the ones who are

the have meaning they are the ones who are fleeting.

While the unrighteous live on through. Solomon

through his eyes, you can see that this is very

perplexing to him. It's very much like what one

commentator said, able of ables, everything is

able. Because friends, everyone will die. Everyone

is able. And so Kohelet, the teacher, the preacher,

the one that we call Solomon, he reflects on

what he observes that all will die. And then

he says, verse 17, look there. that he hates

life. I hated life because what is done under

the sun was grievous to me. As you come upon

a statement like that in Scripture, it's shocking,

isn't it? You might think, can you really say

this in the Bible? Can you really say that I

hated life? Are these really inspired words from

the Holy Spirit? Well, the Bible is full of shocking

statements, isn't it? Like the time that Job

cursed the day that he was born or like the psalmist

who said how long Oh Lord, will you forget me?

There are shocking statements because they reflect

the disastrous effects of the fall into sin after

all isn't perhaps the most shocking statement

the one that Jesus says on the cross my God my

God Why have you forsaken me? Perhaps it doesn't

carry the shockiness The force of it because

we're used to that but consider that the father

really did have to turn his back upon the son

In order that we would have salvation. And so

yes, there are shocking statements within scripture,

but there is reason for these things So let's

understand the context of this statement for

Solomon Solomon doesn't say that he hates life

for likes on Facebook He doesn't say this to

get for click bait or to sell newspapers or something.

No, there's real reason behind these words. So

what does he hate? Zach Eswine says he means

that it is right and good to cultivate a distaste

for the misery, the sin, the death, and the evil

and the havoc of this life. It's very much like

what Psalm 97 10 says, oh you who love the Lord,

hate evil. And so friends, we need to understand

this, that the wise person loves God. The wise

person loves his neighbor as himself. The wise

person hates sin, but the fool hates people,

hates God and loves sin. And so let me ask you

friends, what do you love and what do you hate?

You remember Jesus has two great commands, to

love God with everything you've got and to love

your neighbor as yourself. You can only love

God though, and you can truly only love your

neighbor because God has loved you first in Christ

Jesus. And knowing that, knowing the love of

God and how you cannot be separated from the

love of God because of Christ Jesus, that's what

gets us through the heaval of this life. That's

what gets us through the miseries of this life.

That's what gets us through the loss of a loved

one. That our hearts are regenerated, we are

made new. And so we look at death differently,

don't we? The believer in Jesus Christ looks

at death differently. We take an eternal view.

We look beyond the miseries of this life to see

exactly what Jesus Christ is doing for us right

now. And he says, I go to make a place for you.

A place where there's no more death. But I know

what some may say, well, all that sounds really

good, but what about the here and the now? I

live right now in this fleeting world where there's

all of this sin. How am I to live? And so Solomon

tries something else here. Look in verses 18

and onward. He looks at the vanity of toil. And

he continues with a difficult statement, just

like he says that he hated life, now what does

he say? I hated all my toil in which I toil under

the sun. Now, we should note what's really being

said here. Sometimes we associate toil with work,

and I think that's fine to do, and I will call

toil work. But we're not just talking about our

nine to five job here. We're talking, when we

talk about toil, everything that we do under

the sun, be it our job, be it the raising of

our kids, be it our hobbies, whatever it may

do, all of the things that we do under the sun.

But because of sin, the things that we do under

the sun have been cursed. You should see this,

that work is not a result of the fall. Cursed

work is. Work is not a result of the fall. Cursed

work is. We know what happened in the garden.

Adonis, they ate the fruit, they weren't supposed

to, and God cursed their labor, right? Friends,

you may love your work. You may love what you

do, but it's not frustration -free work, is it?

No, if it is, please let me know how to do it.

And so the problem isn't punching the time clock.

It's that we serve and we work and we exhaust

ourselves to do the best with all that God has

given to do. And then Solomon says, but what

then? I do all of this and then what's the gain?

Look at the second half of verse 18. Seeing that

I must leave it to the man who will come after

me. Where's the gain in that? Death doesn't care

about your resume. Death does not care about

your resume. Eventually, unless the Lord comes

in our lifetime, we will all die. And the wise

person takes that to heart. So I was trying to

think about how to illustrate this. How to illustrate

this point that Solomon is making where we labor

and labor and labor and then it's just left to

somebody else. I was thinking about baseball.

It's spring outside. Right? Baseball's about

to start up. Think of it like this. A manager

of a baseball team. The season lasts forever.

162 games. What happens if the manager dies right

before the playoffs? He's led his team for 162

games. And that's just left over some other coach.

Someone else who will manage the team. And who

knows whether that coach will be a good coach

or a bad coach. That's what Solomon is saying

here. that all of our days will come to an end.

And if we have tried to place our ultimate satisfaction

in our work and the here and the now, we will

be left very, very disappointed because it ultimately

does not satisfy. Solomon knows his reign will

come to an end. Look at verses 22 and 23. So

I turned about. and gave my heart up to despair

over all the toil of my labors under the sun

because sometimes a person who is toiled with

wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything

to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for

it. And so all of this striving, all of this

working, trying to find satisfaction in our work,

what is the result? What does it ultimately give

us? It gives us what he says in verse 23. For

all his days are full of sorrow and his work

is a vexation. He cannot even sleep. Friends,

when you lie down your heads at night on the

pillow, does your mind race sometimes? Do you

have a hard time shutting off your brain? What's

the reward for all of the anxiety and the worry

that we have? The reward for this is just more

worry, right? Jesus speaks on this in Luke chapter

Luke 12 · chapter mention

12. You may be familiar with this passage, a

parable of the rich fool, that there was once

a landowner whose land produced crops just plentifully,

and he outgrows all of the storage that he has.

And so he says, what am I going to do about this?

And so he says, I know. I'll build bigger barns

and I'll put all my stuff in the bigger barns

and I will just enjoy it for the rest of my life.

And then what does Jesus say within the parable?

God speaks and he says, 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

towards God. Friends, we must be rich towards

God. We must work, but we must understand the

limits of our work. We must have the proper perspective

of our work. So much toil and so much striving

apart from the Lord only brings frustration.

It brings restlessness. But what does Jesus say

in Matthew chapter 11? Come to me, all who labor

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

and are heavy laden. We labor, but we do so in

the Lord, knowing the limits of our labor. But

with Jesus, we get what we really need. We get

true rest for our souls. Friends, I hope in your

labor, in your work, whatever it is God has given

you to do, I hope that you are so very successful.

And I hope that you do all to the glory of God,

but you must keep it in perspective. And that's

a tough thing to do in this country. In a country

where we've got the American dream, right? The

American dream is only a dream if you think that

you can have satisfaction apart from God. It

will not work. Take it from Solomon, who was

so very successful and yet at the end he realizes

all of his work, all of his life is punctuated

by the same event that punctuates all of our

lives, that of death. You remember how as I began,

I was talking about how we try and know what's

really going on with a person. We try and figure

out what's eating at them. The thing that we

sometimes do when people try and pry it out of

us is we just say, fine, I'm fine. Solomon here,

though, is not fine with it. He realizes the

problem is death. And he wants to know, how do

I live in light of death? Well, friends, I could

give you application that says, be wiser. Be

more knowledgeable. Don't be ignorant. I could

give you application. that says pray for wisdom,

read your Bibles, certainly do those things,

definitely do those things. And I could tell

you for your application to do all of your work

to the glory of God, be thankful for your work,

serve one another, and do those things. But the

real application of a text like this is not what

you do, but it's what you believe. I mentioned

Romans 6, 23. Let me give you the second half

of that verse. The free gift of God is eternal

life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Friends, the solution

to the problem of death, the vanity of life,

is salvation in Christ alone. Jesus went through

the death. He went through the hevel to grant

eternal life to anyone who would believe in Him

as the Savior of the world and of the Son of

God. Jesus doesn't take away death completely.

No, not yet. But he does take away eternal death.

You remember what Paul says, how Jesus removes

the sting of death. What Jesus offers is the

opposite of Hevel. He destroys Hevel. John Owen,

who is a fantastic Puritan writer, has a book.

And I'm not going to quote from the book. I'm

just going to tell you the title because the

title alone sums up what I'm trying to tell you.

The title of the book is The Death of Death and

the Death of Christ. The point is that Jesus

kills death and he destroys the one who has the

power over it. And this is communicated, and

I'll begin wrapping up now. This is communicated

in 2 Timothy chapter 1. verses 8 through 10.

2 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony

about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but

share in suffering for the gospel by the power

of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling,

not because of our works, but because of his

own purpose and grace. which he gave us in Christ

Jesus before the ages began and which now has

manifested through the appearing of our savior,

Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought

life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Jesus comes to do away with death and what he

grants to you is eternal life. And so, friend,

the application Believe in Jesus. Believe that

Jesus was born to save us from our sins. Believe

that Jesus went to the cross for you. Believe

that Jesus really died, really was buried, really

rose, really ascended, and that Jesus really

is coming again. Why? To take us to himself and

to grant us eternal life with him forever. Let

us pray.