Does the first thing you think about when you wake up every morning change from day to day? That's kind of a big question to ask you this early, maybe. When you open your eyes in the morning, or maybe before you open your eyes, but as you awaken, what's the first thing that you think about? I'm going to suggest this morning that that changes. I'm going to suggest that that changes because every single one of us have a different pair of eyes. We're at a different point in our life. We're at a different stage in our life. There are circumstances that are affecting our life and sometimes when we wake up, those circumstances and those things that are about, we're about to face, and they they come to our mind pretty quickly. I'd like for this lesson this morning to kind of merge everyone's thought when we awake to the same thing, so that we reestablish our purpose in life and we move forward that day with that purpose in our minds. You already, you may already do that. I'm confident that this group probably already does that for the most part. You may do that consciously, you may do that even subconsciously, and you may do that as a result of a prayer that you might offer as soon as you get up, or just an acknowledgement to God, that God is and you're grateful for the blessing that you have of waking today and thinking about what God can provide for you. And what we're really talking about when we do that, we're talking about a worldview, where we're talking about a point of reference that you have that's at the forefront of your mind always, and you live your life with that in your mind. And every single human being who either has lived, is living or will live, will somehow reach a point of reference that I would call a worldview. A worldview, really, defined is simply a particular philosophy of life or a conception of the world. And I think it's interesting that every single person forms that. And it's really what the wise man said that we're going to look at this morning, and we're going to look a lot from the book of Ecclesiastes. And if you've not turned there, I hope that you will.
Ecclesiastes, the first chapter and verse three, the wise man said, "What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?" You ever ask yourself, What's the point? You ever ask yourself, What's the point? I get up, I may go to work, I may go to school, I may take care of kids, I may be a kid, I may be going off to college today, I may be embarking on some new thing, I may be taking care of elderly parents, I may be having dinner with a friend, I may be participating in a sport or an activity, I may be doing something that that's of a service nature to people, I may be just doing something where I'm trying to make money so that I can support my family. But I want to ask you a question, what's the point of all that? I may have a lot in this world, I may have very little in this. What's the point? What's the point? That's exactly what I believe the wise man is asking in chapter one and verse three of Ecclesiastes. "What profit?" What's the point? What's the point that a man has of all his labor, which he toils under the sun? I spend my whole life doing what I do, and what's the point? And I want to tell you something about that folks. Some people never reach a conclusion about that, and they live their life just day to day, minute to minute, second to second, and they really don't know. I want to ask you this morning, what's the point to your life? What's the point?
I want to share some things with you this morning that I believe are critically important for every single person to think about as they live their life. Because what Solomon does, and I believe it is Solomon who writes this book, what he does is he tries to answer that question. And he reaches conclusions that he says, there's no point to that, and then he ultimately reaches a conclusion, long before he gets to the end of the book, but he reaches a conclusion that I think every single person ought to reach if his life is going to be full and if his life is going to be involved in the next life in the fullest kind of way. And I share that with you. You know this, but I want to let Solomon speak to us. And as we get through this, I think we're going to know why we want Solomon to speak to us. Further in this first chapter, he says, "I, the preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem, and I set my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven. This burdensome task God has given to the sons of man by which they may be exercised." Solomon said, I used my mind. I used my mind exclusively. I just thought about it. I just try to ask, what's the point of all that? And I'll tell you at first, on first thought, that seems like a reasonable effort. What better way to figure out who you are and why you're here than to let your own mind figure that out? Let my mind figure out what it is that I'm here for. Some of you this morning who are about to embark on what's called Higher Education, I'm not so sure that's the best title for it. It's higher in the sense of it's beyond what you've done. But that's really what a lot, most of higher education asks you to do. Use your mind to figure out why you're here while you're here, and there is a sense in which that has to happen. I'm asking you to do that this morning. But what Solomon says is, that's all I used. I just wanted to figure out for myself what it was that I was here for.
And so he said, "I set my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that's done." That's how I did that. I just thought about it. I sought it, and I searched for it and I tried to find it. And he said, I love this statement. He says, "It is a burdensome task." "It is a burdensome task that God has given to the sons of men by which they may be exercised."Think about that word. That word means afflicted. Let me tell you what, if you think about it long enough, it will afflict you. There have been times in my life where I've literally sat and thought to myself, What in the world is my purpose? What am I doing here? What's the point? You ever thought about that? You ever thought about that? And the answer is, absolutely. Every single person has thought about that. Some of you are thinking about that right now. I can tell by the look on your face. Yeah, Kenny, I know what you're talking about. It is a burdensome task that God's given. God wants you to think about why you're here. He wants you to try to figure that. He wants you to think about that. But it is a burdensome task, and it's a task that afflicts. That's why some people look at this book of Ecclesiastes and go, I don't like it. It's depressing, it's discouraging, it's burdensome. It is. It is! But how thankful we are. We ought to be, that Solomon, in all his wisdom, asked the question and figured it out. But if you're trying to figure out, I want to say, if you're trying to figure out why you're here and what your purpose is, and you're trying to do that by yourself, you're going to be miserable folks. Afflict is not even the word. Exercise is not even the wor. Burdensome, attached. Those aren't even the words that you're going to end up feeling. If the only thing you're trying to figure out is, why are you here? Let me figure it out and let me do it my way. You're going to be miserable. That's what Solomon said.
And here's why you're going to be miserable. Because in verse 14, he says, I've seen, "I've seen all the works that are done under the sun. And indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind." It's wind grasping. It's trying to find the answer, and you keep searching for it, you keep grasping after it, and you never catch anything. It's vanity. It's so brief. And what you're trying to catch while there may be some meaning to it, it comes and it goes so quickly that it's as if you never even had it. So, I'm successful. So, I own a business, and I make money. So?! So?! So, I'm engaged in these activities. So? How much real enjoyment does that bring to you? In the final analysis, what's that going to do for you? Not very much. It's going to be temporary. And that's what Solomon says right out of the gate. I've done it, I've looked at it. And when you get to verse 16, he adds a little twist to this when he says, "I communed with my heart." You see, he wants to make sure when you understand. Listen, I've been thinking about this stuff a long time, and God's given me the ability to think about it in the wisest kind of way. "I communed with my heart, saying, Look, I have attained greatness. I've gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge." I don't just have it. I get it. I understand it. "And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceive that this also is grasping for the wind." Solomon says, I've got this wisdom, and what I did is I added to it. I added madness and I added folly. I would call it craziness. I would call it a life that's unhinged, that's unfettered. I added to what I know, and I started doing what I know, what I wanted to do, madness and folly. I think that's an interesting change. It's an interesting adaptation to wisdom. I thought about it, I used my mind, and I started doing more than just using my mind. I started engaging in it. So, he uses my wisdom, but he mixes in frivolity as a lifestyle.
What's the gist of what he says? Well, in chapter two, he says, "I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom and how to lay hold on folly till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under the heaven all the days of their lives." He did for us what we don't have to do, but yet what we try to do sometimes. There are some men who use wisdom exclusively, and they search out for the meaning of life just using wisdom. Their mind. They're trying to figure it out, but there are many people who do that. I don't think. Some do. Some do. But what most do is what Solomon says I'm doing now. I communed with my heart and I added some things that have to do with madness and have to do with folly. And he said, I did that till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under the sun. His purpose is still good. I'm still trying to figure this thing out, so I want to do it and see where it leads me. And I'll tell you the extent to which he did it. He said, "I made my works great. I built myself houses, I planted myself vineyards. I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds." I like the last part. I went to all sorts of concerts.
He said I did all this, and I acquired all this, and I used my mind. I continued to think about what I had. And he said, and when I did all this, he said, I went back and I reevaluated everything. And now, when I reevaluate it, reevaluated everything, he said, I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom remained with me. I had it. I did this really better than anybody else. And his conclusion was the same. He said, "Whatever my eyes desire, I did not keep from them." Let me tell you something that's something that none of us can do. None of us can do what he did. None of us. None of us have every single thing we want. None of us. We don't have that ability. Now, some have the ability more than others, but none of us have the ability to do what Solomon did. He said, "I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done, and on the labor in which I had toiled, and indeed, all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly." It's just like he says the same thing over and over. "For what can the man do who succeeds the king?" If somebody can do more than me, what can they do? Only what he's already done. You can't do any more than I have. Solomon says you cannot do more than I've done. And so he he just basically recaps what he's done with this wisdom, doing this madness and this folly.
And he reaches a conclusion. I think it's an interesting conclusion. Verse 13, he says, "Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. If you're going to compare wisdom and folly, wisdom is higher wisdom. There's some sense in which wisdom is light, but folly is darkness. "The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness." You see the point? There is something about wisdom that helps you begin to understand that, but ultimately they both end up at the same place. That's what he says. "Yet I, myself, perceive that the same event happens to them all." They're all going to end up at the same place, no matter what you're using, but if you wisdom is going to get you to a better place than just the folly. And I think that that gets bore out every single day by all the events that we see. The same event, he says, happens to everybody. Nobody's any better off, really. So, you get to verse 15, 16, he says, "so I said in my heart, as it happens to the fool, it also happens to me. And why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, this also is vanity, for there is no more remembrance of the wise and the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? He dies the same way as a fool." Solomon said, so I'm wiser, so I've had more, so I've tried more. What difference does it make? And this conclusion is, it makes no difference. Nobody's going to remember me more than anybody else. And what difference does that make for me or them? If I'm dead, if you're dead, if they're dead, what difference does that make? That's his point. How does a wise man die? The same way a fool dies. A selfish wise man and a selfish foolish man are the same. They're both forgotten. The wise man dies and the fool dies.
And so here's the conclusion that he reaches at this part of the book. He says, "Therefore I hated life. I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing. It was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind." Okay, may I ask you a question, you ever hate life? You ever hate life? Yep, oh, yeah. Solomon, said, I hated life. Why'd you hate life, Solomon? Because the work that was done under the sun, what I saw is I looked down on the earth and as I saw what all went on that was distressing. And it was distressing because it's all vanity, and it's wind grasping. It's trying to reach for something that I never can achieve. Isn't this the best sermon you've ever heard me preach? It's thrilling, isn't it? Thank you. Brett. It is discouraging. What a great lesson. What a great lesson for somebody who's gone through it to share with us and then reach a conclusion that's going to help us. We're not to it yet, but we're almost there. He said, I hated life. It was distressing, it was discouraging. And that's what this book is about. It's just filled with what Solomon said. What's he said he tried. And the conclusion is that whatever he tried, it had some benefit. What you tried this morning, up to this point in time, in your life, it's had some benefit. You've reaped some benefit. You're reaping some benefit. You will have further benefit. But it won't last. And in the final analysis, it won't mean very much to you. Doesn't mean very much to me what I've done.
Okay, now that I got you in the pit, I'm gonna bring you up. I want to tell you what Solomon said. I'm going to tell you what Solomon said you need to do. We're going to do this long before we get to chapter 12. Let me tell you what he said you need to do. You ready? Ecclesiastes five, beginning in verse one, "walk prudently when you go to the house of God and draw near to here, rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God, for God's in heaven and you're on earth. Therefore, let your words be few, for a dream comes through much activity, and a fool's voice is known by his many words." What does Solomon say? He says, "Zip it." Or to use a word that my mother never let me say. But she's not here today. Although she may be listening, you need to shut your mouth. You need and I need to shut our mouths and listen. Listen to what God said. You know the ugly answer to people who want to talk to you about what the meaning of life is, shut up. That's the ugly answer. Shut up and listen. Not to me. I don't know any more than you do. I'm looking for the same things you're looking for. The wise man says, Be quiet. Use few words. Listen to what God said. "Draw near to the house of God to hear." I don't think it's saying necessarily, come to the church building. I think he's saying, listen. Listen to what the God of heaven says. And this should be a place, and I think it is a place where you'll hear those things, but don't be rash with your mouth. Don't utter anything hastily. Let your words be few.
And then when you get to verse seven, he says this same thing, "for in the multitude of dreams and many words, there's also vanity, but fear God." Fear God. "In the multitude of dreams, in many words, there's also vanity." Don't you see that? Do you see that? Personally? Have you tried in your mind when you sat down and you said to yourself, what's the point of this? And you've reached this conclusion, you know, the point is I need to get a good job, I need to live in a big house, I need to be able to do everything that I want to do. I need to be able, I want to have kids. And I want this, and I want that. I want to do this. I want to do that. And then in the final analysis, you go, what's the point? There's some benefit, there's some good things about that, but they're not going to last long. That's where all of us are today. You're sitting in this audience today, and I know when I said that you're going, that's me, Kenny. You know why I know it's you? Because it's me. it's every single person. Everything vanity. There's some brief, even exciting, even beneficial, even good thing about life. There are things like that all over the place, and he's going to say that in just a minute. But let me cut to the chase tis morning. As you determine your worldview, you need to listen. You need to shut your mouth and listen. You don't need to tell God what you're going to do. You need to listen to God and let him tell you what you need to do. You don't need to tell God what you're going to do. You need to look outside the world to get your worldview. You need to adopt Solomon's early conclusion, and you need to adopt his late conclusion.
Here's his early conclusion. It's what Victor read for us. Here's hat he said. He said, "Here's what I've seen. It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun, all the days of his life in which God gives him." And to that all God's people said, Amen. I love to eat and drink. I love to enjoy the good things of all labor, all my labor. I love to stop and rest and just think about what benefit I have gained in life, and some of which, most of which, in a sense, I've worked for, but it's not been my own achievement. I've put in some toil to have that, and I have some of those things. And I like to do that. You know, I like to do that. You like to do that. Solomon says it's his heritage. It's man's heritage. That's why it's part of why I made him. I want him to enjoy those things, and we do. Verse 19, "as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor is a gift of God." How often do we say that? We have all these blessings. Why? Because God's given them to us. And that's true. It's the gift of God. Verse 20. Now, here's what will happen, here's what Solomon says this what's going to happen to you. If you understand that your ability to enjoy is because God has granted it to you, here's what's going to happen to you. Verse 20, "he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life." I love that. I love this. I love this verse. "He will not dwell unduly on the days he was life." Will he dwell on it? Yes, that's part of what he just said. He's given me the ability. He wants me to dwell but he doesn't want me to dwell unduly. And if my attitude is right, if my worldview is right, I won't dwell unduly. Why not? Because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart. What's that? It's the God of heaven who's given us everything.
God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart, all of these things that now come into focus, that now really start to mean something to me, all of those things now, they keep me busy, because that's what the joy of my heart is. They're all gifts. It's man's portion to enjoy life, but the right thinking man does that, but with the right perspective. What is his joy? His joy is to fear God. Your worldview that is not vanity, and that's not wind grasping is God fearing. That's why, when he concludes the book, he says, Let us hear the conclusion. It's not just a conclusion, it's the conclusion. Let us hear the conclusion of the entire matter. You put everything into this. And you put everything into this thing that we call life, put everything that you think of, put it all in there. And here's the conclusion of every bit of it. Here's the conclusion of every bit of it. Fear God. "Fear God. Keep His commandments for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing where the good or evil." What happens in my life comes into play. God doesn't forget that. He doesn't want you not to enjoy that. As a matter of fact, he wants you and enjoy it, but you better enjoy it with the worldview that says, I fear God, and everything I do revolves around that. That's why, in chapter 11 and 12, he says to young people, says, you need to remember your Creator while you're young, because there's going to come a time when you're not young. And let me add the Kenny translation: that's going to get here sooner than you think. Right Old people? Yeah. You need to remember your Creator in the days of your youth, and while you're pursuing becoming whatever it is that you're going to become, which is a wonderful thing and which going to give you great benefit, that pursuit's always secondary, always secondary. And whatever you're beginning now, as you transition to a new school year in a different place, and to Higher Education, and whatever you're planning, whatever you're pursuing, I hope you make it, and I hope it always at least about third or fourth on your list of priorities. I hope you get there, but when you do, it's not going to last long.
Aren't you glad you came this morning. It just ain't gonna last long, people. And while you're getting there, and while you're playing this game we call life, and while you're involved in this thing we call life, you better understand fearing God and keeping His commandments is what it's all about. You see the point to all that? I think you do. I want to close with a poem. I'm not a big poem guy. I don't think I only memorized one poem in my life, and that was, it was entitled Fleas, and it was Adam Hadam. It'll take you a while to think about that. I'd say it again, but you may not get it then, either. That's only poem I memorized, but I read something as I researched and I thought about this, I read something I want to share with you. It's a poem that was written somewhere around 1630 it was entitled The Pulley. It was a by them, by a man named George Herbert, probably is how you pronounce that. He was a theologian, but he was also a poet. He lived in England, and his point, his point in this poem, I think it's important to understand that his point in this poem is that man needs to remain restless. If the blessings that come in his life, if they don't move him toward a restless spirit so that he will attach himself to God, then what's the point? I love it. I want to, I know you can read it, I hope you can, I think you can. But I want to read it to you. I want you think about it.
"When God at first made man, having a glass of blessings standing by, 'Let us,' said he, 'pour on him all we can. Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie, contract into a span.'" A span of time. "So strength first made a way; the beauty flowed, then wisdom, honor and pleasure. When almost all was out, God made a stay," put a stop to it, "perceiving that, alone of all his treasure, rest in the bottom lay." Rest in the bottom lay. "'For I should,' said he, 'Bestow this jewel also on my creature, he would adore My gifts instead of me, and rest in nature, not the God of nature. So both should losers be. Yet let him keep the rest, But keep them with repining restlessness; Let him be rich and weary, that at last, if goodness lead him not, yet weariness may toss him to my breast.'" I love that. That's, I just, that's just me. What Herbert said, what he wrote, is me. It's God has, He's poured all these blessings into me. He's poured all these blessings into you. And if we're not careful, those blessings create a vanity that is the worst possible thing for us. The worst possible thing. What he wants those blessings to do, my good friends, is to create restlessness. He wants those blessings to create, if you will, a vacuum that says, something else fills this. Something else fills this. And what God said is, I fill it. I fill it. If you'll fill your life with me first, and allow me to give you the gifts and to pour out these blessings that I have poured out on all men, if you'll allow me to do that, and you'll keep the perspective and the worldview and the mindset that you ought to have, your life, will truly be blessed.
How's that going for you? How's that going for you? How's it going for me? See, one of the advantages I have in preaching a lesson like this I've been preaching now for two or three weeks to myself. I've been thinking about it to myself all this time, and I've been praying that when I am able, if I'm able, if God gives me the ability to share it with you, that I want to share it in the very best way possible that I could share it, because I think it's impactful. You better think about this stuff. And I don't say, that's not a threat, and I'm not saying that because you haven't, I think you do. Matter of fact, I think most of you if I've guaged this group right, I think most of you not only have considered this, I think you've concluded what Solomon said you ought to conclude. I think you've done that. I think that's why your life is blessed. I think that's why you're content. I think that's why you want to be a part of a spiritual family. Because you see the value of that. It's not just that you know that's what the Lord wants, but you see the value of that. You understand the good that that does, even in the midst of chaos. In the midst of distressing circumstances and disaster, you see what being part of a family who says, No, God should be at the center of everything. You understand that. That's part of why, that's part of why, when I wake up every morning, and I think about my purpose and my life, I try to focus on: it's God. And that's why, when I wake up on the Lord's Day and I think about, I'm gonna, today, get to be with all of you in this place to think about the most important thing in my life, and that's God, and that's my brethren, and that's heaven, and that's all these things. And may I say to those of you, maybe this morning, who are in college and you're thinking about, you know, what place could you be that would help you with that. This is a place to do that. It's not the only place. What a great place to keep perspective and to keep focused on his word, and keep focused on what you ought to be and what you ought to become. Even as an 18 or 19 or 20 or older, as you're a young adult, and you're thinking about what should I pursue in this life? What a great place to come and see what do people who are 60, 70,80, and 90, what do they look like, who kept themselves in God's way all their life? What do they look like? I'm gonna tell you what. You can find them here. You find them here. You latch on to them and they'll help you.
But it's just important. It's just important to think about a lesson like this and to refocus and reshape our minds as to what we need to do. Brett texted me last night. He said, are there some songs that you'd like for me to sing? I said, Yeah, "I Am the Way." I am the way. I'm the only way. That helps me focus. I thought that would, appreciate Brett singing that song. Appreciated you singing it with me. And then he sang The Solid Rock. "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness." Listen now to this. "I dare not trust the sweetest frame." You ever thought about what that means? "I dare not trust the sweetest frame." You ever thought about that? How many times have you sung that and go, What does that mean? What do you think it means? "I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name." Edgar Mote, Edward Mote, I think, who wrote that. I did a little research. What did he mean by that? Nobody really knows. It's kind of interesting. Nobody really knows what he meant. I don't know if he ever explained to anybody, but what I think he means is, I dare not trust the sweetest frame to me. What's the sweetest frame to me? What's a sweetest frame to you? Family? Family, power, things, money, what's the sweetest frame to you? Edward Mote said, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, whatever that is, whatever the sweetest frame is you. He says, Don't do that. Don't trust that. What then should you do, "but wholly lean on Jesus' name." You want to live life the way that's best? You need to wholly lean on Jesus' name. You need to fear God and keep His commandments. This is the all of man. I pray that the lesson will be helpful to you. It's helped me refocus, and I hope it has you as well.
If you're in this audience this morning, this will be a great time for you to refocus. Be a great time for you to give your life to the Lord in obedient faith, releasing yourself as the priority, and making him the priority, making him the king of your life, and saying, Lord, I'm going to do what you want. I'm not just going to do it today, August 18, 2024, I'm going to begin today August 18, 2024 but I'm going to do it till I die. I'm yours from here on out. What a great thing. That's the best thing. We'd love to help you do that, if we can. I want you to think about it, and as Brett leads us in this song, as we sing it together, know that we'll sing it to encourage anyone who would like to respond to the gospel. If you would come as we stand in as we sing.
