Introduction:
Here are Three Things That Don't:
(Ecclesiastes 2:1-26)
- Pleasures Don't Matter. (Eccl 2:1-3)
1 Kings 4:22-23 - Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.
- Projects Don't Matter. (Eccl 2:4-6)
- Possessions Don't Matter. (Eccl 2:7-23)
Does Anything Matter? Here is One Thing That Does:
- Pleasing God Matters. (Eccl 2:24-26)
1 Timothy 6:17 - As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
Living Life from the Hand of God Results In:
- Being Thankful .
- Being Content .
Philippians 4:11-13 - Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:40-00:42
We were going to have an orchard.
00:44-00:51
And I could not have been more excited because you need multiple trees because they sort of like pollinate each other and that's how the apples grow.
00:51-00:54
I was so excited for the apple trees, right?
00:55-00:58
And we ordered them from what I thought was a reputable catalog.
01:00-01:03
I mean, the strawberries on the cover look big.
01:03-01:20
So we ordered these apple trees from this catalog and I was so excited when they came because we were gonna have apple pies, and we were gonna have apple fritters, and we were gonna make apple sauce, and we were gonna, what else?
01:20-01:24
Apple turnovers, pancakes?
01:24-01:27
Apple pancakes, and all of it.
01:27-01:38
I could not wait to plant our orchard, and I was gonna harvest all these apples, and I was just gonna bring apples to church and throw 'em out.
01:38-01:40
I was gonna be like this happy Apple guy.
01:41-01:44
And we got our trees in, can we have that picture?
01:48-01:50
There, that's okay, there it is.
01:51-01:54
Now that's what it looked like when it came to us several years ago.
01:57-01:59
And that picture was taken last week.
02:02-02:17
Now I don't like to think of myself as a pessimist, But I think the only apples I'm gonna get are at all these letdown, right?
02:19-02:22
That's where we are in Ecclesiastes.
02:22-02:24
We're looking at Solomon's search for meaning.
02:27-02:33
And we saw last week in chapter one that life is an endless cycle and we can't do anything about that.
02:34-02:49
And he said, "This is vanity." He says, "Much of life is, it's the apple tree stick." High hopes, big disappointment.
02:51-02:53
So what's the secret to contentment?
02:54-02:56
That's what we're going after here.
02:56-02:57
What is the secret to contentment?
02:58-03:06
Back in chapter one in verse three, he asked, "What does a man gain by all his toil?" And we found the answer last week.
03:06-03:08
He says the answer is nothing.
03:09-03:18
And when we get to chapter 2, here what we have is Solomon going into detail about his journey.
03:19-03:26
He's giving us details on this, "Okay, I was wanting to seek what gives meaning to life and here's what my journey looked like." All right?
03:27-03:30
So in your outline, does anything matter?
03:33-03:38
says here's three things that don't. Number one, write this down, pleasures.
03:40-03:58
Don't matter. Pleasures. Don't matter. Look at the first three verses. He says, "I said in my heart, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure. Enjoy yourself.' But But behold, this also was vanity.
04:00-04:26
I said of laughter, 'It is mad!' And of pleasure, 'What use is it?' I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine, my heart still guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
04:28-04:32
So we're told right away of his conclusion, like big spoiler alert.
04:33-04:48
He said, "I embarked on this journey and I'm going to tell you right on the outset, I had unlimited funds and I pursued pleasure and I found out that it didn't matter." I found this to be incredible.
04:49-04:53
1 Kings 4, verses 22 and 23.
04:55-04:56
Speaking of Solomon, look at this.
04:56-04:58
Now, wrap your brain around this.
04:58-05:12
It says, "Solomon's provision for one day was 30 cores of fine flour." A core was about 200 liters-ish, okay?
05:12-05:18
"And 60 cores of meal." One day, okay?
05:19-05:23
10 fat oxen, not the skinny ones, right?
05:24-05:25
I only eat the fat ones.
05:26-05:39
10 fat oxen and 20 pasture fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks.
05:41-05:43
Show of hands, how many people here have eaten a roebuck?
05:46-05:48
All right, show of hands, how many people here know what a roebuck is?
05:50-05:51
That's what I thought, Darla.
05:52-05:54
Sears Roebuck, I think that's different.
05:56-05:57
I really should have studied that part.
05:58-06:00
And Fat and Foul.
06:02-06:07
And I read that and I'm like, "Wow, Solomon ate good.
06:09-06:14
That was his provision for one day." Now I imagine that that wasn't all just for him.
06:15-06:21
I imagine that was for his whole palace, which would include his family and his guards and his servants.
06:21-06:28
And one day, that was all that he indulged in.
06:29-06:30
And what's his conclusion?
06:31-06:32
Well, he tells us right here.
06:32-06:34
He says, "Laughter, just noise.
06:35-06:37
It's not wrong because it's just empty.
06:38-06:48
Pleasure," he says, "What's the use?" And then, "Wine." He says it never really helped anyone, did it?
06:49-07:09
I know a lot of people that have been devastated by a life of too much wine, but like Solomon, I'm like, "I don't know if that's ever really made anybody's life better in the long run." So Solomon's like, "You know, pleasure is just sort of like fireworks, right?
07:10-07:12
That's what pleasure is like, it's fireworks.
07:14-07:18
Fourth of July is coming up and you're gonna go somewhere with your family, you're gonna watch fireworks and...
07:18-07:19
(imitates fireworks)
07:19-07:26
You're gonna be like, "Yay!" "Oh yeah, that's over." Right?
07:28-07:30
That's what pleasure's like, according to Solomon.
07:31-07:34
Number two, does anything matter?
07:34-07:35
Here's three things that don't.
07:35-07:36
Number two, projects.
07:37-07:38
Projects don't matter.
07:39-07:40
Look at verses four through six.
07:42-07:43
He says, "I made great works.
07:44-07:46
I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
07:49-07:55
I made myself gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
07:56-07:59
Do you think he ordered them from the same catalog that we ordered ours?
08:01-08:06
Solomon's like, "I planted all kinds of sticks in the yard." Probably not.
08:08-08:16
He says, "I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees." Okay, now I know he didn't order from the same place that we got ours.
08:17-08:20
But his point here is this, projects don't matter.
08:20-08:28
Interestingly, the Bible tells us that Solomon's house took 13 years to build, 13 years.
08:28-08:29
Can you wrap your brain around that?
08:30-08:46
I was flabbergasted just this past week because I was driving towards Conway one day, empty lot, driving towards Conway another day and there was a dollar general, poof, it popped up like a dandelion, like overnight.
08:47-08:51
And Solomon's house took 13 years to build.
08:52-08:55
He must've been amazing on Pinterest, right?
08:55-08:59
And here's the thing, guys, we spend so much time on our homes.
08:59-09:11
And I mean, maybe we're not like at Solomon level with our homes, but don't we spend so much time on the lawn and trimming the trees and landscaping everything?
09:12-09:13
And then what happens a week later?
09:15-09:16
It all grows back.
09:19-09:20
Meaningless.
09:20-09:29
He's like, "Yeah, all the projects I did, eh, eh." And possessions, number three, possessions don't matter.
09:30-09:30
Does anything matter?
09:31-09:31
Here's three things that don't.
09:31-09:32
Possessions don't matter.
09:32-09:39
Now, Sullivan's going to spend some extra time on this one because I think a lot of people think this is it.
09:41-09:45
If I just have the right stuff, then I'm going to be happy.
09:45-09:49
And so many people think this will do it, and it will not.
09:50-09:51
So follow with me here, verse 7.
09:52-09:58
He says, "I bought male and female slaves and had slaves who were born in my house.
10:01-10:08
I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.
10:09-10:14
I also gathered for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces.
10:15-10:29
I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, to the delight of the children of man." So, okay, so he gives a little list here.
10:29-10:32
He had servants, and herds, and money.
10:33-10:36
And I love this so much. It says that he had singers.
10:39-10:42
And I have to wonder, did that mean that like...
10:42-10:46
I mean, this was like the king, and he was also like the richest guy like ever.
10:46-10:51
So does that mean like he had the best like bands at his house for private concerts?
10:54-10:55
That's what I like to believe.
10:55-10:57
I like to believe in Solomon's house.
10:57-10:58
He was like, "You know what?
10:58-11:04
I'm about to eat my 10 fat oxen and maybe chase it down with a roebuck.
11:07-11:08
Fetch me Tom Petty.
11:08-11:25
I want Tom Petty to sing at me while I eat." Here comes Tom Petty out with his guitar, and he's like, "Well, she was an American girl." And Solomon's like, "I had it all." At least, that's how it looks in my head when I read this.
11:27-11:29
And then it says he had concubines.
11:30-11:41
You're like, "What's a concubine?" Well, a concubine was like a wife, but she was not a wife.
11:42-11:46
And you're like, well, then what was she there for?
11:49-11:50
Ask your mom, all right?
11:52-11:56
You could probably guess why they were there.
11:57-11:59
All right, verse nine, moving on.
12:00-12:09
He says, "So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom remained with me." He said his wisdom remained.
12:09-12:11
He didn't lose himself in the pursuit.
12:11-12:14
It was almost like a clinical trial.
12:15-12:24
Like, I'm going to try to stay objective and I'm going to look at all of these things to see which of these things that I'm indulging myself with is really gonna make a difference.
12:26-12:29
Verse 10, he says, look at this, wrap your brain around this one.
12:29-12:35
He says, "And whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them." Wow.
12:36-12:38
I kept my heart from no pleasure.
12:40-12:45
My heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.
12:47-12:49
Solomon literally had anything he wanted.
12:50-12:51
I mean, wrap your brain around it.
12:51-12:56
How many people in history could rightly say that?
12:57-13:01
That there's not a thing anywhere in the world that's off limits to me.
13:03-13:09
I can have everything and as much of it for as long as I want it, every moment of every day.
13:12-13:20
And you know, I read that and I think to myself, if I could have anything that I wanted, I'd be so happy.
13:22-13:24
What about you, Solomon?
13:25-13:26
Were you happy?
13:28-13:45
Verse 11, he says, "Then I considered all that my hands had done, and the toil that I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity, and striving after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun." Oh, I should have guessed.
13:47-13:48
Still nothing to be gained.
13:49-13:52
And you notice he's still talking about under the sun.
13:52-13:53
He's saying as if this is all there is.
13:55-13:55
Under the sun.
13:55-13:59
Let's ignore heaven, spiritual realities, God, all of that.
13:59-14:14
Let's just pretend what you see is what you get." He's like, "I had all of this and it didn't matter." "Well, did you pick up anything, Solomon?
14:14-14:19
I mean, you spent all this time and money, did you pick up anything?" Well, look at verse 12.
14:20-14:40
He says, "So I turn to consider wisdom and madness and folly, for what can the man do who comes after the king, only what's already been done." He was saying, "Nobody's going to do more than I did, right?" He says, "Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
14:41-14:49
The wise person has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness." What's he saying here?
14:50-14:51
Here's what I believe he's saying.
14:54-14:57
He just got done saying he was indulging in all the pleasures that he wanted.
14:58-15:03
And somebody could have come along and criticized him like, "Solomon, you're being too clinical about this.
15:04-15:04
Right?
15:04-15:10
Like you're not enjoying yourself because you're so busy evaluating whether or not you're enjoying it.
15:11-15:14
Dude, if you want to enjoy it, you got to cut loose, man.
15:14-15:14
Come on.
15:15-15:21
You got to really cut loose." And that's what Solomon's saying here.
15:21-15:21
He goes, "No, no, no, no.
15:22-15:29
It's better to go after these things with your eyes open, not like some wild man, right?
15:30-15:33
Not like some, you know, drunken frat party.
15:34-15:36
Could you imagine being at a party with Solomon?
15:36-15:47
I just see him like with his clipboard taking notes like, "Okay, that guy's obviously drunk, not vanity." And those people, they're stuffing themselves with those appetizers.
15:48-15:49
We're going to call that striving after the wind.
15:50-15:53
but he was being very clinical about this, right?
15:53-16:04
And that's what he's saying, he's, "No, no, no, you don't just go after it like a maniac." Because a wise man can at least foresee results and avoid disaster, right?
16:06-16:12
You know how many accidents, how many injuries, how much death has come as a result of too much partying?
16:13-16:15
I think that's what he's talking about here.
16:15-16:19
Like, "No, no, no, no, I was going into this "with my eyes open," all right?
16:21-16:36
And I would read that and be like, "Oh, okay, Solomon, so what you're saying is, if I'm understanding you, you had all these pleasures, but you used wisdom and applying it, and applying your evaluation and your criticisms, and so what you're saying is wisdom must be the best thing then, right?
16:36-17:18
Wisdom, wisdom is the best thing, right Solomon?" Well, look at verse 14, the second part, he goes, "And yet I perceived 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 have been long forgotten. How So like wisdom is the best thing, right?
17:18-17:19
Solomon, wisdom is the best thing.
17:19-17:24
And he says, nope, because neither the wise nor the fool can avoid death.
17:26-17:27
I talked about this last week.
17:27-17:37
I've said it many times, especially over the last couple of years, but what we've seen, especially in pandemic era, is that people are scared to death of death.
17:38-17:44
And we've seen people thinking that somehow they can live in such a way that they can avoid death.
17:46-17:48
And do you see what Solomon says right here?
17:49-17:55
The wisest man in the world ends up just as dead as the biggest idiot in the world.
17:57-17:59
He says they both end up not remembered.
18:04-18:06
That's not very cheery, is it?
18:08-18:11
At this point I'm like, "Well you know what Solomon, okay yeah, we all end up dead.
18:13-18:17
I guess we know that and somehow we try to avoid it and we try to forget about it.
18:18-18:19
But hey, you know what Solomon?
18:22-18:24
At least you got all that cool stuff, right?
18:25-18:31
I mean, yeah, life is short and you're gonna die like the fool's gonna die, but you got all this, you got all the cool stuff, right?
18:31-18:34
You got the pools and the orchards and the piles, you got all this stuff.
18:35-18:41
There has to be some, there has to be some comfort in having all the stuff, right?
18:43-18:44
Oh, it gets worse.
18:46-18:46
Look at verse 17.
18:48-18:58
He says, "So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me for all as vanity and as striving after wind.
19:00-19:08
I hated all my toil, which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
19:10-19:12
And who knows whether he will be wiser of fool.
19:15-19:21
Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun.
19:21-19:22
This also is vanity.
19:23-19:29
So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun.
19:29-19:39
Because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it.
19:40-19:48
also is vanity and a great evil." He's like, "It's just so pointless.
19:49-20:07
You work hard and you work smart and you earn and you build and you die and along comes somebody that wasn't part of any of that and they get all of it." I've seen this so many times over the years.
20:10-20:10
I've seen it with businesses.
20:12-20:27
You have somebody that starts a business, they have this vision, they have this plan, and they work hard, and they work tirelessly, and they build this amazing business, and then they die, and the person that inherited runs the business into the ground, closes the doors.
20:29-20:29
What?
20:31-20:32
I've seen it in churches.
20:34-20:48
I've seen churches where pastors have served faithfully for decades, preaching the word of God and loving people, and then that pastor dies, and here comes the next guy that thinks it's all about him.
20:51-20:53
Destroys the testimony of a faithful church.
20:56-20:58
I've seen this in families more times than I can count.
21:00-21:13
And if I can get this really personal for a couple minutes, my father died in 2003.
21:15-21:20
And he was the ultimate American dream story.
21:23-21:28
He grew up in Mount Pleasant as a beggar, literally as a beggar.
21:28-21:43
and he would tell me stories about when he was a little kid, he'd go down to the local grocery store and beg them for the food they were going to throw away because it was nicked or bruised or moldy or whatever.
21:43-21:44
He would beg for that.
21:47-22:00
Well when he was 16, growing up in such poverty, he, through some friends, long story short, lied about his age, not condoning this, I'm just telling you how it happened.
22:00-22:03
He lied about his age and was able to enlist in the army.
22:06-22:12
And this would have been 1946, so he would have enlisted in the army just at the tail end of World War II.
22:14-22:19
And getting out of the army, he started to work for a bank as a repo man.
22:21-22:27
And he would tell you, he would tell me stories that if I shared with you, you would find them hard to believe, but they were true.
22:29-22:30
What it was like being a repo man in his day.
22:32-22:41
And he went from being a repo man in the bank, it was the Blue Citizens Bank, it's now Nextier I think.
22:42-22:45
They change names like, what, every other week or whatever.
22:46-22:52
And he went from repo man to like senior vice president and branch manager over the course of his life.
22:53-22:56
So you take a step back and look at my father's timeline.
22:56-23:03
He went from beggar to extremely prosperous banker.
23:05-23:07
Nothing was handed to him.
23:09-23:18
Well, when he died, my mother remarried a man who didn't work, who had nothing.
23:20-23:26
But because he married my mom, he legally inherited everything that was my father's.
23:28-23:42
And a lot of you know my mother died last October and now her husband owned everything of dad's. Took what he wanted, moved off to Georgia.
23:44-23:53
Two weeks ago our sister sent me a link. She goes, "You gotta check this out. There was online auction for the stuff that was in the house.
23:57-24:05
And it was such a surreal feeling because there were pictures taken at the house of this stuff, this online auction.
24:06-24:09
And you're gonna hear me when I'm telling you, there wasn't a thing there that I wanted or needed.
24:10-24:12
All right, so it's not that.
24:13-24:28
But I scrolled through these pictures of all the stuff that was my father's, these online auctions, a dollar, final bid, final sale, a dollar, $15 here, $2 here, a dollar here.
24:29-24:45
And I was scrolling through this and I'm like, everything that my father worked his whole life for and earned and build up, I just watched it go on auction, everything that was his, selling for a few bucks.
24:48-24:51
practically given away.
24:53-25:03
I don't really know what to say about that, except this is exactly what Solomon was talking about.
25:04-25:26
He says, "This is so sad, that everything you've built and accomplished when you're gone, the stuff that maybe meant so much to you because you started as the beggar who worked your butt off, It's all just handed away to somebody who doesn't appreciate it because they didn't work for it.
25:28-25:30
They don't understand what it took to earn it.
25:31-25:32
And they don't understand.
25:35-25:36
That's exactly what he's talking about here.
25:39-25:55
Verse 22, he says, "What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun. For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is of vexation.
25:55-26:18
Even in the night his heart does not rest; this also is vanity." It really is just, he gets us back to the original question, right? Chapter 1, verse 3, "What does a man gain by all his work?" He goes back to that question. This is a call back and even after everything he just said, you know, he said, "You know what the answer "What does a man gain?" The answer is still nothing.
26:21-26:28
Pleasures didn't do it, and the projects I did didn't do it, and even all the stuff I gathered, that didn't do it.
26:29-26:32
So I'm like, "Dude, dude, is there any way at all, Solomon?
26:33-26:36
I mean, come on, man, is there any way at all that I can enjoy my time here?
26:36-26:39
Because I realize I'm only going to be on the earth for a short time.
26:41-26:44
Is there any way at all I can enjoy this?
26:44-26:52
Is it possible, even with the stuff that I have, is it possible to enjoy this stuff?
26:55-26:59
And some of you might be shocked to find this out, but the answer is yes.
27:01-27:10
You not only can enjoy your stuff, but God wants you to enjoy.
27:11-27:13
And I want you to see what he says here.
27:13-27:13
Does anything matter?
27:15-27:17
Here's one thing that does.
27:18-27:19
Pleasing God matters.
27:22-27:23
Look at verse 24.
27:23-27:33
He says, "There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil." I'm gonna stop there.
27:35-27:41
There's actually a very bad translation of the Hebrew because in the Hebrew language, the word better isn't in the sentence.
27:42-27:47
Literally what this says is, there is nothing for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment.
27:49-27:59
Like, okay, so I take the word better out, and he says, there's nothing for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment.
27:59-28:02
And I read that sentence and I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
28:03-28:05
Didn't you just say all that stuff was vanity?
28:06-28:08
And now you're saying that's all there is in life?
28:10-28:10
Well, hang on.
28:11-28:12
Hang on.
28:13-28:13
Look at the rest.
28:15-28:18
He says, "This also I saw is from the hand of God.
28:21-28:28
For apart from Him, who can eat or who can have enjoyment?" This is the turning point.
28:30-28:32
And this is the message of the book of Ecclesiastes.
28:33-28:34
And you can't miss this.
28:36-28:39
Enjoyment is a gift from God.
28:42-28:44
You see, this is the irony.
28:46-28:47
Sin blinds people.
28:48-28:55
Sin blinds people to think that the only way I can enjoy life and have fun is if I do it apart from God, right?
28:55-28:56
Isn't that what people think?
28:57-29:00
"Well, you Christians, you don't have any fun.
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I'm not involved in religion and church and all that because I want to have fun.
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I want to enjoy life." They get this idea that the only way they can enjoy life is if they live detached from God and that is so backwards because Solomon says, "Apart from God, who can have joy at all?" Sin blinds people.
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will say, "You know what? I'm going to eat what I want.
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And I'm going to drink what I want and how much I want.
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And I'm going to sleep with whoever I want.
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I'm going to do whatever I want.
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God is not going to stop me from living." Does that kind of lifestyle bring joy?
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You know, there's a guy like that in the Bible.
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You can read all about him in Luke 15.
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We call him the prodigal son.
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And that story teaches us a lot, but here's one thing that story teaches us for sure.
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That kind of lifestyle always makes you miserable.
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You think doing what you want and getting what you want and living how you want is going to make you happy?
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It has never made anybody happy.
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But it's batting a thousand on making people miserable.
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This is what Solomon says.
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He says, "Joy must come from the hand of God." Again, there's probably some church people that are going to give pushback on this, but this is the truth.
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God wants you to have joy, but you have to get it from Him.
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Look at 1 Timothy 6.17, Paul tells Timothy, "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God." Set your hopes on God.
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Look at this last phrase, "Who richly provides us with everything to..." Last word?
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Does God want you to enjoy stuff?
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Yeah.
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Read it again.
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God richly provides us with everything to, say it again, enjoy.
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God wants you to enjoy your life.
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God wants you to enjoy the things that he's provided you.
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But you have to understand there's a big difference between joy and happiness, because joy far transcends happiness.
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This is so much more than happiness.
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Do you know what happiness is?
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Happiness is an Oreo.
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Happiness is a roller coaster ride.
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Happiness is sitting down with your sweetie and watching a nice movie.
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That's happiness.
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And there's not a thing wrong with any of those things, but they ain't joy.
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Joy is a state of comfort and peace, knowing that God is for you, and that God takes care of you, and God is going to provide you everything you need, no matter what.
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And when you live in that mindset, and in that hope, and in that reality, that's living in His joy, and that is far greater than happiness.
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Because joy transcends what you have and what you don't have, and joy transcends good times and bad times.
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Joy transcends it all.
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Look at verse 26.
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He says, "For to the one who pleases Him, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy.
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But to the sinner, He has given the business of gathering and collecting only to give to the one who pleases God.
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This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
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God gives.
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He gives.
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God loves to give.
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First of all here, working backwards, it says He gives to the sinner.
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God says, "Sinner, I want you to gather and I want you to collect and I want you to hand it to my people." You're like, "Does God do that?" Oh, God does that all the time.
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You know, this room that you're sitting in right now, this room wasn't built as a church.
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In the internet startup craze in the late '90s, do you know why this room was built?
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This was a rumpus room.
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This was climbing walls and pinball and ping pong.
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And this was a place for employees to have fun.
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And God's like, "We're gonna use this.
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We're gonna give this to people that are going to use it to make disciples and exalt my word and lift up my son in worship.
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That's what we're gonna use this room for." So he does this all the time, right?
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God gives wisdom, it says, knowledge and joy to the one who pleases him.
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And the question is, oh, okay, okay, well, how do you please God?
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How do you please God?
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Okay, if God's going to give these things to me if I please him, how do I please him?
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Well, there's only one way.
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There's literally exactly only one way to please God.
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Hebrews 11.6 says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.
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For whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him." Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
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So believing in God is more than acknowledging that He exists, it has to start there.
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But it's believing that He rewards those who seek Him.
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Like, well, what rewards?
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How about He saves you from your sin?
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Through Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross, you're saved from your sin.
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Through Jesus' resurrection, we are promised eternal life.
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Through the Holy Spirit, God has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us.
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He'll be with us to the end of the age.
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That's a reward.
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You know, God's promised to provide for your every need now.
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He rewards those who seek Him.
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I just want to close with this, because somebody's going to be like, "Okay, I hear what you're saying.
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Faith pleases God, and God rewards those." But what does it look like?
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What does my life look like when I receive joy from the hand of God?
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How do I know that's happening in my life?
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Here it is, two things.
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Living life from the hand of God results in two things.
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First of all, letter A, write this down, being thankful.
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Being thankful.
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Living life from the hand of God results in being thankful.
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When someone truly believes in God and experiences the rewards that come with believing in God, it always results in thanksgiving.
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This is a whole other sermon, but just for today's purposes, I want to remind you that Romans 1 directly links faith and thankfulness.
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We've talked about this before, but long story short, the person who isn't thankful to God obviously has no faith, and vice versa.
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The person that has no faith obviously is not thankful towards God.
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But you show me someone who truly believes that God is in control of every detail of their life and that everything that comes to them is from the hand of God, I'll show you someone who's thankful and joyful.
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That's what it looks like to live life from the hand of God.
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You're constantly thankful.
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You're constantly acknowledging that.
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That's from God, that's from God.
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Every good and perfect gift comes from Him.
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And you're thankful.
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And I gotta ask you, church, when was the last time you thanked God?
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And I don't just mean like, "Yeah, thanks God." I mean like, sincerely.
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That's what I mean.
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I mean on your face, sincerely and specifically.
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God, look what you've provided for me.
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And you list the things that He has given you.
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When was the last time you've done that?
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Say, "God, you've given me so much." Being thankful is a clear indicator that you're living life from the hand of God.
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Second thing, living life from the hand of God results in being thankful and it results in being content.
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We started this message by saying that Saul was looking for the secret of contentment.
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The secret to contentment, rather, and the secret is out.
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The Bible tells us exactly what it is.
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Philippians 4 says this, "Not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
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I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound.
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In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of facing plenty in hunger, abundance in need.
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I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." That sounds a lot different than Ecclesiastes to this point, doesn't it?
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But you know verse 13, the last verse there, that has been the most abused verse in the Bible.
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I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
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Where do you see that verse?
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like a poster of a guy hitting a home run. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." That verse has nothing to do with baseball. And look, I love baseball. That verse has nothing to do with baseball. Right? You see the guy throwing the javelin or, "I'm gonna have a, you know, hard project at work, but I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." In the context, this verse is about one thing and one thing specifically.
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That's this, it's strength manifested in you being content.
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Here's what I mean. When we think of the power of Jesus, we think of lightning.
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Or we think of being a bold witness. Or we think of him changing the heart of a person. And yes, all of those are true and all of those are manifestations of the power of Jesus. But you know what else is true? The consistent abiding power of Jesus is on display in the person who is content. That's power. To say, "It doesn't matter what happens to me. It doesn't matter what I have or what I don't have.
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I've got Jesus Christ.
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And when I have Him, I have everything.
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And when you live like that, saying, "Everything in my life comes from the hand of God, so I'm going to thank Him for everything He's given, and I'm going to be content no matter what circumstance I'm in." You're living in the power of God when you live like that.
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And if you aren't thankful, and if you aren't content, then you're miserable, because you're not taking life from His hand.
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That can change today.
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If you confess that and repent.
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Alright, that was the introduction.
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I want to get to the sermon.
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And here it is.
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Solomon says, "If you chase pleasure, you'll never find it.
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But if you pursue God, joy is going to find you." Let's pray.
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Our Father in heaven, I think if every one of us are going to be honest, I think we identify with Solomon more than we might be comfortable admitting out loud.
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Because God, I know I've thought that pleasure was going to make me happy, and I've thought that getting involved in the right project was going to make me happy, and I thought that having the right things in my life was going to make me happy, and it doesn't.
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It just doesn't.
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God, I pray for us as a church that we would truly embrace what it means to live life from the hand of God.
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Father, we live in such a culture of complainers and belly achers and whiners and grumblers.
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That's everybody.
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But Father, you haven't called us to that.
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You've called us to be thankful and content people.
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And if we truly embrace that life and everything comes from Your hand, that is who we will be.
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So Father, I pray for those of us right now who are struggling with being thankful.
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I pray that today is a day of repentance.
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And for those that are struggling with contentment, I pray for repentance, Father.
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Instead of chasing the stuff, Father, I pray that today is a day of chasing You.
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We discover the glorious eternal truth of Your Word that that, and that alone, is what's going to bring ultimate fulfillment.
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I thank You ahead of time, Father, for the work that You're going to do, just as I thank You for the work that You have done.
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We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Have you ever been disappointed in pleasures, projects, or possessions? Share a time you felt like Solomon in (Eccl 2:1-21).
Thankfulness and contentment are the two signs of someone living life by the hand of God. Do you struggle with either thankfulness or contentment in this season of your life? How can you turn this around?
Breakout
Pray for one another.