Ecclesiastes
I.
It’s vital that we attach
value to what is truly valuable; The biggest thing in your life should be the
fulfilling the plan of God for your life, that’s what’s truly valuable and
important
A. We have exalted living our
lives and enjoying life and living life to the fullest, but God didn’t sent you
her to just live life: There’s kingdom purpose for you being here and
discovering your purpose and fulfilling your call should be the biggest thing in
your life
1.
Ask yourself and be
honest with yourself: In my life what’s the biggest thing to me?
B. This teaching gives you
Kingdom perspective about earthly life, shocks your value system and inspires you
to pursue what’s truly valuable
1.
Perspective
will help us to not be pulled away from the biggest thing to less meaningful
things
C. People say, “as for me
and my house we will serve the Lord,” but how are you serving him?
1.
Believing
him for prosperity and blessings is not serving him – Feeding on His word
and fellowshipping with Him is not serving him – Having a relationship
with him is not serving Him
2.
As yourself and be honest
with yourself: What are you doing right now for Him? How are you doing at it?
3.
Psalm
37:4-People are having hard time getting into the things God has for them
because they don’t delight themselves in him; they delight themselves in
getting what they want; Mark 11:24 is true, but Psalm 37:4 is also true
II.
One of the biggest things
the enemy uses to distract you and pull you away from your kingdom purpose and
call is your earthly life and the enemy is endeavoring (all the time) to get
you to choose earthly life and things over your kingdom purpose and call; If
you are choosing earthly life and things over your kingdom purpose and call
it’s b/c your perspective about earthly life is off that’s causing you to value
your earthly life and things more than you should and in turn choose it over
something much more important
A. Solomon wrote
Ecclesiastes and he walked in a high level of the wisdom of God-1 Kings 3:5-14
1.
He
could’ve asked for anything and he asked for wisdom to do what God called him
to do – His Kingdom purpose is big to him
a. 13-There is a truth that
when the biggest thing in your life is fulfilling the call of God on your life
God will add to you everything else you need, want, and desire; 14- If you’re
not going to do what God sent you to do, there’s no point in lengthening your
days
2.
Proverbs
which Solomon wrote is a written revelation of the wisdom of God
B. Ecclesiastes is a
Heavenly perspective about earthly life; It’s wisdom and light on what our
perspective should be about earthly life
1.
Satan
doesn’t want you to see earthly life for what it is and he’s endeavoring to get
you to see it bigger than you should so that you’ll choose it over your kingdom
purpose and call; Satan wants you to see something else as the biggest thing in
your life
2.
If
you don’t think that having a wrong perspective about earthly life is something
you need to be on the watch against, then why would God write and entire book
about it and give it to us in His word?
III.
There’s a truth that
earthly man living earthly life apart from God is vanity
A. The big thing here is
that in the whole book he is talking about man just living an earthly life without
God, without fulfilling the plan of God
1.
Under the sun is used 27 times in this
book – Sons of men is used 8
times in this book and denotes earthly man
2.
2-3-In
verse two he says all his vanity, but then he verse three he references under
the sun – He’s talking about earthly life
3.
8-All
things in this earthly life are toilsome and unsatisfying; Following Jesus is
light and easy and He’ll give you rest-Matthew 11:28-30
4.
15-He’s
talking about earthly life; In earthly life crooked things can’t be made
straight; The Lord makes crooked things straight-Is42:16
5.
16-18-We
know he’s talking about earthly life and man’s wisdom because in Proverbs
3:13-18 he says the man who has Godly wisdom is happy and he says wisdom is
precious, in the ways of wisdom are pleasant and peaceful
B. Ecclesiastes 1:2-3,14-He
describes this earthly life as vanity
and vexation of spirit
1.
Vanity-Empty, worthless, having
no value or importance or weight, unsatisfying
a. This perfectly describes
life on Earth without pursuing the plan of God; All of this going on down here
apart from God, apart from the plan of God is empty, worthless, unimportant,
unsatisfying
2.
Vexation-Longing (craving),
striving (labor hard), irritating, troubling, disquieting, harassing
a. It’s the picture of a
person who craves to be full inside and then strives hard to fill that craving/desire
but continues to fail at doing so and therefore they are left irritated and
troubled – That’s earthly life without fulfilling the plan of God
b. Earthly life without God
is irritating and harassing because it promises fulfillment and satisfaction,
but never produces it
3.
Ecclesiastes
4:1-3-Life on this earth without a comforter you’d be better off dead or better
yet not even born
4.
Ecclesiastes
3:18-God is trying to show us that on the Earth without Him we are very much
like animals; eat, drink, enjoy, die
a. AMP-I said in my heart regarding the subject of the sons of
men, God is trying (separating and sifting) them, that they may see that by
themselves [under the sun, without God] they are but like beasts
IV.
He is searching for what’s
good to do with your earthly life (He takes us through the search so that we
don’t have to go through it)
A. Ecclesiastes 1:3,13, 2:3-He’s
on a search
1.
Ecclesiastes 2:3-ERV-I wanted to see what was good
(pleasant, right, happiness) for people to do during their few days of life
a. Ecclesiastes 1:3-AMP-What profit does man
have left from all his toil at which he toils under the sun? [Is life
worth living?]
b. Ecclesiastes 1:2,3-ERV-The teacher says that it is all a
waste of time! Do people really gain anything from all the hard work they do in
this life?
c. Ecclesiastes 1:13-ERV-I decided to study and to use my wisdom
to learn about everything done in this life
2.
Ecclesiastes
6:11-12-He’s searching for what’s good for man in this life b/c it’s possible
to be busy and accomplish nothing meaningful
a. ERV-Who knows that is best for people during their short life
on earth?
b. TLB-In these few days of our empty lifetimes, who can say how
one’s days can best be spent?
B. Ecclesiastes 2:1-2-He
tries mirth (joy, gladness,
pleasure) pleasure, laughing, enjoyment of earthly life and he found it to be
vanity
1.
People
say live life to the fullest and enjoy your life, we say do what God sent you
to do
a. ERV-I said to myself, “I should have fun – I should
enjoy everything as much as I can.” But I learned that this also is useless.
b. TLB-I said to myself, “Come now, be merry; enjoy yourself to
the full.”
2.
Great
you laughed, enjoyed pleasure but when that’s over, now what? If you don’t
fulfill your kingdom purpose, you’ll still be unfulfilled
a. People have exalted
living earthly life and laughing; We exalt the Kingdom plan, our kingdom
purpose and call
b. There’s something bigger
than living life and if you do what God called you to do living and laughing is
built into His plan
3.
Ecclesiastes
7:3-6-Sorrow is better than laughter for the earthly man living his earthly
life not fulfilling his kingdom purpose; There’s a godly sorrow and you got no
business laughing your way through life on this earth while you ignore God
everyday; If you’ll experience some godly sorrow and repent your heart will be
made better; Not fulfilling the plan of God shouldn’t be okay with you and the
enemy would love to keep you busy laughing totally unaware that you’re kingdom
purpose is not being fulfilled
4.
Ecclesiastes
8:15 (AMP)-This is the best you can do on the Earth without God, eat, drink and
be merry
a. In Luke 12 Jesus rebuked
the guy for having the mindset of eat, drink, and be merry and called him a
fool
C. Eccl 2:4-11(ERV)-He tries
earthly success and gave himself everything he ever wanted and found out that
was vanity and vexation of spirit
1.
4-Great
works-Business, enterprise,
achievement, work, labor, thing done
a. In all that he mentions,
there is no mention of God or pursuing the plan of God and that’s where his
dissatisfaction is coming from
2.
He
learned there was no profit under the sun or in just living earthly life apart
from God and the plan of God
a. 11-ERV-There is nothing to gain from anything we do in this
life; TLB-There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere
3.
It’s
not that something is wrong with the prosperity, it’s the absence of Kingdom
purpose that’s wrong
D. Ecclesiastes 2:12-He
tries human wisdom and found it to be vanity
1.
Ecclesiastes
2:13-16-He said it’s better to be wise than a fool, but he found that both the
wise earthly man and the foolish earthly man shall be forgotten and both shall
die the same way and he found that to be vanity
E. Ecclesiastes 2:17-20-*His
response to seeing earthly life for that it truly was, was to hate earthly life;* He hated life (earthly life, without God, under the sun)
and all the labor which he took under the sun because he found no satisfaction
in it, only torment and so should we
1.
Working
in this earthly life apart from your kingdom purpose is grievous (displeasing, of bad value, sad, unhappy, misery)
2.
22-23-What
does a man get for all his labor in earthly life? His days are sorrows (physical and mental pain) his travail (job, business, occupation,
occupied and busy with) is grief
(vexation, frustration), and his heart
(inner man, mind) takes no rest in the night
F. Ecclesiastes 2:24-26-He
says, “I guess earthly man should eat, drink and enjoy is labor,” but then he realizes
man can’t do that without God
1.
TLB-So I decided that
there was nothing better for a man to do than to enjoy his food and drink and
his job. Then I realized that even
this pleasure is from the hand of God.
For who can eat or enjoy apart from him?
G. Ecclesiastes 3:1,11 (AMP)-He
establishes that there is a purpose for what goes on under the heaven and you
know in your heart you’re here for more than just earthly life, it’s a divinely
implanted sense of purpose
1.
11-AMP-He also has
planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a
purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can
satisfy]
2.
14-Whatever
God does endures forever: He was talking about stuff that means nothing and
wouldn’t last, but God’s work will last
H. God is interested in you
enjoying your life, but you only truly find that inside the plan of God-Ecclesiastes
3
1.
12-Man
is to do good in this life; What is good? Good in this
life is fulfilling the plan of God and if it’s not that it’s not good
2.
13-God
does want you to eat and drink and enjoy the good of your labor – But you
don’t find that outside of the plan of God
3.
Ecclesiastes
5:18,19-Eating and drinking and labor that you enjoy is a gift from God and
it’s good and right for you to enjoy those things
V.
You won’t be here forever
so remember you’re creator, do what God gives you with all your might and start
right now
A. Ecclesiastes
12:1-8-Remember your creator (call to mind) while you still have time on the
Earth
1.
You
are not your own, you are bought with a price so glorify God in your body and
spirit which are God’s-1 Corinthians 6:20
a. 1-AMP-Remember [earnestly] also your Creator [that you are
not your own, but His property now]
2.
We
are to remember God in the days of our youth while there is still time; If you
don’t remember him when you’re young the time will come when you’re old and
what you enjoyed when you were young you won’t enjoy anymore and you’ll wish
you’d have remembered him when you were young
a. 1,2-ERV-Remember your Creator while you are young, before the
bad times come – before the years come when you say, “I have wasted my
life. Before problems come again and again like one storm after another
b. 1-TLB-Don’t let the excitement of being young cause you to
forget about your Creator.
3.
He’s
talking about this false idea that you have enough time to waste time
a. John4:35-You’re
not going to live on this earth forever and you need to number your days-Psalm
90:12, 39:4
b. James 4:14, Ecclesiastes
12:8-Vanity-Breath, Vapor – It will go by so quickly; The temptation is
to think you have time to do this or do that; The reality is time is running
out & it’s going to go by so fast and you don’t have time to waist; Now is
the time
B. Ecclesiastes 7:4-Wise
people realize this life on Earth will end at some point
1.
2-The
living will lay it to heart-He’s trying to wake up the earthly man living his
earthly life not fulfilling his kingdom purpose
2.
2-TLB-For
you are going to die, and it is a good time to think about it while there is
still time. 4-Yes, a wise men thinks much of death, while the fool thinks only
of having a good time now; ERV-A wise person thinks about death, but a fool
only things about having a good time
C. Ecclesiastes 9:10-While
you’re here give it your best b/c you won’t be here always; Invest all you got
into the plan of God
1.
1-The
righteous and the wise their works (labor, service, serve God) are in the hand
of God; For us we are here to do God’s business
2.
2-3-Every
person walking the planet if Jesus tarries his coming will die
3.
4-6-Once
you’re dead it’s too late so there is hope for the living to get in the plan of
God and live life the way it should be lived
4.
7-9-If
you’re life is in God’s hands and you’re doing what He sent you to do, then
live and enjoy your life
D. Ecclesiastes 11:4-Don’t
wait until everything is perfect to start making the right investments, if you
do that time will never come
1.
1,2,6-You’re
attitude where the plan of God is concerned should be invest, invest, invest
VI. Ecclesiastes 8:16-17-When he applied his heart to know wisdom
about this earthly life he saw the business of earth and the work of God (TLB-I observed all that was going on everywhere across the earth
– ceaseless activity, day and night; ERV-I carefully studied the things
people do in this life. I saw how
busy people are.)
A. Ecclesiastes 6:11-There’s
a lot of stuff on the earth that increase vanity and mean nothing that men are
busy with
B. He gives us a bunch of
stuff to NOT waste our time on
1.
Ecclesiastes
4:4-Competing with other people is vanity and vexation of spirit
a. ERV-I saw people try to succeed and be better than other
people. They do this because they
are jealous. They don’t want other
people to have more than they have.
This is senseless. It is
like trying to catch the wind.
2.
Ecclesiastes
4:6-Always struggling to gain more earthly stuff – Vanity
a. ERV-Is it better to be satisfied with a the few things you
have than to always be struggling to get more
b. Your hands are full but
you have no peace; you’d be better off with a handful and peace
3.
Ecclesiastes
4:8-Working and working and working and no satisfaction or enjoyment or
fulfillment – Vanity
a. ERV-Again I saw something else that didn’t
make sense: I saw a man who has no family, not a son or
even a brother. But he continues to work very hard. He is never satisfied with
what he has. And he works so hard that he never stops and asks himself, “Why am
I working so hard? Why don’t I let myself enjoy my life?” This is also a very
bad and senseless thing.
4.
Ecclesiastes
6:7-9-This working for more and always wanting more and clamoring for more is
vanity
a. ERV-He works and works, but is not satisfied
b. 8-9-AMP-For what advantages has the wise man over the fool
[being wordly-wise is not the secret to happiness]?
What advantage has the poor man who has learned how to walk before the living
[publicly, with men’s eyes upon him; being poor is not the secret to happiness
either]? Better is the sight of the eyes [the enjoyment of what is available to
one] than the cravings of wandering desire.
5.
Eccl6:3-You can live a long life and have many kids, but if you
don’t get full on the inside a baby that dies at birth is better of than you
a. TLB-Though a man live a
thousand years twice over but doesn’t find contentment – well, what’s the
use?
b. ERV-He might live 2000
years, but if he doesn’t enjoy his life the baby who was born dead has found
the easiest way to the same end
6.
Ecclesiastes
5:10-Loving money and striving to obtain more and more of it is vanity
a. If what you love isn’t
the Lord or His things, they won’t satisfy you; It’s vanity to covet something
that want satisfy you
1)
ERV-Those who love money
will never be satisfied with the money they have. Those who love wealth will not be
satisfied when they get more and more.
This is also senseless; TLB-He who loves money shall never have
enough. The foolishness of thinking
that wealth brings happiness.
b. He is devaluing the importance
of riches and abundance the pursuit of possession of riches
1)
10-15-VOICE-As the saying goes: Those
who love money will never be satisfied with money,
and those who love riches will never be happy with what they
have. This, too, is fleeting. 11 The more goods there are, the more people
there are to consume them. How does any of this really benefit the owners
except they can gaze proudly on their possessions? 12 Sweet sleep comes to those who work hard,
regardless of how much or how little they’ve eaten. But the abundance of the
rich keeps them awake at night. 13 I
have witnessed a grave evil pervading our world, one that has
been with us since the first sunrise: harm comes to all who hoard their
riches. 14 Such riches can easily vanish through
some misfortune, so that the rich have nothing left to pass along to their
children. 15 We all came naked from our mother’s
womb, and we will leave this world as we came, taking nothing of the wealth for
which we have toiled. 16 Here, too, is another
grave evil: all of us,no
matter who we are, will depart this world exactly the same way as we
came into it. So what good does it do to continue to toil after the wind? 17 So
all our days we eat in darkness, with mounting frustration, suffering, and
anger.
C. The wisdom of God will
direct you in your earthly life
1.
Ecclesiastes
10:3-You can tell a fool by how he walks, how he conducts his life; If a person
is living their life giving little to no thought to God, to His plan they are a
fool and it doesn’t matter how much success they’ve had in the world
a. MSG-The way he walks tell the story; TLB-You can identify a
fool just by the way he walks down the street
2.
Ecclesiastes
10:10-A wise man invests much into what matters the most; While a fool invests
much into what matters little
VII.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-The
conclusion he came to in search of what man should do with his earthly life is
to respect God and His things and do what God says – That’s the
conclusion to the whole book (ERV-Now
what should we learn from everything in this book? – TLB-Here’s my final
conclusion)
A. Ecclesiastes 8:12-It
shall be well (pleasant, rich,
prosperity, happy, excellent, delightful, joyful) with them that fear God
1.
That’s
how to enjoy your life, live a fulfilled life, not waste your life and that’s
what man should be doing with his time on the earth
B. Ecclesiastes 8:13-The
wicked or the one who doesn’t fear the Lord, it will not be well with him
1.
His
days are like a shadow because he doesn’t have respect for God; busy, busy,
busy but never accomplishing anything
2.
When
you don’t fear God and have a respect for His things it will lead to a shadow
life, busy, busy, busy but accomplishing nothing
a. You don’t respect, value,
honor God’s stuff so you give no time to it, while you give all your time to
stuff that means nothing
b. When you are living like
this there is not reason for God to prolong your days
3.
Eccl10:18-Peoples lives are brought low and destroyed through
laziness and doing nothing where the plan of God is concerned
C. Ecclesiastes 12:14-What
you do with your time here God will judge
D.