Glenn Robinson
Sept 22-23, 2001
WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT IN LIFE ?
ECCLESIASTES 1:2
I) THE EMPTINESS OF WISDOM
Ch 1A) The value of wisdom
B) The grief of being obsessed with wisdom
II) THE EMPTINESS OF PLEASURE
Ch 2A) Solomon’s folly with pleasure
III) THE EMPTINESS OF MATERIALISM
Ch 2A) The proper attitude toward riches
B) The vanity of riches
IV) THE EMPTINESS OF
MERE RELIGIOUS PRACTICE
Ch 5A) Don’t substitute religion for relationship
V) THE TRULY IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE
Ch 12A) Solomon’s conclusion
What is really important in life ? What is my purpose ?
“It's almost impossible to overestimate the unimportance of most things“.
Life is short - Maybe we need to reevaluate and reorder it.
Take a lesson from Solomon - he tried everything.
He tried Science, philosophy, humor, drinking, architecture, gardening, possessions, wealth, music, fatalism, deism, morality.
He had the worst mid life crisis ever.
Purpose of the Book of Eccl. : To show us what is really important.
SOLOMON’S HISTORY :
Father - David, Mother - Bathsheba, Born 1033 B.C.
Nathan called him “Jedidiah” - Beloved of the Lord.
Became 3rd king at age 18.
SOLOMON’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS :
Reigned 40 years (1015 B.C. - 975 B.C.).
Built the temple.
Established a lucrative commerce business.
Wrote Eccl., Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and 2 Psalms.
I) THE EMPTINESS OF WISDOM
Ch 1A) The value of wisdom
He became wiser than all before him (Eccl 1:16)
He told us the benefits of wisdom ... it :
1) Keeps us from sin : fools go astray because they don’t listen to criticism.
2) Extends life
Prov 4:10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
3) Makes us happy
Prov 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
4) Is more valuable than rubies, silver, or gold.
Prov 3:14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
Prov 8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
B) The grief of being obsessed with wisdom
Eccl 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
Wisdom is good, obsession is bad.
Our society tries to find fulfillment through philosophies :
Humanism - Man is the center.
Naturalism - all can be explained by natural law
Skepticism - Dedication to human reason, science, and education.
Liberalism - Miracles don’t happen
Existentialism - Emphasizes individual experience,
regards human existence as unexplainable.
Human philosophy ultimately disappoints.
Solomon’s conclusion :
Eccl 2:16 (NIV) For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die!
II) THE EMPTINESS OF PLEASURE
Ch 2A) Solomon’s folly with pleasure
He tried : Humor, drinking, building projects, cultural arts, labor.
His conclusion 2:1 ”This also is vanity”.
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) Wrote Summa Theologica “No man can live without delight, and that is why a man deprived of spiritual joy goes over to carnal pleasures”.
Jesus said that it was the pleasures of life that choked out the word of God. Lk 8:14
Our society has exchanged Christian morals for moral relativism.
We must all be “tolerant” except to Christians.
There are no moral absolutes - is that an absolute ?
III) THE EMPTINESS OF MATERIALISM Ch2
A) The proper attitude toward riches
Money is not evil, the love of it is.
Many godly men were rich :
Solomon - built the Temple.
Jehoshaphat - Military power.
Abrham - Gave offering to Melchesedek.
Job - Stayed faithful to God.
Hezekiah - Reformed Israel.
Solomon tells us the attitude to have :
Prov 30:8,9 ...give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
Solomon was the richest man to live (Eccl 2:7)
He owned :
Houses, vineyards, gardens, parks, fruit trees, slaves, flocks, singers, made silver common as dirt, gold shields, an ivory and gold throne, a fleet of ships, robes, weapons, spices, mules, peacocks, 1,400 chariots, 12,000 horses,
2:10 He was denied nothing his eye desired.
B) The vanity of riches
Barna Research Group - the average American adult believes he needs an additional $8,000 - $11,000 per year to live comfortably. Tracking studies show, however, that even when adults reach or exceed the income levels to which they aspired, they still claim they need another $8,000 - $11,000 to live comfortably.
The best things in life aren't things.
Solomon’s insights :
Eccl 2:18, 19 We leave them to somebody else.
Who knows, he may be a fool.
Prov 23:5 Money grow wings.
Prov 23:4 Don’t wear yourself out to get rich
Prov 27:24 For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?
IV) THE EMPTINESS OF
MERE RELIGIOUS PRACTICE Ch 5
A) Don’t substitute religion for relationship
He sought fulfillment in religious practice - and found it empty.
Eccl 5:1(NIV) Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
Solomon’s got religion.
There is nothing wrong with liturgy, ritual, ceremony
but it can’t take the place of RELATIONSHIP.
Mere practice results in :
1) Self-righteousness.
2) Burn out.
3) Emptiness - only relationship brings fulfillment.
The very thing that could bring fulfillment became vanity to him.
Eccl 5:2 (NIV) Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
When you go into the temple (He built) :
1) Don’t rashly commit to God.
2) Don’t be a blabber mouth (Vs 2).
Or you will have to eat your words (Vs 6).
Prov 17:27 The wise restrain their words.
3) Take your faith seriously.
V) THE TRULY IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE Ch 12
A) Solomon’s conclusion
Eccl 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
After trying everything - this is what is really important :
1) Fear God
Stand in awl of Him.
Give God the respect, honor, and glory due.
Who He is, what He has done.
2) Keep His commandments
When asked what the greatest commandment was :
Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
I fall out of love with God and forget Him.
(Rev 2:1 Church of Ephesus).
Loving Him with all your heart means :
Not just give place in your heart - but your whole heart.
Wholly devoted to Him with an undivided heart
To give God first place in everything in your life.
To do everything we do for Him from a LOVE motivation.
Loving Him with all your soul means :
Loving with our emotions.
Love Him with all your mind means :
To be renewed in the spirit of your mind. (Eph 4:23)
To think like Him.
Love Him with all your strength means :
To serve with all that is within you.
Strive for excellence in serving God.
This kind of love is not static, it is dynamic.
It expresses itself in action.
Do something to help the others.
Reevaluate and reorder your life.
(Micah 6:8 KJV) He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Loving Him means...
Give Him 1st place in all areas of life.
Live with an eternal perspective.
(Deu 33:27 KJV) The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
(Eccl 12:14 KJV) For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
12:13 The conclusion - The sum of all that hath been said or written by wise men. Fear God - Which is put here, for all the inward worship of God, reverence, and love, and trust, and a devotedness of heart to serve and please him. The whole - It is his whole work and business, his whole perfection and happiness; it is the sum of what he need either know, or do, or enjoy.
12:14 For - All men must give an account to God of all their works, and this alone will enable them to do that with joy. Every secret - Not only outward and visible actions, but even inward and secret thoughts.
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
He was a master of foreign trade.
Eccl 12:12b study wearies the body.
Obsession with anything that takes priority over God is wrong.
Jesus taught that what is in the heart comes out the mouth.
Extremist - idolatry.
If you turn to human philosophy you will be disappointed.
Don’t be consumed by the wisdom of man.
(1 Cor 2:4 KJV) And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
(1 Cor 2:13 KJV) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Obsession caused Solomon to :
1) Turn away from God to idols.
He married 700 foreign women, 300 concubines.
2) Treat people unfairly
The Lion Encyclopedia of the Bible “Solomon’s reign was spoiled by his ill treatment of his subjects and his many marriages. He made his subjects angry by demanding free labor and high taxes from them to carry out his building programs”.
B) The Epicurean philosophy Acts 17:18
Founded by Epicurus 341 B.C. -271 B.C.
Taught that pleasure was the highest human good.
Achieved by quietness, self control, and retirement.
They were very moral but resisted the Gospel.
They were materialists and atheists.
They denied :
Man’s immortality, God’s judgment, the resurrection.
Eccl 2:1 Proved to be true.
---quotes on pleasure---
(choirs and orchestras
We must not get involved with...
This also I saw--I perceived by experience that real pleasure is not to be taken at will, but comes only from the hand of God [WEISS] (Psalms 4:6, Isaiah 57:19-21).
[... balanced by devotion to obedience.]
[Our grateful acceptance of His daily blessings can bring a sense of joy and fulfillment to our lives.]
HOW SHOULD I REORDER MY LIFE ?
WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT ?
WHAT IS MY PURPOSE ?
WHAT WAS IMPORTANT, ISN’T IMPORTANT
(Luke 8:14 KJV) And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
Ours is a pleasure seeking society that claims that morals are relative.
built its moral system about the pleasures of life.
Illustration #4
SFFeb87 HEAVEN/HELL A LA TWILIGHT ZONE I will never forget a story on Twilight Zone, almost 20 years ago. A young hoodlum was being chased by police as the story opened. Desperately seeking escape, he sees what looks like a laundry chute on the side of a building. He dives down it just as he is shot. As his body disappears down the chute, the camera moves back from the chute and the viewer sees a sign above it which reads: "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." When the young evil-doer arrives at the chute's end, he lands in a room. The room looks like an ordinary living room with an older couple dressed in matching Hawaiian shirts. Their slide projector is set up ready to go. Bing Crosby is singing Hawaiian songs on the record player and there are easily 1000 boxes of slides ready to be seen. The young hood complains about their strange clothes and even stranger music. He tries to leave but finds no windows or doors. He is now in great anquish, while the couple are obviously enjoying themselves immensely. The first slide is projected on the screen. The couple spend ten minutes delightedly arguing about which airplane engine they are looking at on the plane which took them on their trip. As the couple's pleasure increases, so in like measure does the anguish of the young hoodlum. And so the story ends -- with this cast of characters seemingly to share this setting for eternity. The point was well made that what is Heaven for some would be Hell for others -- and vice versa. Whether eternal life is Heaven or Hell for us depends on who we are, not where we are. John Martin, Union Congregational Church, Arvin, California 93203
Is pleasure OK ?
Does it have a place in the Christian life ?Yes, in the framework that God gives.
WEISS - Real true pleasure is not something we take at will, but something God gives.
God wants us to enjoy life's simple pleasures.
Some of the best pleasures are simple and free.
Some equate holiness with poverty.
1 Tim 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
Psa 62:10 ...if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
Eccl 5:1 As you enter the Temple, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! Don't be a fool who doesn't even realize it is sinful to make rash promises to God, for he is in heaven and you are only here on earth, so let your words be few. Just as being too busy gives you nightmares, so being a fool makes you a blabbermouth.
(TLB)
A) The danger of vowing and not fulfilling
Don’t play church.
A) The danger of vowing and not fulfilling Eccl 5:4
The fool vows by constantly talking.
Prov 17:27 The wise restrain their words.
Mere religious practice, a moral do goodism, does not save.
Religious exercises are not vain things, but, if we mismanage them, they become vain to us.
A warning against the vanities of religious exercise which deprive them and make them unable to help against other vanities.
The warning is against mere ceremonial self-righteousness,
If our religion be a vain religion, how great is that vanity! For a remedy against those vanities, he prescribes the fear of God (v. 7)
We must be very cautious and considerate in all our approaches and addresses to God
Take our service to God seriously.
social reform
he gives a necessary caution against the vanities which are to often found in religious exercises, which deprive them of their excellency and render them unable to help against other vanities.
Religious exercises are not vain things, but, if we mismanage them, they become vain to us.
And therefore, 1. We must address ourselves to them with all possible seriousness and care: "Keep thy foot, not keep it back from the house of God (as Prov. 25:17), nor go slowly thither, as one unwilling to draw nigh to God, but look well to thy goings, ponder the path of thy feet, lest thou take a false step.
4. We must be very cautious and considerate in all our approaches and addresses to God
In going to worship, go with considerate, circumspect, reverent feeling.
hear--rather, "To be ready (to draw nigh with the desire) to hear (obey) is a better sacrifice than the offering of fools" [HOLDEN]. (Vulgate; Syriac). (Psalms 51:16,17, Proverbs 21:3, Jeremiah 6:20, 7:21-23, 14:12, Amos 5:21-24). The warning is against mere ceremonial self-righteousness, as in Ecclesiastes 7:12. Obedience is the spirit of the law's requirements (Deuteronomy 10:12). Solomon sorrowfully looks back on his own neglect of this (compare 1 Kings 8:63 with Ecclesiastes 11:4,6). Positive precepts of God must be kept, but will not stand instead of obedience to His moral precepts. The last provided no sacrifice for wilful sin (Numbers 15:30,31, Hebrews 10:26-29).
IV. Approaching our Redeemer God.
A. Be cautious in coming to God. 5:1
1) He is far holier than us.
B. Be serious about your faith. 5:2
1) Rash promises to God only get you into deeper trouble.
C. God hates superficial religion.
1) Your faith should mean something.
2) Have an eternal perspective.
a) If our faith is only for this life, we are pitiable. 1 Cor
b) We are redeemed, but at a great price.
B) The false worship of today
Eccl 5:1-2 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
(NIV)
XX mil in America today. (adherents.com)
Cults grow because people are seeking :
1) Absolute truth in an age of reason
2) Interpersonal relationship
The cults offer a sense of belonging.
Qu. Dr. Martin The New Cults “The new cults offer social contact, human interaction, and claim to banish loneliness. The group is all important in the cults, and each member is made to feel that he is an integral, necessary part of the whole”.
3) Freedom from traditional beliefs - Rebellion
1) Enjoy your youth 12:1
Live every day to its fullest by pleasing God.
V) WHERE LIFE FINDS ITS MEANING
Ch 12That we live in the light of eternity
B) The false worship of today
IV) THE EMPTINESS OF FALSE RELIGION
Ch 5People are looking for answers, hope.
SOLOMON’S FAULTS :
He loved foreign women and worshiped their gods.
What was important, isn’t anymore.
He experienced the benefits of wisdom.