We do not have a children's sermon in our Lord's Day worship services. We think most evangelical worship services are infantile enough already. And we're trying to help Christians mature. But this sermon on Ecclesiastes, the entire book, is aimed at children and youth. And you may not see that until the last segment of this sermon. For 30 weeks, we've been carefully studying the life and writings of Solomon. 18 weeks on Solomon's biography, 12 weeks analyzing Solomon's inspired writings. And so we looked last week at Song of Solomon, written early, Solomon as a young man in love. We spent several weeks on Proverbs, written midlife, as Solomon writes as a mature father to a teenage son. And tonight, Ecclesiastes, written as an old man who's in decline. Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 12 that he's in the difficult days now. And through a series of figures of speech, you probably were scratching your head a little at our Old Testament reading, the first part of Ecclesiastes 12. He's using metaphors and pictures. He documents how his vision is failing, his teeth are falling out, he's grown fearful, his core strength is failing, and he's beset with aches and pains. So I said a moment ago, Solomon's most powerful wisdom and counsel contained in this rich book is to youth. Now, I'm a little bit shy to preach this book because I went back and listened again to Pastor Anderson's marvelous exposition of this book in depth in 2017 and 2018. And I'm sure you remember all his main points, right? So what I intend to do tonight, and this is risky and frightening, is to engage in an overview, the 30,000 foot view of this text. Now, typically we try to be very intelligent and intelligible in our sermon outlines, but you're going to say, Carl is jumping all over the place. Not the case, but you will have to work to follow because again, we are trying to look at Ecclesiastes from the 30,000 foot view. Now again, you'll notice from chapter 1, verse 1, that the author is the preacher, the son of David, or Solomon. And Solomon is making you wait for something. As he goes through this book, and it is torturous to see the things he deals with, he makes you wait until the end of chapter 12. He's not a cynic. He firmly believes that the infinite personal God has revealed himself. He's revealed his gospel and his law, and only by, and this is what Solomon is going to say at the very last thing. I could save us 30 minutes, maybe 50 minutes, I don't know. I could save you a lot of time by telling you Solomon is saying, only by a clear focus on faith and obedience can a man be happy and fulfilled. But I want to take you down the roads that Solomon does for us to get to that conclusion. Let's seek the Lord's help now. Oh, living God, help us so to hear your holy word that we may truly understand, that understanding we may believe, believing we may follow in all faithfulness and obedience, seeking your glory in all we do. We pray through Jesus, our Lord. Amen. Look at chapter 1 verse 2, I hope you have your Bible open to Ecclesiastes because we'll be looking deep in sections of every chapter actually. And Solomon says, vanity of vanity, says the preacher, vanity of vanity, all is vanity. He uses the word there, the word that's translated into English as vanity is the word hebel, it's the Hebrew word that it's used 40 times in this book. And it's translated variously. Some of you may have other translations. You'll notice maybe your Bible says vanity, futility, meaningless. What is Hebel? And so Solomon will tell you several things that are Hebel. Futility, vanities. He'll tell you, for example, in chapter five, verse seven, many words, that's vanity. There's some of you who've been trapped, having to listen to someone ramble on and on, and you say, I agree with Solomon, this is vanity. Or, there's what Solomon calls wandering of desire in chapter six, verse nine. People who really want this, and then they really want this, and they really want this, and it turns out what they want is Foolish. I think of two older women I pastored in days gone by far away. They're both driven by desire. This is what came out of their mouth every time you spoke to them. One desired to own every beanie baby ever manufactured. Hundreds of models. She came rushing into our prayer meeting one Wednesday night and she was breathless. She was so excited. Carl, I was able to find the last one of the beanie babies. How much did you pay for it? Only $400. And she was so excited now that she had the entire collection. She was so downcast when she heard that Beanie Baby was putting out more. And so now she wouldn't own all of them. The other woman I'm speaking of, it's interesting how these things seem to be similar, wanted to own every Precious Moments figurine. You laugh. This was her life. When we had dinner at their house one night, she said, Carl, I want to take you to my display rooms. Not room, rooms. And she took me through, and after 45 minutes, and my eyes were glazing over, and she was explaining each one of them and their symbolism. She told me, I own 2,500 of them. This was wandering of desire. And that too, Solomon calls hebel. So many words, wandering desire, the person who desires the foolish things in life, but they really have to have them. Some things are less obvious as hebel, or vanity. Solomon says, the death and burial of the wicked, in chapter eight, verse 10, vanity. The injustice of wicked men prospering, righteous men suffering, But Solomon wants to go into some things that you and I can relate to and say, these things are vanity and it's going to require you rolling up your sleeves and digging in with me heavily. Look at chapter 1. Things that at first blush you'd say, really? Solomon is going to say that is vanity? I thought this was godliness. Look at chapter one, verse 16 through 18. Remember, Solomon says all, and by that, he doesn't mean every single thing, but he means most of what you think is weighty is vanity. In chapter one, verse 16, beginning, Solomon writes, I communed with my heart, saying, look, I have attained greatness and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge. And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. And I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind." Obviously, Solomon's not talking about godly wisdom. He's talking about the type of wisdom that you'll learn if you take a philosophy class at an Ivy League school. Hebel. Meaningless. And then Solomon looks at other things. By the way, Solomon, nobody has gone down more roads in search of the good life than Solomon. He's gone down them all. Another thing that Solomon says, turns out this is meaningless, is hard work. You're thinking, wait, I thought we had a creation mandate to labor six days for the glory of God. Look at chapter four, verse one, four, verse four, Solomon, again, It says, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work, a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. Well, later on in chapter 9, Solomon's going to say, whatever your hand does, finds to do, do it with all your might. But there's a clue, and this is why Ecclesiastes bears such careful, deep, repeated study. Before I was ordained, one of my mentors handed me a copy of an essay by A.W. Pink, where Pink said, no one should ever stand in a pulpit until he's read the book he's going to preach 40 times. Now, I've taken that fairly seriously. And if there's a book that ought to be read more than that, it's Ecclesiastes. I'm always wary of men who stand up in the pulpit and say, hey, I read Ecclesiastes this week. I thought it was really neat. I'm thinking, only 39 more times to go before you're worth listening to. Well, notice carefully chapter 4 verse 4. Solomon gives us a hint, a giveaway there. He says, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work, a man is envied by his neighbor. Solomon is talking about a desire to work so that you might be envied by your neighbor. Wrong motives. And then there's pleasure. This is what Solomon is famous for. Look at chapter 2. Solomon was the ultimate hedonist, a connoisseur of sensual pleasures. Hedonism implies an enjoyment of good food and drink, and Solomon enjoyed. Look what he says in chapter 2, verse 1 and 2. I said in my heart, come now, I'll test you with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But surely this also was vanity. I said of laughter, madness, and of mirth, what does it accomplish? So when Solomon gives you the listing of how far down the road he went, chasing pleasure, how far his hedonism extended, look at the listing, and this is just partial. Chapter 2, verse 3, he starts with the best wine. I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine. And then we are told in other texts, for example, in 1 Kings 11, he decides women, that's the thing, sexual desire, 700 wives, 300 concubines. Then that didn't fulfill. So he says, here's what will, here's what will give me joy. Great projects. And so look at chapter two, verses four through six, Solomon gives you the listing. He goes into a flurry of home building, vineyards, gardens, orchards, aqueducts, all kinds of great products, projects. And then Solomon decides management. That's the key. That's what I want to really, that will give me pleasure. If I have a huge army of servants to boss around. And so in chapter two, verse seven, Solomon lifts this. He never had to lift a finger on his own behalf. There's some of you think now that's a project worth getting behind right there. And then again, massive herds and flocks. Look at chapter two, verse seven. Solomon's has a larger herd than any person before. And then in chapter 2, verse 8, he says, no, this isn't fulfilling. Neither was the best wine. Neither were hundreds of women. Neither were great projects. And so precious metals, that will be the thing. He later will say in chapter 5, verse 10, whoever loves silver will never be satisfied. And then he decides the arts. That's what's going to give me satisfaction. That's the pleasure that will really do it for me. And so in chapter two, verse eight, he tells us he surrounded himself with the best instrumental and vocal music. Didn't work. Solomon, we are told, by himself, he's admitting this himself in chapter 2 verse 10, that he did not deny himself any pleasure. He had the time, he had the resources, he had access to all of these things, and so he said, I will say no to none of it. He arrives at this assessment. Look at chapter 2 verse 11. It was all hebel, all vain, grasping for the wind, unprofitable. And Solomon realized that, and then I want you to notice his response. Look at chapter two, verse 17. He hated his life. You're looking at the listing in earlier chapter two. How could this man hate his life? Carl, every meal was like a gourmet feast. Because he realized, if you look at verse 18 through 21, he realized that all his acquisitions and pleasures would be left to someone else to enjoy. And so Solomon, listen to me carefully, look at chapter 2 verse 20, caused him to despair. This man who'd had it all, done it all twice, he was in despair. Perhaps what he really needs to do, he decides, is pursue wealth. And so look at chapter 5. Solomon pursues wealth and he cashes in, but that brings him no satisfaction either. Chapter 5 verse 10, he who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase. This also is Hebel, vanity. And what Solomon finds out the hard way, perhaps what some of you have found out or are finding out now, is satisfaction and contentment does not come with increased wealth. Do you know what wealth can't buy? I have two witnesses. All the money in the world can't buy a good marriage. The two richest men on the earth today, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, horrible marriages, billion-dollar divorces. Leo Tolstoy, I cannot recommend it to you enough, his brilliant short story, penned in 1886, called, How Much Land Does a Man Need? He tells of a man who's convinced he'd need to own property, and then he'd be happy. And all the rabbit chases he went on to acquire property, and finally in exhaustion, he's laid into a casket. And his friend said, it looks like all he needed was a plot of land six foot long and six foot deep. When we lived in Las Vegas for five years, we had a front row seat to the greed of wealth. Multi-billion dollar casinos by the dozen. We saw the mania for acquisition. It's interesting what wealth will do. It'll drive you crazy. Look at chapter five, verse 12. Solomon says, the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. You know why? Because the ultra-wealthy man is up worrying all night, are my riches safe? The ultra-wealthy spend billions for security systems, bodyguards, high walls, floor safes, and they still, look at 512, cannot get a good night's sleep for worrying that someone will steal from them or fire will burn down some possessions. You enter this life with no possessions, and you leave this life with no possessions. You've never seen a U-Haul trailer following a hearse. And no one will be rewarded in heaven for having been wealthy on earth. No one will be more comfortable in heaven because he was comfortable on earth. Do infants care about wealth and possessions as they come into this world? I've been at the birth of all my children, several of my grandchildren, and none of them were the least bit concerned about income, clothing, or the square footage of their home. And I've been at the death, at the bedside of several people, and none of them were really concerned about the balance of their checking account or the model year of their car. This principle that Solomon has to learn the hard way. Nothing in, nothing out. You can bring nothing into this world, you can take nothing out. Has been understood by believers from the beginning. Didn't the Lord say to Adam and Eve in chapter 3 of Genesis, you're dust, and to dust you'll return. Doesn't Job say 4,000 years ago, after being deprived of almost all his possessions, his response was, Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I'll return there. The Lord's given, the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. The life of Howard Hughes is proof. But the chase for wealth is a deceiver. Hughes parlayed his inherited wealth into a billion-dollar pile of assets. He wanted more fame, so he bought his way into the Hollywood scene, became a filmmaker. He wanted more sensual pleasure, so he paid large sums of money to indulge every sexual urge. He wanted more thrill, so he designed and built and piloted the fastest aircraft in the world. He wanted more power, so he secretly bought U.S. congressmen and even presidents. Unfortunately, Moore never bought him any satisfaction. At the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in the United States, but he lived a joyless, lunatic life. When he died, his scraggly beard hung to his waist. His hair reached to the middle of his back. His fingernails were three inches long. His toenails hadn't been trimmed in so long. They looked like corkscrews. His skin was emaciated and colorless. His teeth were rotting out in black. His arms were covered with needle tracks from drug addictions, and he had broken off hypodermic needles in his arms. He had severe malnutrition. He weighed 90 pounds, stretched out over his six-foot-four frame. And he died alone, a billionaire junkie, insane, still believing the lie that more would make him happy. Hedonistic excess, wealth and pleasure to the extreme, Solomon says, Hebel. Learn from me, a vanity. And so we have to ask the question, why is everything, especially everything taken to excess, why is everything vanity? Well, a clue is given to us early in the text. Look back at chapter one, verse 10 and 11. Here's part of the reason why everything is so vain. Solomon writes in chapter 1 verse 10 and 11, is there anything of which it may be said, see, this is new. It has already been in ancient times before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after. And I want you to look at that carefully and understand what this does to our souls. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who come after. Solomon is saying even our best actions will not be remembered. I can't, and I did a test this week, the people who've gone before me, I couldn't even by diligent research find out about any of my forebears past 160 years ago. Even in our best actions, the prospect of not being remembered can discourage you. I poured myself into this work and acquisition and nobody even remembers my name. Here's the real culprit behind meaningless. In Ecclesiastes Solomon writes, there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever. No person will be remembered, Solomon says, because everyone dies. Solomon sees nothing good In wisdom, wisdom is better than... It isn't that Solomon sees nothing good in wisdom. Wisdom is better than folly. He says so in chapter 2, verse 13. But he's frustrated by the fact that the fool and the wise man come to the same end. They'll both be forgotten. Because they'll both die. Solomon's making the argument. The effect of sin and the fall, everyone dies, and then he adds to that. And everyone will be forgotten. This simple truth, the universality of death is maddening, even angering, since God has, according to chapter 3 verse 11, put eternity in our hearts. And so Solomon keeps coming back to this issue. This is what it is that helps him see that everything is meaningless. Death comes to every living creature. great or small, man or animal. Solomon says this in chapter three, verse two, he says, there's a time to die for everyone. It's the day and hour decreed by God in eternity past, but men don't know the date of their death. It's hidden in the secret councils of God. That's why Solomon reminds you in Ecclesiastes nine 12, man does not know his time. There's not a single person in this room who has a clue the day of their death. I may do the funeral of one or two people in this room this week. Death is universal. The effects of the fall are pervasive. And so look at what Solomon says in chapter three, verse 19. He says, what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals. One thing befalls them as one dies, so dies the other. Now it's interesting how the New Testament writers pick up on Solomon's wisdom. That's why we just read James in James four, when James says, what is your life? You're a miss that appears for a while, then vanishes. But Solomon adds to this wise admonition. Not only will every man die, and this really is one of Solomon's key takeaways, and so take it away. Every man will be forgotten. Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 9.5, the memory of them is forgotten. Do an experiment. I did this this week. Can you name your grandparents? That's four people, two generations away. And so I did that in about 10 seconds. Gordon Robbins Sr., Ruth Clawson, Roy Moore, Bertha Herron. Thankful to have known them all. Now here's where it gets tricky. Can you name your great-grandparents? Eight of them, eight people. Just three generations ago, all of my great-grandparents were dead when I was born. And so I had to go and do the research. Wiley Rufus Robbins, Nancy Jane Nelson, Ole Klaassen, Mary Peterson, Moses Moore, Tennessee Deal, Peter Heron, Susie Holter. I didn't even remember six of them. This proves Solomon's premise. Born in obscurity, we die and soon after the memory of us is gone fast. This is the part that grips Solomon so. No matter how large and spectacular and how acquisitive his life, He won't be remembered in three generations. This is why Solomon is trying to teach you some profound wisdom here. Look at chapter seven, verse two. He says, it's better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. For that is the end of all men and the living will take it to heart. Do you hear what Solomon's saying? He's saying, here's the wise man. The wise man isn't the person who chases after pleasure and wealth and experiences. The wise man who gets this. His time is just about done. And no one will remember him after that. Look at chapter seven, verse two. This is the end of all men and the living will take it to heart. That's why he's just said, it's better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting because it's death. actually, practically helps us think about life. This is why attending funeral is so important. Every funeral anticipates our own. And so Solomon, what he ends up recommending, and this is profound, he ends up recommending to us not the all-consuming chase after experiences and pleasure and wealth, Solomon ends up recommending to you the simplified good life, the simple pleasures now. Look at them with me. The first is, you're going to say, Carl, that's it? Yeah, eating and drinking. Look at chapter two, verse 24. Solomon says, this is the Solomon, of course, who's had the richest table. He's had a Ruth's Crisp buffet every meal for years. And Solomon says in chapter 2 verse 24, nothing is better for a man that he should eat and drink and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw was from the hand of God. And Solomon's not finished. Turn the page to chapter 3 verse 13. Every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It's the gift of God. And then again, chapter 8, verse 15, it's fascinating how often Solomon wants to come in this and say, I'm urging upon you the simple good life. In chapter 8, verse 15, Solomon says, I commended enjoyment because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry. For this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun." Solomon says it repeatedly other times, but I hope you pick up on this. Paul does in 1 Timothy 4 and 1 Timothy 6. So when Solomon lays out before you the good life, enjoy a meal, eat, drink, and be merry. The second thing, and this is the simplified good life that Solomon is recommending, enjoy your Look at chapter nine, verse nine, where Solomon says, he doesn't say, you know, what you really need to do is you need to get all about 300 concubines and about 700 wives. Well, it didn't do it for me, but maybe if you get 800, that'll do it for you. No, look at chapter 9 verse 9. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which is given you under the sun, all your days of vanity, for this is your portion in life. The shared life of one husband, one wife is meant to be a community of love and shared happiness. Notice that Solomon here doesn't recommend polygamy. 700 wives, 300 concubines. He recognizes that will not bring joy, it'll just bring a lot of drama. And so he says, live joyfully with your one wife. So notice so far, here's Solomon's great wisdom. You're thinking, really? I spent all this time and this is what you got, Solomon? Eat and drink, enjoy your marriage. Then Solomon does something profound. He teaches you for the simplified good life, exercise simple discernments, learn what is better and worse. Simple binary reasoning, what is better, what is worse. Look at chapter 7, where Solomon stacks up several of these, not just in chapter 7, but especially there, where Solomon says, let me teach you what is better and what is worse. And so in chapter seven, verse 12, he says, better to go to the house of mourning than go to the house of feasting for that's the end of all men and the living will take it to heart. He's saying, if you go to the house of mourning, that's good for you because that will keep you focused that your life is just about done, your time's almost up. And so you'll prepare well. Then in chapter seven, verse five, better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. Chapter 7 verse 8, the end of a thing is better than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. So Solomon is teaching you these things make up the good life. A meal, a wife you love, and discernment of what is better and what is worse. Now, wisdom literature is usually not thought of as containing rich theology, but Solomon tucks away, it turns out, several doctrinal propositions. In fact, some of the most foundational doctrines we hold, it turns out, their proof text is found in Ecclesiastes. For example, look at chapter 7, verse 13. A few of these rich doctrines that we build upon are found in a wisdom book, not normal. Chapter 7, verse 13, where Solomon teaches us about God's sovereignty and wisdom in human affliction. Solomon writes, consider the work of God. Who can make straight what He has made crooked? A few weeks ago I had the privilege to speak at a conference at First Prez in Columbia, South Carolina, and one of the things I spoke on was Thomas Boston's book, The Crook in the Lot. where Thomas Boston writes an entire book, it's a brilliant book, about God's sovereignty and His wisdom in our affliction, His superintendence of trials. That's all that chapter 7 verse 13 is telling you, is when you see someone who has a crooked path, a difficult situation, That's the work of God. That's His sovereignty, even in the hard and difficult things. Solomon teaches another profound doctrine in addition to just sovereignty. Look at chapter 7, verse 20, where Solomon teaches us that total depravity reaches all men. Solomon writes, there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. Do you need a proof text for universal depravity that all men are sinners in need of a Savior? Chapter 7 verse 20, every single person who's ever drawn a breath is a sinner in need of a savior. Solomon adds to that in chapter 9 verse 3 when he says, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil. Madness is in their hearts while they live. Now Solomon won't just tell you that, he'll tell you how men got to be this way. Look at chapter 7 verse 29, another Solomon adds on to our doctrine of In chapter 7 verse 29 Solomon says, God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Now this is not unusual with the Bible, 66 books and 1189 chapters, only two books and four chapters do not mention sin or sinners. Genesis one and two before the fall and revelation 21 and 22. Sin fills our history. Without a biblical doctrine of sin, you can't understand the main line of the story. And so that's what Solomon is teaching you in chapter seven, verse 29, when he says, God made man upright, but they sought out many schemes. Another one of the rich doctrines that Solomon is teaching you. It's fascinating that he's a magistrate. He's the most powerful magistrate who ever lived. He's an absolute totalitarian king. And this is what he says about the civil magistrate. Look at chapter eight, verse two. He's telling you how to get along with the civil magistrate. Obey the authorities. Chapter 8 verse 2 says, Where the word of a king is, there's power. And who may say to him, what are you doing? He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful. He's telling you that in terms of the wise life, it's simply to obey the civil magistrate, whether it's a king or a president or a mayor or a governor or the police chief, unless he commands you to sin, this will make your life simpler and happier. But notice as well, he says, to jurisprudence, to those who are kings. He says, because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. He's saying it's a wise magistrate who punishes sin quickly and justly. Final counsel. Let me give you three or four final counsels from Solomon, all found in this book. The first is, Seems like such a simple counsel for a man whose life was so varied and so extravagant. First counsel that Solomon states over and over again, avoid the fool. Solomon writes extensively about fools. You'll remember in our discussion in Proverbs where Solomon wrote there, Solomon's making the very clear point about fools. Fools are incorrigible. So if you can't reform them, why is so much written about them in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes is to help you recognize them, to help you identify foolish behavior, and to strongly and repeatedly to warn you to go in the opposite direction when you see a fool coming. Your greatest danger from fools is meeting them unexpectedly and not recognizing that until it's too late. So that's why Solomon writes as well in Proverbs 14, leave the presence of a fool quickly. But look at how in Ecclesiastes, Solomon adds to the analysis of the fool. Look at Ecclesiastes 10. In all that Solomon is doing, he's building a case on top of the case he built in Proverbs. He's building a case for you to do one thing, run away from the fool. Ecclesiastes 10 verse 12 and following, the lips of a fool shall swallow him up. The words of his mouth begin with foolishness and the end of his talk is raving madness. A fool also multiplies words. Parents, if you are wise, you should be frequently discussing the fool. and teaching your child to spot them and avoid them. When Solomon, when you think about his counsels, his takeaway counsels, it's this simple. Avoid the fool. A second counsel. This sounds so strange. Learn to be joyful young. Look at chapter 11, verse 9 and 10, where Solomon says, rejoice, oh young man, in your youth. It's an imperative. And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Remove sorrow from your heart. Solomon is issuing an imperative to youth. Look at it in chapter 11, verse 9 and 10. Here's his imperative to youth. Rejoice. And not only does he tell you what to put on, rejoicing, he tells you what to put off. He tells you to remove sorrow from your heart. This is not unusual, by the way. Paul commands, gives an imperative to the Philippian church to rejoice repeatedly. You were created in the image of God and made for joy. Remember, our God is full of joy. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were deliriously happy. They knew no sadness, not even a twinge of melancholy. But sin shattered all that, plunged the human race into death and sadness. At conversion, we begin to have the image of God renewed and restored. This will mean that we will progressively grow more joyful. If we imitate our God, we should be marked by an increasing joy. Don't we say in our catechism, man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever? Isn't the fruit of the Spirit joy? Doesn't the Bible teach that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy? Don't we sing in the Psalms, the Lord has done great things for us and we are glad? Don't we say that we as a church must rejoice when straying sinners and prodigals return? Just the repeating of the gospel message should give us happiness since it's called glad tidings. We should look forward to the Lord's day as a time of unique joy. That's why the psalmist said, I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Of course, at the base of all our joy is the gospel of grace. Good news, so rich and free that it makes you throw your head back and laugh. You were dead and now you're alive forevermore. You were the enemy of God and now you're his adopted son. Solomon commands young men, young women, stare at those words in 11.9 and 11.10. He commands them, learn joy early. Moms and dads, if you have a melancholy, droopy son or daughter, you need to make an appointment with Pastor King or Pastor Anderson or Pastor Dodds. Because that is not the nature of the Christian life for a child or a teen. The commanded life for them is to learn joy. This is the command of the one who knew. Another final counsel. Begin the pursuit of God early. I told you this was a children's sermon, a youth sermon. Look at chapter 12, verse 1. where once again Solomon issues a mandate, an imperative, a command when he says, remember now your creator when in the days of your youth. Before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them. And then again, in chapter 12 or six, Solomon writes, remember your creator before. And he uses all those metaphors and pictures that they all have to do with dying and growing old. Remember your creator before Solomon writes these words with regret, dripping from his pen regret that he had lived his best years. for the empty acquisition of women, riches, and experiences. No doubt Solomon thought when he was in his 20s, stacking up wives, stacking up herds and flocks and meals and bottles of wine. No doubt Solomon thought he had plenty of time to live with the Lord when he was 30, 40, 50. But at 60, the Lord called him home. He writes about in Ecclesiastes, man does not know his time. And that's why Solomon is writing especially to you in your teens. Begin the pursuit of God early. Remember your creator in the days of your youth. And then the final word. Look at the very end of the book of Ecclesiastes, verse 13 and 14. The final word. You're thinking, Solomon took you this long? I knew this was the nature of the Christian life from the moment I opened this book. Solomon says, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments. This is man's all. God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. There is nothing vanity, nothing Hebel about fearing God to all in reverence. God is never folly. Look at what Solomon says in verse 13. It is man's all. There's nothing vain about obeying the commands of God. Solomon is telling the young man or the young woman to cultivate a holy disposition, a lowly reverence for God. Solomon's last reminder, look at verse 14. His last reminder is that there's a judgment seat and every person will stand before Christ and receive sins. The wise man lives in preparation for that day. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You for Your wisdom. Wisdom that teaches us the weightiness of both life and death, the folly of pursuing pleasure as our sole goal in life. Lord, instead, we pray that upon hearing Solomon, we would delight in the simple life that you've given us, that we would avoid folly and pursue righteousness. Lord, bring these lessons to our remembrance, to our hearing regularly. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.