Your Bible is the book of Ecclesiastes and the first chapter. We're going to look at several verses along the line of Ecclesiastes here and we'll call today's message, Resolving the Ridiculous. Ecclesiastes 1, I'll read verses 1 through 3 and then I'll go ahead and read verse 14. The words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem, vanity of vanities, says the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What does man gain by all the toilet which he toils under the sun? And verse 14, I have seen everything that is done under the sun and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. by the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Triune God, come and help us to understand. the timelessness of this text and thereby the timeliness to our own lives and all lives may all that ever hear this message be ministered to because you send your word forth and it does not come back void it will accomplish what you sent it to and I'm asking that you would strengthen saints stop those wandering hearts and seek out by your word. Faith comes by hearing the word of Christ. Let it be so. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. I want to say at the outset here that I'm indebted to Pastor Bobby Jameson of the Trinity Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Now, I don't have this book, but it's a recent book. I read a review of his recent book, Everything is Never Enough, Ecclesiastes, Surprising Path to Resilient Happiness. And it inspired me to write this message. And he talks about how people look for happiness in all the wrong places. And as I'm reading it, he's making a case for not using the word vanity or meaningless or fruitlessness or whatever the modern versions say or the older versions. And he uses the word absurd. And all that follows here is going to be my stuff and God and I, but I will use the word ridiculous. Now this opening chapter in the book of Ecclesiastes introduces us to two Hebrew words, oh no, we'll go very slow with that, and two Hebrew phrases that when you use them they're seen frequently throughout the book of Ecclesiastes and they help give you an idea and an understanding of the basic ideas of the whole book. We will learn Ecclesiastes just by today. Not everything that's in them. And you have to be very careful with Ecclesiastes. There's statements that are in there when he's on his journey that are not... He's not giving a recommendation. He's saying, I tried this and it's not right. And even when something is working, it doesn't mean... You know, we can't have a pragmatic yardstick. Solomon knows that. He was multiplying things he was told not to multiply. And the wisest man in the world became foolish. But he recounts his ability to go not just from bad thing to good thing, but from thing to thing to thing to thing. That's the point. And he finds it all, as he says here, vanity. So we're going to look at two Hebrew words, two Hebrew phrases, and they will help you greatly understand this whole book. The first is found in verse 1. It starts with The words of the preacher. Now that word preacher is the Hebrew word kohelet. Kohelet. And in your notes there, I sort of kind of give what it looks like and where the pronunciation is. Kohelet. Now that's actually the title of the book. Ecclesiastes means the preacher or kohelet. Now some versions use teacher instead of preacher. But either way, that's not the point. The point is that he's using this word all throughout the book. And it's the pen name of the writer. And he identifies himself as the son of David, king in Jerusalem. So we would know who that is, right? It's traditionally seen as Solomon. Now verse 2 gives the thesis statement, the purpose of the writer. And he says, vanity of vanities, says the preacher or teacher. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. And the book is an account of how he explores and examines every angle of life. When you read through this, it's like, wow, this guy did everything. Yes. Of course, he could do that because he was a rich and powerful king and the wisest man in the world. Just to remind ourselves of that, let me look at 1 Kings 3 verses 12 and 13. Remember, God said, what do you want me to do for you? And he goes, give me wisdom. And God was very well pleased with that and gave it to him. But now I want you to think. If he's the wisest man in the world and fell into all this craziness and wasn't sure what might happen to us, you see, I'm going to make a statement now, and I will prove it. Everybody in this room thinks that they're the wisest person on earth. Every single one. Yes, they do. You just proved it. Because as soon as you say that, you're the one that gets to make the decision about that, which makes you... Yes. There's no one that doesn't think that, even babies. Now wait, before you challenge that, you would say, no, no, no, I know that people, there's people that are smarter than me in here, that are more educated than me in here. Maybe some rooms there's not, maybe some rooms there is. But the point is, I'm making the decision whether that's true or not. And what does that make me? Gotcha. You guys know, you grew up with this. I've been saying this for more than 20 years. I've been saying it for a long time and I thought that. Just when I get to the point where I think, you know, oh no, I'll be the dumbest person in the room and all that, you know, worldly wisdom, you know, hang around the proud crowd because you'll be like them. Do you really want to do that? Anyway, I want to get you into this idea of Solomon, knew what he was doing. And he wasn't just saying, well, I wasn't sure about this, I wasn't sure about that. Some of it is. But he's saying, look, I'll try everything and show you. God had him do that. His own sin, his doing. But to show us, you know how many people have been saved out of the book of Ecclesiastes? I can name two. One is named R.C. Sproul. The other is named J.D. Hatfield. He's put eternity into our hearts yet so as we can't know what he's doing. Right? I thought I was the smartest kid in the room. I wasn't the smartest kid in my own room. My brother has a higher IQ than I do. But the point is, is here's Solomon. Get that in your head. Everybody knows he's the wisest man. Even the cartoon Shazam with Captain Marvel. And Shazam stands for Solomon. Hercules. 13. Achilles, Zeus, Atlas and Mercury, and the Council of the Immortal Elders. But when they showed it on the cartoon, guess who's sitting on the throne? Solomon. Guess who's the one that isn't Greek? Solomon all right the point is is people are always looking for wisdom and and and finding it in the Bible and not finding it and not understanding that and not understanding prudence the timing of the thing and Ecclesiastes is very helpful but we need to know the basic understanding of that and that's what we'll do if I can just get going So 1 Kings 3, 12 and 13, God says, Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, which he asked for, so that none like you has been before you, and none like you shall arise after you. Just like when Jesus said, Up to this point there has been no one on earth that is as good as John the Baptist. No one. That's Jesus saying that. Now Moses in Numbers 12, 3 said, Moses was the most humble man on earth. Doesn't sound right, but that's the pen of inspiration saying that. And here God himself, the Father is saying, there will never be, there has never been, and there will never be someone as wise as you. And yet, you know John the Baptist only had a six month ministry. And Jesus said he was the greatest man that ever lived. And yet you put him in prison for two years, and what happens? He says, are you the one? He was his cousin. He jumped in his mother's womb. He said, I can't tie his shoes. He knew who Jesus was more than anybody. So if you get yourself isolated, I don't need to go to church. Sure, you just prove you do. Well, all right, let me get back to my notes. He said, no one's been like you. No one will be like you. I will also give you what you didn't ask for. Riches and honor, so that no king shall compare with you all your days. Now Solomon was richer and wiser than anyone else. And he was in a unique position to address life's main questions through his own life experience. And to pass down his timeless and timely wisdom through the ages. Everyone needs to hear the preacher. He investigates every type of thing people chase after or hide from, run from. He tried it all, but none of it was enough to truly give Him a lasting fulfillment. And we will answer this as we go through at the end. So what now? Is the question He finally answers. So what now? Now verse 2. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. Introduces us to the heavy power of this book. It all stinks. It doesn't make any sense. I don't like it. It is ridiculous, is the word I'm using. We learned our first Hebrew word, right? Kohelet means the preacher. It's what Ecclesiastes means. Okay. Now, the healing power of the book. Also, just one word. It's the Hebrew word hevel. Like heavy, but hevel. The word is used at the beginning, as you see. Ecclesiastes 1, 2. And at the end, Ecclesiastes 12, verse 8. And throughout the book, everybody knows. Vanity of vanity. All is vanity. Everything is nothing. It's like vapor. It's like smoke. And this word is vital to understanding this book. Anybody still with me? Am I loud enough? Fast enough? Good looking enough? I don't know. Vanity of vanity. All is vanity. But it's been translated several different ways in our English Bible versions. And again, I'm no translation master. I know Hebrew. I know some language. I have a lot of tools. Tools, haha. But anyway, the point is, is why do I get to make this case? Well, someone else made it before me. But I think with modern English and other things, people don't understand the full measure of this. They think it just means it's flying away. But there's something much deeper at the root of this, which is why I want to use the word ridiculous. All right? It's been translated several different ways in our English Bible version. The ESV, which most of us have in front of you, and I have my big Bible here and on my phone, The King James Version and the New King James render Hevel in chapter 1 verse 2 as vanity as we see many times. But the NIV and the NLT render it as meaningless. And that's good, too. And the NSB, the NET, and the CSB label it fruit futility. Now, the New English Translation, the Net Bible, it's out of Dallas Theological Seminary, elsewhere renders Hebel as fleeting. And I put some verses there for you can see it. Took out the one that didn't have it. We did the study on Wednesday to begin with, but this is going to be better. And Hevel can be translated literally like in our demo for our TV show as vapor or smoke. And our friend Matthew was up here doing the part of the preacher or the teacher and said it's just smoke. It's just all smoke. Now all of these words do give some idea of what the preacher or teacher is trying to convey. But none of them seems to fully convey just what he's getting at. Which is why I'm going to use the word ridiculous. It delivers more meaning and application which we will show. then these other words. 36 COHELAT USES HEVEL 38 TIMES IN 30 VERSES. Now often it is when he's describing things that are fleeting, temporary, or transient. So we're going to look at some examples of that. Chapter 2 verse 13 through 15. 37 THEN I SAW THERE'S MORE GAIN IN WISDOM THAN IN FOLLY. Duh, right? As there is more gain in light than in darkness. It was like night and day. You want to be wise, you don't want to be foolish. The wise person has his eyes in his head. But the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceive 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? What good is it? I said in my heart that this is also vanity. The reality is that life is short and everyone eventually dies. That's a big part of the book. But that's only one part. There's something else that comes. So when people say vanity or fleeting or meaningless, they generally just latch on to that and say, see, he's just talking about the fact that why gain stuff for a kingdom that's not going to last? It's just going to die anyway. Oh yeah, you're this great, you're Miss America, but let's try it 50 years from now. Unless you're my wife. But you know what I'm saying. So people do that, and that's understandable. But it's not everything he's getting at. But that's the main thing. Reality is that life is short, I'm short, and I'll die, and everybody else too. Chapter 2, verse 21. Sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill, like yes, and you're doing everything you're supposed to do, and you have the ability to do it, and you achieve it, must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This is also vanity and a great evil. Now you can say, well, yeah, but I'm leaving it for my kids. Okay, I get that. That doesn't change things. When you die, you can't take it with you. It doesn't mean you shouldn't get things going. I'll build more barns. Right? Remember the parable Jesus told? Chapter 6, verse 2. Verse 2. A man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him the power to enjoy them. But a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity. It is a grievous evil. Sometimes someone else gets to have what you worked for. And success can be stolen. And one of the words that I despise, but people use a lot, and I understand, is credit. I want to get the credit for it. Credit. God saw something good in me, yeah, it's called a black heart and evil, and that's the only thing he saw. But now when he looks at you, he sees Jesus. Oh my. Here's one that I included. Chapter 7, verse 6. For as the crackling of thorns under a pipe... When you get a kid and you have a bonfire, they find those little twigs and throw them in. They go... Like, wow, that's so cool! Right? But anybody that knows anything about fire and about things like that thinks that's nothing. It's just kindling, right? But if... If you saw that stuff, you could put your hand on it and all that. But if you had one of those oaks... And it looks red all the way through, or almost dead all the way through. But you put your finger in there, you ain't got no finger no more. That's what we need in life. You don't need the people just on fire for Jesus on Sunday. Woohoo! Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Whatever. How about the people that walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but not fear any evil? That's who I want to be with. 08 will get you on fire. You get around someone that's an oak, and you will be on fire. Nothing you can do about it. People don't want to hang around oaks. They think they're boring. It's the other way around. Oh, my goodness. It's the other way around. For as the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of fools. Ha, ha, ha, I'm falling off the cliff. This is also vanity. Fools fail to realize that living for fun never lasts. Fools fail to realize, hopefully early, hopefully slightly after you turn 21 and get drunk and think, oh, this is so fun. Living for fun never lasts. And when fun runs out, Jesus is still there. All right, so we see clearly that the preacher is definitely concerned with how nothing seems to last. That is a big part of it. But the passing nature of things is not the only thing. Kohelet is remarking upon and lamenting other things. He's also describing how life is a paradox. It is a mysterious contradiction. It is ridiculous. Here is his greater issue. Are we listening? Please listen to this. Everything that everyone does to try and be happy, at its core, doesn't really make you happy. It just keeps you chasing after happy. Everything that everyone does to try and be happy, I'm doing it, too. At its core, though, it doesn't really make you happy. Yes, it does. Hold on. We're going to work that out of you today, brother, sister. I'm not kidding. You've got to get rid of this stuff. I just don't feel Jesus. This is why. It's called idolatry. Idolatry. And Solomon goes after everyone and becomes an iconoclast. He knocks them down. He runs into the Catholic Church during the end of October up the street and yells and screams and burns it all down. Queen of peace, my booty. Queen of hell. They're doing it again this year, buddy. Plenary indulgence. We're going back to Fatima. Plenary indulgence. I'll just do whatever I want all the way there, and then if I can just make it there and give them that money, blah, blah. I'm a Protestant. I protest. Solomon is protesting. People don't realize that. It's just a sour book. No, it's a real book. The only one that could take all that was that man. The only one that could have gone through the things that the Apostle Paul did was the Apostle Paul. The one that knocked on that castle door, the church door, and put those 95 theses was the man that did it. The only one that's going to do what you need to do is going to be you. And it's just as important. Who's the potter? Who's the clay? One more time. Everything that everyone does to try and be happy at its core doesn't really make you happy. It just keeps you chasing after happy. It is ironic. And it's irritating. Isn't it irritating? You keep switching the bank lines thinking, I'm going to go faster now. And the guy in front of you is from the Penny Arcade. I do that at the toll booths. I'm glad they have the new thing where you don't have to stop at the toll booths. Because I'm like, don't get directions. Don't get directions. Shut up and move. You know exactly what I'm talking about. You know what I'm talking about. Who always picks the wrong line? The wrong line every time. Every time. They say don't ask for patience because you're going to get... You don't even have to ask. We through much many tribulations go to the kingdom of God. It's happening. But it's irritating. And as Kohelet says in verse 14, I have seen everything that is done under the sun. We'll look at that one. And behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. The Net Bible and some other versions use the phrase chasing after the wind. Now this striving, this chasing after the wind, is the Hebrew phrase, redifat ruach. Fat sounds like hot. Redifat ruach. It means vapor, it means breath, it means spirit. The och sounds like loch, as in lochness, monster. It's trying to take hold of something that's not actually the solid thing you crave. You're like, look, look, look. It's whoever's hot. I don't know. And you grab it. It's a cardboard cutout. Right? Your friend's messing with you. You're chasing after something. It just seems like, wow, and it's not really there. Chasing after the wind. Trying to take hold of something that's not actually a solid thing you crave. We want solidity. We want stability. That's what we want. We want safety. Men, the women, want to know that you're going to protect them from you. So we're chasing after the wind. Now that sounds like a ridiculous run, doesn't it? There was a song in the 70s by the group Heart. It was called Dog and Butterfly. See the dog and the butterfly in the air, he likes to fly. Dog and butterfly, you know she had to try, but she fell back down to the soft, warm ground with a tear in her eye. She don't know why. Now, Nancy Wilson is not a Christian. When they were inducted into the Hall of Fame, she said, music is the true church. And for many people, that is exactly true. But whether she realized it or not, which she didn't, that was the book of Ecclesiastes. Yeah, the dog wants to chase that butterfly. It ain't gonna get it. Right? And this is what's happening. People are chasing after the wind, chasing after that butterfly, thinking, you know, one of my granddaughters, she can catch lizards and butterflies like you wouldn't believe. But you've got to let them go. Or they'll run off in their tail. You've got their tail. It's really funny. So he's not just talking about the fleeting nature. He's talking about the ridiculousness of it. I mean, it's fun to watch, you know, like kids act a certain way, but then when they get a certain age, if they keep doing it, it's like, uh-oh, bring the jackets. Here's some examples of that. Again, what are we doing right now? We're saying it's not just the futility of life in the sense of it flees. It's also that it's ridiculous to begin with. Even when you get a hold of that smoke, it's still just smoke. It's ridiculous. The things we chase after. Some examples again of that. Chapter 1 verse 17 and 18. And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceive that this is also just a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation. And he who increases in knowledge increases sorrow. The wiser you get, the more you have to deal with fools. And the more you know, the more you need to know. And the bigger your platform, the more content you've got to keep pumping out. Do you remember pastors I talked to that say that? They say, well, you know, I just feel like I've got to keep doing it. Yeah, man. Forget all the cameras and all that. Put that little thing there, do it real quick, and that's it, and then you'll have peace. Chapter 2, verse 11. Are you with me? Amen? Then I considered all that my hands had done, and the toil I had expended in doing it. And behold, all was vanity in striving after win or chasing after win. And there was nothing to be gained under the sun. We'll look at that next. The more that you do, the more you have to do. Thanksgiving, anyone? And the more success you get, the more success you'll need. I mean, I bought Twitter. Right? I send rockets up into space. I dig big holes in the ground. I make everybody able to have the internet. Everybody able to have an electric car. And I've got to conquer this world. Again, what did Alexander the Great say? Why was he crying at the end? He said, I'm dying because there's no more worlds to conquer. His heart was broken. I'm not mad at Elon Musk. I'm saying, no matter, he could invent everything. Okay. Neuralink. No more cancer. No more Parkinson's, right? No more shortness. Nothing wrong with that. No more flying fists of fury. But you know what I'm saying. One thing to one thing. And Solomon could do everything. And he tried everything. Just read the book. The more success you get, the more success you'll need. There was a book by H.G. Wells called The Boy Who Could Do Miracles. H.G. Wells was a violently bad atheist, but a good writer. And the kid could do miracles. He could do miracles. He would do this, that, and then everybody came out of the woodwork needing a miracle. And it got to be too much because you could have all this power, but not have the wisdom, not have the prudence to deal with it. And so what did he do? He killed everybody. Nice lesson. If we just had the money, if I could just be with that chick one time, No, because then you think, I can be with any chick one time. I feel sad if all you got is your looks, man. There's always a Hugh Hefner out there. Man, I'm just putting down names. Yikes. But the more success you have, the more success you're going to need. It's not wrong to have success. But there's something Solomon is pointing out here. It's not just the fleeting nature of, you know, even the greatest groups, besides the Rolling Stones, that last five, ten years. No one's following me? You're not getting this? Yeah. Yeah, but you're my age, so... There you go. Chapter 4, verse 4. Then I saw all the toil and skill and work that come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This is also vanity and a striving after win. People want to make their mark. They want to keep up with the competition or get ahead in life. I've heard that. I just want to get ahead. But winning the rat race just makes you a rat. Can I read that again? Then I saw that all the toil and all the skill and work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This is vanity and striving after wind. You know we did that from Jonathan Edwards' grandson at Yale. The mark of distinction. Everybody wants to do it. You can be somebody. I am somebody. I'm a child of God. It doesn't mean I'm not going to do things. I'm going to do them for the Lord. Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Yes, you can chew bubble gum to the glory of God. Talk to me later. I'm not kidding. This afternoon I'll be watching NASCAR and eating my potato chips to the glory of God. What's that? No sir. If there was a purgatory, broccoli would just be at the purgatory level and Virgil and Homer can sit there. Did you read Dante's Inferno? Don't challenge me on broccoli. I'll whip out Harvard's five foot shelf on you. Ask me about that later. So people want to make their mark, but chasing after things, winning the rat race just makes you a rat. Now chapter 6 verse 9, better is the sight of the eyes of the wandering than the wandering of the appetite. Boy, better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite. This is also vanity and striving after wind. The more you get the more you want. I wish my friend Ben was here today. Say, OK, Ben, I know his goal is three plates, 315. Boom. Right? And he's going to get close, and he's going to pass me. And little old me did three plates. Not now. One plate would crush me. I'd run from it. Just like the scale. The scale. He said, I'm afraid to step on the scale. The scale's afraid I'll step on it. But if he does that, then what's the next thing? You got to keep going if you're going to gain. It's just like looking at that stuff you ain't supposed to look at. The law of diminishing returns. Do you know what I'm saying, boys? Girls? I never thought I would look at this stuff. Me neither. chasing the wind, chasing the wind, chasing the wind. And this chase is more than just a pursuit of fleeting pleasures, safety and satisfaction. That's the first part that we describe. But the reason that we have to... Listen, listen, anybody listen. Somebody say Amen. Amen. The reason that we have to keep chasing the wind is because even if we get a measure of what we want, we can never find fulfillment in it. It can never be enough. Now that's not me just saying that. What does Solomon discover here? It's because it's a ridiculous quest for contentment from things that cannot ultimately give it. Including ourselves. There's your new age right there. Including ourselves. And the reason, here we go, here's the whole sermon. The reason they aren't enough is not just because they fade away, which vanity just gives that impression. It's because they aren't enough because you can't have them without God. Let me say it again slowly. The reason everything else isn't enough is not just because it fades away, it's because you can have it without God. And anything and everything without God can never be enough. But when we find our fulfillment and satisfaction in God, whatever else is enough. All right, now verse 3 starts with Qohelet's quest. And it introduces us to the phrase, under the sun. This is the Hebrew Takat HaShemesh. Shemesh is sun. HaShemesh, the sun. Takat sounds like hot. It's used more than 25 times in Ecclesiastes. It refers to what we can know through this material world. Woo-hoo, evangelism coming. In other words, it's life considered without an eternal perspective. It's counting on physical life without spiritual life. It's trying to find meaning and purpose without God. Let's look at some examples of that. Chapter 1, verse 9. What has been and is what will be. Especially when it comes to Marvel movies. Nobody, okay. You know, you guys saw 10 Things I Hate About You. Now that's dating myself there. That's Taming of the Shrew. Everybody takes old stuff and makes it new. But it's not new, it's just repackaged. And that can be good. But Kohelet says what has been is what will be. And what has been done is what will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun. You've heard that phrase many times. This is where it comes from. There's nothing new under the sun. No matter what people try, there is no real hope for lasting fulfillment to be found in the things of this world. They are fleeting. They are ironic. People keep repeating the same ridiculous. They have this book. And you can... I don't believe in God. Written by Hicks back in the first century. No. No one can read this book and not see themselves in it. And people keep repeating the same ridiculous... Why do you think it is high schoolers or before? Or... Why is it that your parents get stupider and stupider as you get through school and then they get smarter and smarter once you get in real life? And all of a sudden they're prophets. Don't hang around that. You're going to do that. I won't do that. It doesn't mean that. It meant that. Do the marriage counseling. It's not sex and money. It's a couple years later. It's sex and money. No matter what people try, they're doing the same ridiculous thing. Oh, this net hasn't caught anybody yet. But we're trying to look at the point. It's not just about being fleeting. It's about being without God. But I have got... Do you? Chapter 4 verse 1. Again I saw that all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed. And they had no one to comfort them. On the side of their oppressors there was power. And there was no one to comfort them. Without God there is no ultimate justice, just never-ending injustice and oppression. The reason you watch the news and you get mad is because you want to do something about it. But you've got to leave it to God to do something about it. You don't revile. You don't answer back. You leave it to God. I mean, if you can get someone out trafficking, hello, don't be stupid. Don't be ridiculous. But your anger is not self-righteous anger. It's pride. Because pride is the seat of sin. I just invented that one, but it's real. Without God, there's no ultimate justice. All this stuff that you see, just never-ending injustice and oppression. Chapter 8, verse 17. Anybody still with us? Then I saw all the work of God. That man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. You cannot figure God out and you can't control Him. You just need to trust Him. So with all his wisdom, all his wealth, all his ability and opportunity... See, if you're not liking this message and all that, it's exactly the one that you need, because you need to change. We all need to change. And we go from change to change. And it's spiritual poverty, spiritual need, is what leads to spiritual growth. Because you're just part of Jesus you're not looking at yet. And none of you know that because you're not there yet. Sorry. Go ahead and get mad at me. Get good at God. With all his wealth, all his ability, all his opportunity. Ecclesiastes. Solomon tries everything. It's a sad journey to realize that simply pursuing anything and everything is ridiculous. And that even if you're somehow able to try everything you can think of or dream of and achieve all that you want and gain the whole world. You understand that language. It is still like chasing after the wind. It doesn't mean you don't do it. It means what is the grounding of doing it? And for most people, it's themselves. Oh no, it's my family. Liar. Liar. Read the book. But Solomon finds hope, and the preacher finally lets us all know what the result of his quest has revealed. And in the end, he finds that true enjoyment, fulfillment, and satisfaction, and the only way to resolve the ridiculous is by embracing our limitations and accepting our gifts. Both as signposts to God Himself. God is what your heart truly wants. And yes, through the milieu, through the material, through all these other things, that's how you get grounded in it, and it doesn't spoil you. And it doesn't starve you. The only way to resolve the ridiculous is by embracing our limitations and accepting our gifts as signposts to God Himself. God is what your heart truly wants. Solomon was the wisest man in the world, and the book of Ecclesiastes is the story of his quest for true, lasting satisfaction. He experienced all that life has to offer, and he wore himself out. You see that in the last chapter, studying. I just want to do right. I'm going to study everything I have to do, and you mean it, and it's true, and amen. And he wore himself out. And every time I wear myself out, instead of burning out, I come here to this book. Because you can read the end of it and it doesn't make sense to you until you've went through it on the journey. I challenge you to go on the journey with it. He wore himself out studying. More exegesis, exegesis, exegesis. It's not enough to know about God, but to know God and be known by Him. And he said, it was all just chasing the wind. And at the end of his journey, chapter 12, verse 13, he says, all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. What Solomon discovered was that the things of this life are more meaningful with God. Amen. Whatever you have hand finds to do it, do it with all your might. And yet those things can never be enough to fully satisfy the redeemed soul. There is no satisfaction in the self. Why? Because your eternal soul hears the eternal call of your eternal Savior from your eternal home. But Jesus has made us His home in believers. And in Matthew 5, 6, Jesus says, Blessed are those through hunger and thirst for Him, for righteousness. For they shall be satisfied. May your heart find its home in Christ. Amen. God is the reason you feel a longing in your heart that nothing you do seems to satisfy. You get to one thing, then it's another thing. You get to one thing, it's another thing. God put that there. And you may be satisfied for a moment, but not for long. Maybe like Solomon, you can just go from one thing to another. And I can't, as soon as I retire, hallelujah! Dude, if you're a real man, you're still going to have to do stuff. Women, too. You know it. When am I going to get a grandbaby? Oh, no? Oh, yeah. Yeah. He's sitting right next to her. Not yet. Not yet. Hey, you got a house already. Please, God. You got time. Oh, no. I thought the rapture was last week. I said, we're looking for that because we're not actually looking for God. We think we are. Think about it. That book applies to that statement. God's the reason you feel long in your heart, that nothing seems to satisfy, at least not for long. Again, you can be like Solomon, go from thing to thing to thing to thing, but just like him, you'll find the same dead end. Solomon isn't the only one who discovered that this life isn't enough. That's my gospel tract, by the way. Got to reprint it. We'll do it at the same time. When the fun isn't enough, Jesus is. There's a lot of good, wonderful, and joyful things in this life. There's a lot of bad things too. Praise God. I'm not afraid of the bad news because I've got the good news. But nothing in this life is enough to satisfy that longing in your heart. No job, no spouse, no children, no career, no fame, no fortune, or no amount of justice, or healing, or freedom, or wisdom, or whatever is enough. You see this all over. Everyone clamors for more, more, more. How do you like it? How do you like it? More, more, more. I have a friend here that hasn't been here in a little while, and we were talking this morning, and it was like, yeah, man, you're giving me license to start singing 70's tune again. Even those who are incensed, they are content. They have times of loneliness and distance and wondering if this is all there is. Even people with everything are still missing something. And you know all too well that there's something missing. Something you need but don't yet fully have. But no matter how many people try to find it, it's not of this world. Only a Christian can truly find it. What is it? It's this. Your eternal soul longs for your eternal home. You want God himself. This is the way God designed you with a longing for what you cannot yet fully see, but somehow know exists. Here's my verse. Ecclesiastes 3.11 says it this way. He has put eternity into a man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 1 Corinthians 13.12 says, For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully as I've been fully known. Home is what your heart really wants. Where is home? Philippians 3, 20 and 21 says, Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. What are we supposed to do while we wait? Good question. Your need for now is to realize your significance, your satisfaction, and your security are in Jesus. Augustine said, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find our peace in You. You live for today by having an eye for tomorrow, an eye for the treasures in heaven. Otherwise you're going to look to fulfill that longing with the things of this earth, the things of this life. are more meaningful with God. But even so, they can never be enough to fully satisfy the redeemed soul. And we all long for more when things aren't going so well. But sometimes you long for more, even when things are going very well. You know how it is. You've got things the way you want it. Everything is right. The kids are cool. The baby ain't crying. My head isn't hurting. Whatever it may be. You've got it the way you want it. Everything is right. Nothing seems out of place. And yet you still feel out of place. Why? Praise God. Because you are out of place. Because your eternal soul hears the eternal call of your eternal Savior from your eternal home. And Jesus is reminding you that He is coming to bring you home to Him forever. Let's finish. So what now? That's what Solomon was answering. Listen to the preacher. Stop looking under the sun for satisfaction the same way as those who don't know God. Stop chasing after the wind and start clinging to the cross. Tell God you've been a fool and ask Jesus to save you. Stop being ridiculous. Amen. Heavenly Father, I confess that for much of my life, and even for some of my Christian life, I have been ridiculous. I thought if I could just get girls. had some girls if I could just have money had a pretty little penny money if I could just get people to respect me still working on that one but even after I became a Christian if I could just get this many people in the church if I could just get this many people listening to me on the radio if I could just have this if people would just be affected if this where is it what is it how is it and Lord I've learned That it is not that I can't seek those things. It's that I put you in the center and seek those things as they orbit you. And I've been foolish. And Lord, I know you've saved my soul. And you've redeemed my life. And I ask you to deliver me from being ridiculous. In Jesus' name, amen.