All right, well, to start this morning, I'd like you to picture something in your minds. Imagine for yourself what the good life looks like. By good life, I mean the life that would bring you the most joy, the most fulfillment. Picture that in your mind. Can you picture it? All right, now don't raise your hand, But how many of you, as you picture the good life, are thinking of the life that you have right now? I'm guessing it's probably not most of us. When we think of the good life, we're inclined to think of something that is better or greater than what we have right now. Maybe we imagine a life where we have lots and lots of money. We don't have to worry about financial obligations anymore. You can build or you can buy, whatever it is you think that would make you happy. Or maybe it's a life where you have supreme accomplishments. You are successful in your work, or in your church ministry, or in your family, raising your children. And therefore, you have become admired and beloved by those around you. Or maybe the good life for you, it represents your ability to enjoy perfectly and unendingly certain pleasurable experiences. Maybe you really like sports, or video games, or you're looking for that perfect romantic or even sexual relationship. Or is the good life for you something else? Whatever it is, imagine that you actually had the good life that you're dreaming of. Would you be happy? What's very interesting to me is that so many times in history and today, the people who have the good life, or what everyone agrees is the good life, that very state of being that so many are longing for and chasing after, those same persons are the ones who admit or demonstrate so frequently that such a life is not satisfying. Somehow we think it will be different for us, We think, oh, they just didn't do it right. If I had the good life, I know I would be happy, I would be satisfied. If there's anybody who knew how to do the good life right, it was King Solomon of Israel. Actually, our next section of Ecclesiastes, as we work our way through this book, is an explanation of Solomon's try for the good life. See, as part of Solomon's quest to find out what good exists for man in this cursed and fallen world, he decided not only to test the bounds of wisdom and knowledge, which is what we looked at last time, Ecclesiastes 1, 12 to 18, but he also comprehensively tested the pursuits and joys of life. As the greatest and wisest king of his day, Solomon was a man uniquely suited to discovering a definitive answer as to what the good life is and what it can provide. His experiment turned out to be truly epic, but in the end, it was an epic fail. The title of today's message is Solomon's Epic Fail, Part 2. If you haven't already, please turn to the passage we'll be looking at, Ecclesiastes chapter two, verses one to 11. It's also on the back of the bulletin in the Calvary app, or if you picked up a paper copy. Ecclesiastes two, one to 11, is our text for examination today. Let's read through it. Solomon speaks to us. I said to myself, come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself. And behold, it too was futility. I said of laughter, it is madness, and of pleasure, what does it accomplish? I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives. I enlarged my works. I built houses for myself. I planted vineyards for myself. I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made ponds of water for myself, from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and I had home-born slaves. Also, I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men, many concubines. Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. For my heart was pleased because of all my labor, and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus, I considered all my activities which my hands had done, and the labor which I had exerted, and behold, all was vanity, and striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun. We see here, or we will see here, the main idea of today's passage is quite similar to the main idea of the last passage that we went through. Previously, Solomon shared his experience with his epic experiment with wisdom. But here, Solomon shares his failure and his epic experiment with joy so that you and I will not vainly pursue the passing treasures of this world as a means to lasting gain. That's the main idea. Let me say it again for today's passage. Solomon, King Solomon, he shares with us his epic experiment with joy so that you will not vainly pursue the passing treasures of this world as a way to lasting gain. Solomon unfolds his experiment with joy for us in three parts. We're going to look at each of those parts as we move through the passage verse by verse. The first part of Solomon's experiment appears in verses one to two, and that is, number one, the experiment overviewed. Look again at the first part of verse one. Solomon says, I said to myself, come now, I will test you with pleasure, so enjoy yourself. Having already conducted his great experiment with wisdom, Solomon now has an excellent foundation for pursuing another experiment, even a greater experiment. Notice that we do indeed see experiment language even in verse 1. Solomon says to himself, I will test you. I will try you. I will subject you to certain experiences and then examine the results. In a way, this is very scientific. And what is it that Solomon wishes to test himself in this second great experiment? Well, most modern English translations use the word pleasure in verse one. That's the translated term. But the Hebrew word is simcha, fun to say, again, I love Hebrew, simcha, which means joy or, I'm sorry, jubilation, joy or jubilation. Solomon seeks to test himself with joy and with that which would bring him joy. It's worth noting that in English, we often use the word joy for something that's higher, deeper, more noble, while we might use the word pleasure for something that's a little more shallow, less noble, and lower. And this is probably why translators go with the word pleasure to describe what Solomon is pursuing in the beginning part of our passage, rather than the word joy. But actually, the two terms overlap a lot, both in English and in Hebrew. There is a shallow kind of joy, just as there is a deep kind of joy. And there is an evil kind of pleasure, just as there is a noble kind of pleasure. So realize that when Solomon is about to conduct this great experiment, it is involving simcha, or joy, in general. He's pursuing joy. And also notice, and this goes outside our immediate passage, but it's close by, look down at the end of our chapter at Ecclesiastes 2.26. This is part of the section of reflection on Solomon's two experiments with wisdom and joy. But notice what Solomon says at the beginning part of verse 26. He says, for to a person who is good in his sight, he, that's God, has given wisdom and knowledge and joy. That's interesting. We have the word joy in our translation here. When it's the same word, simcha, that's translated pleasure, in the passage we're examining. And also notice that God is quite willing to give joy or pleasure to his people. Nothing wrong with that. He's glad to do that. But what about a situation where someone seeks to, as it were, take joy by force? Not wait for the joy of God, but to go out and acquire joy for himself. In a way, that's what Solomon's experiment is all about. What would be the results? Because of his goal of examining gain for man, what's profitable for man by looking at joyful pursuits, notice Solomon's outlook in verse 1. He says, so enjoy yourself. Literally, look with good. Have a positive outlook. I mean, if you're looking at a life of joy or pleasure ahead of you, you'd probably have a positive outlook too. Then notice Solomon immediately follows that statement with another statement. The ending part of verse one, he says, and behold, look, notice, it too was futility. Wow. Solomon says, see, everybody, look at my great joy experiment. I just want you to know right at the outset, it also was futility. That's that word that we've seen before. Havel is the Hebrew word. literally means vapor. Solomon says, this new experiment I'm about to do, it's no different from what I've already found with wisdom and knowledge. There's, in the end, no real substance to it. It doesn't last. You can't grasp it. It's vanity. It's vapor. And this was part of what Solomon also declared to us in his thesis about life. If you just go back to Ecclesiastes 1, verse 2, this is that truth that informs the entire book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon says, vanity of vanities. All is vanity. Everything in life is the most insubstantial of vapors, joy and wisdom included. So just when we might be getting a little excited about Solomon's quest for joy, he slams on the brakes for us and he says, look, see for yourself, my quest for joy, my quest for gain through joy, it turned out to be nothing but a puff of smoke. No profit at the end of it. But we ask, what do you mean, Solomon? And he elaborates for us a little in verse two. Notice what he says there. I said of laughter, it is madness, and of pleasure, what does it accomplish? Here Solomon is giving us two ends of the spectrum of enjoyment. We have laughter on the one end, which is a term which indicates a more shallow kind of merrymaking, and then we have pleasure or joy on the other end, and that can be quite deep in certain instances. But Solomon finds both ultimately useless. Mere laughter, he says, is insanity. Guys, I know we're laughing, we're joking, we're partying, we're having a little fun, being a little stupid, but we're just ignoring reality. Our fun is kind of a world of make-believe. I mean, how can we keep on going on in this frivolity when we and the world are in such a tragic state? This is madness. And as for joy, No matter how deep or noble it seems, Solomon asks, what does it accomplish? Literally, what is this doing? All right, so I enjoyed that experience, but what has changed for me now that it's over? Where's the gain? Where's the advancement? Where's the satisfaction? I'm right back where I started. Ever felt that way after you finished or took another stab at a certain pursuit? I'm right back where I started. So already in the overview of his epic experiment with joy, Solomon is showing us that running after enjoyment will not lead to lasting profit for any of us in this world. But we might wonder, how did you go about it, Solomon? What did you pursue specifically? Well, he's going to tell us now in the second part as he explains his epic experiment with joy. Point number two, we have the experiment specified. This is verses three to eight. Look just for now, though, at verse three. He says, I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely. How to take hold of folly until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives. Psalm is now beginning to explain specifically his efforts to realize the good life. And as we move down this report, down to verse eight, we're going to see that the enjoyment that he pursues is really the joy that is uniquely available to a king. We might all have different ideas as to what would make life really great for us, but we often have to abandon those dreams because they're just not realistic. I mean, A, we don't have the power to bring our dreams to pass, usually because we have very limited money, or B, we don't have the time to experience our dreams. We've got a bunch of other obligations we have to take care of, and C, we don't have the freedom to. to pursue our dreams because there are consequences we would have to deal with, maybe health consequences, legal consequences, social consequences. But Solomon, he's a king. And not just any king. According to 1 Kings 1-4, describing Solomon's reign, he is the wisest king who ever lived on earth. He had supernaturally bestowed understandings that no one was like him before or since. He was also awash in wealth. We get a specific description of all the different things that he had brought to his court. And it's just astounding. He made precious metals cheap in his kingdom because he had so much of it. He also was totally secure. He subdued or made peace treaties with any of the threatening nations around him or any of his uppity subjects. And he also was the highest human authority in his realm. Solomon answered to no man. Therefore, if Solomon had an idea that would bring him joy, if he had a dream, he could actually make it happen. He had the power, the time and the freedom to do whatever he wanted in the name of joy. This is an important fact for us to realize because it means that Solomon not only represents for us the wisdom seeker par excellence, which is what we saw in our previous passage, but also the joy seeker par excellence. He is the highest, the most able, the greatest when it comes to pursuing means of joy. If anyone could find a means to lasting gain through the joys of life, it would be Solomon. Yes, times change, technology updates, but as Solomon's already told us in Ecclesiastes 1.9, there's nothing new under the sun. There's a version of whatever we have today that he had. So, whatever he found is going to apply to us. He will not be outdone by any of us today, nor will he be contradicted. He was the joy-seeker par excellence. But where did he start with his joy-seeking? Well, he started with wine. Notice Solomon says in verse 3 that he sought to stimulate his body with wine. In the Hebrew word translated stimulate here, it means literally to carry off or drag away. Surely this expression means both enjoying the pleasant taste of wine as well as its pleasantly intoxicating effects. Solomon decides he's going to test how to get maximum pleasure from wine drinking. He's going to have the best wines enjoyed in the best places, in the best way, and with the best company. Notice also from verse 3 that Solomon is willing to utilize both wisdom and folly in order to discern the best and most profitable way to enjoy wine. He says on the one hand, he sought wine while my mind was guiding me wisely. He was still acting with discernment, understanding. He was very purposefully, thoughtfully approaching wine. But, lest someone suppose that this just means that Solomon was a connoisseur of wines, not a debauched partier or drunkard, notice the very next phrase says that Solomon sought to take hold of folly, of foolishness. In fact, you could translate this middle part of the verse In verse 3, in this way, my heart leading by wisdom and seizing by folly until I saw which of the two is where good is for the sons of men. I'm sure Solomon did approach wine like a connoisseur. I mean, he's a wise guy. But he was also willing to try different levels of inebriation to see what he could recommend to mankind. Of course, drunkenness is a sin. That's evident in the scriptures. And it's a shameful way for kings to act. Solomon would know this. It's written right in Proverbs 31. But Solomon was committed to his experiments, even if it meant sinning against God. And this is notable because it means there's nothing you can try for the sake of gain or for the sake of joy in this world that Solomon hasn't already tried, even sin. So Solomon looks for joy in wine. This really could function as a stand-in for any physical or social experience today, such as eating, drinking, smoking, injecting. It makes the body feel good and perhaps alters the mind in a pleasant way. Solomon already tried it out, and he did it better and more wisely than anyone before or since because he was the great king. But that's not all. That's just the beginning of Solomon's joy-seeking. Look where else Solomon sought joy in verses four to six. We'll read those again. I enlarged my work, Solomon says. I built houses for myself. I planted vineyards for myself. I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. Here, We're told that Solomon goes on a building spree. He says, I enlarged or I made even greater my works and accomplishments. Now, if you're a king back then, there are usually two ways that you made for yourself accomplishments or a great name, and that was through battles or through buildings. Solomon doesn't need to fight. He's already subdued all the surrounding neighbors, so he goes with the latter option. He's going to build. explains his works in a pretty matter-of-fact manner. He says, oh, yeah, I built houses, vineyards, gardens, and parks. Notice each of those in the plural. I mean, if he just built one great house, that would have been notable. But he says, oh, I built a bunch of them. Oh, yeah, and a bunch of parks, too. I filled them up with every kind of tree. And I built pools and ponds, which not only were surely beautiful, but they would irrigate all the greenery he constructed. Note, even as he explains this, the extreme emphasis on self in his description. It's almost obnoxious. Solomon says, I did this. I built this. I planted this. And for whom? For myself. For myself. He keeps on saying it. For myself. Not for the community. Not for God. For myself. Our flesh tempts us to think that if we just seek things for ourselves that we'll find gain or lasting joy. And if that's true, well, that means that Solomon, as someone who's definitely committed to himself, he would have experienced that gain. If it's really true, he would have experienced it, because he was certainly acting for himself. And imagine just how enjoyable these different works he just mentioned would have been. I mean, do you have a nice house? How about a palace? How about multiple palaces? And we're not talking about Gotti McMansions here. Solomon is a man of wisdom and good taste. So when he built a palace, it surely was an awesome edifice. And he's got multiple of these. Imagine you had that. Or do any of you like going to parks or strolling through gardens? Usually great parks and gardens become tourist destinations. People will travel from all over the world to come to some of America's parks. Now imagine you owned one of those great parks, or you owned some of those most exquisite gardens. You had multiple of them, and they were attached to your houses. You could come and go through the park or the garden whenever you wanted. You could make any adjustments to it you wanted. Nah, I want more flowers over here. You could stroll through it with friends, picnic with your family. You could open it to the public or you can keep it all to yourself. It's yours. You can do whatever you want with it. Can you imagine what that would be like? This is what Solomon had. This is what he brought about for himself. Man, he must have been a smart guy. Man, he must have had some power to be able to put all these things together. And he did. And surely there was joy in seeing these visions realized in the real world, but then enjoying it afterwards, actually using it. Only kings could accomplish such feats and enjoy such treasures. And that's what Solomon did, as much as he wanted. That's not all. Look what else Solomon had in verses 7 to 8. He says, I bought male and female slaves, and I had home-born slaves. Also, I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasures of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men, many concubines." Solomon not only did great works, but he also had all the treasures that animals and men can provide. Solomon speaks first of slaves. He says, I had all kinds of slaves. I even had slaves born to me from my slaves. Today, we understandably look down upon using or owning slaves. Of course, that was not the attitude in the ancient world. Slavery was completely normal. Actually, this is kind of a strange parallel that we experience. I mean, do you enjoy your machines today? Do you enjoy Devices that tell you the news, wash your dishes, or send messages for you. These convenient, these labor-saving devices. Did you know they had the same kind of thing in the ancient world? Except it wasn't mechanical. The greatest labor-saving device in their mind was a human slave. Sure was convenient when you were rich. Solomon was like this. He didn't have to ask, How am I going to get this done? This looks like it's going to be a lot of work. How am I going to get through it? He's got plenty of slaves. He's got plenty of skilled slaves to take care of any of the work that he needs to do and to keep him comfortable. And he's got more slaves being born to him every day. So he's not going to run out of his labor anytime soon. Not only did Solomon own people, but also animals. He says he had more flocks and herds than anyone before him. realized that owning many slaves and many animals in the ancient world was a mark of great prestige. Whoa, do you see how much he's got? He's a somebody. So Solomon was not only enjoying what these animals and people could provide, but also the status that went with it. Not all Solomon's treasures were alive. Notice in verse 8, Solomon says that He collected or he gathered for himself all kinds of beautiful objects. Silver, gold, the treasures of the different kings who have submitted to him in their tribute. And also the tribute of the various administrative provinces of Solomon's kingdom. Imagine what these different treasures might have been. I'm sure jewels and furniture and other things. And the Law of Moses. The law of God given through Moses to Israel. In Deuteronomy 17, 17, it specifically forbid Israel's kings from multiplying gold and silver for themselves. Kings were to be stewards seeking the good of God's people. But again, Solomon disregards this command for the sake of obtaining his own joy. How many of us have truly costly treasures? some exquisite paintings, vessels of gold, jewels. I'm guessing not many of us. It's true, we have little rings and some expensive machines, but imagine you had all the material treasures that you could dream of. You know, you usually see these things in museums these days, but imagine if you had them. You had all the fine clothes. You had the furniture, the jewelry. In a modern sense, you had the cars, the computers. You had crowns. What would that be like? Whatever you can think of, Solomon had it, or he had his equivalent. He didn't have a car, but I'm sure he had some great chariots. Solomon also says that he provided male and female singers for himself. This probably doesn't strike us as being particularly impressive at first, because music is so readily available to us these days. I mean, a lot of times you don't even have to pay for it. You just look it up on YouTube or Spotify. You can have any song you're looking for. But it wasn't so long ago that music was not on demand like this. I mean, think back, before streaming music, before CDs, before cassette tapes, before the radio, before music records. You wanted to hear good music? You had to go hear it performed live. And it usually wasn't free. Solomon, he had his own personal Spotify. He had trained singers that he either paid or owned as slaves. And these would sing or play for him whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. And imagine this, any of you love music, Imagine having a music group that was dedicated to coming up with songs for you according to your taste. You have your own personal band or orchestra making music just for you. That's what Solomon had. Few people on earth have ever experienced something like that. Solomon did. Finally, Solomon says that he provided for himself the delight of the sons of man. many concubines. What strikes me about that phrase is that it actually seems a bit of an understatement when you consider what we know about Solomon's marital state. Having a huge harem or collection of wives and concubines was something that only kings could usually do by Solomon's day, particularly because Most people didn't have the audacity or the financial means to support such a large collection of women. To have a large harem then was considered a sign of greatness, and that's exactly what Solomon had. According to 1 Kings 11.3, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. That's a thousand wives. That's a ridiculous amount of women. And these women were surely devoted to Solomon. I mean, he's the great, he's the wise, he's awesome, he's blessed by God, I'm sure he was handsome too. What woman would not want to be with him? Be his wife. No doubt Solomon's mind was immensely flattered to think of all these great and beautiful women. Many of them were royalty, daughters of other kings. He's flattered to think that all these women were adoring him, desiring him, there to serve him. And surely he was envied and admired for this great harem. Yet again, though, this is in direct contradiction to what God commanded in his law. Deuteronomy 17, 17 also says that Israel's kings were prohibited from multiplying wives for themselves. Certainly it contradicts Genesis 2, 24. which lays out the fundamental pattern for marriage, one man and one woman bound together permanently. But again, Solomon for his joy experiment, he flouts God's rule. And so as we come to the end of this second part of Solomon's explanation, we can see that Solomon was definitely living what people would call the good life. The list he's provided is not exhaustive, as we'll see in a moment, But surely it illustrates for us that Solomon, as king, he was seeking out joys, different joys, and at different levels of intensity that none of us will ever be able to match. He was living like a king, because he was a king, and the greatest of the kings at that time. But after indulging in all this fun, after seeking all his pleasures and accomplishments, after striving after all this joy, What did Solomon think of it all? We've seen number one, the experiment overviewed. We've seen number two, the experiment specified. We now arrive at number three, the experiment concluded. This is verses 9 to 11. In this last part, Solomon explains three preliminary conclusions from his grand experiment with joy. I want to give you those conclusions as sub points. Now, I call them preliminary conclusions because Solomon actually will have more to say regarding both his experiment with wisdom and his experiment with joy in the rest of the chapter, verses 12 to 26. We'll come back to that. But for now, we have three preliminary conclusions that Solomon wants us to see. The first of these, point 3a, is this. Solomon was indeed the greatest joy seeker. See this in verses 9 and 10. Solomon says, Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. If you were with us before, the language of verse nine should sound familiar. Because back in Ecclesiastes 1.16, when Solomon is talking about wisdom, he made a similar boast. He says, I have more knowledge and understanding than anybody before me. And now he's saying the same thing about joy. Solomon boasts, my status, my accomplishments, my pleasurable pursuits, they greatly excelled all my predecessors. And you know what? This is true. We actually can't argue with Solomon about this based on what he's told us and what is also written in the Book of Kings. And part of the reason why this is true is, as Solomon's even came to remind us here, it's because his wisdom, his great wisdom was informing his choices the entire time. He says, my wisdom stood by me. He knew what he was doing. He had chosen the particular paths of greatness that he pursued in order to perfectly conduct his experiment. But in case we thought the list of kingly joys in verses 3 to 8 was exhaustive, Solomon adds here something that's a little bit more all-encompassing. Doubly emphasizes in verse 10 the extent of his pursuit. He says, anything that my eyes desired, anything that they asked for, I granted. I did not refuse my eyes anything. I did not withhold, he adds, I didn't withhold myself from any pleasure, from any joy, anything I thought would please me. If it looked good, sounded good, felt good, I had it. I obtained it for myself. Whether it was lawful or unlawful, whether it was considered wise or foolish, noble or shameful, I acquired it for myself. Here again we see Solomon was willing. even to sin, to find the maximum enjoyment and thereby any gain that would come from it. So looking back at this experiment, Solomon knew he was the greatest joy seeker, and we need to see that too. But now notice a second preliminary conclusion from Solomon, and this is perhaps one we wouldn't notice if we're reading too fast. Point 3b, Solomon found temporary joy in his work. Look at the second half of verse 10. For my heart was pleased because of all my labor, and this was my reward for all my labor. See, for the sake of joy, Solomon had to do a lot of work. He had to come up with plans, give orders, oversee tasks, make adjustments, inspect materials and personnel, and much more. Really, it's amazing how much work is involved in obtaining joy for oneself, even today. But what's even more amazing is what Solomon tells us about it. He says, you know what? I did a lot of work, but I enjoyed the work. I enjoyed laboring to bring about my heart's expectation. I enjoyed the process. He even claims, this was my reward. Or more literally, this was my assigned portion, like an inheritance, a land inheritance, or a portion of plunder. This was what was assigned to me. I won't have much more to say about this point when we come back to the latter part of chapter 2, but don't miss this even as we go into verse 11. Solomon found some enjoyment, some temporary enjoyment in his joy search. Yet we must now look at Solomon's third and most important preliminary conclusion in verse 11. What did Solomon find in his grand experiment with joy? Point three C. Solomon found no lasting gain. This is verse 11, look at it. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun." Here Solomon looks back at his entire life experiment, which of course must have stretched over years. All the joy-seeking activities, all the labor he exerted to bring them to pass, and he concludes, it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth it. Notice the triple emphasis in Solomon's disappointment. He uses those three powerfully depressing phrases that we've already seen up to this point in Ecclesiastes. He first says, all was vanity. It was all vapor. It slipped right through my fingers. It was gone in an instant. He then says, it was striving after wind. All of it was striving after wind. It was like trying to chase a stream of air. an endless and impossible task that even if you were able to do it, you'd get nothing in the end. You'd have just air. And then he says, there was no profit under the sun, not even a little bit. No matter where he looked in this world, no matter what pursuit he went down, there was no lasting benefit. There was no real advancement. There was no gain in any of it. So consider what an epic failure this is. Solomon, the wisest, the most blessed king, he could not find lasting profit, including lasting joy, from any of his pursuits. He couldn't find it in sensory experiences, he couldn't find it in work accomplishments, he couldn't find it in exalted status. He had gone to the extreme to find joy in the things of the world. yet he could not find it, nor could he find gain. And if that's true for Solomon, who's like the poster boy of the good life, what does that mean for us? Consider yourselves and your own lives this morning. What are you pursuing in your life as gain, as a means to lasting profit for you. We can see the parallels of Solomon's own experience. Is it food and drink experiences, culinary enjoyment? Is it having a good time with alcohol or drugs? Is it in wealth, material pleasures, various objects? Is it houses? Is it travel experiences? Is it entertainment? Is it music, video games, movies? Maybe something to distract you from what the world really is? Is it success at work or with your family? Yeah, I just get that, I'll have made it. Is it influence, prestige, becoming the greatest in some particular field? Is it a romantic relationship? I mean, this is pop culture all over, right? Oh, just get that one love relationship, that one marriage, that one sexual relationship, then you'll have made it. Is that what you believe? Not all of these things I just mentioned are necessarily sinful in and of themselves, but is it your greatest pursuit? Because if these are your ultimate treasure, your great priority in life, what you see as the means to lasting joy or gain, the Bible has another term for it. It's not mentioned here, but certainly in other Old Testament scriptures. Do you know what that term is? Idol. It's an idol. It's what you ultimately worship. And this term is particularly instructive because just as people bowed down to and made offerings to and worshipped various pagan gods in ancient days and unfortunately still today, so you, in your heart, are seeking after a god because you think that god will give you something valuable. You think that God will provide you with gain just as the ancient peoples turned to Baal and other kinds of gods because they thought they could get gain from that false god. But not only does the rest of the Bible clarify that God will not accept such heart idolatry, He will not accept your divided worship of Him with another god or you abandoning him for another God. He alone is worthy of worship. He is your creator. He's provided you with all good things. He says, I will not give my glory to another Isaiah 42. So you will come under his judgment for pursuing that idol, even eternal wrath and hell. But not only that, And this is perhaps what makes the first part even more tragic. That false god that you are worshiping and pursuing, according to our text, is not going to be able to provide for you what you're looking for. And you know, there's kind of an interesting parallel. You know how this text uses the word futility, vapor, havel? The Old Testament prophets use that same word for idols themselves. They say, why do you turn to vapor? Why do you turn to this false God who's nothing but hot air? He can't see you. He can't do anything for you that's substantive. It's a big waste. And Solomon's saying the same thing about the treasures of the world that you are tempted to or that you go after. It won't give you what you're looking for. It'll just be vapor. You are foolish then. We are foolish then to pursue gain through any of the treasures of the world, are we not? Solomon is the most extreme proof. He had, realize this, he had whatever it is your heart is seeking and he says there's no profit in it. You won't get anything for it. He even testifies via his own experience. It was worthless in the end. And he does more than that. We don't see it here, but it's in the passages to come. He's going to look back at his life and tell us that it was so regretful. He says, I hated life once I realized there was no profit in any of it. I hated everything that I did. All my great works. Hated it all. And he says, you will do the same. That's what he's implying to us. You will do the same. Yeah, it might be temporarily pleasurable for you. You might enjoy the process, but when you stand back and look at what you've actually accomplished, you realize it's a big waste. How foolish of me. I hate what I decided to do in my life. So what are we to do with this? Surely it is to learn from Solomon. And learn from God's Spirit that speaks to us through Solomon. Because all Scripture is God-breathed. This isn't merely one wise man telling us about his experience. This is God Himself affirming, confirming, speaking through Solomon, saying, My people, those who I created, listen. Listen and learn. Stop living for the broken cisterns that cannot satisfy your thirst. That's the way Jeremiah speaks about it. Stop devoting your time, your energy, your money to things that will not ultimately profit you. Stop subsisting on a temporary pleasure, that little temporary high, because in the end, that little pleasure that you're pursuing as your great gain is working for you greater and greater disappointment and regret and pain and judgment. Don't get caught up in that anymore. Instead, pursue a better way. What is that better way? Well, Solomon's gonna tell us about it. Don't have time to go there today, but let me give you a preview version of what Solomon will say even later in this chapter. Of course, he's gonna keep on coming back to it in this book. Solomon clarifies for us, and I'll add in just a little bit of New Testament addendum, There is no lasting gain in this world. But if you turn from serving yourself, pursuing your own joy, and instead pursue God, make God your gain, make Jesus Christ your treasure, then not only will you gain God, who is really the only and greatest treasure, and you will gain eternal life with God, but you will also be able to become grateful for the little passing gift of this life. Say it another way, when you stop grasping for self-willed joy, as Solomon was trying to do, and you instead fear God and follow Him, you know what God will do? He will give you joy. He's quite willing to do that. He will give you joy, a joy that is not dependent on the things of the world, and yet is felt in the things of the world. Because you realize, yes, even in the midst of these troubles and these uncertainties, God has given me these little gifts. He's a good father. He's a kind God. And He's mine. Solomon will keep telling us again and again in the book of Ecclesiastes, this is the only way to live. It is the only truly wise way to live. It's the only truly happy way to live. And it's also the only way that will protect you from the judgment of God to come. Of course, this is all realized in the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, who came to live and die for sinners and rose again to cover them with His righteous life and to pay for all their sins. Listen to God's entreaty to you from Solomon in this book today. No longer live as Solomon lived. He did it more extreme than you and it didn't profit him, so don't do that anymore. Just as we heard from the scripture reading this morning, don't seek the treasures of earth where moth and rust destroy, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all the things you need that God determines that you need. They'll be provided for you in God's way and in God's timing. How will you respond to your Creator's word to you today? What's amazing to me about Ecclesiastes is that it's not presented to us in terms of this is God's command and if you violate it, you'll be judged. He will mention the judgment, but that's not the primary mode of this book. It's entreaty. It's a wise man speaking on behalf of God, entreating you Won't you choose the better way? That's what God is doing for you this morning. Will you listen to him? Will you stubbornly and proudly refuse such an entreaty? Or will you humbly and wisely say, yes, God, I will follow your way? May God be so gracious as to make it the latter in your life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. that needs to shatter our delusions about what life can provide for us. There is no lasting gain apart from you. But when we seek you as our highest joy and as our highest gain, God, then all of a sudden, life comes alive as full of so many little gifts and sweet kindnesses from you, even in the midst of tragedies and troubles. Lord, we thank you that you are sovereign. You alone are worthy of our worship. And we thank you for Jesus Christ. who not only saves us from our sins, but it also, in his kingdom to come, redeems us from the futility of this world to a world that will be made as we long for our present world to be, without death, without decay, without frustration, a world where we can be in your presence and enjoy your goodness in all the little different ways that you have prepared for your own. Lord, I pray that, as necessary, your people would hear this message today and repent of going after false gods that cannot provide. Instead, turn to you and walk in wisdom. In Jesus' name, amen.