And the title of our series is Finding Meaning in a Meaningless World. And the third lesson in our series, this one is Man's Search for Meaning or the Great Experiment. And it's in verses 12, chapter 1, 12 through to 11. And so we'll read here 1, chapter 1, 12 through 18 to start. I, the preacher, was king over Israel and Jerusalem, and I gave my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all the things that are done under heaven, This sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. I communed with my own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem. Yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge, and I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. And I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow. Chapter 2 and verse 1, I said in my heart, go to, I will prove thee with mirth. And then in chapter 4, I made me great works and builded me houses. And so there's three experiments here that Solomon does. Three experiments that he tries to find an alternative meaning and interpretation and value for life. And his conclusion was that they all come up short, and they come up empty, and fail to bring satisfaction. Now one thing that I want you to know, if you go to Romans chapter 1, you'll keep your place here, but go to Romans chapter 1, and I think this is important to know, but Romans chapter 1, Solomon, if you think about it, he was raised, he was the son of David. And Proverbs 31 is talking about his mother, which I believe it was, 30, 31, the words of his mother. And then he had an incredible mother. And he had a dad that was after God's own heart. He grew up knowing the scriptures to such an extent that he wrote the book of Proverbs. He asked God for wisdom and God gave it to him. And so there's no doubt that before he did this experiment, he knew God. He knew God. He asked God, give me wisdom. And the Lord said, okay, since you didn't ask for this, I'm gonna give you these things as well, riches and long life. And part of this experiment never could have been had if it wasn't for the things that God gave him. But here's the thing I want you to take away from this. Solomon knew God before he began this experiment. And if you'll look at Romans chapter 1 and verse 18, the Bible says here, Solomon is an illustration of that. Okay? He held the truth. But he didn't follow it. He held it in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shooted unto them. And if there's anybody that fits that, would you agree it's Solomon? Alright, verse 20, For the invisible things, hem, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even as eternal power and Godhead, so they are without excuse. Solomon said, Who hath gathered the wind in his fist? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? He had already observed creation and knew things about God from that. I mean, he wrote about the ant, the coney, the serpent upon the rock, the eagle in the air, all of those things. Verse 21, here's why the wrath is revealed. Because that when they knew God, Solomon did, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, their foolish heart was darkened. And then here's the search. What does man do when he abandons God? Immediately, he has to find another God. He has to find another way to draw his identity, to come up with his values, and to make sense of his life. Man is not like an animal. Dogs have things happen to them and they don't have to interpret. Like, why did that happen, you know? They don't eat their food and scratch their fleas and lay down and say, well, what is all this about? Where is all this going? What purpose is all of this? And they don't have an existential angst that we have. But man has to do that, because remember, God created man to be a revelation receiver. He created man. Man was not created with everything he knows to navigate life without God, even before the fall. Even before Adam fell, he had to have a communication with God to understand, interpret, and successfully do life. And so when people abandon that, they go in search of another thing. It's a great experiment. And that's where people are. They're in an experiment of life. And Solomon tested these three things. He tested wisdom, pleasure, and accomplishments. He had tested all of them and they came up short. And I kind of see that same pattern here in Romans 1. If you look at this, it says, so when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. They reject Him. And what's the first thing they do? Wisdom, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And Solomon, the first thing he did is he gave his heart to know wisdom. Okay, what's the next thing they give themselves to? 24 through 27 is pleasure, lust, desire. Okay, and then you could call verse 28, they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. You could call that accomplishments. Maybe it's a stretch, but you could find that in there. You could definitely find it in verse 30, inventors of evil things. Okay? They had to invent something. They had to do something because man cannot live his life without significance, without meaning, and without value. He can't do it. So he has to derive it from somewhere else. And that's what Ecclesiastes was. Solomon rejected God, and then he goes on the inevitable surge of an alternative meaning, an alternative God. And then what is the consequence of that is loss, wasted time, darkened heart, inventors of evil things. And the consequence of it is terrible things that Solomon did. Worshipping other gods and the strange women and all of the things that he did. So this was an extreme scientific search of an alternative meaning. Okay? This is, can man be moral without God? And this is like, every atheist should read Ecclesiastes. Because Solomon was smarter than them, even though they think they're smart. You know what most atheists are? They're taking their brain out and trying to play with it. That's all it is. Trying out big words and weird sentences. That's Sam Harris, OK? It's just a bunch of nonsense. But they try to sound smart, and they're not. All right? They're not the best, as the president would say. You're not the best. Alright, they're terrible human beings. Okay, so here's the first section. He tries to find this through wisdom. Now think about that. He didn't start with foolishness. He didn't start with rebellion. He started with wisdom, the very thing that we all value. And Solomon discovers that even wisdom is empty when it's disconnected from God. So look where he starts here in verse 12. So he says here, I, the preacher, was king over Israel and Jerusalem. So he begins by reminding us of his qualification. He wasn't a poor man exploring theories in a cave. This is the most powerful, wealthy, educated, most resourceful man alive. Solomon would be if Jeff Bezos, Albert Einstein, and King Charles had a baby. I mean, he has the brain, he has the resources, he's from royalty, okay? So he has everything at his disposal, And a lot of people think if I just had more money, or I had more time, or I had more education, then I'd be satisfied. Solomon had all of it. Okay? And then look at verse 13. This is a really significant verse to me. Or verse 14. Verse 13, and I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all the things... Yeah, verse 13. All the things that are done under heaven. I gave my heart to seek and to search out. Not only to observe it, but to study it. To document it. To get Excel out. Right? And to get the data points. Concerning all the things that are done under heaven. Why do people work? Why do they build? Why do they fight? Why do they have relationships? Why do they chase pleasure? Why do they accumulate wealth? Why do they study? Why do they seek for recognition? Why do they fear? Why do they fight? Why do they hope? Why do they despair? He said, I've given my heart to search out by wisdom, and I want to find this out with wisdom. It's not a fool's errand. And so he surveys the entire human experience. You know, it's kind of like, has anybody ever watched ants? You know, I read the verse in Proverbs that says, go to the ant and consider his ways. So I said, okay, I will. And I got a tablet and I just went and watched ants for, I don't know, four or five hours. And so, You know, you're watching ants and they're building all these elaborate tunnels and structures, but none of them know why they're building. They're just doing it. And Solomon is watching human running around, you know, I don't have time, I've got to hurry, I've got to get there, I've got to do this, I've got to accomplish this. And they're stressed and they're distracted and And then he said, does all of this mean anything anyway? What are they doing? And look what he says about it. He said, verse 13, this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised thereby. Thank you? I mean, how are we supposed to take that? Thank you. Here's the thing, how I use this and put this together. So God has given us this. We have to find out what we're doing, if it means anything. And I know everybody's been through this, okay? And sometimes you'll do something and you'll get to the end of it and you're like, oh, that wasn't it. You ever have people that are sick, and then they have YouTube and a big distrust of doctors? And you meet them, and they're like, I'm healed. The answer was fasting. And then after a while, they're, you know, five minutes, they're like, oh, no, that wasn't the answer. It was juicing. And they're like, oh, no, that's not it. It's laying in a sauna or a deep freeze. Or I'm going to go freeze myself in freezing water. Or I'm going to take essential oils. You know what it is, I need to get in one of those decompression chambers, and that'll take care of it. You know, those snakes, they put them in decompression chambers, they became not poisonous, and that's the answer. And I always tell them, you know, it's not vegetables, it's God. You're never gonna find your meaning in vegetables. You're only gonna find it in the Lord. But they go, and we've all done this, especially with emotional problems. I'm depressed. Well, maybe I just gotta get better eggs with the omega-3s and, you know. Ah, well that wasn't it. Maybe I need to just go out in the sun more. Haven't you went through that? I have. Maybe it's this. And you get to the end and you're like, man, all that time, and that wasn't it. How is that a gift? Well, look at Acts 17. Acts 17, in verse 26. And I think in this lies the answer. Acts 17, 26. The Bible says, "...and He hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell upon the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." Why? They should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after Him and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us. For in Him, look at this, we live, we move, we have our being. It's only in Him that we live. And have our being, our value, our identity. Okay? And so in this sword travail, in this exercise, what people do is they search for answers and they say, it's this. And they're like, oh, that's not it. And it's a gift that God has given us the opportunity to go through this exercise because he told Adam, he said, when you eat that, you're gonna die. And Adam ate it and the Lord came down and said, you know what? I'm going to let these animals die for you and I'm going to die for you. I'm going to take care of this in the future. But you're going to have to leave the garden and you're going to have to toil. And you're going to have to travail. And remember when you're going through problems and you get to the end of something and you get to the end of your degree, your education, your money, your job, whatever you're doing, the ministry and you find the value is not there that you thought would be there. Thank God that you had the opportunity to find that out. Because we should not even exist. We should all be dead. But for the grace of God, He's given Adam the opportunity to continue on even though he had to do it and sweat in the thorns of his brow and leave the garden. It was still the gift of God of life. And every one of us No exceptions are going to have to come and work it out. What am I supposed to be doing? What is the meaning of everything I do? Is it all hopeless or is there value in it? And he said, I gave my heart to search this out and find it out. Of all the things that are done under the sun. And, Ecclesiastes 1.14, And I have seen all the works that are done under the sun. And behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Everything that humans do without God is like trying to capture the fog. It's like trying to catch the smoke. It's like kids chasing bubbles. They're bright and beautiful for a moment, but then they pop. And they're gone. And so he's saying human wisdom can make you feel smart, but it can't satisfy you. It can fill your mind and starve your heart. In verse 15 he said, that which is crooked cannot be made straight. And that which is wanting cannot Be numbered. Ecclesiastes 115. Human wisdom can analyze the problem, but it can't solve it. They can quantify it, they can break it down, they can explain the experience, but they can't fix it. A broken ruler always measures crooked. And you can study the ruler, you can polish it, Right? But if it's crooked, every measurement is going to be off. And human wisdom is a crooked ruler. It's crooked. It can't come to the right conclusions. In modern society, they have counselors, degrees, technology, and more depression and addiction and loneliness and suicide than ever. Why? Because they can't solve it. When I was going through the school for counseling, we had to study all the secular theories of counseling. And their conclusion was, we don't have the answer yet, but one may soon be available. We're not sure why man is an alcoholic. you know, maybe there's a genetic predisposition, but that can be argued, we can't even prove that. We don't have the answer now, but don't worry, we're still studying and one may soon be available. But they have secular counseling and secular psychotherapy and psychiatrists They cannot answer guilt. They have no answer for guilt. And they have no answer for things that happened that caused PTSD that are beyond your world view and you cannot interpret because you're like, this is wrong, this shouldn't have happened. They have no answer for that. They don't. And so all they can try to do is get you to just operate with this awareness of all this terrible things but just kind of numb you to it. And so they try to numb you to it through rapid eye movement therapy. So what happened to you? Oh. Right? I don't know how that helps. And they try to numb you through medication. Just that. But they never do what the Lord does. where he transforms you and you're better afterwards than before the terrible thing happened. Because God worked with you, even though he didn't want it to happen, it was part of the fall. They can't answer that. They have no answer for guilt. Why? That which is crooked with human wisdom cannot be made straight. That's all you need to know about the modern counseling movement. That which is wanting cannot be numbered. You know, Richard Feynman, he was a brilliant scientist, but he said, there is no problem, I love this quote, that no matter how complicated, which if you look at it in the right way does not become still more complicated. Isn't that a great quote? There's no problem no matter how complicated that if you examine it close enough, it can't become even more complicated. Oh, thank you. That helps a lot. And then now we have AI, right? And, you know, I think I figured AI out by listening to some of the people that are the fathers of the modern AI movement. And Ray Cooswell, which is one of the engineers at Google, he said this, we will essentially become immortal. Death will become optional. And this is the next great scientific project in the 21st century, overcoming death. And robotics pioneer Hans Marwick claims, he said, we will transcend our biological bodies and become immortal. Elon Musk said, if your biological self dies, you can upload into a new body. And really, I think the whole reason they want to reach singularity, and they want to download their mind and upload it to a robot, and their conscience can keep going on. And that's what it all is. But, I'll tell you this, that they're going to find at the end of that, that it's meaningless. In a lot of effort, in a lot of ways, for nothing. They could just believe, but you cannot find the answer in technology. The answer is only in the Lord Jesus Christ, right? And so that finally, to me, was the key piece to figure out what they're trying. They're trying to escape death. And wealthy people have always tried to do that. And now they just have a new way to waste their time. Okay? Ecclesiastes 1.16, I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, You know, you can't fix souls with human tools. That's why, remember this, every one of you, when you go to work, you're around lost people all the time. And sometimes they'll come to you with their problems. And here's one thing that helps me. You can't help lost people. You can only evangelize them. Because vain is the help of man. Vain is the help of man. The Holy Spirit is the agent of change. God is your helper. You can be kind to them. You can be a light to them. You can tell them what God says, but no help will ever be given until they receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Because until that time, their own life is just, the longer they live, the more liabilities they're building up against their own soul. So he says in verse 16, I communed with my own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they which have been before me in Jerusalem. Yea, my heart hath great experience of wisdom and knowledge. So Solomon surpassed everybody that came before. Samuel, David, all those before in Jerusalem, he surpassed them in wisdom. And he wasn't average, he was the top of the top, the creme de la creme. All right? And, you know, he reached that milestone and then he says, yeah, it's not good enough. Human achievement always demands more. It can't answer the, questions that your soul cries out for. Why am I here? What's the purpose of life? What happens when I die? How do I find peace? Only God answers those. Verse 17, and I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly, and I perceived this is also vexation of spirit. So Solomon didn't just analyze wisdom, he analyzed foolishness to see if ignorance really was bliss. Well, maybe the answer is not in wisdom. Maybe it's in being dumb. Maybe the dumb people have it figured out. And wisdom without God helps you see hopelessness, but it does nothing. Why do all those great philosophers of old time, like Voltaire, why did they die such miserable deaths? All they did, they increased knowledge, they increased sorrow. And it vexed their spirit. And they had no way to answer the problems of life. So he said, I gave myself to foolishness and to madness and folly. So madness and folly, it's irrational thinking and careless living. He tried both. He tried the intellectual life and the carefree life. I don't care. I don't think about it. And neither work. People will try to think their way into meaning, or they will distract themselves from thinking about it. But both end in emptiness. So avoiding life's question doesn't make emptiness go away. And facing those questions without God only brings hopelessness. And that was his conclusion. Look at his conclusion here in verse 18. For in much wisdom is much grief. He that increases knowledge increases sorrow. You know, I've had really, really dumb people tell me that. I'm sad because he that increases knowledge... I said, you're not increasing knowledge. You're just not thinking, okay? And even what you're thinking about, you're not thinking about it the right way. All right, so the more he understood the world, the more broken he saw that it was. And when you're little, the world seems simple. When you grow and understand more, you see divorce and suffering and corruption and loss and death, and you see how broken everything is. And the more you know, the more sorrowful you are without the Lord. So if you seek meaning and knowledge alone, it will crush you. becomes a burden, and you still don't know why it matters. So even the best human wisdom collapses without God, all right? So he's not attacking wisdom, he's saying that it has to be rooted in the fear of God, and we'll see that in Ecclesiastes 12. You know, even the attempts to blame it on God, that's just an escapism. It still doesn't answer the problem. And so, this is the next thing he tries. Verse 2, 1-3, I said in my heart, go to Noah, I will prove thee with mirth. Therefore enjoy pleasure and behold, this is also vanity. I said of mirth it is mad, Laughter it is, maddened of mirth, what doeth it? I sought in my heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom, and to lay hold on folly till I might see what was good for the sons of men that they should do under the heaven all the days of their life." So he said, I'm trying to figure out what man should do. And so he tests it by searching through pleasure and indulgence. Laughter. Wine, entertainment, self-indulgence are tested. If man, that's what the Corinthians said, right? Meat's for the belly and the belly for meat. The only meaning out of life is you have an appetite, you just satisfy the appetite, satisfy the appetite over and over again, but there is no meaning. And so that's what he tried with this, the second phase of the great experiment. Maybe pleasure will help me. And he said, I've tried every form of it. And he came to the conclusion that it can distract you, but it can't deliver meaning. So he says, I said in my heart, so this is deliberate. Would you agree? It's deliberate. He said in Proverbs, keep your heart. Now he's deliberately giving his heart to these things. Go to now. And I will prove thee with mirth. Therefore, enjoy pleasure, and behold, this is vanity." So he didn't fall into temptation, he jumped into it. And I'm going to find out whether feeling good can make life good. I will prove thee. What is that? That's a test. That's like an alchemist in a lab. Add a little bit of this. Add a little bit of laughter and a little bit of fun. Friday night's coming. Margaritaville. Pour me something tall and strong. Make it a hurricane before I go insane. That's what he came up with all this stuff here. Right? It's five o'clock somewhere. And so he says in my heart, this is deliberate. He's going to prove it. And you know, a lot of people say, you know, I just need a, I need a break. I need a vacation. I need a weekend. And Solomon lived like every night was Friday night. I used to work with people like that. They're like, oh, it's Friday. I'm like, oh good. What are you going to do? And they're going to go waste the 40 hours on nothing and come in Monday with a headache and do it all over again. And that's what they did. It's like a merry-go-round. Now, the thing here is the pleasures of sin endure for a season, for a moment, but they have to be repeated and repeated and repeated. It's like cotton candy. It just doesn't satisfy. And he said, I said of laughter it is mad, and of mirth what doeth it? So he examines laughter. He's not saying it's sinful, it's a gift from God, but what does it accomplish? What does it actually do for your soul? And he said it's mad. As a solution to death, it's insane. As a solution to your sinful problems, It's insane. You'll never laugh away your problems. And so why do you think comedy is such a big deal today? Now they mix it, right? They have the comedy bar. So it's comedy and alcohol. So you're just doubling down, and it still doesn't solve it. And so they do it, and they chase these videos and laughter. in funny shows and it distracts them, but it doesn't transform them. You've never watched those things and came away better and more like Christ. When the laughter stops, what's different? In verse 3, I sought in my heart to give myself unto wine. This is an intense test, isn't it? yet acquainting myself my heart with wisdom, and to lay hold on folly till I might see what was good for the sons of men." So, this is not drunken indulgence, this is a deliberate test. He's giving himself to wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom. So what is he doing? He said, okay, let's do an experiment, okay? I take one drink and now I'm gonna record what happens. I'm gonna drink until I can lay hold on folly. I'm gonna drink until I can be carefree. Right? Until I can live, I'm gonna try to find, is it one? Sip, is it 2.5 ounces? I'm gonna study these things out with the wisdom and I'm gonna give myself to pleasure and see if there's a perfect mix of it so I know that what men will do and what they should do, what is good for them all the days of their life under heaven. I mean, is it good for them to just have a little bit so they don't think about their problems and they can just live the carefree life? Isn't that what people say? I just want to forget about my problems. I just want to relax. I just want to stop thinking about it. You know, I just want to let my hair down. Unless they're bald, okay? But I say that they should give themselves onto heaven. So he's trying to figure this out. I need to unwind and take the edge off. And when people do that, what do they do? They drink, they vape, they smoke, they overeat, they binge watch Netflix, they numb themselves. It's not always wild, deliberate rebellion. Sometimes it's just self-medication, and that's what Solomon does, to test the carefree lifestyle. So he said, I tried pleasure. What is it like to have no responsibility? Just every day is a party life. What is the best way for humans to live? And so what was his conclusion? It's all vanity. It's all vanity. It doesn't help. You know, I'm working with people that struggle with alcohol or substance abuse. You know what I've observed? The Bible says, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. So, life comes with a certain amount of trouble in it. And you can either process that and deal with it, or you can take something to numb it and you kick it down the road. And then when you finally put it down, then you might just have a year's worth of problems to deal with all at once. And it becomes overwhelming, and you become hopeless. So look, don't save your problems. There's going to be more tomorrow. Don't treasure them and put them in the bank. And what people do when they drink and do these different things. It's like they're making problem deposits in the vault to try to keep them safe and save them all up for a rainy day. And it's madness, okay? So just process it, and that stuff hinders you from processing. So he said, now he goes to the last and final search for meaning, and it's through accomplishments. You know, man, they think that they'll escape all this by leaving a legacy and putting their name on a building. And their thought is that their names will continue forever. And so he said, I'm gonna try this other thing through accomplishments in four through nine. So pleasure didn't work, wisdom didn't work. Maybe it's productivity. Building a life that impresses people and outlives you. And I think this is the biggest idol that we have in our modern culture. This is the biggest lie. Because it takes your whole life to build it. And then you get to the top and realize it's a lie. If I can build something great, if I can leave a legacy, if I can make enough money, if I can accomplish something, if I can climb high enough, if there can be enough people in the church, then I'll finally be a real boy, Pinocchio. I'll finally matter. So he says in verse four, I made me great works. I builded me houses. This verse sounds a lot better if you read it with an English accent. I built me houses. That's how they talk. Right? Or Australian. I planted me vineyards. So he wasn't lazy. He was a builder. He was the greatest builder that Israel ever had. His works included the temple and the palace, Solomon's porch, the aqueducts, things that are existent today. He built houses, he didn't just have one. Solomon's palace was so large, it took twice as long to build as the temple. And I planted me vineyards, luxury agriculture. He wasn't just building a shed, right? building an empire, multiple homes, real estate, you know, a lie that the devil tells me sometimes. You know, if you, you know, move back to Tennessee and that place you grew up on, that 100 acres, you know, get a four-wheeler, get a, why don't you just go back to that hollow, remember where that creek comes out, build a house there, drive all the way back there, You'll be sitting back there, then you'll feel accomplished. But you won't. You won't. I made me gardens and orchards. I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits. I made me pools of water. to water wherewith the wood that bringeth forth trees." So these weren't simple backyard flower beds. They're royal parks like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. One of the seven wonders of the world is what he's trying to do here. And they, huge labor forces and years of planning. You know, people try the same thing today, remodeling their home. You know, this is going away. Millennials don't care about their yards, okay? But you can tell how many baby boomers live in our neighborhood by how many nice yards there are. And the nice yards decrease, and the ugly yards increase as millennials take possessions of the houses. Okay? But I have seen, I had a neighbor, man, gorgeous grass every day. That was his whole meaning in life. Just going out there and making him great works. They're fine until you're in the hospital. I built paradise, but paradise didn't fix me. He made me pools of water to water with. These stone-lined pools, the water channels, they found the pools of Solomon, massive reservoirs that are still in Israel today. And so, he wants to build these things that survived thousands of years. And if you're not careful, you can feel significant when you build things that last. A house, a business, a ministry, a career. But he said, you can build something that might last for a while on earth, but you can still lose your soul. Verse 7, I got me servants and maidens. I had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me. So he has the peak social status, human power, extreme wealth, Servants born in his house. Think about this. There were generations. Overlapping generations of people that were serving Solomon. He wasn't just harvesting the energies from one generation. He has multiple generations serving him. Servants born in his house. He owned more cattle than anyone in Israel's history. He gathered silver and gold, and verse 8, the peculiar treasures of kings and provinces, I get me, men singers and women singers, the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. I mean, wealth beyond calculation. 666 talents of gold, 25 tons of gold a year came to Solomon. He was the richest man on earth. And luxury, entertainment, Men singers and women singers, private concerts, choirs, ensembles. Every night was a show. The delight of the sons of men. Anything a person could desire. He had Netflix before there was Netflix. Private chefs, private resorts, unlimited credit. It would be like having Amazon with an unlimited credit card and deliveries every 30 seconds. Verse 9, "'So I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with me.'" He reached the top. He surpassed David and Saul, every king before him, every politician, every leader. And he didn't lose it. He wasn't reckless. He didn't lose his mind. He stayed wise the whole time. It was a controlled experiment. He didn't go crazy. He didn't fall apart. He didn't lose all self-control. He didn't end up in rehab, and he still found life empty. He didn't crash. He didn't overdose. All right? And some people think if I can achieve enough or balance enough, succeed enough, stay smart enough, then I'll finally fulfill. But Solomon said, I reached the top. and I was standing in the desert. There was nothing there. All right, and what's his verdict? Verse 10, whatsoever my eyes desired, I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor. This was my portion of all my labor. So, he lived with zero restraint. If he saw it, he bought it. If he wanted it, he took it. If he craved it, he experienced it. No limitations, no budget, no waiting, no boundaries. All right? Everything he wanted. That is what people are trying to do when they impulse buy. Or emotional spending. Escaping through entertainment. You're depressed and you just say, ah, I'm just gonna sit back and play a game or watch a movie, just take my mind off of things, retail therapy, addictions, no self-control. The flesh wants it and wants it now. And he didn't withhold himself personally from that. And he said, and this is important, he said, my heart rejoiced in all my labor. This is the deceptive part. your heart can rejoice in sin, okay? It can rejoice in accomplishments, but it's temporary, it's not lasting. And he said, it can't bear any weight, and it says, this was my portion. So, what is that like? Whenever you do something, and you enjoy it, and you sense that accomplishment, If you're doing it without God, that dopamine hit or that however it feels to get the raise or the promotion or whatever that is, that feeling that you have when that happens, that's it. He said, this was my portion. That's all it was and it went away. Doesn't that, that reminds me of like the Pharisees, remember? They do their works to be seen of men. And he said, well, that is their reward. That's it. Men look at you and say, wow, look at his long beard, and he can say those chants so well, and you know, I could never do that. He must be spiritual. That's it. Literally it. And without God, if you're seeking pleasure and you find it, and you find that joy, and you're like, wow, I built it, I did it, I made it. I mean, the desire accomplished is sweet to the soul. The Bible says that. We can't lie about that. Pleasure is good for a season. But that's it. That's all that it is. That was His portion unto the Son. And so, you know what? Verse 11, I looked on all the works my hands had wrought, and the labor that I had labored to do. All that effort. All that time. And behold, all was vanity. Nothing. And vexation of spirit. And there was no profit. Even under the sun. He didn't say there's no profit in eternity. He said at the end of the day, there was no profit even under the sun. It was all empty. He evaluated. He pauses. He takes a breath. He takes it all in. He has the moment of truth. Beautiful but hollow. Impressive but empty. Vexation, that's frustration. You ever feel frustrated? It's feeding on the wind. I gave my life to chasing wind, and there was no substance, no fulfillment, no eternal return. It's like building a sandcastle at low tide. You know? The tide's coming in. Just all your effort, all your wealth, I was talking to my daughter this morning, and she said, why do you say you shouldn't just eat sugar all the time? And you should eat real food. I like sugar. I just want a sweet thing. I said, well, you're trained to build a healthy body. I said, you know that verse in the Bible that says, the wise man built his house upon the rock, and the foolish man built his house upon the sand? I said, this is your house, and sugar and sand are a lot alike. She's like, oh, that makes sense. All right, it didn't, but it did to her. So there's a man, he's a mountain climber, and he's trying to find satisfaction. And mountain number one is wisdom. All the books, all the philosophy. And he gets to the top and he sees another mountain. And he says, pleasure. He's like, well, maybe it's up that one. So he goes down that mountain, goes up the other one. And other than that one, it says, oh, this is empty. Accomplishments that will last. And he climbs that mountain, and there's nothing there. And only satisfaction is in Jesus Christ. The meaning is not under the sun, it's the mountain of God. He told Moses to go up the mountain, right? Then the Bible say, in thy presence is fullness of joy, life evermore. So I don't, like this, remember, all of this is only designed for one thing, to drive us to live for something above the sun. to live for the Lord. And he's saying, I tested it, been there, done that, live for God. And it won't. I think an alternate theme of the book of Ecclesiastes that you could keep in mind is 1 Corinthians 15, 58, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Your labor is not in vain, you know? He's not unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labor of love which you labor in His name. I come quickly and my reward is with me. And there is so much promised about the life of God and the rewards that are there. And so, take every moment and redeem it for the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this time. Thank you for your book, The Wisdom Minute. Pray you bless it, bless our time together. Help us to meditate on this this week. this sore travail that you've given us to be exercised therewith, this gift, and help us to reach the same conclusion that it's all in the Lord. This is what we are going for, to live for God and make an eternal difference. In Jesus' name, amen.