WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.080 Father, we do thank you for the chance to pray with one another, and we thank you for those things that Nathan's listed. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:13.000 We pray especially now that as we open your word together that you might help us. 00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:22.500 It's kind of rather late on a Sunday evening, and we might be a little bit tired, so we pray just for the strength and energy, but we want more than just that. 00:00:22.579 --> 00:00:25.679 We want you to be at work in our hearts, so please, Lord, bring yourself glory. 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:27.640 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:29.399 Amen. 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:36.060 You are going to need a Bible and a handout, and you may want a pen. 00:00:37.379 --> 00:00:38.320 So, go for it. 00:00:51.179 --> 00:00:57.140 So, whilst those come around, we're in the book of Ecclesiastes, page 670. 00:00:57.140 --> 00:01:00.340 670, if you have a church Bible. 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:10.900 If you have your own Bible, it is after the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, chapter 1, verse 12. 00:01:12.980 --> 00:01:15.620 Page 670. 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:19.319 670. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:25.900 Ecclesiastes, chapter 1, verse 12. 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:30.640 Ecclesiastes, chapter 1, verse 12. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:32.340 Okay. 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:35.980 Are we all there? 00:01:39.579 --> 00:01:39.980 Brilliant. 00:01:41.019 --> 00:01:43.319 Okay, let me read it for us from verse 12. 00:01:43.319 --> 00:01:51.019 I, the teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:57.379 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. 00:01:58.179 --> 00:02:01.019 What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind. 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:04.920 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun. 00:02:05.039 --> 00:02:08.240 All of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:11.240 What is crooked cannot be straightened. 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:13.599 What is lacking cannot be counted. 00:02:14.359 --> 00:02:19.840 I said to myself, look, I've increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:22.800 I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge. 00:02:22.979 --> 00:02:28.120 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom and also of madness and folly. 00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:31.379 But I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:34.860 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow. 00:02:35.620 --> 00:02:38.060 For the more knowledge, the more grief. 00:02:38.539 --> 00:02:39.719 I said to myself, come now. 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:42.360 I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good. 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:44.640 But that also proved to be meaningless. 00:02:45.300 --> 00:02:46.800 Laughter, I said, is madness. 00:02:47.340 --> 00:02:49.000 And what does pleasure accomplish? 00:02:49.700 --> 00:02:54.120 I tried cheering myself with wine and embracing folly, my mind still guarding me with wisdom. 00:02:54.540 --> 00:02:59.380 I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. 00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:02.260 I undertook great projects. 00:03:02.640 --> 00:03:04.920 I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 00:03:05.040 --> 00:03:08.200 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:11.880 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:16.319 I bought male and female servants and had other slaves who were born in my house. 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:21.099 I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 00:03:21.379 --> 00:03:25.199 I amassed silver and gold for myself and the treasure of kings and provinces. 00:03:25.620 --> 00:03:29.599 I had acquired male and female singers and a harem as well. 00:03:29.939 --> 00:03:34.939 The delights of a man's heart became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 00:03:35.460 --> 00:03:38.379 In this, in all this, my wisdom stayed with me. 00:03:38.379 --> 00:03:41.840 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired. 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:43.519 I refused my heart no pleasure. 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:46.000 My heart took delight in all my labour. 00:03:46.539 --> 00:03:48.439 And this was the reward for all my toil. 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:53.639 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, 00:03:54.180 --> 00:03:55.800 everything was meaningless. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:57.680 A chasing after the wind. 00:03:58.340 --> 00:03:59.819 Nothing was gained under the sun. 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:04.800 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom and also madness and folly. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:09.219 What more can the king's successor do than what has already been done? 00:04:09.820 --> 00:04:13.320 I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:17.420 The wise have eyes in their heads while the fool walks in the darkness. 00:04:17.420 --> 00:04:21.199 But I came to realise that the same fate overtakes them both. 00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:23.060 Then I said to myself, 00:04:23.400 --> 00:04:25.620 The fate of the fool will overtake me also. 00:04:26.280 --> 00:04:28.040 What then do I gain by being wise? 00:04:28.760 --> 00:04:29.600 I said to myself, 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:30.680 This too is meaningless, 00:04:30.840 --> 00:04:33.140 for the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered. 00:04:33.760 --> 00:04:36.680 The days have already come when both have been forgotten. 00:04:37.280 --> 00:04:40.100 Like the fool, the wise too must die. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:42.680 So I hated life, 00:04:43.100 --> 00:04:46.000 because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:47.160 All of it is meaningless. 00:04:47.780 --> 00:04:49.020 A chasing after the wind. 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:51.960 I hated all the things that I had told for under the sun, 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:54.640 because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 00:04:54.640 --> 00:04:57.740 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish. 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:01.060 Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil, 00:05:01.140 --> 00:05:03.840 into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. 00:05:04.340 --> 00:05:06.560 This too is meaningless. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:11.500 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labour under the sun. 00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:14.759 For a person may labour with wisdom, knowledge and skill, 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:19.020 and then they must leave it all they own to another who has not toiled for it. 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:22.060 This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 00:05:22.460 --> 00:05:27.160 What do people get for all the toil and anxious strivings with which they labour under the sun? 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:31.200 All their days their work is grief and pain. 00:05:31.660 --> 00:05:34.160 Even at night their minds do not rest. 00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:36.080 This too is meaningless. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:43.520 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:46.620 This too, I see, is from the hand of God. 00:05:47.060 --> 00:05:49.840 For without him who can eat or find enjoyment? 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:53.859 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness. 00:05:54.359 --> 00:05:57.979 But to the sinner, he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth 00:05:57.979 --> 00:06:00.339 to hand it over to the one who pleases God. 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:04.299 This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 00:06:04.300 --> 00:06:05.300 Great. 00:06:06.379 --> 00:06:10.620 I hope you all feel better about going to work tomorrow morning as a result of what we have read. 00:06:11.540 --> 00:06:15.400 Anyway, if you were with us a couple of weeks ago when we started our series in Ecclesiastes, 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:20.759 we did a survey through the book of this word meaningless to work out what it meant. 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:24.500 And we discovered that it's not a sort of nihilistic, philosophical, meaningless, 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:26.120 you know, there's no point to anything, 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:30.100 but rather it's this idea that it is a vapour or mist-like. 00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:34.199 It is impossible to grab a hold of or tie down. 00:06:35.100 --> 00:06:37.319 And in chapter one, which we looked at in a bit more detail, 00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:42.240 we found that the mistiness of life, the vapourness of life, 00:06:42.840 --> 00:06:45.560 is seen in the fact that we don't ever make any progress, right? 00:06:45.620 --> 00:06:47.740 So everything cycles around in chapter one. 00:06:48.199 --> 00:06:49.160 The sea is never full. 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:51.959 The rivers keep pouring into it, but they never fill it up. 00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:53.680 The wind never stops blowing. 00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:56.360 Generations come, generations go. 00:06:57.300 --> 00:06:58.939 The eye has never had enough of seeing. 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:01.500 And so in a profound sense, he says, 00:07:01.579 --> 00:07:04.259 we never achieve anything or make any progress. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:06.060 Everything is the same. 00:07:06.460 --> 00:07:09.759 Is there anything of which one can say, verse 10 of chapter one, 00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:11.000 look, this is something new. 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:12.579 It was already here long ago. 00:07:12.939 --> 00:07:14.519 It was here before our time. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:18.040 The myth of progress is what we consider together. 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:27.160 Now, essentially what comes next is really the sort of, I guess, anticipated objection to that, right? 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:30.200 Now, hang on, Mr. Ecclesiastes writer. 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:37.360 Have you not thought that there might be some things that kind of step out of that vapour-like existence, 00:07:37.580 --> 00:07:43.700 that there might be some solid things, like intellect or like fun or like work, right? 00:07:43.699 --> 00:07:47.740 Have you not thought, surely there must be something else to this life? 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:50.339 Have you never read the Guinness World Book of Records? 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:55.579 Do you not realise that there are some really awesome people in the world who can do all kinds of wonderful things? 00:07:56.339 --> 00:08:00.240 And so what the writer of Ecclesiastes does is he turns his attention to some of those things 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:03.819 and says, now actually let me tell you that even those things are meaningless. 00:08:03.819 --> 00:08:09.819 And then he comes at the end to show us how we find meaning and joy in a meaningless world. 00:08:10.159 --> 00:08:11.540 So firstly, he starts with wisdom. 00:08:12.579 --> 00:08:16.079 And this is at the end of chapter 1 that we read from verse 12. 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:19.779 Now, you could perhaps see why this might seem like the answer. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:23.659 You know, surely in this world where everything cycles around, we know what we, 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:25.319 there are some experts out there. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.120 There are some people who know what they're doing. 00:08:27.699 --> 00:08:29.699 Let's listen to them and then everything will be okay. 00:08:29.699 --> 00:08:33.000 And the writer says, no, actually I've tried that. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:35.519 In verse 13, he gives his mind to study. 00:08:36.299 --> 00:08:40.259 He goes down to Waterstones and buys all the self-help books from the shelves and he reads all of them. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:42.240 He subscribes to the podcasts. 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:46.399 He listens to Diary of a CEO, even though they go on for like an hour and a half each one. 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:47.980 He finds the time to do it. 00:08:48.379 --> 00:08:51.299 He listens to the Tim Ferriss show, whatever that is, and Joe Rogan. 00:08:51.379 --> 00:08:54.720 And he knows all sorts of things, but it doesn't help. 00:08:54.939 --> 00:08:56.500 In fact, it makes it worse, right? 00:08:56.819 --> 00:08:58.179 It comes as a heavy burden. 00:08:58.179 --> 00:08:59.879 It doesn't fix the problems in life. 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:02.979 And he finds that the more he learns, the more miserable he is. 00:09:03.079 --> 00:09:06.279 Verse 18, for with much wisdom comes much sorrow. 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:09.259 The more knowledge, the more grief. 00:09:10.459 --> 00:09:14.620 I don't know whether you have experienced that, but the more that you understand, 00:09:15.079 --> 00:09:18.859 the more it frustrates you that things don't work as they could or should. 00:09:21.699 --> 00:09:25.439 I could give you a concrete example, but it might make you cynical about church life. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:31.180 But the more you study theology, the more frustrating church can become as well, 00:09:31.260 --> 00:09:33.780 because you realize that we do it really badly. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:35.040 I do it really badly. 00:09:35.820 --> 00:09:38.440 And the writer has discovered that about life. 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:43.840 The more he understands, the more frustrating it is that it doesn't actually kind of work in the way that it is supposed to. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:46.400 There's no cheat code to life. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:48.500 There's no secret hack. 00:09:49.199 --> 00:09:54.240 And so much so that even the wise aren't always happy, and they don't always know what they're doing. 00:09:54.819 --> 00:09:58.860 You might be both admired as intelligent and also miserable. 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:04.699 You might be really capable and yet really stupid at the same time. 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:07.579 You can be wise and things not work out in your life. 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:10.940 You can know a lot and still not be able to relate to people. 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:15.200 You can keep yourself from some things and not from other things. 00:10:15.520 --> 00:10:19.340 Intelligence and wisdom are not the solid things in a misty life. 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:21.379 So he turns his attention to laughter. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:23.500 Chapter 2, verse 1, 00:10:23.560 --> 00:10:26.840 I said to myself, come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good. 00:10:27.300 --> 00:10:28.800 But that also proved to be meaningless. 00:10:29.420 --> 00:10:31.200 Laughter, I said, is madness. 00:10:31.780 --> 00:10:33.640 And what does pleasure accomplish? 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:37.259 I tried cheering myself with wine and embracing folly. 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:39.439 My mind still guiding me with wisdom. 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:43.439 I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:47.399 So, okay, he's unsubscribed now to the diary of his CEO, 00:10:47.659 --> 00:10:50.439 and he has instead bought tickets for Michael McIntyre at the Apollo. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:53.360 And he's going, right, okay, I'm just going to laugh my way through this now. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:58.000 Surely the best thing to do is to distract myself with pleasure and humor. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:04.100 Maybe he buys a funny novel or he goes to a good party with fine wine. 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:07.759 He doesn't kind of unpick it in the same way as he does with wisdom, 00:11:07.860 --> 00:11:09.700 but it is clear that it doesn't answer the problem. 00:11:10.700 --> 00:11:14.759 Maybe he's discovered that some of the funniest men and women turn out to be as broken and dysfunctional, 00:11:14.820 --> 00:11:17.899 or sometimes even more broken and more dysfunctional than the rest of us. 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:22.399 Whatever it is, he quickly moves on in verse 4, and he tries grand designs, right? 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:24.059 Verse 4 of chapter 2, 00:11:24.220 --> 00:11:25.980 I undertook great projects. 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:29.399 I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:32.500 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:37.220 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 00:11:37.819 --> 00:11:39.340 I bought male and female servants. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:41.179 I had other slaves who were born in my house. 00:11:41.259 --> 00:11:44.600 I owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.419 I amassed silver and gold for myself and the treasure of kings and provinces. 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:53.139 I acquired male and female singers and a harem as well, the delights of a man's heart. 00:11:53.259 --> 00:11:56.620 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 00:11:57.019 --> 00:11:58.559 In all this, my wisdom stayed with me. 00:11:59.779 --> 00:12:01.959 Here the writer, he does his best to create paradise, 00:12:02.099 --> 00:12:05.799 and I want to suggest he did a better job of it than any of us in this room have done of it, right? 00:12:05.839 --> 00:12:09.879 He is able to build the best home, the finest garden. 00:12:10.439 --> 00:12:12.919 He is right on the top of Right Moves' top-rated houses, 00:12:13.299 --> 00:12:17.500 and he builds reservoirs to do his watering for him in the garden, right? 00:12:18.419 --> 00:12:20.819 I get a sense of achievement if you use a host pipe, 00:12:20.899 --> 00:12:24.299 but he has built a whole reservoir to service his garden, 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:27.519 and he gets rich, richer than anyone has ever been before him. 00:12:28.199 --> 00:12:29.059 He builds a household. 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:30.059 He buys slaves. 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:33.079 He owns herds and flocks and the treasure of kings. 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:34.620 He has his own singers. 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:37.079 I guess, you know, before the days of iTunes, 00:12:37.259 --> 00:12:39.240 you have to actually have the singers in your house, 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:40.259 and so he got them there. 00:12:40.259 --> 00:12:46.000 He had live music every night, and he had a harem, sex on sex, 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:49.120 denying himself nothing that money could buy, 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:50.940 denying himself no pleasure. 00:12:51.539 --> 00:12:53.480 And then this, too, turned out not to be the answer. 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:54.220 Verse 10, 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:56.580 I denied myself nothing that my eyes desired. 00:12:56.659 --> 00:12:57.960 I refused my heart no pleasure. 00:12:58.379 --> 00:13:00.440 My heart took delight in all my labor, 00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:02.899 and this was the reward for all my toil. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:05.440 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done, 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:06.820 what I had toiled to achieve, 00:13:06.980 --> 00:13:08.100 everything was meaningless, 00:13:08.100 --> 00:13:09.580 a chasing after the wind. 00:13:09.779 --> 00:13:11.460 Nothing was gained under the sun. 00:13:11.460 --> 00:13:15.320 I think we find this hard to believe, don't we? 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:18.780 Maybe, you know, for those of us, 00:13:18.980 --> 00:13:20.060 which I think it's probably all of us, 00:13:20.139 --> 00:13:22.300 we all feel like we've not quite made it here, 00:13:22.940 --> 00:13:24.360 and so we think it might, 00:13:24.820 --> 00:13:27.139 meaningful living might be here, 00:13:27.420 --> 00:13:28.639 if only we could get it there. 00:13:29.180 --> 00:13:31.680 You know, if only I had my own reservoir or park or garden. 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:34.200 None of us, I hope, want to have a harem, 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:35.560 but you get the idea, don't you, 00:13:35.620 --> 00:13:37.400 that we sort of think, 00:13:37.700 --> 00:13:39.980 if only we could build heaven on earth, 00:13:39.980 --> 00:13:42.139 we would find meaning and satisfaction in that. 00:13:42.659 --> 00:13:45.379 And so much of the advertising that is pushed towards us 00:13:45.379 --> 00:13:48.039 tells us just a little more of these things, 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:51.920 and we'll find a way out of the vapor-like meaninglessness of life, 00:13:51.980 --> 00:13:53.680 a better home, a better set of clothes, 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:55.259 a better tech, better relationships, 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:57.220 more power, more influence. 00:13:58.139 --> 00:14:00.519 But even just as we think about it, 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:01.820 there's a madness to it, isn't there? 00:14:01.820 --> 00:14:04.180 Because, you know, we all now have a better phone 00:14:04.180 --> 00:14:05.720 than we had 10 years ago, right? 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:08.800 And yet we still think that maybe the next upgrade 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:11.139 might bring us greater, you know, joy 00:14:11.139 --> 00:14:12.479 than the one that we have at the moment. 00:14:12.579 --> 00:14:14.279 But it turns out that we're no happier 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:16.719 than we were 10 years ago when we had a terrible phone. 00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:20.699 David Gibson, in his book, Living Life Backwards, 00:14:20.819 --> 00:14:23.599 says that we assume that deep joy and satisfaction 00:14:23.599 --> 00:14:25.379 is on the key ring of a new house, 00:14:25.699 --> 00:14:26.839 even though it wasn't on the key ring 00:14:26.839 --> 00:14:28.240 of the last house that we lived in. 00:14:28.859 --> 00:14:31.339 We assume that it's in the passenger seat of our new car, 00:14:31.339 --> 00:14:32.859 even though it wasn't on the passenger seat 00:14:32.859 --> 00:14:34.240 of the last one that we owned. 00:14:34.679 --> 00:14:36.179 And so we strive and strain, 00:14:36.179 --> 00:14:37.919 and we never seem to learn, and it's hopeless. 00:14:39.719 --> 00:14:41.620 David Gibson also quotes Blaise Pascal, 00:14:41.859 --> 00:14:43.659 who famously taught that the pursuit of happiness 00:14:43.659 --> 00:14:45.559 is the explanation of all that we do. 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:48.439 All men and women, said Pascal, 00:14:48.579 --> 00:14:50.159 without exception, seek happiness. 00:14:50.599 --> 00:14:52.779 All their energies are employed to this end. 00:14:53.379 --> 00:14:55.120 So it's why we stay that bit later in bed. 00:14:55.219 --> 00:14:58.019 It's why we stop at M&S and buy a packet of cookies 00:14:58.019 --> 00:14:59.759 on way to Catalyst on a Monday morning. 00:15:00.459 --> 00:15:03.019 It's why our actions, 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:04.799 they might be different to one another, aren't they? 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:06.599 But it's because we presume that joy 00:15:06.599 --> 00:15:07.819 is in slightly different places. 00:15:07.939 --> 00:15:09.799 You know, I might try and climb a hill 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:10.599 I've not climbed before. 00:15:10.699 --> 00:15:13.019 You might want to spend a day in bed reading a book. 00:15:13.719 --> 00:15:14.099 Crazy. 00:15:14.779 --> 00:15:17.179 But that's because that's where we think happiness is. 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:19.519 And ultimately, the writer of Ecclesiastes, 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:20.979 after extensive research, 00:15:21.099 --> 00:15:22.659 tells you that despite what we're told, 00:15:22.740 --> 00:15:23.819 what we're inclined to think, 00:15:24.219 --> 00:15:27.579 happiness is not found in building heaven on earth, 00:15:27.579 --> 00:15:30.199 or laughing, or wisdom. 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:32.640 Those things on their own, 00:15:32.740 --> 00:15:34.280 consider on their own terms, 00:15:34.379 --> 00:15:35.759 offer you nothing solid, 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:37.460 no basis for joy. 00:15:38.100 --> 00:15:39.000 They are meaningless. 00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:40.160 They are like vapor. 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:43.980 Now, before we notice why, 00:15:44.060 --> 00:15:45.980 just see that the last one is hard work. 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:47.940 He's talked about work already, 00:15:48.460 --> 00:15:49.920 but he comes on to mention it again 00:15:49.920 --> 00:15:51.180 in chapter 2, verse 17. 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:54.079 So I hated life because the work that is done 00:15:54.079 --> 00:15:55.799 under the sun was grievous to me. 00:15:56.059 --> 00:15:57.159 All of it is meaningless, 00:15:57.299 --> 00:15:58.359 a chasing after the wind. 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:01.039 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:03.500 because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 00:16:03.599 --> 00:16:06.319 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:08.739 Yet they will have control over the fruit of my toil 00:16:08.739 --> 00:16:12.019 into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. 00:16:12.299 --> 00:16:13.419 This too is meaningless. 00:16:14.099 --> 00:16:15.699 So my heart began to despair 00:16:15.699 --> 00:16:18.059 over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:21.179 This is why retirement is so difficult. 00:16:21.319 --> 00:16:21.879 Don't tell Jen. 00:16:21.959 --> 00:16:23.679 But this is why retirement is so difficult 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:26.479 is because what you do is you hand over something 00:16:26.479 --> 00:16:28.239 that you have toiled and worked for 00:16:28.239 --> 00:16:29.959 to someone who might not do as good a job 00:16:29.959 --> 00:16:31.259 as you have done of it. 00:16:31.779 --> 00:16:33.359 And then you watch it unravel. 00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:36.439 So the writer has worked hard. 00:16:36.579 --> 00:16:38.099 You know, the previous section told you 00:16:38.099 --> 00:16:39.399 of all the hard work he had done. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.019 And you can put up with hard work 00:16:42.019 --> 00:16:44.219 if you feel like you're getting somewhere, can't you? 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:44.500 Right? 00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:46.919 If you feel like you're making progress, 00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:49.259 then you might think that hard work is worth it. 00:16:49.479 --> 00:16:50.819 But as soon as you realize 00:16:50.819 --> 00:16:52.360 that you're not getting anywhere, 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:55.620 all of a sudden it becomes pointless. 00:16:57.479 --> 00:16:59.299 When I was a university student, 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:00.459 one of my summer jobs, 00:17:00.740 --> 00:17:04.019 I worked in a dog food reprocessing plant, 00:17:04.420 --> 00:17:07.480 which I can tell you is a horrible place to work. 00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:08.920 But basically what we were doing 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:11.940 is we were in the packing part of the factory. 00:17:11.940 --> 00:17:14.220 And when the Fortliff trucks came in 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:18.100 to lift a load of cans of dog food or cat food, 00:17:18.580 --> 00:17:21.019 they would often miss it and puncture the bottom row. 00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:21.500 Right? 00:17:21.580 --> 00:17:24.460 So what you had to do is you had to unstack all those cans, 00:17:24.940 --> 00:17:26.100 restack them onto another pallet, 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:27.279 take the bust ones, 00:17:27.460 --> 00:17:28.680 and throw them in the bin. 00:17:30.460 --> 00:17:33.900 So me, being a young, enthusiastic 19-year-old student, 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:34.580 thought, well, okay, 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:36.140 I think I could probably do this quite quickly. 00:17:36.140 --> 00:17:43.080 But so I unstacked tons of rabbit-flavored whiskers, 00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:47.000 but it just kept coming and coming and coming. 00:17:47.120 --> 00:17:48.520 So you go, oh, you've done that already. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:49.680 Oh, I keep bringing more. 00:17:50.060 --> 00:17:51.340 And more and more and more and more and more 00:17:51.340 --> 00:17:52.660 until I got told off by the other workers 00:17:52.660 --> 00:17:54.380 that were saying, listen, if you keep doing this, 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:57.040 they will just expect all of us to do it like this 00:17:57.040 --> 00:17:57.880 and work this hard. 00:17:57.940 --> 00:17:58.920 Please slow down, 00:17:59.320 --> 00:18:01.580 because otherwise we'll all be expected 00:18:01.580 --> 00:18:03.900 to move tons and tons of rabbit-flavored whiskers every day. 00:18:03.900 --> 00:18:06.200 Because there is no end 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:09.080 to bust cans of rabbit-flavored whiskers, right? 00:18:09.660 --> 00:18:11.300 It's not a job you ever finish, 00:18:11.300 --> 00:18:12.680 because they keep busting them. 00:18:13.060 --> 00:18:14.300 And this is what he's found, isn't it? 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:15.920 There's no end to toil. 00:18:16.600 --> 00:18:17.200 There's no end to it. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:19.220 You're not actually achieving anything at the end of the day. 00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:20.720 And even if you feel you are, 00:18:20.800 --> 00:18:22.540 you hand it over to someone who ruins it anyway. 00:18:23.620 --> 00:18:25.160 So there is grief and pain, 00:18:25.380 --> 00:18:27.220 and the stress, notice verse 23, 00:18:28.080 --> 00:18:29.620 the stress just keeps you up at night. 00:18:31.420 --> 00:18:32.540 What is the point? 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:34.839 It's a meaningless chasing after the wind. 00:18:35.899 --> 00:18:37.839 Really, though, in the middle of all of this, 00:18:37.879 --> 00:18:39.899 I think is the explanation as to why 00:18:39.899 --> 00:18:41.000 all of those things are meaningless. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:43.379 And we've sort of skipped over verses 12 to 16, 00:18:43.819 --> 00:18:45.039 but they expand on something 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:46.339 that's coming up all the way through. 00:18:47.539 --> 00:18:49.159 There's an unhappy reality 00:18:49.159 --> 00:18:50.480 that dominates the whole section. 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:51.180 Let me read to you. 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:53.139 I think I've put them on your handout with bold types. 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:54.079 It'll be obvious to you anyway. 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:55.259 But right, okay, 3B. 00:18:56.019 --> 00:18:57.039 Chapter 2, verse 3B. 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:01.700 I wanted to see what was good for people to do 00:19:01.700 --> 00:19:06.039 under the heavens during the few days of their lives. 00:19:06.399 --> 00:19:06.539 Okay? 00:19:07.139 --> 00:19:08.059 Verse 14, 00:19:08.059 --> 00:19:18.579 Verse 16, 00:19:18.579 --> 00:19:34.319 Verse 21 is saying that they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:40.039 This is the bubble burster for all of these solid things that we think we're building in this meaningless world. 00:19:40.500 --> 00:19:40.899 Death. 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:44.240 This great reality that faces us all. 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:48.179 So life cannot be about the accumulation of achievements or knowledge or wealth, 00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:51.259 because the wise and the fool die the same way. 00:19:51.980 --> 00:19:55.580 And then what we've built is left to someone who squanders or ruins it. 00:19:56.140 --> 00:19:59.160 And so the pursuit of pleasure in those things is really meaningless. 00:20:01.060 --> 00:20:04.460 There's a quote by Peter Kraft, which is in the Dave Gibson book as well, 00:20:04.500 --> 00:20:05.140 and he says this, 00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:09.100 If you are typically modern, which I suppose is most of us, 00:20:09.500 --> 00:20:14.460 your life is like a mansion with a terrifying hole right in the middle of the living room floor. 00:20:14.460 --> 00:20:19.740 So you paper over the hole with a very busy wallpaper pattern to distract yourself. 00:20:20.660 --> 00:20:21.440 That is death. 00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:25.940 And it happens that actually we're pretty good at distraction, aren't we? 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:32.779 So that many people live their lives as if they're blissfully unaware of this great reality that they too will die. 00:20:32.779 --> 00:20:40.859 So, before we come and think about the answer to all this, 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:42.839 I want you, with the person next to you, just to think about, 00:20:43.099 --> 00:20:47.519 in what ways do we see this pursuit of happiness playing out around us? 00:20:47.859 --> 00:20:50.899 How does our city handle the reality of death? 00:20:51.259 --> 00:20:55.980 In your own cultural background, what is sold to you as being the answer to the meaninglessness of life? 00:20:56.119 --> 00:20:58.220 Is it hard work, study, materialism, family? 00:20:58.839 --> 00:20:59.559 Maybe something else. 00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:02.700 Just talk to the person or persons next to you for a couple of minutes, 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:05.179 and then we'll get back together for the rest of it. 00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:05.899 Go for it. 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:08.919 Okay. 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:15.339 Anyone want to throw out anything particularly helpful or insightful said in their group? 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:22.279 How do you think we, as a city or as a culture, 00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:28.200 how do we handle the meaninglessness of all of these things or the vapor-likeness of them all? 00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:31.639 Same. 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:31.639 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:32.320 Zing. 00:21:45.259 --> 00:21:45.860 Right. 00:21:54.700 --> 00:21:55.259 Okay. 00:21:57.220 --> 00:21:57.780 Yeah. 00:21:57.779 --> 00:22:01.799 So kind of don't worry too much about what's going on out there. 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:04.920 Kind of work hard and look after yourself kind of thing. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:05.399 Yeah. 00:22:05.859 --> 00:22:06.099 Yeah. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:07.099 Look after your family. 00:22:07.539 --> 00:22:07.639 Yeah. 00:22:09.059 --> 00:22:11.119 I, I, the sentiment interest in that, isn't it? 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:14.279 If you see, and we all feel this, don't you? 00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:20.440 You look at the news and it's so uncontrollable out there that we narrow our focus in and think, 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:25.379 well, maybe I can, maybe I can deal with this bit and I will, I will control this bit and 00:22:25.379 --> 00:22:27.039 make progress in, in this bit. 00:22:27.259 --> 00:22:27.339 Yeah. 00:22:28.759 --> 00:22:29.259 Anybody in? 00:22:38.259 --> 00:22:38.700 Right. 00:22:38.700 --> 00:22:38.759 Right. 00:22:46.579 --> 00:22:47.099 Yeah. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:50.359 Yes. 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:52.519 Yeah. 00:22:52.660 --> 00:22:53.899 Legacy, family wealth. 00:22:53.900 --> 00:22:58.860 These guys are here talking about architects building buildings that they think will leave 00:22:58.860 --> 00:23:03.320 a legacy for them, thinking that's going to bring them meaning, but then the next generation 00:23:03.320 --> 00:23:11.540 knock them down or, or they become a site of some great disaster that catches fire and whatever. 00:23:11.540 --> 00:23:11.940 Yeah. 00:23:12.820 --> 00:23:13.080 Yeah. 00:23:13.080 --> 00:23:13.140 Yeah. 00:23:13.140 --> 00:23:43.140 may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may 00:23:43.140 --> 00:23:45.820 Okay. 00:23:46.820 --> 00:23:50.860 So, yes, we'll talk about that a bit more in a moment, 00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:55.740 but the idea is, I think, saying, just correct me if I'm wrong, 00:23:56.100 --> 00:23:58.780 basically, you're given this, like, you've just got to do what you've got to do. 00:23:59.980 --> 00:24:02.560 This is you, this is where you are, this is the family you've been born into, 00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:04.980 this is the tribe you've been born into, this is the job that you've got, 00:24:05.320 --> 00:24:07.220 do it, and that's it, yeah. 00:24:09.300 --> 00:24:12.380 I mean, and that doesn't sound great, 00:24:12.380 --> 00:24:18.600 it sounds kind of a bit like the meaninglessness of Ecclesiastes. 00:24:20.080 --> 00:24:23.080 So, let's try and look down at the answer, right, before we finish, 00:24:23.640 --> 00:24:24.780 or at least part of the answer. 00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:27.280 Chapter 2, happiness is a gift from God. 00:24:30.600 --> 00:24:31.840 Let's read verse 24. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:35.680 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:38.500 and find satisfaction in their own toil. 00:24:39.340 --> 00:24:42.120 This, too, I see, is from the hand of God. 00:24:42.380 --> 00:24:46.000 For without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 00:24:46.840 --> 00:24:48.480 To the person who pleases him, 00:24:48.560 --> 00:24:50.800 God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness. 00:24:51.460 --> 00:24:52.560 But to the sinner, 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:55.900 he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth 00:24:55.900 --> 00:24:58.220 to hand it over to the one who pleases God. 00:24:58.320 --> 00:25:00.440 This, too, is meaningless, 00:25:00.800 --> 00:25:02.180 a chasing after the wind. 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:03.660 Here it is, right? 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:05.720 This is how we are to live in this misty, 00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:06.799 vapour-like life. 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:10.560 We are to eat and drink and find satisfaction in our work. 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:13.460 And that sounds, doesn't it, like eat, drink, and be merry, 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:14.640 for tomorrow we die. 00:25:15.019 --> 00:25:17.240 But it's not, because notice what he's saying. 00:25:17.740 --> 00:25:20.480 We should eat and drink and find satisfaction in our work 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:22.299 because, here's the key, 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:25.200 God gives us those things. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:26.819 So notice verse 24, 00:25:26.980 --> 00:25:29.160 they are from the hand of God. 00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:30.200 Verse 25, 00:25:30.600 --> 00:25:32.059 he gives the enjoyment. 00:25:32.580 --> 00:25:33.400 Verse 26, 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:35.460 to the person God is pleased with, 00:25:35.539 --> 00:25:38.840 he gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness, 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:41.259 whilst he withholds it from the sinner 00:25:41.259 --> 00:25:43.039 who is trapped into this storing up 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:44.160 and handing it over cycle, 00:25:44.500 --> 00:25:45.519 which is meaningless. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:50.579 It's a subtle but massively significant shift in perspective. 00:25:52.180 --> 00:25:54.000 David Gibson, in his book, puts it this way. 00:25:54.440 --> 00:25:56.779 We are told by the world to eat, drink, 00:25:56.839 --> 00:25:58.200 and find satisfaction in our work 00:25:58.200 --> 00:25:59.839 because that is all that there is. 00:25:59.900 --> 00:26:00.960 I think that's what we were saying at the back. 00:26:01.240 --> 00:26:01.980 This is all there is, 00:26:02.259 --> 00:26:03.319 so you might as well just do it, 00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:05.440 and you might as well just enjoy it for as much as you can 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:07.559 because death comes, well, you know, there you go, 00:26:07.579 --> 00:26:08.200 and it's all gone. 00:26:09.180 --> 00:26:10.660 You know, but that kind of view of life 00:26:10.660 --> 00:26:12.680 leaves us emptied and dissatisfied 00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:14.519 and stressed and often overworked. 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:16.299 But God says, 00:26:16.619 --> 00:26:18.480 eat, drink, and find satisfaction in your work 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:21.619 because that is what I have given you 00:26:21.619 --> 00:26:23.220 for this time to do. 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:26.139 It's not this is all there is, 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:28.420 but this is what there is, right? 00:26:28.839 --> 00:26:30.839 This is what there is in this life. 00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:32.200 This is what God has given. 00:26:33.099 --> 00:26:34.799 And this is the key to this, I think. 00:26:35.420 --> 00:26:39.180 Accepting that as a gift from God 00:26:39.180 --> 00:26:42.119 is the only way to truly enjoy life 00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:45.579 because ultimately the happiness that we seek 00:26:45.579 --> 00:26:48.799 is found in knowledge of the giver 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:50.819 and not just the gift itself. 00:26:51.919 --> 00:26:53.639 Let me try and give you an illustration 00:26:53.639 --> 00:26:55.319 which worked in my head, 00:26:55.619 --> 00:26:56.759 but I'm not sure it would work out loud, 00:26:56.859 --> 00:26:57.439 so let's have a go. 00:26:59.019 --> 00:27:01.459 Imagine that you have a five-year-old nephew 00:27:01.460 --> 00:27:03.440 and it's his birthday. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:06.240 And you really want your five-year-old nephew 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.700 to enjoy his birthday as much as possible. 00:27:09.100 --> 00:27:10.640 And you know he loves chocolate. 00:27:11.380 --> 00:27:12.960 So you, and this is going to sound a little bit like, 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:14.740 what's Matilda, is it? 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:15.980 But anyway, it's not intended to. 00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:20.680 So you buy him a giant Costco chocolate cake 00:27:20.680 --> 00:27:22.839 for this five-year-old nephew's birthday. 00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:25.539 And you know, he loves chocolate. 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:26.759 There's a lot of chocolate in the cake. 00:27:26.860 --> 00:27:27.839 It's going to be a winner of a present. 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:28.559 So you give it to him. 00:27:28.660 --> 00:27:29.200 What happens? 00:27:30.180 --> 00:27:31.420 Well, of course, this little boy 00:27:31.420 --> 00:27:32.779 becomes obsessed with the chocolate cake 00:27:32.779 --> 00:27:35.079 and eats so much of it that he vomits, right? 00:27:35.120 --> 00:27:36.319 And makes himself sick. 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:38.200 So what do you actually do 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:39.500 when you give the cake to him? 00:27:39.860 --> 00:27:41.339 You don't give him the whole cake, do you? 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:43.200 You give him a slice of the cake 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:45.039 and you tell him actually what you're to do 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:46.160 is just slice this up 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:47.819 and share it amongst your friends 00:27:47.819 --> 00:27:49.480 and then you will enjoy it. 00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:52.519 And you say that not in order to spoil his fun, 00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:55.080 but because the only true way to find joy 00:27:55.080 --> 00:27:56.539 in eating a giant chocolate cake 00:27:56.539 --> 00:27:58.759 is not to become obsessed with it, 00:27:59.120 --> 00:28:00.799 but to eat your part of it. 00:28:01.380 --> 00:28:04.259 So even if that five-year-old boy cries 00:28:04.259 --> 00:28:06.759 when you refuse to let him eat all the cake, 00:28:06.860 --> 00:28:09.140 you still refuse to let him eat all the cake 00:28:09.140 --> 00:28:11.660 because otherwise you would spoil the child. 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:14.480 So that's it here, right? 00:28:14.840 --> 00:28:18.340 The joy of food, of wisdom, of homes, of work, 00:28:18.380 --> 00:28:21.160 and even sex is not in the gift itself, 00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:23.220 but it is in knowing who it is from 00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:24.259 and what it is for. 00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:26.920 And God knows, 00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:29.319 and this really, I think, 00:28:29.460 --> 00:28:31.620 is why this chapter is obsessed with death. 00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:34.860 God knows that it is pondering 00:28:34.860 --> 00:28:37.200 on the reality of our death 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:39.720 which will teach us that this is a gift 00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:41.460 to enjoy for a time 00:28:41.460 --> 00:28:43.880 and not the substance itself. 00:28:44.299 --> 00:28:45.059 Does that make sense? 00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:47.000 So it is, 00:28:47.539 --> 00:28:51.580 if I live my life as if I am not going to die, 00:28:51.880 --> 00:28:54.319 I will find no pleasure in those things 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:57.259 because I will be forgetting 00:28:57.259 --> 00:29:00.080 that they are gifts from God for this time. 00:29:00.180 --> 00:29:02.559 They are what God has given us to enjoy. 00:29:03.379 --> 00:29:04.659 And so remembering death, 00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:05.799 ironically, 00:29:06.419 --> 00:29:08.019 enables me to enjoy these things 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:10.039 because it teaches me that they are gifts 00:29:10.039 --> 00:29:11.579 and not the ultimate thing. 00:29:12.299 --> 00:29:13.599 So if I forget death, 00:29:13.659 --> 00:29:15.559 if my life is about trying to forget death 00:29:15.559 --> 00:29:16.599 and distract myself from it, 00:29:16.619 --> 00:29:19.159 if I try hard to achieve as much as I can 00:29:19.159 --> 00:29:20.299 to kind of fill that void, 00:29:20.379 --> 00:29:22.319 I cannot actually enjoy life 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:23.579 or the gifts of this life 00:29:23.579 --> 00:29:25.539 because I'm the fool of his chapter 00:29:25.539 --> 00:29:27.440 who just uses them for a purpose 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:28.299 for which they're not given 00:29:28.299 --> 00:29:29.200 and I end up losing them. 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:31.559 I'm like a toddler with a chocolate cake. 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:34.159 But if I know that I will die 00:29:34.159 --> 00:29:35.819 and that the means of, 00:29:36.579 --> 00:29:38.259 that means that the pleasures of this world 00:29:38.259 --> 00:29:40.000 are temporary gifts to be enjoyed 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:41.359 in relationship with the giver, 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:43.639 then I find rest and satisfaction 00:29:43.639 --> 00:29:45.940 and the happiness that we're all seeking. 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:48.119 A couple of weeks ago, 00:29:48.179 --> 00:29:48.859 I suggested to you 00:29:48.859 --> 00:29:50.319 that the most miserable person on holiday 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:51.500 is the one who's always going on 00:29:51.500 --> 00:29:53.019 about how soon they have to go home. 00:29:53.720 --> 00:29:54.500 I wanted to suggest to you 00:29:54.500 --> 00:29:56.720 that's not quite right now from this chapter. 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:59.059 The most miserable and pitiable person 00:29:59.059 --> 00:30:00.839 in chapter two on a holiday 00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:02.579 is the person who is pretending 00:30:02.579 --> 00:30:03.920 that they are never going to go home. 00:30:04.779 --> 00:30:04.960 Right? 00:30:05.600 --> 00:30:07.579 And that the holiday is all that there is. 00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:09.900 And that they're going to stay forever. 00:30:11.180 --> 00:30:12.220 Because for them, 00:30:12.500 --> 00:30:14.200 it will be ripped away from them. 00:30:14.900 --> 00:30:16.900 And the most joyful person on holiday 00:30:16.900 --> 00:30:19.319 is the person who knows and remembers 00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:20.480 that it's coming to an end 00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:23.299 and takes each day as a gift 00:30:23.299 --> 00:30:25.960 to be enjoyed as a temporary reprieve 00:30:25.960 --> 00:30:26.860 before heading home. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:28.519 And so for us, 00:30:28.599 --> 00:30:30.140 the best and really the only way 00:30:30.140 --> 00:30:31.440 to truly enjoy life 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:33.279 is to see it as a gift 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:34.940 and to be the person 00:30:34.940 --> 00:30:36.599 who pleases God in verse 26 00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:39.980 and receives happiness from him as a gift. 00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:41.920 Now, you and I have the huge advantage 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:42.759 of reading this, don't we, 00:30:42.759 --> 00:30:43.720 in the light of the Lord Jesus. 00:30:44.380 --> 00:30:45.779 And that gives us an added color 00:30:45.779 --> 00:30:47.120 to what it means to please God 00:30:47.120 --> 00:30:48.460 and what his good gifts are. 00:30:48.900 --> 00:30:50.400 We know that his great gift to us 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:51.720 is salvation in the Lord Jesus. 00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:52.840 We know that to please him 00:30:52.840 --> 00:30:54.500 means coming to him in the name of Jesus. 00:30:55.240 --> 00:30:57.200 But still, as New Testament Christians, 00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:00.660 we are to learn that remembering death, 00:31:01.120 --> 00:31:03.460 while it kills the joy of the secularist, 00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:06.120 for us, it's the key to joy. 00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:08.420 Because we go, I'm here for a time. 00:31:08.660 --> 00:31:10.100 God has placed me here for a time. 00:31:10.420 --> 00:31:11.840 And he's given me these friends. 00:31:12.200 --> 00:31:13.340 He's given me this church. 00:31:13.620 --> 00:31:14.920 He's given me this job. 00:31:15.220 --> 00:31:16.600 He's given me this place to live. 00:31:16.599 --> 00:31:18.539 He's given me these financial means. 00:31:18.939 --> 00:31:20.439 He's given me these particular gifts. 00:31:20.740 --> 00:31:21.939 And I'm going to enjoy those. 00:31:22.379 --> 00:31:23.779 The time that I've been given them 00:31:23.779 --> 00:31:25.379 in the place that God has put me. 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:27.740 And I will give praise and glory to him, 00:31:28.119 --> 00:31:30.179 knowing that one day he will take those things back from me 00:31:30.179 --> 00:31:30.879 and I'll be with him. 00:31:33.459 --> 00:31:35.339 That is Ecclesiastes 2. 00:31:36.159 --> 00:31:38.980 Any questions or comments in the final moments before we... 00:31:38.980 --> 00:31:43.120 Tim? 00:31:43.120 --> 00:31:43.120 00:31:43.120 --> 00:31:45.120 I guess I'll speak how... 00:31:45.120 --> 00:31:50.120 I speak of evangelism and... 00:31:50.120 --> 00:31:55.120 So... 00:31:55.120 --> 00:31:55.839 Okay. 00:31:55.839 --> 00:31:56.839 Just like... 00:31:56.839 --> 00:31:58.839 I was just thinking about... 00:31:58.839 --> 00:31:58.839 00:31:58.839 --> 00:31:58.839 00:31:58.839 --> 00:31:58.839 00:31:58.839 --> 00:32:00.000 I was thinking about... 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:00.000 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:02.059 I was thinking about... 00:32:02.059 --> 00:32:02.059 00:32:02.059 --> 00:32:02.059 00:32:02.059 --> 00:32:12.579 Yes. 00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:25.599 Yes. 00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:28.700 So how does it relate to the work of the Lord 00:32:28.700 --> 00:32:32.700 and to the end of 1 Corinthians 15, 00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:33.940 your labour in the Lord is not in vain? 00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:37.900 I think we need to be careful, don't we, 00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:42.960 not to say that Christian ministry or evangelism 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:49.140 is somehow not subject to the futility of Ecclesiastes, right? 00:32:50.620 --> 00:32:51.779 Because, for example, 00:32:52.299 --> 00:32:54.440 you could walk down the street and bump into someone 00:32:54.440 --> 00:32:56.640 and do a brilliant job of explaining the gospel 00:32:56.640 --> 00:32:58.420 and the next Christian that they meet 00:32:58.420 --> 00:32:59.740 could undo all the really good work 00:32:59.740 --> 00:33:01.000 that you did in that conversation. 00:33:01.580 --> 00:33:03.900 Even in that, you have to believe that actually 00:33:03.900 --> 00:33:07.560 the way to enjoy doing that 00:33:07.560 --> 00:33:09.759 is to enjoy it as a gift from God 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:11.080 for the time that you have it. 00:33:11.800 --> 00:33:13.560 God is building his church and his kingdom. 00:33:14.259 --> 00:33:16.019 He will do his work. 00:33:16.460 --> 00:33:19.220 He will use you in it for his glory. 00:33:19.360 --> 00:33:21.279 And there is great joy in that, isn't there? 00:33:21.740 --> 00:33:24.600 There's great Ecclesiastes joy in doing that. 00:33:24.599 --> 00:33:28.399 But you and I are not building a church or a kingdom. 00:33:29.219 --> 00:33:30.740 You and I aren't growing Christians. 00:33:31.919 --> 00:33:33.099 God is doing that work. 00:33:33.319 --> 00:33:35.299 He is choosing to use us in it 00:33:35.299 --> 00:33:37.819 and actually uses us in our weakness 00:33:37.819 --> 00:33:39.799 and our fumblings and our stumblings, doesn't he? 00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:43.319 And so it is amazing how God does stuff 00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:45.339 which outstrips our gifts. 00:33:46.279 --> 00:33:49.799 And you've got to hold that, haven't you? 00:33:49.859 --> 00:33:53.819 Because some of the most gifted people 00:33:53.819 --> 00:33:57.539 have sometimes been the most fruitless people. 00:33:57.859 --> 00:33:59.279 You know, so they've gone to places 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:00.939 where it's really difficult and really hard 00:34:00.939 --> 00:34:02.240 and they have poured their lives 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:03.000 into preaching the gospel 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:04.599 and maybe seen one or two people converted. 00:34:04.919 --> 00:34:05.539 They've not built anything. 00:34:06.220 --> 00:34:08.059 And so we have to find our joy in going, 00:34:08.599 --> 00:34:09.679 these are the gifts God has given me. 00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:10.799 I'm going to use them for this. 00:34:14.099 --> 00:34:17.679 I kind of want to nuance that by saying 00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:24.079 having a kind of gospel perspective 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:27.259 on how we use our gifts is important in that, right? 00:34:27.819 --> 00:34:31.859 So there is a gospel pleasure in giving away money 00:34:31.859 --> 00:34:33.679 for gospel purposes 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:37.419 than there isn't in purchasing lots of things, right? 00:34:37.420 --> 00:34:40.680 But that doesn't mean that you should give away 00:34:40.680 --> 00:34:41.940 all your money and not purchase anything. 00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:44.119 So 1 Timothy 6 says, 00:34:44.460 --> 00:34:46.559 if you're rich, God's given you money to enjoy. 00:34:46.720 --> 00:34:47.400 So enjoy it. 00:34:47.420 --> 00:34:48.360 What's the best way to enjoy it? 00:34:48.380 --> 00:34:49.240 It's to be generous with it. 00:34:49.980 --> 00:34:50.360 And so, yeah. 00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:52.720 Amen. 00:34:52.720 --> 00:34:54.599 Can you hear a bit about that? 00:34:56.099 --> 00:34:56.619 Yes. 00:35:07.420 --> 00:35:09.500 Yes. 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:13.639 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:15.639 Yeah. 00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:22.879 Yes. 00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:24.019 Yes. 00:35:24.019 --> 00:35:24.079 Yes. 00:35:37.559 --> 00:35:38.039 Yes. 00:35:38.519 --> 00:35:41.719 And so, and that, the beauty one's interesting, 00:35:41.719 --> 00:35:43.439 is it because the person who is the most, 00:35:45.179 --> 00:35:47.719 it's trying to seek meaning and purpose 00:35:47.719 --> 00:35:50.759 in holding on to something that is impossible to hold on to 00:35:50.759 --> 00:35:53.759 actually stops you from enjoying it, 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:55.599 even when you have it. 00:35:56.159 --> 00:35:57.839 Whereas going, I have the, 00:35:58.199 --> 00:36:01.959 like the Lord has made me able to stand and walk and run 00:36:01.959 --> 00:36:03.559 and I'm going to enjoy that 00:36:03.559 --> 00:36:05.179 while I'm able to stand and walk and run. 00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:07.059 But the Lord might take that away from me 00:36:07.059 --> 00:36:09.079 and then I will keep trusting him. 00:36:09.959 --> 00:36:10.359 Yeah. 00:36:10.360 --> 00:36:12.120 Whereas if, oh, I've got that 00:36:12.120 --> 00:36:12.960 and I've got to hold on to it 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:14.900 because that's how I find joy in life 00:36:14.900 --> 00:36:15.800 and that's my purpose, 00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:18.840 all of a sudden I don't enjoy it anymore. 00:36:20.340 --> 00:36:20.440 Yeah. 00:36:22.740 --> 00:36:23.640 Anybody else? 00:36:27.200 --> 00:36:28.740 I can see there's more questions 00:36:28.740 --> 00:36:30.460 whirring behind Simeon's eyes. 00:36:30.460 --> 00:36:37.199 I've got a quick end before he stops processing 00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:38.659 and asks a question I can't answer. 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:39.820 But great. 00:36:40.039 --> 00:36:41.139 Let's pray together 00:36:41.139 --> 00:36:43.240 and then we can talk more if you'd like to. 00:36:45.500 --> 00:36:46.220 Heavenly Father, 00:36:46.420 --> 00:36:48.139 tomorrow we will find ourselves 00:36:48.139 --> 00:36:49.760 in all sorts of different places 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:52.559 doing things that you have given us to do 00:36:52.559 --> 00:36:56.219 and we want to find joy 00:36:56.219 --> 00:36:57.980 in doing them 00:36:57.980 --> 00:37:00.579 as if they're gifts from you. 00:37:01.019 --> 00:37:02.960 So whatever work it is that we go to tomorrow, 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:07.759 whatever situation that we find ourselves in, 00:37:07.820 --> 00:37:08.840 even when that's difficult, 00:37:08.980 --> 00:37:09.679 we want to pray, 00:37:09.900 --> 00:37:10.480 please, Lord, 00:37:10.519 --> 00:37:13.480 that we would enjoy knowing you in the midst of it 00:37:13.480 --> 00:37:16.159 and that we'd enjoy what you have given us 00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:17.940 for the time that you have given it to us. 00:37:18.619 --> 00:37:18.720 Lord, 00:37:18.860 --> 00:37:22.260 help us not to overestimate 00:37:22.260 --> 00:37:23.440 either our own abilities 00:37:23.440 --> 00:37:24.559 or our own longevity. 00:37:25.240 --> 00:37:25.380 Lord, 00:37:25.420 --> 00:37:26.639 we know that we are creatures, 00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:28.139 limited creatures, 00:37:28.500 --> 00:37:30.139 and we know that we're subject to death 00:37:30.139 --> 00:37:31.200 in this fallen world. 00:37:31.880 --> 00:37:32.480 And so please, 00:37:32.559 --> 00:37:32.840 we pray, 00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:34.220 keep us remembering that 00:37:34.220 --> 00:37:36.679 so that we might live lives of joy, 00:37:37.159 --> 00:37:37.860 trusting in Jesus. 00:37:38.360 --> 00:37:39.260 In his name we pray. 00:37:39.659 --> 00:37:39.900 Amen. 00:37:47.940 --> 00:37:48.940 Amen. 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:48.940