Ecclesiastes 1:1-14
12/18/16
Intro
Last week we used a simple, little tool called The 4 Spiritual Laws to talk about evangelism. In that booklet were scriptures that we can share with non-Christians to help them understand the way of salvation.
At the end of that message, Diana asked an astute question. Sharing scriptures may be effective for some people, but how do we minister to people who do not believe the Bible? Quoting a scripture verse is not convincing to those people. It’s a good question because in today’s world most non-Christians do not believe the Bible is inspired of God. Tragically, many people who go to church on Sunday morning don’t believe it. And even more tragic, some people in the pulpit don’t believe the Bible is infallible and inspired by the Holy Spirit. So we do need some insight on how we approach people other than quoting scriptures to them.
There has been a major cultural shift during the last 40 or 50 years. In the early 70’s you could walk up to almost anyone and talk to them from Scripture. That generation had gone to Sunday School as a child. Most said prayers at their public school and came from Christian homes where the Bible was revered. Regardless of the sinful lifestyle of the person, most had a respect for the authority of Scripture. That is not the case today, and that makes evangelism more difficult.
Just throwing out verses to unbelievers who don’t believe the Bible has limited effectiveness. It is like a farmer throwing his seed on hard ground. A little of it may take root, but the odds are against you. That farmer has to plow the ground, so the seed can find place in the soil, germinate, and take root, and grow. Quoting Scripture to people who reject the authority of the word is like throwing seed on hard soil.
So how do we approach those people? I pondered that question last week, asking the Lord to show me the answer. As I prayed God impressed this thought on my heart. The answer is in the book of Ecclesiastes. So I began reading Ecclesiastes with that question in mind. How do we approach people who do not believe in the authority of the Bible? What needs to be addressed in order to prepare them to receive the message?
Before I proceed, let me just say that philosophical arguments alone will not bring people to Christ. People must at some point hear the message. They must at some point embrace the truths in the gospel, as we talked about last week. But we have to meet people where they are in order to engage them. So what I’m going to talk about this morning comes from the word of God; it is found in the book of Ecclesiastes. However, it is preparation that is needed for some people before they will receive what we talked about last week.
Three subjects every thinking person wants to know.
I. The Mystery of Death
Our society does its best to push this reality into the background. Not many years ago when a family member died, you laid the body in the front room until time of burial. In many societies today, the family digs the grave for their loved ones. We have shielded ourselves from this harsh reality as much as possible. But in spite of all those efforts, death is real. It has happened to just about 100% of the human race. Death is universal. It is a common concern. Every time someone dies, the rest of us are reminded that we might be next. Is there anybody foolish enough to argue that he or she will not die? The empirical evidence is overwhelming. Someday life, as you currently know it, will end. You don’t know when, but you can be extremely certain it is going to happen.i
This is not a minor event that is going to happen to you either. It’s not just that you’re going to move from Kansas City to St. Louis and then carry on. It’s a pretty profound occurrence. So it merits some thought. What do you think is going to happen to you when you die? That is a question we should be asking non-Christians. At this point, I don’t care what answer they give. I have got them thinking; and that is a step in the right direction.
The unbeliever who tells you he doesn’t care about that is either lying or is of an extremely low IQ. Why do I know that? Listen to what the Bible says in Heb. 2:14-15. “Since the children have flesh and blood [we’re talking about people], he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil- 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (NIV). Ponder with me for a moment verse 15. Jesus came to “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Every thinking human being has a fear of death that must be resolved in some way. When you talk about the reality, the certainty, and the significance of death you are talking about something every human being is concerned about, whether they admit it or not.
For the Christian death is not a fearful thing. First we know it is not something we will do totally alone, for Jesus has said that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5).ii Paul concludes Rom 8 with these word in verses 38-39. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” First we know that the Lord will be with us during the transition. Second, we know our destination when we leave this world. Jesus said in John 14:2-3 “In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” The place is already prepared for us by Jesus Himself, and He will be there with us. When Paul was facing death in 2 Cor. 5:8 he said, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” There are many other words of comfort for Christians concerning death.
What I want you to realize is this. The secular, non-Christian is living with none of that comfort. He is living with the dread of the unknown. He knows it’s coming, but he has no assurance that he is prepared for the event. He has no assurance that he is prepared for what comes after the event. That is a powerful point of discussion.
So I don’t have to start with Bible verses. I can simply start with his unstated fear. I can start with the question, What do you think happens when a person dies? Again, I don’t care what answer he gives me; I have gotten him to thinking about issues that really matter. And that is one way I break up the hard ground of his heart!
The word amuse is an interesting word. What does it mean? Webster’s gives this definition (1a) “to divert the attention of so as to deceive (1b) to occupy the attention of (2) to entertain or occupy in a light, playful, or pleasant manner.”iii The Devil has managed to keep most people amused with trivial, non-sense so that they don’t think about the issues that really matter. Entertainment is big business. Amusement is big business. And from the Devil’s perspective it pays big dividends in terms of eternal souls. The word amuse is a combination of two French words “muse” and “ad”. Muse means to become absorbed in thought. The prefix “a” negates that meaning. So amuse diverts the attention away from thought. Amoral means it’s not moral. Atypical means it’s not typical. Amuse means it’s not musing or thinking. The Devil diverts their attention with temporal pleasure, materialism, vain ambition, and other temporal pursuits. Our job is to get them thinking. The Holy Spirit can work with that. First they need to think about the Mystery of Death.
II. The Futility of Life
I told you how God directed me to the book of Ecclesiastes for the development of this message. Follow with me as we read Eccl 1:1-14.
“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
[The Hebrew word translated “Preacher” is qoheleth. It means one who calls an assembly—assembler.iv The Greek word used in the Septuagint is ekklesia. The title of the book comes from that word. Solomon was the son of David and the king in Jerusalem who wrote this book.v
And he opens with the theme: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." This is a Hebrew way of saying this is utterly vain and empty. Hebel is the Hebrew word translated vanity. It occurs 35 times in this book.vi It is a major theme. The word is sometimes translated “emptiness,” “futility,” “uselessness,” “vapor,” “breath,” “meaninglessness,” and absurdity.vii
2 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."
3 What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun? 4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. 5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose. 6 The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. 7 All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again. 8 All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.
12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.” Some versions say, “a chasing after the wind.”
To understand the book of Ecclesiastes, you have to understand its orientation.
Solomon is talking about his observations as a person living “under the sun.” Notice that phrase in verse 3 at the very opening of the book: “What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?” Then again in verse 9 “…And there is nothing new under the sun.” I counted at least 25 other times it occurs in the book. The book is written from that perspective. Another phrase used in the book to communicate the same thing is the phrase “under heaven.” For example, Solomon writes in Eccl 2:3 “I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.” (In other words, a human living a natural life). That is in contrast to the heavenly perspective we live with as children of God. For example Ephesians has us seated, not under heaven, but in heavenly places (Eph. 1:20; 2:6). If you try to apply what is said in Ephesians to non-Christians you’ll misinterpret the message. If you try to apply Ecclesiastes to someone sitting in the heavenly places, you will misinterpret that book.
Ecclesiastes is specifically dealing with life “under the sun” or earthly life,viii if you will.
This is where the secular non-Christian is living. And if he is a thinking person, like Solomon was, inside he is screaming “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” The futility of life without God in the picture is an unbearable existence. It has to be numbed with drugs, and entertainment, and immorality, and any other kind of a-musement available.
So here is the question for the non-Christian to ponder. Why are you here? What is the purpose of life? I’m not asking if you can find some temporal occupation of your time. Solomon was seeking a much deeper understanding than that. I’m asking you to put some real, lasting value on your existence and on your experience. Are you just a blob of protoplasm “under the sun” with no eternal destiny. You’re on this little planet, called earth, moving 67,000 miles/hourix around the sun with no eternal purpose except to eat and die?
Solomon has the presence of mind to ask why? He looks at the sun come up in the morning (verse 5) and go down in the evening. And there it is in its original spot the next morning. In verse 6 the wind blows south; then it blows north; and the next thing you know it’s back where it began. The rivers flow to the sea; but the sea is never filled. What frustrates him most is that “this is life as it is under the sun.” It’s crazy; it’s going nowhere.
Solomon tried to make some kind of sense of it all.
Look at Eccl. 2. In the first 3 verses he tried pleasure. He gratified his flesh in every way he could think of; but it left him empty. In verses 4-6 he took on projects: building houses, planting vineyards. In the end, he could find no real fulfillment there. Yes, there is some temporal satisfaction in those things, but it doesn’t last. In verses 7-8 he acquired things (materialism). It all led to his conclusion in Eccl. 2:17, “Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.”
He even pursued learning and worldly wisdom. But then he realized, all that effort was futile in the end. In the end (Eccl. 2:14) “The wise man's eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.” They both die and that’s the end of it!
So I don’t just want my secular friend to think about the reality of death, I also want him to find real meaning in life without having God in the picture. If he is smart like Solomon, and honest like Solomon, he will be screaming, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”
Even the secular psychiatrist, Carl Jung, said “The central neurosis of our time is emptiness.” (People screaming “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” Viktor Frankl wrote, “Clinics are crowded with people suffering from a new kind of neurosis, a sense of total and ultimate meaninglessness of life.”x Solomon knew it long before these people did.
There are really only two logical positions to take in life.
Either there is no God and there is nothing after the grave
or there is God and I would be wise to prepare to meet up with Him.xi
Now if the first premise is true, then utter selfishness is the only thing that makes sense. Don’t talk to me about loving your family; you’re just a blob of protoplasm seeking to survive. Evolved cells don’t love; they take for themselves and live. Don’t give me a little bit of God; follow your own assumption to their logical conclusion. If this is all there is, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die!” (1 Cor. 15:32).
On the other hand, if there is a Creator perhaps I should find out who He is and what He expects of me and go that direction. God says in Jer. 9:23-24 "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.” When all the ledgers are balanced, your wisdom, your might, your riches won’t matter much. You’re relationship with your Creator will be the issue.
Solomon comes to something very close to this at the end of his book. Eccl 12:13-14 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.” The book of Ecclesiastes is written by a person who observes the emptiness life “under the sun” and has drawn this conclusion: you would do well to live your life in reverence to God because one day you will give account to Him.
As a human being, I want you to think about (1) the Mystery of Death (2) the Futility of Life without God (under the sun) and
III. The Injustices in the World
This was something else that disturbed Solomon as he pondered life “under the sun.”
Eccl 4:1-3 “Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, But they have no comforter -- On the side of their oppressors there is power, But they have no comforter. 2 Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, More than the living who are still alive. 3 Yet, better than both is he who has never existed, Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.”
My question for the non-Christian is this. Do the injustices of life bother you? Does it upset you that powerful people use and abuse the weak? Does the thought of harsh slavery upset you? Does the thought of spousal abuse upset you? How about child abuse? Are you disturbed by any of those things?
If so, I want to ask you, why? Why would it upset you? If you are nothing more than biological chemistry, then why would it disturb you for a child to be slaughtered before your eyes? I want to suggest a possibility. I want to suggest that you may have been created by a moral Being, and perhaps He put some of His own sense of justice in you.xii In the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon shares his observations as a man living natural life, and then he interjects revelation about God in that context. Listen to this revelation in Eccl. 3:11 “He has made everything
beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” Why does the pain and oppression in the world disturb you?
You are disturbed by injustice because God has put a sense of justice in you. It may or may not be fine-tuned; but it is there. You are frustrated with the meaninglessness of life under the sun because you were made for eternity and He (the Creator) has put that sense of eternity in you. That sense of eternity in you says something like this, “There has got to be something more than this!”xiii Are you satisfied with a life that simply eats, drinks, works for no lasting purpose, and then drops out of existence? Are you satisfied with a world that is full of oppression and injustice? Isn’t there something inside of you that screams for these things to be made right?
Injustice disturbs me, not just because I am a Christian—but because I am a man. God has put enough of Himself in me (as a human being) that I am dissatisfied with an unjust world. But if you’re only a biological product of cell mutation, why would that moral outrage even exist?
I don’t have time for all the answers; and I don’t have all the answers. But I am willing to think about these things. I am inviting you as a non-Christian to ponder them with me.
One reason people don’t embrace the gospel is this: They are not thinking. They are certainly not thinking about the big stuff. They are being a-mused. They are entertained and distracted by a deceiving Devil. This is an invitation to think!
Consider these three subjects.
(1) The Mystery of Death. Why does it exist? What happens after a person crosses that line?
(2) The Futility of Life without God. Why are you here? What is the purpose of human existence?
(3) The Injustices in this World. Are you disturbed by oppression and injustice? If so, why does it matter to you?
May you find the real answers to these questions!
Invitation
END NOTES:
i The exception is those who are caught up to be with the Lord in 1 Thess. 4.
ii All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
iii Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1993) p. 40.
iv OT:6953 (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.).
v Derek Kidner, Eccl. 1:1 note, The NIV Study Bible, 1995 edition, Michael A. Vander Klipp, managing ed. P. 986.
vi Ibid., Eccl. 1:2 note.
vii The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. V, p. 278.
viii Eccl 1:2 (from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press).
ix Cornell University, “Ask an Astronomer,” Retrieved at http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/41-our-solar-system/the-earth/orbit/91-at-what-speed-does-the-earth-move-around-the-sun-beginner.
x “Meaninglessness,” Sermon Central Illustrations. Retrieved at http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/m/meaninglessness.htm.
xi Hebrews 9:27; Matthew 12:36.
xii Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 1:19-20.
xiii The book of Job deals with the problem of suffering. Is there any explanation for it? Job found eternal purpose behind his experiences (Job 19:25-26; 23:10).
