Ecclesiastes: Living Wisely Under the Sun

The End of the Matter

Eccl 12:9–14

We've listened to the Preacher's message. We've walked with him through the ruins of Eden and looked under every rock we can think of for purpose and meaning and lasting gain. And everything has come up short; "all is vanity" (Eccl 1:2; 12:8).

But along the way, the Preacher has been pointing us towards true purpose and meaning and gain. And here, at the end, the narrator makes this explicit: "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (Eccl 12:13).

Listen to this sermon and the Preacher's simple conclusion and ask "how can we learn to fear God and keep his commandments during our brief days under the sun?"

Rejoice Rightly

Ecclesiastes 11:7–12:8

As we near the end of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher reflects once again: life under the sun is full of both joy and sorrow—days of sunshine and days of deep darkness.

Young people know this is true, but often have a hard time seeing anything but optimism in life. This is why the reality of middle age hits us like a ton of bricks. And yet, once we're soured by the reality of life under the sun, we find it harder and harder to freely enjoy the good in God's good creation. How can we learn the wisdom of age while retaining the optimism of youth? The Preacher teaches us this lesson in Eccl 11:7–12:8.

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Do Something!

Eccl 11:1–6

Farming in Eden was certain. Sowing, reaping, and enjoying the harvest was a sure thing. But in the ruins of Eden, living under the sun in a creation cursed because of sin, much is uncertain. Crops die and ships sink. How do we live faithfully in a world with so much uncertainty? That's the theme of this text from Ecclesiastes.

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Enjoy Life By Remembering Death

Ecclesiastes 9:1–12

This passage is at the same time one of the bluntest looks at the reality of death in Ecclesiastes and one of the strongest exhortations to enjoying life. How can these two things fit together? How do we enjoy life knowing that everything we love will eventually be taken from us by death?

That question reveals the heart of the promises of the gospel. It's against the dark backdrop of our own mortality that the promises of the gospel shine brightly—bright enough even that we can receive life's good as a gift from God to be enjoyed.

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Keep the King's Command

Ecclesiastes 8:1–17

As Christians, we know this world is not our home. We await a better home and a Good King. But in the meantime we live in the ruins of Eden, in a world filled with rebellion against King Jesus.

The Preacher in Ecclesiastes saw this world in rebellion and observed: "Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 8:10) How do God's people live wisely in a wicked culture like that? That's the theme of our text today.

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Be Not Overly Righteous

Ecclesiastes 7:15–29

In Ecclesiastes 7:15–29, the Preacher looks at the frustratingly mysterious nature of life under the sun and considers: How should we live in a world that often doesn't make sense? How should we live in a world where bad things happen to good people and where the wicked seem to prosper? What does faith in God look like when he seems capricious?

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Satisfaction Under the Sun

Ecclesiastes 5:8–6:9

Sermon Notes

Unfortunately, the audio recording did not work for either audio or video. Below are some sermon notes to try to help you get the gist of the message.

Introduction: We all have hearts hungry for happiness.

  • The Preacher arranged his message as a Chiasm (a poetic arrangement with parallel outsides and the main point at the center). We can view this arrangement like the steps of a pyramid leading to a point.

  • We’re going to examine these steps on our way to the top:

    • Step 1: The Problem (Eccl 5:8–12; 6:7–9)

    • Step 2: Case Studies Expounding the Problem (Eccl 5:13–17; 6:3–6)

    • Step 3: Contrast Between the Good and Bad Life Exposes the Root (Eccl 5:18–19; 6:1–2)

    • Point: The Solution for Our Heart Hunger (Eccl 5:20)

Step 1: The Problem (Eccl 5:8–12; 6:7–9)

  • Main Point: Our hearts are hungry, but wealth cannot satisfy.

  • Our hearts have appetites (Eccl 5:10; 6:7, 9)

  • We try to feed our hearts with money and the things money can buy (Eccl 5:10)

  • We’re tempted to love money because money = power (to get, to control, to make us and others happy) (Eccl 5:8-9)

  • But with more money comes more problems (Eccl 5:10, 11, 12; 6:9)

  • Why doesn’t money satisfy?

Step 2: Case Studies (Eccl 5:13–17; 6:3–6)

  • Main Point: (Money doesn’t satisfy because) Earthly gain cannot satisfy eternal souls.

  • Riches are fragile (Eccl 5:13–14)

  • Riches are perishable (Eccl 5:15–16)

  • More riches will not make them less fragile or less perishable (Eccl 6:3–6)

  • Wretchedness is the end of love of money whether you have little or much—and whether it is lost or kept (Eccl 5:17; 6:6)

  • This is all because money can only bring earthly gain and earthly gain cannot satisfy eternal souls.

  • God put eternity into our hearts (Eccl 3:11); we were made to live in Eden and thus our heart hunger cannot be satisfied with anything found in the ruins of Eden.

  • The sweet sleep of the laborer (Eccl 5:12) hints that there is some measure of satisfaction that can be found under the sun. What is it and where does it come from?

Step 3: Contrast (Eccl 5:18–19; 6:1–2)

  • Main Point: Only the eternal God can satisfy eternal souls.

  • Notice the significant increase in God language near the center of the chiasm. God was not mentioned prior to v. 18. This shows us that the solution to our heart hunger centers on God.

  • The Preacher compares what is good (Eccl 5:18–19) and what is evil/bad (Eccl 6:1–2). The difference between the two is not how little or much one has, but whether God gives “the power to enjoy”.

  • Since the difference is “power to enjoy” and this is given by God, our happiness then is dependent on God’s giving. No amount of money can buy the power to enjoy, therefore if God does not grant this gift, we will always remain hopelessly hungry.

  • Eccl 6:2 exposes the heart of matter and why we need God to give the power to enjoy: our desires are disordered. The unhappy person “lacks nothing of all that he desires.” The only thing he lacks is the power to enjoy all that he has; a power that comes from knowing God. This means “all that he desires” does not include God. His affections are misplaced (he loves money, Eccl 5:10).

  • God will never give “power to enjoy” misplaced affections in any lasting way. This is not cruel, but a mercy. God rightly denies desires when they are disordered (e.g. James 4:1–3), but when his people persist in rebellion, his judgement is to give them over to enjoying their disordered desires (Rom 1:24–25). This is a judgement, because the enjoyment is only temporary and leads to death.

  • We were created with deep desires that only the eternal God can satisfy. But satisfaction in him does not look like “mere contentment”. Satisfaction in him includes “the power to enjoy” his gifts. The goal is not only contentment, but joy (He intends to occupy our hearts with joy, Eccl 5:20)!

Point: The Solution (Eccl 5:20)

  • Main Point: God-given joy will truly satisfy our hungry hearts.

  • God occupies our hearts with joy by teaching us to occupy our hearts with him. This is what Jesus taught his disciples (Luke 12:29–34). We seek first his kingdom, treasuring him, and our heart follows our treasure.

  • A heart occupied with money cannot be occupied with God and therefore will never experience true and lasting joy. But a heart occupied with God holds a treasure that moth and rust cannot destroy; a treasure that will truly satisfy. As we desire God and his kingdom, it is his good pleasure to grant this desire (Luke 12:31–32). As we delight ourselves in God, it is his pleasure to give us the desire of our heart (by giving us himself! Ps 37:4).

  • As God occupies our hearts with joy in him, he restores our ability to find joy in the gifts he gives. The things of earth grow strangely bright because they give us a taste of the goodness that awaits (taste this and see that God is good like that) and they teach us that God and his kingdom are infinitely better (this is just a taste after all)—see Strangely Bright by Joe Rigney.