The Plowman

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An exposition of Ecclesiastes 3:1-22. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, August 15, 2010.

Introduction
I saw in the paper this week that Tulsa has had 21 homicides since May 1.  During this same period there have been 311 shootings.  There was a time, not so long ago, that we expected such things to be happening in large metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago or Los Angelus but not here.  Not in the buckle of the “Bible Belt.”  Life here was good.  People were friendly.  Church played a prominent role but times have changed.  Pessimism has replaced optimism, skepticism has replaced hope and life has become meaningless.  This didn’t happen overnight.  It’s been coming for a long time.  I think this quote sums up the majority opinion today, “There is no reason to suppose that a man’s life has any more meaning that the life of the humblest insect that crawls from one annihilation to another.”  Catchy don’t you think?   A nice uplifting thought.  Have we really become that jaded?  What may surprise you is that quote is from an English professor at Columbia University during the 1940s!  What was thought in the halls of academia in 1940 is being lived out on the streets of our city in 2010.

It is the notion that individuals are not unique and therefore not important.  Life is without meaning and if life is without meaning it isn’t worth living.  Let’s all just eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.  To quote the ‘preacher,’ “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”  Empty, hollow, nothingness – what is?  Everything…under the sun.  If you consider life apart from God it is empty, meaningless.  Life apart from God and the things of God is unsatisfying.  Oh there may be a moment of joy but it doesn’t last.  There may be happiness but it is fading.  The party ends.  The money gets spent.  The music stops.  The crowd gets bored and moves on.  You will go down to the grave and be forgotten.  Nothing lasts.  Nothing ultimately satisfies.  Nothing that is under the sun.  Our text this morning is found in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes.

Text: Ecclesiastes 3:1-22
Solomon states his conclusion from the very beginning – 1:2 – “Vanity of vanities all is vanity.”
Life is empty – under the sun.
He sought for meaning through intellect and discovered it wasn’t there.
He sought it through pleasure and came up empty.
Then he tried to find satisfaction through work and the accumulation of stuff and learned it was a fool’s errand.

Where does one find true satisfaction and lasting joy?
It is the gift of God’s grace.
As we explore the 3rd chapter we discover that…

Thesis: Deep, genuine satisfaction is the result of trusting wholly in God’s person and work.
There are three things I want to call to your attention from our text.

1. Lasting joy and genuine satisfaction demands that you gratefully acknowledge Gods’ sovereign rule over all things.  (3:1-8)
2. Lasting joy and genuine satisfaction demands that you rest in God’s providential working.  (3:9-15)
3. Lasting joy and genuine satisfaction demands that you trust in God’s righteous handling of the end of all things.  (3:16-22)

Conclusion
What is it that brings lasting joy and genuine satisfaction?  It is the knowledge of God’s sovereign rule over all things, it is resting in His providential working, and trusting his righteous handling of the end of all things.

Deep, genuine satisfaction is the result of trusting wholly in God’s person and work.

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An exposition of Ecclesiastes 2:12-26. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, August 1, 2010.

Introduction
It seems to me it starts earlier and earlier.  We start asking kids, at a young age, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  It’s one of the fruits of living in a free and prosperous society.  We condition kids early on to understand, “You can be anything you want to be.”  In many parts of the world you won’t find kids dreaming of what they will be when they grow up – they just hope to live long enough to grow up!  As a young person moves toward high school we expect them to have a plan.  “What are your goals?”  “What college are you plan to attend?”  “What do you want to do with your life?”  What is interesting is to see how things change.  I love to go to high school homecoming and senior recognition and hear what the students’ plans are.  “After graduating Susie plans to attend MIT with a double major in nuclear physics and medieval renaissance theology.”  A couple of years later you learn Susie is taking some night courses through TCC and working at Wal-Mart.  My point is youth is filled with optimism and hope and it should be!  I bring it up because it is important to note Solomon did not write Ecclesiastes as a young man but rather as an old man looking back on a life of experience.  When you ask a kid what he or she wants to be when they grow up – they do not answer, “I hope to be a bitter, disillusioned failure.”  The goal, regardless of what path they may choose to follow, is to be happy, successful and live with meaning and purpose.  That is why it is critically important for us to hear and heed the message of “the preacher.”  Solomon’s years of empty experience taught him that experience is empty.  Life under the sun is filled with bitter disappointment and is unsatisfying.

Life without regard for God or the things of God is an empty, vain thing.
While there are momentary joys, times of peace and contentment, they do not last.
Thus the preacher cries, “Vanity of vanities!  All is vanity.”
He sought satisfaction through wisdom and found it empty.
He sought satisfaction through pleasure and found it was an illusion.
In the text we are going to explore this morning he reaches an end to the first section of his book.
Our text is found in the second half of the second chapter.

Text: Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
Keep in mind the preacher is “thinking out loud.”
He is bringing us along in a process.
He is walking us through his life experience and sharing what he’s learned.
I want to point out three things in this summary and then draw a final conclusion.

1. Wisdom while advantageous cannot, in itself, secure lasting joy.  (2:12-17)
2. Wealth and professional success, while providing momentary peace, ultimately falls short of lasting joy.  (2:18-23)
3. Lasting joy only comes through the gracious work of God in the hearts of His people.  (2:24-26)

Conclusion: Satisfaction is the gracious gift of God to His people.

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An exposition of Ecclesiastes 2:1-11. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, July 25, 2010.

Introduction
It’s one of life’s most disappointing experiences.  It is the kind of thing that leaves you jaded, skeptical and disillusioned.  Getting what you’d hoped for!  Have you been there?  Maybe it was your dream job but it turned out to be a nightmare.  Perhaps your dream house was, in fact, a money pit.   Your dream car?  A lemon.  That girl you had to marry…well we’ll not go there but you get the idea.  Life under the sun is filled with broken dreams, disappointing successes and unfulfilled expectations.  In short, satisfaction is just beyond your grasp.  Satisfaction is the “fulfillment of one’s wishes” or the pleasure derived from experiencing dreams come true.  In fairy-tales people live happily ever-after.  But, in case you haven’t noticed, life is no fairy-tale.  In the real world it seems we are forever on the trail of satisfaction.  It’s just around the corner.  Perhaps it will come with the next promotion.  Maybe if we get in the right neighborhood.  Surely when we get out from under this debt – but by the time we get there satisfaction has moved on.  It’s why the preacher cried, “Vanity of vanities!  All is vanity!”  Empty, transient, passing, hollow.  What is?  Everything!  Everything that is, “under the sun.”  When you evaluate life without regard for God or the things of God the logical conclusion is – it’s empty, meaningless, unsatisfying.

Solomon is looking back over his life and evaluating.  He sees his life as a grand experiment.  He has done a little bit of everything.  He has tried everything.  And he has come to this conclusion – “after all my I’ve experienced, after all I’ve accomplished, if you add up what I’ve accomplished and what I’ve accumulated, what do I have?  A great big jar of nothing!”  He is not saying he has not accomplished anything.  He isn’t suggesting that he has not enjoyed himself along the way.  He is saying, “ultimately it does not satisfy.”  The apostle Paul told the church at Corinth that the Old Testament Scriptures were written for their benefit.  They were to learn from them so as not to make the same mistakes.  We have the benefit of Solomon’s experience.  He’s been there, done that and he has the t-shirt but it seems we are determined to learn the same lessons the hard way – through our own painful experience.  Our text this morning is found in the 2nd chapter of Ecclesiastes and we will begin at verse 1.

Text: Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
Solomon leaves no doubt about where he is heading – 1:2-3.
He states his conclusion at the very beginning.
Keep in mind he is “thinking out loud” we are traveling this road with him.
Solomon shifts gears with chapter 2.  If wisdom proves to be ineffective then maybe the “good life” is the key to a good life.  If not wisdom how about pleasure?

It is here that we learn…

Thesis: Genuine, lasting satisfaction cannot be attained through human means.
This is something our culture needs to hear.  We have been raised to believe we can accomplish anything.  If you want it bad enough and you work hard enough you can have it.  We idolize the “self-made” man.  We love those rags to riches stories and want to believe it can happen to us some day.

In addition we’ve convinced ourselves that the “successful” are happy and fulfilled.  They must be because they have it all.  That’s not what Solomon says.

Let me point out three things as we work our way through this text.

1. The promise of satisfaction through pleasure proves to an illusion.  (2:1-3)
2. The notion that power, position and prestige brings peace and contentment is an empty dream.  (2:4-8)
3. Though the pursuit of pleasure and the accumulation of power bring momentary relief and provide a temporary distraction they do not, in fact, cannot satisfy.  (2:9-11)

Conclusion
He had a thousand women – 700 wives and 300 concubines (all them beautiful).
He had more money than a man could spend.
He had vast estates.
He had time and means to pursue every possible pleasure.
And it all amounted to what?  Nothing.  Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

Why is that?
Hebrews 9:27 – appointed unto man to die once and then comes the judgment.
Death comes to all and then what?