September 17, 2023; Sunday Evening Worship

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 69
• Hymn — O Worship the King (#2)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Sermon
• Hymn — Amazing Grace (#460)
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: Wisdom for Life in a Fallen World

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 1:1-18

I. Ecclesiastes: Wisdom for Life

A. The author is the Preacher (Qohelet), most naturally identified as Solomon — son of David, King over all Israel in Jerusalem

1. Only Solomon can be described as son of David who ruled over a united Israel in Jerusalem; after his death the kingdom split
2. He calls himself "the Preacher" (Hebrew: Qohelet), meaning one who gathers or convenes — his purpose is to gather people around him to instruct them in wisdom

B. Solomon's wisdom was unparalleled

1. In 1 Kings 3, Solomon asked God for wisdom to lead his people rightly, and God granted it abundantly
2. 1 Kings 4 records that God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, surpassing all the wisdom of the East and Egypt

C. Ecclesiastes is likely written late in Solomon's life, after his personal fall

1. The Book of Proverbs represents Solomon at the height of his power imparting wisdom to his sons
2. Ecclesiastes represents the gray-haired, experienced Solomon inviting anyone who will listen to glean the wisdom of a long and complicated life
3. Just as C.S. Lewis wrote The Problem of Pain before loss and A Grief Observed after, experience brings new and deeper wisdom

D. The preacher covers wisdom for every facet of life: wisdom itself, work and labor, wealth, relationships, and the changing seasons of life

E. The source of all wisdom is one Shepherd — Ecclesiastes 12:11

1. Charles Bridges: wisdom pricks sharply and holds firmly
2. Though the collected sayings come through many wise men, they are given by one Lord

II. Ecclesiastes: Wisdom for Life While Reflecting on Death

A. The key word of the book: hebel — vapor or mist — Ecclesiastes 1:2

1. The Hebrew word hebel occurs 37 times in Ecclesiastes
2. Common translations include "vanity," "meaninglessness," or "futility," but "vapor" or "mist" better captures the sense of weightlessness and transience
3. The preacher is not asserting that life is meaningless, but that it is fleeting and passing like a breath

B. The preacher writes from near the end of life, looking back on everything pursued — wisdom, folly, pleasure, labor — and sees the transitory nature of it all

1. Generations come and go; the wind and streams cycle endlessly with no lasting gain — Ecclesiastes 1:4-7
2. In the end, desire fails and the dust returns to the earth — Ecclesiastes 12:7

C. Death as the lens for wisdom — David Gibson, Living Life Backward

1. Life is complex and messy, but there is a straightforward way to view it: the end will put it all right
2. Ecclesiastes teaches us to take the one certain future reality — our death — and work backward from it into the decisions, heartaches, and details of our lives
3. It is the destination that makes sense of the journey

D. Death is the great equalizer — rich and poor, those who enjoyed every pleasure and those who enjoyed none, all will die; what does the end say about the beginning and the middle?

III. Ecclesiastes: Wisdom for Life While Reflecting on Death, Informed by Faith

A. Faith is the heart of the book — without it, Ecclesiastes would be cold, miserable philosophy; death is the lens but faith is the atmosphere

B. The epilogue of the book — Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 — is not a later addition but the culmination of the preacher's whole argument

1. Some scholars argue these final verses are disconnected from the rest of the book, but the faith of the preacher is at the heart of everything he writes
2. The end of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man

C. Fear of God must come first

1. This is not a cowering fear but a reverential, worshipful fear — a word-formed fear that moves us toward God, not away from him
2. Keeping the commandments flows naturally as the fruit of right fear and love for God

D. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q. 1)

E. The refrain of joy appears three times in Ecclesiastes — Ecclesiastes 2:24-26, 5:18-20, 8:15

1. "Eat, drink, and find enjoyment in all your toil, for this is the gift of God"
2. This is not the nihilist's "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" — it is a joyful receiving of good gifts from a gracious Creator
3. Both the gifts themselves (food, drink, work) and the ability to enjoy them are given by God
4. By faith we can see the mundane and everyday as gifts from the hand of a gracious Creator

F. The hope of Ecclesiastes: joy is possible in the midst of a fallen world when sought rightly, in the right things, from the right source

G. By faith, death is our lens now — but there will come a day when it falls to the rearview mirror — 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

1. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, death is swallowed up in victory
2. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ