The Vain Life
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Happy Birthday City Awakening! Happy Birthday! We’re officially 1 yr old as a church so happy birthday. It’s gonna be a great day full of food, fun, and celebration, and you’ll get to hear some of those celebrations towards the end of the message. Today we’re actually starting a new series where we’re gonna study the entire book of Ecclesiastes in large chunks, large chapters, and we’re calling this series ‘Life Under The Sun.’ It’s called Life Under the Sun, and it’s all about enjoying today as we look forward to tomorrow. We want you to enjoy today, as you look forward to tomorrow, because a lot of people don’t do that. I’m in that category too. A lot of people don’t tend to enjoy today, they tend to stress about today. They don’t tend to look forward to tomorrow, they tend to worry about tomorrow. This series is about learning to enjoy today, so we can look forward to tomorrow, and we’re gonna start this series in Ecclesiastes Ch. 1-2. So let’s turn our bibles to Ecclesiastes Ch. 1:1 and get into it. The title of today’s message is ‘The Vain Life.’ All of life is vanity, if there is no eternity. All of life is vanity, if there is no eternity, and that’s what we’re gonna talk about today. I’m not gonna give you the context, because the context is gonna be given in the text. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Ecclesiastes 1:1 states this, “The words of the Preacher...” The Hebrew word for ‘preacher’ can also be translated as ‘teacher.’ I want you to keep that in mind. I want you to keep in mind that this is a preacher, a teacher which means they’re teaching us something. They’re trying to teach us a lesson. But who’s this preacher? Who’s this teacher? The text tells us.
Again vs. 1, “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.” That’s Solomon. We’re talking about Solomon here. He’s the preacher, he’s the teacher, he’s the son of David, the king in Jerusalem. Here’s what we know historically about Solomon. We know he was wise. He was very wise. In fact many believe he was one of the wisest men to have ever lived 2nd to Jesus, and historically we know he shared some of his wisdom when he wrote over 3,000 proverbs, over 1000 songs, and 3 books of the Bible. The book we’re studying right now, Ecclesiastes is one of those books. We also know he was one of the most wealthy and powerful kings in history. He was king over Israel for roughly 40 yrs, and his leadership gave Israel a long season of peace and prosperity. In fact he was so wise, so wealthy, so powerful that kings and people would travel from all over the world just to sit at his feet and learn from him. We also know historically he had over 700 wives and 300 concubines, which was partially to satisfy his every sexual pleasure, and partially to build a bigger kingdom. If Solomon were alive today, he’d be considered smarter than Stephen Hawking, wealthier than Bill Gates, more powerful than the president, and have more women surrounding him than the Bachelor...If you were watching a Dos Equis commercial, he’d be the most interesting man alive...If you were reading Forbes Magazine or Men’s Health, he’d be on the cover...Historically he was very well known for his wisdom, wealth, power, and women. He’s experienced a lot of life, he knows a lot about life, and he’s writing Ecclesiastes towards the end of his life. So when you picture Solomon I want you to picture a wise old man who’s experienced a lot of life, who knows a lot about life, and who’s trying to teach us a few things as he approaches the end of his life. Again, he’s assuming more of a preacher, teacher role more like a grandpa, and he’s trying to teach us a few things about life.
Again vs. 1, “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” There’s our big idea, it comes from this text, it comes from Solomon. It’s that all of life is vanity, if there is no eternity. Solomon says it’s all vanity. In fact he uses this word ‘vanity’ over 37 times in Ecclesiastes, 5 times right here in vs. 2, and in Hebrew it means ‘mist.’ It means ‘mist,’ it means something that’s fleeting, something that doesn’t last long. He’s saying our lives are like a mist that are here one minute and gone the next. So as Solomon’s looking back on his life, as he’s reflecting back on all he’s accomplished in life, all the wisdom, wealth, power, women, degrees, projects, sleepless nights trying to meet deadlines and demands from his professional career, he looks back on all of it and says it’s all but a...(S)...It’s all but a...(S)...mist...Welcome to City Awakening where your life’s but a...(S)...Talk about a joyful thesis statement! I mean most of us spend our entire lives trying to achieve some of the things he’s achieved, and yet he’s telling us it’s all vanity, it’s all but a..(S)..mist. Not much of a joyful thesis statement, but it’s an interesting one. It’s very interesting to hear a man of his stature, a man who’s achieved so much historically say it’s all vanity. I mean why would he say that?..Why would a man of his stature, a man who’s achieved so much historically say it’s all vanity?..It’s because he knows all of life is vanity, if there is no eternity. All of life is vanity, if there is no eternity. He’s gonna unpack that thesis as the text continues.
Again vs. 2, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” There’s where we get our series title from, it’s from this phrase ‘under the sun.’ It’s a phrase that’s used 26 times throughout Ecclesiastes, 8 times right here in ch. 1-2, and it means life under the sun, life under heaven, life this side of eternity. It’s the temporal, vain, mist of a life we’re living and Solomon’s asking what’s the point of it all, what’s the point of this vain, mist of a life we’re living? Then he gives us a barrage of vain, mist full things he pursued over the years hoping it’d answer that question, hoping it’d give him purpose and joy in life. The first of those things is wisdom. Go to vs. 16-17.
Vs. 16-17 state this, “I said in my heart, I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. 17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. ” Notice he says he applied his ‘heart’ to know wisdom. He applied his ‘heart’ to know wisdom, meaning he strongly sought after gaining wisdom. It was his prized possession. I’ve had professors like that. They’d get insulted if I didn’t call them ‘Dr.’ It was a pride thing for them. It was their treasure, and if you didn’t acknowledge their treasure it was an insult. But Solomon had more degrees than anybody and he says it’s all vanity, it’s all a mist, it’s all ‘a striving after the wind,’ a chasing after the wind. Why? Because you can’t take your degrees with you when you die. Your degrees have no eternal worth, no eternal value when you die. Right now in this temporal, vain, mist of a life your living your degrees might have some value, but nobody’s gonna care to call you Dr. when you die, nobody’s gonna care that you graduated with honors when you die. He’s saying wisdom is vanity, if there is no eternity. Wisdom is vanity, all of life is vanity, if there is no eternity. You can’t take your degrees with you when you die. Solomon tried to find purpose and joy in the pursuit of wisdom, in the pursuit of his degrees, it didn’t work, so he starts pursuing pleasure. Go to ch. 2:1-11.
Ch. 2:1-11, “I said in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.’ But behold, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter, ‘It is mad,’ and of pleasure, ‘What use is it?’” He says it’s vanity, he says the pursuit of pleasure, the hedonistic pursuit of pleasure is vanity, and our country’s full of this. Our country’s full of people who pursue hedonistic pleasures. I mean our very own Declaration of Independence is founded on hedonism. It’s about Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, and notice you have to “pursue” happiness. They’re like, “Life we’ll help you with. Liberty we’ll help you with. But Happiness, good luck! Good luck with that one! You need to pursue that one.” And so many of us spend much of our lives trying to pursue happiness, trying to find happiness in all different kinds of vain things, only to find ourselves stressed out, burnt out, possibly even in tears at the end of the rainbow because there’s no pot of gold...Our pursuit for pleasure’s like pealing an onion. You peal layer, after layer, after layer only to find yourself in tears when you’re done. “If I only had a job, if I only had a promotion, if I only had more money, if I only had a spouse, a new spouse, kids, kids that would listen, a new home, a new car, money for a vacation.” It’s layer after layer, tear after tear, and Solomon at the end of his life is saying, “I’ve done that too! I’ve pursued all that too, and I’m telling you it’ll always leave you feeling empty.” Solomon had all the resources he needed to pursue whatever pleasure he wanted and he used those resources to pursue it. He even states in the text that he ‘tested’ his heart with pleasure, meaning he treated his heart like it was a science experiment. To him the world was like a big pleasure experiment, it was like a big buffet where he’d sample whatever pleasure was on the menu of life. We look at that and we’re like, “Man I wish I had that! I wish I had enough resources to do whatever I want, whenever I want.” Solomon had that, he pursued whatever pleasure was on the menu of life, and after sampling it all he said it’s vanity. He said the pursuit of pleasure is all vanity. All of life is vanity, if there is no eternity. So wisdom didn’t bring him purpose and joy, pleasure didn’t do it, so what’s next?
Vs. 3, “I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine...” So now he’s drinking some Cabernet, he’s drinking some Pappy, some Crystal, or if you’re a strict Baptist it’s Crystal Lite.“I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine, my heart still guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.” That’s your first episode of MTV cribs! The bible has the first episode of MTV cribs! I mean the guy doesn’t have a house, he has houses! He doesn’t have a vineyard, he has vineyards! He doesn’t have a garden, a park, or a pool. He has gardens, parks, and pools. It’s all plural, not singular. He has all the MTV crib episodes combined. In fact one of his homes was so massive that historians believe it took over 14 yrs to complete. He also had the first infinity pool, which if I’m being honest makes me a bit jealous because I always wanted an infinity pool but instead I got a slip n slide... But Solomon doesn’t have a slip n slide, he doesn’t even have an infinity pool, he has infinity pools that were so massive they were able to water forests. One scholar put’s it like this:
“Solomon had incredible real estate with massive palaces, private parks, and gardens. He had his own private zoo with exotic animals from around the world, and a ranch with 12,000 horses and 1,400 chariots imported from Egypt and Cilicia. He had a personal staff, some say as many as 30,000 servants committed solely to serving him. He had on demand front row access to performances by his favorite artists, his favorite comedians, and had unlimited sex fulfilling all his sexual fantasies with any of his 1,000 wives and concubines. He had rock star fame, the highest IQ, and the power to do basically anything he wanted. He was able to enjoy it all while sitting back, kicking his feet up, and relaxing in his huge throne that was decorated with ivory, gold, surrounded by 14 hand carved lions, and 500 custom hammered gold shields.” Another scholar said he was so wealthy and famous, that he’d often throw parties with enough food to feed up to 15,000 people a night, and his parties would last for weeks. Listen Solomon had it all! He literally had all that money could buy, and listen what he says in vs. 11.
Vs. 11, “Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” He says there’s nothing to be gained under the sun. Solomon literally had it all and yet none of it was able to provide him with the purpose and joy he was pursuing. He’s like a kid at an Easter Egg hunt who keeps finding empty eggs. He keeps opening egg after egg only to walk away disappointed. He’s tried to find purpose and joy in so many different things, and he’s starting to notice a theme. It’s that nothing in this vain, mist of a life we’re living under the sun, will ever satisfy us. It’ll always leave us walking away empty feeling like there’s still something missing. But every generation has their pursuits. Every generation has their pursuits and will chase after the wind. History’s more like a cul-de-sac than a straight road. It tends to repeat itself, and so every generation takes a drive around the cul-de-sac called Pleasant Street, chasing all different kinds of things they think will bring them purpose and joy. But they all eventually run out of gas, walk away empty, walk away feeling like there’s still something missing.
Jim Carey once said, “I wish everyone could get rich, famous, and have everything they ever dreamed of, so they can see it’s not the answer.”
John Mayer once said, “I have friends? Check. Money? Check. A Microphone? Check.
A Guitar? Check. I have messages waiting on me when I get home? Check. But something’s still missing, and I don’t know how to fix it. Something’s still missing, and I don’t know what it is.”
Jim Carey, John Mayer, Tom Brady, Zac Efron, so many quotes I can pull from, and they’re all saying the same thing Solomon said hundreds of years ago. It’s that none of the things we’re pursuing on Pleasant Street will ever be able to satisfy us. They’ll always leave us walking away feeling like there’s still something missing. I heard one scholar put it like this: “Solomon tried to find meaning by enjoying anything and everything apart from God but found it to be a meaningless waste of time. This just goes to prove that you can have a full fridge, full house, full closet, full bank account, full social life, full mind, full stomach, full liquor cabinet, full résumé, full bedroom, yet an empty soul...” Solomon had an empty soul...He lived a lot of life, and even enjoyed much of what life had to offer, but he had an empty soul...How’s your soul?...How’s your soul?..Is it empty from all the vain things you’ve been pursuing, or is it full?..How’s your soul?..Solomon’s about to point us to the one thing, that filled his soul. Check out vs. 24-25.
Vs. 24-25, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?” He says apart from Him, apart from God who can have enjoyment? That’s the answer Solomon gives for this vain, mist of a life under the sun. It’s God. He says the answer is God, it’s spending eternity with God. He finds purpose, joy, satisfaction not in life ‘under the sun,’ but in life ‘over the sun.’ City Awakening don’t miss this. Don’t miss what Solomon’s saying in his wise old age. He’s at the end of his life standing on the corner of Pleasant Street, standing on top of the success mountain yelling, “No! No! Go back! Go back! It’s not worth it! All the wisdom, wealth, power, sex, fame, material, vain mist full things you’re working so hard for isn’t worth it! Trust me, I’ve been there, and it’s not worth it! You’re struggling to climb the mountain, but I’ve already climbed it, I’m standing on it, and the views not so great, it’s not so majestic, it’s not so pretty. It’s full of vanity, so I beg you to turn back. I beg you to reflect on your life before you lose your life. I beg you to not waste your life on vain things, on...(S)...” Solomon in his wise old age is standing on top of the success mountain and over 37 times he tells us it’s all vanity unless it’s rooted in eternity, unless it’s rooted in God. He says apart from Him, apart from God, you’ll never find lasting purpose and joy.
Look everything you’re working for in life either has a clock that’s ticking down or a clock that’s ticking forward...Everything you’re working for in life either has a clock that’s ticking down, or a clock that’s ticking forward. If there’s no eternity then it means everything you’re working so hard for is coming to an end and the clock’s ticking down. But if there’s an eternity then it means everything you’re working so hard for has eternal purposes and the clock’s ticking forward towards those eternal purposes. Solomon’s saying if there’s no eternity then everything you’re working so hard for is vanity because the clock’s ticking down, it has an expiration date, and it’s gonna end up on your tombstone. It’s what a lot of us are spending our lives racing toward, we’re racing toward a tombstone. It’s race through high school, race through college, race to get a job, race to keep a job, race to find a new job because we hate our current job. It’s race, race, race, race, race, for what? Only to retire and run straight into a tombstone... We spend most of our lives racing to a tombstone, rarely ever asking if what we’re racing for is actually worth it. It usually takes a diagnosis, death, or near death experience for us to hit the pause button, reflect on our lives, before we he the race button again. But as an act of grace God preserved this great book of Ecclesiastes for thousands of years so we can learn from the work He did in Solomon’s heart. God preserved this book as an act of love to us so we can learn from Solomon’s mistakes, not repeat them. He did all this so we can learn to stop pealing back the pleasure onions, so we can enjoy eternal life with Him, before we hit the expiration date on our tombstone. Solomon said apart from that, apart from a relationship with God, all of life is vanity.
The Big Idea:
Let’s get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. All of life is vanity, if there is no eternity... All of life is vanity, if there is no eternity...Solomon tried to find purpose and joy in so many things, but he couldn’t find it until he found it in God. He says the answer to finding purpose, joy, and filling your empty soul, isn’t gonna be found in this temporal, vain, mist of a life we’re living under the sun. It’ll be found in relationship with the eternal God who can give us eternal joys and eternal life over the sun. We don’t have to settle for vain purposes and joys that’ll expire on a tombstone, instead with God, we can have eternal purpose and joys that’ll last far beyond the tombstone. Jesus proved all this to be true when he conquered the tombstone, when he conquered death, when he rose from the dead on the 3rd day showing us that eternity’s real, he’s King over eternity, and the only way to experience the joys of eternity is through him. If you’re not a Christian I want you to know Jesus wants that for your life. He wants your life to have eternal purpose and joy in relationship with him. If you repent of your sins, believe he was God who put on flesh to live, die, and rise again for your sins, then you’ll get to have that for your life. You’ll get to have eternal purpose and joy in relationship with Jesus. So repent of your sins, believe Jesus died for your sins, and enjoy an eternal relationship with Jesus that’ll last far beyond the tombstone. If you’re already a Christian, hit the pause button. Hit the pause button on the race of life and ask yourself if the things you’ve been pursuing are for vanity, or for eternity? ...Are the things you’ve been pursuing for vanity, or for eternity?..Whatever vain things you might be pursuing, remind yourself that none of it’s worth it. None of it’s worth it compared to the joys of your relationship with Jesus and spending eternity with him. As a Christian you can have joy today, because of what you have to look forward to tomorrow. As a Christian you can enjoy this life under the sun, because of all that awaits you in eternal life over the sun.
Listen City Awakening what we’re doing here isn’t for vanity...What we’re doing here in the city of Orlando, in planting this church isn’t for vanity, it’s for eternity. All the toil, all the daily loving our few, all the weekly set up, tear down, serving, financial giving, MCG meetings, everything we’ve been doing this past year isn’t for vanity, it’s all for eternity. It’s all working towards eternal purposes, and God’s given us so many joyful things we can celebrate from this past year. I’ll give you a few of them, then we’ll close on some worship.
This past year over 40 people took our City Life class & became members of our church
We’ve grown from 3 Missional Community Groups to 6 MCG’s.
We’ve grown from 6 MCG leaders to 12 MCG leaders.
We now have over 55 people who are a part of an MCG and are scattered throughout our city meeting in 5 different zip codes
We’ve baptized 9 people, we’re about to baptize 2 more today, for a total of 11 people we’ve baptized this past year.
We’ve also had 11 people respond to the gospel message during our Sunday worship services, which means nearly every month we’re either baptizing someone or leading someone to Jesus.
On top of this our church is committed to planting churches that’ll plant churches and so we’ve financially supported Pastor Cam Triggs who’s planting Grace Alive in West Orlando right now as I’m speaking. They’re literally having their first church service as I’m speaking. City Awakening a new church is being started in West Orlando because of our church’s generosity both financially and with sending people to help them. Our sound guy Jake Biggs is over their right now helping to train and equip their sound team.
We’ve also served our city by helping single parents and people with health issues.
We’ve served our city by helping out a Crisis Pregnancy Center and even had women leading groups to help people struggling with the emotional side effects of post abortion.
We’ve served our city by partnering with Orlando Children’s Church which cares for children living on the fringes of poverty in the Central Florida area.
We’ve served our city by partnering with The Covenant House which is an organization that houses homeless and runaway teens with the hopes of reuniting them with their families. We’re partnering with them now trying to raise 60 pairs of socks and underwear
We served our city this past week helping people affected by Hurricane Irma.
We served a retired mobile home community in Titusville affected by Hurricane Matthew
We’ve even served globally sending out 11 people to serve in 3 different countries.
We served in Peru to start a church planting movement.
We served in Cameroon to share the gospel with people who’ve never heard the gospel in their own native tongue, and we led an African Chief to Jesus as a result.
We served in the Dominican Republic to help children in need.
And we need to celebrate the very fact that we’re still alive as a church!
We need to celebrate the fact that we’re still alive as a church, because we planted a church in the 9th most unchurched and 6th most dechurched city in America. So the fact that we’re even alive as a church is much reason to celebrate. So many churches die in our city that they’ve called it a church planting graveyard. But we don’t have an expiration date, we don’t have a tombstone, and we’re never gonna have a tombstone because what we’re doing isn’t for vanity, it’s for eternity. Even if our church doors closed we’ve already made an eternal impact locally and globally that’s gonna last far beyond the tombstone. God gave us a vision to reach people, reach the world, that vision’s happening, we’re just getting started, and none of it’s for vanity, it’s all for eternity, it’s all for Jesus! So let’s stand and praise him, let’s stand and celebrate him, let’s stand and worship him for who he is, for what he’s done, and for what he’s gonna continue to do! Let’s praise him for the fact he lived his life under the sun, so we could enjoy eternal life with him over the sun, and none of it’s been done in vain. So let’s praise him!
“Solomon had incredible real estate with massive palaces, private parks, and gardens. He had his own private zoo with exotic animals from around the world, and a ranch with 12,000 horses and 1,400 chariots imported from Egypt and Cilicia. He had a personal staff, some say as many as 30,000 servants committed solely to serving him. He had on demand front row access to performances by his favorite artists, his favorite comedians, and had unlimited sex fulfilling all his sexual fantasies with any of his 1,000 wives and concubines. He had rock star fame, the highest IQ, and the power to do basically anything he wanted. He was able to enjoy it all while sitting back, kicking his feet up, and relaxing in his huge throne that was decorated with ivory, gold, surrounded by 14 hand carved lions, and 500 custom hammered gold shields.”
Jim Carey once said, “I wish everyone could get rich, famous, and have everything they ever dreamed of, so they can see it’s not the answer.”
John Mayer once said, “I have friends? Check. Money? Check. A Microphone? Check.
A Guitar? Check. I have messages waiting on me when I get home? Check. But something’s still missing, and I don’t know how to fix it. Something’s still missing, and I don’t know what it is.”
“Solomon tried to find meaning by enjoying anything and everything apart from God but found it to be a meaningless waste of time. This just goes to prove that you can have a full fridge, full house, full closet, full bank account, full social life, full mind, full stomach, full liquor cabinet, full résumé, full bedroom, yet an empty soul...”
• This past year over 40 people took our City Life class & became members of our church
We’ve grown from 3 Missional Community Groups to 6 MCG’s.
We’ve grown from 6 MCG leaders to 12 MCG leaders.
We now have over 55 people who are a part of an MCG and are scattered throughout our city meeting in 5 different zip codes
We’ve baptized 9 people, we’re about to baptize 2 more today, for a total of 11 people we’ve baptized this past year.
We’ve also had 11 people respond to the gospel message during our Sunday worship services, which means nearly every month we’re either baptizing someone or leading someone to Jesus.
On top of this our church is committed to planting churches that’ll plant churches and so we’ve financially supported Pastor Cam Triggs who’s planting Grace Alive in West Orlando right now as I’m speaking. They’re literally having their first church service as I’m speaking. City Awakening a new church is being started in West Orlando because of our church’s generosity both financially and with sending people to help them. Our sound guy Jake Biggs is over their right now helping to train and equip their sound team.
We’ve also served our city by helping single parents and people with health issues.
We’ve served our city by helping out a Crisis Pregnancy Center and even had women leading groups to help people struggling with the emotional side effects of post abortion.
We’ve served our city by partnering with Orlando Children’s Church which cares for children living on the fringes of poverty in the Central Florida area.
We’ve served our city by partnering with The Covenant House which is an organization that houses homeless and runaway teens with the hopes of reuniting them with their families. We’re partnering with them now trying to raise 60 pairs of socks and underwear
We served our city this past week helping people affected by Hurricane Irma.
We served a retired mobile home community in Titusville affected by Hurricane Matthew
We’ve even served globally sending out 11 people to serve in 3 different countries.
We served in Peru to start a church planting movement.
We served in Cameroon to share the gospel with people who’ve never heard the gospel in their own native tongue, and we led an African Chief to Jesus as a result.
We served in the Dominican Republic to help children in need.
And we need to celebrate the very fact that we’re still alive as a church!