Sermon Tone Analysis

The Cyrenaics, led by Aristippus, a student of Socrates, was an ancient philosophical group that asserted that the whole of life, the whole point of living was pleasure.

Pleasure was good and pain was bad.

They were the ancient proponents of if it feels good do it.

Aristippus was allegedly said to say that happiness and the true meaning of life was fine wine, good food, good music, and sex with prostitutes.

But, one of the earliest problems with this philosophy fell into a paradox.

The quest of pleasure left the person unsatisfied when achieved.

The quest for pleasure did not make a person happy, it was actually those who were not pursuing pleasure who seemed happiest.

The pursuit of pleasure only brought more pain.

Well this was seen 5 centuries earlier in 930 BC. by Solomon.

Oh mankind has been since the fall been searching for the ultimate of pleasure.

If it feels good do it.

Many have even said that pleasure, what we feel, is the only thing that we know for sure.

We cannot know truth, but we can know pleasure and pain.

And even in this day, feeding all of our desires still leaves us just as unsatisfied as before.

Pleasure is an endless appetite, a black hole, an abyss.

Many times we do all that we can for a moment of pleasure and it does not live up to the hype or it does nothing more than leave us wanting more.

When Amnon who was sick with desire for Tamar, finally got her, it turned into hatred.

But Shane are you sure.

There are a lot of things in this world that I have not experienced yet… maybe the problem is we don’t experience everything.

Solomon today is gonna show us how quantity and intensity of experience still does not do the trick.

From a man who had it all.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

The Experiment

Let’s Get this Party Started

Better Homes and Gardens

Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction

Enjoying God

The first thing we will explore is the actual parameters of the experiment of Solomon concerning pleasure.

Second we will see some of his discoveries involving comedy and alcohol.

Third, he tried to find meaning but experiencing the finer things in life, a life of luxury having everything a man could desire.

Fourth, we will unwrap the preacher’s conclusion of denying himself nothing.

Finally, we will see that enjoyment is a primary factor of a meaningful life here under the sun, but it is only when enjoying the Son.

Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to chase pleasure as the goal and end of life, but it is the truth of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit that will cause us to see that the chief end of mankind is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

I.

The Experiment

- It is time to test the pleasures of life and see if this will bring happiness.

A. Last time we saw Solomon’s quest for knowledge end in frustration and vexation.

Meaningless all is meaningless it is chasing the wind.

So maybe it was time to change gears.

To try something else instead of giving up.

That’s what he did.

B. Instead of turning to the Lord for satisfaction, he decided to turn to pleasure.

I like the ESV here...

C.

You see…he said Ni-sah.

To test, to prove, to experiment.

It is time to test the pleasures of life and see if this will bring happiness.

He will become a hedonist - Hedonism is a school of thought that argues that the pursuit of pleasure and intrinsic goods are the primary or most important goals of human life.

He decides to make his own personal happiness his chief-end.

D. But the conclusion is the same.

Vanity of Vanities.

It is a vopor a mist that we try to grab.

Pleasure seemed to hold out the promise of purpose in life, but it didn’t last, it did not deliver what it promised.

In other words, it was vapor and smoke.

Pleasure seemed to hold out the promise of purpose in life, but it didn’t last.

In the end it turned out to be empty, elusive, and ephemeral.

By the time his pleasures floated away, the Preacher was left with absolutely nothing.

His hedonism proved to be meaningless.

Dr. Ryken - By the time his pleasures floated away, the Preacher was left with absolutely nothing.

His hedonism proved to be meaningless.

Ryken, P. G. (2010).

Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p.

46).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

E. We cannot deny that this is kind of the way people live today.

It is a temptation for all of us.

To live for ourselves rather than for God.

This is the way that many people live today, and it is a temptation for all of us—to live for ourselves rather than for God.

II.

Let’s Get this Party Started

Ryken, P. G. (2010).

Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p.

46).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

- “I’m coming up so you better get this party started.”

- Pink

A. But here he goes… he does not just give the conclusion, he shares his findings.

He starts with comedy.

Laughing is the way to go.

Being entertained with laughter was apparent in ancient times.

And what does he conclude about laughter?

B. It is silly or mad.

Meh-Ho-Lal… But it is considered to be a moral failure, not just silliness or insanity.

Derek Kidner - It is moral perversity rather than mental oddity.

C. Laughter in seen here to be destructive or even cynical.

We see much laughter today to be dark, cynical, and sick.

I mean why are all the dirty comedians the popular ones?

I remember one of my friends telling me, when talking about clean comedy, that it is not funny if it is clean.

D. Now not all of laughter is bad.

E. But a lot of joking today is really frivolous and superficial, or else cynical, sarcastic, and even cruel.

To honor God, we need to ask whether our laughter is rejoicing in the goodness of God or is coming at someone else’s expense.

Laughter does not take the pain away, and it might even be immoral.

F. But partying today is not just laughing and joking… it will involve alcohol.

This is a way to feel good about life and for many a way to escape it.

But many times we come to this passage to find Solomon trying to medicate the lack of meaning with drunkeness.

This is not what he is saying.

We all do not need Solomon to show us how drunkenness is not the answer to life.

The next part of the verse will not make sense if it it drunkenness

But a lot of joking is frivolous and superficial, or else cynical, sarcastic, and even cruel (see ; ; ).

To honor God, we need to ask whether our laughter is rejoicing in the goodness of God or is coming at someone else’s expense.

G. What Qoheleth is saying, and I will admit that this section in the Hebrew is difficult to translate, is that he wants us to see that he used wine… with his heart still guiding me with wisdom… he is telling us that he is not drunk which is not using wisdom.