“Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” Part 2
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The Kendama
Jonathan Clements reached a conclusion in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. “We may have life and liberty,” he wrote. “But the pursuit of happiness isn’t going so well.… We constantly hanker after fancier cars and fatter paychecks—and, initially, such things boost our happiness. But the glow of satisfaction quickly fades and soon we’re yearning for something else.”
Jonathan Clements reached a similar conclusion in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. “We may have life and liberty,” he wrote. “But the pursuit of happiness isn’t going so well.… We constantly hanker after fancier cars and fatter paychecks—and, initially, such things boost our happiness. But the glow of satisfaction quickly fades and soon we’re yearning for something else.”
Again, it happens every year after we open our Christmas presents, does it not. We get what we thought we wanted, and we enjoy it for a little while. But soon there is something else that we wish we had instead. Our longings never go away for long; they always return. Desire is always stronger than satisfaction.” Sound right? Of course it does and Solomon dealt with this tension years ago.
All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?
Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.
The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?
In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?
Ecclesiastes 6:
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.
The Bottomless Pit
Same Old Same Old
The Coming Kingdom
The first thing we will explore today is the reality of the insatiable appetite of desires bottomless pit. The second point to investigate is the merry go round of life stuck in the same old same old. Finally, we can rejoice in knowing that our King Jesus will return with a fully realized kingdom that will be more than eye has seen or ear has heard.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause to look for satisfaction in things that cannot keep our insatiable desires at bay, it is the truth of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit that will cause us to long for the righteousness and satisfaction of the Lord and His kingdom, for all eternity.
I. The Bottomless Pit
- Our desires are always traveling, but never arriving.
A. He looked at the life of a man who had everything yet did not have the chance to enjoy it. Then he wondered if we can’t enjoy life then we are better off dead. Now he wonders if we will ever be satisfied at all. Are we all bottomless pits?
Our desires are always traveling, but never arriving.
All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?
Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 143). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
B. If people have trouble enjoying life—if satisfaction is not guaranteed, no matter how long we live—then maybe we could avoid disappointment by wanting less out of life. Just be poor and have nothing to disappoint. The fight club mentality. But even still we have an appetite for more, even more of the little we have.
If people have trouble enjoying life—if satisfaction is not guaranteed, no matter how long we live—then maybe we could avoid disappointment by wanting less out of life.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 143). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
C. You see, when we are hungry, we will get hungry again and again. The same cravings return day after day after day after day. Here is the merry go round of hunger. Look at the simple logic of this… We eat food to give us strength to work to earn our daily bread, which we eat to give us strength to work again tomorrow, and so it goes, day after day after day after day. We are bottomless pits. This is for both rich and poor alike…no one is exempt from this.
D. Furthermore, it does not matter how wise we are or how much money we have—we all have unfulfilled desires. It is better to be wise than foolish, of course, but even wise people have desires that life does not fully satisfy.
E. Think about it. Can even noble poverty deliver us from desire? The poor man described in verse 8 is wise enough to know the right way to live. So maybe he can avoid all of the disappointments that rich people have when they expect money to give them meaning and purpose in life. Yet when it comes to satisfying desire, the poor man will be as disappointed as anyone. Neither wisdom nor poverty, nor foolishness, or wealth proves to be an advantage.
F. For the most part, we think we can find satisfaction in what life has to offer—food and drink, music and beauty, family and friends. Yet the desire for it all is a hitchhiker it is a vagabond. It is never content to stay at home, it always wants to go out wandering. This is the Preacher’s vivid image in verse 9, where he talks about “the wandering of the appetite.” Our desires are always traveling, but never arriving. This is the wanderlust of the human soul.
So maybe he can avoid all of the disappointments that rich people have when they expect money to give them meaning and purpose in life. Yet when it comes to satisfying desire, the poor man will be as disappointed as anyone. Neither wisdom nor poverty proves to be an advantage.
Norcan noble poverty deliver us from desire. The poor man described in verse 8 is wise enough to know the right way to live.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 143). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
the same cravings return day after day. We eat food to give us strength to work to earn our daily bread, which we eat to give us strength to work again tomorrow, and so it goes, day after day.
Usually we think we can find satisfaction in everything that life has to offer—food and drink, music and beauty, family and friends. Yet desire is a tramp. Never content to stay at home, it always wants to go out wandering. This is the Preacher’s vivid image in verse 9, where he talks about “the wandering of the appetite.” Our desires are always traveling, but never arriving. This is the wanderlust of the human soul.
- Yet desire is a hitchhiker it is a vagabond.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 143). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 143). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 143). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
- It is never content to stay at home, it always wants to go out wandering. This is the Preacher’s vivid image in verse 9, where he talks about “the wandering of the appetite.” Our desires are always traveling, but never arriving.
- This is the wanderlust of the human soul.
G. A striking picture of dissatisfaction comes from the excavations at the city of Pompeii. When Vesuvius erupted and Pompeii was buried, many people perished, with their body shapes, postures, and in some instances their facial expressions preserved in volcanic ash. One woman’s feet were pointed in the direction of the city gate, headed for safety. Yet her face was turned back to look at something just beyond the reach of her outstretched hands. She was grasping for a prize—a bag of beautiful pearls. Whether suddenly she remembered that she had left the pearls behind or else saw that someone else had dropped them as she was running for her life, the woman was frozen in a pose of unattainable desire.
A striking example of perpetual dissatisfaction comes from the excavations at the city of Pompeii. When Vesuvius erupted and Pompeii was buried, many people perished, with their body shapes, postures, and in some instances their facial expressions preserved in volcanic ash. One woman’s feet were pointed in the direction of the city gate, headed for safety. Yet her face was turned back to look at something just beyond the reach of her outstretched hands. She was grasping for a prize—a bag of beautiful pearls. Whether suddenly she remembered that she had left the pearls behind or else saw that someone else had dropped them as she was running for her life, the woman was frozen in a pose of unattainable desire.
H. This is a temptation for all of us: to turn from life to death by reaching for something we think will satisfy us—a string of pearls perhaps or some other kind of jewelry. What is our string of pearls? Some people reach for food and drink or some other substance they can put into their bodies. Others are allured by sex. Still others turn to their toys and games or to some other hobby. Or maybe they just spend more time watching television or playing on the computer, ipads, or smart phones. But whatever it is, our wandering bottomless pit appetites are always reaching for something we hope will satisfy us.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (pp. 143–144). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
I. But the reality is… the truth is that only God can fully satisfy—through his word, through his worship, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is important to remember whenever we feel unhappy about anything in life. We need to ask ourselves what we truly need and remind ourselves what Christ wants to give us.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 144). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
The truth is that only God can fully satisfy—through his word, through his worship, and through the help that comes from the Holy Spirit when we turn to him in prayer. This is important to remember whenever we feel unhappy about anything in life. We need to ask ourselves what we truly need and remind ourselves what God wants to give us. Before we buy something or eat something or turn something on, it is better for us to talk things over with our Father in Heaven, saying something like, “Lord, you know how empty I feel right now. Help me not to run away from my problems but to turn them over to you. Teach me that you are enough for me. And by your grace, give me the peace and the joy that you have for me in Jesus.”
J. Before we buy something or eat something or turn something on, it is better for us to talk things over with our Father in Heaven, saying something like, “Lord, you know how empty I feel right now. Help me not to run away from my problems but to turn them over to you. Teach me that you are enough for me. And by your grace, give me the peace and the joy that you have for me in Jesus.”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 144). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 143). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
II. Same Old Same Old
- “As things have been, so they still are; and as things are, so they will be.”
“As things have been, so they still are; and as things are, so they will be.”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 145). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
A. He has said that satisfaction is not guaranteed. He has wondered if he would be better off dead. He has admitted the wanderlust of the insatiable appetite of the bottomless pit. Now he says that life is just the same old, same old until you die, and who knows what happens after that?
Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.
The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?
In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?
He has said that satisfaction is not guaranteed. He has wondered if he would be better off dead. He has admitted the wanderlust of his insatiable appetite. Now he says that life is just the same old, same old until you die, and who knows what happens after that?
B.
B. These verses are at the midpoint of Ecclesiastes, but Solomon is still saying some of the same things from the beginning. If he has said it once, he has said it a dozen times: there is nothing new under the sun. All the names have already been assigned; everything is already labeled and categorized. Furthermore, the human condition is what it always has been ever since the fall of Adam and Eve: vanity and a striving after wind.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 144). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 145). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
- Martin Luther writes an old German proverb: “As things have been, so they still are; and as things are, so they will be.”
C. So you see, if we are unhappy with the way things are, there is no sense arguing with God about it. This is what Qoheleth means when he talks about disputing with someone stronger than we are. The “one stronger” is our Almighty God. Sometimes people do try to argue with God—like Job, but usually they come to regret it. After God answered him out of the whirlwind, Job had to confess...
You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’
It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,
things far too wonderful for me.
Job 42:
If we are unhappy with the way things are, there is no sense arguing with God about it. This seems to be what the Preacher means when he talks about disputing with someone stronger than we are. The “one stronger” is Almighty God. Sometimes people do try to argue with God—like Job, for example—but usually they come to regret it. After God answered him out of the whirlwind, Job had to confess, “I have uttered what I did not understand … therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (, ).
I take back everything I said,
and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 145). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
D. Yes, we need to know our limits, and one of our limits is that we do not have the wisdom to out-talk God. No matter what we say, telling God that he ought to do this or shouldn’t do that, our words will never change his wise plan for ruling the universe.
- Derek Kidner, “Whatever brave words we may multiply about man, or against his Maker, verses 10 and 11 remind us that we shall not alter the way in which we and our world were made.”
- In fact, the more we talk, the emptier our words will sound. To help keep us in our place, the Apostle Paul asked...
No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 145). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
E. Rather than ending this part of his book with an argument, therefore, the Preacher closes with a couple of rhetorical questions:
Rather than ending this part of his book with an argument, therefore, the Preacher closes with a couple of rhetorical questions: “For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?” ().
In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 145). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
III. The Coming Kingdom
F. These are basic questions about the meaning of life and death. The first question is about our present existence. The Preacher knows that life is short, like the shadow of a cloud. He also knows that life is vanity, it is empty, especially without God. He has been saying this repeatedly since the beginning of Ecclesiastes. But he still wants to know how to live a good life. He also wants to know what happens next. So his second question is about the life to come. Who knows what will happen afterward, whether on earth or in Heaven?
These are basic questions about the meaning of life and death. The first question is about our present existence. The Preacher knows that life is short, like the shadow of a cloud scudding across the sky. He also knows that life is vanity, especially without God. He has been saying this repeatedly since the beginning of Ecclesiastes. But he still wants to know how to live a good life. He also wants to know what happens next. So his second question is about the life to come. Who knows what will happen afterward, whether on earth or in Heaven?
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 145). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
III. The Coming Kingdom
- No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.
A. With these words, we seem to have come all the way back to where Ecclesiastes began, with impossible questions about the meaning of life.
With these words, we seem to have come all the way back to where Ecclesiastes began, with impossible questions about the meaning of life. The Preacher still does not have all the answers, which is why some people find this chapter very pessimistic.
B. In knowing how to respond to this perspective, it will help us to remember where we are in Ecclesiastes, and where we are in the Bible as a whole. The Preacher began this chapter by talking about the evil that he had seen “under the sun.” Although he has mentioned God from time to time, he has mainly been looking at life from a human perspective, which is true as far as it goes.
C. We do suffer a good deal of disappointment in life. We also have questions that have never been answered to our satisfaction. But understand the Preacher’s purpose: by talking openly about our disappointment with life, he is trying to awaken our longing for God, our sinfulness, and our need for salvation. Some of our questions will get answered by the end of his book. Others will be left unanswered for the time being, but they do get answered in the gospel.
D. Is there a life to come? Yes. There is a fully realized kingdom to come, with the coming of the King of kings.
which is why some people find this chapter very pessimistic.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (pp. 145–146). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
D. People who believe the Bible know differently. If we leave God out of it, only looking at things “under the sun,” we will never be certain what will happen when we die. But when we take God at his word and believe the promises he has made in the Bible, then we know there is a kingdom to come.
In knowing how to respond to this perspective, it will help us to remember where we are in Ecclesiastes, and where we are in the Bible as a whole. The Preacher began this chapter by talking about the evil that he had seen “under the sun.” Although he has mentioned God from time to time, he has mainly been looking at life from a human perspective, which is true as far as it goes. We do suffer a good deal of disappointment in life. We also have questions that have never been answered to our satisfaction. But understand the Preacher’s purpose: by talking openly about our disappointment with life, he is trying to awaken our longing for God. Some of our questions will get answered by the end of his book. Others will be left unanswered for the time being, but they do get answered in the gospel.
E. After he died for our sins and rose again, Jesus ascended into Heaven. He is there to prepare a place for us with him in the presence of God. The way to that blessed place is simply to believe that Jesus is the Christ .
People who believe the Bible know differently. If we leave God out of it, only looking at things “under the sun,” we will never be certain what will happen when we die. But when we take God at his word and believe the promises he has made in the Bible, then we know there is a life to come. After he died for our sins and rose again, Jesus ascended into Heaven. He is there to prepare a place for us with him in the presence of God. The way to that blessed place is simply to trust in Jesus.
F. This is the gospel. There is no life without God. There is no life in rebellion toward God. There is only emptiness, death and, eternal damnation. But with Christ there is life and life more abundant.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 146). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
G. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures… He came into this world to seek and save that which was lost… The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance...
H. The promises continue. If you confess.
I. If there is no Heaven, then there is no way to escape the vanity of our existence. Nothing matters. Our bottomless pit will never be satisfied. Our appetites will keep wandering forever in the same old same old. As a result, sometimes we will be tempted to think that we would be better off dead, and no amount of complaining or arguing with God will change any of it.
If there is no Heaven, then there is no way to escape the vanity of our existence. Nothing matters. Our longings will never be satisfied. Our appetites will keep wandering forever. As a result, sometimes we will be tempted to think that we would be better off dead, and no amount of complaining or arguing will change any of it. But if this life is a short preparation for a long eternity, then everything matters and there will be joy for us with Christ in the kingdom forever and ever.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 146). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
If there is no Heaven, then there is no way to escape the vanity of our existence. Nothing matters. Our longings will never be satisfied. Our appetites will keep wandering forever. As a result, sometimes we will be tempted to think that we would be better off dead, and no amount of complaining or arguing will change any of it. But if this life is a short preparation for a long eternity, then everything matters and there will be joy for us at the right hand of God.
F.
J. But if this life is a short preparation for a long eternity, then everything matters and there will be joy for us with Christ in the kingdom forever. He is able to fill bottomless pits. In Christ there is no same old same old, because all that He is, is new every morning. In Christ we will be here today and here tomorrow. Satisfied today and satisfied tomorrow.