What is the Point of Life?

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Will you please turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes chapter 1.

The elders met on Tuesday night for session meeting. One of them brought up that John Wears had said in his sermon that if a pastor is to preach one topical sermon, he must repent the whole year and go preach biblical expository sermons. So I guess I'm up here for about eight years. But no, we thought that now was a good break pause in the topical series we've been going through to consider the wisdom of Ecclesiastes and to pick back up the topical sermon after this book. So, Ecclesiastes chapter 1, if you're using the New King James Pew Bibles, you'll find that on page 587. Brothers and sisters, hear now God's perfect word. The words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. What prophet has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?

One generation passes away and another generation comes, but the earth abides forever. The sun also rises and the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it arose. The wind goes towards the south and turns towards the north. The wind whirls about constantly and comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place from which the rivers come, there they return again. All things are full of labor.

Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is what will be. That which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, see, this is new? It has already been in ancient times before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who come after.

Prayer for Illumination

This ends this portion of the reading of God's word. Brothers and sisters, the grass will wither, the flower will fade, but the Word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your Word. And we pray, Father, that your Holy Spirit might attend to the reading of your Word. Lord, we pray that Lord, please take out the earplugs of our soul and we might truly hear, understand and believe what you have told us this morning. Lord, we pray for those who have blind eyes, that you might put the salve of your Holy Spirit upon the eyes of our soul, that we might see the light and believe and live. Lord, I pray that you would be with me, a preacher of nothing new, but the ancient wisdom of old, and that your Holy Spirit would please guide my tongue and help. Lord, we need you. We need your Spirit to do the work in our hearts, for we cannot do it ourselves. We pray in Jesus's name. Amen. I'm gonna let you know that I come to the book of Ecclesiastes trembling.

Sermon

It is a book with so much difficulty, and it's unlike any other book of the Bible, and yet the truths in it somehow speak so powerfully to generation after generations of humans' hearts. that speaks of just the bold reality of life. And in what the preacher is doing, what Kohaleth the preacher is doing in Ecclesiastes, he takes everything and he just lays it out there. I'm convinced that this is old man Solomon.

At the end of his life, after he's gone after all the money, gone after all the fame, has had hundreds of wives, has had all the excursus he could have, he's on all the excursions, he has all the wealth, he's had everything that anybody in this life could possibly want, he's had all the fame, people coming from all the nations all around him, trying to see what his glory and wisdom was. And at the end of it, he comes to a conclusion. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.

As I wrestled with what this passage said, especially in the first eight or nine verses, I think many of us could find ourselves also with Solomon, also with the preacher, the son of David in Jerusalem saying, I've worked, and I've worked, and I've worked, and there's no end to the work. I've tried, and I've tried, and I've tried, and there's no end.

I just don't go to bed tired. I can do everything possible to pour into my children, and pour into my children, and pour into my children, but at the end of the day, their choices are their choices, and I can't do anything about it. You can work the farm, and work the ground, and do everything possible, and yet when you go to bed, there's still going to be work to get done, there's still going to be machinery broken down. You can clean the house, and you can clean the house, and you can do the laundry, and you can mop the floor, and you can make the beds, and you can do all of it, but what's gonna happen next morning?

It's gonna be there again. Solomon looks at it and says, vanity of vanities. What's the meaning of life? Why do all of this? That's what he asks in verse 3. What prophet has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? He's saying, what's the point of all of this? What's the point, God? He points in verses 4 through 7 to just the groundhog nature, groundhog day nature of life, and the cyclical futility or the cycles of the world that just keep going on in creation. In verse four, he looks at generations.

Children are born. Children rise up. They become adults. They have their own children. They get old and they die. And what becomes of their children? Their children grow up, they become adults, they have children, they get old, and they die. Generation after generation after generation.

Verse five, he says it about the sun. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and what happens the next morning? The sun hastens to the place where it arose. Day after day after day, the earth continues to rotate, unending, unstopping. No matter how much you might wish that everything would just stop and pause for a moment, there is no pausing of time. Life goes on.

It says the same thing about the cycles of the wind in verse 6. The wind goes towards the south, and it turns to the north. The wind swirls about constantly, but what happens at the next season, at the next year? It comes back again on its circuit. Again, and again, and again. The world goes on. And he considers the water cycle in verse 7. The preacher, the leader of the Assembly, Qoheleti, says in verse 7, all the rivers run into the sea, and yet as the Mississippi drains into the Gulf, it's never full. It's never full.

The place from the rivers come, There they will return again. The springs will bubble up. The creeks will fill up. They'll dump into the rivers. The Iowa, the Missouri, the Ohio, they'll dump back into the Missouri, and the Missouri will dump into the Gulf. And the water will evaporate. And it will rain. And the waters will return again.

And the sea is never full. That's why he asks in verse 8, all things are full of labor, man cannot express it. There seems to be this sense that he gives that there's no resolution or completion as he looks at the world. It just goes on and on and on and his evaluation of it is vanity. The Hebrew word there is havel. Even that's a hard word in English to really get your hands around.

We had a baby, and I remember one time we were pushing the baby, he was probably less than a year old or so, and we were pushing him in the stroller, and it was one that laid completely down. I remember the baby reaching up, and he felt the wind, and he was trying to, He was trying to grab the wind. He felt something there, but he couldn't grab it. Olivia and I just smiled and we laughed. This baby trying to grasp the wind. That's this idea of Hevel. A grasping for the wind. It's a breath. Evernescent. Fleeting. Hard to get a hold of. vapor. And that's what he's saying life seems like sometimes. There's a transience, a mystery, something that's eluding him as he searched for wisdom in all these various places to find meaning and joy.

I'm convinced that this is what comes out of Genesis chapter 3. This is part of the curse of Adam and Eve in the garden. Genesis chapter 3 verses 17 through 19 say, Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you shall return."

There's going to come a futility of life where labor is going to be hard. Life may be difficult. As part of this curse, it's trying to find something in life that you actually put your hands on. It seems like it actually has value and meaning. But we often look for it in the wrong places, what that meaning is. And that's what the preacher gets at in verses eight through 10. The soul seems never to be satisfied. Look with me there at verses eight through 10.

All things are full of labor. Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is what will be. That which is done is what will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything to which it may be said, this is new? It has already been in ancient times before us. How much seeing do you need to be filled with seeing? Some of you are young. Have you seen enough yet? Some of you are old, gray and white in hair. Some of you don't have hair anymore. Have you seen enough yet?

When will your ears be filled where you finally say to the Lord, I've heard enough? I'm not saying that's with a sermon, but have you ever found a point in which you think, I don't want to hear anything anymore ever again? The eye's not satisfied with seeing, the ear's not filled with the hearing.

And yet for some reason our souls are like eels that we try to grasp in the water, they just slip right out of our hands. Because you know that with the material things in this life, don't you? Pick your store of choice, Walmart, Target, Menards, whatever fancy place you want to look at, or whether you look online. You look at the things, you find the stuff, and you think, if I just finally have this thing, maybe I'll be satisfied. Then it will be perfect.

But then you take it home, and you find out, no, it doesn't fit right. The thing breaks down. It needs maintenance. It doesn't do what I wanted it to do. The house is always needing repair. The car still needs broken down. I thought I bought a good quality thing.

Final Point

Finally, for once in my life, I spent the money, broke. No matter how much you fill your house with things, no matter how many Amazon boxes show up on your front porch and you get the immediate high of unboxing the thing and pulling the cellophane off and that joy what happens a few days, minutes, years later.

Why do I have so much junk? Why do I even buy this stuff? My kids don't want it. We have a culture full of we got so much junk, so much stuff that we thought would finally fill us that we have to buy storage units to put our stuff in because we can't fit it in our house. It's not just the stuff. It's not just the consumerism.

We think the same thing every time we open up our phones and we go to YouTube and we think, I'll finally have a little bit of relaxation. I'll finally find a little bit of joy. I'll be filled if I just watch a little bit more, listen to a little bit more music. And if you're like me, before you know it, the algorithms sucked you in. You're three hours later and you're like, all I got on here was to look at my to-do list and I had done nothing. Because I was trying to find something that would fill my soul instead I didn't have enough seeing. What am I doing with life? I don't know what version of phone you have in your pocket, but this is what the world is trying to sell you. Why don't you still have the original iPhone or the original Droid? Why do you need the iPhone 2643? Why do you need the latest car with the newest gizmos and doodads? Why do you need the bigger, better tractor? Why do you need the new?

There is a part utilitarian, but we know that in our consumerist society, many of us are trying to fill our souls with just thinking, if I finally have this thing, then I'll have enough. But it never satisfies. Our mouth is always parched, always thirsty. Don't hear me wrong. I'm not saying discovery and advancement aren't good. But we have a phrase for this, don't we? The rat race. The treadmill. Always feeling like you're running and running and running, but never actually getting anywhere. And in verse 11 he says something really difficult.

The forgetting of generations. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after. These are big words for a man to say who built the temple of God. who took 14 years to build an amazing palace for himself, who had building projects that enlisted the entire nation for generations of people. And Solomon, after he had built all the memorials, after he built all the monuments, realized someday it was all going to go to nothing.

People will often try to do this. They'll try to build a legacy by putting statutes and their names and stuff on things. And there's this thinking about this. I remember there's this, we've all heard of King Tut, right? But we don't often think of the tut by King Tut. I mean, there are multiple King Tuts. But King Tut III had a predecessor. I can never pronounce his name, so I'm going to read it here. Hot soup suit. That guy had his name on everything in Egypt, all over the place. But you know what King Tut did? Told his slaves and his servants to go out with chisels and to erase his name off of all the marble and sandstone.

You can think of a whole bunch of Roman emperors But I can promise you there's a whole bunch of Roman emperors that their names exist on a book, but if you tried to find a statue of them, you wouldn't find any. Because the invaders came in, tore down the statues, broke it up, and used the stones for their pavement.

We may go to Washington, D.C. I remember the last time I went, it's probably been over 15 years now, something like that. And I remember thinking to myself these words as we walked into the Lincoln Memorial. The Romans were probably one of the longest lasting civilizations in the Western world. A thousand years of rain.

And yet what's left? The Colosseum. A place of war, of torture, of anguish and murder, slavery and brutality. What's left? Not much. And don't get me wrong, I love the Fourth of July and I love patriotism. I'm not ashamed of my service in our military. And yet the kingdom of America will not stand forever. There's only one kingdom that will, and it's the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Someday all the statues and all the memorials, all the names written on stone will someday fade away, get washed away, and will cease in memory. If you want something more tangible, After church, just go here on the north side of the cemetery, and you will find tombstones that I don't know whose name it is. I don't know whose name was written on that headstone because the wind and the rain has washed away the writing. We seek legacy. But for what? Who will remember? Very, very few of us will ever have our names remembered 100 years from now. So what's the point? Is it all vapor? Is there any hope? Is there any purpose? Yes, there is. We find it in Christ Jesus. Romans chapter 8 verses 20 through 25. I'm going to encourage you to go there. Go in your Bibles if you have them to Romans chapter 8. Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans. Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans. Romans chapter 8 beginning at verse 20.

For the creation was subjected to futility. That's the Greek idea closest to this havel, this vanity. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pains together until now.

Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption redemption of our bodies. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one still hope for what he sees, but if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Do you see we hope not in this world as we know it's satisfying us. but we groan eagerly in our hearts knowing that there is something greater, something better, someone more magnificent who we were made for to glory in and to rejoice in.

And that is why we tell each other when we grieve at death, we do not grieve as those without hope. For we know that if Christ Jesus rose from the dead, so will we. There is life everlasting. There is a kingdom that is incorruptible, unfading and glorious in all of its ways. And Jesus, by adopting us into his family, tells us we have a place in that kingdom. There is something permanent for us in the new heavens and the new earth, and we find entrance in it in Christ Jesus.

This is why Augustine cried out at the end of this same trail as he was searching in his life and seeing everything that he had tried to go for and tried to yearn. And he wanted to go after wealth and he wanted to go after women and he wanted to go after wisdom and he wanted to go after fame and he wanted to go after prestige. He wanted all those things. But at the end of the day, what did he say in his confessions?

He said, God, my heart was restless until it found its rest in you. There is a place for you to find substance. And it's in the hope of Jesus Christ. Your car's gonna break down. Your house will need repair. People will fail you. But there is one in whom we can take hope forever. And his name is Jesus Christ. Our satisfaction is only fulfilled in Him.

That's what the Apostle John was getting at in 1 John 2.17. The world is passing away, and the desires of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. Brothers and sisters, this world is passing away. But our God never passes away.

What is your highest joy? What is your deepest hope? What is your confidence of anything in this life you have? One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Revelation 7. I'm going to read that. It's not too long. You might want to turn there with me. But this is a picture that God gives us of what satisfaction looks like. Revelation chapter 7, last book of the Bible. Revelation chapter 7.

After these things, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, And he cried out with a loud voice, the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea saying, do not harm the earth, the sea or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.

And I heard the number of those who were sealed. 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. Of the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Gad, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Asher, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Nanasa, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Levi, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 were sealed.

Sorry, my tablet stopped. That's embarrassing. Live by tech, die by tech. Of the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 were sealed. Now listen to this. Oh man, it gets good. After these things, I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, and all the nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice saying, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And the angels stood about the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying, amen, blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever, amen. Then one of the elders answered saying to me, who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from? And I said to him, sir, you know. So he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.

Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. He shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them, nor any heat, for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

There is a place in which futility no longer exists, where vanity is no more, It's no longer just the blowing of the wind, but the substance of our hope, the Lamb who was slain is there. And it's there that he wipes away every tear from our eye, that we get to worship him and enjoy him forever.

What is the substance of your hope? What is the point of your life? Is it rejoicing in God, serving his kingdom, and telling others of the one who has truly known everything about your soul, wiped every tear from your eye, and has given you purpose even in this life and the life to come?

To those of you who are weary, your work in the Lord does matter. 1 Corinthians 15, 58, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. To those of you who are wrestling with this, maybe you're asking these big questions right now in life for the first time or for the thousandth time. and you continue to think that somehow if I just pick myself up by the bootstraps, if I just try harder, if I just do better, then finally this purpose will come about, the answer's never going to be your effort. But will you rest in Jesus Christ?

And for you in the church who have made your profession of faith Do not give up your hope. Keep yourselves from the idols of this culture and of this world who will try to suck you in, to try to make you find joy and ultimate purpose and comfort in something other than Christ. Trust in Him only. Rejoice in Him always.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Father, we confess to you that often our hearts are downcast. Mourning and sorrow and tears and grief grip our hearts. The seeming endlessness of the futility of life and of chores, of work, can swallow us up. But Lord, thank you for the light of your salvation. Thank you that you are our strength and our shield. Lord, we pray that you would strengthen us. Lord, we pray that you would give us a true purpose in this life, that we would not just know the shorter catechism to glorify and enjoy you forever, But Lord, that it would be the truth and the heart cry of our souls, that without you we are nothing, but with you we have everything. Holy Spirit, please do that work in our hearts, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.