The Search for Meaning Continues

Happiness = P + (5xE) + (3xH)

P = Personal Characteristics

E = Existence

H = Higher Order needs

What is the secret of happiness?

Series - ‘How can I make sense of life?’

Today

‘The search for meaning continues’

Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:16

Key to understanding Ecclesiastes

Viewpoint 1

‘Secular’ person

Earthbound (under the sun)

God not in view

Meaningless

Viewpoint 2

‘Spiritual’ person

Heaven bound

God included

Meaningful

Theme of the Book

‘Without God, everything is meaningless’

Solomon asks God for wisdom

God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and

greater than all the wisdom of Egypt 1 Kings 4:29-30

Solomon’s conclusions

Life is futile

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are

meaningless, a chasing after the wind

Ecc 1:14

Solomon’s conclusions

Life is twisted

What is crooked cannot be straightened

Ecc 1:15a

Solomon’s conclusions

Life is tragic

What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!

Ecc 1:13b

God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race - NLT

Solomon looks for meaning in

Education

I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done

under the heavens

Ecc 1:13a

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief

Ecc 1:18

Much learning earns you much trouble. The more you know, the more you hurt

The Message

“Education – the great mumbo jumbo and fraud of the ages – purports to equip us to live and is prescribed as a

universal remedy for everything from juvenile delinquency to premature senility. For the most part it

serves to enlarge stupidity, inflate conceit, enhance credulity and put those subjected to it at the mercy of

brainwashers with printing presses, radio and television at their disposal”

Malcolm Muggeridge

Solomon looks for meaning in

Enjoyment

“Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter … is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”

I tried cheering myself with wine …Ecc 2:1-3

What have I achieved? I lost my chance. I contributed absolutely

nothing to this life. A waste of time being here at all. Nobody will ever know I existed. Nothing to pass on. Nobody to mourn me. That’s the

bitterest blow of all.

Solomon looks for meaning in

Extravagance

I undertook great projects: I built houses … planted vineyards ... gardens … parks … fruit

trees … reservoirs … I bought … slaves … I also owned … herds and flocks … I amassed silver

and gold for myself …

Ecc 2:4-8a

“By the time I was 28 ys old, I had basically achieved almost everything that I wanted.

I realized that material things don’t make you happy and that there must be more in

this life than just accumulating money in the bank, cars, houses, or whatever. You just want more, more, more and are never

satisfied. Through a Bible study on the US Tour, I came to know Jesus Christ

as my personal Saviour, and that made all the difference”

Solomon looks for meaning in

Entertainment

I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well – the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me

Ecc 2:8b-9

Solomon looks for meaning in

Endeavour

If we think that Education is the answer

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and

Saviour Jesus Christ

2 Peter 3:18a

If we think that Enjoyment is the answer

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their

hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us

with everything for our enjoyment

1 Tim 3:17-18

Simple lifestyle in place of Extravagance

“Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.

He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then

for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

Simple lifestyle in place of Extravagance

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never went to college. He never travelled 200 miles from the place He was born. He

never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no

credentials but Himself …”

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through

his poverty might become rich

2 Cor 8:9

If we think that Endeavour is the answer

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none

of us can boast about it

Eph 2:8-9 NLT