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00:00 It's my great joy and privilege to be standing here sharing with you from the word of God. We're kind of uh hardressed
00:07 for time. As you may be aware, uh last Sunday we started a new series on the
00:12 book of Ecclesiastes and today is the second installment in the series uh with
00:18 the sermon title of uh the teachers search for meaning. The sermon text is really long uh
00:25 stretching a chapter and a half from uh chapter 1 verse 12 and all the way to the end of chapter 2 verse 26. We
00:32 certainly don't have the time to to examine each verse in detail but we will
00:37 do our best to walk through the verses to paint a picture of what the writer is lamenting about. And the text can be
00:45 divided into four separate but connected segments. You saw four slides earlier on. We will examine them one by one and
00:53 derive some uh important lessons that we can take home with us. These 44 verse before us are an
01:00 expansion of uh what we heard last Sunday when we saw how the writer opens
01:06 uh chapter one uh with a with a sense of frustration or exasperation
01:12 as he famously proclaims meaningless utterly meaningless everything is
01:17 meaningless or in the u hold on
01:24 or in the King James version vanity of vanity is all his vanity because he sees
01:29 in uh chapter 1 verse4 how generations come and go and he likens it to the
01:35 rising and the setting of sun uh to the blowing of wind to the flowing of rivers into the sea. We are born, we
01:43 live and we die. Human life is a cycle and the writer sees nothing but futility
01:49 and weariness in the pointless pursuits of life. In our text today, the the
01:56 writer will explain in depth why he comes to this sad conclusion about life
02:01 or rather the meaning of life or the lack of. You can detect a sense a deep sense of pessimism and cynicism
02:09 uh as he wrestles with big questions such as what's the point of it all? Why
02:14 was I even born? What's the purpose of living? And where can I find meaning?
02:20 And incredibly such questions which uh were implicitly asked by the writer some
02:26 3,000 years ago are still as relevant and common today as they were in ancient
02:33 times. Before we continue, shall we commit this time to the Lord in prayer?
02:39 Our father in heaven is life as pointless and worrisome as the writer of
02:46 Ecclesiastes uh describes it to be or is there a deeper meaning and a greater purpose
02:53 behind our existence? Open the eyes of our faith as we study this portion of scripture. Help us look
03:01 beyond the material and consider what's beneath the surface as we examine these
03:07 verses. And we ask this in the in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
03:13 Now, let me begin by by showing you a video uh recorded in 2010. Uh this is
03:19 going to be a short one uh during the 44th uh anniversary dinner of public bank and
03:26 the video features the chairman of public bank you know well Dr. Tong Piao
03:32 who is one of the richest men in the country and you will hear him sing my
03:38 way the song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Now I know many of you are very
03:44 familiar with this song but I want you to hear it again especially sung by this immensely uh rich man and please reflect
03:52 on the words as he sings because you will soon see they exemplify the very
03:58 opposite of what we have in Ecclesiastes 1 and two and I want this to be an introduction to the the sermon because
04:05 it it it uh serves as an antithesis of of what we are going to learn. Can we
04:10 have the video please?
04:16 every
04:22 much more than this. I give it my
04:29 way.
04:42 in you. I did
04:48 what I had to do and
04:54 without exemption. I
05:01 wish this
05:07 along the way.
05:17 I
05:24 never
05:30 when I fall
05:41 down I
05:49 I
06:03 Okay, I think we have heard enough. Okay, sorry to put you through all this. Now, to be sure, the the crowd applauded
06:11 him. Not so much because of his singing skills. We must we must admit
06:17 if not for his position and wealth uh I think they would have asked him to get
06:22 off the stage after 10 seconds because here we we have a highly successful man successful by the
06:30 standards of of most people and certainly of the crowd and telling the world how he did it his way. Now, this
06:38 YouTube video, you can see in YouTube, recorded uh fewer than than 10,000 hits.
06:44 Uh which is surprising to me because public bank alone employs uh more than
06:49 20,000 employees. And it goes to show that if you at the event, you have no choice but to clap. But out in
06:56 cyerspace, nobody cares about an old man singing. which also goes to show that uh we
07:04 should never live by men's praise, man's empty praise. Rather, we should strive
07:10 and gain strive to gain God's approval. Now, if you remember uh the words from
07:15 this hymn, riches I he not nor man's empty praise. Thou mine inheritance
07:23 now and always. Now, more interestingly, there are there are only two comments to this video out
07:31 of less than 10,000 hits, which is uh not too surprising now. And one of them at the bottom describes our banker as a
07:38 as a man of wisdom, which I find rather bizarre because we will soon see from our text the utter folly of human
07:45 wisdom. But let's set aside this video uh because I want to share with you
07:50 something else more bizarre that happened to me recently. Three weeks ago, my wife and I uh we
07:57 were in Taipei for a short holiday. Uh we were a party of uh of six including
08:03 uh five ladies. So, you know, the only guy now.
08:08 I was the cameraman. I was the the the tour guide. I was the group leader. I was the bodyguard. all into one.
08:16 On the second day, I found myself uh in in a crowded train. Now, Taipei has a very modern uh MRT uh network. And so, I
08:25 was standing in this this train packed with passengers when suddenly an elderly lady, older
08:32 than me, stood up and offered me her seat.
08:41 Of course, I I declined the offer. It wouldn't be so bad if a if a strong
08:46 young man had offered me his seat. But coming from an elderly lady, I I it made
08:52 me feel very very old.
08:57 The point I'm making is this. Now, I may deny that I'm old. I I may think I'm still young, but she saw me as uh old
09:05 and frail. She must be half blind, I think.
09:13 But but jokes aside, the truth is I'll be 58 this year.
09:18 And um the inescapable fact is that with each passing year, we we we are one step
09:25 closer to the end of our journey on earth. With each birthday,
09:30 we we we inch closer to the grave. And the reality of death, you'll see later, is very explicit uh in in the middle of
09:38 chapter two, but we'll come to that later. Now another way of uh putting that thought that thought across is this
09:43 saying today is the first day of the rest of your life. Some people add a second part to the quote. Today is the
09:51 first day of the rest of your life. Make it a good one or today is the first day of the rest of your life. Celebrate it.
09:58 But I wish to propose to you especially in the context of Ecclesiastes that today is the first day of the rest of
10:04 your life. And it's something you need to think about. something you need to think about deeply and because you got
10:10 to decide what you're going to do about it and ever since I crossed the half century mark of my life I've thought
10:16 long and hard about life and the meaning of life when I was younger I had no time for such philosophical exercises I was
10:24 too busy doing things my way uh getting a degree advancing my career getting
10:30 married and raising my children and with that largely behind me now over the past eight years or so The matters concerning
10:37 my faith have become very important to me. According to the Department of Statistics, the average lifespan of a
10:45 Malaysian Chinese male is 75.0 years. And for a for a Chinese Malaysian
10:54 Chinese female, it is 79.9 years. And so if I divide 58 by 75, that is if I live
11:01 to 75, I'm in the last quarter of my life, the sunset years, so to speak, and
11:08 at a quickened pace, my way is increasingly being replaced by God's
11:15 way. But I don't wish to give you the conclusion of the sermon so soon. And so let us get on with the text. Now in any
11:22 in any study of Ecclesiastes one one question it is often asked who exactly
11:28 is the author of the book who calls himself the teacher and this is a repeat of chapter 1 verse one where he says the
11:34 words of the teacher and as pastor Mark remarked last Sunday his identity is kind of ambiguous this teacher who comes
11:42 across you know uh as a very wise old man now the traditional view is that the
11:47 teacher is none other than King Solomon because it says here in chapter 1 verse 12 I the teacher was king over Israel in
11:54 Jerusalem and this is again echoed in chapter 1 verse one the words of the teacher son of David king in Jerusalem
12:02 and Solomon was indeed king of Israel and he was also the son of David but there are many Bible scholars who beg to
12:09 differ they argue that the author is someone else someone who assumed the
12:14 character of Solomon someone who wrote as if he were Solomon but this debate
12:19 has no great impact on our study But for our purpose today, we will just take the view that the the writer was
12:25 Solomon. And as as I mentioned at the beginning, our text is divided into four segments.
12:31 In the first segment from uh chapter 1 12 to to 18, we we see why the teacher
12:38 is so pessimistic and cynical in the earlier verses. Uh because he has been thinking thinking
12:45 very hard about all the activities that human beings are engaged in. uh verse 13 he says I applied my mind to study and
12:51 to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. He has been he has been using his intellect to consider
12:58 what is going on in this world. Verse 14 he says I have seen all the things that are done under the sun. Next the teacher
13:06 even thinks about wisdom itself and the opposite of wisdom which is madness and
13:12 folly. Verse 17 then I applied my mind myself to the understanding of wisdom and also of madness and folly. In other
13:19 words, he was using his wisdom to consider wisdom and also the lack of
13:24 wisdom. And that's a bit deep. But each time he comes out disappointed. Whether he contemplates the world around
13:30 him using wisdom or whether he considers wisdom itself, the conclusion is the
13:36 same. A chasing after the wind. All are devoid of meaning. He sees them as
13:42 hollow. Now the phrase chasing after the wind should be rightly translated as
13:47 hering the wind from the word herd. H E R D is an agricultural term with
13:53 domestic animals. You can chase after them and and place them into a pen. But how do you gather the wind? That's the
13:60 meaning of chasing after the wind. It's an impossible task, a futile endeavor.
14:05 And do you notice that uh verses 13 to to 15 and then verses 16 to 18 are
14:12 somewhat parallel. In each case the teacher sets out by thinking really hard. I applied my mind he says but each
14:19 time he comes to the same depressing conclusion a chasing after the wind. And each time he makes an he makes an he
14:26 makes it even more depressing by by citing a negative proverb in verse 15. What is crooked cannot be
14:33 straightened. What is lacking cannot be uh cannot uh what is lacking cannot be counted. And in verse 16 18 the second
14:41 proverb for with much wisdom comes much sorrow the more knowledge the more grief.
14:47 What is crooked cannot be straightened simply means that we live in the fallen world and there is nothing you can do to
14:53 write it. What is lacking cannot be counted is to say what is missing cannot be recovered from the new living
14:60 translation. And it's it's complimentary to the first phrase as it means what is division cannot be made whole.
15:07 But verse 18 needs uh elaboration. With much wisdom comes much knowledge. The
15:13 more knowledge the more grief. I need to to explain less you think that wisdom and knowledge are bad for you. The
15:20 teacher finds the searching for meaning using his wisdom to be to be such an unhappy business. So much so that wisdom
15:28 brings much sorrow and knowledge results in more grief. In other words, the more you think, the
15:34 more you think about it, the sadder you become. And so, do you think that we should stop
15:40 thinking? Should we forget about wisdom and knowledge as implied by the the
15:45 writer? My friends uh sometimes tells tell me that I'm cursed with a mind that thinks
15:52 too much. They say it's the cause of the white hair. Ignorance
15:58 is bliss. They advised me. Don't think too much. Well, certainly there are
16:04 times when you are better off not knowing something that I agree. There are times when verse 18 rings true. Let
16:12 me give you an example. This is just an example. Suppose I tell you that Dr.
16:17 Peter loves to drink beer. He drops by the the the pub a few times
16:23 a week on his way back from the hospital and but this may affect your high image
16:30 of him as elder you know especially if you are if you think that Christians shouldn't drink beer because some of you
16:37 may associate beer with uh with drunkenness and so in this particular case you are better off not knowing that
16:45 Dr. Peter is a drinker. But hey, this is just an example. Okay,
16:50 don't go and admonish him, you know. This is an example. I don't know what he likes to drink. Maybe just plain water.
16:55 Okay, but in any case, my position is that drinking beer is is not exactly a
17:01 sin, you know. Just don't get drunk and don't lose control of yourself. And here is the golden rule of life.
17:07 Everything in moderation. Avoid the extremes and excesses of life and then you'll be okay. So at times,
17:15 yes, ignorance is bliss. But most times, wisdom and knowledge will do you a lot
17:21 of good. More often than not, it's better to know than not to know. For
17:27 example, if your car brakes are faulty, it's better for you to know and to do something about it. If you have a tumor
17:34 in your body, then it's very important that you know so that you can seek early treatment. And hence in verse 18
17:43 in saying that wisdom brings much sorrow and knowledge more grief. The teacher is not dismissing the benefits of wisdom
17:50 and knowledge. It is just his way of underscoring his deep sense of frustration about that his wisdom and
17:56 knowledge have failed to provide him the answers that he seeks uh regarding the meaning of life.
18:03 The teacher considers himself to be very wise from verse 16. Look, I've increased in wisdom more than anyone.
18:10 Indeed, Solomon is is considered to be the wisest man who has ever lived. But
18:15 for all the extent of his wisdom, the teacher still fails to find answers to the meaning of life. And that makes him
18:23 even more frustrated. In fact, earlier he has already expressed his
18:29 sense of despair in verse 13. What a heavy burden God has laid on
18:34 mankind. And indeed in the King James version uh the the this segment is given
18:40 the title the grief of wisdom and this sets the stage for the remain
18:46 for the remainder of our text which will be easier to digest. In the following three segments which are in chapter two
18:52 the teacher sets out to try out three experiments to see if if indeed all is
18:57 vanity if indeed everything is meaningless. He decides to venture out to confirm whether his earlier
19:04 conclusions about life are true. Perhaps somewhere out there, you know, he could find something more substantial. He says
19:11 in verse uh uh 3B, I wanted to see uh what uh what is what what was good for
19:18 people to do under the heavens during the few days of their life. And so in the in the second segment from uh verses
19:27 uh chapter 2 verses 1-1 the teacher starts to engage in all all kinds of pleasure that the world could possibly
19:32 offer. Verse one says I said to myself come now I will test you with pleasure
19:38 to see what to to find out what is good. And further down verse 10 I denied
19:43 myself nothing my eyes have my eyes desired. I refuse my heart no pleasure. So he decides to indulge himself to
19:50 enjoy life to the maximum. And what does he do in this experiment? There is this
19:56 catalog of his activities from from verse 3 to verse 8. All kinds of pleasure he starts to sample. In verse
20:05 three, he he he tries alcohol and some silly stuff that come with it. He tries
20:11 to cheer himself with wine. I don't think they had beer in those days. But
20:16 beer would be a apt modern equivalent. And next from verses 4 to 6, the teacher
20:23 undertakes several building projects. He builds for himself houses complete with
20:28 vineyards and gardens with parks and pools. He seeks to delight himself in
20:34 dwellings of much splendor and luxury. And this piece of property would be
20:40 something similar uh in today's time. Although I cannot understand the logic
20:46 behind such mansions. I mean how many rooms does a man need? In verse 7, the
20:52 teacher who is obviously very wealthy then fills his mansions with male and female slaves to serve him and to wait
20:59 upon him. What good are all his lovely mentions without the the human necessities? And of course, today we no
21:06 longer have slaves in our house, but some of us may have servants and maids,
21:11 uh, cooks and gardeners. And the teacher continues with his experiment. And next in his list, he
21:18 acquires herds and flocks to a skill that has never been seen before. Of course, today, nobody keeps cattle and
21:25 sheep in in their houses, but we have replaced the animals with with the sedans and and MPVs and SUVs.
21:33 And this this is the the fleet of luxury car owned by a very wealthy uh sultan in
21:41 Southeast Asia shall I just say. And the same question is asked, how many cars does a man need? And we are not
21:49 done yet. Next, the teacher uh tries to amass gold and silver and various other
21:55 treasures. Perhaps it will make him feel happier to be able to feel and and touch his wealth.
22:01 The modern equivalent of this would be the money we keep in our bank. We no longer, you know, put it under the
22:06 pillow uh uh uh in addition to all the other financial assets such as stocks and shares. But to some people hard cash
22:15 uh seems to be more satisfying. And this is uh a part of the 114 million ringit
22:22 seized from two corrupt government offices uh in October last year just recently not too far away from here in
22:29 Sabah and it included 53 million ringit in cash which they kept at home. How
22:36 stupid. Which took 30 officers 15 hours to count.
22:44 Now it seems that the pleasures of alcohol, mansions, servants, cars and
22:49 money still leave the teacher empty. And so now he has male and female singers
22:57 coming to entertain him with songs and music. Maybe they can cheer him up. Now
23:02 today is very expensive to hire singers to come to your house to sing for you. And so we go to where the singers are
23:09 performing. to enjoy the music. And this is the Rolling Stones concert in in Los Angeles
23:17 in 1981. And what do we hear them sing? They sing I can get I can't get no
23:22 satisfaction. Which is ironic because the fans have gone there to seek satisfaction. No.
23:30 And so after a long experiment, possibly stretching a lifetime, the teacher tries
23:38 the last pleasure of life said to be the highest pleasure,
23:44 which is sexual gratification. He acquires a harum described here as
23:50 the delights of a man's heart, which can only mean one thing, women.
23:56 Indeed, in 1 Kings 11:3, we read that King Solomon has 700 wives and 300
24:02 concubines. And so, it was quite a haram with 1,000 women to please him.
24:10 Incidentally, the word haram comes from the Arabic word harim, which means prohibition. And it refers to the the
24:17 section of the palace, you know, where the concubines are kept into which uh other other men except the king are
24:24 forbidden to enter. And that's why the word harim uh means uh prohibition. And
24:30 interestingly from the word harim from this Arabic word harim we get the Malay word haram
24:36 which in this country it comes to mean prohibition against pigs and dogs you know. Anyway when it comes to sexual
24:44 pleasures King Solomon went to the extreme thinking that it will satisfy him. Now although not to the extent of
24:50 Solomon, there are there is no shortage of modern examples of men living
24:55 promiscuous lifestyle, having multiple partners, keeping numerous mistresses or
25:02 visiting prostitutes. Now, I can't show you a picture of of a man sleeping around. It wouldn't be appropriate.
25:08 But in every other instance of of what the teacher did, I showed you a modern equivalent from a mansion to servants,
25:16 from cars to music. And I did I did this to illustrate that that the desires of
25:21 men have not really changed in 3,000 years. People today believe behaves more or
25:28 less the same way as their ancestors did centuries ago. And the and the teacher
25:33 being very wise, he knew this in his time. And that's why he says uh earlier in the chapter 1 verse 9, what has been
25:40 what has been will be again and what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. And just as
25:48 the teacher discovered that worldly pleasures left him empty, similarly people today have discovered or
25:55 discovering or will discover that the pleasures of the physical kind will result in emptiness. And the teacher the
26:03 teacher knew what he was saying because he tried all kinds of pleasures.
26:08 Literally all kinds. The only pleasure missing in his list is food.
26:14 And do you know why he omitted the pleasure of food? Because Solomon was not Chinese.
26:22 If Solomon were Chinese, food would be the first thing on his list. But in any case, at the end
26:31 at the end of his this experiment on pleasures, the teacher makes a sad
26:36 conclusion in verse 11. when yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done everything was
26:43 meaningless a chasing up to the wind nothing was gained under the sun and again this phrase a chasing after the
26:49 windarding the wind in short nothing left him with a sense of purpose and he
26:54 actually knew this at the beginning of this segment because earlier he wrote in verse verse 1b but that also proved to
27:02 be meaningless and he continued in verse two laughter I said is madness and what does pleasure accomplish now He doesn't
27:09 doesn't mean that you shouldn't laugh. He's not disapproving laughter per se. He he but he was speaking against the
27:15 laughter of of pleasure uh rather than the laughter of joy.
27:21 Now I know many of you already know that we cannot find pleasures cannot find
27:26 purpose in the pleasures of the world. They only result in emptiness. Now I found this wonderful picture to show to
27:32 to illustrate this point. And apparently this this emptiness grows exponentially
27:38 as you approach the end of your journey on earth. And many of us know there is more to life than what the material
27:45 world can offer. And that's why we come to church every Sunday on other days as
27:50 well hoping to find something deeper, something more substantive.
27:55 But there are many out there who persist in their mystic belief that the worldly that worldly pleasures can
28:02 satisfy their soul and they can be your spouse or your children or your parents.
28:09 And I pray that God will will will guide you to reach out to them to open their
28:14 eyes to the deeper truths of life. Now having found out to his despair that
28:19 that worldly pleasures are devoid of meaning. We continue the teacher tries another experiment in the third segment
28:25 of our text from chapter 2. Now the next portion verses 12- 16 and this is a
28:30 shorter passage that we can cover quickly. Now earlier in the first segment we already seen how the teacher
28:37 was so disappointed that for all his wisdom he couldn't figure out the meaning of life and he became very
28:42 depressed. But in this second experiment, he has a new thought that
28:47 although wisdom and knowledge may have failed me in as far as the big questions of life are concerned, but maybe
28:54 intellectual activities can bring me some meaning. If the pursuits of worldly
28:59 pleasures are futile, maybe reading and learning uh acquiring knowledge and
29:05 gaining wisdom can bring me some joy and fulfillment.
29:10 Now, this is a segment that I that really got me interested because I'm not so hung up about worldly pleasures, but
29:16 I'm I really love to to read and learn. And my wife can testify to this, she
29:22 complains that I buy too many books, and there are books in the kitchen, books in
29:27 the bedroom, even in the toilet. And not counting thousands more in my
29:34 study. And my wife sometimes teases me, hey, when are you going to finish reading all these books? in the
29:39 afterlife maybe because to me reading and learning is a joy.
29:45 And so in this second experiment the the the teacher ventures out to consider wisdom and its opposite madness and
29:52 folly. He's he wants to test out wisdom and knowledge like how he tested
29:57 pleasures. And lo and behold he in verse 13 he
30:02 finds that wisdom is better than folly. That's why earlier I say it's better to know than than not to know. Just as
30:09 light is better than darkness, which is not unexpected for me at least because
30:15 he associates wisdom with light folly with darkness. And he then appends a a
30:20 proverb in in verse 14. The wise have eyes in their heads while the fools
30:25 walks in the darkness. In other words, wisdom is more superior to folly. It is
30:31 more beneficial to be wise than to be foolish. so that we don't walk in darkness and darkness here includes
30:38 spiritual darkness and this certainly squares with the teachers other teachings about wisdom and folly
30:44 elsewhere in the Bible for example in Proverbs 13:20 walk with the wise and
30:49 become wise for a companion of fools suffers harm
30:56 so far so far all well and good but but wait the teacher suddenly hits another
31:01 snack he suddenly realizes s that both the wise and the foolish suffer the same
31:09 fate from verses 14b and and 15a he's talking about death whether you are wise
31:16 or foolish clever or stupid you will die one day death is the ultimate equalizer
31:22 everyone ends up in the grave and he writes at the end of the passage like the fool the wise do must die this in
31:30 itself is not not not nothing profound we all know this although we we don't want to talk about it. It's part of the
31:37 natural cycle of life. But what the teacher concludes uh in the in in in uh
31:44 in the next part is what we need to know from verse 16. He observes that after
31:50 they are long gone, both the wise and the foolish will not be remembered say
31:55 two or at most three generations later. And and what's the point then if your
32:00 wisdom will be forgotten by your descendants? if your knowledge will be erased uh by the sand of time.
32:08 Let me give you an example from our Taipei trip. After the picture I showed you just now, we we walk across a square
32:16 uh to to visit this memorial of uh Chanka who founded the modern nation of of
32:23 Taiwan in 1949 and he died in 1975.
32:28 Now my my late father he knew a lot about this guy.
32:36 I know a little not more than a little I know something about this guy. My
32:42 children know nothing about him. You see two generations
32:49 is forgotten. And there were hordes of tourists uh uh at the site but many
32:57 they have little idea of what this great man has accomplished. They were there to take pictures.
33:03 At least Chanka has a large statue and history books for people to remember him. But you and I are not so famous. We
33:10 will be completely forgotten long after our demise. And to site another example, if you
33:17 recall our illustrious banker Dr. Tong Piao whose video you saw just now two or
33:23 three generations down the road if public banks still exist very few of the
33:29 employees will remember his name much less know about his life and his achievements and his ways and that's why
33:36 the teacher uh con arrives at the same set conclusion as the early experiment
33:41 he lemons in verse 15b what then do I gain by being wise I said to myself this
33:47 two is meaningless You come to the last of three
33:52 experiments. After testing out pleasures and wisdom and ending up disillusion, he
33:58 comes to the last experiment, toil or work to see if it will provide him some
34:04 meaning. Now, if you're the type who married to the job or who puts in long
34:09 hours uh into the business, this last segment will be very relevant to you.
34:15 This fourth and last the third experiment in the fourth and last segment covers chapter 2 verses 17 to
34:21 23. And you will see all over the passage the teacher describing work to be to be tough and demanding. He says in
34:28 verse 17 the work that is done under the sun was grievious to me. In verse 20 he
34:34 talks about my tollome labor under the sun or in verse 22 the toil and anxious
34:41 striving to him work is grief and pain. from verse 23.
34:47 Now, those of you who have been working very hard can understand this. It is not easy to put food on the table. The the
34:53 long hours, the the deadlines, the meetings, the the the pressure, etc. And
35:01 generally Asians, especially the Chinese, they work too hard.
35:06 But among the the major ethnic groups in the country, strangely, the Chinese
35:11 enjoy the longest average lifespan. And sadly the Indian male in this
35:16 country has the shortest lifespan. The Chinese work very hard and yet they
35:22 live longer. Makes you wonder why. Should be the other way around, right? I
35:29 think I know why. Because the Chinese really enjoy working and derive a lot of
35:34 satisfaction from making a lot of money. And hence the teacher here in this last
35:40 segment has something to say especially to the Chinese. In this last segment he has two issues
35:49 about deriving satis satisfaction or meaning from work. First in verse 18 he
35:54 complains that after toiling in the sun after so much struggle all that he has worked for worked so hard for he says I
36:01 must leave them to the one who comes after me which is not too bad because after all they are your children and
36:07 grandchildren. His issue is in verse 19 and who knows whether that person will
36:12 be wise or foolish yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil.
36:17 Meaning there is a good chance that his stupid son or his son's stupid son will
36:23 squander away his wealth. His second issue is in verse 21. For a
36:30 person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all their own to another one who has not
36:38 toiled for it. This is the second problem. And taking a
36:44 cue from this verse, my wife and I have told our children over the years that
36:50 mommy and daddy will be spending most of our money, not leaving much for them. We plan to
36:57 spend it on traveling to see the world because we love to travel and perhaps give away the rest to charity. The kids
37:05 have to work for their own living and fund their own lifestyle. to use a local
37:10 phrase where I got such thing I work you enjoy or in Malay man
37:18 that is exactly what he's saying here and so on these two counts in verses 18
37:24 to 21 the teacher finds work to be meaningless and he says this not once but four times in this segment he even
37:32 describes it to be a great misfortune in short work like pleasures and wisdom
37:38 before this cannot satisfy the soul and all physical pursuits of life are
37:44 meaningless. A chasing after the wind nothing makes sense to him. Now the critical lesson behind all these three
37:50 experiments by the teacher can be sum up by the words of this millionaire surgeon
37:56 I read about him who lived and worked in Singapore. The late Dr. Richard Tio ran a hugely
38:04 successful cosmetic surgery clinic in Singapore and he really lifted up. He was young
38:10 and good-looking, had plenty of money. He he was into fast cars and had
38:15 celebrities for for company and he really loved his high society lifestyle. And that went on until early 2011 when
38:24 Dr. Tio was diagnosed with terminal cancer and and sadly he passed away the
38:29 following year at the age of 40. Now the following is part of a
38:34 transcript of his testimony in November uh 2011 uh to the dental Christian
38:40 fellowship while he was undergoing treatment and he says this is verbal testimony it's not written but it was
38:46 this is a transcript in my deathbed I found no joy whatsoever in whatever objects I had my Ferrari thinking of the
38:53 land I was going to buy to build my bungalow etc having a successful business it brought me zero comfort zero
39:00 joy, nothing at all. Do you think I can hold on to this piece of metal and it's going to give true joy? No, it's not
39:07 going to happen. Now, against the backdrop of our text
39:13 today, what we observe here is that 5 years ago, this dying man learned the
39:19 hard way exactly what the teacher discovered 3,000 years ago, that you're
39:24 not going to get find meaning and fulfillment in the material world.
39:29 Now this is the main message from our text. But if you were to end the sermon here, it would leave a big gap in our
39:36 discussion. It would be like watching a movie without a great ending. Because these four segments put together back
39:42 that one question. They point to that one great mystery and that is how
39:49 can we how and where can we find the true meaning of life? How can we live life meaningfully according to its real
39:56 purpose? But unfortunately the teacher doesn't pro exactly provide the answers
40:01 in our text not in chapters one and two.
40:06 You see it's only at the end of the book in the last chapter that the teacher leaves us with some clues to this
40:13 mystery. Two clues actually in chapter 12. And so since the question of what's
40:19 the meaning of life is not answered in our text. Let's jump briefly to chapter 12 and and look briefly at two verses
40:25 there. And I shall leave you with some uh thoughts to ponder over. The question of the true meaning of life will be
40:32 fully addressed by another preacher when we come to chapter 12 in August.
40:38 Now the first clue is in chapter 12 verse one. Remember your creator in the days of your youth before the days of
40:44 trouble come and the years approach when you will say I find no pleasure in them.
40:50 And so first the teacher says to remember your creator when you are young
40:55 not when you're already old. The earlier the better because the truth of the matter is you can only find true meaning
41:01 of life in God. So the earlier you know him and relate to him the more meaningful your life is and the longer
41:08 you you will live a meaningful life. And coming back to the story of Dr.
41:14 You should know that he was baptized when he was 20, 20 years before he died.
41:20 But he soon abandoned God to pursue his worldly wisdom to to pursue his worldly
41:25 dreams and and to indulge in unrestrained enjoyment of the material world. And this is another part from his
41:34 testimony. I went to church for some time. After some time, I got tired. I say it's time
41:39 to stop going to church. I had a lot more things to pursue, girls, studies,
41:45 sports, etc. After all, I had achieved all these things without God. Who needs God?
41:53 Now, the second, I said there are two clues. The second clue is more instructive in chapter 12:3.
41:58 Now, all has been heard. This is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the
42:05 duty of all mankind. After all is said and done,
42:10 after all the thinking and and pondering, this is what you need to do. Fear God and obey him. This is what life
42:17 is all about at its core. The teacher calls it duty. And fear God is not to be
42:23 scared of him. It means to rever him. If you rever God, you would naturally keep his his laws because the two go hand in
42:31 hand. But this begs another question. Why is that the meaning of life can only
42:38 be found in God? Why is it that only God can provide the true meaning of life?
42:44 The answer is simple but deep. You need to ponder over this. It's because we are created in the image of God. We are
42:51 created to have a relationship with him to know him and to rever him. It's in
42:56 our DNA. So when the thing is made but it's not
43:02 used according to its original design then all kinds of problem will will creep in. You were made by God for a
43:09 purpose and that purpose can only be found in God the source of your life and
43:14 outside of God like the teacher found out you will only find emptiness and futility.
43:20 You will find meaning in life only if you conduct your life God's way, God's
43:26 design and not your way or your design as I too have discovered over the years
43:32 of life. But I say this because as I said this discussion is outside the scope of our text and we will come back
43:38 to chapter 12 uh later in August. Again coming back to Dr. Tio is the last bit
43:45 from the from his testimony. Happily for him, he found God again in his dying
43:50 days. If I were to sum it up, I would say that
43:56 the earlier we sort out the priorities in our lives, the better it is. Don't be like me. I had to learn it the hard way.
44:03 This has happened. It gave me a chance to come back to God. Few things I've learned though. Trust in the Lord your
44:10 God with all your heart. Love and serve others, not just ourselves.
44:15 Coming back. Coming to the last bit having briefly discussed the the truming of life now we are now ready to look at
44:22 the the really the last part of our text and this is there's a fifth segment just three verses at the end of the chapter
44:28 where the where the where the teacher has a little advice for us for those who know God he says in verse 24
44:35 a person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil this two I see is from
44:41 the hand of God and actually says this a few times in in other chapters and what does Does this mean this verse may be
44:48 clearer from another version which says the best thing we can do is to enjoy eating, drinking and working. I believe
44:55 these are the these are God's gifts to us. In other words, in the context of a
45:00 relationship with God, of knowing God, we can and should enjoy eating,
45:06 drinking, and working while acknowledging that these things are a gift from him. We we should receive
45:13 enjoyment as God's gift to us. And that explains partly uh our love for travel.
45:20 But I must remind you again about the golden rule of life. Everything in
45:26 moderation. Make sure you are not enslaved by these things that they do not become little gods in your life. And
45:33 so you see our text today ends on a happier note. After all, the earlier
45:39 pessimism and gloom give way to a measured and thoughtful uh perception a
45:46 perspective about life in in the minds of God's people. And the teacher adds in
45:51 verse 20 25 and 26A uh if there's the last bit if if for without him who can
45:57 find or who can eat or find enjoyment to the person who pleases him God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness. Meaning
46:04 outside of a relationship with God, all physical pursuits of life will become burdensome. But those who please him,
46:11 those who acknowledge the sovereign God, he grants his good gifts of not only joy
46:16 but also wisdom and knowledge. But I would like to end the sermon not
46:22 with the last verse of chapter 2, but with a nuance from the last chapter, chapter 12. And my question to you is
46:28 this. Do you know the one true living God? Do you revere him? Do you have a
46:36 relationship with your creator? And when I say relationship, I mean a close
46:42 personal relationship where you can call him aba father. Or do or have you been
46:48 struggling with with misplaced pursuits of life? Does your life lack the meaning
46:54 and and purpose you desire? May the words of the teacher encourage you to
46:59 place your hope and trust in the Lord. Shall we close in prayer?
47:05 Our father in heaven, may each one seated here find true meaning of life in you, oh Lord our God, may each one who
47:14 has come to your sanctuary this morning live his days according to your eternal purpose. Almighty God, for apart from
47:21 you, outside of you, all pursuits of life are meaningless, a chasing after
47:28 the wind. be thou our vision for we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
