How To Live A Fully Fulfilled Life

Why Ecclesiastes Teaches That Life Under the Sun Is Vanity

Yeah, whenever brother Dave gets up and starts talking about me I get a little nervous don't know what he might say. It's always good though, it's just a little scary on today. Exactly Exactly. I'm really excited to be here.

I'm glad to see all of you. I feel like it's been a long time Dr. Stan good to see you back there, but I thought I heard a breakthrough I'm through the door. So I'm really excited what I'm gonna share with y 'all today.

It's it's. The Bible has so much.

Like mind-blowing.

Game changing life-altering truth. If we will let it Like sink in It'll do stuff in us through us and for us that we cannot do in through and for ourselves.

And.

And I'm glad God didn't leave us without. Not only did he not leave us without an answer He made sure he left us with all the answers to all the questions. But we have to study the answers. He doesn't just install.

Right, we got to install and so I'm gonna read a passage. And I'm gonna share some things with you that I'm sure some of you have probably thought about before maybe some that you haven't.

But certainly.

What I'm about to share with you has impacted my life in a great way and today the name of the message if I'm Since you have to get messages titles these days would be how to live a fully fulfilled life.

How to live a fully fulfilled life. There are a lot of people who live partially fulfilled lives. But I mean how many people have you really met? That exemplify. I'm not talking about expressing that they're living a fully fulfilled life, but they exemplify That they're living a fully fulfilled life.

It's it's it's sadly rare even in the church. And it doesn't need to be because The Word gives us how to do it. So in Ecclesiastes chapter 9, we're gonna start with verse 4 we're gonna read down to verse number 11 and I Just pray that this Does as much in your life as it has and is doing in mine father.

Thank you for your word. Thank you. That is true. Thank you for your church the body of Christ. I pray that you would help us to.

To truly.

Love to love and live your word. And we just bless you for the fact that you even want to use us because you could do it all without us. But you'd rather do it with us and for that we thank you in the name of Yeshua.

Amen, so Ecclesiastes chapter 4 but before I even read Ecclesiastes chapter 4, I mean chapter 9 verse 4 chapter 9 verse 4. Let me tell you what the book of Ecclesiastes is about. The book of Ecclesiastes is a book that King Solomon wrote at the end of his life at the beginning of Solomon's life He was completely yielded to God to the degree that the scripture says that he gave a thousand he offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar now a Thousand like when you read the word a thousand the number of thousand in in the Hebrew culture it's like we say a bazillion or Eleventy million.

Y 'all probably never said that okay. But but it's like this really big number. That's so Ginormous that it can't be calculated. So when it says he offered a thousand he just he just offered burnt offerings on top of burnt offerings on top of burnt offerings and a burnt offering was a picture of total sacrifice and So it was saying that I'm going to give Everything I have to God and I'm keeping nothing for myself.

And when Solomon was a young man Before he stepped into the experience of his blessings. He was totally yielded. And then God gave him the wisdom that he asked for and then Solomon forgot the duty of the king and the duty of the king was to study the scriptures all day and to take a tape to get a pen and a notepad and The Torah the scriptures and then study the law all day every day so he could judge righteous judgment that was that was the job of the king and so Solomon After he received the experience of the blessing that God put on his life he got caught up in the experience and Forgot about the one who gave him the experience and he backslid and the scripture says that he let all of these Heathen women that he married turn his heart away from God.

And so at the beginning of his life, he was yielded and at in the middle of his life He was about as far as God far from God as you can be and still be connected to him. But at the end of his life he came to his senses and he wrote this book called Ecclesiastes and if you've read Ecclesiastes You you know the theme even if you don't know the theme but the theme of the book of Ecclesiastes.

It keeps saying over and over all is vanity and vexation of spirit all is vanity and vexation of spirit all is vanity and vexation of spirit. He's not saying that life is empty and torture. That's not what he's saying.

He's saying he's saying life is vanity and vexation of spirit under the Sun. Which is which means if you're living your life only for what you experience in this life, you've wasted your life and tortured yourself and so he said I don't want you to waste your life.

The the the the the strong years of your life the the influential years of your life. I don't want you to waste them. Chasing experiences and living only for those experiences to satisfy the flesh. I don't want you to waste your life doing that and he said so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna write this book under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and I'm gonna write down and tell you what to avoid and So he wrote this book called Ecclesiastes and he said if you live your life for life under the Sun.

You've wasted your life and tortured yourself and then he gets down to the end of the book of Ecclesiastes. And he says this let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man.

So now we understand what we're reading and so we'll read it now. It says in Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 4 for to him that is joined to all living. There is hope. For a living dog is better than a dead lion.

I believe that Solomon wrote this part of this Book called Ecclesiastes for those who feel like it's too late for them. Well, there's no hope for me. I've already messed up. King Solomon had already messed up, but he said if you're still alive.

You haven't messed up so bad that you have to give up and then it says.

For the living a.

Living dogs better than a dead lion for the living know that they shall die. But the dead know not anything neither have they any more reward for the memory of them is forgotten also their love and.

Their hatred and.

Their envy is now perished neither have they any more portion Forever in anything that is done under the Sun. So what should I do about this? Revelation that Solomon has just given me. Well go thy way.

Eat thy bread with joy. Drink thine wine with a merry heart. For God now accepted thy works that thy garments be white. I Let thine garments to be always be white and thine head lack. No oil. Live joyfully with the wife Whom thou lovest all the days of thy life the life of thy vanity.

Which he hath given thee under the Sun all the days of thy vanity for that is the by portion in this life and Thy labor which thou taketh under the Sun. And then he says something mind-blowing. My mom used to always say this to us.

What is she talking about? Whatsoever thy hand findeth do Do it with thy might. For there is no work nor device Nor Knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest. I Returned and saw under the Sun that the race is not to the Swift Nor the battle to the strong neither yet bred to the wise.

Neither yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favor to men of skill but time and chance happeneth to them all he's. He's saying he's saying the best person in the Arena doesn't always win. Sometimes people who are faster lose races to people who are slower.

Sometimes people who are stronger lose battles to people who are weaker. How how can this be? He said because he said time and chance happens to them all that's not talking about luck. Time Is where the preparation takes place.

Chance is when the opportunity shows up. And what he's saying is that if you will prepare yourself When your opportunity comes you can win. Abraham Lincoln said I will prepare myself and perhaps my time will come.

Myron Golden says your time's gonna come whether you prepare yourself or not. If you're prepared when your time comes it will reveal you but if you're not prepared it will expose you. So do you want your life?

To be a grand reveal or are you gonna settle for it becoming? An expose. And so when we read this passage of Scripture According to Romans chapter 14 It says the rent things that were written before time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scripture might Have hope so this was not Solomon put this in here by himself, but he didn't put it in here for himself.

He put it in there because he knew there were some people coming later who would need to know this and so.

If I.

Live my life for the experiences that I have under the Sun. I've wasted my life and tortured myself.

The Purpose of Human Life Is to Create, Connect, and Contribute

How can I live a fulfilled life? I?

Believe that the only way any of us can live a fulfilled life is To get back to the purpose for which we were created. And it's really interesting as we read the Bible I think sometimes we miss some things maybe because they're too obvious maybe because we're in too big a hurry to get through the scriptures instead of slowing down so the scriptures can get through to us and.

And when you when you open the Bible my favorite Book in the Bible is Genesis. My favorite chapter in Genesis is chapter 1 my favorite verses verse 1, but that's another conversation. We're different day, but when I read Genesis chapter 1 I'm so blown away by how much God put in it because it's like He gave us a wink in Genesis chapter 1 and he said in case you don't get to chapter 2 you're gonna be alright.

Because in Genesis chapter 1 God tells us something about himself that we rarely think about and What it tells us it says in Genesis 1 1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. That happened so fast we almost missed it.

Because God established the platform of time space and matter in Genesis chapter 1 in the beginning. There's time God created the heavens their space and the earth. There's matter that is the platform on which we experience life and God set it up in a sentence.

The laws of physics in a sentence in the beginning God created the heavens here and what's fascinating about That to me is when I say God is you say good God is good all the time, right? We've heard God is Holy God.

If you say God is somebody's gonna say love. Somebody's gonna say love. Hmm, where are my God is love people where they wait. Okay. Yeah. Somebody's gonna say God is omnipotent. Right the type a's God is omniscient.

Right all the erudites the ones who are like in their head and love knowledge. Because we tend to think of the aspect to admire most the aspects of God. That we admire most period but what's fascinating to me is Even though God is good all the time and though God is love and God is holy and God is omniscient God is I'm my present and God is omnipotent.

None of those things are the first thing that God Tells us about God now, maybe when you meet somebody. The most important thing you tell them about the most important thing you tell them about Yourself is not the first thing.

But the most important thing you want them to know about you is usually going to be the first thing you tell them. And the first thing that God tells us in Genesis chapter 1 is that he's creative. In the beginning God created the heaven the earth and I.

And maybe you're not like me, but I'm curious and a little obsessively curious. And it made me scratch my head for years saying why would he do that? He doesn't need a heaven. He doesn't need an earth.

He's he's completely self-satisfied self-existent self. So self-sustained he's neat. He needs nothing, but he creates a heaven in an earth. Well, you know, I'm just sitting around being God. I think I'll create it.

No, like why would he do that? Like I mean think about the headache the few people, you know.

Give you.

And God knows everything about everybody who's ever exist and ever will exist. Now that's another level of headache right there not for God. But for me, I I don't know that I want to deal with all that.

And.

God creates a heaven and earth.

Why?

I believe and the only answer I've been able to find. By the way, if you find one, please share it with me. That's better than this one. Please share it with me because I don't think I know everything.

This is all i've been able to come up with so i'm i'm asking for help. God created the heavens and the earth because he is creative and therefore it is his nature to create. God created the heavens and the earth as an.

Expression.

Of his creativity.

Okay.

But when God created the heavens and the earth. And then later it tells us he created the animals and then later it tells us a creative man God created three categories in creation. Y 'all remember that right?

He created three categories. He created creation the sun the moon the stars the grass the trees the planets the rocks the water.

He created creation.

And creation existed. And creation that existed because God created it could not contemplate Communicate or commune with the God that created creation. So God said I i'm going to create creatures. The animals the dogs the cats the chimpanzees the alligators.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

And the animals the hebrew word for animal is bahema which means in it is what it is. If you don't know what that means for those of you who are a little older Let me break it down to you. A horse is a horse is a horse.

Of course. What does that mean. A horse can only do what a horse could do the first day a horse got here.

A horse.

Horses are not progressively productive. Cats are not progressively productive. Dogs are not progressively productive. Chimpanzees apes whales birds fish, but none of them are progressively productive.

Their experience of life is pretty much The same experience of life as it was 6 000 years ago when they were created. It's kind of fascinating. Because in it is what it is. It doesn't have the potential to become more than it is.

It just is what it is. And that is what it shall be. And the creatures that were created They were more functional. They were able to do things and build things and express a rudimentary level of creativity.

A bird can build a nest a beaver can build a dam an ant can make an anthill, etc. But they too could not contemplate the god that created them. And so god created Creators Creatives. He created beings that are like him, but not him.

They can experience physical life, but they can comprehend ethereal concepts. And so god made man.

In.

His.

Image and man.

Had a unique connection with god. That creation couldn't have. And creatures can't have. Because man can actually contemplate. We can't comprehend, but we can contemplate god. We can communicate with god.

God can communicate with us. We can commune with god. We can connect with god. This thing is working out. Really really good. God Made man in his image and the first thing that god tells us about man is that he created us in his image.

He he creates in his image, which means since god's a creator. Well, i'll get to that in a minute. But there was a problem. Here's the problem. In the garden of eden man listened to the wrong voice. And when man listened to the wrong voice instead of yielding to the god that created him.

He.

God big g he yielded to the god little g that corrupted him. And the connection with god was separate And by the way apart from god It was hopelessly severed. There was nothing the man who severed the connection Could do to re-establish the connection that the man severed.

Now the whole the whole thing's messed up. And so man said well since I messed up the connection I'm going to cover up the fact that the connection has been lost. I'm going to cover up the fact that I disconnected from my source from my power from the one who created me from my significance from my meaning from my Essence of my existence.

I'm going to hide it behind the works of my hands. And god came and said what have you done? And god.

Said your work won't work.

You know what those fig leaves represent in the garden of eden. They represent religion. Man attempting to cover his sin with his own works. When I stand before god if my good works outweigh my bad works, they won't.

And even if they did they wouldn't negate the bad works we've already done. So in order For the connection to be established re-established. The one who did not sever the connection Had to give a contribution and something had to die So that man could live.

And the scripture says that god made them coats of skins, which means the animals that didn't sin Had to die for the man who did sin. To re-establish the connection With god as a picture Of the lamb of god who would eventually take away the sins of the world.

And so we see when we think about Living a fulfilled life. When we read in ecclesiastes chapter 9 and we remember genesis chapter 1. The purpose god made us for is to be like him. So the more I am focused on being like him The more i'm fulfilling my purpose.

I can't be fulfilled if i'm looking to do something. I'm working on something my whole life. That's less than the thing god made me for. And this is why people are miserable because most people get one of the components Of a fulfilling of a completely fulfilled life.

They get one of the components or two of the components, but they don't get all three.

And i'm so glad.

That in the first three chapters of genesis god showed us.

All three.

What am I talking about? God is creative and he made us in his image. Therefore he created us to create stuff and he made us to make stuff. So if i'm not.

Not operating.

Based on the creativity that god put inside of me I am not going to feel fulfilled if i'm ignoring my creativity.

Or i'm devaluing my creativity because because I can't sing like maddie. I'm a little upset about that.

Because I can't play the guitar like paul. Because I can't do this like that person. Now what it is i'm Devaluing The creativity I have because it's not somebody else's creativity. Because I don't realize that god didn't intend for me to have their creativity because had he intended me for me to have their creativity.

I'd have it.

And so. When you this thing is so beautiful. This thing is so beautiful. The first thing god said to man is be fruitful multiply replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion. Be fruitful. What does that mean?

Well, if you keep reading in genesis, it will tell you what a fruit is. And here's what it says in genesis that a fruit is it's a living organism whose seed is where in itself. Why is he telling us that.

Why is he telling us that a fruit is a living organism whose seed is in itself?

Because.

God is showing us how life works In the principle of the garden. He's like, well, you know, I I want a bigger piece of the pie. You already missed the point. Or people say I don't want too big a piece of the pie.

There might not be enough left over anybody else except the problem is the economic infrastructure of the world is not based on a bakery. When god created man, he didn't put him in a bakery. He put him in a garden.

Why. Because in a bakery? consumption creates lack but in a garden. Consumption creates the potential for reproduction because when I eat the fruit the seeds are exposed and when I plant the seeds I don't grow another piece of fruit.

The multiplication Is possible because of the consumption that took place before the seeds were revealed. And I know i'm a geek. So judge me or pray for me, but here we are. The seeds are exposed. And so now the seeds create an opportunity not for another piece of fruit.

Not for another tree but for trees.

So.

You remember what warren weirsby said? Any fool can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only god can count the number of apples in a seed. And so I don't even I don't know what time I got started.

I don't know how long this was just it doesn't matter. Okay. Thank you. Hallelujah. Okay I promise i'm going to get to the outline in a minute. I promise. But the introduction is necessary for the outline to make sense.

In the words of my friend bishop wayne malcolm, I Don't all my sermons are short. It's my introductions that take all the time. Okay. And so.

So.

In a garden consumption exposes the seed and now God said be fruitful multiply now. That's that's fascinating. I mean we could go on we could go on a four-hour rabbit trail right now. When you think about that because when god Put the garden eastward in eden.

He put the man in the garden after he put the garden in eden. Did you ever notice that? Man, he didn't make adam plant the garden. God planted the garden. That's what it says. God planted the garden. Why do I believe it's important to know that god is the one that planted.

The garden.

Because god is showing us that when he put the gardener in the garden. He didn't just make the gardener. The gardener. He made the gardener a garden. What does that mean? What did? God make the man from the man.

Adam and eve god called their name. Adam later called her name. What did god make the man from the what? Dust of the ground. God took some dirt from the garden and molded a body. For the man that he created in genesis chapter one.

He made the man's body in genesis chapter two. For the man that he created in genesis chapter one. And then what does it say he did? He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living soul.

Think about that.

He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living soul god. When he breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life. And it's actually the breath of haim lives. Because god breathed all the lives that would ever live into adam's nostrils.

In the garden of eden when he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, the man became a living soul. What God was doing and what he was showing us he was doing was he was planting the seed of an aspect of God's own creativity in the soil, that clay body, that dirt body of that man, so that the man could later be fruitful and multiply from the seed of creativity that God planted inside of that man garden.

Are y 'all tracking?

And then God said to man, the first thing God ever said to man was be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it, and have dominion. God told Adam and Eve, said, you make sure be fruitful and multiply.

You make sure what I put inside of you shows up outside of you. This is so good on so many levels. God said, be fruitful and multiply. So we are supposed to tend to the garden that we're in, but we're also supposed to tend to the garden within.

And God said, be fruitful and multiply. Produce the outside based on what I put on the inside. Here's what's interesting. God breathed breath, the eternal breath inside of us. What God put inside of us, the creativity God put inside of us is limitless, it's infinite.

It doesn't run out. People say, well, we're running out of natural resources. No, we're running out of people who are willing to tap into the resourcefulness God put inside them. Natural resources. Oil used to be thought of as a pollutant.

How can we get rid of this stuff? So somebody figured out, somebody used their resourcefulness to turn that pollutant into an asset. Okay, y 'all are tracking.

So what does all this tell us?

I believe that it reminds us to live while we're alive. It reminds us to live while we're alive.

What does that mean?

Well, of course I'm living while I'm alive. No, most people just exist while they're alive. Everybody who's alive is not living. How you doing? Above the dirt. That's not living. How you doing? I'm surviving.

Nope, that's not living either. See, when you start living, what you start doing is you start producing on the outside based on what God put inside of you. And it reminds us to live while we're living.

And while we're living, now, by the way, this is the first point. So I finally got to the outline.

I know some of y 'all are thinking,.

Hallelujah, we're gonna be able to eat lunch today. It might be dinner, but we're gonna be able to eat. It's okay. It reminds us to live while we're living, while we're alive.

Now, what does that mean?

Well, I believe that the full fulfillment of life comes when we're being like God, which means what? Well, we're creating something. Some of you are gonna create because God put a musical instrument in your throat and you're just gonna sing and it's gonna sound good and everybody's gonna like it.

You're gonna create songs that are gonna bring joy to other people's souls. Some of you are gonna use the creativity that God put in your mind to arrange words in such a way that when you write books and people read those books, they're like, ah.

And now they see something they couldn't see before you wrote the book. And some of you are gonna use your hands because God put an aspect of his creativity in your hands and so you can build things and mold things and make things that serve other people in an amazing way.

But he gave all of us something, but he didn't give any of us the same stuff. He gave us all different things to different varying degrees so that you would need me and I need you and together, we gonna be better.

Remember when God made man, and then this time I'm talking about the mailman as opposed to the milkman, M-A-L-E, mailman. And he looked at man and he said, this is the first time God says something was lotto, lotto, not good, lotto, it's not good for man to be alone.

Now, God knows everything. I would say, well, how did God know it wasn't good for man to be alone? Well, God knew it wasn't good for man to be alone because God knows everything. How else did God know it wasn't good for man to be alone?

Because man is made in God's image and it's not good for God to be alone. God didn't just create man to create stuff. God created man so he could have somebody who was like him, but not him, that God himself could connect with.

I promise you, you will see this everywhere for the rest of your life if you'll let yourself. That's why people who build big businesses and are totally disconnected from their family are miserable and they have no friends and they're miserable, why?

They have creation, but they have no connection. That's why people who are celebrities and actors and singers and they make all this money and everybody knows who they are and everybody's cheering for them, but their family's a disaster and they're miserable, why?

Because they've got creation, but they've got no connection. So God said it's not good for man to be alone because it's not good for God to be alone.

And if we're gonna live while we're alive.

And we're gonna have a fully fulfilled life, we have to create something. Don't you let your third grade teacher who told you you're not smart keep you from creating things because you're afraid you're gonna be judged by somebody because your third grade teacher didn't matter that much when you were in the third grade.

They don't matter at all now. The biggest problem so many people have is they bought more into their lidentity than they have into the identity that God gave them. What's a lidentity? A lidentity is all the things all the people all your life told you you are not.

You're not smart enough. You're not tall enough. You're not pretty enough. You can't sing good enough. You can't dance good enough. You're not educated enough. You're not talented enough. You can't run fast enough, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

And so they're so familiar with all the things they can't do. They're so focused on all the things they can't do that they're not doing any of the things they can do. Mind blowing. God loaded you. He didn't just load you up when you were born.

He loads you up every day with benefits. Blessed be the Lord who daily loaded us with benefits. And you walk around feeling like I can't do anything. And you and then and then you avoid doing things to prove that you can't do anything because your third grade teacher told you you can't do anything.

You're not even in third grade anymore. It's been decades since you've been in third grade. And this person is still messing up your life. He created the connection, but guess what? Man severed the connection.

God contributed a sacrifice to restore the connection. And that's where the third part of fulfillment comes from. It comes from contribution. If I'm going to be fully fulfilled, I have to use the creativity that God planted inside the garden that is me.

And I have to create something that serves somebody other than me. That's why it says be fruitful and multiply. Multiply means to increase. And then it says replenish the earth. What's that mean? Fill up the earth with the stuff you've created.

And when man severed the connection, God gave the contribution to restore the connection. So I'm only going to be fully fulfilled in this life that I'm blessed with if I'm creating something using the creativity that God put inside of me.

I'm connected with God and I'm connected with my fellow man in a real and meaningful way. I'm not talking about a Facebook connection and Instagram connection. I mean, those are OK, but if that's all you got, that ain't much.

And then you have to be willing to contribute to other people. Now, if you want to be like God in your contribution, make sure that some of your contribution is to people who have absolutely nothing to offer you.

I'm talking about, see, when I'm talking about connections, I'm not just talking about deal connections. You know, I'm going to be connected with you because you got stuff I need. I got you. I got stuff you need.

We don't connect. So because, you know, then then help you do better and help you do better than we can do that. And I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about some real connections. I'm not talking about deal contributions.

I'm going to give this to you so I can get a tax write off. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about I'm going to give this to you because I feel like that's what God would have me do. And not only do I not expect anything from you, I don't even want anything from you.

I'm giving it to you because I feel blessed to do so. Maybe that's why God wanted his children to contribute to widows and to orphans. Let me ask you a question. I mean, think about it. Think about it.

When was the last time you did something for someone who had no ability to do anything for you? Well, that's a level of that's a level of pure contribution. You know, you're not doing it because somebody's going to give you accolades.

You're not doing it because you're going to get a tax write off. You're not doing it because you're just doing it because you can. And you recognize the fact that when you contribute to somebody who has nothing to contribute back to you, you are being like God.

We had nothing to offer him. I'm talking about a fully fulfilled life.

It reminds us to create. You know what? You think about it. How do families get started? Prepare thy work without make it fit for thyself in the field. Afterwards, build that house. A man goes and creates something.

Whoso findeth a wife, findeth a good thing and obtain a favor of the Lord. He becomes connected with somebody. And through that husband and wife connection, eventually, by the grace of God, clearly here in Corsicana, it works.