Futility in Indulgence

Solomon’s Experiment with Pleasure

Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. I said to myself, go ahead, I will test you with pleasure. Enjoy what is good. But it turned out to be futile. I said about laughter, it is madness. And about pleasure, what does this accomplish?

I explored with my mind the pool of wine on my body, my mind still guiding me with wisdom. And how to grasp folly until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

Let's pray. Father, we're saturated with information on every side. Stuff is pricking our ears. So by your spirit, pause us. Cause us to be still and to consider the wisdom of your word and the ancient words that have been from the beginning.

And Lord, cause us to live in wisdom in your truth. Use your messenger today, Lord, Cory, and use him to glorify your name, to exalt your wisdom, and to teach us that we may walk in your ways. In Christ's name, amen.

The Futility of Pleasure and Indulgence

Today's sermon is titled the futility of pleasure or indulgence. Have you ever been... I want to start with a couple illustrations. I think they'll hem them home because this is a book that requires wisdom to read.

This is written to much brighter men and much higher men than us. So I want to start with a couple of illustrations. Have you ever been out fishing and it's a great day just reeling them in? Better than you could ask for.

Not only were a lot of fish caught, but you got some big Bessies in there too. And to top it off, they're good enough for you to bring home and have a little bit of a fish fry. What an enjoyable time on your day off.

Best day of fishing you've ever had. Yet you could see yourself wanting to go again next month. Maybe for the nerds, have you ever put hours into a video game but in one of the matches you play you owned the plebs?

That's a saying. You were the uncontested king of that round. You have never played that well before and it feels good. Yet you could see yourself wanting to play again. Here's my last one. It's my favorite one.

Chewy's steak burritos. Have you ever had one of those? They're so good. It's an absolutely enormous and delicious meal. Put some of that boom boom sauce on there for the kick and you've got it going on.

But I'm going to want that thing again. And I'm going to want it again. But no time is going to be as good as that first time. And I might just eventually order something new. The pleasures we have seem so enjoyable.

So why do we need them again and again and again if they satisfy? Why do we remember the best time doing it? And then everything else isn't quite the same. Getting into the text. We often like to read in chronological order but this text seems to be more of a description of Solomon's discernment regarding pleasure as a whole.

I'm going to rearrange the end of verse one in the beginning of verse two to the end. I want you to hear reading a little bit differently. And so I'm going to propose this so we could maybe just maybe a tiny bit understand what Solomon's saying.

He says, I said in my heart, come now I will test you with pleasure. Enjoy yourself. I searched with my heart how to cheer the body with wine. My heart still guiding me with wisdom. And how to lay hold on folly till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad and of pleasure. What use is it? I bring it out this way because it almost feels like Solomon's jumping the gun to the conclusion before he builds up to what even the case is.

Again, for my simple mind. So let's get into my first point after that reading. There is a claim here that Solomon is making. I hope you caught it. He says, to see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

This is the claim. Now, with that claim in mind, we're going to revisit it over and over and over throughout this passage. So bear with it. Now, by this time you know I just can't help myself when it comes to context and history.

Solomon’s Historical Context and His Search for What Is Good

And I just have to. So just hold on for the ride and enjoy it or endure it. Whichever one you prefer. Like Josh previously mentioned, this letter was for men of greater station than us. Men who would inherit more than you could want in every measure.

In every measure. Power to defend a nation. Authority to preserve a crown. Riches that your mind can't comprehend. Silver having no bearing and higher value. Arts new and evolving. Architecture like the temple and Solomon's palace.

And many, many more building projects. Food more than Israel could need. And they supplied it even to Lebanon and other countries. And most importantly, peace. First Kings. And he had peace on all sides around him.

And Judah and Israel lived in safety from Dan even to Beersheba. Every man under his vine and under his fig tree all the days of Solomon. You see, Judea or Israel has never known a time as tranquil as that time.

So absent of terrors that they could produce philosophers and intellectuals. Do you know what a country doesn't produce when it's war-torn? Philosophers and intellectuals. Hopefully they're producing courageous men and enduring women.

Israel was in a hot bed of enemies from surrounding nations. They started off enslaved and ostracized in Egypt for 400 years. They were nomads for 40 years. They were subject to foreign overlords of Philistines after even getting to Canaan.

After arriving at the promised land. They just started this kingdom. It's brand new. It started with Saul. The stability of their new kingdom now has only happened after oceans of blood are spilled by David and his mighty men.

Israel was not a long stabilized country and would have been derelict if not for the provision and protection of the Almighty God. Within one generation, Solomon excels this kingdom to heights its predecessors could not have imagined.

All that to say, Solomon is the most qualified man to teach us futility. To teach us pleasures. And now you have an idea of the time that he was writing from his father writing so much of Psalms and also being a warrior poet.

Yet on futility, Solomon struggles here. His struggle to define what is truly good was manifestly agonizing one. I hope we know since we've been reading Ecclesiastes together. It does not seem smooth.

It does not seem easy. With some context and view of this great king and his country, let's go back to the text to see the claim again. What was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life?

By saying good here, Solomon isn't trying to get at enjoyment or pleasure. This is not the good that is spoken of in this claim. Good translated in scripture can mean those things. That is not the word usage in his claim here.

He means something more divine. Good that satisfies the purpose and desires of men in fullness. The word here is tav and in this context it means worthwhile or desirable purpose. And if you look at the context of how Solomon is saying, he means beyond.

Something that's not futile. Something that's not vanity. Perhaps enduring. Perhaps transcending. Now this first part is good but he gets to a second part in his claim and he says the short days we have on earth essentially.

Our mortality. So in other words you could wrap up Solomon's claim this way. What fulfilling purpose can man find in his short life? Do you get the claim yet? I am repeating it a lot and I'm sorry. Did Solomon just come up with this?

What would even lead him to ask this? Well he actually has precedent. You see Psalm 90 was a long recording of Moses. Our eternity is in the illumination of your face. For all our days came to an end and at your anger we came to an end.

Our years were meditated on like a spider's web methodical. The days of our years and years are 70 years but in the in power they might be 80 years. Then even the majority of them are work and toil because humility has come upon us and we will be disciplined.

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. That sounds eerily familiar. Solomon knows this passage. Why? Because he's required to because he's king. It is a requirement of the king to know the law of God.

That is one of the obvious requirements that's given. They have to repeat the law publicly. There's something I think of when I imagine Solomon going by and reading this and then for himself considering following through and and experiencing and judging and it's Proverbs 25.

It is the glory of God to conceal things but the glory of kings to search things out. He's trying to search what is good. What's acceptable to do here. But it's not only reserved to these men to ask these questions.

Moses, Solomon, they're not unique in asking this. Just put yourselves here and it's hard. They're different men than we are but put yourselves here. You have asked this question Solomon is asked in a different form.

Haven't you ever thought what's all this even for? What am I even doing? Is this making any real change? Why am I here? Could I have achieved things greater? There's so many different flavors of how this question's proposed but they're all questions of us seeking good and great things that transcend our mortal and mundane lives.

The reckoning of our produced good and our finite time. So again the claim what fulfilling purpose can man find in his short life. Now let's explore how he does that. My second point is titled pleasures are nice.

Pleasure Is Good Within Its Proper Boundaries

Real nice. As we know already we are talking about pleasures right now. Solomon starts his pursuit of the good of this transcendent thing that involves purpose and fulfillment. He starts it with what feels good.

Pleasure. So what did he explore in pleasure? What he thought would be worthwhile was wine, folly, laughter. This is likely entertainment or amusements or the mirth that comes with good company. And then he just gives a general description of pleasure which would be all-encompassing for generally fun things to do.

And he would indulge in these things. But when I say indulge I want you to pay attention here. Solomon soberly handles these activities. Soberly. He says my heart's still guiding me with wisdom. So for the naysayers who are worried about Solomon and his wine, how do you handle wine with wisdom?

Just trust that. So Solomon's pursuit of good is experiencing pleasure within its correct boundaries. Correct boundaries. Imagine these pleasures of Solomon are enjoyable, are like experiencing myriads of wine, different parties, entertainment, songs, and all kinds of festivities.

And there were plenty of festivities in Jewish culture. Yet his heart guided him with wisdom. So let's talk about experiencing pleasure for us right now. Churches for two millennia have struggled with the idea of pleasure and godliness.

We often think we can't experience and enjoy pleasures because it's somehow less holy, it's more flesh-like. Unless our only literature is the Bible, unless our only conversations about church and our only music is subpar crappy Christian music, then we could be sinning.

And we're not focused on the holy things. The comfort in being a holy roller is that you feel good about your righteousness. It feels good that we can invent and prove that we are good. But that's a big problem because we don't create good.

We can't form it. We can't breathe it. We can't sneeze it. Any good that we have is God's. It is all his. So we can't produce this good by being holy. It's all his good. We don't invent it. It doesn't come out of our essence.

It is all his. How are we good? By being right with Christ, by obeying his laws. You don't invent any of that. And neither does being a holy roller. It's been a plague in the church for a long time. But if you think about it, you have pleasures in so many different things.

So we're critical of these because sometimes they require wisdom to discern how to do them well. But the ones that don't require wisdom, those are the ones that we're just fine with. And yes, I get it.

We see in scripture that the wicked pursue the indulgences of their pleasures. But we also forget that we're tasked by God to enjoy his creation for our pleasure. So it's not an if-then. In Genesis, God created the world and all things in it and it was pronounced good.

He made man to take dominion and he gave them pleasant things. Think of all the things you enjoy. That you take pleasure in food, drink, laughter, your wife's looks, your children's smiles. If God didn't want us to enjoy things, then food would taste like mud, sports would be boring, and we'd never rejoice at weddings.

Then you wouldn't have to indulge in pleasures. Then you'd be really holy. The breeze didn't have to feel nice on your skin. Sex didn't have to be good. Memories didn't have to be adored. And coffee could suck.

Yet, the vast majority of your life is filled with pleasure. In the words of Josh, people do what they want to do. We do what we want to do. Most of the things that you do have pleasure. Why aren't you all standing right now?

Because it's more pleasurable to sit down. It's so funny because we've all done this. We've all thought, well I need to, I need to suffer a little bit. I need to, I need to not succumb to pleasures so that I can focus on holiness.

But that's the mistake again of thinking you can indebt God to yourself. Lord, if I can be uncomfortable, if I can not have pleasure, but do things that are just gross or just uncomfortable, then you will be filled with pride of your own self-righteousness.

That's what will happen. I've been there. I have done that. The anathema to pleasure that we have is madness. Just listen to these truths in scripture. Let them wash over you. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.

Biblical Enjoyment and the Goodness of Creation

Psalms. And wine to gladden the heart of man. Oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's hearts. Deuteronomy. And spend the money for whatever you desire. We should be familiar with this text.

Oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink. Whatever your appetite craves. Whatever you desire. Whatever would please you. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice. You and your household.

Here's the last one. Timothy. Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. Through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is made holy by the Word of God and prayer. He made all things good. I used to agonize over anything I didn't do that was the big stuff mentioned in the New Testament.

Like evangelizing, discipleship, miracles. You put this pressure on yourself like you see this here and all these things should be happening all the time. You put pressure on but then the Lord sanctifies you over years and he gives you wisdom to know his Word in the fullness of it, not to just be a modalist.

Because wisdom was formed to me when I was an early believer and it was formed to me for a long time. I mean years. For just thinking the only way to serve God is by these holy roller metrics and ignoring all the other commands and instructions that he's given us.

Because these seemed like the big ones. Because these ones kind of include pleasures but these ones all include self-sacrifice. So let's use some wisdom to get ourselves out of a hole of thinking that our pleasures are always bad.

Is my pleasure sinful? Stop. Just don't do that one anymore. Is it sinful? Repent. Is my pleasure a perversion of what it should be? Have you mixed up categories for what is good? I'd recommend stopping that.

But what's the ultimate lens here? All of Christ in all of life. Can I give glory to God for what I'm doing? Can I be thankful to him for what I'm doing? Do I have shame? Is my shame from the flesh or is my shame from the spirit?

Because it's conviction from the spirit. It's shame in flesh. Shame's a good tool. I think we can also ask ourselves, am I seeking fulfillment in this pleasure? Am I hoping it'll be more than simply a pleasure?

Will I look to this for my hope? For my rest? And this tees me up for my last point. Pleasures ain't the goodest. Remember the illustration I mentioned earlier about fishing, video games, and that chewy burrito?

Pleasure Delights but Cannot Fulfill

I'm gonna put a stamp on it because historically I've not been good at closing my illustrations. By the way, all these pleasures that I mentioned are good. To many people at least. When I was 16, I had been fly fishing for over 10 years at this point.

Well acquainted with the way to cast my nine-foot rod, what types of flies to use, in what season, and what time of day to fish. My grandpa and I were on the banks in Montauk, Missouri. Beautiful, blue, spring-fed waters.

Fresh trout from the hatchery transferred to the river multiple times a year. We knew the best spot to hike down river where the riverbed moss meets the bare sand. That's where the trout liked to dart in and out.

That day, I caught 26 rainbow trout. And my grandpa caught more. I don't remember his number because I was flying high. The fishermen around us watched as almost every time we cast, we set a hook. It was insane.

Best day of fishing I've ever had. We hiked back to the truck feeling really tall, and it was a good day. And I've been on the river a lot since then. Been to the same spot, different spots, different rivers in different states.

And I always enjoy fishing. But no time has ever been as good as that. So why did I tell the story? To brag. Hello. But really, what if I wanted greater satisfaction? To recreate another day I would catch 26 trout, or exceed that number.

What if my hope of achieving that goal of my purpose and all my sacrifice was devoted to replicating that, or to exceeding it, to going further, to having all that feeling and experience rush through me again, to catch more or to catch a larger trout?

Would I be fulfilled then? Or would I seek the next great catch? Would I just want a little bit more than actually be satisfied? It's an easy story because you all know this is ridiculous that I would have satisfaction in catching a slimy animal.

That's not going to fulfill me. Yeah, we pretend like many other pleasures will, or our work, but Josh is going to get that next week, so I'll let him have it. Your pleasure was not made to fulfill. It was made to delight.

They're not the ends. They are the delight. In 1 Corinthians, we learn that there's an order to the church. There is also proper order in life, generally. Pleasures are sweet nectar at the tip of a honeysuckle, but they are futile.

They pass quickly and are doomed to end. All pleasure is doomed to end, yet they are here for us to enjoy. Man's search for good is summarized correctly by Solomon when he says this later in Ecclesiastes, Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

And then to cap it all off, which I'm sure Josh and I will do plenty of times, he says, the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

We could present this to you like a story where you don't know the end, but you do. So we've arrived at what matters most in Solomon's search. The measure of every pursuit is futile besides one, to fear God.

Fullness of Joy in Christ

You all know this, you've already had this answer, and we tell ourselves, but I don't trust our thoughts and actions believe them all the time. I don't trust my thoughts and actions believe them all the time.

A verse comes to mind, Lord I believe but help my unbelief. I hope to give you some comfort and reassurance, so let me wash you in the word. John 15, Tyler's passage from a few weeks ago, as the fathers loved me, so have I loved you.

Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I've spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Does this sound like satisfaction, purpose? Christ loves you like the father loves him, and you can have fullness of joy. Satisfaction like pleasures will not take you to. Psalm 16, you make known to me the path of life, in your presence there is fullness of joy.

At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. So we can have fullness of joy and perfect peace. What else do we want?

Human Fulfillment in the Image of God

I would like to finish you with the truth on this pouring over on scripture. As image bearers, we cannot be satisfied with anything but God alone. We were created to point toward the one whose image we bear.

Both natural law and God's law are screaming to us in our futility, you're made in his image. We are dull. I am so dull. We're made in his image. What am I looking for fulfillment and other things for?

But I need it over and over and over again, because my head is thick. My wife will agree. Moses said our eternity is in the illumination of your face. If you hear nothing else from today, I beg you to hear this.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor and experience of your pleasures, but everlasting fruit of Christ's labors and the experience of his joy is for your complete satisfaction. I know that was long. I'm going to repeat it again.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor and the experience of your pleasures, but everlasting fruit of Christ's labors and the experience of his joy is for your complete satisfaction. I counted over 48 bible passages just to support that alone, and that was not exhaustive.

It is one of the most consistent truths repeated in scripture. Again and again, our Father reminds us that our purpose and satisfaction is in him. So, to end with glory after our futility, there will be a day when we are made new.

We will not worry about wisdom to navigate our pleasures. We will have no doubt, worry, anxiety, or insecurity about our place or purpose. The curse of sin will be wiped away, and the kingdom of God will be realized.

Pray with me. Lord, we thank you so much for Ecclesiastes, for us having your wisdom expressed through Solomon on high truths hard to comprehend. Lord, we ask that you would bless us with wisdom, that we would seek satisfaction in you, that we would eat and drink and be merry in pleasures, and give glory to you.

We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.