Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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INTRODUCTION
What is important in life?
What is important in life?
What is essential for life?
What is our purpose?
What is real happiness?
The answers to these questions are what mankind has been searching for.
But these answers has always been there
We just don't want to look for it, where it can be found,
or believe it when it is presented to us.
BACKGROUND
King Solomon who wrote Ecclesiastes was a seeker on a quest for the meaning and purpose of life.
When he became king, God gave him the opportunity of a lifetime: Solomon could ask for anything he desired.
Solomon asked for wisdom so the he could rightly govern the nation.
The Bible then states that God gave Solomon “a wise and understanding heart.”
This does not mean that the king understood everything at once.
He still had to apply himself to the pursuit of knowledge and he did just that.
Solomon took hundreds of foreign wives and concubines in an effort to learn of their cultured and make alliances with those nations.
But he let their idolatry influence him.
So he began to search for the meaning and purpose of life “under the sun”, apart from God.
In one sense we should be glad that he did.
This is because he left us an account of the futility of life without trust in God.
The last time we were in Ecclesiastes Solomon stated his theme; all of life is a vapor, a mist, vanity, here today and gone tomorrow.
Today we will read about the experiences in his life that led to his conclusion.
So what is the purpose of life, what will really make us happy?
(A) IS IT KNOWLEDGE / education - INTELLECTUALISM
People today claim that a good education solves almost any problem.
If only everyone had a good education there would be no more political problems, no poverty, no international crisis.
There would be no teen pregnancy and there would be great contentment in our hearts.
(Slogan ‘a good education’)
What do you think?
people today claim that a good education solves almost any problem.
If only everyone had a good education there would be no more political problems, no poverty, no international crisis.
There would be no teen pregnancy or long unemployment lines.
And there would be great contentment in our hearts.
ecc
In his attempt to gain wisdom Solomon searched out all of history, sorting through the good and the bad.
He examined the rise and fall of nations.
He read the important thinkers and innovators of his day.
He received his Bachelor’s degree and then his Masters and finally his Ph.D.
But he did so with “madness and folly.”
This doesn’t mean he was insane.
These words simply mean he did it without regard to God
1
the Old Testament for living life without regard to God
Now, there is nothing wrong with a good education, but Solomon found that:
human wisdom alone has no answers to life’s questions and problems.
It simply brings grief and sorrow, because even with all of our Ph.Ds.
life still has profound problems that human knowledge and ingenuity cannot solve.
So the answer is not Knowledge
(B) IS IT PLEASURE / Fun - HEDONISM
There is a philosophy (World view) today that says whatever feels good is good.
It is called hedonism which says “the highest food and proper aim of human life is to satisfy ones desire” But does pleasure really provides happiness?
What do you think?
ecc
Solomon then went out of his way to experience all the pleasures of life he could; even ungodly pleasures.
He had numerous wives and concubines.
In verse 8-9 it tells of singers and musicians etc.
Just imagine how the place must have shaken with parties and laughter.
The king and his entourage.
They stimulated themselves with wine and singing and sex.
But when all was said and done Solomon went to bed and woke up empty and unfulfilled.
2 :
3 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller 4
stimulated themselves with wine and singing and stand-up comedy.
But when all was said and done Solomon went to be and woke up empty and unfulfilled.
stimulated themselves with wine and singing and stand-up comedy.
But when all was said and done Solomon went to be and woke up empty and unfulfilled.
Now, the Preacher is not saying that laughter and parties are bad.
The Bible never says that either.
There are a number of parties and feasts mentioned in Scripture.
But here’s what and 13 have to say,
There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
13 Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, And the end of mirth may be grief.
Why is this so?
The answer is that a life based solely on pleasure cannot cope with life’s harsh realities.
Think of all the celebrities who have partied till they burned out.
ILLUS - Anthony Bourdain - Pleasure seeker - “This is the path to true happiness and wisdom” - Committed suicide.
(B) IS IT POSSESSION / Things - MATERIALISM
The focus of many persons today is about acquiring things, stuff.
But can stuff make us happy.
Solomon didn’t only see to find purpose and happiness in knowledge and pleasure but also in possession.
Materialism - A tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
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Boy, now that was the good life if ever there was one.
Solomon was a city planner, an urban renewal expert.
He built parks and houses, hundreds of them for his hundreds of wives.
In fact his own home took fourteen years to build.
yet in the end here is what he had to say.
ecc 2:
The king said “I did it all.
I did it my way.
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