1 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:15,480 Good morning, everybody. I'd like to find your seats. 2 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,920 Thank you. So after three months, or was it 3 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:25,400 4, we've finally come to the last chapter in the book of 4 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:30,800 Ecclesiastes, the most important thing in life. 5 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:33,680 Next, next slide, please. Thank you. 6 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:40,960 So I I searched the phrase wasted life on Google and this 7 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:47,040 is a page that came up. It says hello my name is Julian 8 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,840 and I am an addict. Really. 9 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,720 I didn't fix this. It's genuine OK. 10 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:00,280 My addiction has made me depressed and anxious, put a 11 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,519 strain on my marriage and wasted years of my life. 12 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,920 But here's the good news. I have been Twitter free for 13 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,720 three months now. Three weeks. 14 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:20,440 So Julian Notselli then explained his phone lag and 15 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:25,200 phone log and showed that he had been spending four hours a day 16 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:30,520 on social media. So Julian on Twitter and the 17 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,560 author of the book of Ecclesiastes have something in 18 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:38,320 common. Both of them were depressed and 19 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:40,520 they felt they'd wasted their lives. 20 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:41,920 Next slide, please. Thank you. 21 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:48,520 So historians debate if Solomon really wrote the book of 22 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:52,640 Ecclesiastes. Some say that Ecclesiastes was 23 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,320 written by a person who pretended to be Solomon. 24 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:58,320 So I'm going to stick with Jewish tradition. 25 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:04,320 I believe King Solomon wrote the book which starts by saying the 26 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:09,120 words of the preacher the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 27 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:16,680 So Ecclesiastes uses the personal pronoun I over 80 times 28 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,800 in the book, and many of the sentences start with I did this 29 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,920 or I thought that. And many of the passages in 30 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:28,360 Ecclesiastes match events in Solomon's life. 31 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:35,200 So he wrote the book in old age, after he'd turned away from 32 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,360 following God. And Ecclesiastes is his 33 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,240 confession. This is mea culpa of a wasted 34 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,480 life and he is warning young people to learn from his 35 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:47,960 mistakes. Next slide, please. 36 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,240 So his favourite word in the book is vanity. 37 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,000 He starts by saying this in verse 2. 38 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:01,600 He says vanity of vanities, says the preacher vanity of vanities. 39 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,280 All is vanity. That Hebrew words also 40 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,200 translated as meaningless in some versions. 41 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,200 The NIV says this verse is meaningless. 42 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,840 Meaningless, says the teacher, utterly meaningless. 43 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:20,000 Everything is meaningless. And then the last chapter 44 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,520 returns to verse 2 and repeats it talks about vanity for the 45 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,240 38th time in the book. Next slide, please. 46 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:34,280 It's a pretty gloomy book. Solomon is saying our time on 47 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:39,520 earth is meaningless because nobody will remember us 100 48 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:44,160 years after we've died, death is the great equaliser, and that 49 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:45,960 all our daily activities are meaningless. 50 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:51,120 And here are some more of Solomon's depressing statements. 51 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,920 I hated life. I hated all the things I'd toil 52 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:01,080 for under the sun. I praised the dead who are 53 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,960 already dead. It's better to go to the House 54 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,800 of mourning than the House of feasting. 55 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:16,120 Sorrow is better than laughter. And this one, I found one 56 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:22,400 upright man among 1000, but one upright woman I could not find 57 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,600 among them all. We'll come back to that later. 58 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:28,720 Big one, that big one that. Yeah. 59 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,520 So Solomon's statement, statements in the book of 60 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,480 Ecclesiastes, they reflect the depression in his final years. 61 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,480 And he he probably died in his mid 50s. 62 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,840 And he calls himself in the, in this book 7 times. 63 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:51,040 He calls himself a teacher or a preacher. 64 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,840 Now if Solomon was the pastor of this church, I'd probably go 65 00:04:56,840 --> 00:05:00,160 somewhere else on a Sunday morning because he wasn't a 66 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,160 great teacher. And here are three reasons why I 67 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,600 believe. Firstly, there's something, 68 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:10,360 there's an adjective called narcissistic. 69 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,920 Narcissistic people, they talk at length about themselves. 70 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,120 They like to talk about their achievements, they like to voice 71 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,400 their opinions, they even steer the conversation to make it 72 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,360 about themselves regardless of the topic. 73 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:30,960 And often wealthy and powerful people do this. 74 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:37,760 They're often narcissists and at time we see this in some other 75 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,040 church leaders. Unfortunately we see it in some 76 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,640 mega church leaders especially and Solomon in Ecclesiastes. 77 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,640 He sounds like a narcissist preacher. 78 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,400 He's talking about his pursuit of wisdom, his pursuit of 79 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,800 pleasure, and his pursuit of wealth and Ecclesiastes. 80 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,720 He doesn't sound like this servant hearted pastor who cares 81 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,720 for the flock and faithfully teaches God's word. 82 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:09,120 Secondly, second reason why I wouldn't go to his church is 83 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:16,120 because he seems fixated on life, on death, on dying, and on 84 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,560 meaningless. If Solomon had come into my 85 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,920 surgery, I was a doctor. If he'd come into my surgery, 86 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:25,640 I'm sure I would have diagnosed him as having clinical 87 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,400 depression. And maybe he's at risk of taking 88 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,920 his own life. And he's repeating messages of 89 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:35,960 doom and gloom in this book. And they're not exactly 90 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,000 edifying. They don't exactly build up the 91 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:43,040 flock, make mature Christians, help them to be soul winners and 92 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,560 overcomers. And the third reason I think 93 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:50,880 that's why Solomon wasn't a great teacher was because he 94 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,600 doesn't meet the qualifications of a spiritual leader. 95 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:01,680 Ephesians, sorry. One Timothy talks about how to 96 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,600 be a spiritual leader and it says it's all about character, 97 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,760 about how well you live your life, how well you live in your 98 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:14,560 family, how well you live in your community, whether you're a 99 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,160 good role model, whether you obey God. 100 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:19,760 It's not about how well you can preach. 101 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:26,640 And Solomon, as he got older, he made a shipwreck of his faith. 102 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:29,400 The apostle Paul used that phrase. 103 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:35,520 He described Hymenius and Alexander, who were two 104 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:41,000 Christians in in Ephesus who'd backslid, and Solomon according 105 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,880 to one kings. He did what was evil in the 106 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,480 sight of the Lord and lack the qualifications to be God's 107 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,840 spiritual leader. Jesus spoke about such 108 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,720 narcissistic Jewish religious leaders in his day. 109 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,600 His statement about them was that they preach but they don't. 110 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,480 They don't what? Practise. 111 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,720 Yeah, they preach but don't practise. 112 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,720 Solomon might have got an A for his preaching, but his practise 113 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,960 didn't just let it down, it caused him to waste his life. 114 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:23,240 Amazingly, God used him mightily. 115 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:28,000 He built the temple, he led the nation of Israel and the Holy 116 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:32,320 Spirit even inspired him to write 3 books of the Bible, 117 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,360 Ecclesiastes, Proverbs and the Song of Solomon. 118 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:41,480 So this morning I want us to see how Solomon ended up as a sad 119 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,800 old preacher telling the story of a wasted life. 120 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:50,280 So I'm going to begin by describe by describing stage 1, 121 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:54,120 next slide, please, Solomon's solid start. 122 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,960 So Solomon had a great father. His father was King David. 123 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:05,560 David was described in Scripture as a manner to God's own heart, 124 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:12,360 and one king, three says Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the 125 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:16,800 Lord by following the practises of his father David. 126 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:23,160 So Solomon started his adult life when he was a young man, 127 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:25,520 following in his father's footsteps. 128 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,880 After David died, Solomon became king of Israel. 129 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:37,760 And last Sunday Isaac was speaking about Solomon having a 130 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,360 dream. And in the dream God told 131 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,160 Solomon, tell me what I should give you. 132 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:49,400 And Solomon's reply was showed wisdom and it showed humility. 133 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,960 He asked God for an understanding mind to govern 134 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,160 Israel. And God was pleased with that 135 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,520 reply. He gave Solomon the greatest 136 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:04,720 gift of wisdom ever bestowed on anyone. 137 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,040 And as a bonus, he threw in extraordinary wealth. 138 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,280 And Solomon, in the 10th century, was a superstar. 139 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:21,160 He was the Elon Musk of his day. He was a great influencer. 140 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,240 People admired him for generations, but it was the 141 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:30,040 young king that they were admiring, not the sad and lonely 142 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:33,000 old man. So Nehemiah wrote this. 143 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,440 There was never a king like Solomon in any of the nations. 144 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:43,640 God loved Solomon and made him king over Israel, Two Chronicles 145 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,080 says. Solomon, the son of David 146 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:50,120 established himself in his Kingdom, and the Lord his God 147 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:54,000 was with him and made him exceedingly great. 148 00:10:55,640 --> 00:11:01,440 And the billionaire queen of Sheba heard of King Solomon and 149 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,080 travelled over 1000 miles to visit him. 150 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:07,600 And when she met him, she said she told him this. 151 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,240 This report was true, that I heard in my own land of your 152 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,920 words and of your wisdom. But I didn't believe the reports 153 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,080 until I came, and with my own eyes had seen it. 154 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:23,400 And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. 155 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:26,080 You surpassed the report that I heard. 156 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:32,600 Next slide, please. Jesus 1000 years later also 157 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:34,600 spoke, spoke about Solomon's greatness. 158 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,160 This is what he said. He's talking about the Queen of 159 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:40,680 Sheba here. The queen of the South came from 160 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:44,240 the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and 161 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:48,840 behold, someone greater than Solomon is here, which implies 162 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,720 that he thinks that Solomon was pretty great as well. 163 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:57,160 So Solomon had become king of an empire by the time he was 20, 164 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:02,640 and you think he was set up for a lifetime of happiness and 165 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:07,680 success? King David called him just 166 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:11,200 before he died, and he gave him an advice. 167 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:16,440 This is what he said to him. He urged him to know the God of 168 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:21,480 your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing 169 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:26,240 mind. And then he gave this prophetic 170 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,880 warning to Solomon about God says if you seek him he will be 171 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:41,920 found by you and be sorry but he but if you forsake him, he will 172 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:46,880 cast you off forever. I wonder if David had seen 173 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:50,160 something in Solomon's character that disturbed him. 174 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:56,360 Perhaps he'd observed Solomon's Achilles heel that could trip 175 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:00,680 him up. The chink in Solomon's armour 176 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:06,760 was that he passionately desired the company of beautiful young 177 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:12,080 women and Solomon's foundations as a young man were already 178 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:16,800 collapsing and his world and would eventually bring him to 179 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:22,080 ruin. So second stage in Solomon's 180 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:26,360 life, Solomon's sensual struggle. 181 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,960 You know, millionaires today like to collect expensive works 182 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:36,280 of art for their collections. Solomon also had a hobby. 183 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:41,680 He collected wives. He became king by the age of 20, 184 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:44,280 by which time he already had two wives. 185 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:49,280 The first was an Ammonite beauty and the second was an Egyptian 186 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:53,600 Princess. Now, Ezra didn't mince his words 187 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,080 when he wrote this in one Kings. He just bluntly wrote He said 188 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,320 Solomon loved many foreign women. 189 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:06,320 Solomon was wise when he was young and served God with a 190 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:11,000 whole heart and a willing mind. And usually age and experience 191 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,120 make people wisely wiser and Godlier if they're Christians. 192 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:18,440 But that doesn't always happen, and it didn't happen in 193 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,640 Solomon's case. His desire to love young, 194 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:25,120 beautiful foreign princesses got the better of him as he got 195 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,440 older. You know the story. 196 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:33,360 He ended up collecting 700 wives and 300 mistresses. 197 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:39,720 If you work it out, that's two new bedmates each month of his 198 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,720 life. He copied the practise of other 199 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:46,440 Eastern rulers and established A hareem. 200 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:51,920 And those Solomon loved? 700 wives. 201 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:57,080 They didn't love him back. Really, none of them were his 202 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,720 friends. It says in Scripture that he 203 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,880 couldn't find one upright woman among his thousand lovers. 204 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:10,840 No wonder he became lonely and depressed in his old age, he 205 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:15,640 wrote in Ecclesiastes. Better a poor but wise youth 206 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:21,640 than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a 207 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:24,800 warning. I wonder whether he was thinking 208 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,720 back to the warning that his father, King David gave to him 209 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:35,240 before he died, whether he wrote this proverb about himself now 210 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,920 being foolish when he was wise, so wise when he was the young 211 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:44,080 Prince. No doubt there were many people 212 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:48,320 around Solomon's day who were asking the same question that 213 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:52,800 Nehemiah asked 500 years later. This is what Nehemiah wrote. 214 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:58,800 He said did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such 215 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:03,720 women among the many nations? There was no king like him, and 216 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:09,000 he was beloved by God, by his God, and God made him king over 217 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:14,080 all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made 218 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,040 even him to sin. Next slide. 219 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:24,440 So one king says this says when Solomon was old, his wives 220 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:29,200 turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was 221 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:33,120 not a wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of 222 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:37,920 David his father. Solomon did evil what was evil 223 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,880 in the sight of the Lord, and did not completely follow the 224 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,800 Lord as his father David had done. 225 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:51,160 So Scripture says Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord. 226 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:59,440 Now his big sin wasn't having numerous wives, not even was it 227 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:05,480 marrying foreign women, women, although that is prohibited in 228 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:11,560 the books of the law. Solomon suffered from heart 229 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:15,440 disease. His big sin was his heart. 230 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,560 His heart was turned away from following God and turned towards 231 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:26,640 worshipping idols. He built altars to foreign gods, 232 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:28,760 the foreign gods that his wives worshipped. 233 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:34,480 We never hear about his wives worshipping Yahweh, the God of 234 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:37,840 the Bible. Instead, we hear of Solomon 235 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:44,160 worshipping idols himself. Rather than helping his wives to 236 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:49,280 start worshipping Yahweh. His foreign wives LED Solomon to 237 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:53,880 worship Chimosh and Baal. Say Solomon went after 238 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:58,280 Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sardonians, and after Milkom, 239 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,600 the abomination of the Ammonites. 240 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,680 And that idolatry that he was practising, that he was 241 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,760 promoting, eventually led to civil war in Israel when the 242 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,800 nation broke into two, two separate nations. 243 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,240 Now the kings of both of these nations of Judah and Israel, 244 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:23,920 almost all of them worshipped foreign gods or promoted or 245 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,200 tolerated foreign gods over the next 400 years. 246 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,360 And idolatry became so established that 500 years 247 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:35,640 later, 400 years later, God judged both nations and allowed 248 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,440 them to be conquered and their populations to be scattered 249 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,040 throughout the world and the temple to be destroyed. 250 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:49,680 So when Solomon was young, he followed God wholeheartedly, but 251 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:53,240 when he got older, his wives turned his heart to follow other 252 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:59,360 gods and believers today still backslide, maybe due to 253 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:03,440 Solomon's sin. That a Christian may follow God 254 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:08,040 wholeheartedly, but then if he or she falls in love with an 255 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,960 unbeliever rather than the unbeliever turning to God, 256 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:15,480 sometimes the Christian may end up turning away from God. 257 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,680 Next slide please. So the final stage of Solomon's 258 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:26,080 life. Solomon's sad senility. 259 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:32,160 Chapter 12 continues Solomon, his sad reflection on his wasted 260 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,880 life. And it finishes with a short 261 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:38,440 poem. And he's painting a picture of 262 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:42,040 various complaints associated with getting old. 263 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:45,880 Solomon may. Maybe he was even suffering from 264 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:47,320 some of these complaints himself. 265 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,160 I'm going to walk you through these poetic descriptions one 266 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,760 phrase at a time. And with each phrase, I'll 267 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:01,640 suggest a medical condition that Solomon might be picturing. 268 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:09,960 Next slide, please. He starts the poem before the 269 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:15,600 sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened, and 270 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:19,560 maybe he's talking here about his eyesight failing. 271 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,240 He goes on, and the clouds return after the rain. 272 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:30,800 There's one problem after another in his life, in the days 273 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:32,960 when the keepers of the house tremble. 274 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,720 He's probably picturing Parkinson's disease here, in 275 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:44,880 which sufferers have shaky hands and the strong men are bent, so 276 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,600 it's common for the elderly to have difficulties because their 277 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:53,040 back is bent forward. Next slide, please, he goes on, 278 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,800 and the grinders cease because they are few. 279 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,440 This is obvious, isn't it? It's our teeth. 280 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:06,840 And those who look through the windows are dimmed again. 281 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:13,240 Another mention of eyesight failing and the doors on the 282 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:17,760 street are shut. If your mouth is like a door, 283 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:20,720 then that suggests difficulty talking. 284 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:27,440 And when the sound of the grinding is low, we often have 285 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:35,040 problems hearing as we get old. Next slide and one rises up at 286 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:40,600 the sound of a bird. Difficulty sleeping or insomnia. 287 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:47,960 Hear a bird wakes you up, can't get back to sleep and all the 288 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,720 daughters of song are brought low hearing problems again. 289 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:59,880 They are also afraid of what is high, problems keeping your 290 00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:04,320 balance and terrorists are on the way. 291 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,440 Maybe this is the increased anxiety and fear which is 292 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:13,520 common. The almond tree blossoms. 293 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:18,360 We have a few almond trees blossoming in the congregation 294 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:20,400 today. You know what what this is. 295 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:27,200 Next slide please. The grasshopper drags itself 296 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:31,720 along, probably meaning difficulty walking due to 297 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:38,640 weakness and desire fails. Anyone have any idea what that 298 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:43,000 might be? Yeah, you're thinking it sexual 299 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,000 problems. There was no Viagra around in 300 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:51,960 Solomon's day because man is going to his eternal home. 301 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,120 Now he's finishing the poem. He's clearly talking about the 302 00:22:55,120 --> 00:22:58,440 process of dying here. And the mourners go about the 303 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:02,280 streets. And that's a clear reference to 304 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,240 death. Need mourners to have death. 305 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:09,920 Next slide please. His poem concludes with a few 306 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:14,400 more images, and these are events that occur at the time a 307 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:18,680 person dies. Let me read it before the silver 308 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:24,320 cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the picture 309 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:29,400 is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 310 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:34,280 And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit 311 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:39,560 returns to God who gave it. And Solomon's probably picturing 312 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:46,280 a broken back here, a broken brain and a broken heart in this 313 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:49,080 final poetic description. Next slide, please. 314 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:56,680 So I want to to land now. So Solomon's started his adult 315 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,280 life well, but finished it badly. 316 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,640 And as he wrote Ecclesiastes, he must have had memories. 317 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:08,440 He must have remembered the time when, as a young man, he had a 318 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:13,800 close relationship with God. God spoke to him directly on a 319 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:15,480 couple of occasions through a dream. 320 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,600 But now he's nearing his at the end of his life, he's got many 321 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,520 regrets. He's wasted his life chasing 322 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:27,000 after women, wealth and idols rather than walking with God. 323 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:29,520 And he's sought earthly pleasures. 324 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,880 When he left God out of the occasion, out of the equation, 325 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:38,040 nothing satisfied him. He's sad, lonely and depressed 326 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,400 and leading the nation astray spiritually as well. 327 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:47,520 Now he wants to atone for his sins by preaching to young 328 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:49,920 people. He wants them to listen to his 329 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:53,320 experience so that they don't repeat his his mistakes. 330 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,440 And so at the end of Ecclesiastes, he's making a 331 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:00,080 couple of very true statements. Not everything in the book of 332 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:02,920 Ecclesiastes. We should be taking his gospel, 333 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:05,800 taking his true. A lot of it is about 334 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:10,560 recollections of a saddle man, but these things were, I 335 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:14,560 believe, true. He says this, remember also your 336 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:19,480 creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come 337 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:24,160 and the years draw near of which you will say I have no pleasure 338 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:26,440 in them. He's saying that there is a 339 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,400 purpose in life and it's found in knowing God and keeping his 340 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,200 commands. And the other verse is this. 341 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:38,520 Now all has been heard. Here is the conclusion of the 342 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,800 matter. Fear God and keep his 343 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:45,440 commandments. Now he's talking to young 344 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,760 people. I don't know what I would do if 345 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:52,320 I was a young person listened to King Solomon on his deathbed. 346 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,960 Would you listen to his sermon and think, Oh yeah, learn from 347 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:01,720 his mistakes. If you don't preach what you 348 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:06,800 practise, you're useless as a as a role model, as a teacher, as a 349 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,400 good preacher. So let me finish with a few 350 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:21,480 applications. Next slide please Right The best 351 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:29,480 time to know God is now. When I was 18, I was a medical 352 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,880 student. I was a mathematics student in 353 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:35,760 London, and I decided that God didn't exist. 354 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:42,880 And one day I was walking in London and I nearly had a 355 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,640 serious accident. And after getting to safety on 356 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,760 the other side of the road, I remembered what a student friend 357 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,920 had told me. He'd said he'd shared the gospel 358 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:57,480 with me, that I could receive forgiveness for my sins by 359 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,440 trusting him. And though I came to accept that 360 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:06,480 Jesus had died and had risen again for several weeks, I chose 361 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,800 not to trust in God. I wanted to carry on living my 362 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:14,520 simple life. I believed in that Jesus died, 363 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:16,400 but that didn't make me a Christian. 364 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:22,360 Another student visited me and with AI believe a word of 365 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:26,720 knowledge. He laid bare what I was thinking 366 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,440 that I could put this event off until the end of my life. 367 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:34,760 And he said without knowing what I was thinking, Jeff, if you 368 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,480 don't surrender your life to God tonight, I don't believe you 369 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,440 ever will. And I did that and that made all 370 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:44,800 the difference to the rest for me is history. 371 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,400 So the best time to come to know God is when you're young. 372 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,320 That's when your heart is most likely to be opened to the 373 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,080 gospel. It's the time when God can speak 374 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:58,680 into your life and guide you and help you and shape the future 375 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,200 course of your life. If you start young with Christ, 376 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,280 you can continue with Christ and stay close to Christ. 377 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,280 And that way you'll you'll end up with God at the end of your 378 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:13,560 life. Says in Scripture today is the 379 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:17,480 accepted time mate. So mate today the day of 380 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:20,480 salvation. If you don't know Jesus already, 381 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:25,000 mate today the day that you seek him and ask him to be a saviour. 382 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:34,800 2nd is a word for pensioners. That old age can be your golden 383 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:40,240 years. As of today that includes Libby, 384 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,920 my wife, because she now qualifies today for her 385 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,000 Lancashire County Council bus pass. 386 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,000 She's a but she's a ways to serving God at the moment. 387 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:54,240 She's on her conference at the moment in Derby Fort called 388 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,720 Hands of God for British Sign Language interpreters. 389 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:01,720 Psalm 92 says this. The righteous flourish in the 390 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:06,240 courts of our God. In old age they still produce 391 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,360 fruit. They are always green and full 392 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,120 of SAP, showing that the Lord is upright. 393 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:17,200 We shouldn't get our understandings about old people 394 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:21,200 from those who think of the elderly as those who passed 395 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,840 their sell by date. We should get it from Scripture. 396 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:30,960 And Psalm 92 paints a picture of older believers as trees that 397 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:35,320 are still producing fruit and testifying to the goodness of 398 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,040 God. It can be a joyous and 399 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:42,000 fulfilling thing in old age. Do you agree, Clem? 400 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:45,720 Good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 401 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:52,240 Provost 2029 says the glory of young men is their strength, 402 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,680 Grey hair, the splendour of the old. 403 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:03,120 So what strength is to the young people, age is to the old. 404 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:09,240 Age isn't a liability, it's an asset to the Lord through prayer 405 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,640 and to the world through ministry in His church. 406 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:20,360 My father-in-law turns 99 later this year, is still active in 407 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:26,320 his church, and a old age is not a detriment to serving God. 408 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:30,760 Scripture said this of Moses when he was died he was 120 409 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:36,360 years old and his eyesight was clear and he was strong, as 410 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:42,480 strong as ever. Thirdly, a word, a word for 411 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:49,200 those in love. Don't let love draw you away 412 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,080 from God. Like Solomon. 413 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:55,320 If you're single, don't date an unbeliever. 414 00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:00,720 Even if you think you can, your your belief will win out over 415 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:04,280 his or her belief. And that it would come to trust 416 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,440 in God and trust in Christ. It's dangerous. 417 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:09,920 It's dangerous. Solomon's example proves that 418 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,120 don't think someone was thinking of converting his wives, was 419 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:21,400 thinking of something else. Instead, wait until the person 420 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:25,520 you fancy is born again before starting to date. 421 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:29,200 And if you're married to an unbeliever, stay faithful to 422 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,720 them. One Corinthian says that if 423 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:35,400 you're unequally yoked, the unbelieving partner is made 424 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:40,520 wholly by the believing spouse can work out. 425 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:44,960 We've seen it happen. Finally, a word for those who've 426 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:50,000 lost their first love for God. It's possible to come back to 427 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,560 God. Solomon's life story proves it. 428 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:58,480 It demonstrates that God can use in his service people even if 429 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,160 they've sinned or sinned badly that Solomon did. 430 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:07,080 You're still his child even if you've lost your first love, and 431 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:12,320 the way to return to him is by asking God for forgiveness. 1 432 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:17,560 John 19 says God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and 433 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,160 to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and God is 434 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:24,360 gracious. The Holy Spirit drew you to 435 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:27,760 respond to God in the first case, and He will keep you. 436 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:33,840 The Holy Spirit that He gives you when you're born again is 437 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:37,040 His guarantee that He will keep you until the day of Jesus 438 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:41,520 Christ. Solomon backslid badly and 439 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,680 wasted his life. God still used him to write the 440 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,880 book of Ecclesiastes, and I believe he'll be there in heaven 441 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:52,120 because Jesus said not one of his chosen ones will be lost. 442 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,480 So will you be in heaven if you've placed your trust in 443 00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:00,360 Jesus that he died for your sins in order that you can receive 444 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,560 eternal life and enjoy eternity in in heaven? 445 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:11,560 Let's just pray, shall we? Yahweh, we thank you for helping 446 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:16,480 us to understand Your goodness and your faithfulness through 447 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:21,800 the life of Solomon. Your promise to us is that if we 448 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:25,960 ask anything in the name of Jesus believing, we will receive 449 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:28,480 it. Lord, we want to ask for our 450 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:33,320 children and our youth to come to know you as Saviour while 451 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:37,200 they're still young, and then to follow you all the days of our 452 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:42,280 lives, of their lives. And thank you Jesus, that You're 453 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,520 faithful and just. And we ask for those who've lost 454 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:48,640 the first love and are not following you. 455 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:54,320 Help their hearts to give the idols that they cling to by 456 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,880 confessing their sins. And thank you, Lord, for the 457 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:01,960 promise that you will cleanse us from all unrighteousness and 458 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:06,240 forgive us our sins. And Lord, we want to pray for 459 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:10,719 senior citizens right now. For those who've never asked you 460 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:13,960 to forgive them, please open their eyes, Lord, that they may 461 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:16,920 see Jesus. For those who struggle with 462 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:21,760 health issues of one kind or another, we ask you, Lord, you 463 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:25,280 are Yahweh, a Rafa, the Lord who heals. 464 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,560 Bring healing to their bodies and minds and make them fruitful 465 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:34,400 trees with righteousness. Thank you God for your grace in 466 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:36,080 Jesus name, Amen.