Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday,
April 10, 2019
’dead in your trespasses and sins” = “conceived in sin,” “born in sin”, and “brought forth in sin” as we go from the womb to the tomb; Psa 51:5; 58:3.
”Temporal Death” = the believer lives in carnality and does not live in the “abundant life” that our Lord pioneered for whosoever.
- EPH 4:17, the Apostle Paul tells them to stop walking in the vanity or the futility of their mind.
PSA 37:4-5, Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
King Solomon was not only wealthy and a genius mentally but the Lord also revealed to Solomon the importance of growing up spiritually and not living in vanity.
- The first experiment = ‘Anthropocentric Academic Speculation’ or ‘regarding humans as the central element of the universe.’
Solomon put these things on the top of his bucket list which refers to a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime.
Solomon went through this and he wasn't bitter toward this first experimentation and his conclusion was that “All was vanity and chasing after wind, Ecc 1:14-18.
- Ecc 2, Solomon had the experiment of seeking happiness in pleasure, Ecc 2:1-11 or the “Eat, Drink and Be Merry Syndrome.”
PSA 103:1-3, Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases;
“Seeking Happiness in Pleasure” = ECC 2:11 seeking happiness in pleasure was vanity and chasing after wind and there was no profit in it.
Seeking happiness in pleasure was vanity and is like chasing after wind and that there was no profit in it at all…….no matter how it appears outwardly.
HEB 11:24-25, By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to endure ill‑treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin;
1CO 3:8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
HEB 10:35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
HEB 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
2JO 1:8 Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
REV 22:12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
- “The Archie Bunker” or the “All in the Family Experiment,” where Solomon decided that everything we do should be for our family.
Families are great at certain times but family is not going to solve the problems of life by having lots of children and keep everything in the family.
Solomon went through certain situations that would normally cause others to feel bitter and jealous but He wasn't bitter and he just said in ECC 2:17, that he hated life because everything was futility and chasing after wind.
Futility refers to those things that are pointless or useless or worthless.
What did Solomon mean when he said that “everything was also like chasing after wind?”
What Solomon is pointing to is the instability of humanity.
- Experiment number 4 was the Philosophy of Time Orientation or an organized life.
Solomon wasn't bitter after experiment number 4, his conclusion was ECC 3:9 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
- In experiment number 5, Solomon went looking for happiness from money, wealth and prosperity.
He wasn't bitter after experiment number 5, He just said in ECC 5:10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance {with its} income. This too is vanity.
- His sixth experiment that he thought would give him happiness was building a reputation for others to admire.
Solomon wasn't bitter after his sixth experiment, He just said in ECC 6:9 it was futility and a striving after wind.
- The seventh experiment is the experiment of seeking happiness in sex and love, Solomon became bitter with the results of this one.
Men have a problem or a weakness with at least four different forms of emotional sins.
- Bitterness
b. Anger
c. Jealousy
d. Revenge - Solomon's eighth and final experiment was looking for Happiness in the Hero Image or trying to be what we call today in sports - the G.O.A.T. or the Greatest Of All Time.
He is saying in effect, "There's one thing that really impressed me under the sun.....when I read history, I marvel at the heroes."
- Academics
2. Pleasure
3. Family
4. Philosophy
5. Money
6. Reputation.
7. Sex
8. Hero image - First, in EPH 4:17 the Apostle Paul tells them to stop walking in the vanity or the futility of their mind.
- Eph 4:18, they are filled with darkness and they are darkened in their understanding.
- They are excluded from the life of God; Eph 4:18.
- They were falling away while they left their first love because of the ignorance that is in them; Eph 4:18.
- The ultimate problems were because of the hardness of their heart; Eph 4:18.
2TI 3:5 They were holding to a form of godliness or religion or false spirituality although they have deni it’s not ed its power; and avoid such men as these.
We had nothing to do with our conception as we were conceived “in sin” and we were also “brought forth in sin” as we go out from the womb to the tomb.
- Problem #1 = all born physically alive but spiritually dead and we need to be saved from eternal damnation and therefore the Lord provided salvation for all; EPH 2:8-9.
Solution: Problem #1 = solved by the Lord for in EPH 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”