Word of Salvation – Vol. 33 No. 30 – August 1988

The “Dead Ends” Of Life

Sermon by Rev. J. Haverland on Eccles. 3:16-4:16

Readings: Philipp. 4:4-13; 2Cor. 1:3-7

I wonder how many of you have come across a cynical person.  We're not thinking of a person who occasionally makes a cynical comment.  No, we are talking about someone who is really cynical.  Their whole outlook on life is twisted and bitter.  They don't see any good in anything.  They think the worst of every situation and of every person.

Fortunately you don't meet too many people like this.  Yet if non-Christians were really consistent, this is where they would all be.  Cynicism is the logical end for the unbeliever.  If you don't have God in the picture and you keep thinking about life in the world you will end up a very cynical person.  This is the perspective which The Preacher adopts in the verses of our text.  After looking at life from the perspective of the Believer in the beginning of Chap.3 he now switches tracks and looks at life as the unbeliever sees it.  Life without God!  It is helpful to look at this for two reasons:

1.

First of all, if we understand how people in the world think, we can help them.  A good doctor has a good knowledge of diseases and sicknesses – not because he likes them, but so that he can cure people.  If we know what the trouble is with people we will be able to help them.

2.

Secondly we need to understand the viewpoint of the world because it tends to influence us.  If we grasp the viewpoint of the world we can deal with it in our own thinking.

As he approaches life from the point of view of the unbeliever The Preacher considers 5 areas of life.  He shows us how each of these areas ends in a dead end for the non-Christian.

1.  The non-Christian has no future (3:16-22)

As he takes his earthbound perspective the preacher startles us.  He makes the blunt statement that men are just like animals (vs.18).  You can compare this to modern evolutionary theory.  The theory of evolution would have us believe that we are the highest form of animal.  But it stresses the difference between the animals and ourselves.  Here the preacher stresses the similarities between us and the animals.  He mentions two similarities:

a.  Men are like animals in that they both end up in the same condition (vs.19-20).  Both are dust and both will go back to dust.  That's the end of it.  We all die.

b.  We are like animals also because no one thinks about what happens after we die.  The preacher knows that man's soul goes upward while that of the beasts goes down (NASB and NIV alternative).  But not everyone knows this and very few people think about it.

People just don't think very deeply about the future.  This is why the attitude of most is that expressed in vs.22: we might as well be happy in what we are doing.  Make the most of life – isn’t that what it's all about?!  The Non-Christian has no hope for the future, no expectation, nothing to look forward to.  If they do ever think about the future there is only the passing thought of a future judgement, a thought that crosses the mind of The Preacher in vs.17.  It is here that we need to hold out the hope of the believer.  For we are not like animals.  We were made for God!  We were made for eternity!  And those who believe in Christ will share that future with him!  But for the Unbeliever there is no future hope.  Nor is there any comfort in the present.

2.  No Comfort (4:1-3).

Now the preacher notices something which must strike all of us.  You can't live in the world and watch the news and read the papers without being struck by the oppression and suffering in the world.  There are millions in our world with little or nothing to eat.  Thousands are caught in conditions of war and displaced as refugees.  Hundreds die on our roads each year.  Often this slides over us until we read of one individual case, one individual sufferer, or until it affects one of our family.  Then we are suddenly struck with the suffering and misery of the world.  We then notice what the preacher notices in the opening verses of chap.4.  That the oppressed have no comforter.  The oppressed cry out for help, those suffering weep with tears streaming down their face.  But there is no one to hear them.  No one to answer them.  Even as believers we are sometimes tempted to think that there is no comfort.  Sometimes we are discouraged and depressed.  But God assures us that there is comfort.  We have a God of all comfort who comforts us with the knowledge that we can rely on him.  Just as the sufferings of Christ overflow into our lives so too the comfort of Christ flows over into our lives.  This is our only comfort in life and in death.  That we belong, body and soul, in life and in death to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.  This is often the only thing we can hang on to in times of oppression and suffering and trial.  But it is everything!  It is all we have and all we need!  Our Lord Jesus offers us this comfort today.  And He wants us to hold it out to a suffering world.  Because for those in the world there is no future and no comfort apart from Christ Jesus.

3.  For those in a world without God there is also no rest (4:4-6).

Vss.4-6 contain amazing words because they could have been written as exact description of Australia or N.Z. in the 20th century.  These verses describe three people:

a.  The first person we meet is one who is caught in the rat-race.  He gets up at 6.30 in the morning, works a full day, stays late after work finish things off or to do that overtime.  He come s home and works on his books, or finishes off the papers left over from the office.  This pattern is repeated five, maybe even six days a week!  He rushes from one thing to another, always busy!  Meet Mr. Rat-race!  And you ask him why he does all these things?  Why he rushes and races and runs through life, scarcely pausing to catch his breath?  He probably won't be able to tell you.  But The Preacher knows: It is all a matter of keeping up with the Jones'.  It is the result of "rivalry between a man and his neighbour!" (vs.4).

We mentioned earlier that Christians are affected by the attitude of the world and this is never so apparent as here.  We too are caught in the rat-race.  We too are caught in this circle of keeping up with the Jones', our neighbours, or others in the church, or even our relatives!  Their new lounge suite, their additional room, their extra car, their holiday to Holland or England or Australia/NZ or wherever.  Now the preacher is overstating the case a little – but he wants to make the point.  70%, 80%, 95% of what we do is because others do it.  Others have it.  Others spend it.  We are so conditioned by our environment that we want it, we do it, we buy it.  So we get caught up in the rat-race.  We need to see this and guard against it.

b.  Now there are those who see the futility of all this.  Meet our second character.  This is Mr. Drop-out.  This is the person who has had it with the rat race and he drops out of the race.  He folds his hands, goes bush, settles into a commune, enrols for the dole.  But the preacher recognises that this is no answer.  He describes this person as a fool! (vs.5)  This is self-destruction.  To drop out only leads to a waste of talents, a loss of self-esteem, a decline in self-respect.

c.  So what is the answer?  Meet our third character.  This person is Mr. Contented.  This person knows the truth of this proverb: "One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labour and striving after wind." (vs.6)  Are you content with what you have?  Have you learned the secret of being content in whatever circumstances you are in whether in plenty or in want, rich or poor? (Philip.4:11-12).  Have you found that godliness is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment? (1Tim.6:6).  You see, there is rest for the believer.  The inner rest of contentment with what God gives us in Christ.

4.  Not only does the person in the world find no rest in the rat-race of life, He also finds no friendship.

Again the preacher gives us a bleak picture in vs.7-8 to make the point.  Here is man who works hard, day and night making his fortune, never satisfied with what he has accumulated.  But at the end of the day he asks himself the question: "Who am I doing this for?"  (The NASB adds in those words in italics because they aren't in the original.)  And the answer is that he is doing it for no one!  He is lonely.  He has no family and he never had time to make friends.  Again how many Christians are there is this category.  Particularly Christians who are in professional occupations: managers, businessmen, accountants, even ministers; who work hard but who end up being very lonely.  They don't know their families, and they have never had time for friendships.  God did not intend us to live like this.  He made us social beings.  We were made for people, made for each other, made to need and have friends.

This is why Jesus came as our friend.  Greater love has no one than this that a man lay down his life for His friends.  This is our greatest need in all of life:  A friendship with Jesus!  He is also a friend you can introduce to others.  Because there are many people in the world who have no future, no comfort, no rest and no friends.

5.  Finally in the world there is no popularity.

At least, no lasting popularity.  Vs.13-16 describe a king who was popular.  But a young person replaces him and he is the new star for a while.  But eventually people get tired of him too.  "Familiarity breeds contempt" says the world and it is often true.  We all want to be popular.  We all want others to like us.  We all want to be in other people's good books.  But the writer reminds us that this is a passing and temporary thing.  It comes and it goes.  Now this can be devastating for people in the world because, often, popularity is all they have.  Believers don't need to be concerned whether or not they are popular.  We are not called to be popular; rather to be faithful.  Faithful to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  He is the answer to the dead ends of our modern world.  He is the answer to its hopelessness and despair.  Without Him there is no future.  But for those who believe in Him He is the resurrection and the life!  Apart from him there is no comfort, but He has promised us the Holy Spirit as our Comforter.  To live apart from Him is to have no rest, but He offers us a peace that passes understanding!  Without Him there are few friends, but He has called us His friends, and He places us in the community of His people who are not only our friends but our brothers and sisters in the faith!  In the world there is no popularity.  But we know Him as the one who was despised and forsaken by men!  And so we belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ!  This is why we can sing:

"Whom have I, Lord, in heaven but thee,
 To whom my thoughts aspire?
 And, having thee, on earth is nought,
 That I can yet desire." (Psalter Hymnal No.138 (Ps.73)).

AMEN.