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What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? (NASB) Eccl. 1:3 The word he uses for “work” has the idea of exhausting work
and so his question is, “What is the benefit of working so hard
on this earth?” Especially when,
A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever. (NASB) Eccl. 1:4 His point is there is no benefit, since you just die in the end! We
are born and we die, but the earth is still here after we die. We come
and we go! That is it! And he is right!
Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again. (NASB) Eccl. 1:5 The sun comes and it goes, but it returns to do it all over again -
but not us!
Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns. All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again. (NASB) Eccl. 1:6-7 This is true about everything else on this earth. Everything continues
except for us. We come and we are gone!
All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. (NASB) Eccl. 1:8 We work very hard to acquire things that make us happy only for awhile,
and then we need something more.
Bad Eye Sight. That is Jesus’ next
point.
. . . for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (NASB) Matt. 6:21-23 The term “bad eye” is a Jewish idiom that means the eye
is always wanting something. We think we see clearly, but our eye can
be “full of darkness”- full of wanting.
Conclusion. Emptiness is the world’s treasure. And we cannot
tell it. And so we find ourselves serving our possessions. We can find
ourselves pursuing emptiness - serving emptiness. So, Jesus reminds us
that there are only two choices (Matt. 6:24). We can serve our treasure
of emptiness, or we can serve God!
Some day each of us will stand before Him and our work will be evaluated,
Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident.” (NASB) 1 Cor. 3:12 And we will either receive a reward for our good works, or our haystack
of work will be burned up. Are you working on a big haystack? Just remember
that stacks of gold are usually very small. Eph. 2:10 tells us that Christians
were born again to do good works. There are many examples in the Bible
of good works that we can do, but I believe the real difference between
hay and gold is revealed in this verse.
“. . . the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.” (NASB) 1 Cor. 4:5 Jesus wants the reason for your work to be the treasure of pleasing
Him - nothing else. |
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| Sermon on the Mount | ||||||
