How Can I Be Happy?
--- title: "How Can I Be Happy?" date: series: "Sermons 2001 Rewritten" text: "Ecclesiastes 2" speaker: Ed Rangel location: Waupaca Church of Christ bibleversion: NASB 1995 type: Expository status: draft tags:
sermon
sermons-2001-rewritten
ecclesiastes
happiness
vanity
contentment
cssclasses:
tpt-sermon
tpt-sermon-outline
tpt-mode-outline
---
How Can I Be Happy?
Learning Objectives
Identify the common places people search for happiness apart from God.
Explain Solomon’s search for satisfaction in wisdom, pleasure, wealth, work, and sensual desire.
Show why every earthly pursuit becomes vanity when God is left out.
Distinguish lawful enjoyment of God’s gifts from living for the gifts instead of the Giver.
Call hearers to seek lasting joy through obedience to God rather than temporary satisfaction under the sun.
Thesis
True happiness cannot be found in wisdom, work, wealth, pleasure, or possessions when God is removed, because life under the sun is vanity until man learns to receive God’s gifts under God’s rule.
People keep asking the same question with different purchases, different jobs, different relationships, different houses, different toys, and different sins: “Will this finally make me happy?” Solomon already ran that experiment, and he ran it with more wisdom, money, power, women, and opportunity than any of us will ever touch. His answer was not whispered from poverty. It came from a throne covered in gold. Without God, it is vanity.
Introduction.
Our society constantly tells us what happiness should look like.
Bigger homes.
Better cars.
Larger paychecks.
Longer vacations.
More education.
More pleasure.
More recognition.
Many people have accepted that message without questioning it.
Some work ten hours a day chasing happiness.
Some work sixty hours a week and call it necessary.
Some sell their family time, health, worship, and peace to buy things they barely enjoy.
Others seek happiness in education and human wisdom.
They believe more knowledge will solve the ache of the soul.
They assume understanding complex problems will bring lasting peace.
But intelligence without God can leave a man more burdened, not more joyful.
Others chase pleasure.
Drunkenness.
Revelry.
Immorality.
Entertainment.
Constant stimulation.
Some spend all their days searching and die unhappy.
They had money but no peace.
They had pleasure but no purity.
They had success but no satisfaction.
They had experience but no hope.
Ecclesiastes forces us to ask the honest question.
Where is your happiness found?
What are you chasing?
What will be left when the chase ends?
I. Solomon Searched for Happiness in Wisdom and Found Grief.
Solomon had extraordinary wisdom.
Solomon was not an ordinary thinker.
God gave him wisdom beyond other men.
People came from far away to hear him.
He understood matters that common men could not grasp.
First Kings 4 records the breadth of Solomon’s wisdom.
He spoke proverbs.
He wrote songs.
He spoke about trees, beasts, birds, creeping things, and fish.
Kings and nations heard of his wisdom.
If wisdom alone could make a man happy, Solomon would have been the happiest man alive.
He had more understanding than others.
He had access to knowledge.
He had the ability to examine life deeply.
Ecclesiastes shows that wisdom alone could not satisfy him.
Ecclesiastes 1:13 says the search for wisdom under the sun was a grievous task.
Wisdom helped him see life clearly.
But seeing clearly did not remove life’s burdens.
Greater understanding brought greater awareness of grief.
Ecclesiastes 1:18 teaches that increased wisdom can increase pain.
The deeper a man sees injustice, the more he grieves.
The more he understands human folly, the more frustrated he becomes.
Knowledge may explain sorrow without removing it.
Wisdom without God leaves a man staring at brokenness with no final answer.
He sees death.
He sees injustice.
He sees repetition.
He sees the limits of man.
He sees that knowledge cannot redeem the soul.
Human wisdom must bow to God.
Wisdom is valuable when it begins with reverence for God.
Proverbs teaches that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.
Wisdom severed from God becomes clever frustration.
Education without submission can make a man proud, not holy.
Some people think education will save them.
They read more.
They earn more degrees.
They explain more problems.
They still cannot answer sin, death, judgment, and eternity.
The church must not despise learning, but neither should we worship it.
Learning is useful.
Study is good.
Discernment matters.
But happiness is not found by making the mind bigger while the soul remains empty.
II. Solomon Searched for Happiness in Pleasure and Found Vanity.
Solomon tested laughter, wine, and pleasure.
Ecclesiastes 2 records Solomon’s deliberate search.
He tried pleasure.
He tried laughter.
He tried wine.
He tried the delights of the sons of men.
He did not speak as a man who never had access.
He could buy pleasure.
He could command entertainment.
He could surround himself with whatever his heart desired.
Ecclesiastes 2:10 says he did not withhold from his eyes anything they asked.
If he saw it and wanted it, he took it.
If his heart desired it, he pursued it.
He gave the flesh a long leash.
Pleasure gave temporary sensation but no lasting satisfaction.
Solomon called laughter madness.
Not because all laughter is sinful.
Not because joy is wrong.
But because laughter cannot carry the weight of life.
Pleasure can distract a man from emptiness for a while.
It can drown silence.
It can numb sorrow.
It can entertain the flesh.
It cannot heal the soul.
Sinful pleasure leaves a bill.
Drunkenness leaves shame.
Immorality leaves guilt.
Revelry leaves emptiness.
Lust promises happiness and delivers slavery.
Sensual pleasure did not make Solomon happy.
First Kings 11 records Solomon’s wives and concubines.
Seven hundred wives.
Three hundred concubines.
A thousand women could not fill one empty heart.
His women turned his heart away from God.
Pleasure became idolatry.
Desire became disobedience.
The king who once had wisdom became a warning.
Solomon found not happiness, but the anger of God.
God was not amused by Solomon’s indulgence.
God did not excuse sensuality because Solomon was powerful.
God punished his rebellion.
Pleasure outside God’s will always lies.
It tells the young person, “This will satisfy you.”
It tells the married person, “You deserve this.”
It tells the lonely person, “This will comfort you.”
It tells the sinner, “You can have joy without holiness.”
Ecclesiastes answers, “Vanity.”
III. Solomon Searched for Happiness in Work, Wealth, and Possessions and Found Emptiness.
Solomon worked and built on a massive scale.
Solomon built the temple.
It was magnificent.
It was costly.
It became known throughout the land.
Solomon built his kingdom and his own house.
He organized labor.
He expanded influence.
He built a name for himself.
If success could satisfy, Solomon should have been satisfied.
His projects were impressive.
His reputation was great.
His achievements were not small.
Solomon possessed enormous wealth.
First Kings records the abundance of his provisions.
Flour.
Meal.
Oxen.
Cattle.
Sheep.
Deer and birds.
He had horses, chariots, shields of gold, and a throne overlaid with gold.
His drinking vessels were gold.
Silver was treated as common.
His income was staggering.
Solomon had what many people think will finally make them happy.
Luxury.
Security.
Recognition.
Comfort.
Options.
Solomon discovered that work and wealth could not satisfy the soul.
Ecclesiastes 2:18–23 shows his grief over labor.
He hated the labor he had done under the sun.
He knew he would leave it to another.
The one who inherited it might be wise or foolish.
Work can become a hard master.
Some people live at work.
They say, “I have to,” when the truth is that desire often drives more than necessity.
They trade years of life for things that cannot save them.
A man may work like a slave and wake up empty.
Older.
Tired.
Injured.
Distant from his family.
Weak in worship.
Spiritually dry.
Wealth cannot protect a man from vanity.
He can buy more than he needs.
He can store more than he can use.
He can leave more than he can control.
Then he dies, and someone else spends it.
Work and possessions must be kept under God.
Work is not evil.
God expects man to labor.
Providing for family is honorable.
Laziness is condemned in Scripture.
Possessions are not evil in themselves.
God gives gifts.
God permits lawful enjoyment.
God blesses men in material ways.
The problem is when gifts become gods.
When work replaces worship.
When money replaces trust.
When possessions replace purpose.
When success replaces faithfulness.
The man who lives for wealth is never wealthy enough.
There is always another purchase.
Another raise.
Another improvement.
Another reason to miss what matters.
IV. Solomon Found Meaning Only When Life Was Received as God’s Gift Under God’s Rule.
Ecclesiastes does not teach despair as the final answer.
Solomon exposes vanity under the sun.
Life without God is empty.
Pleasure without God is empty.
Wisdom without God is empty.
Labor without God is empty.
But Ecclesiastes does not command man to hate life.
It teaches him to see life truthfully.
It teaches him to stop making earthly things carry eternal weight.
It teaches him to receive God’s gifts without worshiping them.
Ecclesiastes 2:24–26 points to enjoyment as a gift from God.
Eating and drinking are gifts.
Labor may have satisfaction.
The ability to enjoy life comes from God.
Solomon’s point must not be twisted.
He is not saying, “Do whatever you want and forget God.”
That would contradict the whole burden of the book.
That would excuse the very vanity he exposes.
That would turn wisdom into foolishness.
He is saying that life must be enjoyed under God’s rule.
Enjoy today without making today your god.
Work without becoming a slave to work.
Use money without trusting money.
Receive pleasure without violating holiness.
Ecclesiastes ends with the real conclusion.
Fear God.
Keep His commandments.
God will bring every act into judgment.
Happiness cannot be separated from obedience.
Sin may offer pleasure.
Sin may entertain the flesh.
Sin may distract the mind.
Sin cannot give peace with God.
True happiness looks beyond life under the sun.
Earthly happiness is fragile.
Houses decay.
Cars rust.
Paychecks disappear.
Health fails.
Work ends.
Pleasure fades.
The obedient child of God has hope beyond this life.
The Christian can enjoy God’s gifts now.
The Christian can endure sorrow now.
The Christian can face death with hope.
Lasting joy is tied to God, not circumstance.
God gives meaning to labor.
God gives purity to pleasure.
God gives restraint to wealth.
God gives hope beyond death.
The question is not whether God allows happiness.
He does.
But He will not let man find lasting joy in rebellion.
Joy must be received from God, governed by God, and aimed toward God.
Application.
For the person chasing happiness.
Ask what you are asking to save you.
If it is money, it will fail.
If it is pleasure, it will fail.
If it is career, it will fail.
If it is education, it will fail.
If it is anything without God, it is vanity.
For the Christian.
Do not let the world define happiness for you.
Do not sell worship, family, purity, and peace for a paycheck.
Enjoy God’s gifts without letting those gifts master you.
For the church.
We must preach against the lie that life consists in possessions.
We must train one another to seek God first.
A congregation shaped by materialism may still assemble, but its heart is being discipled by the world.
For parents and the next generation.
Teach children that happiness is not bought.
Teach them that pleasure without God becomes slavery.
Teach them that work is good, but work is not God.
Teach them that the best life is not the richest life, but the faithful life.
Conclusion.
Solomon searched where people still search.
Wisdom.
Pleasure.
Work.
Wealth.
Sensual desire.
He had more opportunity than we do.
More money.
More power.
More women.
More fame.
More freedom to experiment.
His conclusion is hard to ignore.
Without God, it is vanity.
Without God, pleasure fades.
Without God, wisdom grieves.
Without God, labor exhausts.
Without God, wealth disappoints.
Life is not meaningless when God is honored.
God gives daily gifts.
God gives lawful enjoyment.
God gives work its place.
God gives hope beyond the grave.
If you want true happiness, stop asking created things to do what only the Creator can do.
Fear God.
Keep His commandments.
Prepare for judgment.
Live under His rule.
Plan of Salvation
Hear the word.
Faith begins when the sinner hears the message of Christ.
No man can obey a gospel he refuses to hear.
Reference: Romans 10:17.
Believe Christ.
The sinner must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
Faith must rest in Christ, not in wealth, wisdom, pleasure, or personal goodness.
Reference: John 8:24.
Repent.
Repentance turns the heart from sin and vanity toward God.
A man cannot keep chasing the old life and honestly claim he is surrendering to Christ.
Reference: Acts 17:30.
Confess Christ.
Faith must not remain hidden.
The sinner must confess Christ as Lord.
Reference: Romans 10:9–10.
Be baptized for the remission of sins.
The sinner must submit to baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness.
Baptism is not a symbol after salvation; Scripture connects it with forgiveness, new life, and entrance into Christ.
References: Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3–4; Galatians 3:27; 1 Peter 3:21.
Live faithfully.
The Christian must continue fearing God, keeping His commandments, and living for what outlasts the world.
The Lord calls His people to remain faithful until death.
Reference: Revelation 2:10.
Word Study.
| Word | Original | Meaning | Use in Text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanity | הֶבֶל / hebel | Vapor, breath, emptiness, futility. | Describes the emptiness of life under the sun when God is left out. |
| Under the sun | תַּחַת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ / tachat hashamesh | Life viewed from the earthly perspective. | Frames Solomon’s examination of earthly pursuits. |
| Wisdom | חָכְמָה / chokmah | Skill, wisdom, understanding. | Solomon tested whether wisdom could satisfy the heart. |
| Pleasure | שִׂמְחָה / simchah | Joy, gladness, pleasure. | Solomon tested mirth and pleasure but found them unable to satisfy apart from God. |
| Labor | עָמָל / amal | Toil, trouble, labor, wearisome work. | Solomon saw the burden of labor when its fruit must be left to another. |
| Good | טוֹב / tov | Good, pleasant, beneficial. | Ecclesiastes 2:24 shows lawful enjoyment as something good when received from God. |
| Gift | מַתַּת / mattath | Gift, what is given. | Enjoyment of life is presented as coming from God, not from man’s control. |
|---|---|---|---| | Vanity | הֶבֶל / hebel | Vapor, breath, emptiness, futility. | Describes the emptiness of life under the sun when God is left out. | | Under the sun | תַּחַת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ / tachat hashamesh | Life viewed from the earthly perspective. | Frames Solomon’s examination of earthly pursuits. | | Wisdom | חָכְמָה / chokmah | Skill, wisdom, understanding. | Solomon tested whether wisdom could satisfy the heart. | | Pleasure | שִׂמְחָה / simchah | Joy, gladness, pleasure. | Solomon tested mirth and pleasure but found them unable to satisfy apart from God. | | Labor | עָמָל / amal | Toil, trouble, labor, wearisome work. | Solomon saw the burden of labor when its fruit must be left to another. | | Good | טוֹב / tov | Good, pleasant, beneficial. | Ecclesiastes 2:24 shows lawful enjoyment as something good when received from God. | | Gift | מַתַּת / mattath | Gift, what is given. | Enjoyment of life is presented as coming from God, not from man’s control. |
Scripture Interlock Table.
| Testament | Reference | Original Context | Connection to Main Text | Doctrinal Use | Sermon / Teaching Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 1:1–11 | Solomon introduces the vanity and repetition of life under the sun. | Sets the reading context for Ecclesiastes 2. | Shows the emptiness of earthly life when viewed without God. | Supports Introduction. |
| Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 1:12–18 | Solomon tests wisdom and finds grief increases with knowledge. | Supports the point that wisdom alone cannot make man happy. | Corrects confidence in human wisdom. | Supports Point I. |
| Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 2:1–11 | Solomon tests pleasure, possessions, and sensual desire. | Main section on the failed search for happiness in pleasure. | Exposes fleshly pleasure as vanity. | Supports Point II. |
| Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 2:18–23 | Solomon hates his labor because its results will be left to another. | Supports the point that work and wealth cannot satisfy the soul. | Warns against labor as an idol. | Supports Point III. |
| Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 2:24–26 | Solomon teaches that enjoyment of life is a gift from God. | Shows the proper place of lawful enjoyment under God. | Balances warning with gratitude. | Supports Point IV. |
| Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 | The final conclusion is to fear God and keep His commandments because judgment is coming. | Gives the governing conclusion of Ecclesiastes. | Shows obedience is central to meaningful life. | Supports Point IV and Conclusion. |
| Old Testament | 1 Kings 4:29–34 | God gives Solomon extraordinary wisdom. | Shows Solomon’s wisdom was unmatched and still could not satisfy without God. | Demonstrates the limits of wisdom alone. | Supports Point I. |
| Old Testament | 1 Kings 10:14–29 | Solomon’s wealth, gold, throne, shields, and abundance are described. | Shows Solomon had the wealth men chase today. | Demonstrates wealth cannot secure joy. | Supports Point III. |
| Old Testament | 1 Kings 11:1–13 | Solomon’s many wives turn his heart away from God, and God judges him. | Shows sensual desire did not bring happiness but judgment. | Warns against pleasure that violates God’s will. | Supports Point II. |
| New Testament | Matthew 6:19–24 | Jesus warns against storing treasure on earth and serving mammon. | Harmonizes with Ecclesiastes’ warning against wealth as a master. | Exposes materialism. | Supports Application. |
| New Testament | Luke 12:15–21 | Jesus warns that life does not consist in possessions through the rich fool. | Reinforces Solomon’s warning about wealth and death. | Shows possessions cannot prepare man for God. | Supports Point III. |
| New Testament | 1 Timothy 6:6–10 | Paul teaches contentment and warns that love of money leads to ruin. | Shows the New Testament answer to the same search for satisfaction. | Supports contentment under God. | Supports Application. |
| New Testament | Philippians 4:11–13 | Paul learned contentment in every circumstance through Christ. | Shows lasting contentment is not tied to wealth or lack. | Grounds joy in Christ rather than circumstance. | Supports Point IV. |
| New Testament | Revelation 2:10 | Christ calls His people to faithfulness until death. | Points beyond life under the sun to final reward. | Supports endurance and heavenly hope. | Supports Plan of Salvation. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 1:1–11 | Solomon introduces the vanity and repetition of life under the sun. | Sets the reading context for Ecclesiastes 2. | Shows the emptiness of earthly life when viewed without God. | Supports Introduction. | | Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 1:12–18 | Solomon tests wisdom and finds grief increases with knowledge. | Supports the point that wisdom alone cannot make man happy. | Corrects confidence in human wisdom. | Supports Point I. | | Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 2:1–11 | Solomon tests pleasure, possessions, and sensual desire. | Main section on the failed search for happiness in pleasure. | Exposes fleshly pleasure as vanity. | Supports Point II. | | Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 2:18–23 | Solomon hates his labor because its results will be left to another. | Supports the point that work and wealth cannot satisfy the soul. | Warns against labor as an idol. | Supports Point III. | | Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 2:24–26 | Solomon teaches that enjoyment of life is a gift from God. | Shows the proper place of lawful enjoyment under God. | Balances warning with gratitude. | Supports Point IV. | | Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 | The final conclusion is to fear God and keep His commandments because judgment is coming. | Gives the governing conclusion of Ecclesiastes. | Shows obedience is central to meaningful life. | Supports Point IV and Conclusion. | | Old Testament | 1 Kings 4:29–34 | God gives Solomon extraordinary wisdom. | Shows Solomon’s wisdom was unmatched and still could not satisfy without God. | Demonstrates the limits of wisdom alone. | Supports Point I. | | Old Testament | 1 Kings 10:14–29 | Solomon’s wealth, gold, throne, shields, and abundance are described. | Shows Solomon had the wealth men chase today. | Demonstrates wealth cannot secure joy. | Supports Point III. | | Old Testament | 1 Kings 11:1–13 | Solomon’s many wives turn his heart away from God, and God judges him. | Shows sensual desire did not bring happiness but judgment. | Warns against pleasure that violates God’s will. | Supports Point II. | | New Testament | Matthew 6:19–24 | Jesus warns against storing treasure on earth and serving mammon. | Harmonizes with Ecclesiastes’ warning against wealth as a master. | Exposes materialism. | Supports Application. | | New Testament | Luke 12:15–21 | Jesus warns that life does not consist in possessions through the rich fool. | Reinforces Solomon’s warning about wealth and death. | Shows possessions cannot prepare man for God. | Supports Point III. | | New Testament | 1 Timothy 6:6–10 | Paul teaches contentment and warns that love of money leads to ruin. | Shows the New Testament answer to the same search for satisfaction. | Supports contentment under God. | Supports Application. | | New Testament | Philippians 4:11–13 | Paul learned contentment in every circumstance through Christ. | Shows lasting contentment is not tied to wealth or lack. | Grounds joy in Christ rather than circumstance. | Supports Point IV. | | New Testament | Revelation 2:10 | Christ calls His people to faithfulness until death. | Points beyond life under the sun to final reward. | Supports endurance and heavenly hope. | Supports Plan of Salvation. |
Invitation.
Hear the word.
Romans 10:17 says faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Believe Christ.
John 8:24 warns that unless you believe that Jesus is He, you will die in your sins.
Repent.
Acts 17:30 says God commands all people everywhere to repent.
Confess Christ.
Romans 10:9–10 teaches confession with the mouth and belief in the heart.
Be baptized for the remission of sins.
Acts 2:38 commands repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
Live faithfully.
Revelation 2:10 calls the Christian to be faithful until death.
