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Ecclesiastes 1:14                          Life Under the Sun Vs
                                          Life In the Son
I John 5:11,12
ECC 1:14   I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and,
           behold, all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.
1JO 5:11   And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life,
           and this life is in his Son.
1JO 5:12   He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son
           of God hath not life.
I. Solomon described life under the sun. Which is life in the flesh and
   after the things of the flesh.
        A. Solomon lived the flesh life to its fullest.
                1. He said, "I have come into a great estate, I have more
                   wisdom than all who have ever lived in Jerusalem before
                   me, but in much wisdom is much sorrow."
                2. He gave himself to partying but found it was madness.
                3. He built great monuments, planted vineyards and
                   orchards, and made irrigation systems to water them.
                4. He had an abundance of servants, the provisions for his
                   household for one day were: And Solomon's provision for
                   one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and
                   threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty
                   oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside
                   harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.
                   He had choirs and orchestras to entertain him.
                5. He had everything that he desired, he endulged himself
                   in every joy, he held back nothing from himself.
        B. These are the things that he discovered.
                1. Nothing of eternal or true value comes from all your
                   labor under the son.
                2. That which is crooked cannot be made straight.
                3. There is nothing new under the son thus life becomes
                   dull and monotonous.
                4. In the text, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
                5. At the end you have nothing to show for all your labor
                   and vexation that you went through in your labors.
                6. In the courts of justice there is wickedness.
                7. In the place of righteousness there is iniquity.
                8. People weep over the oppression and there is no
                   comforter.
                9. The oppressors have the power.
               10. Material things are empty and vain.
               11. You might as well seek to enjoy what you have gained
                   under the sun for that is all you are going to get from
                   it.
               12. The race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the
                   strong, bread is not always on the wise man's table,
                   nor riches to the man of understanding. Time and chance
                   are the determiners of all things.
               13. That God will make all things beautiful in His time.
               14. That which God does is forever.
               15. That one day God will judge the righteous and the
                   wicked.
               16. That the man who lives under the sun, lives like the
                   beasts, for one thing happens to them all, death.
               17. Riches can never satisfy.
        C. The end result of life under the sun the life of the flesh was.
                1. 2:17 "Therefore I hated life, because all the work has
                   become grievous to me."
                2. I hated all my labor for I have to leave it to the man
                   that comes after me.
                3. He despaired of all his labor under the sun.
                4. It eventually leads to cynicism and despair.
II. Life in the Son. This is the record, God has given to us eternal life,
    and this life is in the Son, he that hath the Son hath life.
        A. This eternal life is age abiding life, it is more than just
           quanity, it is a quality of life.
        B. It is life after the Spirit, vs the life after the flesh.
        C. It is a life that can only be described with superlatives.
                1. Peter speaks of indescrible joy that is full of glory.
                2. Paul speaks of a peace that passes human understanding.
                3. He speaks of love that is beyond human knowledge.
        D. It is a life that is rich and fulfilling, for it pays eternal
           dividends.
                1. Paul said that we do not look at the things that are
                   seen, (that is the material world) but at the things
                   that are not seen, for that which is seen is temporal,
                   but that which is not seen is eternal.
                2. John said for all that is of the world, the lust of the
                   flesh the lust of the eye, the pride of life is not of
                   the Father but of the world, and the world will pass
                   away with the lusts thereof, but he that doeth the will
                   of God will abide forever.
ISA 40:6   The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh
           [is] grass, and all the goodliness thereof [is] as the flower
           of the field:
ISA 40:7   The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of
           the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people [is] grass.
ISA 40:8   The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God
           shall stand for ever.