9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.

12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him. 15 What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Gus Cameron

Ecclesiastes has reflected on the futility of our hard work and toil. But today’s passage reminds us that there is someone whose work is not futile: God. God’s work is good and productive and beautiful. In Genesis 1 and 2 we read about how God worked to bring creation into being, and God saw that “it was good”. After God created human beings in his own image, he saw all he had made and “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Then, after all his work of creating, God rested. Unlike us, God can work and then find complete satisfaction and enjoyment in his work.

Ecclesiastes is showing us where to find happiness. We will never find it in our own work, but we will find it in God’s work. This is most clearly seen in God’s work of salvation. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.”

Ecclesiastes tells us that God has put eternity in our hearts (v 11); but no matter how hard we work, no matter how good our works are, we cannot work our way to eternal life. But God’s works last forever, his gracious gift is to give us Christ Jesus. His work on the cross frees us to work in a new way, to serve God, doing the good work that God has given us to do.

Do you see the difference between our work and God’s work? Our hard work will always end in frustration, but God’s work lasts forever. The way to find happiness and satisfaction is come to Christ Jesus, give him your life and serve him as your Lord and saviour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gus is our Senior Assisant Minister.

1 To everything there is a season,
and a time for every purpose under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to break down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to count as lost,
a time to keep and a time to discard,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Gus Cameron

I feel like life is busy and full of different things to do every day: making breakfast, getting the kids to school, writing a talk, opening the church hall for a tradie, picking the kids up again, driving to sport or piano, dinner, Growth Group, sleep. Then the next day it all begins again—with a different list of things to do.

This passage in Ecclesiastes describes how the days, weeks and months of our lives often feel. It describes many of the joys of life. There are times to dance and gather, embrace and laugh. But also times to weep, mourn, tear down and die.

It describes life in a fallen world, where we experience moments of deep love and joy, but also times when the right response is to grieve or hate the evil we see around us.

We cannot control the passage of time and we cannot control what events we will have to face in life. Life will be full of ups and downs. I am thankful for the honesty of this passage. Rather than pretending everything is ok, the passage gives a true and honest description of what life is like. It reminds me to trust God for my days, to depend on him on the hard days and to give thanks to him for the joyful days. I’m also thankful that we can look forward to eternity, when the passage of time will no longer be marked by highs and lows, but instead by the unending joy of being with our Lord Jesus.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gus is our Senior Assisant Minister.

18 I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

20 So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun. 21 When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil. 22 For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

24 Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God. 25 For apart from Him, who can eat and who can find enjoyment? 26 To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Gus Cameron

Many of us know people who have fled warzones and arrived in Fairfield with nothing. Many of them have worked incredibly hard to create a new life for themselves, and especially for their children. They aim to instil in their children the discipline of hard work. Their hope is that their children will have a better and far more prosperous life than they themselves had.

But then I was talking to a tradesperson this week who has lived the Aussie dream. He came as a refugee, and now he runs his own business instead of working for someone else. He said he’s making a lot more money, but he also has a lot more stress in life. He works hard, but his hard work hasn’t given him peace or freedom.

Today’s passage is a sobering reflection on the futility of toilsome work. It asks: “What do we get for all our toil and labour?” – and the answer is: death. We cannot work ourselves out of death. Even the hope of leaving our kids better off is not certain, because we cannot control our kids once we are gone. They might make wise decisions, but they might not.

Work has been painful and difficult toil ever since God said to the man in the garden of Eden, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17). Hard work is not the answer to life’s problems; it is a reminder of life’s greatest problem. We face death because of sin, and hard work will not overcome death.

There is work we should do – we should work to provide food and pay the rent. But there is also a type of work that will endure forever – what the Apostle Paul calls “the work of the Lord”. As we saw on Thursday, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.”

Ask God to protect you from being drawn into the lie that hard work can free us from the curse. And pray that God would help you remember the joy of working for our Lord Jesus, who really has freed us from death. Ask God to help you fix your mind every day on the hope and security we have in him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gus is one of our Assistant Ministers.

12 Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished? 13 And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:

14 The wise man has eyes in his head,
but the fool walks in darkness.

Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.15 So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?”

And I said to myself that this too is futile.

16 For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

In the first devotion, I said that both Job and Ecclesiastes are balancing the perspective of the book of Proverbs. Proverbs describes the usual pattern of life in God’s world, where godly wisdom normally leads to positive results. But “normally” isn’t “always.” Job balances that by asking about unjust suffering. Ecclesiastes asks whether godly wisdom actually produces anything lasting and meaningful.

The Teacher wants to find something solid, permanent and good. But whatever path he explores along, he always runs up against the same huge obstacle at the end. In today’s passage, he mentions that great final obstacle for the first time – and it will loom larger and larger as we approach the end of the book. That obstacle is death.

Here, the Teacher makes it clear that it’s at least a bit better to be wise than to be a fool. The wise person “has eyes in his head”, while the fool “walks in darkness” – that is, wisdom will enable you to make better decisions in life.

But he comes back to the brutal reality that “one fate overcomes them both.” The wisest sage and the stupidest fool will end up in the same place: 6 feet under. On top of that, give it long enough, and everything they both did will be forgotten and irrelevant. Death is like the gigantic final boss in the video game of Life – and this final boss is impossible to defeat.

It’s hard to know how much the writer of Ecclesiastes knew, or suspected, about any hope beyond death. But what he certainly didn’t know about is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead. That’s the game-changer – Jesus has smashed the final boss! And that means living with godly wisdom is not just a bit better; it’s a no-brainer. It’s the path to resurrection with Jesus and to solid and permanent joy.

Let these words from 1 Corinthians 15 fill your thoughts and your prayers now:I

“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. … If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor. 15:17, 19-20)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our Senior Minister

1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!”

But it proved to be futile.

2 I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”

3 I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

4 I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made gardens and parks for myself, where I planted all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees.

7 I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me, 8 and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.

9 So I became great and surpassed all in Jerusalem who had preceded me; and my wisdom remained with me. 10 Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.

11 Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Yesterday, the Teacher considered whether having the wisdom of Solomon would enable you to do anything truly lasting and meaningful. Today he turns to consider the enormous riches and resources Solomon had at his disposal.

His conclusion is: Even having all the wealth of Solomon – or of Elon Musk – won’t give you anything lasting. Pleasures only last the few short days of our lives. You can build buildings and gardens; but they will crumble. You can accumulate mountains of money or construct a huge business empire; but one day, whether it’s before or after you die, you’ll discover it was nothing more than “a pursuit of the wind” (v 11). It was futile, meaningless, all in vain. Nothing you do “under the sun” will last.

It takes bravery to face the fact that one day, absolutely everything you are living for and trying to achieve will be dust. Well … unless you trust in Christ and are striving to live your life for him! In 1 Corinthians 15:58, after explaining the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over sin and death, Paul says: “Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

It’s sobering to reflect on our dreams and ambitions. Take some time to ask yourself some hard questions, before God, about your priorities and what you are putting all your energy and your hopes into. Remember that Jesus told us both, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” and also, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:19, 33). Are you following a foolish path, or are you striving to live for Christ and his kingdom?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our Senior Minister

12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!

14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

17 So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow,
and as knowledge grows, grief increases.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

On Monday, I raised the question of who wrote Ecclesiastes. For some people, the answer is simple: King Solomon wrote it. In verse 1, he was introduced as “the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.” Here he repeats that, and also describes his great wisdom – which Solomon was famous for (1 Kings 3, 10).

But if Solomon did write it, there are some major puzzles. The name “Solomon” never appears. More puzzling is verse 12: “I, the Teacher, WAS king over Israel.” Why the past tense? Solomon ruled Israel until his death. Then in verse 16 he says, “I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem” – but there was only one Israelite king who ruled in Jerusalem before Solomon: his father David. Finally, after chapters 1 and 2 there is nothing in the rest of the book that suggests or sounds like it is Solomon – in fact, several passages sound like an ordinary man who has seen and experienced harsh treatment from kings (e.g., 5:8-9; 10:5-6).

Now, Solomon might have been “the Teacher” – that wouldn’t be a problem. But I think it is more likely that the Teacher was a much later wise man who was exploring the limits of the kind of wisdom we find in Proverbs. In chapters 1 and 2 he does that by adopting the persona of Solomon – role-playing being the wisest king in history who wrote many proverbs . If so, he wasn’t trying to trick anyone – Solomon had been dead for many years. His point was to show that not even someone with even Solomon’s famed wisdom could find anything truly lasting in human endeavours “under the sun.”

The problem with purely human wisdom is that it lets you understand what’s wrong with the world, but that doesn’t mean you can fix it! So growing wiser might just increase your sadness and grief (v 18). But God’s wisdom is not just his perfect knowledge, it is also his goodness and his power to save; and God has unveiled his saving wisdom in the cross of Jesus. That’s why Paul says that Christ Jesus “has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). Ask God to both give you the wisdom you need for life, and to rest in his far greater wisdom in Jesus.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our Senior Minister

4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets;
it hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows southward,
then turns northward;
round and round it swirls,
ever returning on its course.
7 All the rivers flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full;
to the place from which the streams come,
there again they flow.

8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can describe;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear content with hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
and what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a case where one can say,
“Look, this is new”?
It has already existed
in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance
of those who came before,
and those yet to come will not be remembered
by those who follow after.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

This guy must have been fun to be around at parties, right? Not exactly a ray of sunshine. But sometimes we human beings need a healthy dose of cold, hard reality.

Today’s passage reminded me of a conversation I had years ago in Chile. I was doing walk-up evangelism, and I got talking to a guy who had a strange mix of Catholic and New Age religious beliefs. He told me that he believed in “spiritual evolution.” Just like species evolve biologically, he believed, over the centuries humanity has also evolved spiritually, so that each generation is spiritually superior to the one before. I said to him, “Let me ask you one question: When you look at relationships between people today – from personal conflicts and divorce rates, all the way up to international relations and wars between countries – do you think the human race is any better today than it was 2000 years ago?” He said, “No, I guess not.” There goes that theory.

The Teacher’s basic point in today’s passage is: No matter how hard we try, we never really make progress. Yes, we might make advances in technology, medicine, etc. But at a more fundamental level of why we exist and what makes us human, things never change. History keeps repeating itself over and over. There are cycles of greed, abuse and moral corruption that humanity has never broken (hello, Epstein Files!). There is “nothing new under the sun” (v 9).

Except … something new did happen, centuries after the Teacher wrote this, something colossal: the Son of God rose from the dead. And that means there is one genuinely new thing that can happen in a person’s life – something that, eventually, will break every cycle of evil and despair: You can be born again by the Holy Spirit, when you accept Jesus as your Lord.

Take time in prayer to appreciate how huge that new thing is; and pray that God would do a great new work of His Spirit in St Barnabas, in Sydney, and in the world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our Senior Minister

1 These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2 “Futility of futilities,”
says the Teacher,
“futility of futilities!
Everything is futile!”

3 What does a man gain from all his labor,
at which he toils under the sun?

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

This month we are going to read the puzzling, thoughtful, and sometimes challenging Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. For today, I want to give a quick introduction to the book and its main theme.

Ecclesiastes is one of the Old Testament wisdom books. Proverbs is the most positive book of Old Testament wisdom – it describes the normal pattern of life in God’s world, where living by “the fear of the Lord” will generally bring positive benefits. But that “normal” pattern often doesn’t match our experience, which is why Job and Ecclesiastes are also in the Bible. They balance the perspective of Proverbs by exploring the dark parts of life that challenge simplistic answers. Job does that by asking: What about when the righteous suffer unjustly – do God’s wisdom and goodness fail? Ecclesiastes does it by considering a different challenge … which we’ll get to on Friday.

The book is mainly a collection of sayings by someone who is simply called “the Teacher.” Who was he? We’ll come back that question on Wednesday – the answer is not quite as simple as it seems.

What is the book about? Verses 2 & 3 tell us the three most important things to understand this book.

First, what is the Teacher’s perspective? He is looking at and thinking about the world “under the sun” (v 3). That is, he is trying to work out if he can find meaning and purpose in life only by observation and making logical deductions. For most of the book, he leaves God out of the equation, and limits himself to what he can see and hear and touch. He’s taking the perspective of a rationalist.

Second, the main topic he explores is “labour” or “toil” (v 3). He’s trying to figure out what we achieve through all our effort and sweat and tears. Do we actually achieve anything permanent and lasting?

That leads to the third thing, which is the conclusion he comes to in the end: “Futility of futilities! Everything is futile!” (v 2). If you leave God out of it and only consider what we can observe in the world, you have to conclude that we achieve absolutely nothing. Zero. Zip. Life is meaningless, and our most grand and solid achievements will ultimately turn out to be as permanent as a puff of wind.

I love the brutal honesty of the Teacher – he’s far more honest than many apparently clever atheists, who somehow convince themselves that even though we’re nothing more than random and meaningless clumps of biomatter (or so they believe), life somehow has meaning and value. As we work through the book, the Teacher is going to unveil the foolishness and emptiness of their philosophy.

Now if you were only to read Ecclesiastes, you’d get very depressed. But the ultimate goal of Ecclesiastes is to drive us to Jesus, the Son of God who gives us a view of life “above the sun.” If you know Jesus, you know God, you can know for sure that life is full of meaning and purpose. Thank God now for the ways in which knowing Jesus gives you a sense of meaning and purpose.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.

10 Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a man is corrupt and sinful; he is self-condemned.

12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do your best to equip Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, so that they will have everything they need. 14 And our people must also learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet the pressing needs of others, so that they will not be unfruitful.

15 All who are with me send you greetings.
Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with all of you.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Nathan Ting

Growing up with an older sister, I would say I did my job of being the annoying younger brother pretty well. I would not be able to count the number of times that we would quarrel over such trivial things that by the end of it, even if I had “won” the argument, I would often not feel satisfied – because it wasn’t even worth arguing over in the first place!

Earlier in chapter 3, Paul exhorted Titus (and us) to remember the grace of God poured out on us through Christ, so that we might grow in godliness and live to please God, which is “excellent and profitable for everyone” (v8). In today’s passage, Paul continues to remind us to remain on course by steering away from things that are “pointless and worthless” (v9) in Christian living. This includes arguing over things that, instead of edifying the church, focus on semantics and nitpicking, minor details. Ultimately, those arguments distract people from the assurance and hope of the gospel message. Paul clearly warns Titus against such divisiveness and divisive people, telling him not just to ignore such a person but to actively reject them (v10, 11) because they are self-condemned. That kind of pointless arguing would undermine Titus’s teaching of the gospel.

Have you ever had disagreements with fellow believers over minor issues that really aren’t connected to the gospel or the truth of God’s word? While it (hopefully) may not be our intention to be divisive or to engage in pointless quarrelling, we can sometimes get caught up in the finer details and lose sight of the bigger picture – the amazing news that while we were all still sinners, Christ died for us so that we could all be invited into God’s family.

Spend a bit of time now praying that we would all remain united in the gospel, building one another up and fixing our eyes on Jesus as we continue living for Him and waiting for His return.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nathan is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.

1 Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work, 2 to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone.

3 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6 This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life. 8 This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Paul Bogg

Salvation is a really good thing. Sometimes, I don’t really think about it and I comfortably go about my business. But there are other times when I remember what I have been saved from, and what I am saved into, and it resonates deeply inside of me. Today’s passage draws me out of my comfort zone and reminds me of the great truths of what salvation really means.

For the first half of my life, I didn’t know Jesus. I too was “foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures”.  I wouldn’t have called myself “living in malice and envy”, but maybe in God’s sight, I was. I wouldn’t doubt it!

But when I discovered the kindness and love that God the Father has for the world, that he is ready and willing to forgive our wrongs through the blood of his Son, that we could through faith alone, in his grace alone, become heirs with the hope of eternal life through Christ alone – this grace and mercy was more than I had ever received in my entire life. So I accepted the offer of life, making Jesus Christ my Lord and saviour.

At the beginning, this was transformative – I was a changed man. And as the years have rolled on, I am still a changed man, yet somehow I’m more complacent or comfortable. I don’t strive to be devoted to doing good deeds as much, or I’m far more tempted to not listen to rulers or authorities.  But notice what the apostle Paul charges Timothy to do: emphasize everything that salvation means, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. If I am truly a man saved from foolishness and slavery, and saved into a new birth, a new life, and an eternal future – then remembering that should cause me to be devoted to a radically “good” living. Not just good for myself, but a good that shows peace and gentleness and consideration to all people, for their benefit. And not “good” to earn anything from God, but “good” because he has already given me everything.

These are the truths that I need reminding of. Pray with thankfulness for them, that we would remind each other of them regularly.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul is a member of our Bossley Park morning congregation.