Tuesday, 1st February 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-2 Everything is Vanity
V1-2 ‘The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”’ In the Book of Ecclesiastes, it continues to mention the word ‘vanity’, but what is vanity? In the beginning of Chinese New Year, we must understand what vanity is in our lives. Psalm 31:6 says ‘I have hated those who regard useless idols; but I trust in the Lord.’ King David hated everything useless, which is vanity, but he trusted in the Lord. We tend to rely on the things we can see, we can feel, and we can touch, but we don’t have the habit to rely on God, who we cannot see.
David taught us that everything manmade is vanity and useless. What do we rely on in the past? Do we rely on our wealth, health, ability, talents, social circles…? This is a wake-up call from God, He told us today that everything is vanity, everything man-made is useless.
Section Two V3-11 Life is Vanity
V3 ‘What profit has a man from all his labour in which he toils under the sun?’ We must learn to let go, to rest, and to experience God. It’s not about doing nothing, but it’s about working in partnership with God. Learn to pray more and to seek God more. We must also examine ourselves every day, what are we bringing to others? Are our words encouraging or full of bitterness and complaints?
V8 ‘All things are full of labour; man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.’ It’s easy to feel that everything makes us tired. What does our life bring us? We may look glamourous on the outside, but what is really inside our lives? We try to do a lot of things to strengthen our status and improve our lives, but the harder we try, the more there seems to be for us to do. What is really in our hearts and our mind?
We work hard to seek the things that will go away, and we fail to spend time with God, and to receive the joy from God. We can live a life of worship, and we can enjoy walking with God every day! Let our lives be attracted to others, not our ‘doing’, but how great our God is when we live out our lives for Him! God is so real in our lives, we must hold onto Him, experience Him, worship Him, enjoy His presence… every day and every moment of our lives!
V9 ‘That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.’ Everything that is happening right now happened in the past, there is nothing new for God, only the package has changed. What we are experiencing right now, the good and the bad, all happened in the past, therefore don’t live our lives without God’s involvement, but full of stories and miracles of God!
Section Three V12-18 Wisdom is Vanity
Life is vanity, and for people, who don’t know God, don’t see the hope in life. Christians have faith, hope and love, because we know only God is the answer. People might think we are wasting time to come to church instead of earning money. But what is the true wisdom of how to live our lives? In life we will all come cross failures and challenges, but what do we learn from them?
Are we willing to worship God all of our lives? Do we use prayers to start every day of our lives? Let this New Year be the new beginning for us to focus on seeking God first, and He will not withhold every good thing from us!
传道书 1 – 日光之下都是虚空
2022年2月1日 星期二
潘锡安牧师
“日光之下”这个词组在传道书里面出现29次 – 我们都是活在日光之下，这本传道书也是在讲地上的生活；“虚空”一词在本书出现39次，提醒我们人生的虚空，所以要专心寻求神。如今疫情泛滥，现实社会给人的信息让我们担忧，人的谋算在“日光之下”都是“虚空”，我们不要费心去抓去抢这些属世的“虚空”。
一、v.1-2 凡事都是虚空的
本书一开始作者就说自己是“在耶路撒冷做王”、“大卫的儿子”，也就是很有智慧的所罗门。“传道者”就是一个讲话的人。这位统领以色列十二支派的君王说的“虚空”出自大卫所作的诗篇 31:6 “我恨恶那信奉虚无之神的人，我却倚靠耶和华”。大卫恨恶这些不真实存在的东西，这些“虚无”其实是人手所做、看得到的东西，但他选择的是那位看不见的神。我们是否选择那些感觉得到的世上的东西，还是看不见的神？“虚空”、“虚无”并非没有，反而是可以看得见摸得着的属世之物，我们是否倚靠这些世上的金钱、才华、人脉、健康？神在大年初一借着这段经文敲醒我们，人手所造出来的东西都是虚空、虚无的，我们还是追求这些虚空吗？享尽一切荣华富贵、满有智慧的所罗门王引用父亲的诗篇来提醒大家，世上这些事情都是虚空，要单单敬畏耶和华。
二、v.3-11 人生都是虚空的
V3 “日光之下” 指的是在白天人工作的时候。我们是否知道“人一切的劳碌……有什么益处呢”? 很多人一生重心都在工作上，忽略了自己家庭，到年老的时候，落下一身的病，没有给家人祝福，反而要让家人多照顾一个病人。我们努力赚的钱最后什么都带不走，因为无论人生有多风光，我们都是空空的来、空空的走。这个世界让我们在日光之下忙碌，我们忙着做自己觉得重要的事，没时间与家人沟通。真正的安息也不是什么都不做，而是学习祷告、寻求，凡事交托给神，与神同工。当我们给别人带出来的感觉是酸酸的，说明我们已经累了，都是靠着自己来做事。我们的待办事项清单是很长的，但我们祷告的“清单 ”呢 – 不是我们要神做的事，而是我们跟神说的话, 是否也是这么长呢？
V8 “厌烦”就是疲倦，人生的事会让人疲倦，所以诗篇23篇才说神能让人安躺在青草地上。我们回看自己的一生，即使经历风光、掌声，仍是很疲倦的。人拥有很大权力的时候，其实里面充满惧怕，因为需要负责以及想要得到和巩固的东西太多。人所谋算的东西都是虚空的，就算是平民百姓，也常为自己的子孙后代操劳。我们需要安息，在安息中思想自己是否在为虚空的世界劳碌，还是倚靠神？不要让世上的事情使我们疲倦，要让我们的人生充满喜乐、敬拜、让人看到的不是我们个人的努力而是神的伟大。我们的生命最重要的不是那些表面要做的事，而是与神同行，每天敬拜神、与神相交。
V9 我们不要以为以前的事都过气了，我们现在所经历并不是什么新事，或许外面的形式是新的，其实本质都是跟过去一样的。不要让我们的人生充满虚无，而是充满可以跟人分享的故事，当我们满有与神同行的神迹奇事，人就会被吸引。
三、v.12-18 智慧都是虚空
V12-13 这里的“智慧”不是箴言里面所讲“敬畏耶和华”的“智慧”，而是从人而来的知识。当我们用人的智慧、知识去看我们所经历的事情时，我们看到的只是负面，连本来是祝福的事 – 比如来教会、读经祷告 – 都看成是“极重的劳苦”。
V14 很多极有聪明、学问的人最后反而自杀，因为他们看不到神的爱，只看到虚无。对我们基督徒来说，我们要看到“信望爱”。
V16 真正的“大智慧”是敬畏耶和华。每个人都会经过挫折、失败，但我们从中学到的是什么呢？是否只是看到别人对我们不好或者我们自己不好？最重要的是敬畏神。
我们现在心里谋算的是什么呢？是否能完全交托给神，每天敬拜、祷告、与神同行？让我们在新的一年，重新开始，以神为乐，知道他是那没有一个好处不给我们的主。