Introduction: ______ it, you’ll like it! Who hasn’t heard that line?

Eccles. 2:1 - “I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure"; but surely, this also was vanity.”

The modern form of living for __________ was Epicureanism.

II Timothy 3:4 - “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

I. The Various _________ of Pleasure – v. 2-9

In verses 2 through 12, we discover all the various ways in which he sought to find meaning through PURE PLEASURE.

A. ____________ - v. 2

“I said of laughter--"Madness!"; and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"

Who doesn’t like a good ____________? The truth is however you can only _______ for so long. Soon laughter _______, and the jokes become old hat.

1

Charles Swindoll shares…

Robin Williams –

B. __________ – v. 3

“I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.”

Chateau Petrus Pomerol - $____________. Solomon probably had daily deliveries of ____ wines being imported from all over the known world.

C. Great ________ – v. 4

“I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.”

1. Solomon turned to ________ (Architecture) – v. 4

I Kings 7:1-7 - II Chronicles 8:3-6 -

2. Solomon turned to _________ (Agriculturist and Horticulturist) – v.

5-6

“I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.”

2

D.__________ – v. 7

“I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.”

E. _______, Music, Sex, and Instruments – v. 8

“I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.”

1. Solomon’s Money

I Kings 10:14-15 -

I Kings10:27 –

2. Solomon’s Musicians

3. Solomon’s Maidens

“the delights of the sons of men,”

I Kings 11:1-3 -

4. Solomon’s ________ Instruments

II. The Persistent _________ of Pleasure – v. 9-10

“So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,

3

For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor.” As I read through these verses I saw the following:

III. The Definitive _________ of Pleasure – v. 11

“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.”

When you are ________ up in something you don’t have the time to really _______ at what you are caught up in. It’s not until after a period of time goes by that you might catch a moment in time where you can actually do some soul-searching, some introspection.

What a statement from one of the world’s richest men who ever lived. The day of _________ arrived. The time to take stock of one’s life arrived.

Did you hear Solomon’s conclusion? He reviewed his various avenues of pleasure, and in the end, he says,

“And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.”

Wrap Up

4