Ecclesiastes 2

PLEASURE UNDER THE SUN

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth
and three hundred concubines,
and his wives led him astray

Types of Pleasure
1. Comedy (Ecclesiastes 2:2)
2. Wining & Dining (Ecclesiastes 2:3)
3. Pet Projects (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6)
4. Accumulation (Ecclesiastes 2:7-8a)
5. Entertainment (Ecclesiastes 2:8b)

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

Solomon’s Teaching on Pleasure
1. Pleasure can be found in wickedness (Proverbs 10:23a)
2. Maturity level determines our amusements (Proverbs 10:23b, 18:2)
3. Pleasure must be kept in moderation (Proverbs 21:17)
4. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing (Proverbs 21:17)
5. A fool makes pleasure his purpose (Ecclesiastes 7:4)

New Testament Teaching on Pleasure
1. Pleasures can choke our maturity (Luke 8:14)
2. Living for pleasure isn’t living at all (1 Tim. 5:6)
3. Last days will be marked by love for pleasure (2 Tim. 3:4)
4. Pleasures can enslave you (Titus 3:3)
5. The pleasures of sin last only a moment (Hebrews 11:25)
6. If pleasure is the primary goal, prayer won’t work (James 4:3)

*the following is from Ravi Zacharias
1. Anything that refreshes you w/o distracting you from your final goal is a legitimate pleasure
2. Any pleasure that jeopardizes the sacred life of another is an illegitimate pleasure
3. Any pleasure, however good, if not kept in balance will distort reality or destroy appetite