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The Vanity of Being Overly Righteous (Ecclesiastes 7:15-22)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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And if you would now take your Bibles and open
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up to the Old Testament. Wisdom book. Of Ecclesiastes.
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Ecclesiastes chapter 7. As we continue in our
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sermon series through this book, we're going
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to start in verse 15, simply picking up where
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we left off and taking it through the end of
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the chapter. And I would ask you to pay close
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attention because this is God's word, Ecclesiastes
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7 -15. In my vain life, I have seen everything.
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There is a righteous man who perishes in his
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righteousness and there is a wicked man who prolongs
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his life in his evil doing. Be not overly righteous
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and do not make yourself too wise. Why should
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you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither
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be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
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It is good that you should take hold of this,
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and from that withhold not your hand, for the
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one who fears God shall come out from both of
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them. Wisdom gives strength to the wise man,
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more than ten rulers who are in a city. Surely
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there is not a righteous man on earth who does
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good and never sins. Do not take to heart all
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the things that people say lest you hear your
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servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many
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times you yourself have cursed others. All this
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I have tested by wisdom. I said I will be wise,
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but it was far from me. That which has been is
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far off and deep, very deep. Who can find it
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out? I turned my heart to know and to search
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out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things.
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and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness
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that is madness, and I find something more bitter
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than death. The woman whose heart is snares and
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nets, and whose hands are fetters, he who pleases
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God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.
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Behold, this is what I found, says the preacher,
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while adding one thing to another to find the
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scheme of things, which my soul has sought repeatedly,
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but I have not found. One man among a thousand
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I found. But a woman among all these I have not
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found See this alone I found that God made man
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upright But they have sought out many schemes
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Friends this is God's word. Let's pray Our Lord
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and our God and the father of the one who is
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called the word I Do ask that you would illumine
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our hearts and our minds that we would understand
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What is perhaps a perplexing text to us? Help
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us to see how this points to our Savior Jesus
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Christ Would you grant us the help of your spirit?
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We pray for Christ's sake amen If you can remember
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What did you think of the Christian faith before
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you were a Christian? Did you understand and
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maybe you're still figuring this out now Did
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you understand that the Christian faith is one
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of at times suffering of? Trouble of challenge
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of difficulty of sadness We know that Jesus said
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there would be times of trouble and we know that
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Jesus said take up your cross and follow me But
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do we really get it? What are our thoughts about
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the Christian faith? When we're going through
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something terribly difficult Do we expect that
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all things will go well? Because we're Christians
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Well friends Maybe we think it'll go well for
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a time or a season But trouble is coming we will
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all experience it no doubt you've felt it before.
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You've seen it before. A young pastor recently
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ordained loses his son to death in the night.
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The doctors don't know why. A missionary is killed
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by the very people he sought to convert. A woman
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comes down with terminal cancer who's doing a
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phenomenal job loving her husband and her children.
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Why do these things happen? It's the classic
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question. Why do bad things happen to good people?
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Have you ever been asked that? Have you ever
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yourself asked that question? Why do bad things
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happen to good people? I was asked this question.
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I think I've shared this before. I was inside
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of a women's prison doing prison ministry and
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a young woman incarcerated for a long time asked
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me that question. Why do bad things happen to
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good people? Why am I here? To be honest with
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you, I didn't know the answer. R .C. Sproul gave
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perhaps the finest answer I have ever heard.
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Why do bad things happen to good people? He said,
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that's only happened once. And he volunteered.
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Jesus is the one who does good all of the time.
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But when bad things happen, people tend to respond
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in very unhealthy, ungodly ways. When things
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aren't going our way, do we just think, well,
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I must not be living up to God's standard. I
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must not be righteous enough. I just need to
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try harder. Or you have those who say, well,
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I'll just give up. What's the point? You know
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what we probably would not say? Verses 16 and
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17. Be not overly righteous. Don't be too wise,
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don't be too wicked, just don't. Amen, let's
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pray, right? No, this is a perplexing statement.
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Professor Benjamin Shaw says these verses are
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a commentator's nightmare. He probably wrote
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that from the comfort of his own home or office
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rather than preaching in front of people. So
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let's ask ourselves, how is this passage to quote
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from Second Timothy, profitable for teaching,
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for reproof, for correction, and for training
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in righteousness. How is this passage useful
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to us? Well, let's remember what Solomon is doing
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here. Solomon is putting on his detective's hat.
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He's going after some of the mysteries, some
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of the things that he sees in life that he doesn't
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understand. It's like he's on unsolved mysteries.
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He's trying to unlock life's most baffling whodunits.
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And this one relates to righteousness and to
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wisdom. And so, look at verse 15. In my vain
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life, I have seen everything. everything he says.
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Now this is hyperbole, this is exaggeration.
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It's seen everything, but what's really perplexing
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to him is what continues. There is a righteous
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man who perishes in his righteousness and there
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is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his
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evil doing. Meaning the righteous sometimes die
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and suffer while the wicked prosper. And so as
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he sees this in his life, It is perplexing. He
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doesn't understand. It's tough for him, and it's
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probably tough for us as well. Why do the wicked
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prosper while the faithful suffer? The crook
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should not get rich, and the liar should not
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get his way, and the murderer should be the one
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who loses his life, but sometimes it doesn't
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seem to happen that way. But friends, long life.
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Maybe this makes it more perplexing long life
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and the scriptures are often seen as a blessing
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from God, right? And so that makes it even more
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challenging, right? It seems like life is maybe
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unfair You think of the fifth commandment to
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honor your father and your mother and your days
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will be long in the land that God gives to you
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How do we understand that kind of a commandment
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that kind of a even a promise? Well friends,
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this is not a blanket statement We have plenty
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of examples in the scriptures of those who love
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God suffering for it, right? We've already mentioned
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many times Cain and Abel. What about this from
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Psalm 73? The observation from the psalmist who
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says, such are the wicked, always at ease, the
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increase in riches, all in vain. I have kept
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my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence
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for all day long I have been plagued and am punished
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every morning. Sometimes friends the faithful
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just don't live to a ripe old age while the wicked
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prosper. How perplexed you think must Solomon
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would Solomon have been to see all of Jesus's
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disciples suffering as they did. Solomon though
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knows the answer to why things are this way.
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He's already shown us many times the bigger question
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to why these things happen is How shall we live
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in such paradox? how shall we live in such a
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world where the righteous die and the wicked
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prosper Well, here's to get back to it a little
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bit the two dangers the two unhealthy ungodly
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ways that people approach trouble and suffering
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people who say on this hand things aren't going
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well, I just got to do better. I got to lace
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up my sneakers a little bit tighter. I got to
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get my hands dirty. I got a knuckle down. I'm
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just not righteous enough. These are those that
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Brian Chappell calls sola bootstrappa. I like
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it too, right? Pulling oneself by one's own bootstraps,
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but the other On the other hand, those who say
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if the same end befits us all and the wicked
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prosper, why not just sin more? Let's put God's
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grace to work. So these are the two dangers.
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And if I can use more technical terms, legalism
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and antinomianism, right? Legalism that says,
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yes, I can do those things, God, but I can do
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them better. The antinomian, which quite literally
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means against the law, those who perhaps say,
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oh, I've been baptized, I profess faith in Jesus
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Christ, and therefore I'm good to go, I can live
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however I want. Friends, hear this quote from
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Thornwell who said, the gospel, like its blessed
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master, is always crucified between two thieves.
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Legalism of all sorts on the one hand and antinomians
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on the other. The former robbing the Savior of
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the glory of his work for us and the other robbing
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him of the glory of his work within us. Friends,
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as we look at these two dangers, I want us to
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see that there is a better way. There is a better
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path forward and His name is Jesus. But please,
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as you see this perplexing statement here, don't
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be too righteous. Please understand this. Solomon
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is not saying disregard practical means of growth
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and holiness. He's not saying that. Actually,
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he upholds wisdom and righteousness in verse
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19. But look at verse 20. This is where it all
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hinges. Surely there is not a righteous man on
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earth who does good and never sins. There's not.
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That was true in Solomon's day, and that is true
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in our day. All of our strivings will not make
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us righteous before God, and yet this is how
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many people think. I heard a song just yesterday
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and I wanted to share the lyrics because I think
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it captures this perfectly. It's by a Christian
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contemporary artist named Matthew West. He said,
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I used to think grace was a ladder. Every sinner
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had to climb. If only I could do better, I could
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earn it over time. Tried to work my way to good,
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trouble is I never could. But then you showed
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me just exactly how grace works. I'm not loved
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because I'm worthy. I'm loved because you're
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good. Period. I'm loved because you're good.
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Looking to ourselves for righteousness, being
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wise in our own eyes, pursuing wickedness, the
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results of this kind of behavior will be utterly
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devastating upon us. You need the righteousness
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of another. And for you who have it, keep looking
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to Him and trusting in Him for His righteousness
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because you see what the problem is. Look at
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verse 29. This alone I found that God made man
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upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
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We are to think here of what happened after creation.
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We are to think of the fall into sin. With Adam
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and Eve, they were walking in perfect relationship
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with God. All was right in the world until it
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wasn't. God gave them freedom to sin and freedom
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not to sin. Thinking that they would acquire
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wisdom, Adam plunged the whole world into sin.
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And Solomon's statement has been correct ever
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since. And so what is Solomon doing here? He's
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looking around. He's looking near and he's looking
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far. He's looking high and he's looking low,
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trying to find is there anybody on the face of
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this earth who does good all the time and never
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sins? And does he find it? No. No. A similar
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episode happens with Abraham. Do you remember
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Abraham haggling with God? over mercy towards
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Sodom? What a statement that is. Abraham in prayer
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says, God, will you destroy this place if there
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are 50 righteous people in it? And God says no.
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And he talks him down from 50 to 45 to 40 to
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30 to 20 to 10 and says, God, if there are 10
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righteous people in this place, will you destroy
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it? And God says no to these things. But then
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Abraham stops. and he doesn't continue haggling
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with God, why? The text doesn't tell us, but
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I think we can understand two things about it.
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One, he stops because he understands the mercy
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of God. If any one will be saved, it'll be because
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God shows him mercy, the righteous for the unrighteous.
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And two, Abraham stops because there is no unrighteous.
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He gets to the end of the line. Here's the good
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news, though. Abraham stops. God does not. Abraham
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stops. God does not. He spares Lot and his daughters.
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And yet with Solomon here, he's looking around.
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He doesn't haggle at all. He just looks and sees
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there is none. There are none righteous. Why?
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Because we are urged to look for righteousness
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elsewhere He also understands that in our unrighteousness
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oftentimes we give in to temptation that sometimes
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we play with the fire of temptation look in verses
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26 and 27 This kind of temptation Solomon knows
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a thing or two about that He's been burned by
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it, and he's done the burning. What Solomon's
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doing here is he's describing a particular kind
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of woman. Do you remember the sort of women that
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Solomon pursued? Let me give an innocent plug
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for Sunday school, particularly the fellowship
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Sunday school class in which we have been reading
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about this. First King's Chapter 11, verses 1
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through 4, reads like this. Now King Solomon
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loved many foreign women, along with the daughter
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of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian,
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and Hittite women. From the nations concerning
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which the Lord had said to the people of Israel,
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you shall not Enter into covenant into marriage
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with them neither shall they with you for surely
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they will turn away your heart after their gods
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Solomon clung to these in love he had 700 wives
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who were princesses and 300 concubines and his
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wives turned away his hearts and so as you see
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Solomon here the teacher, the preacher, the one
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called Kohelet. As you see him making these statements
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about women and temptation that is here, we must
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understand that this is not a condemnation of
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women. This is not a gender issue. What he is
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getting at is the real problem. Our fallenness,
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the temptation to sin, those who toy with our
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sin instead of fleeing from it. You all know
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John Owen who famously said be killing sin or
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it be killing you. And so what he's showing us
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here is is that when we give into these things
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they are terribly destructive. And I find something
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more bitter than death. The woman whose heart
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is snares and nets and whose hands are fetters.
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He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner
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is taken by her. Who else could write that? But
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Solomon. And so his experience is playing into
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this. But please also see this. Men are not faring
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any better. The playing field is level, according
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to verse 20 and 29. And even if you crunch the
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numbers of 28 men, come out only one -tenth of
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a percentage point better than women in Solomon's
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experience. And this is not dogma. This is his
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experience. That we all fall short of the glory
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of God. Look at verses 21 and 22, because this
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illustrates this. Do not take to heart all the
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things that people say, lest you hear your servant
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cursing you. Your heart. Knows that many times
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you yourself have cursed others What is he doing
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but illustrating this point? That we all struggle
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with sin We all struggle with temptation But
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because we all do Shouldn't we be much more quick
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to forgive? Do we really need to be hung up?
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on every single little problem that we have with
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one another, knowing how sinful we are as well,
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that's what he wants you to see, right? And he
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wants us to see that men and women left to their
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own devices are hopelessly unrighteous, foolish,
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and wicked. Have you ever heard of the name G
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.K. Chesterton? In 1908, the Times newspaper
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reached out to a number of famous writers and
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said, would you please respond to this question?
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And the question was this, what is wrong with
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the world? Chesterton wrote back, dear sirs,
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I am. Sincerely, GK Chesterton. Friends, since
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we have all fallen short, what are we to do?
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We must recognize that God provides the way of
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escape, and he provides the righteousness. Look
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at verse 26. I've already read this a couple
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of times, but he says there's something worse
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than death. People sought out many schemes. What
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they do and what we do sometimes is to twist
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what is good into something that which is wicked,
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right? But God's word is clear on this. Hebrews
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12 one. let us lay aside every weight and sin
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which clings so closely. Jesus says it too, right?
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He talks about our hand causing us to sin or
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our eye, right? To take that out, right? And
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so maybe we can apply that into our own lives.
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I don't have a phone up here with me, but if
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your cell phone causes you, tempts you to sin,
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throw it in the trash can. If your job over and
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over again tempts you to sin, then maybe you
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need to consider a new job. If your friends over
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and over again tempt you to sin, maybe you need
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some new friends. You see it from our text, the
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one who does good before God is the one who escapes
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his sin. Perhaps there's no better spot to see
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this than in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Verse
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13, some of you I believe have this memorized.
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No temptation has overtaken you that is not common
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to man and God is faithful and he will not let
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you be tempted beyond your ability. But with
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the temptation, he will also provide the way
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of escape that you may be able to endure it.
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Friends, it is true. God provides the way of
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escape. But let's say that your sin has you so
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wrapped up in it. You're so entangled by it that
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you cannot get out of it on your own. What then?
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Well, friends, that's kind of the point, isn't
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it? That's kind of the point. You need God's
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help. You need His rescue. You cannot do it on
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your own. Ancient Church Father John Chrysostom
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said, Paul implies, reflecting on 1 Corinthians
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10 .13, Paul implies that there are temptations
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that we cannot bear. What are they? All of them,
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in effect. The ability to bear them comes only
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from God's grace. And that is a very, very true
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statement. Just like Solomon's observation, Surely
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there is not a righteous man on earth. Well friends
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Surely there is Surely there is and this is Christ
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For second Corinthians 521 says for our sake
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he made him who knew no sin to be sin So that
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in him we might become the righteousness of God
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Jesus is our righteousness and Jesus is our wisdom
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and so Christian Whether you're battling sin,
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whether you're enduring temptation, whether you're
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suffering through the miseries of this life,
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you need one thing. You need the righteousness
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of Christ. You see, Christ fulfills verse 20
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that I've said many times over. Christ also fulfills
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verse 15. Let me read it again. In my vain life,
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I've seen everything. There is a righteous man
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who perishes in his righteousness. Jesus perished
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in his righteousness so you could have it. The
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righteous for the unrighteous. Let's pray.