Latest / HBCWestminster / Ecclesiastes Session Five 7.10.19

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Ecclesiastes Session Five 7.10.19 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Our journey through Ecclesiastes is a scratching of the surface. I don't know if you guys were here for that, but that's what I said. And I likened it to a rock skipping over the top of a lake. I'm not very good at that. I can't skip it very many times. But I've seen it done, right? And our study of Ecclesiastes is similar to that because it's stirring the waters, I hope, for all of us.
• 0:28
  in understanding it, in maybe even just reading the Old Testament. I also think it's a good analogy because we're just skimming the surface, right, like a rock across the water. I hope you understand that it's not an accident that we decided to do it and only had nine weeks to do Ecclesiastes. This book could easily take a year or more to go through on a Sunday morning.
• 0:56
  I also want to be clear that you know we do do that in case you don't come on Sunday mornings. Go verse by verse through a book. We believe in expository verse by verse preaching. But sometimes I think it's good to remember that an overview, a skipping of the rock understanding, a survey of a book is good too. Because sometimes if you're in a book for two years.
• 1:21
  on Sunday mornings or a year and a half, it's not that those verses aren't powerful, but you start to lose the vision of the totality of the book. Does that make sense? And I hope that that's what we're getting when we do this study of Ecclesiastes. It's an overarching view to see it from the top, maybe. And maybe you'll...
• 1:44
  Be inclined to study it more. Maybe it starts to make you think about some of those books in the Old Testament. Maybe you just didn't know anything about it or need to be reminded of what it has to offer. I also wanted to remind us that Solomon is at the end of his life when he writes Ecclesiastes. They say that Proverbs was mostly written by Solomon probably in a time when he was making some better choices in his life. And then Ecclesiastes comes at the end of his life when he realizes that he had made some...
• 2:14
  Poor choices. And we've even entitled our study, Lessons from a Life of Regret. And so that's Ecclesiastes. He has seen everything under the sun. He has tried everything under the sun. He's summarizing and investigating and telling his young readers, right? He's addressing young pupils about what he has done and seen and what they should do. We all know that ultimately the summary of his...
• 2:43
  of the book of Ecclesiastes is that we should fear God and keep his commandments. And we're coming there. Actually, we're coming there in four weeks. We only have four more of these left. And I hate to say that because it means summer is... I won't even say it out loud, but you know what I'm saying, okay? But we only have four more weeks, so we're coming to the fear God and keep his commandments ending of this book. Solomon wrote much of Proverbs because he had lived his life in vain.
• 3:14
  He's using his wisdom at the end. He's wanting to glorify God and live his life well, right? Ecclesiastes is kind of the aftermath of that. He's wanting his students to live their lives well. Last week, Dina shared from chapter 6. Her message centered on the idea that gathering for yourself on earth is vanity, which, you know, Solomon talks about quite a bit, and that our shares should be bought up.
• 3:42
  in his kingdom rather than on earth. And I love that visual, the idea of buying shares in heaven. And what is that? That is investing in people, right? Investing in people. She said that our most important legacy is relationship. I love that she talked about distracted living, which I think is a ploy that Satan is definitely using in the American church. She said that distracted living, storing up wealth and power on this earth, lead...
• 4:11
  to discouragement and doubt. And one last thing that stuck out was the question, am I rich toward myself or am I rich toward God? Thank you for sharing, Dina. Tonight we're going to do chapters 7 and 8. And the reason I put them together when I was, and I take this trying to put it all together very seriously, it takes me a long time to read through all the books and try to figure out what pattern, what path is best. Anyway, 7 and 8 are both about wisdom. They actually are very
• 4:40
  tied together. In the beginning, you're going to see, but the beginning of chapter 8 really belongs in the end of chapter 7. We know the chapter divisions are made by us, not by God. So anyway, they mold, meld, what if that's a word? I don't know. They go together and they're about wisdom. Wisdom is mentioned 14 times within both of these chapters. In fact, it's hard to, I already said that, to know where it stops, where chapter 8 starts and chapter 7 ends. King Solomon
• 5:08
  It concludes in chapters 7 and 8 that wisdom is important to the person who wants the most out of life. But wisdom will not solve every problem or reveal every mystery. It can help us, though, with decisions and discernment. And I always like to start with, that's what this is about. If you don't hear anything else, at least you heard, now you know what chapters 7 and 8 are about. Before I start with those two chapters, though, I had to do notes this time because I had a lot.
• 5:39
  So I wrote them out for you. I hope it, you know, works for you. If it doesn't, like Dina said last week, just toss it aside and take what you can. But before, oh, so this is the notes, and I'm going to start with these three Ps at the top. Do you see the bottom little parentheses? Don't pay attention to those right now, and I apologize for them being too small, okay? My Word document got messed up, so just don't pay attention to those yet, okay? Can I ask you, how do you get wisdom?
• 6:09
  Where do you go, you personally, for wisdom? How are you pursuing wisdom? Are you differentiating between biblical wisdom and worldly wisdom? Does it ever occur to you to think about, ah, do I think this because the world told me so or the Bible told me so? I try to look through all of my sermon notes that I keep.
• 6:33
  I've heard this sermon at some point, and I don't know where. I memorized it, so I don't know who it's from. I'm not giving them credit because I can't remember. I'm old. Anyway, how to get wisdom, three Ps, okay, at the top. So this is before we get to what Solomon says about wisdom. I want to encourage us to think about we're going to hear about wisdom, but we have to get it inside. These are three ways, I think, that I have pursued in my life.
• 7:00
  to help me try to be wise, to ask God for wisdom. So the first one is just that, pray for wisdom. You probably knew I was going to go there. And I put the verses there for you. The first P is pray for wisdom. And I'm going to read this one. James 1, 5 through 8 says, If any of you lacks wisdom, and we could all raise our hand, right? We all lack wisdom. Let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
• 7:30
  But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. I read this verse when I was in college. I probably had read it before. But I couldn't believe that there was this promise that God would give us wisdom if we asked for it. Like it's a real promise. So you know what I did?
• 7:58
  I started asking God for wisdom. I was an RA in my dorm. I've probably told some of you this story. I don't know if I've said it up here. So if you remembered it, just forget. I was an RA in my dorm. And that's hard with 20 girls because they're dramatic. That's why God gave me boys now. But they're dramatic.
• 8:16
  needed lots of wisdom in dealing with these girls and and so I just I said okay God promised me promises here and if we ask he will give it to us so I started to pray every day for wisdom I just thought okay God you said it you guys it worked I'm not saying that I was flawless or that I always knew what to say but I can tell you it was of the Lord you guys can ask for wisdom too ask him he will give it to you that's maybe through his word it may not be
• 8:45
  And now go here. Maybe it's through his word or through a challenge somebody else gives you. But I will tell you that asking God for wisdom does work. Pray for wisdom. The second P, prize her. Her being wisdom, right? And I don't want to take anything away from Danny's sermon, but it's Proverbs 4, 8, which we are doing this weekend on Sunday. And we know that Proverbs talks about wisdom as a her, right? If you have wisdom, you are called to prize.
• 9:14
  Wisdom. To treat it like a prize. It's important. It should be treated as such. Proverbs 4, 8. Pray for wisdom. Prize her. And number three, the third P, which is Proverbs 2, 2. And I'll let you look these up on your own so you can then, you know, get your own wisdom. Okay? The third P is pursue her. Pursue her. And her, again, being wisdom. You need to pray for wisdom.
• 9:43
  You need to prize her when you get it. That probably means if you have a prize, you don't hide it. You don't forget about it. You don't use it, right? And then you have to pursue her. I would say you have to stop being passive about it. We can't just sit and hope that osmosis takes place and we just all of a sudden get wisdom. We have to pursue it, which I would say means you have to...
• 10:08
  Read God's word. You have to pray for it. You have to talk to people who are wise. That's how you pursue wisdom. So, there you go. That's a good way to apply what we're going to be studying. I'm going to pray for us right now before we begin chapter 7. God, thank you for tonight. Thank you for all these ladies you brought, Lord. Thank you for their families. Lord, thanks for getting them here. I pray for Shelly, who couldn't be here just moments before because she was taking grace.
• 10:40
  urgent care. Lord, I pray for any and all situations that are going on in our lives, God, that you would help us not to be distracted. Lord, I ultimately pray that you would help us to apply wisdom to our lives, that these ladies would be changed, that I would be changed, because we want your wisdom, God. We don't want the world's wisdom, Lord. Help us to see the difference. And I just pray that you would help us to understand your word tonight, Lord, that you would use my study. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay.
• 11:10
  I have divided both of these chapters up into five little chunks, and you'll see them on your notes there. And so I'm going to read each one chunk at a time. That way we don't get overwhelmed with Solomonisms, if you don't mind. So 7, chapter 7, verses 1 through 14 is where we're going to start. And I am going to call this Wisdom in Present Circumstances. So if you're a blanker, filler-inner, I can see who is and who isn't, by the way.
• 11:41
  I always think that's interesting. No judgment, I'm just saying. Wisdom in present circumstances. So now I'm going to read those first 14 verses, and I'm a fast reader, hopefully. A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind. And the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of faith the heart is made glad.
• 12:11
  The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools. This also is vanity. Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry.
• 12:40
  For anger lodges in the bosom of fools. Say not, why were the former days better than these? For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Wisdom is good with an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun. For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money. And the advantage of knowledge is the wisdom that preserves the life of him who has it. Consider the work of God. Who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity, be joyful. And in the day of adversity, consider.
• 13:08
  God has made the one as well as the other so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. Well, no wonder Ecclesiastes gets such a bad rap, right? That was a little negative, right? So you read that and you're like, wow, thank you so much, Solomon. And did it sound like Proverbs? Those are little Proverbs that he put in there. So it's a proverbial section. And it's a contrast between wisdom and folly. Do you guys, so this is a thing.
• 13:42
  that, and I don't mean to step on any toes of younger people, but when you're young and everybody gets married, you're going to all these weddings. And you get a little older, maybe a little older, and then you're going to a lot of funerals, right? And that's just part of life. And Danny always says this, but I think that when you're young, it is good to be excited about going to those weddings. That's where you're at in life, and that's good. But when you get older and you start going to funerals, and not all funerals are a happy occasion. None of them are happy. But some of them,
• 14:13
  are rewarding, right? Some funerals are a testimony to lives well lived. And when you start to realize that, there is more joy in that because they finished well, right? That's what he's saying here. He's not asking us all to be a bunch of Eeyores. Well, I'm really sad and I like sadness more than joy. Right? He's not. He doesn't want us to live like that. In fact, I think that's...
• 14:40
  Exactly opposite of what he's trying to do. He wants us to understand that the end is better than the beginning. It's okay to be happy with the beginning, too. That's where you're at. But it's okay to realize that the end, phew. I think so. I one time heard this very serious pastor who's well-known. He said, it was a very serious occasion, and he stood up there and he said, I used to be funny. And I thought, really?
• 15:13
  But it was so good. He said, I used to be funny, but there's just not as much to laugh about now. He didn't mean it to be negative. And he didn't mean that he doesn't have any joy in his life. It just means as you get older, you're exposed to things that are just harder. Right? And we don't give that. I don't tell Chase those things. He doesn't need to understand that at nine. But I should probably understand that at 43. Right? Does that make sense? See where Solomon's going? I just want to.
• 15:43
  Read a couple of the Proverbs that he said. I'm just going to contrast them for you. A good reputation is better than smelling good. One's dying day is better than the day of their birth. A funeral is better than a festival. Grief is better than laughter. Wise man's rebuke is better than a fool's song. The end of something is better than its beginning. Patience is better than pride. Realism about the present.
• 16:12
  is better than nostalgia over the past. I think there's a lot in there that I would like to talk about. Some of it's obvious, right? Like the one about anger in verse 9. We know. If we are quick to anger, we're going to store that up. So I'm not going to expose those. I'm going to bring out two applications, and I think those are on your notes too. Application number one.
• 16:41
  To have wisdom in present circumstances, you have to understand that the end is better than the beginning. To have wisdom in present circumstances, you have to understand that the end is better than the beginning. Now, that doesn't mean, does that mean that everything is always, our circumstances are always going to be better at the end? No. In case you were worried, you were wondering. No, that's not what that means, right? I'm not giving you this false promise.
• 17:11
  by saying that the end is better than the beginning, that the end will always be happily ever after. That's not what I mean. But the end of something brings resolution. The end of something means we did it. And it can still be hard, but the end is better than the beginning. Because if we are wise, and if we live in light of the end,
• 17:34
  in light of eternity, right? That's what living in light of the end means, living in light of eternity. We will understand things better. We will understand life better, hopefully, right? And this, again, is if we're walking in wisdom. Ourselves better, we should understand. We'll understand God better. We'll understand our purpose better. And if we live with this wisdom, we will be content, like verse 14 says, not only with the days of prosperity,
• 18:01
  but also with the dates of adversity. Not because adversity is fun, but because we know it will be over at some point. Does that make sense? Application number two. Beware of unhealthy and irrational nostalgia of the past. I thought this one was interesting, which is why I wanted to highlight it. Beware of unhealthy and irrational nostalgia of the past. And that talks about verse 10.
• 18:30
  Say not, why were the former days better than these? For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. The first example that came to my mind was that when you're a young mom and you have little babies, did you find that the older moms would be like, oh, we never did that back in my day, right? Sometimes some of the things my mom, I'm going to just use my mom's example. So there were some times that she would say things.
• 18:58
  You know, about driving in the car, you know, having a TV in the car. Well, we never did that. And I thought, well, you never, I didn't have to have a TV. Of course you didn't need any of it because things were different, right? But when you're the older mom, you don't always remember those things quite accurately, right? Right? Even now, as I'm watching moms with younger kids, I think, oh, that seems so easy. No, no, that's not the way it really was, right? It's good to be thankful for the past.
• 19:27
  It is. It's good to be thankful and content with the past, good or bad. It's good to find the good things about the past and the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and remember the things that he has carried you through or that he blessed you with or that he did. But be careful that you are not living with selective memory. It's foolish to wish to return to the past. And we all do this, right? But it's not real.
• 19:56
  I just, I kept wondering, okay, it's foolish. It's good to remember what God has done. But I can't go back to that. So stop thinking about it, right? You guys know Philippians 4, 8 and 9 are my favorite. If you don't, I'm telling you now. And dwelling on what is true is something I think about almost every day. And I think that this is against that. We can't dwell in the past. You know why? Because if you are thinking about the past, if you're living...
• 20:25
  Foolishly that way, that you're not exercising wisdom and you're only focusing on that. I think it blinds you to what God could be doing right now. And I think it's probably a tool of Satan to do that, right? Oh, the past was so, no, there were bad things about that, hard things too. But God has you here now. It blinds us to opportunities that exist for us now.
• 20:49
  Focusing on how things used to be is not wise and I think will cause us to be discontent. If we dwell on those things long enough, Satan has a way of helping us to be discontent with the now. Right? When God has so much more for us, if we would only think about that. Discontentment and complaining hearts. I think that's what comes when we have this view of the past. Okay, section 2, chapter 7.
• 21:18
  Verse 15 through 8.1. Are you ready for me to read again? Wisdom so we can see clearly. Wisdom so that we can see clearly. The first one was wisdom in present circumstances. This one's wisdom so we can see clearly. Starting in verse 15. In my vain life. Okay, in this section, it gets a little muddy. Okay, so just stick with me. In my vain life, I have seen everything. There's a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness.
• 21:48
  And there is a wicked man who prolongs his life and his evil doing. Be not overly righteous and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than...
• 22:13
  Ten rulers who are in a city. Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. All this I have tested by wisdom, I said. I will be wise, but it was far from me. That which has been is far off and deep, very deep. Who can find it out? I turned my heart to know and to search out.
• 22:40
  and to seek wisdom in the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. And I find something more bitter than death. The woman whose heart is snares and nets and whose hands are fetters, he who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. Behold, this is what I found, says the preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things, which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.
• 23:06
  One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. See this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Who is like the wise, and who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. So this section is specifically about wisdom and righteousness. Wisdom and righteousness. And you guys, biblical wisdom will come out.
• 23:36
  in how you are living your life. You want to know if you're differentiating between biblical wisdom and worldly wisdom, then you just have to watch how you live your life, right? Or have other people, invite other people in to let you know. Can we jump, will you look at verse 8 again? When I say that, that biblical wisdom will come in how you're living your life. Look at verse 8-1. Who is like the wise and who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine and the hardness of his face is changed.
• 24:05
  I think that's it. That's wisdom. It'll change your face, right? It's lived out by how you show your face to others. The hardness isn't there. It might be a hard circumstance. It'll be a hard time. I'm not saying they have to put on the plastic face smile, but your face is changed by the wisdom that you carry, which is godly wisdom. Okay, so verse 16, I'm sure you saw, seems to...
• 24:35
  contradict Solomon's teaching and biblical teaching for that matter. 16 says, be not overly righteous. Well, don't you think God would want us to be as righteous as we can be? Right? I did a lot of study, and what Solomon means is do not be righteous in your own eyes. Right? He's saying, don't be so righteous that you're noticing yourself all the time. Right? It's not that you're not supposed to be righteous before the Lord, but don't be self-righteous. Right? That's what it's about.
• 25:05
  Solomon is saying, don't be wise in your own eyes, which we know is something Solomon has addressed before. I think the answer to this seeming contradiction, which is really not a contradiction, is more of another musing over the Havel of life, right? And I think that it is served by looking back at verse 15. In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evil doing. We know...
• 25:32
  This question, this age-old question of why do the good die young? Have you heard that and thought that, right? It's confusing. It's hard. And that's why this section, wisdom, so we can see clearly. It's hard to see those things clearly when somebody dies and we don't feel like it was their time, right? Or, I hate to say this, but if somebody, you don't wish they would die, but you're like, why this guy, not this guy, right?
• 26:00
  Not that we've ever thought that way. But we know that a righteous man dies, a wicked man dies. Sometimes the righteous man dies before the wicked man, right? We can't make sense of that. And we're going to go on to say that it's not for us to make sense of that, right? But if we have a godly wisdom, right, if we go back to what we were saying before, if we are living in light of the end, if we know that God's wisdom is different than the world's wisdom, then we know.
• 26:28
  That it's not up to us to understand. So application number one for this section. Wisdom helps us see righteousness and sin clearly. Wisdom can help us see righteousness and sin clearly. In this section, he's dealing with the problem of wickedness, of evil. And I would say that is probably the number one stumbling block for believers and non-believers, right? If God's a loving God, then why?
• 27:00
  And it's hard. The wicked appear to prosper only, listen to this one, the wicked will appear to prosper only if we take the short view of things. Right? If you probably are thinking about Psalm 73, let's turn there because it pertains to this. And I'm sure you know it. Psalm 73 is the Psalm of Asaph. And he was taking the short view of this, right?
• 27:31
  I can't count sometimes. Psalm 73. The Psalm of Asa. It says, I'm just going to start reading. Psalm 73. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled. My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Have you ever been there?
• 28:02
  For they have no pains until death. Their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are. They are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Therefore, pride is their necklace. Violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness. Their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice. Loftily, they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens and their tongues stretch through the earth. Listen to him. Start to understand.
• 28:26
  Therefore his people turn back to them and find no fault in them. And they say, how can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High? These are the questions, right? This is the question people ask. How can there be evil if there's a loving God? Behold, these are the wicked. Always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. He's saying, why am I doing good stuff if they're winning and doing bad stuff? Sounds like some children, I know. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning if I had.
• 28:55
  said, I will speak thus, I would have betrayed the generation of your children. But when I thought how to understand this, he's searching for wisdom. When I thought about how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God, and then I discerned their end. See, he sees their end, right? And it's not that we're wishing for that.
• 29:20
  But again, we have to live with the long view and not the short view. We have to remember that God is gracious. And I think that for me, there have been lots of times, I remember reading those verses again when I was young and struggling with that and wondering why God allows that. And now there are people in my life who have not committed their lives to the Lord, who are living wickedly, and I am so thankful God hasn't given them over to themselves.
• 29:50
  I'm thankful that God is a long-suffering God, that he's gracious, right? And it's when we live in light of that that we can understand the wisdom that God is giving us here. Application number two, wisdom helps us see where our strength lies. Wisdom helps us see where our strength lies. And that's in verse 19.
• 30:21
  It says, wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city, right? You could have ten rulers in a city. They're nothing compared to a man who has godly wisdom. That's what he's saying. These verses help us to realize that none of us are righteous. None of us can ever say we've never cursed anyone, like verse 22. We can't say, oh, look at this person. No, no, we know we've done it too, right? And that's when our wisdom, our strength comes in, when we realize it's not.
• 30:50
  Our strength, right? We talked about that last time, I think. Our strength doesn't lie in perfection. It lies in wisdom. Our strength doesn't lie in us doing things right. It lies in the wisdom that only God can give. We are the strongest when we are the most humble. And that's what God's saying here. And we know, and where Solomon is going, the beginning of wisdom is fearing the Lord and knowing our place, right? It's fearing the Lord and knowing our place. And when we know that, that's when we...
• 31:21
  have the greatest strength. Application number three, wisdom helps us see the sinfulness of humanity. Wisdom can help us to see the sinfulness of humanity. At the end of this section, you have this confusing part about one man among a thousand, but not one woman. Did you hear me read that a minute ago? And hopefully your easily offended radar did not go off. That's for a different sermon time.
• 31:50
  Hopefully you weren't easily offended and thought, oh no, here we go again. The Bible is so chauvinistic. It's not. It's not what he's saying. What do we know to be true about Solomon? He loved women, right? He had a thousand wives, 700 wives and 300 concubines, right? He's using his own personal experience here to teach us, right? It's not that it's indicative about a woman. In fact, we know in Proverbs that he often, he's called wisdom her, right? There's a reason. He liked women.
• 32:19
  But what he's saying here is he was ensnared by them. What we know about Solomon is that he liked women. What we know about Solomon is that he was easily distracted by them. Not only distracted, but pulled away from the Lord. And that's what he's saying here. That's what he's using. He's saying, out of a thousand men, I couldn't find one. I only found one that was righteous. I couldn't find any women because I was looking in all the wrong places. Right? That's what he's saying. He's using his personal experience.
• 32:48
  You guys, wisdom can do the same thing for us. If we will ask God to give us biblical wisdom, eyes, a lens through his word, we will be able to see when little, don't you feel like little cracks of worldly wisdom have found their way into our hearts or our minds. And certainly for Solomon, that was what happened. Okay, so I'm going to turn over. We're doing good. Point number three.
• 33:16
  There is wisdom in submission to authority. Wisdom in submission to authority. I'm going to read these verses now, chapter 8, 2 through 9. I say, keep the king's command because of God's oath to him. Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, what are you doing?
• 33:41
  Whoever keeps the command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. Did you hear that? The wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him. For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? No man has power to retain the spirit or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it.
• 34:10
  All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun when man had power over man to his hurt. Well, submission to authority is a popular topic today, right? No, it's never a popular topic. And I think we have to remember that Solomon has a pretty interesting perspective here, right? Because he is the authority and he remembers not being the authority, right? He can see both sides of that.
• 34:43
  Look at verse 6. For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's troubles lie heavy on him. Have you ever had something lying heavy on you, a decision to be made, or an injustice, or something you had to, I don't know, do, and you could pray to God for wisdom? He's saying you can pray, ask God, and God will give you a time and a way for everything. I think that Solomon is saying here it is wise to keep the king's commands.
• 35:17
  It's wise to keep the king's command. It's wise to put yourself under authority, to submit to authority where it's proper, where you're supposed to, and not to take verse 3 and stand in an evil case, but instead ask wisdom to help you know the time and the place. Ask God for his wisdom, his discernment, to know the what to do and the right time. The verses...
• 35:42
  8, 9, and 10, or 8 and 9, talk about the things we don't have power over, right? We don't have power over our day of death. You can't discharge yourself from war. That's what verse 8 is saying. You can't be in the middle of war and say, I'm done. I discharged myself, right? There's an authority that does that. In the same way, God has the authority in our lives, right?
• 36:03
  I think the Old Testament provides some great situations to illustrate how being submissive to authority, even when there's injustice, even amidst injustice, proves to be the wisest choice. Nehemiah, for instance, felt the call to rebuild the wall. And I love this. Nehemiah chapters 1 and 2, he feels the call of the Lord to rebuild the walls. He knows that's what he's supposed to do. But he wasn't sure if the king would allow him to do that.
• 36:33
  eloquent speech. No, he didn't do that. He begged and nagged and texted the king constantly. No, he didn't do that. He got angry and told all of his friends what a jerk the king was. Nope, he didn't do that. He waited and he prayed and he submitted and he knew that God would one day open that door for him. And when the opportunity finally came, guess what? Nehemiah was ready. God,
• 37:05
  orchestrated that time and the king agreed how about daniel a prisoner of war in a gentile land and he could not would not he could not would not eat unclean food right he couldn't it was against his very everything right you know what he didn't do he didn't throw a fit right he didn't make sure everyone around him knew how great the injustice was instead he used wisdom
• 37:37
  And he made a suggestion. The king loved the suggestion. The king thought it was a great idea. I'm not saying everything ended up roses, but the king loved the suggestion, right? And then asked Daniel to be a part of his group, right? To be a part of the leadership because Daniel exercised wisdom. I think those are great examples. And I know you guys have them. I know. And it's hard. It's hard to be in a situation where you know you're right. Where you know you're right.
• 38:06
  And that God knows you right. And have you ever felt that gentle, small, quiet, just stay here? Because it's in his time that he provides the answers, right? I'm not saying that there aren't times where we have to stand up for ourselves. I'm not saying that. But I think God will show us when that is, right? I put a quote on here because I liked it.
• 38:29
  We have the options of disobeying, running away, defying orders, and even fighting back. But before we act, we must first exercise wisdom and seek to discern the right time and procedure. It's not easy to be a consistent Christian in this complicated, evil world, but we can ask for the wisdom of God and receive it by faith. And that's Warren Wiersbe. All right. Point four. Wisdom despite the wicked. Wisdom despite the wicked. I'm going to read these four verses.
• 39:01
  Chapter 8, 10-14. But it will not be well with the wicked.
• 39:29
  neither will he prolong his days like his shadow, because he does not fear before God. Here again is the problem with the wicked prospering. And King Solomon says he has seen people going in and out of the temple. They're going into worship, and everybody was like, oh, look how godly they are going in and out of the temple, right? Do you see what he says in verse 11? Because a sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily. I've often thought if we sinned,
• 39:58
  and then were immediately punished on the spot, we would sin a lot less, right? If our punishment was executed speedily, we would be more careful, right? And God, again, is a long-suffering, lets us make our own decisions, teaches and works through crazy things, right? And we're thankful for that, especially for those who don't know him. But I think that's what Solomon's saying here.
• 40:27
  We looked at Psalm 73. We know we have to take that long view of when people are not who they say they are, when their reputation is different at the end of their life, when they come to the end, and you thought they were somebody else and they were going in and out of the temple. Look at the quote that I have there. No matter how long or full the wicked man's life may seem to be, it is only prolonged like a shadow and has no substance. In fact,
• 40:57
  The shadows get longer as the sun is setting. Solomon may be suggesting that the long life of the wicked man is but a prelude to eternal darkness. I'm not asking you to make yourself feel better because other people aren't doing well or that this is their end. I'm not saying that, but to, again, understand things in a way that helps you to encompass and, honestly, not to look at what other people are doing, right? Not to focus on that.
• 41:25
  when it seems like the wicked are prospering. We see that a lot. We see that a lot. It seems like that. And we have to back up and say, no, no, God, I know that you're in control of this situation. I know that you have my best interest at heart, that you are going to glorify yourself in and through adversity, right? We have to remember that. And that is why wisdom is better.
• 41:50
  Or wisdom despite the wicked. That we can have wisdom despite how it looks like the wicked are living. Okay, last one. Point five. Wisdom is better than experience. Wisdom is better than experience. Chapter eight, and this is 15 through 17. I didn't read 14. I'm going to go ahead and read 14.
• 42:14
  There is a vanity that takes place on earth that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said this is also vanity. Okay, that goes with the last one. Now, verse 15. And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
• 42:38
  When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes sleep, then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out, even though a wise man claims to know he cannot find it out. Wisdom is better than experience. One of the commentators that I read said verse 15 is another carpe diem verse.
• 43:07
  It's the third one in Ecclesiastes. Look at it, verse 15. Lest you think Ecclesiastes is all Eeyore. And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun, but to eat and drink and be joyful. For this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. I love that. Carpe diem. Declaring that life is God's gift to us. That life is the gift of God. Here in this book of seeming melancholy, amidst reminders that our life is going fast,
• 43:38
  and that it's a vapor, Solomon yells to us, seize the day, right? Seize the day. And it's not a hedonistic pronouncement like, do whatever you want. You do you. Indulge yourself. That's not what he's saying. But remember, rather, that God has given you this life to enjoy. He does want you to enjoy it. And who knows how you will enjoy it?
• 44:05
  So pursue wisdom so you can enjoy it in the way that is best fitted to you. A theologian, Walter Kaiser, has said to have mined the riches of Ecclesiastes. Mined the riches of Ecclesiastes to reveal the true source of joy. Think of that, a miner going through Ecclesiastes and finding joy through that.
• 44:33
  Did you hear that? Ecclesiastes and joy, they go hand in hand. Some people call it the Philippians of the Old Testament, right? Okay, whatever. What Kaiser said about verse 15, no God-fearer, I put it on your paper, ought ever, nor does he ever need to stop to low means and obtain nothing but anxiety, sweat, and emptiness as a reward for all his work. That's not what God wants.
• 45:00
  Enjoyment is still in the hands of man's creator and redeemer. God does want you to enjoy your life. God knows what will make you truly happy. And it will always, always be something that glorifies him. Let's look at verses 16 and 17. I read them already, but I just want to look at them again. When I applied my heart to know wisdom and see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep.
• 45:30
  Then I saw all the work of God that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Solomon had a lot of experience. He had literally seen it all, right? Yet some things still remained a mystery to him. And that's why he was so struggling with this vapor of a life, right? He wanted to understand it all. He had asked.
• 46:00
  God had given him wisdom in 1 Kings. He had asked for it. And yet there were still things that were a mystery to him. And even if we have experienced a lot of things in our lives, we are not done being awed by God. Right? And we have to be careful to think that we are. I've seen it. Seen it. Seen it. Right? We do this. I think the know-it-all is destined to be disappointed.
• 46:31
  I do. I think if you think you know it all, then you're going to be disappointed over and over. And I think maybe Solomon struggled with that a little bit, right? There are some things that God just doesn't expect us to get. But he does expect us to learn and to obey. And the more we obey, the more he teaches us. We must call out to him for wisdom, and he promises that he'll give it to us. Now, as I was studying, I thought of 1 Corinthians. Will you turn there with me? Not for me, but with me.
• 47:01
  1 Corinthians 1, I'm almost done, 20. 1 Corinthians 1, 20. And this is so good. I love how much of the New Testament just sits right on the shoulders of Ecclesiastes, you know. 1 Corinthians 1, 20. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? I mean, does that sound like Ecclesiastes or what?
• 47:34
  For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. I love this part. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, which is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God.
• 47:58
  wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.
• 48:25
  so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. And that's a perfect end cap to these two chapters. I do want to read one more quote. Val spent a lot of time studying chapter 7 and 8.
• 48:55
  And I asked her to send me some of the things that she gleaned. And she's actually the one who chose Ecclesiastes, really, ultimately. So you can thank her. But she wrote this to me the other day, and I thought it was worthy of being read. I know that where I have been and where I currently am are both made and allowed for me by God.
• 49:20
  I know that as difficult as things are right now, that God is using all of these days so that I may cherish and appreciate the better days. It's really a sense of traveling down the road in search of answers and finding God at the end of that road, waiting for me to reach my end so that he can begin. I wonder how Solomon must have felt, looking around at all that he had amassed and asking why it wasn't enough. Why isn't it satisfying or gratifying? Why it all seems so empty? All of the questions he must have been asking himself. I know I am no king.
• 49:50
  I do not lead great armies, and a lot of other things Solomon and I don't have in common. I don't have much gold either. But I'm sure we ask God some of these same questions. Thousands of years apart, him in his throne, me at my desk. Him at the gates, me at the end of my driveway. Him in the courtyard, me on the back patio. Him at the stables, me also at the stables. We aren't so different. What are we chasing?
• 50:16
  Who are we looking for that God isn't holding out his hand, waiting for us to take hold and quit looking elsewhere? That's my prayer for you, that you would seek wisdom, real biblical wisdom, and that you'd ask God to help you and be humble and patient for him to do that. Thank you for listening. I'm going to pray. There are those itty-bitty tiny questions on the first slide, and we do have ten minutes just to discuss them.
• 50:45
  I'm sorry they're so small. Have someone young at your table read them. I'm going to pray for us. Oh, Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you that you're so good to us to tell us what to do and to help us, Lord, to give us people that are near us, to show us, to be good examples, Lord. I'm just humbled by how you work. I think that's the point, Lord, of your word and of what you're doing is that we can't fully understand.
• 51:17
  Just how involved you are with each one of us. How much you love us. How much you are for us. God, I pray that we would be wise, not in our own eyes. But we would stop that. That we would really seek to know your word so that we can be wise. Lord, so that we can discern the things around us. That we can understand what you're doing. And if we don't understand, Lord, that we're so wise, we can say, I know that God has it.
• 51:50
  Lord, thank you for tonight. Thank you for a church that loves you, that worships you, that opens your word. Lord, I pray that you would use us, that you would ring out from this place. And God, I pray that we wouldn't take those things for granted. We're so thankful. In Jesus' name, amen.