Text: Ecclesiastes 7:19-29

Date: November 23, 2014

The Big Idea: Biblical wisdom is the learned skill of applying biblical truth and biblical principles to life in a fallen world. 

THE STRENGTH OF WISDOM

There is great strength to be found in wisdom. How much strength? The strength of wisdom is better than ten rulers – ten leaders of a city that has a balanced budget, clean streets, parks for the kids to play in, and streets that are safe to walk after dark. One person with biblical wisdom is far better than ten leaders who lack biblical wisdom.

Do you want to set yourself apart in this world?  Do you want to truly stand out from the mass of humanity? Then become biblically wise. Make it a priority to acquire God’s wisdom. There is strength and great distinction in wisdom.

But don’t confuse intelligence with wisdom. This world is filled with men and women of great intelligence, yet they no nothing of biblical wisdom. Intelligence and knowledge will take you far in this life, but only that far. Apart from acquiring Biblical wisdom, no one will ever be able to comprehend the very important truth about our human condition, and our need for a Savior!

This passage also tells us how to respond to what others say about us. Wisdom gives us the strength to:

• Properly respond when others demean us. (Verse 21)
• Be discerning in what we should listen to and what we should ignore.
• Keep matters in perspective. (Verse 22)
• Not eavesdrop.

Before you talk about another person, ask:

• Would I say this if that person could hear me say it?
• And, if so, is this the way in which I would say it?
• Am I saying this for the glory of God and for the love of my brother or sister?
• Or am I only saying it to vent my own frustration?

Finally we would do well to remember the Apostle’s Paul words to Titus, “to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.” (Titus 3:2, ESV)

THE SEARCH FOR WISDOM

“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?” (Ecclesiastes 7:23–24, ESV)

“All this” refers to all that he has been pursuing as described in the opening verses of the book. In 1:13 the Preacher says, “and I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.” (Ecclesiastes 1:13, ESV)

Despite all of his seeking and all of his searching, the Preacher has to admit that the wisdom he seeks is not easy to come by. This sentiment takes on full weight when we remember who said these words. These are the words of the wisest man to have ever lived. These are the words of Solomon, who asked God for wisdom and God granted him what he desired. Yet, despite the great wisdom that he had, there were still many questions that he could not answer.

Unanswered questions should not keep us from living life to the fullest, taking risks when required, and continually moving forward in life.  Don’t let unanswered questions in life keep you from getting the most out of life, or getting the most out of your relationship with God. Not knowing all the answers about the way God works shouldn’t keep you from enjoying Him and experiencing Him. Take what God has revealed about Himself and act on that knowledge.

God has given us two coping mechanisms, if you will, when it comes to wrestling with unanswered questions about how He operates.  One is faith ,or trust. Based upon what we do know of Him, we can trust Him in the areas where our knowledge is lacking. The second mechanism is prayer.  Use prayer to take your questions to God and listen for His responses in His Word. There are plenty of things in life that we don’t have all the answers to, yet we still can find enjoyment in them.

What should we do when we hit a dead end in our quest for wisdom? When we recognize that there are going to be questions in life we can’t answer?

The wrong thing to do would be to blame God for what you perceive to be injustice.

The right thing to do is to admit reality. To admit that there are questions only God can answer and that in His wisdom He has decided to withhold those answers from us. First, we admit what we don’t know and, second, we believe that God does know and trust He is working all things for good.

As one writer said “Knowing the limits of wisdom is part of wisdom.” The more we know, the more we should realize how little we know, and that whatever wisdom we gain comes as a gift from God.

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:13–18

“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: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 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 evildoing. 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.”

Date: November 16, 2014

The Big Idea: Avoid the two extremes of being self-righteous or wrapped in your sinful nature by fearing God.

The Preacher begins his message with a command to carefully observe the way God works. Based upon what he sees he calls each one of us to consider the work of God. From all that he has observed he concludes that whatever God has done we are powerless to undo. He states his conclusion in the form of a rhetorical question.  “Who can make straight what he has made crooked?” The answer of course is “no one”.  None has the ability to make straight what God has bent. This is not a call to fatalism but a call to humbly yield ourselves to the will of our sovereign God.

If we have a firm grasp of the sovereignty of God and when we experience the days of prosperity we acknowledge that they are a gift from God and in turn offer the thanksgiving and praise that God deserves. And when the days of adversity come our belief in God’s sovereignty will once again dictate our response.  Knowing that this too is from the hand of God and this too is for our good.

 —

The Preacher also warns us against the insidiousness of self–righteousness.  Self–righteousness is the same as works-righteousness. It’s the righteousness of the hypocrite.  It’s not the righteousness that comes by faith.

But what does he mean when he tells us to not be overly wicked?  Is he saying it’s okay to be just a little wicked as long as we don’t go overboard. The Bible clearly teaches that any sin is too much sin.  His point is that it is very dangerous to give yourself over to sin.  The daily experience of the Christian is one of ongoing battle with sin. All of us sin, but the true Christian sins far more often than they want too.  And that is completely different than willingly giving ourselves totally over to sin.

Pastor Philip Ryken writes; “So there are two dangers. One is a temptation for the religious person — self-righteousness. The other is even more of a temptation for the non-religious person — unrighteousness. Both of these errors will lead to destruction; they may even lead to an untimely death.”

“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.” (Ecclesiastes 7:18, ESV)

The way to avoid the two dangers of being overly righteous and overly wicked is to follow the Preacher’s counsel of verse 18.  When the Preacher tells us to “take hold of this” and “withhold our hand from that” he has in mind his words of verses 16 – 17.

His point is to avoid those two extremes.  Don’t be self – righteous and don’t give yourself over totally to your sinful nature.

But how do we avoid these two extremes?  Two powerful words: FEAR GOD!  He says that the one “who fears God shall come our from both of them.”

FEAR GOD is also the theme of Ecclesiastes.

To fear God is to revere God. It is to know that he is God and we are not. It is to hold him in awe for his majestic beauty. It is to have respect for his mighty and awesome power. Having the true and proper fear of God will help us not to be so self-righteous. We will know that God sees us as we really are, and this will teach us not to pretend to be something we are not. The fear of God will also keep us from living a wicked life, because when we understand his holiness, the last thing we will want to do is fall under his judgment.

Text: Ecclesiastes 6:10 – 7:14

Date: November 9, 2014

The Big Idea: God is Sovereign and there is nothing to be gained in debating Him. Instead of arguing with God, the wise man will to listen to Him and then choose the better way to live – God’s way to live.

The Preacher points out three characteristics of a better way to live:

1. Thinking soberly about life and death.
   Through our daily actions, each of us are creating our legacy; we are creating how we will be remembered. (Proverbs 22:1) Are you building the kind of life you want to be remembered for?  Will your children be able to stand beside your casket one day and be proud of the legacy you have left behind?  A sobering question, but it’s a question the wise continually ask themselves.
2. Preferring the rebuke of the wise rather than the laughter of fools. Tragically many are not open to instruction. They are certainly not open to rebuke – they either don’t want to hear it, or they reject, or they don’t seek it out. They would much rather hear the songs of the fools, which many times glorify a lifestyle that does not honor God and will be of no help on their day of death.
3. Taking the long-term view of what God is doing. The Preacher encourages us to take a long-term perspective of what God is doing in this world.  The consummation of God’s plan may not take place in our lifetime, but that doesn’t mean that He is not at work. And because He is at work, we not only should be working, we can work knowing that we are working in partnership with Almighty God.

We need to live each day with the expectation that the best is yet to come.  So many people want to live in the past.  The past may hold some great memories, but the best still lies ahead of each one of us. Live with the expectation that each day is bringing you one step closer to the best day of your life.