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The Power of Wisdom Ecclesiastes 7:1-29 Ecclesiastes, Part 12 The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for" (Joseph Addison). Life is not a dead end street with Christ. Solomon begins to rise out of the utter despair in the earlier chapters, and in the 7 and 8 he focuses on the Wonder of Wisdom. Wisdom is the "God-given ability to see life objectively and to handle life with stability." It is the skillful application of knowledge. Many people crave knowledge today, just as long as it isn't from the Bible! People will seek information from psychics, channelers, card readers, New Age Conferences, News shows, college professors, but many are fearful of learning true wisdom from the Word of God. True wisdom comes by coming to the Christ, cross, and the Word of God. We need to deny ourselves, take up our cross, follow Christ and make the sacrifices of the things of this world in order to gain the true riches. There is life above the sun! 1. Wisdom can Make Life Better, v.1-10 The first ten verses looks like the book of Proverbs. Solomon is comparing things people enjoy with what is really better. Although people enjoy good perfume, a happy house party, laughing at a good joke, the celebration of a new birth, and good music, there is something better than these things. I find at least eight things that are "better." A. A good name is better than perfume, or a reputation; what a man is, is preferable to something which smells good, v.1a Judas turned a name which means PRAISE into a name no one would ever want. Same with Jezebel and Ahab. Many want the name Daniel, Abraham, Peter, Paul. Those names speak of men who had great character. B. "Deathday" is better than our birthday, v.1b At birth we receive a name, at death our name appears in the obituary column and it will be determined whether our name was good or bad, our character worthy or unworthy. Will our name cause men to mock or praise God? C. The Funeral parlor is better than the feasting house, v.2 We must prepare for the day of death, and going to a funeral reminds us that we too shall pass away. The living takes to heart that we must prepare for the day of our death by being saved and obedient to the God who made us and loves us. D. Sorrow is better than laughter, v.3. No doubt people love to laugh. People watch comedians to laugh, read joke books, etc. The laughter here is the laughter of derision or scorn. This kind of laughter is at sin or at the expense of someone else. Proverbs 10:23; It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man
of understanding hath wisdom. Fools laugh at sin, rejoice to do evil (Proverbs 2:14), delight in the lewdness of others, and do not see the danger in making a mockery of that which is wicked in God's sight. This kind of laughter is quickly forgotten, but the things that bring sorrow add wisdom and proper perspective to our lives. I saw in the news today that David Letterman, an alleged comedian, had Courtney Love on his late night show. She exposed herself, all to the delight of Letterman and his crowd. They laugh at the lewdness and indecency of a wicked woman like Courtney Love. They show that they are fools. For them, sin is a big game. It is a joke, but the day of judgment will come. E. A wise person's rebuke is better than a fool's song of praise, v.5-7. Solomon paints the picture of the noise a thorn bush makes under a pot, crackling quickly away. The praise of fools goes away quickly, it burns off and then nothing is left. The Devil, who was the archangel of music in heaven before his fall, has no doubt perverted and debased music. Much of the music in our culture is nothing more than the "song of fools." Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl Halftime sang the song of two fools! It is better to hear a loving rebuke than to listen to the popular cultural music of our day! F. The Long haul is better than a shortcut, v.7,8a. Bribery is a shortcut that appears good in the beginning, but in the end it will be found out. The gift that destroys is the gift to pay someone else off to say or do not what is right or true, but what the giver of the gift wants them to say or do. Exodus 23:8; The gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of
the righteous. Proverbs 17:23; A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. People are always scheming for ways to shortcut duty and responsibility. The end is better than the beginning, when a job is well done, it will stand the test of time. The beginning is often full of mistakes and we wonder if justice will be done. The beginning of the Prodigal Son, full of sin. The beginning of Job, full of misery and sickness. The beginning of Joseph's life, full of injustice. The end of both these men was better than the beginning. In the end we see the justice and mercy of God. G. The Patient is better than the proud, v.8b,9: To quench our anger and exercise patience is not easy. We need to be slow to anger and quick to hear, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. H. Today is better than yesterday, v.10 It is always easy to look back at yesterday and forget the trials and just remember the good things and think it was better than today. Life is often difficult and we are impatient for change, but we must realize that today is a blessing from the Lord, and we can enjoy today, this is the gift of God! The good old days are often the combination of bad memory and good imagination. Yesterday is past and cannot be changed, tomorrow may not come, so we must seize the moment and capture the blessings of today. Do not be paralyzed by yesterday or hypnotized by tomorrow, or else we will let the present, which is all we have, slip from us and it will be gone. 2. Wisdom Provides Balance, v.11-18 One of maturity's marks is to keep life in balance. So many people go off the deep end. Wisdom helps us maintain balance so that we do not become obsessed with unimportant things: A. Regarding Wealth, wisdom gives greater protection than money, v.12: Money can be easily squandered, it can be stolen, it can burn, blow up. The person with wisdom will know how to use his money so that he will use his wealth properly. Money can provide certain things in this world, but it cannot give LIFE. Wisdom can and does give life to them that have it. Wisdom helps us to slow down and evaluate before moving on. B. Regarding the Inevitable, v.13: If God makes something crooked, can man make it straight? The preacher spoke wisely when he said, "Learn to cooperate with the inevitable." We must learn not to fight the facts of what God is doing in our lives. We need serenity to accept what cannot be changed, courage to change what should be changed, and wisdom to know the difference, according to the Serenity Prayer. C. Regarding Prosperity and Adversity, v.14: Wisdom provides us with proper perspective so that we are not overly discouraged or depressed when things go wrong. Like Job, we need to be able to accept adversity and prosperity, "The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh, blessed is the name of the Lord." The man of God sees both good and bad times as permitted by the heavenly Father for the eternal good of his children. Paul knew how to be abased and he knew how to abound (Philippians 4:11-13). D. Regarding righteousness and sin, v.15-18: The wicked prosper only when you take the temporal view of life and not the eternal. Yes, they may gain the whole world, but lose their soul, and what are they profited? Our God is working all things together for good, and He has eternity in view, not just two years. In v.16 Solomon is not saying we should not be too righteous, rather he is saying we must not boast or claim our own righteousness. There cannot be too much of the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus Christ. There can be too much righteousness which consists of external ordinances or when man's good works blind man to his utter helplessness and to their need of the righteousness of God that is through Jesus Christ. We need balance in life, hold on to true righteousness without letting go of real wisdom. We find both in Jesus Christ! We should not make ourselves too wise, in the sense that we should not be so analytical and frugal that we never make a decision. If you wait too long to make a decision to buy something, someone else will buy it before you do! Be not over much wicked or foolishness, either. Excessive wickedness
or foolishness leads to premature death! 3. Wisdom Furnishes us with Strength, v.19-22 The wise person fears the LORD, and fears no one or nothing else. He is truly strong. Wisdom strengthens the wise more than 10 mighty men in a city. A. Strength to deal with SIN, v.20: Wisdom is the fear of the Lord which gives us strength to live pure and peaceable lives. B. Strength to deal with CRITICISM AND HURT, v.21 It is natural to want to know what other people are saying about us. But we should realize that what is said behind our back is not always good or true! Wisdom helps us filter out what is false and what is true. Wisdom also helps us to handle criticism. Anyone who tries to do anything will be criticized by someone. Remember that you have said negative things, too, about others. Spurgeon said, "You cannot stop people's tongues, and therefore the best thing to do is stop your own ears and never mind what is spoken." Wisdom helps us accept reality that is painful and gives the ability to understand the tensions we daily face. 4. Wisdom Equips us with Insight, v.23-29 A. To Grasp meaning in our world, v.24, 25. To seek out wisdom and the reason of things..." B. To Refrain from Adultery, v.26 C. To Understand that our problem is not with God but with ourselves. This world is full of sin, but in the beginning God ...made man upright. Solomon does a survey and cannot find a person with a heart for holiness and a hunger for righteousness. |