Sunday, August 2, 2020 pm – online lesson
STUDIES IN ECCLESIASTES
(25)
Thoughts about Wisdom (2)
Ecclesiastes 7:11-28 (2)
Last week we examined the first 2 of these noting how wisdom can be a
defense much in the same way that money WISELY used can provide
protection. We included a
discussion about inheritance (wise and foolish); Then we noted that
wisdom can give you perspective – that is, it can help you appreciate
God by considering Him, in both prosperity and adversity.
Tonight, we continue our examination of this section by noting
the next points.
a.
The inequity of life –
sometimes the just suffer and the evil prosper.
This is the age-old question we struggle with as we consider God
and ourselves. It causes
many to reject God.
BUT with such, remember as we have already noted, that God is in control
and knows what is happening.
There will be an accounting!
b.
Do not be overly
righteous
– a challenging statement.
Is it really possible to be too righteous where God is concerned?
When we consider God’s definition and demands – certainly not.
The righteous man is the one who DOES all that he is commanded.
We have addressed this in Mathew 5:20 where Jesus demanded a
righteousness that exceeds that of the corrupt leaders.
We have also addressed the pursuit of holiness.
Can you really be too holy?
To be overly righteous could be – self-righteousness –
arrogance as we find with the scribes and Pharisees who looked down upon
others (cf. Luke 18:9-14).
Or it could be one whose demands are so exact that he leaves no
room for those who differ with him to be righteous.
He binds where God has not bound and believes his way is the ONLY
way (in areas where God’s word does give leeway).
NOTE: This is not a criticism of those demanding authority for
all that we do (cf. Ephesians 5:11).
Or it could be one whose righteous pursuits cloud his wisdom
concerning life. For
example: One who contributes to a godly cause to the neglect of his
family and other responsibilities.
Or perhaps one who totally isolates himself from the world, and
as a result he removes opportunities to teach and influence others.
The point is we need to be useful to God, not only to save
ourselves, but also strive to win others.
I once heard someone say that “Some people are so heavenly minded they
are no earthly good.” The
point being we put ourselves in a situation where we cannot be light or
salt (proper examples – Matthew 5:13-16) to others.
Just as it is possible for too much salt to spoil a meal, and too
much light to make it useful (blinding), so we must weigh our actions so
that we will be EFFECTIVE both in strengthening our lives as Christians
and winning others to Him!
c.
Do not be overly wise – again, we wonder how such is possible.
Can you really be too wise?
There is worldly wisdom that seeks to explain away God –
which is what so many do today. Far
too many have no place for faith where God is concerned.
There is one who is wise who becomes arrogant with his
understanding. One
who thinks he knows it all (cf. Romans 2:18-21).
He could set a standard of wisdom for himself that is so high
it is impossible to achieve.
How many won’t do anything because “I don’t know enough yet”?
HOW LONG is that excuse acceptable?
Solomon’s wisdom was greater than all others, AND a gift from God – but
look where he ended up. He
let his wives turn him away from God and in the end, he lost so much.
d.
Do not be overly wicked
– following our text, this is NOT saying that its ok to be a little
wicked.
The truth is, we ALL fall short from time to time (Romans 3:23).
We are going to sin and we need to deal with those sins (1 John
1:8-10, 2:1-2)
BUT, we know there are so many who are outright evil and wicked in their
behavior and thoughts. They
are destroyers and have no intent of repenting.
Do NOT use that as an excuse to give up or continue in sinful
practices, or to say, “I can’t help it”.
There are some brethren now who are advocating that we HAVE TO
sin every day.
Furthermore, do not view yourself worse than you really are
– some people see themselves as so worthless they give up on themselves
and believe they are irredeemable.
As LONG as we have breath, we will NEVER reach that point.
The question is if we are willing to do something about it.
e.
Do not be foolish
– in context, this is the only phrase of these 4 that doesn’t use the
word “overly”. And that
might be because you are either foolish or you are not.
There is no middle ground.
The fool is the one devoid of sense – he acts carelessly and
without thought – whether a single act or a way of life.
He goes to extremes to his own hurt.
He might even put his own life in danger: “Why should you die
before your time?” (17) or “Why should you destroy yourself?”
(16)
We have addressed the fool throughout this letter and will continue to
do so as we contrast wise and foolish living.
f.
Consider ALL of these (18) – Solomon concludes this observation by noting that it
is good to grasp balance in our lives.
Do NOT ignore any of these things.
It is he who fears God that will escape them all – he will
be humble and content as he seeks to be righteous and he will act with
wisdom in all the decisions he makes.
He will abstain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22)
and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians
5:11); but realizing who he is, when he DOES stumble, he repents and
seeks to repair whatever has happened.
He is NOT foolish in his dealing with this life AND as he
prepares to stand before God.
It is that simple!
a.
Wisdom strengthens the
wise more than ten rulers of the city – force can only get you so far.
You may have a superior army or strength over others, but a wise
man can answer, and perhaps even overcome their strength.
Proverbs 21:22, A wise man scales the city of the mighty, And brings
down the trusted stronghold.
We also know that there
are many who are powerful who are evil and careless in the decisions
they make. In time, their
empires will fall. We have
seen it over and over – godless leaders who never really cared for their
people and were either toppled, or their fall was not grieved.
There are things wisdom can accomplish that strength simply cannot.
Examples will be found in the coming chapters of Ecclesiastes
(e.g. 8:2-6, 9:13-16, etc.)
Spiritually this is especially true – all the military might or
wealth or power in the world will NOT save you when you stand before God
to give an accounting (Romans 14:10-12 – we will each give an account of
ourselves to God).
NOR can it resolve the moral lapse that is so prevalent even today.
Only TRUE wisdom that fears God will lead to a more decent
society.
b.
There is not a just man
on earth who does good and does not sin –
this is a Biblical teaching we must always remember.
Romans 3:10-11ff, 23 tells us we are all sinners and thus we fall
short of the glory of God.
The one who thinks he is perfect BETTER consider 1 John 1:8 – 10 again.
In CONTEXT, the point here is we all have flaws and weaknesses. The
wise man will humbly acknowledge his and seek to improve to the best of
his ability.
The fool, on the other hand keeps on his reckless path and has no desire
to change or even hear that he needs to change.
Proverbs 15:12, A scoffer does not love one who corrects him, Nor
will he go to the wise.
Proverbs 20:9 - Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure
from my sin”?
Ecclesiastes 4:13 also, Better a
poor and wise youth Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished
no more.
c.
Do not take to heart everything people say – This verse is
SO timely today. I am
convinced that ONE OF THE PROBLEMS at the root of our division as a
country is our unwillingness to openly and honestly talk about our
differences and disagreements.
Pick the issue (homosexuality, racism, government spending,
covid-19, etc. – NOTE: I’m not discussing here who is right and
who is wrong, but the attitude we have – TT ), and both sides
have dug in so deeply that they won’t even CONSIDER what those disagree
with them have to say. They
have divined themselves (act as if their word is from God) to be
SO RIGHT that if you disagree with them they will label you as evil and
insert whatever mean and hateful description they come up with.
They will treat you with hatred
and contempt and do whatever they want to do to you and think they are
justified. They will try to
bully, guilt and blackmail you into submission.
When people are afraid to openly express their concerns for fear of
being labeled or attacked, we will NEVER find the whole truth on a given
subject.
FRIENDS, as long as this mentality exists we will continue to
disintegrate as a nation and within our communities.
Spiritually, I fear that at times, brethren do not act any
better. I have seen some
VERY UGLY behavior on social media between so-called brethren that does
not honor Christ in any way. This
attitude is SINFUL on so many levels and it MUST be repented of or
people may lose their souls because of it!
Proverbs 18:17 says, The first one to plead his cause seems right,
Until his neighbor comes and examines him.
OH, if only we would allow this examination!
d.
Lest you hear your servant cursing
you – this is the point.
ARE we LOOKING for fault in what another says or are we willing to
give the benefit of the doubt? Do
we automatically assume the worst in what someone says?
Is it possible that we misunderstood them?
Is there ANY validity to what they say (even if it is
uncomfortable)?
1 Corinthians 13:5-7 in describing Christian love notes that we are to
“think no evil” and we are to “bear all things, believe all things, hope
all things, and endure all things.”
That means we give the benefit of the doubt!
We assume the best until proven otherwise.
It ALSO mean we are willing to ENDURE some perceived injustice if
it means bringing glory to God. Solomon
was saying, “Maybe he didn’t mean it the way you heard it” OR “Are you
looking to find fault in what he said – in word, action and motive?”
e.
In times past, often, you even you
have cursed others –
Let’s be honest about this – is there ANYONE who has NOT said
something about someone else that they regretted?
Anyone who has not uttered words or even name calling in anger?
Anyone who said something in
times past that they THOUGHT was ok, but now they know better and have
changed their thoughts about that? Or maybe they have said something in
confidence in LIMITED company that should not have been said? (And
hopefully they regretted it) OR maybe they have said something that was
MISUNDERSTOOD by those they were speaking to
- they didn’t mean to “curse” anyone, but it was perceived that
way – either innocently or hyper-critically?
Etc.
James 3:2 warns us that we ALL stumble in many things – especially in
our words. He proceeds to
warn about how poisonous words can be!
Jesus in Matthew 7:1-5 warned about the way we judge others, including
their words.
Matthew 7:12 is the golden rule – do we apply that in our judgment of
what others say?
James 1:19 tells us let EVERY MAN be swift to hear, slow to speak and
slow to anger. Oh how we
need to apply this.
And
thus, we see some of Solomon expositions about wisdom.
May we desire to be both
righteous and wise as God desires of us, and not what we want or the
path that this world thinks we should be on.
Next week, we will conclude our study of this section. So where
is your wisdom leading you?
Think about it.