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LearningTranscript
00:00Last year when the church sent us off to Israel, we flew to New York City because that's where the
00:05flight was originating for us, our trip to Israel. And Teresa and I arrived a couple of days early
00:11just because it worked out best for us and we had an opportunity to look around New York. And so we
00:15were walking around New York City and enjoying ourselves. We walked over to Trinity Church. It's
00:19a very old church. It plays a role in our Revolutionary War. A lot of information about
00:26there. We were walking around Trinity Church and literally we walked around it before we went
00:30inside. And around Trinity Church were a bunch of gravestones. It was a graveyard around the church.
00:35And it just reminded me of a lot of the churches we visited in Germany where you had a graveyard
00:39around a church building. But when you go to most contemporary modern church buildings today,
00:47you'll see that one thing is missing as it used to be in the past. And that is what you will not find
00:53as a graveyard. Look at the church buildings. I mean, hey, let's just be honest. Medical A
00:59Community Church, we don't even have a graveyard. There are no gravestones around here. Most church
01:05buildings lack gravelards like they used to build years ago around churches and buried the faithful
01:11believers around there. Russell Moore was commenting on this. He's a pastor and writer and he was thinking
01:16about the same thing that I was thinking about. A lot of church buildings today do not have graveyards
01:20around them. And he was making some reflections on that. He says, you know, we don't have them,
01:26but he said, I wonder if we're missing something. I wonder if we're really as Christians missing
01:31something. We're outsourcing the care of the death of our loved ones to a cemetery somewhere a distance
01:39away instead of around a church building where we would come every Sunday and then see our departed
01:46loved ones and ones who have died. The church graveyard might serve to remind us of something
01:53that we as contemporary evangelical Christians with all of our flash and verve seem to forget
01:59far too often. We are all going to die. Now, unless Jesus comes back and he could come back before
02:08I'm finished even speaking today, that's possible. But if he chooses not to come back in our lifetime,
02:13all of us are going to die. That is the lot of humanity under the sun. Now, we know that if you
02:19believe in Jesus Christ, you will never die. You will live forever. We understand that. But when we
02:23speak of life under the sun, human existence under the sun, we all are going to die. He continues on,
02:32perhaps though a graveyard in our peripheral vision as we get out of the car for worship might remind us
02:38of the gravity of the task before us. Maybe a graveyard in at least some of our churches would
02:46serve as an icon that all of our babbles will collapse, all our wood, hay, and stubble will be
02:52incinerated before the judgment seat. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ will last.
03:01Sometime when you get a moment, walk around a graveyard, not for the ghost stories and the goosebumps you get
03:07for walking around a graveyard, but to look at it and remember, this is a lot of humanity.
03:14This is where we are all going to go to unless Jesus comes to rapture us out of here before we die.
03:23Maybe if we did this more often, we might consider the need for those church graveyards.
03:29He said, I wonder if we might be able to speak more honestly to a people scared to death of death
03:37with a visible sign that we know what death is too. And we hate it also.
03:46Solomon ended last week with the question, what is good for man? What is good for man? It's a
03:52rhetorical question. He's now going to answer that, what is good for man? And he wants us to understand
03:57certain things that is good for us to know, good for us to contemplate, good for us to think about.
04:03So he says to us today in chapter seven, godly wisdom requires us to contemplate our mortality
04:10and adjust our lives accordingly.
04:17I mean, honestly, how often do we ever really think about our mortality? Let me give you another
04:21word. That's a euphemism. Death. How often do we really think about death? Now, I'm not talking
04:29about a morbid fixation on death that you can't leave your house because you're afraid you're going
04:33to get hit by a meteorite. Now, I'm not sure what the difference is to get hit by a meteorite in your
04:37house or outside of your house, but whatever reason, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking
04:42about a healthy reflection to understand this is the way of all flesh under the sun.
04:48This is where we're all going to go to someday if Jesus tarries. We are mortal creatures. Now,
04:55we know that we can put off mortality and put on immortality in Christ. I understand that.
05:00But he's speaking about human existence under the sun. So he's going to explain to us what is good
05:07for man. What is good for us as we live this life under the sun? What is good for us? Look at verses one
05:14through six. He's going to give us a series of better thans. Better than. You'll see it throughout
05:21verses one through six. A good name is better than precious ointment and the day of death than the day
05:28of birth. We all rejoice at a child's birth, but he's saying actually the day of death is better than the
05:32day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting,
05:39for this is the end of all mankind. And the living will lay it to heart. When we enter the house of
05:46mourning, we realize this is the end and we'll take it to heart, he says. We'll think about it. We'll
05:52contemplate it. We'll reflect on it. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face, the heart is
05:58made glad. It seems to be a paradox there, doesn't it? The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
06:04but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the
06:11wise than to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is laughter of
06:20the fools. This also is vanity. And when he ends the statement with this also is vanity, he's summing
06:25up a group of verses that he's putting together as a thought. That's why he tells us there's a break
06:30right here. This is vanity. We have to understand this is a striving after the wind.
06:39We need perhaps to find a couple of words because we talked about wisdom and foolishness. Let's see
06:43if we can just define them briefly so we know what we're talking about. Wisdom is, means insight.
06:49It's applied knowledge. You know, knowledge is that a tomato is a fruit. Applied knowledge,
06:55wisdom is not to put it in a fruit salad. Okay, you get it? Knowledge and wisdom.
07:00Got that? Okay. So it's applied knowledge, not just smart, but you apply the knowledge to your
07:04everyday life. So insight, applied knowledge, and good judgment, that's wisdom. Now fool is a little
07:10probably easier to understand. It just means a lack of wisdom. You don't apply knowledge. You don't have
07:16good insight. You just willy-nilly go through life not contemplating or thinking or reflecting about many
07:22important things. That's a fool, according to Solomon. A fool is a person who abandons wisdom,
07:29thinking that they know better than God and the wise of the ages. Now I have some relatives that
07:36think they know everything. Yeah? Do you have any relatives like that? I mean, and they'll tell you
07:40right away they know everything, and they'll let you know that they know everything, and they won't
07:43want you to ever forget that they know everything. Well, that's a fool, according to Solomon.
07:47A person that thinks they know better than God or the wise of the ages. That's a foolish person.
07:52And then he starts off this, a good name is better than precious ointment. Name. What is it? Just your
07:59name, Mark? No, that's not what he's talking about. And he's not talking about reputation. It's deeper
08:04than your reputation. Name is more than a person's reputation. It is what a person is in the eyes of
08:10God. How does God view us? That's really what our name is. Not how we fool people and have a reputation,
08:17reputation. But really, what are we in the eyes of God? That's what this word name implies. An
08:23ancient saying says, every man has three names. One his father and mother gave him, one others call
08:29him, and one he acquires himself. Notice what God sees of him. This name, your character, who you are.
08:39Proverbs 22 says, a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver
08:45or gold. Now, as we were reading verses 1 through 6, doesn't it seem like Solomon is preoccupied with
08:52death? I mean, yet that's where we're all going to end up, isn't it? That's all of us, if Jesus
09:03cherries. He wants us to understand that the end of this human existence under the sun is death. Now,
09:11we know who conquered death. We don't have to be afraid of death. I understand that. But
09:15we have to keep that in perspective as we live our life and adjust our lives accordingly that we are
09:21going to die, all of us, someday. He wants us to think about that and understand and not waste a day
09:30of our life. Death is equalizer. It puts everyone on the same footing, whether the wise or the unwise,
09:38whether the fool or whether the wealthy or the poor. We're all on the same footing at death.
09:45And at death, we know the character of a person because it's fixed at death. Their name then is
09:51fixed at death. Nothing's going to be added to it. Nothing's going to be taken away from it.
09:55We've met people that have been wise all their life, and all of a sudden, they fall into some sort
09:59of catastrophe and become very foolish, and they end in a foolish state, and we wonder whether or not
10:04their wisdom was ever really wise. He actually says that the day of your death is better than
10:10the day of your birth. That doesn't seem to make sense. At birth, a person's life is in front of
10:16them. They may be foolish, or they may be wise in this life. But at their death, their foolishness
10:23or their wisdom is now confirmed. So at the day of death, we see exactly what a person was really like
10:28all of their life. A person of character may not have perfume applied to their bodies in their
10:35burial, but a good name will count for far more. It was common practice to anoint bodies, especially
10:41in the Far East or in the East, because the sun is hot, bodies decay quickly. You anoint them. Not
10:48only does it help with the fragrance, but it's just an act of respect for that person, that person's
10:53body. Listen, if you've got a good name in the eyes of God, it's better than any kind of ointment
10:59that could go on your body at burial. And to not have the ointment was a horrible thing in burial.
11:04Remember, Jesus was anointed by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus after they just come down on the cross
11:09and 75 pounds of ointment they had and they put on him. It was a sign of respect, and to not have
11:14that would be a sign of disrespect. But you know what? If your name, that is your character, is good before
11:20God. It's better than any kind of ointment that could apply to your body at burial.
11:27I was watching a TV show about, actually it was about John Wilkes Booth, an hour-long documentary
11:33about John Wilkes Booth. And of course, Abraham Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln was in there.
11:38And it went through the series, and it went through him, Booth's shooting President Lincoln at Ford's
11:43Theater. And then he was taken across the street to a housing area where he laid in this bed. And then
11:49the doctor who was attending him, doctor who was attending him after a period of time, it was that
11:53next morning, I believe, I don't remember exactly what time, but the doctor says, the president is
11:59dead. And then he made this statement, now he belongs to the ages. And I thought, you know, I know about
12:08Abraham Lincoln. I know the story of Abraham Lincoln. He belongs to the ages. His name will be remembered
12:15forever and associated with things I consider good in this life. He's an exception, actually, because
12:22Solomon said that most of us live and die and no one even remembers us. He's an exception to the general
12:26rule. Abraham Lincoln is. Because his name went down in the ages. That's what we're talking about.
12:35Good name is established and confirmed at death.
12:37Someone who's still alive may ruin their character. Proverbs 10 says this, the memory of the righteous
12:45is a blessing, but the memory of the wicked will rot. The day of a person's death ought to be seriously
12:52contemplated. It's serious. Not again, we're not talking about a morbid fixation on death, but the
13:00reality is, am I living exactly how God wants me to live right now? Because tomorrow is not guaranteed
13:06to me. Thomas Akimpas on death said, happy is he that always has the hour of his death before his
13:14eyes and daily prepares himself to die. Now this is borderline fixation, morbid fixation on death,
13:21but I think he has a good point. Listen to what he says. When it is morning, think you may die before
13:26night. And when evening comes, dare not to promise yourself the next morning. Be therefore always in a
13:33readiness and so lead your life that death may never take you unprepared. That's the key. Live your
13:40life so that death may never take you unprepared. Of course, the first thing you need to do is believe
13:46in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, for he is life and he gives life. And if you enter into eternity
13:51without Jesus Christ, you'll be separated from God for eternity, punished and punished in the lake of
13:56fire. You don't want that. I don't want that for you. How many people do you know have changed their
14:04life when they got the message that they're fatally ill with a disease? Everything changes because you
14:12know you have an X number of days, or at least the doctors are saying X number of days to live.
14:17Everything changes. Things that were not important become important to you. That's what Solomon wants us
14:21to understand. Those things that we're not deeming important right now because we're just kind of
14:25willy-nilly going through life is he wants us to contemplate you are going to die. Prepare
14:30yourself day in and day out because you may not be here. Make sure that death does not take you
14:36unprepared. He wants us to make good use of our lives. And he says going to a funeral is better than
14:44going to a wedding or going to a feast. I don't know. I like weddings a whole lot more than funerals.
14:49I hate doing funerals. It's one of the things I don't like as a pastor is having to do a funeral.
14:54All the grief and the sorrow and the pain you see in people. I don't like that. I'd rather go to a
14:58wedding. But Solomon says it's better to go to a funeral because you think about, yes, that's me
15:04someday. And I need to make sure I'm living my life right now that death does not take me unprepared.
15:10Then he talks about the sadness of faith. And you think, oh, that's a sad. You're sad. No, it's not that.
15:15It's not the idea of being sad. The sadness of faith is simply that I'm contemplating the reality
15:21that I am mortal. Sadness of faith is the person who soberly considers the meaning of death and they
15:28alter their life accordingly. That's the idea of sadness of faith. Not I'm just sad. No, I'm
15:34contemplating. I'm seriously considering. Yet this is my lot. This is my end if Jesus doesn't come back.
15:39This is where I'm going to be.
15:41Sorrow. It has been said sorrow penetrates the heart, draws the thoughts upward, purifies and
15:49transforms. So if we're always just giddy and full of laughter and not seriously contemplating life and
15:56all the things that are important, we're fools, Solomon said. Laughter, you know, does not equal joy.
16:05Go to a party where they're partying and you see people laughing. And if you know that person,
16:12you know their life is a disaster. Laughter doesn't equal joy. We can laugh in joy. Yes,
16:17but you can laugh without joy. Laughter does not equal joy. In the house of feasting or partying,
16:23there may be laughter, but it could just be meaningless foolishness and not a joyful life that's being
16:29displayed. The party house often shuts out thoughts of God and eternity because a party is only concerned
16:37about this moment and the party that's happening right now. He said, think about it. Think about
16:44this is the lot. Are you prepared for death? We can gain much by sober reflection on death.
16:53I wonder, is the ever-present desire for youth in American culture an attempt to ignore mortality?
17:03All we want to be is young. Look at all the commercials on television. There's this one
17:07that just, I don't understand. I don't get it. And if you've done this, I'm not making fun of you. I'm
17:11not meaning it as a slight, but when it talks about shooting Botox in your body and it calls it Botox
17:17Toxin. Why would you want to put a toxin in your body? I don't get it. Well, I got to look young.
17:24All my wrinkles will go away. When I put this poison in my body, I'll look good. I think that's
17:30craziness. Is it this obsessive desire for a youth culture in America a sign that we're unwilling to
17:39accept our mortality? We don't want to discuss it. We're ignoring it. Could be. Or as a person,
17:46a famous person who simply lived under the sun said, Woody Allen, I don't mind dying. I just
17:53don't want to be there when it happens. That's what our culture thinks about. I don't want to think
17:59about death. I don't want to think about going to a funeral instead of going to a party. I'd rather
18:03go to a party. I don't normally quote Woody Allen, but that was too good. John Bailey, he actually lost
18:12all of his sons in his lifetime, says, the sort of taboo Victorians placed on the public discussion
18:18of sex has been transferred to death in our culture. We don't talk about death. As a matter
18:25of fact, we don't even like to use the word death. So we use euphemisms. Yeah, they're gone.
18:31They passed on. They're not with us anymore. We don't say they died. They're dead. We don't like
18:38to use those terms. We don't even want to talk about it. It's not wrong to go to the house of
18:45feasting. It's not wrong to go to a party. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not what he's saying.
18:49But he's saying you can reflect better on the idea that we're mortal if you go to a funeral than if
18:56you go to a party. Because at a party, you're just thinking about the moment. You're not thinking
18:59about what's coming up. You're not preparing yourself for it. And Psalm 90, Moses tells us,
19:06so teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. We've heard that before. It's
19:10good. Teach us to number our days. And then he talks about the wise listening for a rebuke. A
19:16rebuke simply means you've done wrong. And the wise person says, thanks. I mean, I just needed to hear
19:21that. Thank you. I appreciate that. You're right. I've done wrong and I'm going to change. Thank you.
19:25That's a wise person. Now, most of us go, who do you think you are telling me that I'm wrong?
19:32You've been there. You know what it's like. You're thinking to yourself, yeah, right. Like
19:38you're perfect and you're telling me that I'm wrong. No, a wise person accepts rebuke. It's
19:42okay. Because you know you're not perfect. Even people who think that they're perfect.
19:50Dick Cavett, some of you may remember him. He says, it's a rare person who wants to hear
19:55what he doesn't want to hear. The wise will take a rebuke. The wise understand that.
20:02Proverbs 17 says, a rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding that a hundred blows
20:06into a fool. Then he comes down to the end in verse 6. He's talking about the thorns
20:12underneath a pot. Picture thorns, okay? They're light. They're airy. They're not dense. It's
20:19not like a dense piece of wood where it would burn for hours. No. Thorns generate more noise
20:25than heat. And they don't burn long. They're not lasting. So like thorns are burned quickly
20:31and extinguished. Foolish laughter is short-lived and accomplishes little. After you've laughed
20:36yourself off at the party, you go home and it's not really accomplished much. Hasn't altered
20:41your life accordingly. The laughter of fools matches their heart, matches their character.
20:51So then it's good to be wise. It's good to realize that we're mortal. It's good to be wise. But you
20:57know what? You can, just like the person who has a good name, in one day you can lose your wisdom
21:03and it can be perverted. That's what he's going to deal with now. Those who had wisdom, but it's
21:07perverted and they've lost their wisdom. They're no longer wise. Look at verses 7 through 12.
21:13Surely oppression drives a wise into madness and a bribe corrupts the heart. So someone is
21:22bribing a person who claims or who is wise up to this point and they accept the bribe and they've
21:27lost all their wisdom. Better is the end of a thing than it's beginning. And the patient in spirit
21:34is better than the proud in spirit. To be patient is better than be proud. Be not quick in your
21:40spirit to become angry. For anger lodges in the heart of fools. Say not, why were the former days
21:47better than these? Oh, it was so much better back in the 50s or 60s or 70s or whatever age you want to
21:55list. For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to
22:06those who see the sun. For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money. And the advantage
22:15of knowledge is that wisdom preserves a life of him who has it. So wisdom, but one could lose their
22:23wisdom. It's possible for a wise person to become a fool. That's why your character is set at death.
22:31While we're still alive, we can blow it and lose it. This person has done that. Exodus 23 says,
22:37and you shall not, and you shall take no bribe for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the
22:42cause of those who are in the right. So a person has been wise and all of a sudden they say, you know
22:46what? If you could do this and this, I'll grease your palms. I'll give you some money. I'll bribe you.
22:52And you go, oh, sounds like a great idea. Well, you've just lost your wisdom. It's not a great
22:56idea. It's wrong. Bribery corrupts the heart and undoes the work of wisdom. In other words, you're
23:03not abiding by what is good and what is just and what is right. In other words, you just want to do
23:07what you want to do. Deuteronomy 16 says, you shall not pervert justice. You shall not show
23:14partiality. You shall not accept a bribe for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause
23:19of the righteous. Then he talks about a person. It's better to be patient than to be proud.
23:26Patient person. Be patient. Not only patient with others, but patient yourself. Just patient. Patient.
23:35How many people have, wait, let me just pick it back up. How many times have I acted hasty?
23:41I act hasty. I don't think it through. I just jump right in. I just do it. It's not very patient.
23:49And I want it done my way instead of God's way. I've been there.
23:54I don't consider. I don't consider what the final result of a situation is going to be. I just want
23:58to jump right in and handle it. Reminds me of this guy named Steve Tran of Westminster, California.
24:05In 1995, according to the Arizona Republic, he closed the door on 25 activated bug bombs in his
24:16apartment. 25. Now picture this. 25 bug bombs in his apartment. And he thought he saw the last of his
24:27cockroaches after setting off 25 bug bombs. Now, I don't know. I think cockroaches can live through an
24:33atomic explosion. A nuclear bomb. And they're still alive after the fact. He's going to take
24:38care of them. So he sets off 25 bug bombs in his apartment. But when the spray reached the pilot
24:47light of the stove, it ignited. Blasting his screen door across the street, breaking all of his windows
24:54and setting his furniture ablaze. And you know what he said? I really wanted to kill all of them.
25:00So I put out more, thinking that it's better. I don't think he thought through this.
25:09Two would have solved his problem, according to the cans. Two bug bombs would have solved his problems.
25:16The blast caused over $10,000 of damage to his apartment. And by Sunday, the cockroaches were back.
25:23How many times are we so hasty? We're not patient. And the hasty enough is actually a sign of pride.
25:32I know better. So I'm going to do it my way. I know better.
25:38Proverbs 29 says,
25:39A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.
25:44In other words, I just got to tell someone. I got to just vent my spirit. No, no.
25:48A wise man.
25:50Fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man holds it back.
25:54I don't have to tell everyone what's on my mind at all times.
25:58You probably wouldn't want to know.
26:01How many times do we jump to conclusions because we don't have all the information
26:05and make a judgment based upon what we think we know and we don't really know it?
26:09That's an impatient person.
26:14People are quick to jump to conclusions.
26:16Because people still act foolishly,
26:18we need patience to realize that moral integrity is a better way of life.
26:24We need patience. Patience. I need to exercise patience.
26:29I know you do with me. Thank you.
26:32The Bible often exhorts us to remember.
26:36The Bible wants us to remember things.
26:37Often we're told to remember.
26:40But we must not make unhealthy comparisons between present circumstances and past events.
26:45Somehow we get in our mind that everything in the past was great.
26:49And now the future is really bad.
26:52The present is really bad.
26:53Everything in the past was great.
26:56The thing is, we tend to forget the bad things in the past, don't we?
27:01And tend to remember just the good things.
27:03Often Teresa will say to me,
27:04you remember about 15 years ago this person said this and this to you?
27:08I said, no.
27:10Do you remember they did this and this to you?
27:12No.
27:13I tend to forget all the bad things that happened to me
27:15and think about all the good things.
27:17Well, Solomon wants to tell us,
27:18listen, times are times.
27:20They vacillate.
27:21They're good.
27:22They're bad.
27:22There's no time that is better than any other time.
27:25He wants us to remember,
27:28but he wants us to understand that every age has its problems.
27:31Every age is good and bad.
27:35Outside of the Garden of Eden, since the fall,
27:38there has always been foolish people.
27:40There's always been people who are foolish.
27:42The former days are not better.
27:43There's always been foolish people on the earth.
27:46Sometimes are good.
27:48Sometimes are better.
27:49Sometimes are really bad,
27:50but they just ebb and flow.
27:53But we get fixated on the past.
27:55He doesn't want us to think like that.
27:57True wisdom grapples with the absurdity,
28:02the tragedy, and the puzzles of life.
28:07You ever notice?
28:08Life is not tidy.
28:11Life is messy.
28:13It's messy.
28:15Relationships are messy.
28:17Life is messy.
28:19We can't compartmentalize and say,
28:21it's going to work this way every time,
28:22just like this.
28:23No, it's messy.
28:24It gets out of order.
28:27There's difficult decisions where one way we would go this way,
28:30and maybe this person would choose this way,
28:32but no, God wants us to go.
28:33It's just messy.
28:35A wise person understands and grapples
28:38with these absurdities and these tragedies
28:41and these puzzles of life,
28:42realizing that God is sovereign
28:43and we're underneath his control.
28:46Charlie Brown was talking about this.
28:48He wisely calculates after one of his exercises in futility.
28:52He says this,
28:53in the book of life's questions,
28:55the answers are not in the back.
28:58And that's really what wisdom is.
29:00Wisdom is looking at my current situation,
29:03applying the knowledge that I have here
29:05in the word of God to my current situation
29:07and making a decision today about it.
29:10But all the answers are not there.
29:13I may make a bad decision.
29:15I may not.
29:15I may do something purely out of my will.
29:17But the idea is that I'm actually thinking about what's happening
29:22and I'm applying God's truth to my life.
29:25All the answers aren't there,
29:26but I trust the one who does have all the answers.
29:31The temptation is for a person at the end of their life
29:33to look back at the good old days
29:35and say how great they were.
29:37No, not really.
29:39Warren Wiersbe reminds us,
29:40we must live today
29:41in the will of God
29:42and not be paralyzed by yesterday
29:44or hypnotized by tomorrow.
29:48The writer,
29:49Hillyer Bullock,
29:49not claiming to be a Christian,
29:51wrote this,
29:52while you are dreaming of the future
29:53or regretting the past,
29:55the present,
29:56which is all you have,
29:58slips from you and is gone.
30:03Wisdom guides a person
30:04through difficult times in life.
30:06But we can lose wisdom
30:09if we're not careful
30:10and end up like a fool.
30:14Now, he's going to conclude this section
30:16really in verses 13 and 14.
30:17I know 13 is still with the section
30:19that you saw that's offset
30:20and then 14 is there.
30:21But really,
30:22it's the summation of what he's trying to say.
30:24He's trying to say better than statements,
30:25a lot of Proverbs wisdom statements.
30:28And then he's talking about
30:29that we get in
30:31and we look at our life
30:32and try to live wise lives
30:34and not lose that wisdom
30:35that we have gained.
30:37But he's going to sum it up with this.
30:40Listen,
30:41it is all about the sovereignty of God
30:42that we talked about last week.
30:45Submission to the sovereignty of God
30:47puts life into perspective.
30:50So that's how he wants to conclude this section.
30:52Look at verses 13 and 14.
30:54Consider the work of God
30:55who can make straight
30:57what he has made crooked.
30:59He makes something straight.
31:00You can't come along human
31:01and make it crooked afterwards.
31:03You can't do that.
31:03I think we need to stop right there for a second.
31:17Somehow we get in our mind,
31:19I'm a Christian.
31:21Life is going to go great for me
31:23all the time.
31:25Let me read that again.
31:27In the day of prosperity,
31:29be joyful.
31:30Be happy when things are going well.
31:32And in the day of adversity,
31:34when things aren't going so well,
31:37consider,
31:38what am I supposed to consider?
31:39God has made both of them.
31:42God has made the day of prosperity for me.
31:44God has made the day of adversity for me.
31:46And if I trust him,
31:47that he knows what is right,
31:49what is good,
31:49what is just,
31:50if I submit myself to his sovereignty,
31:52I can live in that.
31:54If for some reason,
31:55I can't submit to his sovereignty,
31:56when adversity comes my way,
31:57I'm going to fall apart.
32:03He's created both of them.
32:07So the man may not find out
32:10anything that will be after him.
32:13Consider, consider.
32:15God is in control of the times
32:18and no one or nothing
32:20can thwart the will of God.
32:23Adversity, prosperity,
32:24nothing can thwart the will of God.
32:27Job told us this,
32:28with God our wisdom and might,
32:30he has counsel and understanding.
32:31If he tears down,
32:32none can rebuild.
32:33If he shuts a man in,
32:35none can open.
32:36What God does,
32:37no one can undo.
32:38If he's opened a door,
32:39you can't close it.
32:41If he's closed a door,
32:41you can't open it.
32:45Concerning the sovereignty of God,
32:46the late theologian R.C. Sproul said,
32:48I have never in my life
32:50met a Christian who said
32:51that he did not believe
32:52that God is sovereign.
32:53But as soon as we probe
32:55the understanding of sovereignty,
32:57it takes about five minutes
32:58to realize that the way
32:59many Christians define sovereignty
33:01could be better described
33:02as non-sovereignty.
33:05A God who is like the King of England,
33:07who reigns but does not rule.
33:10God's sovereignty.
33:11Am I okay with adversity
33:12when it comes my way?
33:13I mean, I like it,
33:14but I trust God.
33:15When prosperity,
33:16I like prosperity.
33:17I like that part.
33:18Adversity, not so much.
33:20But do I trust him?
33:23Actually, a person could be better off
33:25because of misfortune.
33:27You could be better off
33:28because of misfortune.
33:30There's an anecdotal story
33:31about a very old Chinese man
33:33named Sai
33:34who had one horse
33:36and one son.
33:38One day his horse ran away.
33:40Sai was just depressed.
33:41He was just beside himself.
33:44And his neighbor said,
33:44you know,
33:46things will work out.
33:48And Sai said,
33:48yeah, right.
33:49Well, the son went out
33:50and found the horse,
33:51brought the horse back.
33:53So the son and the horse come back.
33:54The next day,
33:55the son is riding the horse.
33:56The horse throws the son off.
33:58He falls down,
34:00crushes his leg,
34:01cripples the boy,
34:03and Sai is depressed again.
34:05I can't believe this is happening.
34:07And his neighbor said,
34:07well, you know,
34:07maybe it's not necessarily
34:08a bad thing that this happened.
34:10How could you say that?
34:11My only son is crippled.
34:14Shortly thereafter,
34:15war broke out in the country
34:16and all of the young men
34:18were conscripted
34:18to go into battle.
34:20Everyone from the village
34:21left
34:22and no one returned
34:23except for Sai's son
34:25who was crippled
34:26who could not go to war.
34:29Sometimes misfortunes
34:30turn out to be a good
34:31in our life.
34:35When we exercise godly wisdom,
34:37we will be able to deal
34:38and accept the challenging experiences
34:40that life brings us.
34:42I love what a rural preacher said.
34:43Listen,
34:44learn to cooperate
34:45with the inevitable.
34:48You can just put in there
34:49the sovereignty of God,
34:51the inevitable.
34:51That which is not going to change,
34:53you and I cannot change it.
34:54Learn to cooperate with it.
34:56Life yielded to God.
34:58God brings both prosperity
35:00and adversity
35:01in our lives.
35:02Adversity could be a recession,
35:04especially for an aggregarian culture
35:06a culture where crops are important
35:08or cattle is important.
35:10They could lose all that
35:11in a recession.
35:12Job 2 says,
35:13but he said to her,
35:14that's he speaking to his wife,
35:15you speak as one of the foolish women
35:17would speak.
35:18Shall we not receive good from God
35:19and shall we not receive evil?
35:22And all this Job did not sin
35:24with his lips.
35:27Aren't you glad
35:28that God doesn't let you know
35:29what tomorrow is going to bring?
35:31I mean, think about it.
35:32How many of us would say,
35:33oh, I wish I knew
35:34what next week was going to bring.
35:35I wish I knew
35:36what next year was going to bring.
35:37Do you really want to know
35:39what's coming?
35:41I think it would terrify me
35:42if I knew exactly
35:43what was coming
35:44because I wouldn't think
35:45I'd be able to handle it.
35:47But when I trust God
35:48day by day
35:49and I walk in this world
35:50and I understand
35:51who I am before him
35:52and underneath his authority
35:54and sovereignty,
35:55I can live in this world.
35:57I don't have to worry
35:58about what tomorrow
35:58is going to bring
35:59because I know
35:59who holds tomorrow
36:01in his hands.
36:02Lamentations 3 says,
36:07Who has spoken
36:08and it has come to pass
36:09unless the Lord
36:10has commanded it?
36:11Is it not from the mouth
36:12of the Most High
36:13that good and bad come?
36:15I'm glad I don't know
36:17what tomorrow is going to bring.
36:19Alfred Hitchcock,
36:20movie director,
36:21told a parable
36:22in Guideposts
36:23about the unknown.
36:26He said,
36:26Trust him
36:50that he knows
36:51what tomorrow is going to bring.
36:52We don't know
36:52what tomorrow is going to bring.
36:53We can't possibly.
36:54We know that mortality
36:56is our lot
36:57and we reckon with that
36:58and we adjust our lives
36:59accordingly as we live
37:00in this world
37:01so that death
37:01doesn't find us unprepared.
37:04But I can trust God
37:06to take care of my tomorrows.
37:09Rick Ferguson wrote,
37:11Even though the experience
37:12of death is the same
37:13for Christians
37:14and non-Christians,
37:15it is also much different.
37:17The unsaved feel helpless
37:18while the dying kin
37:20or friend struggles for life.
37:22But Christians find solace
37:23in knowing that everything
37:24that occurs
37:25does so above
37:26the caring net
37:27of God's will.
37:28The lost search fruitlessly
37:30for a purpose in death,
37:31but the saved rest
37:33in the comfort
37:33that all things,
37:35even death,
37:36serve a definite purpose
37:37orchestrated by God.
37:39When the unbeliever
37:40drops to the bed
37:41bearing hot tears
37:42in the depths of pillows
37:43and shouting blame to God,
37:45the believer drops
37:46to knees bruised
37:47from constant prayer,
37:48lifting hands in praise
37:49and shouting,
37:50Rejoice that God
37:51is still God!
37:52in the bleakest hours
37:54when death
37:55is the only certainty,
37:57the future is filled
37:58with agonizing questions,
37:59and when the stark reality
38:01of saying your final goodbye
38:02coldly slaps
38:04a stinging smack
38:06across your face,
38:07God's love
38:08is the only comfort,
38:10and it is sufficient.
38:14Do I trust Him?
38:17Do I lean into Him?
38:21Godly wisdom requires us
38:23to contemplate our mortality
38:25and adjust our lives accordingly.
38:28Let's pray.
38:29Father,
38:30we would much rather talk
38:33about life than death.
38:35We would much rather talk
38:36about partying
38:37than going to a funeral.
38:38Yet we see that there is wisdom
38:41in reflecting on these things.
38:44It puts life in perspective.
38:46It helps us to see clearly.
38:48It helps us to make decisions
38:50in the present
38:51that will affect my future.
38:53So, Father, I ask,
38:56we don't want a morbid fixation on death.
39:00We want a healthy reflection on death
39:03and adjust our lives accordingly
39:05so that we can live today
39:07and not face death unprepared.
39:12I pray, Father,
39:13for anyone who does not know Jesus Christ.
39:15They are not prepared, Father.
39:16They do not have the assurance
39:19of eternal life with you.
39:20I pray that they would come
39:21to find Him today
39:22as their Savior.
39:23For us who know Him,
39:25we rest in you.
39:26We trust you.
39:27Whatever you bring our way,
39:29we trust you are good,
39:31you are just,
39:32you are kind,
39:33you are holy,
39:35and we trust you
39:36with everything that we are.
39:38We thank you, Father,
39:40that you have answered
39:42this question of death for us
39:43through the resurrection
39:44of your Son, Jesus Christ,
39:46and we no longer fear death.
39:48We just don't want to go to it unprepared.
39:51We don't want to leave
39:52anything left unsaid in our life.
39:56We pray this in Jesus' name.
39:58Amen.
39:58Amen.
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