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Please enjoy this message delivered by Pastor Mark Hudson.
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LearningTranscript
00:00Phil Boatwright was talking about something I think that we all think about occasionally.
00:04He was talking about that each of us seeks a cottage with a white picket fence,
00:13that restful place, perhaps by a shore where love is present and strife is beyond the sea.
00:22That white picket fence, that idea somehow we have that for some reason
00:27that is the ideal of the American dream is a little cottage with a white picket fence
00:32where safety is there and peace and happiness dwells.
00:38Well, that sounds really good.
00:40Perhaps that's why we like movies so much, especially American movies.
00:44American movies tend to always have a happy end.
00:46Did you notice that?
00:48They have a happy end.
00:49I don't know if you read someone like Hans Christian Andersen, some of his actual stories,
00:53and then you listen to The Little Mermaid on Disney.
00:56They're not quite the same.
00:58They're a little bit different because Americans love happy endings.
01:03We like movies like that.
01:04You ever watch a movie from a foreign director and you're expecting a happy end?
01:07It may not come with a foreign director.
01:10We like happy endings.
01:12Something about that where peace and love and acceptance and respect are all there.
01:19They're attainable for us.
01:20That's why we feel good at the end of The Wizard of Oz.
01:26It's not just that Dorothy finds her way back to home, back there to Kansas,
01:31but it's the idea that some small farm girl from Kansas can find happiness somewhere over the rainbow.
01:40Maybe you and I can find it too.
01:42So we like that.
01:43If we can't escape problems, no matter how rich or famous or bright or beautiful we are,
01:53then maybe there's a reason for these inescapable adversities.
01:59As Christians, maybe our struggle through toil and trouble is one of the main reasons we are here,
02:04for these woes cause us to draw near to God.
02:07By studying the scripture, we can easily see that we come to the conclusion that the only way we can possibly please God
02:15is to believe, is have faith.
02:17For the writer of Hebrews says, without faith it is impossible to please God.
02:23And we see through a glass darkly, yes, Paul tells us,
02:26but remember we're not alone and forgotten in the shadows.
02:30Isaiah told us, so do not fear, for I am with you.
02:34Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
02:37I will strengthen you and help you.
02:38I will hold you with my righteous right hand.
02:43So what do we do as Christians when we are doing the right thing?
02:48We are walking in righteousness and holiness,
02:50and all of a sudden adversity enters into our life.
02:54What's our first thought?
02:56God, you're just not fair.
02:58What's this all about?
02:59I'm doing the right thing.
03:01I'm checking all of the boxes off, but why is adversity in my life?
03:05It's not a happy ending.
03:10Even though we may not understand the world around us so completely,
03:15in fact, even our own family or culture or society, we don't understand very well.
03:21We know that the sovereign God rules with righteousness, justice, and grace,
03:27and we must remember that.
03:30Because Solomon is going to enter into a topic that is actually an exception to the rule
03:35that he had already taught and actually what the Old Testament teaches, the rule that's
03:39there.
03:39He's going to teach an exception to that rule.
03:41And what do we do when we find ourselves in that exception?
03:44That's what he wants to talk about.
03:45So he lays out in the rest of chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes this idea that biblical wisdom rest in the sovereignty of God.
03:54In other words, what does it mean to be wise, biblically speaking?
03:56It rests in the sovereignty of God, understands the nature of man, and walks in integrity.
04:02All these three form what we understand of biblical wisdom, that God is sovereign, that he cares for his children.
04:10He oversees their life.
04:11He loves them.
04:12We understand the nature of humanity, both in ourselves and others around us.
04:17And our goal is to walk lives of integrity.
04:21That is wisdom.
04:22Yet what happens when we're walking lives of integrity and adversity enters our life?
04:31Some have asked, is the personal characteristic of wisdom just for elite Christians?
04:36Is that just for those first-class Christians and us second-class Christians?
04:40We're not really, you know, wisdom kind of escapes us.
04:44It's only for those first-class Christians.
04:45Or is wisdom for all believers, all Christians?
04:50Now, you and I know there's no first and second-class Christians.
04:52We understand that.
04:53But somehow we think that's only for the mature Christians' wisdom.
04:56And I may get it someday when I'm mature like them.
04:58Or is it for all of us?
05:02Solomon is the same place that we are.
05:03Now, he is a king.
05:05He's very wealthy.
05:06And his situation in life is not quite the same of us.
05:09But he's a human being.
05:10He lives in a world that was fallen and broken just like our world is fallen and broken.
05:14He's in a political system.
05:15We understand that.
05:16He's making decisions for the nation.
05:18Maybe that's something we don't quite grasp.
05:20But he gets what humanity is all about.
05:23So he's qualified to talk about these things.
05:25He's actually experienced some of these things.
05:27So he puts them in a position to be qualified to discuss these topics today.
05:32That's where he's at.
05:34Notice the verses 15 through 18.
05:36As he talks about acting in wisdom.
05:39Acting in wisdom.
05:40In my vain life.
05:45Now, he's not talking about life that is vain.
05:47He's talking about transitory.
05:49It's temporary.
05:50It's not lasting.
05:51This life under the sun comes to an end at some point.
05:54So that's what he's talking about, vain.
05:55Not like it's worthless.
05:56That's not what he's talking about.
05:58It's temporary.
05:58It's transitory.
05:59So, in my vain life, I have seen everything.
06:05There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness.
06:09And there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evil doing.
06:15And you and I say, wait, hold it.
06:17Time out.
06:18Stop.
06:18That's not the way it's supposed to be.
06:21A person who lives a righteous life, according to the Old Testament,
06:24they should live a long life and have lots of children.
06:27And they should be wealthy, according to the Old Covenant.
06:30Not that a righteous man dies early and a wicked man prolongs his life in evil doing.
06:37That's contrary to what we think is just.
06:39But that's what Solomon has seen.
06:43Then he says, in light of this, be not overly righteous.
06:48And do not make yourself too wise.
06:52Okay, we'll just close up the book.
06:53Let's go out to a party and have a fun time.
06:55Forget righteousness and wisdom.
06:57Let's just party out this life.
06:59No, that's not what he's saying.
07:00Not what he's saying.
07:03Sure seems like it, but that's not what he's saying.
07:05Don't be too wise.
07:07Why should you destroy yourself?
07:10Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool.
07:13Why should you die before your time?
07:16It is good that you should take hold of this.
07:19What is this?
07:20This is what he's talking about.
07:21Take hold of this.
07:23This is what I'm talking about.
07:24And from that with a hold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
07:33What is the both of them?
07:34He's going to talk about that.
07:35You'll come out.
07:35When you understand the fear of God, you'll not place yourself in a position that you're underneath both of these things that he's going to talk about right now.
07:41This, this is the short life of the righteous and the long life of the wicked is contrary to what we would think we would find with a just and a good God.
07:55We would think just the opposite, wouldn't we?
07:58We would think that the righteous person who's doing right, who's walking in integrity, they should live the long life and the wicked should die early because they're wicked.
08:04But Solomon says, I've seen it, that it's happened.
08:08Just the opposite of what we would expect.
08:11In fact, Proverbs 14 talks about the house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.
08:16That's what we expect.
08:18That seems to be what we are told in the Old Testament.
08:22But Solomon's talking about something different that he has seen.
08:27The result of a righteous, the result of righteousness is a long life.
08:31That is true.
08:32That is the Old Covenant teaching.
08:33But this rule has an exception.
08:37Remember we have talked about wisdom literature?
08:39Wisdom literature are generalizations that are generally true in most circumstances, but not all.
08:48Remember we talked about before that generally speaking, all of us here are going to live and going to die and a couple of generations be forgotten.
08:56That's what Solomon said.
08:57But then we talked about Abraham Lincoln last week who lived and died and we still remember Abraham Lincoln.
09:03He is an exception to the rule.
09:05Generally speaking, I'm going to die.
09:07No one's going to remember me in a couple of generations.
09:09That's how it is.
09:10There are exceptions.
09:12So he's talking about an exception to the rule.
09:15The general rule in the Old Testament is be righteous, follow God's commands.
09:18You'll have long life, you'll have children, and you'll have wealth.
09:23But that's not the case here.
09:24The righteous died young and the wicked prolonged his days.
09:29Deuteronomy 16, we read,
09:31Justice and only justice you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God has given you.
09:36That's what we would expect.
09:37But this is an exception to that rule.
09:43Now, he says here, don't be overly righteous.
09:47Don't be overly righteous.
09:48So he's not talking about being overly just as a thing that's a sinful thing.
09:54That's not what he's talking about.
09:56We should be just people.
09:57We should be righteous people.
09:58So he's not talking about that.
09:59He's talking about something completely different.
10:01The admonition could be against hypocrisy or pretense in righteousness.
10:08In other words, I'm pretending to be righteous so that I can receive all of the blessings that come with being righteous,
10:14which would be long life, security.
10:18But I'm just pretending.
10:19It's not really in my heart.
10:21It's probably what he's talking about.
10:24For if we look at verses 16 and 17, we could say it like this.
10:27Do not pretend to be righteous.
10:29That's a self-righteousness or feign extreme wisdom like the Pharisees.
10:36And when we feign extreme wisdom, we think we know better than God and we forget that God is sovereign.
10:43And so we question the sovereignty of God when we feign extreme wisdom.
10:47So don't pretend to be righteous and don't feign extreme wisdom.
10:50They're not going to help you.
10:55God sees us as we are.
10:57We can't hide from him.
10:58We can't pretend to be righteous and then he knows our hearts.
11:01He sees it all.
11:03He knows.
11:05So after denouncing this Pharisaical spirit that he sees, which questioned the divine ordering of things,
11:12Solomon warns against a deliberate wickedness.
11:14In other words, he understands that wickedness is inhumanity because we're fallen creatures.
11:18But what he's saying to us is, listen, don't abandon yourself to wickedness because you'll kill yourself.
11:25In fact, that will destroy your life.
11:26That will shorten your life.
11:28So he's not talking about the idea that we may sin and repent of our sin and we move on.
11:31He's talking about giving over to sin.
11:34Don't give yourself over to sin.
11:36Don't give yourself over to wickedness because death is close thereby is what he says in the text.
11:41He's addressing the philosophy of life that looks for the benefit of a long life, prosperity, and personal happiness through a feigned religious observance.
11:52I want the benefits of the old covenant, but I don't want to participate in the old covenant.
11:59It works in the new covenant too.
12:01We have people that assemble together with other Christians on a Sunday morning to receive the benefits of the new covenant,
12:07but are not in the new covenant whatsoever.
12:10They're not believers at all, but they want the benefit of the new covenant.
12:13They want the forgiveness.
12:14They want the love.
12:15They want the acceptance, but they're not part of the covenant at all.
12:18So seeking diligently for security and pretending to be righteous only leads to a confusion, a confusion of heart.
12:30What he's saying is righteousness does not guarantee safety.
12:36You may be righteous and still suffer.
12:38In fact, that's what Peter talked about in 1 Peter.
12:40The whole book is dealing with do the right thing, but be aware you may suffer for doing the right thing.
12:44And that's okay in God's eyes.
12:45In fact, it's a blessing in God's eyes.
12:48It's good.
12:51So pretending to be righteous and wise, it doesn't work.
12:54Stop if that's what you're doing right now.
12:56If you're trying to pretend to be righteous or pretend to be wise, number one, God sees it and knows.
13:02It doesn't do any good.
13:04And it doesn't assure you that calamity is not going to come your way.
13:09I don't know how we did it in America.
13:11I don't know.
13:12I think over the years, we've had great biblical preaching over the centuries.
13:15How did we ever get to the point in America when Christians actually think,
13:19if I come to faith in God, everything's going to go well for me?
13:24We do, though.
13:25We laugh.
13:26We think, oh, that's a...
13:27When I say it out loud, you think, oh, that's a silly statement.
13:28But we do, as American Christians, think that.
13:31Everything's going to go well for me.
13:33And if I check my boxes, God for sure is going to do this.
13:36Well, maybe not.
13:39Calamity may come your way, even if you're doing the right thing.
13:42There is no security in folly or fake justice or living in wickedness.
13:52Calamity comes to all.
13:54You remember Job's three friends?
13:57Calamity came to Job.
13:58We know the story.
13:58Most of us know the story of Job.
14:00And Job was a righteous man.
14:01He did the right thing.
14:02Honored God.
14:03And all of a sudden, calamity comes into his life.
14:05And Job's three friends understood this teaching that we embody in the Old Covenant,
14:11this idea that when we follow God and are obedient to him,
14:14God brings long life, wealth, and children.
14:18Look at Job as an example.
14:19He had lots of children.
14:20He had wealth.
14:20So these friends of Job took that principle and applied it to Job and kept saying to him,
14:30Job, you must have done something wrong because God doesn't act that way for people who do the right thing.
14:38And Job's going, what?
14:39I've done the right thing.
14:41I've done the right thing.
14:42See, Job's three friends think exactly like these people here is.
14:46If you do the right thing, then all's going to go well for you.
14:51But that's not the case.
14:54As we enjoy life that Solomon has been talking about,
14:58we don't let the reins of our life become too loose.
15:01In other words, we don't give ourselves over to wickedness.
15:05And we don't place ourselves above God's word and discipline.
15:08Michael Eaton, commenting on 16 and 17, says,
15:13the right life walks the path between two extremes,
15:16shunning self-righteousness, but not allowing one's native wickedness to run its own course.
15:23That's what he's talking about.
15:27I don't know about you, but when I look around me and see the wickedness around me,
15:32and I see that the righteous die and the wicked prolong their days, I get mad.
15:37I don't think that's the way it should be.
15:40But what I forget, and maybe if you're in my place too, if you get angry at that as well,
15:45what we forget is the wicked seem to prosper only if you take the short view of things.
15:54Only if you take the short view of things.
15:57It just doesn't seem just from our perspective
16:00that the wicked prolong their days and the righteous suffer in their righteousness.
16:04But the problem is we take the short view of things.
16:08Asaph had the same problem in his day, the writer of the Psalms.
16:12He looked around him and he saw wickedness in his society and he says,
16:15I don't understand it.
16:16In fact, this is what he said in Psalm 73.
16:18For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
16:24For they have no pangs until death.
16:26Their bodies are fat and sleek.
16:29They are not in trouble as others are.
16:32They are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
16:34He goes, I don't get it, God.
16:36Why is that happening?
16:38But you have to read on.
16:39He doesn't stop there.
16:40Down to verse 12.
16:42Behold, these are the wicked, always at ease.
16:45They increase in riches.
16:47All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
16:51That's a danger we can come to is,
16:53hey, look it, I've played by all the rules,
16:54but they're prospering and they're achieving.
16:57Maybe I should just act like them.
17:01Why have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence?
17:04Asaph says.
17:05For all the day long, I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.
17:10If I had said, I will speak thus,
17:13I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
17:15But when I thought how to understand this,
17:18it seemed to me a wearisome task.
17:20In other words, why did the wicked prosper and the righteous die?
17:24And then he says,
17:25until I went to the sanctuary of God and I saw their end.
17:32God sees and he knows.
17:35We don't understand why the wicked prosper and the righteous die young.
17:39We don't get it.
17:40But God sees.
17:42He is sovereign.
17:42He is just.
17:43He is good.
17:44And he will in that day reckon himself in their sight.
17:49And they will stand guilty before a holy God and cast into the lake of fire.
17:57We have to take the long view of things lest we get discouraged.
18:02Now Solomon is not giving us permission to be somewhat wicked.
18:05That's not what he's saying.
18:06It's just don't give your life over to wickedness.
18:08Don't do that.
18:09That'll kill you.
18:13Wickedness will not bring success in life.
18:16We never should exert ourselves in the area of wickedness and say,
18:18well, that's no big deal.
18:19I'll just give myself over to this one sin.
18:21We don't want to do that.
18:22We live in a broken world of depraved people.
18:26So by faith in God's word,
18:28we must learn through wisdom to navigate in this broken world.
18:32There's things around us that we don't understand.
18:34Solomon doesn't understand him either.
18:36But we have to believe that God is just and that God is good,
18:39that God is holy,
18:39that God is sovereign and he cares.
18:43So I order myself in this world,
18:45knowing that we have fallen and broken people all around us.
18:48We must avoid folly and wickedness as much as possible
18:52and live as wisely and righteously as possible in this life.
18:57See, the only course,
18:58righteousness is no surety that adversity will not come into your life.
19:03Even wisdom, having wisdom is really no surety.
19:06The only guarantee we really have,
19:08the only course assuring security is to fear God
19:11no matter what comes into our lives.
19:15To fear God.
19:16To fear God means to place him in his proper perspective
19:18and us underneath him,
19:20submitted to him as our heavenly father,
19:23as our sovereign king,
19:25and under his authority,
19:27we live and walk in this world.
19:29The fear of God.
19:31That is the only assurance we have,
19:33is when we fear God.
19:35Wisdom's not going to do it.
19:37Righteousness cannot do it.
19:38But fearing God,
19:39because we place ourselves underneath his sovereignty,
19:41we understand whatever he allows into my life
19:44comes through his sovereign hand.
19:48And he loves me.
19:51Proverbs 9 says,
19:52The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
19:54and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
19:57This idea of the fear of God.
19:59The fear of God is one of the major themes
20:01in the second half of this book.
20:02Remember last week,
20:03we entered into the second half of the book of Ecclesiastes.
20:05It's going to recur over and over again.
20:08In fact, he's going to conclude in chapter 12
20:10with the fear of God.
20:11So if we place ourselves underneath the fear of God,
20:14we'll understand and we'll walk well in this world.
20:17For the person who fears God
20:18will maintain devotion to God through their life
20:20and the teachings of wisdom,
20:22as well as the enjoyment of life that God has given to us.
20:26So now he continues on in verses 19 through 22
20:29with the teaching of wisdom and righteousness,
20:31but he reverses them,
20:32and he addresses them from a different order.
20:34Look at verses 19 through 22.
20:38Wisdom gives strength to the wise man,
20:41more than 10 rulers who are in a city.
20:45Surely there is not a righteous man on earth
20:48who does good and never sins.
20:51Do not take to heart all the things that people say,
20:54lest you hear your servant cursing you.
20:57Your heart knows that many times
21:00you yourselves have cursed others.
21:05Reflection now upon wisdom.
21:07He's reflecting on it.
21:08He says, first of all,
21:10that wisdom is superior to might every time.
21:14We think, oh, might, the end of a gun,
21:16the end of a barrel of a tank
21:18is much more effective than wisdom.
21:20No, it's not.
21:21Not in God's eyes.
21:22Wisdom is much more effective than might.
21:26See, authorities can try to curb evil in this world.
21:29They can do all the best they can to eradicate evil,
21:32but we need wise people in our society,
21:35and that in itself helps curb evil.
21:40Ecclesiastes 9 talks about a wise poor man.
21:43There was a little city with a few men in it,
21:45and a great king came against it and besieged it,
21:48building great siege works against it.
21:50But there was found in it a poor wise man,
21:53and he by his wisdom delivered the city.
21:55No one else, the rulers of the city, couldn't do it.
21:57They couldn't do it.
21:59It was this poor wise man.
22:01Now, something happens to him that we regret,
22:04and he by his wisdom delivered the city.
22:07Yet no one remembered that poor man.
22:09We regret that,
22:10but it was his wisdom that delivered the city,
22:11not the might of the rulers.
22:13But I say that wisdom is better than might,
22:16though the poor man's wisdom is despised
22:18and his words are not heard.
22:20Wisdom is more effective than might.
22:24Verse 20, as we look at,
22:26is the link to understand verse 19.
22:27They seem to be just Proverbs
22:28kind of thrown together willy-nilly.
22:30No, there's not.
22:31There's a thread that's going down through here
22:32that he wants us to understand.
22:35See, he talks about here that
22:36surely there is not a righteous man on earth
22:39who does good and never sins.
22:42He's simply talking about the universality of sin
22:44makes it impossible to find
22:47unsoiled virtue in human life.
22:50We can't find it.
22:51It's nowhere to be found
22:52because of the universality of sin.
22:54Listen, all people are fallen sinners.
22:59We have to accept people as they are.
23:02You know, for a long time,
23:04I always thought, you know what?
23:06I think unbelievers should behave like believers.
23:09And when they don't behave like believers,
23:11I get disappointed.
23:12But then it dawned on me,
23:13how can I expect unbelievers to act like believers?
23:16They're not believers.
23:17How can I expect them to be righteous or good
23:21or not lie or not cheat?
23:23That's their character.
23:24We live in a world that's fallen and broken.
23:27And we accept that all people are sinners.
23:30No, mankind cannot be perfected.
23:33I'm sorry, that is a lie that's in our society today.
23:36It's in our educational system.
23:37It's in our rehabilitation system.
23:40That is in our prisons.
23:42And that is if we give them the right education
23:45and we give them the right environment,
23:46they're going to do the right thing.
23:48No, no, they're not.
23:51Man is not perfectible.
23:52Man is fallen and broken and sinful.
23:56And we need to learn to deal with people as they are.
24:00Have compassion.
24:02Now, we never excuse bad behavior.
24:03Bad behavior is bad behavior.
24:05But we can understand where that behavior is coming from.
24:09Solomon applies the principle,
24:11this wisdom gives strength and that humans are sinful
24:13now to interpersonal relationships.
24:15So he's going to apply it to relationships around him.
24:19He deals with this weakness and strength issue.
24:22The Christian life is understanding weakness and strength,
24:25the balance of the two.
24:28The idea of my weakness and God's strength.
24:312 Corinthians talks about, Paul says this,
24:33but he said to me,
24:34my grace is sufficient for you
24:35for my power is made perfect in weakness.
24:38Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses
24:42so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
24:45For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses,
24:49insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
24:51For when I am weak, then I am strong
24:53and I am under the sovereign care of my God,
24:56even when these calamities come my way.
24:58Then he says something that we all need to pay attention to,
25:03all of us, and that is,
25:05A, take with a grain of salt what you hear people say about you.
25:11You know, someone once said, Lucy said,
25:13and I think it was Prince Caspian,
25:15they were on an island and she found a magician's
25:18or a sorcerer's or magician's home.
25:21And she went in and there was this book of spells.
25:23So she wanted to cast a spell that could eavesdrop
25:28on her best friend to hear what her best friend
25:30was saying about her, expecting her best friend to praise her.
25:34Well, she cast a spell and guess what she hears?
25:36Her best friend is speaking ill of her.
25:41You really probably don't want to know
25:44what everyone thinks about you.
25:48Probably don't want to know.
25:49And the other side of that is,
25:52how many times have we said things that are harsh and unkind?
25:58Just take it with a grain of salt, what people say.
26:02Charles Spurgeon, in his lectures to my students,
26:04he talked about a pastor should have one blind eye,
26:09one deaf ear, and the hide of a rhinoceros.
26:12If you want to be a pastor, I think he's right.
26:16Deaf ear is, you don't hear everything
26:19that people are saying about you, okay?
26:21A blind eye is, not that you overlook sin,
26:23but that you're gracious to people
26:24because they're in all stages of growth.
26:27But you're definitely the hide of a rhinoceros
26:28because people will pick on you all the time.
26:30That's okay.
26:32We signed up for this.
26:33He said this,
26:35you cannot stop people's tongues.
26:38And therefore, the best thing to do
26:40is to stop your own ears
26:41and never mind what is spoken.
26:44There is a world of idle chit-chat abroad
26:47and he who takes note of it will have enough to do.
26:51Just don't listen to him.
26:54If they come to you with criticism
26:55and the criticism is valid,
26:57in other words, it's true,
26:59then thank them for their criticism
27:02and change your life.
27:04But if they come to you with criticism,
27:06that is not true.
27:07It is not true.
27:09Thank them for their opinion
27:11and go and do what you know is right.
27:13But nevertheless,
27:14don't let it bother you what they say.
27:19If we are exercising wisdom,
27:21we will not take too much interest
27:23in what others are saying about us.
27:25So Solomon, in searching for wisdom,
27:31realizes he hasn't even found it yet.
27:33Look at verses 23 through 29.
27:37All this I have tested by wisdom.
27:39I've been there.
27:40I've seen this.
27:42I said, I will be wise,
27:43but it was far from me.
27:46That which has been is far off
27:48and deep, very deep.
27:50Who can find it out?
27:51In other words,
27:51I can't even figure out
27:52what God's doing in my own life.
27:54Nevertheless, in my country
27:55and in the world,
27:57it's so deep.
27:58It's very deep.
27:59I don't get it.
28:01I turn my heart to know
28:03and to search out
28:04and to seek wisdom
28:05and the scheme of things
28:07and to know the wickedness of folly
28:09and the foolishness
28:10and that is madness.
28:12And I find something
28:13more bitter than death.
28:15The woman whose heart
28:16is snares and nets
28:18and whose hands are fetters.
28:21He who pleases God
28:22escapes her,
28:23but the sinner
28:24is taken by her.
28:27Behold,
28:27this is what I have found,
28:29says the preacher,
28:30while adding one thing
28:31to another.
28:32In other words,
28:32I've calculated this all out
28:34to find the scheme of things
28:35which my soul
28:36has sought repeatedly,
28:38but I have not found.
28:39One man among a thousand
28:41I found,
28:42but a woman among
28:43all of those
28:44I have not found.
28:47See,
28:47this alone I found.
28:49The God made man upright,
28:50but they have sought out
28:52many schemes.
28:54Okay,
28:55wisdom is elusive.
28:56It's hard to find.
28:58It's hard to have
28:59biblical wisdom.
29:01He sought it,
29:02but he hasn't been able
29:02to find biblical wisdom.
29:03He wants it,
29:05but he hasn't found it.
29:06He still doesn't understand
29:07everything that's going on
29:08around him.
29:10May I say that's okay?
29:12May I say that's okay
29:13that we don't understand
29:14everything that's going on
29:15around us
29:15when we trust
29:17the sovereign
29:18heavenly father
29:19who does.
29:22See,
29:23the wise person knows
29:24that they are not wise
29:25and they learn from that.
29:28John Wooden,
29:29the basketball coach,
29:30says,
29:30it's what you learn
29:31after you know it all
29:32that counts.
29:34A wise man knows
29:35he doesn't know everything.
29:36That makes you wise.
29:38Realize I don't have
29:39all the answers.
29:40That makes you a wise person.
29:42Albert Einstein says,
29:43there are only two
29:44truly infinite things,
29:45the universe
29:46and stupidity
29:47and I am unsure
29:48about the universe.
29:49I guess he's very sure
29:50about the stupidity
29:51part of it, okay?
29:52I mean,
29:53that's just it.
29:54That is a world
29:56we live in.
29:59Now,
30:00we're into this place
30:01that it gets
30:01a little bit confusing.
30:03It appears that Solomon
30:05is just a sexist,
30:07misogynist man
30:08that's picking on women
30:09in the text.
30:10That's not what
30:11he's trying to do.
30:12He's making a point here.
30:13He's making a comparison
30:16by similarity.
30:17He's not comparing
30:17men and women together,
30:19saying men are better
30:20than women.
30:20That's not what he's saying.
30:23He's writing, though,
30:24primarily for the men
30:25of his age.
30:26That is true.
30:26We have to understand that.
30:28So he's talking about that.
30:30He's talking about this woman
30:31that her hands
30:32are snares
30:34and she just causes
30:35problems in a person's life.
30:38Now,
30:39perhaps we can understand
30:40that this woman
30:41is not really a person
30:42but is the personification
30:44of folly and wickedness
30:46like he did with wisdom.
30:48Perhaps that's what
30:49he's talking about.
30:49This woman
30:50is a personification
30:51of folly and wickedness.
30:54Perhaps we could call her
30:55Lady Folly.
30:56Maybe that's what
30:57he's talking about.
30:58Although it sure seems
30:59like he's speaking
30:59about a specific woman
31:01that he knows,
31:02but he's probably
31:03speaking about it
31:04as a personification
31:05of folly and wickedness,
31:07Lady Folly.
31:08Proverbs 8,
31:10he did this with wisdom.
31:11Does not wisdom call?
31:13Does not understanding
31:14raise her voice?
31:15On the heights
31:15beside the way
31:16at the crossroads,
31:17she takes her stand.
31:19He personifies wisdom
31:20here in chapter 8
31:21of Proverbs.
31:22It's probably what he's doing
31:23here with Lady Folly.
31:24He's personifying
31:26folly and wickedness.
31:27Everyone who gets ensnared
31:28by folly and wickedness
31:29falls away from God.
31:33But he's looking intently
31:35at the state of humanity.
31:36Where is man truly?
31:39For in the creation,
31:40God created man and woman
31:41perfect, innocent,
31:43without sin.
31:45In the original creation,
31:46that's how he made us.
31:49But we have the fall
31:50that took place
31:50in chapter 3 of Genesis
31:52and perversion
31:53entered the human race
31:54regardless of the sex
31:55of the person,
31:56male or female.
31:56It makes no difference.
31:59Depravity has entered
32:00into us all
32:00through Adam.
32:02This speaks of the total
32:07depravity of humanity.
32:09There's no one
32:10that's free from sin,
32:12male or female.
32:12It makes no difference.
32:15Romans 3 says,
32:16For all have sinned
32:17and fall short
32:17of the glory of God.
32:18We understand that
32:18we've heard it
32:19over and over again.
32:20So he's not talking about
32:21men are better than women.
32:22That's not what
32:23he's talking about.
32:26He's not emphasizing
32:27comparisons between
32:28men and women,
32:28but rather he is discussing
32:30the rarity of good people
32:32or the difficulty
32:33in finding them.
32:34That's all that he's saying.
32:36It's hard to find
32:37a person who is righteous.
32:39It's hard to find
32:40a person who's exercising
32:41biblical wisdom.
32:43They're rare.
32:45For the person
32:46who pleases God
32:47is a rare person.
32:49It's rare.
32:53Now perhaps some have said
32:54when I was doing reading
32:55and studying this,
32:56perhaps some have said
32:57that, well,
32:58Solomon may have
32:59something specific in mind
33:01when he uses this title
33:03a thousand.
33:04A thousand women
33:05he hasn't found
33:06any that are righteous
33:07or pursuing
33:08biblical wisdom.
33:09Maybe he has something
33:10actually in mind.
33:12That's what they said.
33:13It's a possibility.
33:14The reason why
33:15it's a possibility,
33:16if you remember correctly,
33:17God had instructed
33:18the kings not to take
33:19many wives,
33:19not to take lots of money,
33:20and not to have
33:21lots of horses,
33:21which Solomon violated
33:23all of them.
33:25Solomon had
33:26700 wives
33:28and 300 concubines.
33:31Now, I'm not super good
33:32at math,
33:33but 700 and 300
33:34equals
33:34a thousand.
33:37So maybe he says,
33:38among all of my wives,
33:39I haven't found one
33:40that's been pleasing to God.
33:41Maybe.
33:43I mean, look at
33:43his wives.
33:45He let his wives
33:46lead him astray.
33:47Look at 1 Kings 11.
33:48Now, King Solomon
33:50loved many foreign women,
33:52among with the daughter
33:55of Pharaoh,
33:56Moabite,
33:56Ammonite,
33:57Edomite,
33:58Sidonian,
33:58Hittite,
33:59women from the nations
34:01concerning which the Lord
34:02had said to the people
34:03of Israel,
34:04you shall not enter
34:05into marriage with them.
34:07But he married them,
34:09and they led his heart
34:10astray from God.
34:13You shall not marry them,
34:15neither shall they
34:16with you,
34:16for surely they will
34:17turn away your heart
34:19after their gods.
34:20Solomon clung to these
34:22in love.
34:23He had 700 wives
34:24who were princesses
34:25and 300 concubines,
34:26and his wives
34:27turned away his heart.
34:29Maybe he's speaking
34:30about these foreign wives
34:31who didn't love God,
34:32who didn't follow God.
34:34I think he's just talking
34:35about the rarity it is
34:36to find a person
34:37who is righteous,
34:39who exercises
34:39biblical wisdom.
34:42It's even possible
34:43that he's looking back
34:44to this contention
34:45between man and woman
34:46that took place
34:47in Genesis 3.16.
34:50Genesis 3.16,
34:51from a masculine perspective,
34:53from his perspective,
34:54you could say it like this.
34:57You will not,
34:58you, the wife,
35:00will try to trap
35:01your husband,
35:02but he will dominate you,
35:04is what Genesis 3.16 says.
35:06It is not an instruction.
35:07It is actually a curse.
35:08It's talking about
35:09the relationship
35:10between men and women
35:11in a marriage relationship,
35:12that the wife
35:14is always going
35:15to try to trap her husband
35:17and the husband
35:19is always going
35:20to dominate the wife
35:21and both of them
35:22are wrong.
35:22We're not talking about
35:23either one being right or wrong.
35:24Both of them are wrong.
35:25That's not the way
35:26a husband is supposed
35:26to love his wife
35:27as Christ loves the church.
35:29The wife is supposed
35:30to respect her husband.
35:31So this,
35:32we're not talking about,
35:33this is a curse.
35:34It's the tension
35:35in a marriage life
35:36that we have.
35:37Because of sin,
35:38married life
35:39will be a war.
35:40War.
35:44I was wondering
35:45who was paying attention.
35:48It's a war.
35:51See,
35:52in this case,
35:52the desire of the wife
35:53is not a loving one
35:54and the rule of the husband
35:56is not benevolent.
35:57Both of them are wrong.
35:58This is a contention going on.
36:01God had made man upright
36:02in the original creation,
36:03but because of the fall,
36:04people go after many schemes,
36:06questionable,
36:07devious things.
36:08Or as Teresa said,
36:09sin makes you stupid.
36:12In New Scientist magazine
36:14in 2003,
36:15the co-founder of the DNA,
36:16the human genome,
36:18Professor Crick,
36:19I think his name,
36:19I don't remember
36:19what his first name is.
36:21No,
36:22James Watson.
36:22Crick was the other co-founder.
36:25He was,
36:25in 2003,
36:27interviewed by a BBC
36:28interviewer.
36:30And this is what he said.
36:32He said,
36:33he sees no reason
36:33why stupidity
36:35could not someday
36:35be corrected
36:36by gene therapy
36:37just as other disorders
36:39are now being addressed.
36:40He said,
36:41if you're really stupid,
36:42I would call that a disease.
36:45And I'd like to get rid
36:46of stupidity.
36:48You can't.
36:50It's in us
36:51as human beings.
36:53Because of the fall,
36:54we go after many devices.
36:56It is so rare
36:57to find a person
36:59who truly loves God
37:01and follows him
37:02with all of their heart.
37:03That's hard.
37:04Solomon has a hard time
37:05finding one.
37:05We cannot fully understand
37:09everything God
37:10is doing in the world,
37:12but we can pursue wisdom
37:14in order to serve others
37:16and glorify God.
37:18Even though we don't get it.
37:19We're not there yet.
37:21We don't have all knowledge.
37:23God is sovereign
37:24and he's working
37:25for the glory of himself
37:27and our good.
37:28In this,
37:30in this idea
37:31of submitting to God,
37:32we are submitting
37:33to his sovereignty
37:33and we're trusting him
37:35as we walk in this world.
37:37We are trying to be wise
37:38as we walk in this world.
37:40Fearing him,
37:41which is a sure security.
37:45Let me ask you,
37:46do you know Jesus Christ
37:48this morning?
37:49The savior of the world.
37:50Do you know him?
37:51Have you been saved?
37:53That is the first step
37:54of this life
37:56is that you confess
37:57that you do not know him,
37:59confess your sins
38:00and accept his work
38:01on the cross
38:02on your behalf.
38:03So if you don't know Jesus
38:04this morning,
38:05today would be a great day
38:06to get to know him.
38:08Know him truly
38:09what he says in his word.
38:12Then you can submit
38:13to the sovereignty
38:14and the authority of God
38:15in your life.
38:16Until then, you cannot.
38:18Life may not always
38:19be happiness
38:20somewhere over the rainbow,
38:22but our life
38:24is in the hands
38:25of our heavenly father
38:26and he is good
38:28and he is just
38:30and he is loving
38:31and we trust him today
38:34because he knows
38:35what is right.
38:37Let's pray.
38:37Father,
38:38we look at this text
38:41and we understand
38:42we're there.
38:43We see it.
38:44We get it.
38:46We are saddened
38:48when we see
38:48the person doing
38:49the right thing
38:50suffering.
38:51It saddens our heart,
38:53but help us
38:54to understand
38:55that you're the one
38:57who brings both
38:58adversity in our life
38:59and prosperity
39:01and that you are sovereign,
39:03you are good
39:04and you are just
39:04and whatever you bring,
39:05even adversity in my life,
39:07I know it comes
39:08from your hand
39:09or through your hand
39:10in the case of Job
39:11and that you're doing it
39:14for your glory
39:15and for my good.
39:16So Father,
39:17help me to understand
39:18that the only
39:19sure security
39:20is to fear you,
39:22to fear you
39:23with my whole heart.
39:25For this broken world
39:26that we live in,
39:27it is nearly impossible
39:30to find a person
39:32who loves you
39:33and wants to follow you.
39:34They are so rare.
39:36Thank you today
39:37for those who name
39:38the name of Jesus Christ
39:39who love you
39:40and who are following you.
39:41We have gathered together
39:42for this very purpose.
39:44Us rare people
39:45are gathered together
39:46to honor and glorify you.
39:48May you receive that
39:49as a praise.
39:49So Father,
39:51we thank you.
39:52Help us to understand
39:53wisdom,
39:55godly wisdom,
39:56so that we can navigate
39:57in this world
39:58and honor you.
39:59We pray in Jesus' name.
40:01Amen.
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