Wisdom is Vanity

Introduction

Well good morning church. Thank you so much for allowing me to speak this morning. I know I say this every time that I preach but it seriously is such a great honor and a privilege to be able to speak the truth of God's word from the pulpit this morning. We're getting to the end of our sermon series called chasing the wind.

The series has attacked many of the idols that we face today. We started with the opening line vanity of vanities says the preacher vanity of vanities all is vanity. We talked about from the very beginning how vanity here it doesn't mean worthless or meaningless. But instead it's the word Hebel which means breath or breeze. It's this idea that Steven presented to us where it was as if the deacons were outside with a net chasing the wind trying to catch it.

So far we've talked about how the American dream is vanity, that time is vanity, politics are vanity, religion is vanity, and last week we saw that money is vanity. I don't know about you guys but this series has really highlighted areas in my life where I may idolize some of these things a little bit. My hope is that as as we go through this it highlights us to where we may be idolizing certain things and that we humbly submit to what the word says and allow our hearts to be changed. But I do know and I sympathize that sometimes hearing stuff like this hurts. Sometimes growth hurts at first.

The thing that really going to look at today is that wisdom is actually vanity. I know for me saying that it almost sounds like I'm a hypocrite because this is literally called wisdom literature. These books of the Bible are filled with wisdom. It's actually wisdom to learn that all these things are vanity it's wise to acknowledge that money and the American dream and religion and politics and all these things are vanity that is wise. However, we're going to see that it's very root wisdom is also vanity it's breath it's wind.

Before we dig in allow me to open us with a word of prayer this morning just to help us to get our hearts and minds right this morning.

[Pray]

            So I do want to warn you this morning that I hope you have your coffee and that you got some sleep last night, because this morning we're going to go through 5 chapters of the book of Ecclesiastes. So I'll try to have this out of here by dinner time.

            We're going to start in Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and we're going to end in chapter 11. For the sake of everyone here, I’m not going to read every single verse. I want to start by reading Chapter 7, and then we'll read more later on as we continue to dig into the text. So if you have your Bible and I hope that you do stand with me as we read Ecclesiastes, starting in Chapter 7 verse one.

Ecclesiastes 7 ESV

1 A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity. 7 Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. 8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools. 10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. 11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. 12 For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. 13 Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Thank you! You may be seated. As we look at wisdom and it being vanity, we're going to have three points this morning. The first point is that we're going to see God created wisdom and he deemed it good. Before we dig in a point number one, I want to make sure I define what wisdom is. Webster’s dictionary defines wisdom as the ability to discern what is best, just, and conducive to prosperity or happiness. So wisdom isn't the same thing as knowledge it's more so about how you use the knowledge and the experiences that you have in order to make decisions. And notice that this definition acknowledges that the goal of wisdom according to this is prosperity or happiness. It's this idea that if you make all the right decisions if you do all the right things if you are wise then you will prosper. As you can imagine that's something that we're going push against this idea. So let's look at point #1.

God Created Wisdom and Deemed it Good.

The first thing that we see here is that God created wisdom and he deemed it good. Like we've been saying over the last couple of weeks it's most likely that the book of Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon the son of King David. Now I want to acknowledge Solomon's background and why it's important that we acknowledge who Solomon is. Solomon in the book of 1 kings was praying to God and God spoke to Soloman and offered him anything that he wanted. Many of us would choose money or power or gold or influence or something like that. But remember what Solomon chose, he chose wisdom.

First Kings 3:9 says give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people that I may discern between good and evil for who is able to govern this you're great people?Here we see that Solomon asks for wisdom in order to lead and be a king to the people. God ended up blessing Solomon with wisdom, and a little side note he also blessed him with a lot of the other things that people would have asked for in his position like money and power. Because of Solomon's blessing, he was known as the wisest man to ever walk on the face of this earth other than Jesus of course.

Yeah, this is why it's such a big deal when Solomon claims that wisdom is vanity. He clearly valued it, he clearly desired it, otherwise he wouldn't have asked for it, but he says in Ecclesiastes that just like money just like politics just like the time wisdom is vanity. But we see that the wisdom it can be a blessing. That's why it's Solomon asked for it because it was useful and it was good. Look at the way he talks about wisdom and Chapter 7.

Wisdom here is not talked about as a bad thing but it's a good thing. It says in verse 5, it is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of the fools. This is explaining to us that it's better to hear the truth than to hear those fake words of flattery from fools without meaning. In Verse 8 it talks about how it's wise to be patient rather than prideful. In verse 9it says that you should be kind rather than be angry.

Chapter 7 verse 10 says why were the former days better than these? For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Solomon he's explaining the idea that oftentimes when we look back into the past we almost lie to ourselves about the way that things used to be we only really see the good parts of those memories. He explains that from a place of wisdom we won't do this and instead we'll acknowledge that there's hardships in the past as well as the present.

He goes on to say in verse 11 that wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. Here we see that Solomon talks about wisdom in a very good way. He goes right out and says that wisdom it's an advantage to those who have it. So again when he says that it's vanity, he's not saying that it's a bad thing; it's not inherently bad. The problem is when we put wisdom in the place where God should be. It's when we rely on our wisdom instead of relying on Christ.

In Chapter 8 verses 2 through 7, Solomon talks about how it's wise to submit to authority like the rule of a king. Chapter 10 verse 10 says that wisdom is a good thing, it says “if iron is blunt and one does not sharpen the edge he must use the more strength, but wisdom helps 1 to succeed if the serpent bites before it is charmed there is no advantage to the charmer the words of a wise man's mouth win him favor but the lips of the fool consume him the beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness the end of his talk is evil madness.”

In chapter 10 verses 16 through 17, Solomon explains that we should control our tongues and use them and our words wisely. Again and again in these chapters, we see that Solomon talks about wisdom in a very positive way. We know that he was blessed with wisdom and that he was very grateful for this blessing there was something that he used every day as the king.

Think about the same thing for us. If you apply a lot of these principles to your everyday lives if you act in a wise way if you are fully informed before making decisions then it CAN lead to a better outcome.

Take the example given in first kings. There were these two women both claiming to be the mom of a child and they were fighting over this child. Obviously only one of them was the mom because that's not how it works and so Solomon he he dealt with us in a very wise way. He told the woman that if they couldn't determine whose baby it was then they should just cut the baby in half and then they can each have half. The one moment was like ohh great idea the other woman was like ohh no please just give her this baby do not hurt it. And so then Solomon knew that the one who cared about the child was the real mother. Is this was very wise in the way that he did this and it showed a lot about the wisdom that he had.

Wisdom was created by God and it's a good thing. God blessed us with knowledge of how to act in certain situations and how to respond when things happen. He didn't have to do this he could have left us up to our own demise but instead he gave us wisdom he blessed us with wisdom, and it's a good thing. Wisdom's not bad or evil, but we have to understand that it has its limits.

Here in Ecclesiastes, Solomon is acknowledging that wisdom has limits and that at the end of the day, it’s vanity. Even though it can be good, it isn't always good. Because the truth is you can act in all the right ways and be the wisest man alive, but still, everything's not always going to work out. Even the wisest man in the world could not control the outcomes of things, and so that brings me to the second point. Wisdom is limited by our sin.

Wisdom is Limited by Sin

With the fall mankind all inherited sin. This is the truth that we see in Romans 5:12. Paul goes on to say in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. These verses they show us the real foothold that sin has in our lives. And some of the other letters that Paul wrote he talks about how humans are a slave to sin. And that without Jesus there's nothing they can do about it. Sin affects every area of our lives before Christ.

Take a look at Ecclesiastes 7 verse 13 with me. It says consider the work of God who can make straight what he has made crooked. It's here we begin to see that there is a limit to our wisdom. And that God is the only one that has true divine authority over all. This is where we begin to see this idea that even if we make all the wise right decisions and even if we do all the things in the way that we're supposed to at the end of the day there's certain things we just can't control. If God deems something crooked then who am I to make it straight.

Look at Chapter 17 verse 15 it says, 15 In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Solomon here he's getting at the idea of the unfairness of life. The idea that those who act in foolish ways which is the opposite of wisdom they receive blessing and have fancy things and cars and money and fame. While those who act with wisdom may have nothing at all and die without ever having blessings. Solomon he's getting at the idea of sins effect on wisdom. Wisdom is limited and it cannot save you.

A phrase that I hear a lot is why do bad things happen to good people. I will say that obviously by reading the Bible and things like Romans 623 we know that there are no such thing as good people however I can respect the thought that this is conveying. It's this idea that sometimes there's people who do all the right things they're wise they are God fearing they're God loving and yet super terrible things happen to them. And then you have others who just do completely wicked things and yet they're seemingly blessed they have friends, money fame power influence all these things that we in our society deem is successful yet they're foolish they're without wisdom.

We really see this all come together in verse 29. It says see this alone I found that God made man upright that they have sought out many schemes. It's all men here is explaining that God made man without sin and that man chose sin. This is why our wisdom is limited, it's because of our sin, and it's because of the sin of this world.

If we look on to chapter 8 verse 8 it says, no man has power to retain the spirit or power over the day of death there was no discharge from war, normal wickedness deliver those who are given to it. All this I observe when applying my heart to all that is done under the sun when man had power over man to his hurt. Here Solomon acknowledges that there is no man that can stop himself from dying. No amount of wisdom can save you.

Let's continue reading in chapter 8 verse 10, Ecclesiastes 8:10–13 (ESV)

Those Who Fear God Will Do Well

10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

Here Solomon acknowledges that things don't always work out the way that we think they should. Sometimes, even making the wise choice doesn't mean that things will work out as we intend. Sometimes in this world, the foolish prosper and the wise suffer. I know we're flipping around a lot but now flip over to Chapter 9 and allow me to read this section starting in verse 14.

Ecclesiastes 9:14–18 (ESV)

14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Don't miss this picture that Solomon is portraying here. There's A city that has been besieged, and so poor, wise man is raised up and he delivers the city by his wisdom. However, the second half of verse 15 says yet no one remembered that poor man. At the end of the day the wise man he dies just like the rest of anybody else and he's remembered by no one. Understand this that wisdom it's wind it's a breeze. It can never truly satisfy you, it can't give you meaning or purpose in life it just blows to and fro.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 11:1-2 says

Ecclesiastes 11:1–2 (ESV)

Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

11 Cast your bread upon the waters,

for you will find it after many days.

2    Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,

for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.

            These two verses they're talking about the provision of food and they're saying that it's important to prepare because you don't know what may happen. If you have bread don't eat it all or get rid of it all because you may need it and tomorrow you may not be able to get it. No man in any amount of wisdom can predictive if disaster will happen tomorrow. Even with all our science and research and all that stuff we can't even determine the weather for crying out loud let alone what tomorrow holds. To Solomon here he's reminding us of the fact that wisdom it's limited and there's certain things that are left only up to God.

            That's why instead of clinging to our wisdom we need to cling to God because he's all knowing and all powerful and he's the wisest man ever. His abilities go beyond words that we can say. He's all powerful all knowing all present. Cling to him instead of clinging to your wisdom or to your knowledge because at the end of the day wisdom it's vanity. And so this gets me into my Third Point the gospel it does what wisdom cannot.

The Gospel Does what Wisdom Cannot

Hear me when I say wisdom, can't satisfy you But God always can. Wisdom it doesn't necessarily mean that we will have blessings on this earth we know that when we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we will have blessings eternally after death. This is the promise that we cling to, that when we die, we'll be in eternity with Jesus, where there's no suffering, no pain, and no sin. A commentary I was reading said something to the effect of “Wisdom may not satisfy you immediately but the gospel will always satisfy you eternally.”

            Chapter 7 verse 14 says in the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. Solomon saying that no matter what happens consider God trust in him and fear him. Give your life over to him explain to him on the good days and in the bad. Solomon's explaining what to do instead of clinging to wisdom it's to cling to the gospel. Cling to the truth of scripture.

            You can live the most wisdom-centered life on this earth and yet no one will remember you just like it says in Chapter 9 verse 15. But at the end of the day the thing that matters most is if you've given your life to Christ, because no one can blot your name out of the book of life. Ecclesiastes 8:11-13 says,

Ecclesiastes 8:13 (ESV)

13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

            At the end of the day the most important thing is that you fear God. It's just like Sam said on Wednesday, you surrender to God, not just acknowledge that he exists, but you have to surrender to him. And allow him to satisfy all your desires.

Don’t cling to wisdom, because wisdom will always fall short, but God never will. Cling to the gospel, aim to be wise, but don’t rely on your wisdom. Wisdom, it's a good thing and it's a blessing from God but at the end of the day there's certain things that are only understood by God. None of us can understand why a child would be taken so soon, or why mass trajeties would happen in the world. Wisdom can’t explain these things away.  

But instead we have to cling the promises that the Lord has made. We have to keep enternity in mind and remember the things that Christ has done.

            No amount of wisdom can tell you what tomorrow will hold, but the gospel tells us who holds tomorrow, and that's the Lord. We have to understand that God he has a divine plan and perfect timing for all the things that happen. When things don't go according to our plan we trust in God's plan. We must rely on God and not our own wisdom.

            One of the commentaries that I was reading to prepare for what this says “wisdom is ultimately not a thing, not an idea, and not a concept; wisdom is a person. We are sinful fools who will never be wise apart from Jesus Christ.” I love this quote because it reminds us to look to Jesus instead of wisdom. It's not wisdom that changes our hearts, it's Jesus it's Jesus that gives us wisdom helps us know how to live, don't worship the gift, worship the giver.

            There may be times on this earth when the wicked are blessed and the wise suffer but understand this that when we turn to Jesus he will fix your brokenness, he will give your life meaning and purpose. Turn to him and he will satisfy you. And so in closing, would you bow your head and close your eyes with me?

Conclusion

I know this morning has been long and that we’ve gone over a lot of scripture so I will keep the closing short this morning. If you are a believer here this morning who has given their life to Christ I want to ask you. Who or what to you cling to before making decisions? Do you cling to your own wisdom and abilities? Guys Solomon was the wisest man to ever live, but in these verses, he explains that wisdom is vanity, it’s like wind blowing through the sky. Pray to God this morning and ask that he would highlight areas in your life where you are relying on wisdom. Instead, give all your fears, anxieties, hopes, and desires to the Lord of lords and King of kings. Wisdom isn’t our savior, Jesus is.

            For those of you who haven’t given your life to Christ, I just want to explain the Gospel to you in 4 easy parts.

Bad News- Sin

Worst News- Nothing we can do

Good News- Jesus came

Best News- Completely Free

As you reflect, we are going to get ready to take communion this morning. I want us all to reflect on what communion represents. This isn’t just a mundane task that we do once a month. It’s a symbol of the ultimate display of love and sacrifice. Believing in this sacrifice is infinitely more valuable than any amount of Wisdom. Let’s reflect on that this morning. Wherever you are at this morning, take this time to reflect, and in a few moments, Steven will lead us in taking communion. This is your time.