Ecclesiastes 10 (4)
Notes
Transcript
Announcements
Announcements
Today, Joe Biden was sworn in as President of the United States. We must pray for him; pray for Vice President Kamala Harris.
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
In a sense, we are to pray for these elected officials in a selfish manner: “…that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”
Often, when I pray for elected officials I pray that God will raise up a Daniel or a Joseph; a godly individual who can point them in the direction of truth.
With that, though, lets keep our focus on the Lord:
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
I want to encourage you to give, financially, toward our Scripture Assembly Project. It normally costs over $5,000 for all of the Scripture which we have the opportunity to put together. The project begins a week from Friday!
Seed Sowing Saturday, February 6.
Sweetheart Overnight Getaway, Friday and Saturday, February 12-13.
Faith Promise Missions Revival begins Wednesday, February 24. Are you praying, now, about how God would have you give in this coming year?
Spring Revival Services with Evangelist John Van Gelderen begin on Sunday, March 7.
Bible Memory App. I want to encourage you to use it!
Support SCBA - Participate in the Box Tops for Education program. There have been some who, since we’ve been promoting it, have joined in and we definitely appreciate it. We won’t “get rich” from Box Tops but every little bit will help!
Ron Faulk’s memorial service will be held this Saturday at 2 PM. There will be family visitation starting at 1 PM. Share you thoughts and memories at www.SouthCharlotteBaptist.org/Faulk.
2 Timothy 3:1-17
2 Timothy 3:1-17
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Ecclesiastes 10
Ecclesiastes 10
Turn to and read Ecclesiastes 10:12-20. Pray.
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
Before we begin to look at this verse, allow me to say:
Your wisdom - or foolishness - is on display all the time!
Your wisdom - or foolishness - is on display all the time!
(Keep that in mind as we go along.)
The word gracious carries the idea of renewed or implanted by grace.
My wife loves the donuts, from Krispy Kreme, which are filled with the white cream. When you bite into the donut, the white cream comes oozing out of the donut.
There are two things that the words of a wise man - and woman - are going to be filled with:
The words of a wise man’s mouth are filled with truth.
The words of a wise man’s mouth are filled with truth.
For the Lord giveth wisdom: Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
That is an illustration to describe Ecclesiastes 10:12:
The words of a wise man’s mouth are filled with grace.
The words of a wise man’s mouth are filled with grace.
We see this principle in the New Testament:
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
If we are wise, it will be seen in the words which we speak. They will be words that, while they are truth, will build others up and not tear them down.
“…but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.”
That is...
A fool’s words are self-destructive!
A fool’s words are self-destructive!
A fool’s lips enter into contention, And his mouth calleth for strokes.
A fool’s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.
Why is that? Because a fool’s words are filled with everything other than truth and grace!
Back to the donut...
Why does the white cream come out of the donut when it is squeezed or eaten?
Because white cream was put into the donut!
Application?
If we want truth and grace to come out, then we must be sure to put truth and grace in!
If we want truth and grace to come out, then we must be sure to put truth and grace in!
Are you putting truth and grace in?
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.
The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
When, in conversation, you begin to perceive that foolishness is coming out of someone’s mouth than you should, as quickly as possible, get away from that individual. Why?
Turn to and read Proverbs 1:10-18.
A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
“A fool also is full of word...” - full of foolish words; full of un-Biblical words; full of error!
“…a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him...” A fool is full of hot air. A fool constantly makes unwise decisions that either get him nowhere or, even worse, lead to his destruction.
But, worse than that is the fact that the fool won’t listen! “…who can tell him?”
Turn to and read Proverbs 1:22-33.
A wise man, though, will listen.
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; And a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
As we have seen in just these few verses...
Your wisdom - or foolishness - is seen in your words and it is seen in how you respond to correction and instruction!
Your wisdom - or foolishness - is seen in your words and it is seen in how you respond to correction and instruction!
The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
“The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them...”
As you read that portion of the verse you immediately think of the fact that the fool wears himself out because they are too foolish! The fool is like a vehicle stuck in the mud. The faster they spin their tires, the deeper they get in the mud. Their supposed “hard work” leaves them with nothing to show for it!
However, flip that around: Those who seek to help the fool; who seek to minister to the fool find themselves wearied also.
The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
Why? There are several things that come to mind!
When you try to point out a fool’s errors, it’s never their fault it’s always someone else’s fault.
No matter how many errors you point out, a fool is never wrong about anything!
Even when you can point to the destruction that a fool is headed for, it just makes the fool that much more determined to go in that direction.
I can tell you this, trying to help a fool will wear you out!
“…because he knoweth not how to go to the city.”
This is part of the fools problem. They have no common sense!
I like what John Phillips wrote:
Fools are rarely stupid. The fact is, most of them are extremely intelligent in some facet of knowledge.
Philips, John; Hastings, Jim. Exploring Ecclesiastes (John Phillips Commentary Series) . Kregel Academic & Professional. Kindle Edition.
You’ve heard the saying, “He doesn’t know enough to come in out of the rain?” This is why a fool finds his work to be such a chore and to be so difficult - they have no common sense.
Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Solomon, in these two verses contrasts incompetent, inexperienced, and foolish leadership with that of competent, experienced and wise leadership.
Solomon pronounces woe - distress, affliction, trouble - upon that country that is led by incompetent, inexperienced and foolish leadership.
Solomon pronounces a blessing upon that country that is led by competent, experienced, and wise leadership!
I said this last week:
There is nothing so wise as righteousness; there is nothing so foolish as sin!
There is nothing so wise as righteousness; there is nothing so foolish as sin!
Righteousness exalteth a nation: But sin is a reproach to any people.
This is one of the main reasons why we, as a church, must continue to stand for the truth. We must be that beacon of light that turns people back to the truth - back to Biblical wisdom - and turn them away from foolishness and error.
This is also why we must continue to pray for our elected leaders - whether we believe they were elected fairly or not! They are our leaders - for better or for worse.
Solomon continues...
By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
While there are many applications to this verse, I believe, in keeping the context of this passage can see, with too much difficulty, that the wrong type of leadership can have a devastating effect upon a country.
That is why we must continue to be salt - to prevent decay - and light - to point people to the Lord!
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
Because of time, allow me to simply say this: Money is not the answer to our country’s problems! Truth and righteousness is the answer!
Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
None of us - at least in this room - like where our country is currently headed. We may find that - going forward - Ecclesiastes 10:20 is more applicable than we could have ever imagined. As we recently saw social media literally putting a muzzle upon individuals, there are many individuals - myself included - that believe we are just seeing the beginning.
One pastor recently said:
“If society determines that basic Christian values are poisonous to the cultural dialogue, then it’s very easy to see how muzzling Christians won’t be far behind. I’m not sure if this is the final ‘it,’ but it’s certainly what I think is going to precede the return of Christ.”
While I am not advocating that we simply shut our mouths and cower in the corner, we do need to understand that, going forward, standing for the truth may carry some very serious consequences!
Keep standing - and speaking the truth - anyway!
Prayer Requests
Prayer Requests
Pray for Kevin Conner. His Uncle Danny just passed away this afternoon (Wednesday afternoon).
Praise - MacKenzie Hale has been doing much better!
(MacKenzie) “Zeke,” a little over one year old, has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. They have had difficulty keeping his blood sugar regulated even with insulin. His mother’s name is Heather Francisco.