Ecclesiastes 10 (5)
Notes
Transcript
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Announcements
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 this Friday!
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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 10:16-20. Pray.
I would like to remind you of one point which I made last Wednesday night:
Your wisdom - or foolishness - is on display all the time!
Your wisdom - or foolishness - is on display all the time!
It is seen - as we learned last week - in the words which come out of our mouths and it is seen in how we respond to correction and instruction.
Now, to continue on...
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 a couple of weeks ago:
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 voted for them or not! They are our leaders - for better or for worse.
This past Monday night, as we continued in our New Testament Survey course, we began our look at the book of Acts. As I was laying the foundation for our look at the book of Acts, I shared the following statement from the Bible Knowledge Commentary:
The Bible Knowledge Commentary Date of the Book
Furthermore, a defense of Christianity before Nero by using the Book of Acts to appeal to what lower officials had ruled regarding Paul would have had little point at the time of the Neronian antagonism. At that time Nero was so intent on destroying the church, the defense set forth in Acts would have had little effect in dissuading him.
The last part of this, “…the defense set forth in Acts would have had little effect in dissuading him,” to me, is interesting - and applicable.
I believe that we may be coming to a time in our country where an apologetic defense of Christianity is going to have little effect on people. What is going to make a difference is going to be a bold proclamation of the Gospel (as Peter and Paul demonstrated) along with living a life that demonstrates the power of the Gospel (as Peter and Paul demonstrated). I believe that this will be the best way for us to exalt righteous and seek to turn people back to the Truth.
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 with the context of this passage we can see, without 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.
Even if our leaders choose to take our country in the wrong direction, that does not mean that we, as Christians, must blindly follow. While it may not be easy to go against the flow, it is still possible. I again remind you of the testimony of Daniel:
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
Though a banquet can be quite enjoyable to influence another, the real persuader is money. His point is that money talks. It works when nothing else will. - Dr. David Sorenson
You may have heard the phrase, “Follow the money,” which suggests that political corruption can be brought to light by examining where money is coming from and were money is going to. (And this can be applied to both sides of the political aisle!)
You may also be familiar with the phrase, “Money Talks,” which means that money has a a strong influence on people’s actions and decisions.
Then, perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, “Everyone has their price,” which means that anyone can be convinced to do something for the right amount of money.
I dare say that most of us here tonight realize the fallacy of these sayings. However, have we ever been guilty of thinking that money could solve our problems - or at least make them a little easier?
As one commentator wrote (sarcastically):
There it is! The fix-all of fix-alls. Money can solve your problems. Money can change your circumstances. Money can bring you happiness. Money can wipe away all pain, agony, heartbreak, distress, hardships. Sure! That’s right! That’s what money can do!
Philips, John; Hastings, Jim. Exploring Ecclesiastes (John Phillips Commentary Series) . Kregel Academic & Professional. Kindle Edition.
But, this idea that “money answereth all things” is in direct conflict with Biblical truth:
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Money cannot solve your problems; change your circumstances; bring you happiness; or wipe away all of your pain, agony, heartbreak, distress or hardships - only Christ can do these things!
Money is not the answer to our country’s problems! Money is not the answer to your problems! Truth and righteousness is the only 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.
We may begin to find that - going forward - Ecclesiastes 10:20 is more applicable than we could have ever imagined. As we have recently seen social media literally putting a muzzle upon individuals, there are many individuals - myself included - that believe we are just seeing the beginning.
[Dan] Kovalik, [who] identifies as a progressive, said he disagrees with Twitter’s decision to ban Trump, which he sees as the biggest danger of cancel culture: censorship of unpopular opinions.
“We have to allow for free speech and debate. It took me a while to come to this belief. I’m a leftist; I’ve been more focused on economic social justice than free speech, but now I do see free speech being threatened,” he said.
If cancel culture continues unabated, Kovalik said, all Americans will suffer its effects.
“Important voices — voices that need to be heard because they may be right or may at least have a point — are going to be crowded out. People are going to self-censor. News outlets will have less diverse opinions, and I think that in the end the truth will be squelched.”
https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2021/1/26/22248673/is-the-silencing-of-donald-trump-a-free-market-consequence-or-cancel-culture-pga-tournament-twitter
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.”
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! However, we have seen this happen in the past:
The religious tolerance which had allowed John Bunyan the freedom to preach became curtailed with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Bunyan was arrested under the Conventicle Act of 1593, which made it an offence to attend a religious gathering other than at the parish church with more than five people outside their family. The offence was punishable by 3 months imprisonment followed by banishment or execution if the person then failed to promise not to re-offend. As Bunyan refused to agree to give up preaching, his period of imprisonment eventually extended to 12 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bunyan#:~:text=After%20the%20restoration%20of%20the,refused%20to%20give%20up%20preaching.
What should we do? Keep standing - and speaking the truth - anyway!
Prayer Requests
Prayer Requests
Pray for Kevin Conner.
Jim Clontz