Ecc Sermon Week 8

Intro/Welcome

Good Morning — My name is Justin one of Pastors Here

Good to be with you // Online

We are continuing in our Ecc series today

We are at the halfway point in the book

It’s a turning point in the book where Solomon shifts from his observations and explorations and experiences

to conclusions.

Whole 2nd half of the book is sharing his conclusions

mainly on the Advantages that Wisdom offers.

It’s the question he begins with:

Ecclesiastes 6:11 (CSB)

11 ...What is the advantage for mankind?

He has already said that Wisdom is and advantage in this life.

Ecclesiastes 2:13–14 (CSB)

13 And I realized that there is an advantage (yitron) to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness. 14 The wise person has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.

Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both. = death

In my opinion — the 2nd half of Ecc is unpacking these verses

What advantage does wisdom give in this fallen world?

Today’s Message

Today he begins with a simple yet profound message:

your final day is more important than your first day.

how things end are better than how they begin.

he says your first impression isn’t most important, your last impression is.

This is true for us right?

Marriage // Sports game // School

So if this is true…and it is true

the question is: “how do I finish well?”

how can I live wisely so that I can finish well?

Bible

Let’s see what Solomon has for us today.

We’ll be in Ecc 6:10-7:14

Go there in your Bibles.

Let’s Pray

Pray

that we would end well.

Endings are better than beginnings

structure if this passage

think hammock

supporting beams — Gods Sovereignty and Gods Goodness

Everything else hangs upon these two truths

Ecclesiastes 7:1 (CSB)

1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 (CSB)

8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning...

A Good Name

First he says a good name is better than fine perfume

think about perfume or fine ointment.

What is its purpose? —> to cover up an unpleasant smell

Mary anointed Jesus before his death —why dead people stink

it is a pleasant mask over an unpleasant reality.

some of you are wearing perfume, thank you.

What’s he’s saying is:

better to be good than appear to be good.

Better is a good name — that is character / reputation than just merely the appearance of ‘being good’

Think Jesus and the pharisees — white washed tombs, immaculate on the outside, dead on the inside.

Day of Death Better

The Second thing he says is better is your day of death than day of birth.

What’s he’s saying is:

Who you will be on your last day is better who you were at birth.

In other words,

better is who you have become by the end of your life than who you were at the beginning,

or even in the present for that matter.

Again, better to be a man or woman of character and godliness than to end up a fool.

We all are on a journey of growth throughout our lives.

New Born milemarkers

Are you growing into someone better? or worse?

Solomon is calling us to consider the end of our life

to consider who we are becoming — how we will finish:

Solomon ended his days in repentant reflection

Paul ended his days declaring he was the first among all sinners.

Jesus ended his life abandoned by his friends, beaten and crucified.

what it means to finish well may not look like what the world declare to be ending well

Work on your life not just in your life

What this means is each of us need to take time to not just work IN our lives but work ON our lives.

We need to take a break, as weekend retreat, a week off as an individual, as a couple and assess

Where are we? Who are we?

Is this what we want? Is this what God has called us to be?

Where do we want to go? Who do we want to become?

Who has God called us to be?

Wisdom says make a plan to get there.

This is what many companies do with year end reports, goals and assessments.

Make a plan

So what are some of the ways we ‘live wisely’ so that we can finish well?

Wisdom is better than folly

The first thing he says is that wisdom is better than folly

Secondly for wisdom to be experienced as good we have to actually listen to wisdom.

What good is a ham sandwich if you never take a bite of it?

Ecclesiastes 7:11–12 (CSB)

11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage (yitron) to those who see the sun, 12 because wisdom is protection as silver is protection;

First he says wisdom is as good as an inheritance

that is coming into a substantial amount of money

Why?

because wisdom protect just as silver protects

Proverbs 3:13–18 (CSB)

13 Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding,

14 for she is more profitable than silver, and her revenue is better than gold.

What could you fix if you just had more money?

Wisdom is like that.

Do you believe that? Do you feel that?

The effect of applied wisdom?

Ecclesiastes 7:12 (CSB)

12 ...but the advantage (yitron) of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

Wisdom preserves and prolongs life

b/c it allows you to see where you are going

Ecclesiastes 2:14 (CSB)

14 The wise person has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.

Notice wisdom doesn’t prevent death

something greater would be needed to overcome death (resurrection) the one who has power over death.

So wisdom is good in that it preserves and prolongs life, but in order to do that we actually have to listen to it

So wisdom, just like eating healthier can prolong your life

but have to follow the diet to reap the health benefits

so to you have to actually listen to wisdom to preserve your life

Listening to Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 7:5–6 (CSB)

5 It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools, 6 for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

Better to listen to rebuke — that is to listen to wisdom

to receive correction

Where do we find wisdom?

God’s Word

In the Person and Work of Jesus — who was wisdom from God

Where is the song of fools?

the world’s wisdom

rather than to listen to the song of fools.

this is the folly of the world

For fools songs, laughter and distraction is like the crackling of kindling in a fire

it makes noise and provides a brief relief

but doesn’t last.

Just as kindling gets a fire going but in order to keep it going you the a good piece of wood (wisdom)

This is like worldly wisdom — it is ‘good’ for a moment, then it is gone, useless burned up.

So the challenge for all of us is to not just ‘hear wisdom’ but to apply ‘wisdom’ to our lives.

As James says to not be merely ‘hearers of the word but doers of the word’

This means it won’t necessarily be easy, it may be difficult.

Don’t take the easy way

Ecclesiastes 7:7 (CSB)

7 Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind.

one path from wisdom to follow is taking the easy way

accepting a bribe or giving into blackmail.

or worse offering a bribe or blackmail

the lord says these are wicked

they are folly

the do not lead to better character.

App

In your life, where do you tend to take the easy path?

where do you give into mini bribes or blackmails?

Don’t we give into bribes every day when we consume the folly of this world rather than the wisdom of God?

we accept the short term benefit of junk food rather than the spiritual nourishment of God’s word?

Aren’t we ‘blackmailed’ every day by the devil in the sins we’ve committed and the ways we’ve failed?

told that they are held against us?

that we can’t tell anyone about the things we’ve done?

The path of wisdom leads us to confession and repentance based on the gospel of grace.

but we need to actually walk it.

next Solomon tells us two ways in which we can ‘live wisely’ that will lead to finishing well.

Lamenting is better than laughing

Would you rather go to a Birthday Party or a Funeral?

B-day party right? Solomon says otherwise.

Ecclesiastes 7:2 (CSB)

2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart.

Why?

partly b/c this is contemplating our own death, our own mortality.

We’ll really spend some time on that in a few weeks

Solomon is very intent on keeping our own mortality before us.

it is good to contemplate one’s death

and appreciate the few years that the lord has given us.

Psalm 90:12 (CSB)

12 Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

Yet it is also more than that

Ecclesiastes 7:3-4 (CSB)

3 Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad. 4 The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.

Grief is better than laughter b/c sadness can lead to gladness

the house of mourning (wise) vs. the house of pleasure (fools)

What does this mean?

Facing Reality

It means facing the painful realities of a fallen world rather than escaping them.

we cannot run from our pain, we cannot laugh it off, ignore it, numb it, forget about it or escape it through pleasure.

Our hurt will always come back in one way or another.

Pain that is not transformed will be transmitted

hurt people will hurt people

And there will be time of pain.

B/C we live in a fallen world.

Everyone and everything is touched by the fall

better to face the pain than escape it.

all addictions come from a deep seated need to avoid pain.

Wise living says face it don’t escape it…becuase

2. Only by dealing with the pain can we ever heal from it

only by feeling the sadness can we invite in true gladness

Inside Out

Joy spends the whole movie trying to get rid of sadness

but finally realizes that only through sadness can the experience of joy be deepened

sadness and joy together lead to a deeper joy.

But we didn’t need Inside Out to tell us that, Solomon already did 3000 years ago.

It is often through our pain that we grow the most

Fields and flowers don’t grow on mountain tops, but in the valleys.

This where character comes from.

Romans 5:3–5 (ESV)

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

This is the hope of redemption.

Solomon gives us some guidance in Ecc 7:13-14

God is Sovereign over the good and bad

Solomon reminds us of God’s Sovereign control at the end of our passage.

Ecclesiastes 7:13 (CSB)

13 Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked?

We talked about this in week 1 when we compared it to Ecc 1:15

Ecclesiastes 1:15 (CSB)

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

We said that this referred to Genesis 3 and the consequences of the Fall — everything was broken — everything then was subjected to Futility (hevel)

Romans 8:20–21 (CSB)

20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

There it is wisdom to know that the world is broken, that it has been subjected to the curse, to the hevel as part of God’s plan of redemption.

That being the case.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 (CSB)

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything that will come after him.

both prosperity and adversity are under God’s sovereign control

in prosperity = rejoice! be joyful and thank God

in adversity = consider that God is sovereign and good.

he keeps us dependent on Him

that is what ‘so that no one can discover anything that will come after him’ means.

No one can discover — b/c God is in control but he is also good.

Warren Weirsbe: God balances our lives by giving us enough blessings to keep us happy and enough burdens to keep us humble...Why does God constitute our lives in this way?

The answer is simple: to keep us from thinking we know it all and that we can manage our lives by ourselves...Just about the time we think we have an explanation for things, God changes the situation and we have to throw out our formula.

Wise living is God dependent living.

he is good and in control

turns evil for good.

This takes faith

the parents who have lost their child

children who have lost their parents

thr car accident that changed your life

the betrayal of a friend

In your pain, in your sorrow — God will meet you there

He is man of sorrows, acquainted with grief — Isa 53 says.

So one way to finish well is to face pain rather the escape it

to deal with and heal from our pain in this world.

The second thing he says is related to the first.

Patience is better than pride

Patience is better than pride

Ecclesiastes 7:8 (CSB)

8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit. 9 Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides (lodges - esv) in the heart of fools.

Patience is contrasted with Pride.

Be patient — don’t ‘rush’ to anger.

Anger and pride are connected.

Pride leads to impatience

impatience leads to anger.

Patience waits on God

but pride hates on God

Pride is unwilling to wait

Pride demands its own way

Pride says I know better

We all think we can run the universe better than him

That thought is Satanic in origin — i mean that.

For this is what got Satan kicked out of heaven.

And we’ve all swallowed the pill and become infected with pride

Pride leads to anger

anger leads to bitterness

bitterness leads to resentment

resentment leads to regret

Which is what he says next:

Ecclesiastes 7:10 (CSB)

10 Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” since it is not wise of you to ask this.

reminiscing on how things used to be

back in the good old days.

Anger keeps you are stuck in your past

it can dominate your present and destroy your future.

Which leads to loss of hope.

It’s the complete opposite of Romans 5:3-5

Romans 5:3–5 (ESV) - NOT VERSION

3 Not only that, but we despair in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces pain, 4 and pain produces anger, and anger destroys hope, 5 and [with no] hope we are put to shame, because God’s love can’t be poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who cannot be been given to us.

Patience waits on God

Thus cultivating patience means killing pride.

Patience means waiting on the Lord

Pride shouts that we should be in control

Patients submits that HE is in control

just like the psalmist:

Psalm 130 (CSB) A song of ascents.

1 Out of the depths I call to you, Lord!

2 Lord, listen to my voice; let your ears be attentive to my cry for help.

3 Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be revered.

5 I wait for the Lord; I wait and put my hope in his word.

6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning— more than watchmen for the morning.

7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord. For there is faithful love with the Lord, and with him is redemption in abundance.

8 And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

waiting on the Lord is difficult

one if the hardest things we have to do is wait on the lord

in this fallen world where we can’t fully see, we don’t fully understand

Takes faith

How do we cultivate patience?

by remembering who God is.

and who we are.

God is in Control, you are not

Ecclesiastes 6:10-11 (CSB)

10 Whatever exists was given its name long ago, and it is known what mankind is. But he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he. 11 For when there are many words, they increase futility.

That is, it was done by God

man cannot contend with God

Isaiah 45:9–12 (CSB)

9 “Woe to the one who argues with his Maker— one clay pot among many.

Does clay say to the one forming it, ‘What are you making?’ Or does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?

10 Woe to the one who says to his father, ‘What are you fathering?’ or to his mother, ‘What are you giving birth to?’ ”

11 This is what the Lord, the Holy One of Israel and its Maker, says: “Ask me what is to happen to my sons, and instruct me about the work of my hands. 12 I made the earth, and created humans on it. It was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded everything in them.

Ecclesiastes 6:11 (CSB)

What is the advantage (yitron) for mankind?

Ecclesiastes 6:12 (CSB)

12 For who knows what is good for anyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow?

Who can tell anyone what will happen after him under the sun?

This is our limited vision as finite human beings

The answer of course is no-one can — not on earth.

Only God, and God alone knows.

It is wisdom to acknowledge this.

Proverbs 9:10 (CSB)

10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Wise living always submits to God

Letting God be God

Conclusion

Solomon teaches that your final day is more important than your first day (or even your present day)

He says wisdom is good b/c it can preserve and prolong life.

That looks like:

1. Listening to wisdom — applying it to your life — doing what it says.

2. Facing reality the reality of pain not escape it

3. Cultivating patience rather than pride

4.By remembering that God is in Control and you are not and more than that he is GOOD.

But let’s just take it one step further because...

When Jesus came he said that

Matthew 12:42 (CSB)

42 The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look—something greater than Solomon is here.

Your Eternal State

More important than even your final state is your eternal state

Jesus was God’s wisdom for redemption

1 Corinthians 1:30 (CSB)

30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption

God in his wisdom sent his Son to come and die for all the folly, all the sin, all the pride.

Wisdom of world says ‘go and get it’

wisdom of God says ‘stop and receive it’

b/c we shook our fists at God, God shook his fist at Jesus.

and pierced him on a cross so that we might prosper

crushed him so that we might live

counted him as wicked so that we might become wise

To live wisely is to live with the resurrected Jesus.

To finish well is to see that He finished it forever

And living forever starts when we put our faith in Jesus.

and knowing Jesus and being known by Him will empower us to:

Choose wisdom — the Word of God

Choose redemption — that in facing our pain it can be transformed

Choose patience over pride — the process of sanctification.

Closing

So let me ask you, will you finish well?

will your final day be better than your first day or your present day.

will your last impression be better than your first impression?

will your eternal state be better than your present state?

Application

Take some time, plan some time then to not just work in your life, but to work on your life.

Do this with others? in your group? in your family.

where do changes need to happen?

where does wisdom need to be applied?

pain need to be grieved from

patience needs to be practiced

pride need to be recognized

anger need to be dissipated.

what can you put into place

to become the person you want to be,

the person that God specifically and uniquely called you to be.

that you might finish well

Let’s Pray