← ArchiveEcclesiastesEcclesiastes – Wise sayings (Ecclesiastes 7:1-14)DateJuly 21, 2024SpeakerDanny CoursonTextEcclesiastes 7:1–14Passages in this sermonEcclesiastes 7:1–142:07Ecclesiastes 72:17TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00*music*0:30*music* *music* *music* *music*0:58*music*1:08Well, good morning, Beth. It is a privilege to be able to be with you this morning and to share God's Word. When Josh asked me to come, I always appreciate the opportunity to preach God's Word. I was especially excited when he told me he was preaching through Ecclesiastes, and he asked me to preach this message. Because trivia question, if you're ever asked, my favorite book in the Bible is the book of Ecclesiastes. Because Ecclesiastes is all about man's search for meaning in life. And if you look at it from beginning to end, he tries everything in the world to find meaning in his life.1:33And in the end he comes back and says, nothing else matters except God. That's all it comes down to. And so you want to talk about a book that still has relevance for the world today? All of the Bible does, but Ecclesiastes really has a relevance to people who are searching for meaning, and trying all these different things in life to fill that emptiness inside and give them meaning. And we know the answer, God is the only one who can fill that hole.1:59God is the only one who gives meaning. Today we're looking at Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verses 1 through 14. And this is a section of wise sayings. So let's go to God's Word. Ecclesiastes chapter 7, beginning with verse 1. It says, A good name is better than fine perfume. And the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting,2:27since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart. Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad. The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure. It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools. For like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool.2:55This too is futile. Surely the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool. And a bribe corrupts the mind. The end of a matter is better than its beginning. A patient spirit is better than a proud spirit. Don't let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools. Don't say why were the former days better than these, since it is not wise of you to ask this.3:23Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun, because wisdom is protection as silver is protection. But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. Lord, consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God has made one as well as the other,3:51so that no one can discover anything that will come after him. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you for the truth of your word. We thank you for these verses from Ecclesiastes. And we pray that this morning you would give us clarity to the wisdom of your word and how it applies to our lives today. Lead us to make the decisions that we need to make, so that our lives are in alignment with you.4:18For this is our prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. This is one of my favorite passages to preach at funerals. Because it starts off with, "A good name is better than fine perfume." And when you come to the end of someone's life and you think of that name, that name is full of meaning and memory. So the question is, when you're born and your parents give you a name, that name is really unfulfilled.4:47That name is undefined. But by the time you reach the end of your life, that name is filled with meaning. It's filled with memories from the life that you lived. Consider a guy named Judah. When he was born, he was named Judah, after the tribe of Judah, the Lion of Judah, the powerful tribe.5:10And at the end of his life, he was known as Judas, the one who betrayed the Lord. When you hear the name Judas, what do you think of? Is it a positive thing? How many people say, "I can't wait for my child to be born. I'm going to name him Judas." Think about Adolf Hitler. How many people say, "I want to name my child Little Adolf."5:38Names have meaning. And you get connection with these names. And I ask people when I'm preaching a funeral, when you hear this person's name, what do you think of it? Does it give you pleasant memories? Does it fill your heart with love and compassion and kindness? You see, it says a good name is better than fine perfume. Perfume can give you a nice, pleasant aroma for a period of time and then it's gone.6:05But your name gives meaning that lasts. And the question is, when you finish living your life, will your name fill people with a pleasant aroma of the life that you lived? Or will it be a rotten, stinky smell? That's what the writer of Ecclesiastes is saying. The day of the name is better than fine perfume.6:34And the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth. Because when you reach that day of death, your life has been defined, it's over. I think one of the biggest mistakes I see college campuses making today, seminaries making today, is building buildings and naming them after people who are still alive. Why? Because how many times in your lifetime has somebody who made great donations and great contributions to a university, by the end of their life, they've had to go back and take that name off because the campus wants no connection with them whatsoever.6:56Because the life that they lived does not meet the standards of that organization any longer. I graduated from New Orleans Seminary. I love New Orleans Seminary. But when they named the building after Fred Luter, I cringed. Fred Luter is a wonderful guy.7:26He's a great pastor, but Fred's still alive. I pray that he stays faithful to the end and doesn't make any mistakes. But naming buildings after people who are still alive, that's a dangerous practice. And that's what wisdom tells us. The day of one's birth, your parents name you with hopes and dreams and aspirations, but the day of your death, it's clearly defined. Believer, you have to ask yourself, when my name is spoken at the end of my days, what memories will people remember?7:54It goes on in verse 2, it says, "It's 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. Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad, and the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure." Notice the word better in this passage.8:23The writer uses the word better. Now, I'm dating myself here, but any of you remember the old Sears catalog? If you remember the days of the big old thick Sears catalog where it came and you would go through and you would pick out the things you would hope that you would get for Christmas or whatever the occasion was. Sears had a ranking system where they had good, better, and best. They would have the product that they rated as good, but if you wanted to step up, they had the one that was rated better.8:49And if you really had a lot of money to spend, they had the one that was rated best. Now, in life, we have lots of choices that they can be good, but there's always better choices. Satan would love for us to settle for something's good rather than choosing the better choice that God has in store for us. The best for the Christian is when we reach the end of our life and we have accomplished everything God has for us in this life.9:16We're no longer under the danger of sin and making bad choices, but we're secure in his hand for all eternity. That's the best. That's what we have to look forward to. But while we're here in this world, our choices are good or better. Do you want to do good things or would you rather do God's better things for your life? And that's simply what wisdom is telling us here in this verse.9:43Wisdom can make your life better, but you have to choose between the options. And it says it's better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting. The idea of these first four verses is this: sorrow is better than laughter. Now that doesn't really make sense to us because how many people say let's get together for a fellowship with friends and family and let's feel sad.10:06Let's think about sad things and sorrowful experiences. And how many people say let's gather together with friends and family and let's fellowship and let's tell jokes and let's laugh. You see laughter helps us to forget. You don't believe me? Try to repeat that joke somebody told you. You start telling the joke and as you get into it all of a sudden you remember you forgot the punchline.10:34And you just totally trashed it trying to tell it. Laughter helps us to forget. We enjoy hearing comedians, we enjoy going to movies that are funny because they help us to escape reality and forget things that are going on. But when you're dealing with a sorrowful experience. When you gather together because someone is sick and in the hospital. When you gather together because someone is died. And you're at the funeral home with friends and family and you're recapping their life.11:03You don't forget. You remember. You go back and remember the experiences you had with that person. You remember things that you encountered with them. You remember things that they stood for and they represented and they lived for. And that sticks with you. And that's why wisdom says sorrow is better than laughter. Because if you forget about things it really doesn't have an impact on your life. But if you remember things. Then that challenges your mind. As you live daily.11:33And you have to choose. Now understand that the writer here, the preacher here. Is not saying choose one extensively over the other. He's calling for a life of balance. Yes, you want to be sorrowful. But not all the time. If you're sorrowful all the time. Nobody's going to want to be around you. You ever been one of those people. Or been around one of those people. Who walks around with a cloud over their head at all times.12:01They can't smile about anything. They can't find joy in any experience. Everything is horrible. They win the lottery. And they immediately start to complain. Because now they've got all that money. And they don't know what they're going to do. Because everybody they know is going to call. And they're going to ask them for money. And at some point that money is going to run out. And they start thinking the worst possible outcomes. Before experiencing the joy of the moment. And so what he's saying is you've got to have balance. Some people want nothing but laughter.12:30Nothing but fun. Nothing but pleasure. Nothing but enjoyment. But what wisdom tells us is. You've got to have those moments of sadness. You've got to have those moments of sorrow. I love coming together for a worship of praise. Where we raise our hands and we sing from our hearts. And we sing songs of praise. But have you ever met somebody who wants to praise all the time. And never have moments of reflection about sorrow. You see I want to praise Jesus for what he did.13:01But when I think about the sacrifice he made for me on Calvary. It brings me to tears. And I'm sorrowful because it's my sin. That put him on that cross. It's my sin that caused him to leave the glory of heaven to come and sacrifice himself on the cross. There's got to be praise for what he did. There's got to be praise for what he did. But there's got to be sorrow and repentance. For the sin that we have committed.13:28And the disobedience that we still commit. So he says sorrow is better than laughter. You go to that house for fellowship with people and you laugh and you go home. You forget all about it. But you go to that wake. Where you remember a person's life. And you start to talk about serious things. You get to the heart of life.13:56And the matters we need to be discussing. So that's the first way wisdom can make life better. Recognizing that sorrow is better than laughter. And we need to have those experiences. But the next section, verses 5 and 6, says this. It's better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools. For the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. So the second thing in wisdom is rebuke from the wise is better than praise.14:26Now how many of you like being rebuked? Corrected? Somebody pointing out what you did wrong? What you need to change? How many of you like being praised? How many of you like it when people encourage you and tell you what you did right? There's got to be balance. Because sometimes we surround ourselves with yes men.14:54People who are always going to support us and always going to agree with us. And that doesn't help us to grow and that doesn't help us to improve. I promise you, athletes don't like it when a coach gets in their face and yells at them. They don't enjoy that rebuke for the moment. But in the long run, they're thankful that someone is rebuking them and pointing out their errors so they can improve and they can be better. We need those periods of rebuke in our life.15:22Yeah, everybody loves praise. But we need those moments of rebuke. And it says that the song of fools is like the crackling of burning thorns under a pot. When you first go to light a fire, you can't get those big pieces of wood, those logs to burn. It takes a while for them to catch on fire. And so in the meantime, what you do is you get the lightweight stuff to get the fire going.15:49If you ever put thorns on a fire, you know what happens? You get fire quickly, but it doesn't last very long. And it puts on a show, it makes loud popping sounds, and it draws your attention to the fire. But in a short period of time, it's gone, it's burned out. And so it's the same way with the praise of fools. You can post something on Facebook, and you can get the praise of fools.16:17Who are going to come along and give you a thumbs up and a happy emoji and tell you how everything that you said is great and wonderful. But sometimes it's better to get the rebuke of a wise person than the praise of all those fools. In verses 7 through 9, we're taught this. And this outline comes from Warren Wiersbe. He's one of my favorites. Warren Wiersbe says this, "The long haul is better than the shortcut."16:46The long haul is better than the shortcut. In verse 7 it says, "Surely the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind." The end of the matter is better than its beginning. A patient spirit is better than a proud spirit. "Don't let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools." Some people say that verses 7 through 9 are a direct reflection on politics.17:14Now think about this. Do we have any problems with bribery and politics today? I've often said, and I've heard others say it too, I wish our politicians had to wear the same uniform that NASCAR drivers wear. Because on a NASCAR drivers uniform, everyone who has donated money to keep them on the track, they have an advertisement on that outfit.17:37And it also correlates to the size of their contribution. So, you can look at them and know who is underwriting them, who is supporting them, who is paying the cost to keep them out there on the racetrack. Imagine if all of our politicians had to wear the same thing, so that when they walked into the floor of the House or the Senate, you could see who had bought them.18:00Who was bribing them, who was paying them, who was keeping them in office? There was a Roman official many, many years ago, who put a law into place that anytime someone was elected to office, they would audit them before they started to serve. And then at the end of their turn, they would audit them again. And if their bank account had grown in an inappropriate matter, in an appropriate way, they were executed on the spot.18:30They weren't eligible for re-election, they were executed. Because they didn't want corruption and bribery coming in. You know one of the biggest reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire? Corruption and bribery that came in. Now, the guy who actually passed this was trying to use it to execute his political opponents. He didn't have a positive reason for putting it into place. But think about the principle of it. The principle is, there are so many people today who are bought.19:00Instead of doing the right thing and seeking the long path to success and doing what's right, they want to take the shortcut to get to where they want to go. And it may get them there for the short term, but in the end, it's going to hurt them, it's going to cost them, and it's going to cost the people that they want to go. And they represent even more. They represent even more. Bribery is a huge issue.19:28And that's what it's talking about here. The end of the matter is better than its beginning. That's especially true for the Christian because when you come to the end of your life, then everything is finished. Everything is defined. You know, I think about the fact that when my father died, it was a time of sadness for our family.19:49Our faces were sad. There were tears on our faces. But ultimately, it was a time of joy. Because my father had a faith in Jesus Christ that was evident through his entire life. And we knew that when he died, he was no longer sick. He was no longer suffering. He was no longer in pain.20:18He knew that he was in the presence of Jesus whom he longed to be with all this time. It was a long road that he lived. He could have taken shortcuts and he could have done things to try to get ahead in business and to get ahead in life. And he chose the slow, steady path that God had for him. And in the end, he got the reward that God had for him. Be careful about taking shortcuts in life.20:47And I'll ask you, think about it this way. I know in seminary, there were a lot of tests that I had to take. I was good at memorizing stuff. I could memorize the stuff and I could pass the test. But a lot of that material, I forgot. Now let me ask you, when you go to have surgery and that surgeon walks in and he's fixing to cut you open, do you want the surgeon who really studied and learned everything and took the long haul and it all went into his heart and mind and he knows what he's doing?21:17Or do you want the guy who went on Google and got the answers and took the shortcut and he passed at the top of his class but he didn't remember anything he learned in medical school? Who do you want operating on you? That's what wisdom says. Wisdom says shortcuts are going to hurt you. And let me tell you, in the world today, we've got people who want to take shortcuts. Why should I write that paper when AI is available and I can have that computer write the paper for me?21:45Why should I study for that test when there are ways that I can use stuff on the internet to answer all the questions for me? You know one of the biggest problems in universities today? Professors can't spend as much time teaching the material because they have to spend all their time policing their students aren't plagiarizing and cheating their way to a degree. Don't take the shortcuts.22:17In the Christian life, it's the same thing. The devil is going to present us with shortcuts. Why do you really need to study God's Word when there are so many modern methods to shorten that study time and to get you what you need in a quick, short period of time? Somebody was asking, a group of Southern Baptist pastors this morning said, we're looking at changing to a worship service that's only 30 minutes in length.22:44We're going to cut out music. We're going to cut out these different things. It's just going to be a 30-minute service from beginning to end. What would be something that we could call this? And somebody said, a snack. Somebody else said, a fun-sized service. We want to take shortcuts. In building a relationship with Jesus Christ, there are no shortcuts. And aren't you thankful that when it came to our sin and paying the price for our sin,23:13Jesus didn't take any shortcuts. But He endured the cross, despising the shame. And He bore our sins that we could know eternal life. Verse 10, it says, You might say, why were the former days better than these? Since it is not wise of you to ask this. I think this is one of the worst issues in our world today.23:43People who want to talk about the good old days. Man, it used to be so much better. Look at the world today. Look at how horrible it is. You know the reality? Every historical period has had its problems. Every period in world history has had corruption. It's had violence. It's had sin. It's had wrong. And to look back at the past and say, those were the good old days. Well, here's a problem. There's a quote from a guy named Hilaire below.24:13He says, while you're dreaming of the future or regretting the past, the present, which is all you have, slips from you and is gone. Too many times, we're looking back at the good old days. Oh, how I wish we were back in the good old days. Well, what are you doing by reminiscing about the good old days that really didn't exist and they really weren't as good as you remember them? If you're not living in the present, you're thinking about the past.24:43And so many of us are so busy planning for the future, what it's going to be like in the future that we forget about living in the present. And the present is what we have right now. This is where we make a difference in the world. We were called to live in such a time as this. Personally, I'm thankful that God did not call me to live in a day when there was no indoor plumbing. I'm thankful God did not call me to live in a day where I had to go out and hunt everything for every meal.25:10I'm thankful that I don't live in a day. If God had put me back in those days, I'm not sure I would have survived very long. The reality is, God placed you here. Now. Because he has a purpose and a plan for you here and now. Stop dreaming about the future.25:38Stop thinking about the past. And live in the present moment for the glory of God. And do what he wants you to do right here, right now. I love the fact that Josh said in that video just a minute ago, God is doing great things right here. He's doing great things right now. And we need to capitalize on that. In our nation right now, there is such political upheaval. There is such division in our nation. We call ourselves the United States and there is no unity.26:05We are divided in so many ways. Did you know that there are more than 600 registered political parties in the United States? All we hear about are the Republicans and the Democrats because they're the two big ones. There's more than 600 registered political groups trying to come up with their candidates to run for office. Does that sound united to you? Doesn't sound united to me. What the verse 10 tells us is stop saying the past was better.26:32When they went to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem that had been torn down. There was a group of older men who wept. Because the new temple was not anywhere near the size or the glory and majesty of the previous temple. They were connected to the past. That's all they could dwell on. And they wept. At the same time there were a group of young men who were rejoicing because the temple was actually being rebuilt.27:01Are you living in the group that's looking at the past and living in sadness and despair? Are you the group that's rejoicing for what's going on in the present? Maybe what's going on now isn't as big as what it was in the past. Maybe the church attendance is not as big as it once was. Maybe the participation isn't as great as it once was. But God is alive and God is at work and God is here now.27:28And we need to focus on the present and what God is doing now. Instead of going why isn't he doing the great things he did in the past? And if you're concerned about the future, Revelation lays it all out. He's got that taken care of. You don't have to worry about it. You don't have to worry about the timing. It's going to happen when he wants it to happen. We need to focus on the present. And notice it says it's not wise for you to ask this question.27:54If you have any questions about that, go read the book of Job. And see what happened when Job started asking all these questions to God about why he didn't do things in a certain way. And God had some very clear answers for him. Basically, to give you the summary, he said, you're not God. I am. So stop asking and humble yourself and obey. That's Danny's paraphrase. Verse 11, it says this.28:24Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun. Because wisdom is protection as silver is protection. But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. That section, those verses are simply saying, wisdom is better than wealth. Some of you may remember back in 2008, stock market fell apart. A lot of people had retirement plans and savings plans that they had bought up.28:53That they had invested their future in. And in just a matter of hours, it was gone. You can invest in this world. You can invest in the stock market. You can invest in all these different financial plans. You can plan your retirement and lay it out. But in a minute, all that you've worked for, all that you've saved up, all that you've invested can be taken away. The wisdom of God that is placed in your heart and your mind cannot be taken away from you.29:19And that's why it said, it's like an inheritance. You don't work for an inheritance. Somebody else has worked for an inheritance and they leave it to you. God said, I have given you my wisdom. I've put it together for you and I'm placing it in your minds. I'm placing it in your heart. I'm putting it right in front of you. All you have to do is accept it and choose to live by it. And nobody can take that away from you.29:48Think about the disciples. The disciples were simple, ordinary men. They weren't wealthy. They didn't have great kingdoms that they left behind. They didn't have great properties that they left behind. And yet they were faithful to Jesus until the very end. They were put in jail. They were beaten for their faith.30:16They were cast out by society and yet they lived with joy. Why? Because what was in their hearts and what was in their minds was of greater worth and greater value than what they had in a bank somewhere or what they had invested in properties and possessions. I think too many times we live in a world that has convinced us that the house we live in, the car we drive, the clothes that we dress in are more important than anything else.30:39And that's how we're going to be remembered and that's how we're going to be judged. Let me tell you, God's not impressed with your house. God's not impressed with your cars and your boats and your possessions or your 401k. God's not impressed with any of that. What God is impressed with is your humility and your obedience to him.31:06That's the wisdom that no one can take away. And that's what we need to put into practice in our lives. Then we come down to this last section. Verse 13 and 14. Verse 13 says, In other words, consider what is better according to God.31:27Because we cannot change his work. There's all sorts of people in the world who want to tell you that they have wisdom, they have knowledge, they have a way. And if you will listen to them and learn from them and follow their way, you're going to experience success.31:52But as you live your life, what you're going to discover is just when you think you've got everything figured out, God changes the circumstances. And the formula for success that you had planned to follow no longer works. One of the biggest challenges in ministry today. We got a whole bunch of churches that still want to practice like we live in the 1950s and 1960s.32:21If you are doing ministry in a format of the 1950s and 60s and trying to reach people who are living in the year 2024, you're not going to succeed. It's not that the gospel has changed. But the way society functions has changed. The way people learn has changed.32:50The way people listen has changed. The way people respond has changed. As a church, we have to make those changes so that we can effectively share the same gospel message to a different generation in a way that they hear and a way that they respond. That's wisdom. Foolishness is to sit in the building and say, "Here we are. Y'all come." Because we don't live in a generation that's going to do that.33:18I can tell you in the 70s and 80s, you could have a church building. You could put together a media campaign. You could tell people, "Here we are. We're going to share the gospel. Y'all come." And you'd have a church packed out with people every Sunday. In 2024, it don't work that way. You know how you reach people today? They're looking for authenticity and they're looking for personal relationships. You're going to reach more people through building personal relationships with people and sharing with them how God has made a difference in your life.33:46You're going to reach more people doing small group discipleship groups in people's homes or in restaurants and gathering together and building relationships with people. But if you have the mentality, "Here we are. We've got this building and it's dedicated to God. Y'all come." You're not going to reach anybody. The way of wisdom says, "Listen to God and follow Him and He will bring you success according to His model, according to His purpose and according to His plan."34:11I just got back from a mission trip in Anchorage, Alaska. Wonderful experience as we were there and got to see some of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen in my life. And as we looked at Denali, used to be called Mount McKinley, it's now called Denali because they went back to the native name.34:37I made the joke, I said, "Isn't it amazing to think that that huge mountain, one of the largest in the world, was built because dump trucks from Anchorage brought their snow up here and they piled it up until they got that huge mountain." And people looked at me like, "Have you lost your mind?" That's not how it happened. How it happened is God put it there.35:05And I don't care how many bulldozers you've got and how many construction crews you've got, you're not going to take down Mount Denali. Because God established it there and you're not going to build, you're not going to tear down what God built. And as I look at all those mountain ranges and all the glaciers and all the rivers, we can make little changes here and there to build our buildings and to build our society. But we're not going to change what God established by the power of his hand.35:32And that's what the way of wisdom tells us. We close out with this one section in verse 14. He says this, "In the day of prosperity be joyful." That's easy, isn't it? When things are good and everything's going your way, it's easy to be joyful. But he says this, "But in the day of adversity consider God has made one as well as the other so that no one can discover anything that will come after him."35:54Consider that regardless of the circumstances, God is in control. I remember serving the church with a group of farmers. Everybody in the church were farming families out in a rural section in South Georgia. And they were praying for rain and praying for rain.36:22And they finally got the rain. And that's one thing they talked about. They had to live on faith because they couldn't control the rain. They could go out and do their work. They could prepare the ground. They could plant the seed. But they had to depend on God for the rain. They had to depend on God for the harvest. They had no control over it whatsoever. And one guy came into church one Sunday. He was talking to a friend of mine, James Warbington. Great man of God, just passed away last week. I can celebrate because I know he's with God.36:52But he came in and said, "James, what do you think? It rained on my property and it didn't rain on yours." And you know what James' response was? God sends the rain on the just and the unjust. The way of wisdom is to remember that God is ultimately in control. And if we truly want to live according to wisdom, wisdom is not following the ways of the Democrats. It's not following the ways of the Republicans.37:22It's not following the ways of the liberals. It's not following the ways of the conservatives. It's following God and God alone. That's what the author of Ecclesiastes wrote here in the way of wisdom. That's how he closed the book out at the end of all these collections. In the end, the only thing that matters is honor God. Because that's what all of mankind is ordered to do. Honor God. So I want to ask you to consider a couple of things this morning.37:50Number one, have you come to the place in your life where you have chosen to put aside the ways of the world and that the ways you've got in your mind and to follow God's purpose and God's plan for you? Number two, are you willing to put aside the ways of the world and the wisdom of the world to only follow the wisdom of God?38:07Because in the end, what Ecclesiastes tells us is the same thing the gospel tells us. We were placed here in this world to live for God, to trust in God, and to walk with God. There's a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death.38:38For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but should have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through him might be saved. The way of wisdom this morning is this. If you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, today you have the choice to choose a better way.39:03Jesus Christ. Not the ways of this world, not the ways of our education system, not the ways of our political parties, but the way of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This morning, you have the choice to choose to walk by faith in Jesus Christ and not by sight. Because the world will want to lay out a plan and say, everything's going to fall in step the way we've got it laid out. And the best made plans of man are going to be destroyed.39:33But God's plans will stand forever. This morning, have you chosen to follow God's plan? For your life. And finally, God's plan is this. The gospel. God's plan is for you to confess your sin. To confess your need. To put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father except by him.40:02The way of wisdom is to say, I'm not going to trust in men. I'm not going to trust in political parties. I'm not going to trust in education systems. I'm going to trust in Christ. And Christ alone. Because that is the wisest and best decision you can ever make. Would you pray with me?← Previous in EcclesiastesEcclesiastes – Living to Die (Ecclesiastes 9:1-10)Next in Ecclesiastes →Ecclesiastes – Spiritual Déjà vu (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8)More sermons on Ecclesiastes →
