30. Understanding Man

Posted on Posted in Sermon Notes, Prayer Meeting, Audio Sermons 2016 Tagged with , , , ,

Hymns: RHC 387 I Need Thee Every Hour 394 Deeper and Deeper 385 May the Mind of Christ, My Savior   

Study of the Book of Ecclesiastes

(Remember Now Thy Creator)

Understanding Man

Ecclesiastes 7:23-29

23 All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me. 24 That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? 25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness: 26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. 27 Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account: 28 Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found. 29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

 

OUTLINE

  • Man Is Not Wise (v23-25)
  • Man Is Sinful (v26-28)
  • Man Is Wayward (v29)

 

INTRODUCTION

Maxwell Droke gave this story of two World War Two heros, “Adm. Nimitz and Gen. MacArthur went fishing together. In a sudden squall, the boat capsized, and the eminent fighting men floundered helplessly in the water.

When they reached the boat, the Admiral cautioned, “Now, Mac, don’t mention this to anyone. I’d be disgraced if the men of the Navy learned I can’t swim.”

“Don’t worry,” MacArthur replied. “I’d hate to have my men find out I can’t walk on water.””[1]

Here we see two men’s evaluation of themselves. One realizes he is not larger than he is, he is the commander of the biggest navy in the world and yet he cannot even save himself when he fell into the water, he can’t swim. He realises how weak he is and yet he will not want to be embarrassed by it. While the other have a grasped of his own limitation and he realizes and come to terms with it.

Solomon has been speaking to us concerning the benefits of godly wisdom:

  • Wisdom Is Safety (v11-12, 14)
  • Wisdom Is Security (v13-17)
  • Wisdom Is Strength (v18-22)

 

True wisdom begins with the fear of God. The God fearer submits to the will of God and find peace and joy and prosperity of the soul. God’s wisdom was practical strength for him to live life triumphantly. For him, God’s wisdom is not theoretical but works for him in everyday life. It begins with the fear of God, a holy attitude in life to follow after God, to do His commandments.

Here in our text he tells us that the reality of the depraved, fallen man and the reality that the redeemed man is not spared from the ravages of sin. A sobering reality to keep him on his toes to realize his own vulnerability and advises him not to be presumptuous and overestimate himself. He sets himself as an example, one whom God promised to endow with heavenly wisdom.

1 Kings 3:9-12 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

He realizes that the wisdom God has given him allows him to judge wisely but by no means, he was endowed with infinite wisdom. He saw the own limitation, there is one greater than himself. He is humbled.

 

  • Man Is Not Wise (v23-25)
  • Man Is Sinful (v26-28)
  • Man Is Wayward (v29)

 

  • Man Is Not Wise (v23-25)

23 All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me. 24 That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? 25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:

 

He came to the realization of the limitation of his wisdom. He said, “I will be wise but it was far from me.” He is utterly humbled before God as he evaluated himself. Mind you, he is the greatest man in the world through the ages. He was king in Israel in the golden age of Israel. He had God’s Word handed down to him and a kingdom whose strength was at its height. And yet, he realizes that he cannot walk on water.

Matthew Henry observes well, “He owns and laments the deficiencies of his wisdom. He had wisdom enough to see the vanity of the world and to experience that that would not make a portion for a soul. But, when he came to enquire further, he found himself at a loss; his eye was too dim, his line was too short, and, though he discovered this, there were many other things which he could not prove by wisdom…His searches were industrious. God had given him a capacity for knowledge above any; he set up with a great stock of wisdom; he had the largest opportunities of improving himself that ever any man had…He resolved, if it were possible, to gain his point: I said, I will be wise…Yet his success was not answerable or satisfying: “I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me; I could not compass it…His enquiry concerning the evil of sin. He applied his heart to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness…The knowledge of sin is a difficult knowledge, and hard to be attained; Solomon took pains for it.”

He realizes that he was not wiser.

 

  • Man Is Sinful (26-28)

26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. 27 Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account: 28 Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

 

He was caught in the web of loving many strange women.

1 Kings 11:1-11 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

Solomon could not escape the snare, the temptation of falling for the woman trap in his life.

James 1:13-16 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Romans 7:22-25 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

When God’s fear departed from his heart, he fell into sin. He yielded to temptation. He sorrows!

He spoke of the snare of the strange woman in the book of Proverbs and yet he was culpable. .) He now discovered more than ever of the general corruption of man’s nature. [Matthew Henry]

 

  • Man Is Wayward (v29)

29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

 

Truly, when God first made man, Adam was upright, there was not the sin nature until he fell.

After Adam’s fall, men were not contented with their present state, but aimed at higher things, and studied new ways of making themselves more wise and happy than God had made them, and readily hearkened to the suggestions of the devil to that end. And we their sinful and wretched children, after their example, are still prone to forsake the certain rule of God’s word, and the true way to happiness, and to seek new methods and inventions of attaining to it, even such as Solomon hath discoursed of in this book. [Poole]

This is the challenge that the Apostle Paul articulated so well – Galatians 5:16-18 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

 

CONCLUSION

May we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations: Signs of the Times.