WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.120 Take your seats and do turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 9, passage that Paul read for us, page 557 of the Black Church Bibles. 00:00:09.120 --> 00:00:10.859 And if you need one of those, there's some at the door. 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:19.059 I attended two funerals this week, two funerals, two crematoriums. 00:00:19.900 --> 00:00:20.940 You know how it goes. 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:26.920 There's a coffin at the front and then there are pews where the people sit. 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:30.060 There's the coffin and there's the mourners. 00:00:32.120 --> 00:00:37.160 And what struck me this time, in both occasions actually, is that the only thing that separates the two, 00:00:37.939 --> 00:00:43.040 the person in the coffin, the people sitting in the pews, is the passing of time. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:44.960 That's it. 00:00:46.540 --> 00:00:51.579 The gap between the seats and the plinth at the front is like one of those moving walkways at the airport. 00:00:51.579 --> 00:00:57.920 There's an inevitability about you getting from one to the other. 00:00:58.820 --> 00:01:03.079 Everyone who's in a seat will one day be in the coffin. 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:10.759 Well, that's the happy note that Solomon starts with this evening in chapter 9. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:18.920 He reminds us again, beginning of chapter 9, that we can't discern what God is doing in the lives of men and women. 00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:20.900 We like to think we can, but we can't. 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:25.400 What looks like prosperity may well be a curse in disguise. 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:28.299 What looks like adversity may well be a blessing. 00:01:28.859 --> 00:01:29.700 We can't tell. 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:37.620 But we do know that all people, chapter 9, verse 2, are going to the same destination. 00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:40.100 It's the same for all. 00:01:40.960 --> 00:01:46.340 Since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, 00:01:46.420 --> 00:01:49.420 to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:56.900 Verse 3, the same event happens to all, that they go to the dead. 00:01:56.900 --> 00:02:06.620 Well, once again, Solomon is taking his big old hand, putting it on the back of our heads, 00:02:06.740 --> 00:02:09.840 and forcing our faces into reality. 00:02:10.460 --> 00:02:13.560 He's rubbing our noses in what is there. 00:02:14.219 --> 00:02:17.560 And just as he has forced us to see, as we've gone through this book, 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:23.060 that there is no gain for us in wealth, in possessions, in wisdom, in status. 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:29.500 Everything that we have been told in life, in the West, for centuries, well, decades at least now, 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:34.039 everything that we've been told will give us meaning and purpose and significance. 00:02:34.539 --> 00:02:39.199 Solomon has been telling us again and again and again, it's just handfuls of fresh air. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:46.919 And now he's forcing us to face up to a new reality, and that one is the inevitability of our death. 00:02:47.619 --> 00:02:51.619 Every single one of us is going to die. 00:02:53.780 --> 00:02:54.899 We don't know when. 00:02:54.979 --> 00:02:57.959 We saw last time that we can't second guess the providence of God. 00:02:58.299 --> 00:03:02.699 He has his reasons for taking some people in their youth and others much later. 00:03:03.019 --> 00:03:05.399 But in the end, we all get there. 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:11.800 And because we are no longer in Victorian England, we don't like to talk about such things. 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:16.439 It used to be said that the Victorians talked endlessly about death, but never about sex. 00:03:16.700 --> 00:03:19.819 But this generation talks endlessly about sex, but never about death. 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:25.819 You can make of the truth of that what you will, but Solomon makes us focus on that, 00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:29.560 which we feel very uncomfortable with, that is talking about our mortality. 00:03:30.099 --> 00:03:32.420 He's forcing us to think about that this evening. 00:03:32.599 --> 00:03:34.280 But one thing is very clear. 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:36.919 One thing is very clear, he says. 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:43.300 Those in the crematorium pews, rather than those that are in the coffin, that is us here this evening, 00:03:43.420 --> 00:03:46.819 those who are still alive, are at a distinct advantage. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:52.159 Because we can face this reality, and we can do something about it. 00:03:52.180 --> 00:03:53.920 Look at verse 4, chapter 9, verse 4. 00:03:53.920 --> 00:03:57.020 But he who is joined with all the living has hope. 00:03:57.819 --> 00:04:00.740 For a living dog is better than a dead lion. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:03.560 For the living know that they will die. 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:07.439 But the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward. 00:04:07.539 --> 00:04:08.919 For the memory of them is forgotten. 00:04:09.620 --> 00:04:12.020 He's saying the one who's in the coffin, their race is run. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:13.340 Their hand has been played. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:17.060 They can't do anything to alter or improve the course of their lives. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:19.720 They have no more share in this life. 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:24.940 We, however, have the opportunity to change our course. 00:04:25.060 --> 00:04:27.340 To do something about the reality. 00:04:27.340 --> 00:04:32.960 To stare at it and to live now in light of it in a way that is wise. 00:04:33.080 --> 00:04:35.160 That's the thrust of this book, isn't it? 00:04:35.260 --> 00:04:36.940 We've been seeing it again and again and again. 00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:40.060 How do we live wisely in God's world? 00:04:40.060 --> 00:04:42.319 And while we have breath in our bodies. 00:04:43.220 --> 00:04:46.079 While we're in these seats and not in the coffin. 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:49.379 We can make preparations for that day. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:55.840 Country music singer Tim McGraw has a song called Live Like You Were Dying. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:58.179 And the song is all about the things. 00:04:58.299 --> 00:04:59.719 It's a bit of a bucket list song. 00:04:59.779 --> 00:05:02.179 All the things that you would do if you knew that you were going to die. 00:05:02.259 --> 00:05:02.879 That kind of thing. 00:05:03.259 --> 00:05:04.479 Well Solomon is saying. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:07.859 Here's what you would do if you knew you were dying. 00:05:08.519 --> 00:05:14.479 Here's what a wise life facing the reality of death looks like. 00:05:15.179 --> 00:05:16.019 Point number one. 00:05:16.019 --> 00:05:22.740 He says enjoy living in the pleasure of God. 00:05:24.180 --> 00:05:26.180 Enjoy living in the pleasure of God. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:27.019 Look at verse 7. 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:29.799 Go eat your bread with joy. 00:05:30.180 --> 00:05:31.839 Drink your wine with a merry heart. 00:05:31.939 --> 00:05:33.799 For God has already approved what you do. 00:05:34.339 --> 00:05:36.519 Let your garments be always white. 00:05:36.659 --> 00:05:40.120 Let not oil be lacking on your head. 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:45.899 This push towards joy is the heartbeat of the book of Ecclesiastes. 00:05:47.019 --> 00:05:49.539 It's a thread that runs all the way through. 00:05:49.620 --> 00:05:51.019 Despite all the vapor. 00:05:51.419 --> 00:05:53.479 Despite you could say all the disappointment. 00:05:54.379 --> 00:05:56.319 It's like have you noticed from the beginning. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:00.879 One thing after another that we think you know in our heart of hearts. 00:06:01.419 --> 00:06:03.299 Certainly the things that our culture tells us. 00:06:03.299 --> 00:06:05.740 If I had more of this then life would make sense. 00:06:05.899 --> 00:06:06.620 It would join up. 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:07.699 It would give me significance. 00:06:07.799 --> 00:06:09.000 It would give me a sense of meaning. 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:12.079 And we keep getting disappointed. 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:14.240 It keeps going oh you know and another thing. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:15.939 That other thing that you thought you'd hope in. 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:18.899 Maybe if you had the status that you really felt that you. 00:06:19.339 --> 00:06:21.039 You know if you had that status. 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:23.000 Then life would make so much more sense. 00:06:23.659 --> 00:06:24.419 He comes again. 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:25.259 Takes it out. 00:06:25.659 --> 00:06:27.539 And it's like he keeps taking all of these. 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:30.560 Well they're really false visions of the good life. 00:06:30.659 --> 00:06:32.399 He keeps taking them out from under our feet. 00:06:32.659 --> 00:06:34.719 And yet there's this thread that runs all the way through. 00:06:35.479 --> 00:06:35.879 Joy. 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:37.859 There is joy. 00:06:37.860 --> 00:06:40.240 This book is despite all the vapor. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:42.379 This is a profoundly hopeful message. 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:47.840 Because it keeps telling us that joy and satisfaction are available in this life. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:52.919 And here we see that that joy starts with verse 7. 00:06:53.599 --> 00:06:57.199 It starts with us coming into the pleasure of God. 00:06:57.299 --> 00:07:01.620 You see Solomon uses bread and wine and white garments and oil on the head here in two ways. 00:07:01.620 --> 00:07:04.160 The first of which alludes to our salvation. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:10.639 These are gospel images that speak of the salvation that God has won for us through the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:11.560 Is it not the case? 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:16.160 Bread and wine are the elements that Jesus gives us in the Lord's Supper. 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:20.259 Elements that signify his broken body and his shed blood. 00:07:20.259 --> 00:07:29.120 That is elements that are given to signpost us to the event where our sins are punished in him rather than in us. 00:07:30.420 --> 00:07:36.599 Signposts to his death on the cross where he bore the wrath of God that we deserved in our place. 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:46.879 A signpost that says through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we are cleansed from sin and made new. 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:49.560 That's the significance of the white garment. 00:07:50.259 --> 00:07:52.459 Do you see that? 00:07:53.779 --> 00:07:56.300 Let your garments always be white. 00:07:56.420 --> 00:07:56.959 Why is that? 00:07:57.039 --> 00:08:01.539 Well this is how God's redeemed are described in the book of Revelation chapter 3 chapter 19. 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:07.319 The white garment represents us being clothed in salvation. 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:14.300 When you come to the Lord Jesus in repentance for your sin he clothes you in white. 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:18.480 And he also sets you apart as one of his children. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:19.579 That's the image of the oil. 00:08:19.579 --> 00:08:23.939 This was how kings and priests were anointed for service in the Old Testament. 00:08:24.099 --> 00:08:27.800 And here it symbolizes being set apart to belong to God. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:31.919 Solomon begins by pointing us first to how we get right with God. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:34.939 How we come into his pleasure in the first place. 00:08:34.940 --> 00:08:37.020 And we need to see this. 00:08:37.020 --> 00:08:39.280 We need to see that it is all of him. 00:08:39.280 --> 00:08:48.280 And the only way that we can get involved is through faith and through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:55.740 I know that some of you are not Christians and you have been coming along to church for a while to listen and to think things through. 00:08:55.819 --> 00:08:56.399 That's great. 00:08:57.139 --> 00:08:58.899 It really is great and you are super welcome. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:00.100 We are delighted that you are here. 00:09:00.699 --> 00:09:02.199 Here is the heart of the matter for you. 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:07.140 Through his broken body and his shed blood. 00:09:07.660 --> 00:09:12.400 Jesus Christ has done everything that is required for you to know the pleasure of God. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:20.259 He has done everything that is required for you to live in the approval and the pleasure of God. 00:09:20.259 --> 00:09:23.139 All you have to do is put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:27.419 So that's the invitation to you this evening. 00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:30.519 Come into the pleasure of God. 00:09:31.419 --> 00:09:34.460 Turn from your sin and put your faith in the Savior. 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:40.759 But once we have done that, did you see what Solomon slipped in verse 7? 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:41.480 Slipped in there. 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:42.279 In verse 7, 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:43.679 Go eat your bread with joy. 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:45.059 Drink your wine with a merry heart. 00:09:45.139 --> 00:09:47.500 For God has already approved what you do. 00:09:48.019 --> 00:09:49.439 Let your garments always be white. 00:09:49.659 --> 00:09:50.100 And so on. 00:09:51.080 --> 00:09:55.500 See the other way that Solomon uses these images is in a general sense of food and drink. 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:56.779 And we are to enjoy them. 00:09:57.220 --> 00:09:58.220 But we do so. 00:09:58.759 --> 00:09:59.240 Do you see? 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:03.580 We do so because God has already approved of what we do. 00:10:05.019 --> 00:10:08.919 That is in the Lord Jesus Christ, God has accepted you. 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:11.840 Do you believe that? 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:14.379 Do you believe that? 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:18.580 In the Lord Jesus Christ, God has accepted you. 00:10:18.580 --> 00:10:20.360 I am talking now to those of us who are Christians. 00:10:20.500 --> 00:10:21.960 Do you know that God approves of you? 00:10:22.460 --> 00:10:26.320 Do you know that you live in the approval of God? 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:28.320 You exist in his pleasure. 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:32.300 And you are there with all your faults and imperfections. 00:10:32.299 --> 00:10:34.679 He approves of you as you are. 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:38.240 Not the you that you wish you were, but the you that you are. 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:46.299 So what we are supposed to do is do what Solomon says. 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:47.320 Eat your food with joy. 00:10:47.899 --> 00:10:51.039 Drink your wine with a merry heart as children of a generous father. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:53.419 And do it in the way that God intends. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:11:00.719 There is of course a way that you can eat your food and drink your wine. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:03.879 And those are not how God intends. 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:06.899 But he is saying no, do it with joy. 00:11:07.139 --> 00:11:08.000 Do it with a merry heart. 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:09.360 Do it according to his design. 00:11:10.419 --> 00:11:12.319 And he doesn't just apply this to food and drink. 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:15.740 But also to the callings of marriage and work. 00:11:15.740 --> 00:11:21.919 Verse 9, enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:23.639 Because that is your portion in life. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:26.019 And in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 00:11:26.299 --> 00:11:28.519 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. 00:11:29.620 --> 00:11:33.340 For there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol to which you are going. 00:11:35.680 --> 00:11:36.720 Enjoy life. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:40.519 Christian believer Solomon is saying. 00:11:40.680 --> 00:11:42.639 He's not saying in a kind of nihilistic way. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:43.440 Life is vapor. 00:11:43.580 --> 00:11:45.700 Eat and drink for tomorrow we die. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:47.580 He's saying that these are the gifts of God. 00:11:47.700 --> 00:11:51.019 And that he has given us these gifts so that we would enjoy them. 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:52.580 And we should enjoy them. 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:57.700 And we enjoy them whilst not in some way deceiving ourselves. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:02.259 That there is some sort of gain or advantage to be had in the things themselves. 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:03.960 That has been a message all the way through the book. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:08.220 Enjoy the things for the things sake as gifts from your father. 00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:12.340 Don't think that by having them or having more of them that you benefit in some way. 00:12:14.460 --> 00:12:15.419 Enjoy life. 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:19.240 How is your marriage? 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:23.379 Do you laugh enough in your marriage? 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:26.600 Or do you fuss and bicker and fight? 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:32.740 Or worse, do you grumble about your spouse and wish that you were married to someone else or not married at all? 00:12:34.060 --> 00:12:35.840 Well, remember chapter 7 and 8. 00:12:35.920 --> 00:12:37.519 This person is the person God gave you. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:40.060 This is the person that God decided that you needed. 00:12:40.059 --> 00:12:41.059 Resentment is a cancer in marriage. 00:12:41.059 --> 00:12:45.119 Resentment is a cancer in marriages. 00:12:45.119 --> 00:12:50.739 And alongside its cousin bitterness gives Satan an easy foothold. 00:12:51.479 --> 00:12:57.179 And in Christian marriages, like all cancers, of course, these often spread under the surface because we know we can't just walk away. 00:12:57.299 --> 00:13:02.039 And what ends up happening is the marriage becomes cold and tense and there's distance. 00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:04.319 And it's just not very enjoyable. 00:13:06.459 --> 00:13:08.399 Well, Satan absolutely loves this. 00:13:09.599 --> 00:13:13.719 Satan is laughing when we get ourselves in this sort of situation. 00:13:14.099 --> 00:13:17.319 And the only way to drive him out is for you to laugh more. 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:24.080 Laugh with your spouse, the wife that God has given you. 00:13:24.460 --> 00:13:25.360 That's what he's saying. 00:13:25.800 --> 00:13:32.020 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:40.680 Laugh at the petty things that would turn into arguments, that would turn into fights. 00:13:40.780 --> 00:13:43.240 Stop yourself and just have a laugh at how stupid you're being. 00:13:43.660 --> 00:13:44.200 How petty. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:44.880 And it's gone. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:51.860 Lean into intimacy together as an act of defiance against the devil and do it all with a smile. 00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:56.240 This was Martin Luther's advice to Jerome Weller, whoever he is, in 1530. 00:13:56.899 --> 00:13:59.120 Quote, laugh your adversary to scorn. 00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:04.399 By all means flee solitude for the devil watches and lies in wait for you most. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:08.600 The devil watches and lies in wait for you most of all when you are alone. 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:14.100 The devil is conquered by mocking and despising him, not by resisting and arguing with him. 00:14:14.100 --> 00:14:18.180 And therefore, Jerome, joke and play games with your wife and others. 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.759 In this way you will drive out your diabolical thoughts and take courage. 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:23.480 End quote. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:25.740 Let's be honest. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:31.159 We are very good at taking ourselves and taking our lives far too seriously. 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:35.419 God has given you what you have. 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:38.659 He has kept back from you what you don't have. 00:14:39.699 --> 00:14:40.299 Enjoy it. 00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:42.019 Enjoy it all. 00:14:42.659 --> 00:14:46.279 And don't get distracted by what you don't have such that you don't enjoy what you do. 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:55.360 When Solomon tells us to enjoy the life that he has given. 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:57.179 Eat your bread with joy. 00:14:57.419 --> 00:14:59.019 Drink your wine with a merry heart. 00:14:59.959 --> 00:15:01.779 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love. 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:05.759 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. 00:15:07.339 --> 00:15:08.259 Get stuck in. 00:15:08.259 --> 00:15:15.399 Now, as far as work is concerned, there may be good reason for seeking a change. 00:15:15.460 --> 00:15:18.539 But the point he's trying to make here is don't think the other man's grass is greener. 00:15:19.100 --> 00:15:22.319 Don't not enjoy what you have because you want something else. 00:15:22.439 --> 00:15:24.580 Because you think you might just be happier. 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:26.059 Why? 00:15:26.659 --> 00:15:29.240 Because, verse 11. 00:15:29.939 --> 00:15:31.559 Apart from anything else, remember the coffin. 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:34.379 It could be all over soon. 00:15:34.979 --> 00:15:36.579 For man does not know his time. 00:15:37.219 --> 00:15:40.839 Like fish that are taken in an evil net and like birds that are caught in a snare. 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:46.199 So the children of man are snared at an evil time when it suddenly falls upon them. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:50.879 The funeral that I took on Monday was for a man who knew he was dying. 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:54.319 He got his affairs in order and said his goodbyes in good time. 00:15:55.079 --> 00:15:57.959 That privilege is not one that all of us will get. 00:15:58.119 --> 00:15:59.519 My father didn't have that chance. 00:15:59.939 --> 00:16:00.559 He was 52. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:01.819 He was in good health. 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:02.659 He was there in the morning. 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:03.759 He was gone by lunchtime. 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:07.199 None of us know our time. 00:16:08.099 --> 00:16:11.219 So don't spend what time you do have being grumpy and fussy. 00:16:12.719 --> 00:16:14.399 We live in the pleasure of God. 00:16:15.819 --> 00:16:18.179 He gives us an abundance of good things. 00:16:18.299 --> 00:16:20.159 Don't waste them by not enjoying them. 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:26.919 And especially don't waste your marriage in conflict or cool indifference. 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:30.079 Enjoy the gift of God. 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:35.419 Living in the pleasure of God is how you prepare for death. 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:39.620 And that is, according to Solomon, the way of wisdom. 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:44.819 Of course, following this wise path is not always easy. 00:16:44.939 --> 00:16:46.059 It's not always instinctive. 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.939 So Solomon moves now to warn us. 00:16:48.940 --> 00:16:52.020 We heard last time about the universal nature of sin. 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:54.740 All of us have hearts that have a fault in the circuitry. 00:16:54.900 --> 00:16:56.540 So 9 verse 18. 00:16:57.540 --> 00:17:00.680 Wisdom is better than weapons of war. 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:05.400 But one sinner destroys much good. 00:17:05.580 --> 00:17:06.420 10 verse 1. 00:17:07.059 --> 00:17:10.799 Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:17.379 So a little folly, a little folly outweighs wisdom and honour. 00:17:17.380 --> 00:17:25.380 The first thing he tells us is to enjoy living in the pleasure of God. 00:17:25.540 --> 00:17:27.240 The second point this evening is this. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:30.660 Take care living with the pitfalls of folly. 00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:36.440 Take care living with the pitfalls of folly. 00:17:36.800 --> 00:17:41.140 Folly is really, really destructive and a little goes a long way. 00:17:41.860 --> 00:17:42.700 Solomon tells us. 00:17:42.779 --> 00:17:46.200 In the same way a decomposing fly ruins the whole bottle of perfume. 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:49.660 So a little folly can have significant consequences. 00:17:52.220 --> 00:17:58.880 A tiny slip because of folly can undo untold amounts of wisdom and honour, he's saying. 00:18:00.700 --> 00:18:03.059 Like a blob of ketchup on a clean white shirt. 00:18:03.600 --> 00:18:05.100 It stands out as well. 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:05.640 Do you see? 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:07.039 Verse 3. 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:09.360 Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense. 00:18:09.660 --> 00:18:11.380 And he says to everyone that he's a fool. 00:18:12.100 --> 00:18:15.000 You can tell when someone is a fool because as with wisdom, 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:16.720 it is seen in how they live. 00:18:18.740 --> 00:18:24.099 Our problem today is that we live in a day when folly is called wisdom and wisdom is called folly. 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:28.220 And many of us think we're wise because we're simply doing what everyone else is doing. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:31.200 We think to ourselves, well, all these people can't be wrong. 00:18:31.700 --> 00:18:32.640 It was in the media. 00:18:33.059 --> 00:18:33.839 Must be right. 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:42.779 But to live according to true wisdom means that we need to avoid the pitfalls of folly biblically defined. 00:18:42.779 --> 00:18:51.619 And the rest of chapter 10 has Solomon shine a light on where pitfalls may lie and where we may not necessarily obviously see them. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:58.079 And I want to highlight three areas where folly is obvious, but the status quo means we might not see it. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:06.279 The first is this. 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:08.460 Diversity hires. 00:19:09.699 --> 00:19:13.059 It's also called affirmative action or quotas or positive discrimination. 00:19:13.399 --> 00:19:14.500 But look at verse 5. 00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:33.160 This folly proceeds from the top. 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:39.140 So it is manufactured by those in power and it dictates that a certain kind of equality is a universal good. 00:19:40.660 --> 00:19:43.279 Because we don't have enough slaves on horses these days, 00:19:43.779 --> 00:19:47.840 and being on horse is an image of honor, of leadership. 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:51.320 Because we don't have enough of that, we should do something to put that right. 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:54.960 Solomon says this is a great evil. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:20:05.819 Now this is not a statement about the relative value of people from different backgrounds. 00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:13.140 Nor is it a denial of the fundamental equality every human being is made in the divine image. 00:20:14.100 --> 00:20:20.200 We all possess dignity, value, and worth wherever we come from, whoever we are. 00:20:20.200 --> 00:20:26.819 But it is to say that some people have been given superior gifts, intelligence, abilities, and talents. 00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:32.420 And the best person for the job should get it on the basis of their ability to do the job, 00:20:32.519 --> 00:20:34.960 not because we need to meet DEI quotas. 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:45.680 This is an area where folly is obvious, but because of the status quo we might not see it. 00:20:46.420 --> 00:20:49.500 Wise men and wise women don't always rule, we know that. 00:20:50.940 --> 00:20:55.299 But wisdom ought to be sought in leaders regardless of their background. 00:20:57.779 --> 00:20:58.720 That's the first area. 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:01.539 The second is thoughtless endeavor. 00:21:02.700 --> 00:21:03.600 Verses 8 to 10. 00:21:03.700 --> 00:21:07.019 He who digs a pit will fall into it, and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:12.380 He who quarries stones is hurt by them, and he who splits logs is endangered by them. 00:21:12.420 --> 00:21:16.660 If the iron is blunt and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:18.940 But wisdom helps one to succeed. 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:26.960 What he's describing here is someone who throws himself into some kind of endeavor without due thought to the task or the goal. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.200 I'm going to go and dig a pit. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:32.559 What about a safe structure to stand on while you're digging it? 00:21:32.620 --> 00:21:32.980 What's that? 00:21:33.019 --> 00:21:34.140 I can't hear you from down here. 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:35.200 Kind of thing. 00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:41.579 Parents, how often have you discovered a child in some kind of calamity, and you ask what happened, and they say, 00:21:41.579 --> 00:21:43.819 Well, I didn't realize that dot, dot, dot, dot. 00:21:44.919 --> 00:21:46.419 We expect that from children. 00:21:46.659 --> 00:21:50.980 Folly is bound up in their hearts, but we shouldn't be like that when we grow up. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:52.399 Oh, do you know what? 00:21:52.399 --> 00:21:53.339 I'm just going to start digging. 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:55.299 Oh, I'm just going to start swinging the axe. 00:21:56.179 --> 00:22:00.839 Solomon is urging us to work smarter and to think ahead, to anticipate pitfalls. 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:05.179 He's saying, Poor planning guarantees pitiful performance. 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:14.359 But he is also talking about how tasks that we rush into can be derailed by small things. 00:22:14.679 --> 00:22:20.379 An entire project can fail because of a momentary lapse or oversight of something important. 00:22:20.380 --> 00:22:27.280 Even well-intended effort that lacks care and forethought is folly. 00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:30.760 Verse 10, Wisdom doesn't follow that path. 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:41.920 Swinging a blunt iron all day just because you don't think you need to stop and sharpen the edge. 00:22:42.100 --> 00:22:47.360 The person who keeps going at the task that isn't making any progress, he's saying that's foolish. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:49.979 Thoughtless endeavor. 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:55.119 The last pitfall that might trip us up. 00:22:55.579 --> 00:22:57.199 There are others he highlights, obviously. 00:22:59.279 --> 00:22:59.759 Laziness. 00:23:02.959 --> 00:23:08.279 And just being, in general, idle. 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:11.719 Sloth, the roof sinks in. 00:23:11.899 --> 00:23:13.039 Through indolence, the house leaks. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:14.119 He talks about that as well. 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:17.019 But verses 12 to 20, really the big theme there. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:18.059 Is words. 00:23:18.959 --> 00:23:19.419 Words. 00:23:20.419 --> 00:23:22.179 And it's a big theme in Solomon in general. 00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:23.359 Especially in his Proverbs. 00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:26.319 So at a time. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:29.439 When actually. 00:23:30.399 --> 00:23:32.079 Words getting around the place. 00:23:32.219 --> 00:23:34.539 Just carelessly fired off in social media. 00:23:34.959 --> 00:23:36.619 An email quickly blasted off. 00:23:36.659 --> 00:23:38.059 A message quickly blasted off. 00:23:38.139 --> 00:23:39.359 Solomon says, Be aware. 00:23:39.719 --> 00:23:41.019 Words, words, words. 00:23:41.019 --> 00:23:43.279 If the serpent bites before it's charmed. 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:43.799 Verse 11. 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:45.379 There's no advantage to the charmer. 00:23:45.819 --> 00:23:47.900 The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:49.599 But the lips of a fool consume him. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:52.660 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:54.299 And the end of his talk is evil madness. 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:56.220 A fool multiplies words. 00:23:56.619 --> 00:23:58.440 Though no man knows what is to be. 00:23:58.619 --> 00:24:00.879 And who can tell him what will be after him. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:01.819 Verse 20. 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:02.740 Even in your thoughts. 00:24:03.059 --> 00:24:04.099 Do not curse the king. 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:05.500 Nor in your bedroom curse the rich. 00:24:05.500 --> 00:24:07.779 For a bird of the air will carry your voice. 00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:10.220 Or some winged creature tell the matter. 00:24:12.299 --> 00:24:14.099 Verse 11 is a parable. 00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:18.599 This reference to the serpent and the charmer. 00:24:18.779 --> 00:24:20.519 It's a parable that illustrates what follows. 00:24:20.619 --> 00:24:23.240 He's saying if the snake charmer can't tame the snake. 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:25.859 Before he starts using it. 00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:27.440 It brings him no advantage. 00:24:29.619 --> 00:24:31.140 The serpent is the tongue. 00:24:31.420 --> 00:24:32.779 Psalm 140 verse 3. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:34.119 And if we let the tongue loose. 00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:35.559 Without the controls of wisdom. 00:24:36.039 --> 00:24:37.679 It will do all kinds of damage. 00:24:39.019 --> 00:24:39.759 Look at verse 12. 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:40.639 We'll be consumed. 00:24:41.399 --> 00:24:42.879 We'll end up in evil madness. 00:24:43.059 --> 00:24:43.719 Verse 13. 00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:46.979 Even privately spoken foolish words. 00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:48.219 Will find their way out. 00:24:48.699 --> 00:24:49.319 Verse 20. 00:24:51.399 --> 00:24:53.119 It is no exaggeration. 00:24:53.639 --> 00:24:56.719 To say that the surest way to tell a fool. 00:24:57.139 --> 00:24:58.679 Is to listen to their words. 00:25:01.439 --> 00:25:02.419 And as I said. 00:25:02.420 --> 00:25:05.380 In a day where our words can circle the globe. 00:25:05.380 --> 00:25:06.400 Before breakfast. 00:25:07.600 --> 00:25:09.660 This pitfall is particularly obvious. 00:25:10.360 --> 00:25:12.080 And particularly dangerous. 00:25:14.860 --> 00:25:16.600 While the opposite is also true. 00:25:16.700 --> 00:25:17.840 Wise words stand out. 00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:18.600 They win favor. 00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:19.160 Verse 12. 00:25:19.259 --> 00:25:20.800 Solomon's big point here concerns. 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:23.019 The pitfalls of folly. 00:25:23.019 --> 00:25:27.680 Just as one small blob of ketchup. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:28.799 Ruins the shirt. 00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:32.559 So one dead fly can stink out the perfume. 00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:34.879 One small bird. 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:35.539 Verse 20. 00:25:35.660 --> 00:25:37.039 Can be the undoing of a man. 00:25:37.139 --> 00:25:38.680 By his careless and foolish speech. 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:40.940 That is the lesson. 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:43.639 That the wise person learns. 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:47.379 We are vulnerable to folly. 00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:50.320 So we tread carefully in life. 00:25:51.520 --> 00:25:53.540 That is what a wise person understands. 00:25:54.020 --> 00:25:54.900 A wise person. 00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:56.360 When he is truly wise. 00:25:56.440 --> 00:25:56.860 Doesn't say. 00:25:56.980 --> 00:25:58.920 Well I am the wisest person around here. 00:25:59.340 --> 00:25:59.920 He says. 00:26:00.580 --> 00:26:02.720 Folly is always very close at hand. 00:26:03.760 --> 00:26:05.220 We are always susceptible. 00:26:06.220 --> 00:26:06.740 To folly. 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:08.980 So. 00:26:09.520 --> 00:26:10.600 Wisdom means we don't. 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:12.380 Play along with the cultural inequalities. 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:15.440 We take care and plan ahead. 00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:16.040 In what we do. 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:17.760 And we pursue wisdom. 00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:19.220 So that our words are a blessing. 00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:20.340 To others. 00:26:20.620 --> 00:26:21.540 And that they benefit us. 00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:21.960 That is. 00:26:22.560 --> 00:26:24.100 Verses 11 to 20. 00:26:27.260 --> 00:26:27.700 So. 00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:28.380 This evening. 00:26:28.520 --> 00:26:29.480 Solomon has told us. 00:26:29.560 --> 00:26:30.480 That death is inevitable. 00:26:31.320 --> 00:26:32.000 We don't know. 00:26:32.120 --> 00:26:32.980 When it will come to us. 00:26:33.020 --> 00:26:34.020 Some of us here this evening. 00:26:34.100 --> 00:26:35.540 Might not be here next Sunday. 00:26:35.600 --> 00:26:36.200 We don't know. 00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:39.080 But what we do know. 00:26:40.140 --> 00:26:41.220 Is how to live. 00:26:41.420 --> 00:26:41.820 Knowing. 00:26:42.380 --> 00:26:43.460 That that day is coming. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:48.160 Enjoy life. 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:49.060 In the pleasure of God. 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:51.680 You live in the pleasure of God. 00:26:52.380 --> 00:26:52.940 Enjoy it. 00:26:53.800 --> 00:26:54.700 Enjoy the gifts. 00:26:54.780 --> 00:26:55.480 That he has given you. 00:26:56.540 --> 00:26:57.360 Say thank you. 00:26:58.180 --> 00:26:59.960 As you take them from his hand. 00:27:00.740 --> 00:27:01.680 And enjoy them. 00:27:01.780 --> 00:27:03.200 For however long he gives them to you. 00:27:04.820 --> 00:27:06.400 But watch out for pitfalls. 00:27:07.120 --> 00:27:08.340 That might lead you astray. 00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:09.020 We are vulnerable. 00:27:09.760 --> 00:27:11.180 We are vulnerable to folly. 00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:13.580 And a little folly. 00:27:13.660 --> 00:27:14.500 Goes a long way. 00:27:15.840 --> 00:27:16.820 So take care. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:18.980 Let's pray together. 00:27:19.420 --> 00:27:19.559 Let's pray together. 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:19.559 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:20.139 00:27:20.140 --> 00:27:50.120 Thank you.