Patience

We're in a in the Ecclesiastes chapter seven. If you brought a Bible with you this morning, go ahead and turn there. And if you want to use one here at the church, feel free to grab one on the seat in front of you. A quick way to find Ecclesiastes, if you've never found that book before, is to flip right to the middle of your Bible. It's going to end up in the Book of Psalms. Or at least it should be fairly close to Psalms. Ecclesiastes is two books past the book of Psalms, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. So the theme to the book of Ecclesiastes, we are a few, over halfway into this book, a few messages into this series together. And the theme of this book is life under the sun and apart from God is vanity. And the big solution to Solomon's conclusion in Ecclesiastes he he's written this book much like a journal. We've described it as a Solomon, as being a glass half empty kind of guy. And he gets to chapter 12, and he reminds us that in all the things he sought after, he lived life like a rock star being king, the world coming to him, seeking all the direction that he had and all the wisdom that he possessed. And the Bible tells us that that's good timing. And the Bible tells us that everyone wanted to see Solomon. I mean, he lived at the heights of life and his conclusion in this book.

And that all apart from God is vanity. And the solution to life, to living it to the fullest, is to seek after the Lord in order to live a life in a godly way, seeking after the Lord what it requires of us as people who walk in wisdom. In chapter seven. In the book of Ecclesiastes. That's exactly what Solomon hits on in his topic. The idea of wisdom. How do we gather it? Where does it come from, and how does the Lord use it in our lives? You know, the hope. And in the book of Ecclesiastes is the book is a proverb. It's all about Proverbs, and Proverbs are all about wisdom. And you think about what the alternative is to wisdom. The Bible uses the word foolishness. Today we kind of just say it's stupid. If you choose not to be wise, the path that you're choosing for your life is ignorance and stupidity. You know, everyone watches. I don't know if everyone watches, but people watch Homer Simpson on TV. But they're not laughing with him. They're laughing at him. Right? No one wants to be a Homer Simpson. And the avoidance of that is wisdom. And our desire in our heart should be one of wisdom. And you'll see. As you read in chapter seven, Solomon constantly refers to a better life in chapter seven and in the back end of referring to this better life, he says that better life is brought to us through a life that's lived in wisdom.

And I got to say, one of the things that pains me as a father raising a young child, thinking about his schooling and education, the responsibility that God places on my shoulders as a parent, to see him growing in the Lord and growing in understanding in this world and how to live, is that I feel like our society has established and set up to really fail in educating our children in wisdom. We're really good at head knowledge. Make you smart. We're really. We're really good at athletics. But we've divorced ourselves from the idea of living in wisdom. And the reason for that is because we've divorced ourselves from the idea of God and God being the source of wisdom. When you separate yourself from God and your identity in him, you separate yourself from the source of all wisdom, and with wisdom comes character. So I wonder when you see these young people grow up, especially in athletic and public world, where we all have our eyes on them, how they continue to mess up in society and they flounder and they fault. It's because we teach them knowledge and we teach them athletics and how to take care of their body, but we lack the ability to teach them wisdom.

And Solomon says, for us to live a better life, it's a life of wisdom. Martin Luther King Jr wrote this. Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think. And so this pursuit of us this morning as a group should be one that desires the wisdom of the Lord. As a matter of fact, if you turn to chapter seven, in the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon hits on the idea of the significance of wisdom in verse 12 and verse 19 he says, for wisdom is protection, just as money is protection. But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its possessors. It's interesting when you when you study the history of people who win the lottery. I heard Idaho had a lot of money to give to people, like $400 million, right? It was almost worth arriving there for me to win that $400 million. But it tells us in this verse that if you've got no wisdom and you've got lots of money, it's not going to matter. You're going to blow it anyway. The wisdom is what's important. The wisdom is what educates you in life. It's what equips you for living in this world, regardless of how much wealth you have.

When it comes to wealth, when it comes to wisdom, wisdom is more important than wealth. He says in verse 19, wisdom strengthens a wise man. More than ten rulers who are in a city. Wisdom is important. I love the way Jesus Taught Us comes in Mark chapter 12. And he doesn't even bring up the word wisdom. But he says in chapter 12, beginning in verse 14, teacher, some people coming to Jesus to question him. We know that you are truthful and defer to no one, for you are not partial to any. But teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll tax to Caesar or not? Now I would wish Jesus said no here, right for no right. Irs did some bad stuff this past week, and so we just we're not touching them ever again. So verse 15, should we pay or shouldn't we? But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. Why are you trying to trap me? He asked. Bring me a denarius and let me look at it. And they brought one. And he said to them, whose likeness and inscription is this? And they said to him, Caesar's. And Jesus said to them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. Excuse me, that God possesses. And they were amazed at him. At first glance, we read this passage of Scripture, and oftentimes you've probably heard it in a financial discussion at church at some point in your life.

And I think this passage can be used to talk about money. It's the example Jesus has, but I don't think that's the primary thing Jesus is trying to teach us here. When Jesus refers to this passage of Scripture, the thing that Jesus points out to the individuals asking the question is what? It's the imprint. Whose image is on this coin? Whose ever image is on this coin? Then let that coin belong to them. And what Jesus is signifying to the individuals who gathered there is for them to take a moment and just recognize whose imprint is on your life. Whose image do you bear? So the image that you bear is the one to which you belong. And if God's imprint is all over you. He belonged to him. Render to Caesar what is Caesar's. It doesn't matter. Give to God what belongs to him. And in order for us to walk that way in this world. And especially in our society today. It requires wisdom. God teach us. The Bible tells us in Psalm 90 and verse 12, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our heart to wisdom. God allow us just to see that this life is short and let us live it to the fullest in wisdom, living as an imprint for you in this world. In this passage.

In Ecclesiastes chapter seven, Solomon outlines for us just three ingredients for life in gaining wisdom in God. And I got to tell you, when I became a young man, I wanted to stand for something. You got to believe this. You can laugh about this with me. But as a young kid, not having a lot of role models in my life and a lot, a lot of things that I felt like I could really stand for, the first thing as a young man that attracted me because I had no good example or godly influence was rap music. That's. That's weird, isn't it? I mean, look at me. I can't even dance. Rap music. And. But the thing that struck me about rap music is that it was it was hard. And as a young man looking for something to get in, it stood for something. It wasn't necessarily godly, but it stood for something. Even today. You tell me a Tupac song. I can quote you the lyrics, right? I mean, it stuck with me. I don't want it, but it's with me. I want it to stand for something. But I found as I as I followed in that steps, and I listened to that garbage and filled my mind with it. And I'm not saying all rap music has to be bad. I think there's some godly rappers out there that do a good job in teaching some really good theology.

But as I I followed in those steps, I realized that it's still it didn't satisfy. And eventually I came to know the Lord. And the first church that I went to wasn't this church. I walked in and I, and I, and I said, or our church. I walked in and I said, I just want to know this, Lord, that I, I've come to put my salvation in and my trust in and my hope. And I want to know him. I, I want to stand for what he stands for. You know, when I, when I first went into that facility and came across individuals, no one, no one could help me. No one there really knew what it meant to be a disciple in the Lord. No one could teach me. Eventually I found a church where another young man, a few years older than me, said he would teach me, and he sat me in a building on Sunday morning with the rest of the church. But we had this entire gymnasium, and we had a little table and it sat in the middle. It was just he and I discipling in the Lord someone who's hungry to learn. Let's pour into them wisdom. And I began to learn all about the Lord. And as I grew in my faith, I came across an individual that just struck me as encouraging in the Lord.

I wanted to see the type of life that he lived and learn a little bit from him, because I hadn't had very many godly examples to look after in my own life. And it was a man by the name of Jonathan Edwards. And Jonathan Edwards was born in the early 1700s. He's considered by many to be the greatest theologian in American history. So if that's a new name for you, go read a little bit about it. And Jonathan Edwards, as he grew up and being the greatest theologian, he was considered one of the wisest men in pursuing of the Lord in American history as well. At 12 years old, he entered into Yale University. At 16 years old, he graduated valedictorian of his class. He eventually went on to become the president of Princeton University. Not only that, he also pastored several churches he led and some of the great revivals in American history the First and Second Great Awakening. He preached one of the greatest sermons in American history that's remembered the sinners in the hands of an angry God. He was a missionary to Native Americans, and at 19 years old, you guys jokingly sometimes call me kid pastor. But listen to this. At 19 years old, he pastored a church in New York City. And at 19 years old he determined, as he began his pastorate in 1722 to write some resolutions.

Resolutions of wisdom that he would stand for his entire life. Resolutions that I found at the same age. Looking at a young man who, at 19 years old, has more wisdom than many 50 year olds. How did he get so wise? One of his resolutions, resolution 52. He said this I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live if they were to live their lives over again. Resolved, that I will live just so that I can think I shall wish I had done. Supposing I lived to old age, he said, wise. I can't even understand him. But what he's saying is, I've got one life. It's not a do over, and I'm going to make it count. And these resolutions, I'm writing for that purpose. But the one resolution of Jonathan Edwards that just always struck me as odd, the one thought of him, I thought if I ever met him, I'm thinking I'm going to think he's a little weird. His resolution number nine. He said this. I'm resolved to think much on all occasions of my own dying. You know, the common circumstances which attend death. What a weirdo, right? Who? We live life to be happy. What's done this moment? Let's be happy. Okay? Let's look for the next moment. Let's just be happy. That looks painful. Let's just avoid it. I'll pay to avoid it. Let's just be happy. Right? And here's Jonathan Edwards talking about thinking about death.

I mean, where is the wisdom in that? And then when you turn to the book of Ecclesiastes. In chapter seven. You find that Jonathan Edwards found this line of thinking from the wisest man to ever live, which was Solomon. And so it says to us in chapter seven and verse one, A good name is better than a good ointment, and the day of one's death. Is better than the day of one's birth. It's better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter. For when a face is sad, a heart may be happy. The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure. Solomon's idea for us. Is that the opportunity of death allows us to examine our lives. It gets us to the place in our thinking that we say to ourselves as we stare at the face of death, what kind of person do I want to be remembered as living in this world? It's been said in life that we get three names the name your mother gave you. The name your friends call you, and the name that you earn through the way that you live. What kind of name are you going to leave behind? And Solomon is saying to us, by looking at the face of death, it reminds us to look at what type of individual we want to become, and we live backwards from that moment.

What steps will it take to get there? And I'm not saying, daddy, when I grow up, I want to be an astronaut. What I'm saying is, what type of person of integrity do you want to be? In the very first verse, Solomon is actually giving us a play on words. He says A good name is better than a good ointment. The word for name in the Hebrew is Shem, and the word for ointment is Shimon. And so Solomon is saying to us that the name that you're giving at birth, when it's lived the right way, it's an ointment to life. It's a it's a good name to be remembered by. And the reason that you're looking at death is that name that you desire to have in this world would become a godly name. That in the moments of pain and the moments of loss, that God can literally use such grieving moments to remind us of what's important in life. When I look at God, I don't expect God to be some individual that likes morbid endings to life either. I don't think God likes pain. I don't think God likes death. And the reason I think that is because when God comes back, he's taking away all pain and all death.

But the beauty of the Lord is that the Lord can take the suffering of our lives and use it for his goodness. And the example that we always look to is the cross. The Lord can take the cross, the most grievous of deaths, and make it the most prominent symbol in our society of victory for his people. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. The suffering that they endured, God proclaimed it. The ground would bear thorns and the women would suffer in childbearing, and the marriage relationship would have tension. And the reminder to us in the midst of that suffering is our need for God. God uses suffering for his glory. In the midst of the trials that we're facing in life, it is an opportunity for us to examine what we're encountering and seek the face of the Lord, that we may grow in wisdom. I don't think God loves pain, but the Lord can certainly use it. Solomon goes on from there. The first ingredient that God uses is his death and suffering and pain in our lives. And he says, Ecclesiastes seven five. It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than for one to listen to the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot. So as the laughter of the fool.

And this too, his futility. Solomon saying this to us. What you allow to speak into your life shapes your life. Show me who your friends are and I'll show you who you are. If the environment that you surround yourself with is on a one track success to nothing, The Life that you'll lead is a one track success to nothing. The people that you surround yourself with become your identity. And Solomon is saying to us in this passage of Scripture that if you desire to seek the things of the Lord, get with people who desire to seek the things of the Lord. Better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than a bunch of fools telling you what you want to hear. When I first became a believer. I read this passage early on as a as a Christian. And so this is what I decided. I found one friend that I trusted, and then one friend that I knew who desired nothing more than to see God's goodness in his life and in mine. This is what I said. We all have blind spots. I live my life in such a way that I can't even see sometimes the places where I'm lacking in my growth in the Lord. But other people can. And so I went into his office one day and I said, listen, I desire to see Jesus, and I want him to be made known in my life.

And I want to walk in wisdom. So as my friend, I'm giving you the freedom to speak into my life at any moment, no matter how painful it may be. I want to know where I'm lacking because I want to know the Lord. I encouragement to you this morning. Don't tell everybody to do that. But look for that person who can. Look for that person who's going to care enough about you to say things to you, even when it's hard because they love you. Allow them to speak into your life. You know, there's probably some friends in your life that do want to say things, but they're afraid because of the reaction you might give. You need to give them an opportunity to say. I'm going to give you as a friend that freedom. Please share. And when they share. Take it in grace. It may not always be true. But it's a good opportunity from that wound to examine your own life in the Lord. The way that God gives us wisdom in this world. As in our suffering and pain. And friends that love us enough to say something. Solomon goes on for us as well. He says an ingredient number three. In verse seven to be consistent. Now I put in your notes, consistent in blank, because Solomon just lists these different areas of our life where we need to be consistent.

So you just fill in the blank with whatever consistency that you like from these verses, but just be consistent in these areas. And he says in verse seven, for oppression makes a wise man mad, and a bribe corrupts the heart. And what he's saying to us is bribery is going to come into your life. And what it's going to do is to tempt you from being wise. And so the idea is knowing that the world is going to bring that. Equip yourself in wisdom, be consistent in your wisdom. Don't fallout from that. And so he says in verse eight, the end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience of spirit is better than haughtiness, of spirit. And so he's saying, the end is better than the beginning. Listen, if you're consistent, you don't fall victim to the bribery. You don't fall victim to the oppression. If you're faithful in that and you're faithful in the Lord, in the end, you learn far greater things than just simply taking a bribe. A bribe is just a shortcut to nowhere. Be consistent in wisdom. He goes on in the second half of verse eight and he says, this patience of spirit is better than haughtiness, of spirit. Listen, if you're the type of person that flies off the cuff at any drop of the hat. You're full, or at least in that moment. Foolish.

Seeing the patience of that moment. God teaches you wisdom. You should also thank the Lord for the person who's teaching you patience. Because you're beginning to learn the same patience that God has had upon you. And that patience and learning and rather than flying off the cuff, but just saying, God, I'm being tempted in this moment to just react in my emotions. But, Lord, I know that you're going to teach me in this moment. Help me to exercise patience. Be consistent in patience. The Lord uses that for your wisdom. He goes on and says, verse nine, do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools, meaning the anger gained no wisdom. In verse ten, do not say, why is it that the former days were better than these? For it's not from wisdom that you ask about this. So there's wisdom in seeking the face of the Lord in the moment rather than the past. Listen, sometimes we like to romanticize the past better than what it was. Everyone likes to say, we need to just get back to the days with Leave It to Beaver, right, and leave it to Beaver. It was just a happy life. But if Leave It to Beaver was so great, we'd still be watching it. He's saying this passage of Scripture don't live in the past, because when you live in the past, you neglect the future.

And God wants you to be wise in this moment. It does no good being wise in the past. It helps nobody, but the wisdom that you should seek in the Lord is wisdom for the moment and serving him. So don't be one that reflects on the past to the point that you isolate yourself from the moment and the future. The good old days may have been great, and it's good to recall, but we're not going back to the good old days. We need the Lord to obey. And we need his wisdom in these moments. Sims. Excuse me. The Lord takes. This wisdom and he uses these ingredients. Suffering death. To sober us up to not cause us to look for every happy moment just to sit in that suffering. And contemplate. Ask the big questions. Seek the face of the Lord. See what we want to become. The Lord uses wisdom as we culminate our lives with individuals who are also seeking the face of the Lord. To encourage us and strengthen us and build us up and to speak into our lives even when it's painful but out of love, because they desire for us to know Jesus as they seek to know Jesus. And be consistent. Be consistent in your commitment to him. Rather than Solomon, as he's done throughout this book, to seek satisfaction in anything apart from the Lord, to seek satisfaction and remain true to him.

The Lord uses all of these ingredients in the Bible, tells us what he produces in its wisdom. And what's important to remember is that wisdom is never divorced from God. God is the source of all wisdom. And so he says in verse 13, consider the work of God. For who is able to strengthen what he has bent. And I say to you this morning to be wise, you don't have to be smart. You just need to know when, where to start. That's my rap coming out there. You don't have to be smart. You just need to know where to start. You know? You don't have to know the answer to everything in this world. As a young man coming to know the Lord, I wanted to know all that. I didn't have godly examples. God, how do I live as a man in integrity? How? How do I live being married? How do how do I live with kids? How do I do that? God, I need all the answers. We have to be wise with everything. I just need to know where to go. And Solomon saying in verse 13, listen, you don't have to be smart. I wouldn't brag about myself as being this gross intellectual. That would just blow you away with all the science that they know. I hate science, so it's not me. But to be wise, we have a science teacher here, so forgive me to be wise as to seek the Lord and to not divorce yourself from the understanding that he is the source of wisdom, and taking the opportunity to allow that wisdom of the Lord to pour into your life.

Because knowing that what you spend your time around you will emulate, you will become. He is the imprint that holds your life. Verse 23, Solomon gives us the description of his life. Apart from that, he says, I tested all this with wisdom, and I. And I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me. What has been is remote and exceedingly mysterious. Who can discover it? I directed my mind to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom and explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness. And I discovered more bitter than death, the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her. Guys, do not hang that on your fridge, all right? Solomon's using the description in this passage of Scripture. I don't know that he's necessarily talking about women, but when you read in the book of Proverbs, when men fall in the book of Proverbs, he uses as an allegory the description of women that captivate the man's mind and causes heart to wander from the things that God desires.

And Solomon is saying in this that wisdom that he sought apart from God trapped him. And he went on to say that apart from God, he also sought more wisdom in verse 27, behold, I have discovered this, says the preacher, adding one thing to another to find an explanation which I am still seeking, but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these. Behold, I have found only this, that God made man upright. Stop right there! Solomon saying in his whole life he sought for wisdom apart from God, and the answer to wisdom is only found in God. He says in 29, behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices. So if your desires to be wise, the encouragement is to seek the Lord. So, Solomon, I'll just leave you this concluding thought that he expresses. It says in verse 13, back where we started. Consider the work of God. Knowing the source of wisdom. Consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what has bent? In the days of prosperity. Be happy. But in the days of adversity, consider God. What God has made the one as well as the other, so that man will not discover anything that will be after him. Solomon saying to us, listen, you're going to face good days and enjoy them.

You're going to face hard days. Seek the Lord in. And the important thing to remember in all of it. Verse 13. Is that the hand of God is the source of wisdom. Tells us in Psalm 19 and verse seven, the Lord is sure, and he makes wise the simple. You don't have to be smart, quote unquote, to be wise. You just have to be smart enough to know where to start. It begins with the Lord. You could walk away from today and say. If you truly desire to make an impact in this world. If you want to seek the face of the Lord and see others and make Jesus made known in this world, the Bible tells us to be harmless as doves and wise as serpents. Meaning the world that you're in and the problems that we encounter. They're difficult. They're difficult. But the way to handle that is with the Lord, because he is wise, he is wise, and he has the answers. And you don't have to know everything. You just need to know him. And the desire in your heart should be to seek after his face. That when you walk in this world, you walk with wisdom, proclaiming his name, that his glory be made known. To make an impact for Christ. It requires a wisdom. It starts with seeking his face.