MAKING SENSE OF HOW TO HONOR GOD
Ecclesiastes 7:15-8:1
A while back I was in an elevator and in front of me was a girl who was wearing a backpack covered in patches and on her backpack was a patch that read, “JESUS SAVE ME…FROM YOUR FOLLOWERS.”
I have to admit that when I first read it my first response was to get defensive. To think, “Who do you think you are?” You don’t know me and I’m a follower of Christ.” And many of us have a tendency to just that--to just dismiss this type of criticism. Let’s be honest, it’s rare that we take what others say about us to heart no matter who it is.
But then I begin to think to myself, “Well, is there any truth to this criticism?” Because let’s be honest, we are not perfect are we? In fact, do you know what book spends a great deal of time criticizing followers of Christ and their behavior? THE WORD OF GOD. It does. Often times it is God who is dealing out this criticism to us through His word.
We are continuing our sermon series through the book of Ecclesiastes entitled, “LESSONS LEARNED UNDER THE SUN.” Today we are back in chapter 7 looking at vv. 15-8:1.
In this passage of scripture, Solomon continues with his thorough investigation of life under the sun by taking a critical look at the beliefs and practices of the religious to try and make sense of what truly honors God. Here's the first principle,
RESPOND PROPERLY TO LIFE’S DIFFICULTIES
Solomon says,
15 In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.
Now let’s stop here for a moment. As we have seen already, Ecclesiastes is a book that just gives us a harsh dose of reality doesn’t it? It does. Truth is “Life is harsh." The good guys don’t always win; the hero does not always ride off into the sunset and as we said a few weeks ago when we talked about life’s difficulties, injustice and oppression are ever-present in our world. We see the innocent dealt discipline and the guilty get off scott free--that’s life.
In verse 15, Solomon shares with us another issue that he has observed in life that’s extremely frustrating. Solomon says, “I my vain life I have seen everything.” In other words, “I’ve seen it all.” He says, “There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.”
Can you feel the frustration of Solomon here? He is miffed. He’s miffed because the righteous are snuffed out in this life while the wicked live on for years and years and live a full and prosperous life. And that’s not just true in Solomon’s day. We know that to be true today. We do. I mean we see this all the time. We see the good die young and the wicked prosper. Think about the greatest man to ever live—The Lord Jesus. He lived 33 years. Then you have someone like Hugh Heffner who seems as if he is going to outlive us all.
Do anyone of you like this fact of life? No! I would say we are all a bit miffed at that. And because of this reality, Solomon explains that what many of us end up doing is responding in ways that are not god honoring.
Look at what Solomon writes in vv. 16-17. He says,
16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
When Solomon says, “Be not overly righteous,” he is not saying that we should not pursue godliness. He is saying that we should avoid being self-righteous. Remember that Solomon has just described in v. 15 how he has seen bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.
And upon hearing that, Solomon anticipates some saying, “Hey that’s not fair. It’s not fair that the good die young." "God you owe me for the life that i have lived for you!”
How many of you have thought that at one time or maybe have even said it? How many of you have said, “God I can’t believe you would allow me to go through this, when that wicked person over there clearly deserves it? Why me God? I don’t deserve this?”
Ever said something like that or thought it? Solomon’s point is to make this kind of statement is to be overly righteous and overly wise. It is to put what you think is right and your wisdom over God’s. Solomon warns against this.
If you are hurting because of tragedy in your life, let me urge you if you have not to draw close to God instead of growing bitter toward Him. Continue to love and trust in Him, know that He is on the throne, that He is in control and that He is good. Cling to Him, trust in Him, love, serve and remain faithful to Him and He will bring you through it.
Solomon goes on to say, “Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool.” Why should you die before your time?”
In this verse Solomon speaks of those who are on the other end of the spectrum when responding to these mysteries of life. Solomon explains that some will reason in this way, “Well if the wicked prosper, God must not be too concerned with sin so I guess I’m going to join them.” Some will say, “If God is not going to trade me obedience for blessing in the here and now, then I am just going to go and live how I want to live and create my own happiness.”
Solomon says this reasoning is also foolish and does not end well. He says this type of living with no bounds can result in God’s punishment in the here and now. Though God definitely punishes sin in the then and there—in the life to come, we know from Scripture that God also punishes sin in this life. So this ungodly response is to be rejected as well.
Instead Solomon gives us an alternative in v. 18. He says,
18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
Solomon is basically saying here that the way to avoid the wrong answers to life’s tough questions is to have the right view of God. This goes back to what I said a few weeks ago. You know why theology is necessary? You know why studying about who God is and what he has done for us is important? Because the way we think about God, necessarily influences the way we live.
Solomon says, “We need to fear God--we need to stand in awe of, be astounded by, be amazed at, be captivated by, and have a profound respect for Him.” And what results from this way of thinking is humility instead of self-righteousness and righteous activity instead of immoral actions.
VALUE WISDOM ABOVE ALL ELSE
Like we have said several times before in this study, we have a tendency to place a lot of value upon things that God considers secondary--things like money, possessions, power and popularity.
Solomon says in v. 19,
19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
Solomon’s point here is simply this, “Wisdom is better than having power, prominence and influence.” And remember Solomon proved he believed this by asking God for wisdom over power, wealth, success and long life.
Solomon wanted to rule God’s people in a god honoring way and be a good representative for Him, which is why he valued wisdom above all else. And as we have said already that’s what God wants from us as well. He wants us to value wisdom. God doesn’t care about how popular we are or the amount of money we make or about our success. That doesn’t impress God.
What God wants from you and from me is for us to be growing in our knowledge of Him and to in turn live for Him and represent Him in daily life. Do you want to honor God? Then seek to know His mind and His heart, seek to grow in wisdom and seek to live rightly for him.
DON’T THINK TOO HIGHLY OF YOURSELF
Solomon says,
20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
Now this message goes completely counter to the beliefs and teachings of those in our world. Many in our world believe that there is good in each and every one of us and if we do something wrong it’s not our fault, but societies because we are good—we are pure. Not according to Scripture. Don’t believe me? Just reread this verse or Romans 3. In Romans 3, Paul tells us that sin is universal; therefore we are all guilty before and accountable to God.
So we need to have a right view of ourselves and also need to project that right view to others. As believers, we need to hold each other accountable. We need to be open and honest with our struggles and need to encourage one another to live rightly for God and to press on to grow in godliness so that we can honor Him with our lives.
Solomon continues by saying,
21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.
Solomon continues here to talk about the importance of having a correct view of self. He basically says, “If you want to live a god honoring life, you need to learn to let stuff role off of you when people are critical.
If you get all up in arms every time somebody makes a critical statement about you, what does that say about you? Could it be that you might be taking yourself too seriously? Just think about what people would say about you if they really knew you. Also, remember you are not completely innocent. We are all guilty of the same thing. Each and every one of us have been judgemental at times and have spoken ill of others.
Let’s be honest, if we get all upset when people talk about us, we are really holding them to a higher standard than we hold ourselves because we are guilty of doing some of the same things. So if we want to honor God, we have to have a correct view of ourselves and be humble before Him.
ACCEPT THE FACT THAT YOU DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING
23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.
Though the Scriptures are crystal clear on the essentials—though we have everything we need to be saved and to live rightly for God, there are some things about God and His ways that are mysterious—that are beyond us.
Deuteronomy 29:29 gets at this,
29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. Deuteronomy 29:29
There are secret things about God’s person and His work that we don’t know and probably could not wrap our minds around even if God did reveal them to us. Now this should not discourage us but should in fact encourage us because it shows us how great our God is.
If God could be figured out by a pea brain 32 year old like myself, he wouldn’t be very impressive would He? So good biblical theology—right thinking about God always leaves room for mystery when it comes to His person and work.
In the past, I used to get miffed—just upset by the fact that there were all these questions that I could not answer. Questions I could not explain. But as I continued to study the Scriptures what I found that God wants from me more than anything else is not for me to come to know all the answers to all of life’s mysteries. That’s not what God wants. What He wants is for me to know that “He is God and I am not.” He wants me to leave the secret things to Him and simply come humbly before him and trust in HIM.
DON’T BE INFLUENCED BY THE WORLD
You want to honor God with your life? You want to live a life that counts? Don’t be influenced by this world.
26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.
Now I believe there is a lot more going on in v. 26 than simply what we read. I believe that Solomon is being transparent here. You see Solomon had fallen into the trap that he is warning against in this verse. In his search for wisdom, he was often sidetracked by some unwise choices regarding women. We are told that some of the women that he married were from other nations who turned His heart away from God. So Solomon is speaking from experience in this verse.
There is also a greater application to be made here. I believe this verse can be applied to all of our relationships. Friends are extremely influential; therefore we need to choose our relationships carefully because if the world was not influential, we would not be warned time and time to guard against it.
DON’T GO AT LIFE ON YOUR OWN
27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
Here’s Solomon’s point. His point is that godly wisdom is hard to find because we naturally seek to live our lives and find enjoyment in life apart from God.
Let’s be honest, that’s the message in our world today isn’t it? In our world, we commonly hear phrases like, “Do what’s best for you,” “Do what feels right,” “Follow your heart,” “Let your conscience be your guide.” I mean we have all heard these types of statements before haven’t we? Do you know what is being communicated to people with this message? “Repeat the sin of Adam.” Is that not what he did?
Solomon tells us in this verse, “God created man upright, perfect in every way and in right relationship with Him.” But what did man do? He chose to go against God—he sought out many schemes and went against His word and went at life on his own without God’s guidance. Guess what? We still do this today.
When we do whatever we think is right apart from God, when we are led by our sinful desires, when we go at life on our own apart from Him, we are guilty of doing the same thing Adam and Eve did. Solomon says, “If you want to honor God with your life, you have to resist the sin of Adam—you have to resist the sin of going at life on your own.
CORRECTLY EXPRESS WHAT YOU CONFESS AND BELIEVE
A lot of the time though we might say one thing, our demeanor says another doesn’t it? Listen to what Solomon says,
8:1 Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
In other words, when we come to understand who God is and what he has done for us and what that means for us, our demeanor should change. Solomon says, God’s perspective—God’s wisdom, should cause our face to shine. As we grow in our knowledge of who God is and what He has done for us through His word, it should transform our demeanor.
Maybe you are lacking joy in your life. Let me ask you this. Are you reading God’s word? Are you studying the Scriptures? Are you turning to God for guidance and direction in your life?
If we are not hearing from God through His word—if we are not growing in our knowledge of Him through the Scriptures, is there any wonder why many of us are stuck in gloom? Is there any wonder why we are beat down by the world? Is there any wonder why we have the same fears and frustrations as unbelievers if we are not getting God’s perspective from His word?
CONCLUSION
You want to live a life that’s honoring and glorifying to God? This is what it takes. There may be some of you who are thinking to yourself, “Well if that’s the case I hate to think of what God thinks of me because the beliefs and practices that Solomon says are honoring to God are not my beliefs and practices.”
Maybe you are like the person Solomon describes in verse 29 who instead of living upright for God—instead of living a life of love and service to Him, you have sought out many schemes. In other words, up to this point in your life you have sought happiness apart from God. Believe me when I tell you this morning—believe Solomon from this text and this book that any pursuit of happiness apart from God ends in misery.
John Piper once said, "Coming home to God is where all deep and lasting satisfaction is found." I want to invite you this day if you have not to “Come home to God.” Abandon your pursuit of happiness apart from Him and begin your pursuit of Him.
