Seeking Wisdom | Reuben Ramsaran | Ecclesiastes 7:11 - 8

Amen. Well, good evening, church. It's so beautiful to be together tonight. Amen. We're so blessed that every time that we come together, we get to lift the name of Jesus. We get to bless His name. You know, Psalm 34, one says, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. Because guess what? Whatever we walked in here with today, God is still God, He is still good, and He is still worthy of all of our praise, amen? So let's bless His name together tonight. Let's do it. ♪ Blessed be your name in the land that is plentiful ♪ ♪ Where the streams of abundance flow ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ Let's bless this day, church. ♪ Blessed be your name when I'm found in the desert place ♪ ♪ Though I walk through the wilderness ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ Every blessing. ♪ Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to pray ♪ ♪ When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your glorious name ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name when the sun's shining down on me ♪ ♪ When the world's all as it should be, blessed be your name ♪

♪ Blessed be your name when the road marked with suffering ♪ ♪ Though there's pain in the offering, blessed be your name, oh ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name, oh ♪ ♪ Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to pray ♪ ♪ When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your name, oh we bless you ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your glorious name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your name, you're worthy ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your glorious name, you give, you give and take away ♪ ♪ You give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name ♪ ♪ You give and take away, you give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name, oh ♪ ♪ You give and take away, you give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name, oh ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your glorious name, blessed be the name of the Lord you give, you give and take away ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name, you're worthy of our praise, blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your glorious name, oh ♪ Come on, give Him a shout of thanks and praise! Well, Church, as we continue to worship together, I want to draw our attention to Psalm 51. It's here where we see David asking the Lord, create in me a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me. And tonight, we just want to pause and ask the Holy Spirit to do that same work within us tonight. As we practice repentance, we know that it's His loving kindness that leads us to repentance. And repentance isn't just a turning away from sin, a changing of direction, but it's a turning towards God. It's moving forward with our desires and our actions in line with the Gospel, in line with His Word, and in a way that glorifies Him. And so tonight, I just want to ask... I ask you, would you close your eyes right now? Would you just invite the Holy Spirit to make you aware of ways that you've compromised, whether it's in your own mind, or your heart, or your choices. Ask the Holy Spirit just to cleanse you of any sin, conscious or unconscious, because He is faithful and just,

and He forgives us because of His sacrifice on the cross through the Son, Jesus Christ. So God, would you speak to us now? Would you help us to repent, to turn away from sin, and to turn towards you? In church, we get to respond as He speaks to us. Allow these lyrics that we're singing to be our confession to Him, and our offering not only gets to be these lyrics tonight, but also the way that we live our life. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Speak to us, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. ♪ I'm caught up in your presence ♪ ♪ Oh, I just wanna sit here at your feet ♪ ♪ I'm caught up in this holy moment ♪ ♪ I never wanna leave ♪ This is our heart, Lord. ♪ Oh, I'm not here for blessings ♪ ♪ And Jesus, you don't owe me anything ♪ ♪ But more than anything that you can do ♪ ♪ Oh, I just want you ♪ Yes, Lord. ♪ Oh, I'm sorry when I'm just gone through the motions ♪ ♪ I'm sorry when I just sang another song ♪ ♪ Take me back to where we started ♪ ♪ I open up my heart to you ♪ Confess this to Him.

♪ Oh, I'm sorry when I've come with my agenda ♪ ♪ I'm sorry when I forgot that you're enough ♪ ♪ Take me back to where we started ♪ ♪ I open up my heart to you, Lord ♪ ♪ Lord, oh, I just want you ♪ ♪ And nothing else, and nothing else, nothing else will do ♪ ♪ Oh, I just want you, Lord, and nothing else, and nothing else ♪ ♪ And nothing else, and nothing else, nothing else will do ♪ ♪ Oh, I just want you, Lord, and nothing else, and nothing else will do ♪ ♪ And nothing else will do, oh, I just want you ♪ ♪ And nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do ♪ ♪ Oh, I just want you, and nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do ♪ ♪ And nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do ♪ ♪ Oh, I just want you, and nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do ♪ ♪ I just want you, and nothing else, nothing else satisfies me ♪ ♪ I just want you, and nothing else, nothing else satisfies me ♪ ♪ For You and nothing else, nothing else, nothing else can do ♪ ♪ Cause holy, there is no one like You ♪ ♪ There is none beside You ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ Show me who You are and fill me with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ ♪ Holy, there is no one like You ♪ Come on, let's declare it together. There is none beside You. Ask Him this. Would You show me? ♪ Show me who You are and fill me with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ Oh, would You lead us, Lord?

Lead us in Your love. Let's commit this to Him, saying, I will build my life. ♪ And I will build my life ♪ Come on, declare it tonight. It's a firm foundation. ♪ And I will put my trust in You, Lord ♪ Yes, Jesus. Let's sing it again. ♪ And I will build my life upon Your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ ♪ And I will put my trust in You, Lord ♪ One more time for our own hearts. ♪ And I will build my life upon Your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ ♪ I will put my trust in You, Lord ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ ♪ Holy, there is no one like You ♪ ♪ There is none beside You, open up my eyes, oh ♪ ♪ Show me who You are and fill me, Lord, with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to over all be ♪ ♪ Holy, there is no one like You ♪ ♪ There is none beside You, open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ Show me who You are and fill me, Lord, with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to over all be ♪ ♪ Holy, there is no one like You, open up my eyes, oh ♪ ♪ Show me who You are and fill me, Lord, with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to over all be ♪ ♪ Holy, there is no one like You, open up my eyes in wonder ♪ Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

♪ There was a moment when the lights went out ♪ ♪ When death had claimed its victory ♪ ♪ The King of love had given up His life ♪ ♪ The darkest day in history ♪ ♪ There on a cross they made for sinners ♪ ♪ For every curse is blood atoned ♪ ♪ One final breath and it was finished ♪ Let's thank Him for this. ♪ But not the end we could have known ♪ Come on church, for the earth. ♪ For the earth began to shake and the veil was torn ♪ ♪ What sacrifice was made as the heavens roared ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus, all hail, yeah ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus, all hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ That's who He is, that's who You are, that's who You are ♪ ♪ There was a moment when the sky lit up ♪ ♪ A flash of light breaking through the darkness of night ♪ ♪ There was a moment when the sky lit up ♪ ♪ A flash of light breaking through the darkness of night ♪ ♪ When all was lost, He caused eternity, yes ♪ ♪ The King of life was on the moon ♪ ♪ Our Lord was alive, one more reckoning left ♪ ♪ And we'll forever shine ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus, all hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth, all hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, He is the Savior, all hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus, all hail King Jesus, oh yes ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth, all hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪

♪ You're the Savior of it all, oh You're worthy of all our praise ♪ ♪ And let every knee come bow before the King of peace ♪ ♪ Let every tongue confess that He is Lord ♪ ♪ Lift up your shout, let us join with all of heaven singing ♪ ♪ Holy, You are holy, we cry out holy, You are holy ♪ ♪ Holy, You are holy, we cry out holy, You are holy ♪ ♪ And all hail King Jesus, this is for you ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth, all hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world, all hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ You're worthy of all our worship, all hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus, all hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ Savior of the world ♪ Amen, hallelujah. If you've been following along with us through our study of the book of Ecclesiastes, you know that we're well over half of the way through this book and tonight in chapter 7. we are going to see again another picture that Solomon is giving us of the reality that while we're here in this world, in so many ways, life is out of our control. And I don't know if you're a control freak or a person who likes when control is in your hands. I happen to be one of those individuals. I do appreciate a good value of control. It was reminded to me this past week, I was with a group of friends and we were on a road trip. And typically on road trips, I'm the one that drives. And so as I sat in the passenger seat of this vehicle, of course, I didn't let the driver know, but I was evaluating every turn. I was evaluating their acceleration, their deceleration.

I was checking to see, did they clear the car as they made that pass on the highway? As they went by semi trucks, I was like, are they getting too close? And every couple of hours I would say, hey, do you need a break? And of course the joke back to me, but I didn't realize at the time that the joke was at me. The joke back was, are you okay? Because there was something that they picked up inside of me that was unsettled. There was something that they were picking up inside of me that was a bit nervous. And often when control comes out of our hands, we can see parts of us that change in regards to our personality, in regards to our character, in regards to the way that we handle our life. Now, a road trip is one thing, but what happens when that control issue has to do with finances? What happens to you when that control issue happens to be with health? What about when it's a relational crisis? That's when the fire tends to go up. And inside of us, what can come out of us can be sometimes ugly. What can come out of us can sometimes be anxiety. What can happen that comes out of us can sometimes be linked to anger. And the question is, well, what do we do about it?

Often in the most challenging times that we're dealing with a loss of control, we have really two choices. The first option can be do all that we can do to ignore it, it can be party the night away so that I don't feel a thing. Or it could be I'm gonna work so hard that I've got no time to feel or think or react. Or it could be like we're going to see tonight in Ecclesiastes chapter seven, that we apply wisdom or that we seek wisdom. When we allow ourselves to seek the wisdom of the Lord, what we're going to discover is his leading, his guiding and his wisdom through it all. Job knew something about seeking God's wisdom, didn't he? We saw all throughout the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And when we rely on the fear of God, when we rely on the wisdom of God, we can find ourselves with confidence and strength for the journey ahead. Now this chapter reads a bit like a mini Proverbs. You're gonna find several different nuggets across this entire chapter, as well as chapter eight, that I wanna encourage you, if you're not a note taker, to look for a way to take notes tonight. The title of tonight's message is Seeking Wisdom, Seeking Wisdom. We're gonna start and read at chapter seven, verse 11. So if you have your Bibles, we're gonna read together.

Chapter seven, beginning in verse 11. Here's what the Bible says. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Verse 12, wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this, wisdom preserves those who have it. Verse 13, consider what God has done. Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy, but when times are bad, consider this, God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future. If you look with me back up at verse 11 and 12, what you're gonna see is that there are benefits to wisdom. There are benefits. There's something good that you can harness by understanding and seeking the wisdom of God. If you look at verse 11, you're gonna see there that wisdom is like an inheritance. My brothers and I had the blessing of receiving an inheritance years ago. And there's something special about that. There's a legacy passed down from a parent to a child. There is a way in which somebody can be remembered by receiving an inheritance. Just the other day, my eight-year-old daughter said, daddy, will I get an inheritance? And she's wanting a puppy. And so she said, and can I get it a little early?

I was like, wow. And you can see that goofy smile on her face, like, I'm kind of joking, but kind of not. But there's something about wisdom that's a blessing. There's something about wisdom that is like something that you ought to wait for, something that you have to long for, something that you ought to hope for. In verse 12, you see wisdom is like a shelter, a shelter, something that we ought to run to, something that we can hide in, something that we can receive protection from. Wisdom is like that shelter. Look with me at verse 13 and 14. We see that wisdom is good, but it also has its limits. There are limits to wisdom. What do you mean by that? It says, who can make straight what he has made crooked? Solomon is simply stating that in the midst of the limits of human wisdom, there is a beautiful bounty in God's sovereignty. There is a strength in God whereby when we, in our own wisdom, try to change what he has made, we are wasting our time. In verse 14, what we see is that God has made one as well as the other. You've heard Pastor Doug and the other pastors talk about the under the sun concept. Do you remember it? Everything under the sun, excluding heaven,

looking here at this earth, Solomon has a perspective. But here in this chapter, we see something incredibly different. What you see, God has made one as well as the other. You see, Solomon will write in a prescriptive way. And here in this way, he's giving us a prescription. Look to God. He hasn't mentioned that much before these chapters, but here we see him challenging, prescribing for us, not just describing God, but prescribing a way that we ought to look at God for the way we should live our life. And what he's calling for is balance. There should be balance in your life, understanding the benefit, the value of wisdom, but realizing that there is a way or a distance that wisdom can only go. If you look at me at verse 15, we're gonna read 15 through 18 as we continue on in this story. Verse 15 says this, in this meaningless life of mine, I have seen both of these things, the righteous perishing in their righteousness and the wicked living long in their wickedness. Verse 16, do not be over-righteous, neither be over-wise. Why destroy yourself? Do not be over-wicked and do not be a fool. Why die before your time? It is not good, sorry, it is good to grasp the one

and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes. Look with me at verse 15. We see here that Solomon is trying to explain to us that life is not fair. How many times have you heard that? Every time I'm talking to one of my accountability brothers and I talk about a problem that I'm going over and going through, they'll look at me and say, Ruben, life's not fair. It's such a simple statement, but yet something that we can all forget from time to time that life is not fair. And maybe this is a reminder for somebody in the room tonight. Maybe those simple words can be refreshing for your soul that in the midst of the reality that life is not fair, Solomon also realized and saw that in the midst of fairness, it could be like a fleeting thing to chase after. I often have these like neat logical equations in my mind. If I do good, then life will be good. If I do bad, then life won't be good. But these logical equations don't always work out in real life. Just because I do what's right, doesn't mean that life will always look right. Just because I do wrong, doesn't mean that God's vengeance is coming after me. My life could look great on the outside, but on the inside, it could be falling apart.

Do you ever have those logical equations in your own thinking? Do you ever find yourself spinning because the person next to you who did what's wrong hasn't experienced the wrath of God in that moment? And you're like, man, they deserve that. They deserve God to come after them. Look at them. At our home, we used to joke around and call it God smacked. When something bad happens right away to a person that's going through some disobedient spell in their life, they get God smacked. But that's not the way that life works. Often it can be the very opposite. And so what is Solomon tells us? He's telling us, don't be a theological snob. Don't be a person that's so caught on wisdom that you forget about the realities of your own sin. So often we can find ourselves in a position of looking down on people instead of realizing that we all have struggles in our life. And so he's telling us, avoid extremes. Avoid these extremes. And as I was reading this section of scripture, my mind began to drift to the. the New Testament for a moment. Because in the midst of our desire to want to live safe and balanced lives like Solomon's trying to describe for us here, there will be also times that God calls you

as a Christian into challenging situations. Think about Paul for a moment. In Acts 20 verse 24, the Bible talks a little there about how Paul counted his life as less important than seeking the Lord and his plan and his will for his future. Have you sensed God calling you? Have you sensed God working in you to move you from a place of maybe apathy, a place of security into a place of risk for his namesake? Have you been even in a place of apathy in a relationship where God's calling you to take a risk to apologize or to push forward through some pain so that you can see new growth in a broken relationship in your life? There are times that God calls us in. There are times that God calls us out into new spaces for him so that we can experience all that he has for us. And so point number one, if you're taking note, is seeking wisdom is a lot like seeking God. Seeking wisdom is a lot like seeking God. Ruben, what do you mean by that? I mean that the process that Solomon was walking through, all of the things that we're gonna learn about in Solomon's life, the point of it was for him to know the Lord. And all of the things that you go throughout your life, some of the twists and turns, the things that you scratch your head and say, why God? What's this all about?

He wants to have relationship with you. He wants to have intimate fellowship with you. And so what does your process look like in your own life? How do you seek God? What's your mornings look like with him? When you're going through the challenges and the troubles and the struggles of life, how do you seek him out for wisdom? I know for me, there's gotta be a process for me because I can often get lost in the challenges that I face on a daily basis. And so often in the morning, I look for that space in the quietness and the stillness in the early part of the morning where I can spend time with him. So often when I miss that space because my life is not perfect, my life has challenges, when I miss that space, I can find my thinking off. I can find my thoughts distracted. And we, as children of God, need space to seek him. When you seek wisdom, it's a lot like seeking God. Learn to seek wisdom and you're gonna find the Lord right there at the foundation of all wisdom that comes from him. I wanna continue to read in verse 19 through 22. If you follow along with me, verse 19 through 22, the Bible says, wisdom makes one person more powerful than 10 rulers in a city. Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,

no one who does what is right and never sins. Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you. For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. Look with me back at verse 19. We see that wisdom can bring strength. More powerful than 10 rulers is what Solomon says. Wisdom can give you strength. Do you lack strength today? Do you lack courage today in your life? Seek the wisdom of God and let him restore the strength that you're looking for. In verse 20 through 22, the Bible says that wisdom teaches you to see yourself clearly. And Solomon uses a really unique illustration to help us to see that today. In verse 20, the Bible says there that there's no one on earth who is righteous. We all struggle with unrighteousness. How often have you been in the middle of a conflict and you've got everything that your friend that you're in conflict with needs to know for them? You ever find yourself there? Well, what they need to know. Let me tell you what they need to do, what they need to understand about their life. And so Solomon gives us this beautiful picture. He says, don't pay attention to every word. Don't pay attention to every word

that somebody says about you. And I don't know about you, but I struggle with this at times. I have a really bad problem. It's called people-pleasing. And every time there's a conflict or a problem, I just want to solve it. Can we solve it? Can we just make it go away? Because I want to people-please instead of find the balance to the problem that we're looking for. But Solomon says, don't pay attention. You can't pay attention to every word people say about you because people say things. And so he's giving us a bit of wisdom here. Have you ever struggled with that? Have you ever struggled with something that you overheard that you shouldn't have heard? Have you ever struggled with something that you heard from another person that somebody else was saying about you? And now you find yourself all twisted because of what you heard. about your own character. Verse 22, look closely here. He says, you yourself have cursed others. In the midst of the time where you're now thinking, man, that person needs to get saved for what they said about me.

You have fully forgotten that you found yourself in the very same place. Maybe it was just a couple months previous. It happens to all of us. We have exactly what another person needs to know about themselves, but I've forgotten what we need to remember about who we are. Now here's what the scripture says. You have cursed others. So we should watch what we think about these other folks. I have heard from a friend of mine, a really close friend of mine, a really good thought that helps me stay anchored in the midst of the moments that I have like this. And here's what they told me. They said, if it's not said to you, then it's not meant for you. I don't know if that helps you at all, but if it's not said to you, then it's not meant for you. Here what Solomon is telling us is that you're gonna hear people say things about you and they're not all for you. And before you judge them, be careful because you will find yourself in that very same position. Charles Spurgeon once wrote this. We would not want to be judged by our worst moments. Therefore, we should not judge others by theirs.

So how do you walk by grace in the midst of times where people aren't the shining examples that they once were in that moment? The reality is that we often speak ill of others and it should make us more apt to forgive more broadly. Point number two, if you're taking note, seeking wisdom humbles you from the inside out. When we seek wisdom, it's supposed to be changing us, not just changing us on the outside, but changing us on the inside. The book of James chapter three, verse 14 says this. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from heaven, but it's earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. Verse 16, for where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, good fruit, impartial, and sincere. Why do I read this to you? Because it's a reminder for us, like the book of James tells us, that when we allow bitterness to be harbored deep in our soul, that will change you as much as, maybe even more than what you'll be changed by seeking wisdom. Sin has a way of eroding all the good things that you try to build in your life.

And so seek wisdom, allow it to change you from the inside. The pursuit of wisdom will form and shape you. What's shaping you today? Is it your pride or is it the wisdom that you're seeking? What's your pursuit of wisdom look like? These are questions we should be asking ourselves. How are you being formed today, deep inside in the inner man? Is it by wisdom or is it by sin? And these things are questions we should be asking constantly because sin is around us. There's no shortage of sin around every corner and hiding and lurking in different parts of our world today. I wanna continue to read for you in verse 23 through 29. Here's what the Bible says. All this I tested by wisdom and I said, I'm determined to be wise, but this was beyond me. Whatever exists is far off and most profound. Who can discover it? Verse 25, so I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly. I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap, whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner, she will ensnare. Look, says the teacher, this is what I've discovered adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things

while I was still searching, but not finding, I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all. This only I have found. God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes. Look with me back at verse 23 and 24. What we see is that Solomon's giving himself a humble assessment. Have you ever taken an assessment? Have you ever sat and had a 360 review from your boss? Have you ever sat with your spouse or one of your kids? Hey, can you tell me a little bit about how you see dad? We see here Solomon is getting and giving himself a very humble assessment. Who out there is wise what he says? Who understands? Wisdom, he's giving himself this honest report of the reality that wisdom is hard to seek after and wisdom is difficult to understand. In verse 25 through 28, we see that he examines the extremes of life. I don't know if you have any extremes in your life, but here Solomon has this illustration for us. He gives us an assessment of the women that are around him. And he, the Bible says, examined the extremes and he sought out the ways in which the world would walk in sin and walk in folly. And I would tell you tonight, if you have any extremes in your life,

that examining the extremes, the extent to which we could fall or the extent to which we could walk in foolishness or an injustice or unrighteousness can be very dangerous. Examining the extremes of life can be a dangerous path to walk on. Now, we don't know exactly what season of life Solomon wrote this part of Ecclesiastes chapter seven, but we do know that there was a season, a long season of Solomon's life where he had 700 plus wives, 300 plus concubines. And I have to wonder, was this a self-acknowledgement of Solomon about his own life? Was he telling us about the dignity and the character of women in general? Or was he telling us a little bit about his choices of women that he surrounded himself with? I think it's evident that Solomon is telling us that living and having a harem around you is not a great choice of relationships. Wouldn't you agree? But I ask you tonight, what about your choice of relationships? Is this part of God's word a challenging reminder for us to consider who am I surrounding myself with? Imagine what Solomon's life would look like if he had found one good wife. What would his life look like

if there was one good woman by his side? What would his reign of the people of Israel have looked like and what would we be reading today? You see, Solomon's choices light up, illuminate for us a way for us to examine our relationships around us tonight. His choice of companionship led to a fruitless wandering for many years in his life. Solomon discovered these things for us to remember and understand today. And for us, it's a living testament for us to continue to look at. So I ask you one more time, is there an extreme in your life? That was Solomon's extreme. What about you? Our extremes can look different. Our extremes probably won't look like Solomon's. Solomon's life was like this life that was so huge and so big, so extreme, that it's something for us to look at and sometimes say, oh, that's bad, Solomon. Why did you do that? And then we ignore or forget the extremes in our own life. So what about you? Is there an extreme that maybe you've struggled with that nobody knows about? Is there an extreme that you've wrestled with that maybe a few people know about, but you still have that little dabble in your back pocket, so to speak,

that nobody really fully knows about? Is there a part of your life that maybe people wouldn't understand or know, but deep inside, maybe you've wrestled with anxiety to a point where you feel like your life is out of control. Maybe there's an element of depression that's driven you towards suicidal ideation that you would not want anybody to realize. But it's an extreme that has become and gotten out of control. Maybe tonight is a night for you to finally say, I wanna surrender that to the Lord. We all have a certain extreme in our life. We all have things that we've struggled with in the past, in the present, and we will struggle in the future. And this is a reminder for us to realize that we have an opportunity to seek wisdom in the midst of the extremes that we walk through throughout our life. If we look at verse 29, we see here that Solomon ascribes responsibility. He says here, he says, God created man upright. The original creation was perfect, but sin entered that creation. And what we see in verse 29, he says, that man goes on search of not just one scheme, but many schemes. And there could be that essence in our life today. What are the many schemes?

Not just one extreme, but many schemes that you may have running somewhere inside of you or somewhere inside of somebody that you love or that you care for. And these are things that we have to be paying attention to. Point number three, if you're taking notes, seeking wisdom reminds you to not be surprised by sin. Don't be surprised by sin. The Bible says in Romans 3, 23, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is a common issue inside of all of us that we wrestle with, and it's called sin. So often, I'm sure if you are a parent in the room, when your child comes to you and says, dad, I've got something I need to tell you, your heart kind of stops for a minute, right? Oh Lord, what are they gonna say? Maybe you have a friend that's called you and said, hey, I need to talk to you about something. And the first thing that comes to your mind is, oh no, what's going on, what are they gonna say? And there are times and moments of reflections where we get these opportunities to realize that in our commonality of sin-naturedness, that we all struggle. So instead of looking at one person as higher than the other, we can all see that we're on the same plane of this need for Jesus in our life.

So we're gonna now turn our attention to chapter eight of the book of Ecclesiastes, and we're gonna read verses one through nine. If you could read along with me. The Bible says, who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? A person's wisdom brightens their face and changes its heart appearance. Obey the king, obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God. Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since the king's word is supreme, who can say to him, what are you doing? Whoever obeys any procedure, for there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery, since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? As no one has the power over the wind to contain it, so no one has the power over the time of their death, as no one is discharged in time of war. So wickedness will not release those who practice it. All this I saw as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. Look with me back at verse one through three. What we see is that Solomon gives advice to wisdom seekers,

people who are on the path to seeking wisdom. He says, who's like the wise man? Who understands the explanation of all things? It's going to change your appearance, he says. From the inside out, there's a change in the way a person looks because of the grace and the wisdom that comes along with seeking wisdom. He said, the person that is going to seek wisdom will obey the king, and they're going to do whatever the king says because that king has a sovereign or a supreme authority. What does that mean? That means that Solomon was, in essence, talking about himself. I, the king, have supreme power. But even in the midst of supreme power, what do we see here? Who has power over the wind? Even in the midst of a supreme power, there are things that not even a king can do. But in verse nine, I want to draw your attention. He says, there is a person who can lord it over, lord it over. Have you ever been in a situation where you felt lorded over? Maybe there's a relationship at work that you feel there's an imbalance of power, or maybe a person who thinks they have power, so they want to exert that power over you.

Maybe even in your own home, you feel like the power differentials are off. There's something that's wrong, and you feel like you're being lorded over in a way that's unhealthy and not right. Maybe you're a leader in the room tonight, and you feel a little convicted because in your own place of work, your anger gets out of control, or your temper flies in a space where you should be an example of Jesus, but you know things have been just a little off. Solomon's words to us tonight are a brisk reminder of how leaders ought to lead their life, and how people who are followers ought to follow, and what the balance of the two should look like. I read a funny story today. It's about a man from the 1950s. This man, his name is Christian Herter, and he was the governor of Massachusetts at the time, and he was seeking reelection. And so he was campaigning all day. He skipped breakfast, he skipped lunch. He was out campaigning in the heat of the sun. And so he rolled into a church that was doing a barbecue, and he decided to join them and have some fellowship and enjoy the moment in the evening with those folks. As he got into the line, he saw the buffet barbecue, and he got to the woman who was serving the chicken.

And she put one piece of chicken in his plate. And he said, he said, ma'am, is there an opportunity to have a second piece of chicken? And she said, no, sir, I've been instructed just to give one piece of chicken. True story, I'm not making this up. This really happened. And so he, it was a humble man, the story goes about him. And so he would never really talk about himself, but that night in his hunger, he said, ma'am, do you know who I am? And she said, I don't know who you are. I'm the governor of this. of this area. And she says, and she said to him, well, do you know who I am? I'm the person in charge of this chicken. So take your piece and move along. Crazy. But isn't it wild how sometimes even our longings deep in our body can cause us to do and say things that we ought not say? Isn't it wild that even in the midst of times where we think the governor of that state, talking to the woman who is serving the chicken, and just in that moment, that power differential shifted. And in times in your life, the times where you feel like you're being lorded over the most, guess what power differentials can shift in you. And often the fingerprints that are left on our life can be the very fingerprints that we expose to somebody else. So watch what is shaping you allow the seeking of wisdom to be the thing that shapes you and not the pressure or the pain or the sin of those around you to be the thing that is shaping you. So point number four, if you're

taking note, seeking wisdom teaches you how to endure power that you can't control, whether you're under it, or you're wielding it. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse nine, but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ's power may rest on me. The answer for Paul, who wrote this book, wasn't that the problem would be taken from him, but that God would give him the endurance to make it through that problem. The book of Ecclesiastes is about power that is over you, and sometimes on you. And the power that Paul is describing is the type of power that rests on you for courage and for strength. The Spirit of God can give you access to whatever you need today. And so that whatever you're going through, as difficult as a person who would be lording power over you can be, I want to encourage you tonight, if that's you, that you remind that God sees you. He sees even the most private of struggles. If it's even a struggle in your own home, God sees you, and he can meet you there and help you make it through to the other side of what God has for you, no matter what the circumstances are. We're going to continue reading verse 10 through 18. Here's the Bible says, Then too I saw the wicked buried, those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless. When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people's hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. Although a wicked person who commits 100 crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go

well with them, and their days will not be lengthened like a shadow. There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth, the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. So I commend the enjoyment of life because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of their life that God has given them under the sun. When I applied my mind to know wisdom and observe the labor that is done on the earth, people getting no sleep day or night. When I saw all that God has done, no one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know it, they cannot really comprehend it. Wow. Look at that. In verse 10 through 13, what do we see? Solomon is describing the inequities of life. Again, he goes back to life's not fair. This world is not fair. And what you're going through is something that is unbalanced. So he says this, there's a wickedness and I see in that those who are buried again, he's back to that under the sun theory. He's looking not above the sun, but beneath the sun and seeing how life is inequitable. Look at verse 11. He says there's when justice is not clearly carried out, when things are not made right, right away. Have you ever been in that situation where you feel like there's an injustice that just keeps going and going and going? Does anybody see what's happening here in this room, in this department, in this problem or in the circumstances? But again, in verse 12, what do we see? It's better for those who fear God. It's better. Again, he mentions the Lord here and he says it's better. It's better

for those who fear God. Do you fear God today? Is he with you in the midst of your problem? The truth we know that God is present with you. He's with me. He's got that promise that he's given us, that he's walking with us, leading us through the circumstances in our life. It will go better with that person. He's got this fixation, Solomon, several times in this section. He says, their days would be lengthened. And here in this part of verse 13, it says that that day will not be lengthened. He was fixed on the length of life. What can one man do to add one iota to a person's life? The truth is we can do nothing. Amidst those illogical schemes, like we talked about earlier in our life, the equations, if I do right, maybe things will be right. If I do wrong, things will be wrong. We can't add another day to our life. That's in the hand of God. In verses 14 through 16, we see that he's got an eternity excluding viewpoint. The righteous get what the wicked deserve. And I don't know if you've ever struggled with that. This is one of the hardest questions I get as a pastor. Why do bad things happen to good people? Really hard question to be asked as a leader. Really hard question to be asked by one of your children. Dad, why did this happen? Dad, what did God see?

Can God change this circumstance? Why do bad things happen to good people? I think it's relatively impossible to answer that question with the under the sun perspective. Without God, how do you answer a question like that? How do you wrestle with the inequities, the inequalities of life when God is not in the equation of your life? I feel like it's an impossible question to answer without the presence of God. And so he says, I commend enjoyment. Just live however you want. Drink all of you want. Live any which way because life is just unfair. He says, joy will accompany them in their toil. But we see here in verse 17, you see these first couple of words. Then I saw all that God has done. And I love this phrase because there's a reminder, again, that Solomon is getting these sneak peeks in his life of the work of God. Have you ever been in a moment where you sensed that life was dark? Where you sensed that the circumstances were overtaking you and then you saw a glimpse of God? Could you put yourself in Solomon's shoes for a minute? Where you got a picture of God's handiwork in his life. My prayer is that there may be some of you in the room who get a reminder that God is at work. Even when you don't know it,

even when you can't sense it, God can be seen and God can be experienced even where you sit this evening. My fifth and final point is, seeking wisdom can lead you to a peace. Not by understanding everything, but by releasing the need to understand everything. So how do you get yourself into that place? Especially the control freaks in the room, right? I have to have some level of control to be sane. How do I get to this place where I can release the understanding of why things happen in a certain way and just trust God's hand through it? And so I believe that this message, that this section of scripture calls for a response from believers. Because the reality is that I'm sure half of this room is going through something. There's something going on in half, 50% of the people in this room's life that's challenging. 50% of you probably have a question for God. If you were sitting in front of you tonight and say, God, I got a question for you. Hey, Lord, can we talk for a minute? I got a question for you. I want to figure this part of my life out. Maybe you've got an unanswered prayer, a prayer that you've been praying for years. I've got a couple of them that I've written in my journal over and over and over again.

God, would you help me with this? I don't get this. Could you clarify this for me? Could you give me a little more insight about this particular situation? God, I beseech you for this problem. Maybe you've got one as well. Maybe you've got a relationship that ended without closure. The person walked away from you and you don't fully get it. You don't know what happened, why they left, but they're gone. And you're left wondering like, God, what do I do with this? How do I figure this part of my life out? What do I do? How do I move on? Maybe some of you in the room feel like you were looked over. Maybe it's a promotion that you thought was coming your way, but it went to somebody else. Maybe it was like an accolade for a project that you work on and you did the most of the work, but somebody else got the raise or the promotion for what you did. Maybe you're in the room and you've got a wayward child that you've been praying for for a long time to come home, to come to a place where they would acknowledge Jesus again in their life. Maybe you're in the room and you've got a diagnosis or an illness that you just discovered

and you're not exactly sure how to handle it, how to walk through it. You're not sure what tomorrow looks like and you are wishing for God to help you to understand what to do and how to walk through it. Maybe you've got a financial hardship. that doesn't make sense. You did everything right, you got the budget, you did the spreadsheet, maybe even worked with Dave Ramsey to get it all figured out, but for whatever reason, it's not working out. The numbers aren't computing. And now you're like, God, what do I do? What do I cut? Where do I go? How do I make it through? Maybe you've had a sudden loss recently. Somebody you love died, and it doesn't make sense. And you're trying to figure it out, but the things aren't coming together. And you wish that you just had one more day. All of these circumstances in our life are what Solomon is talking about. It's the echo of Solomon's life saying, seek wisdom. It's the echo of Solomon's life that says, release the control. It's the echo of Solomon's life that says,

let God work it out. It's the echo of Solomon's life that says, I am sovereign and I am your God and I want to lead you. And so if you are in a circumstance, like one of the areas that I just mentioned, or maybe I didn't mention one, but you know what I'm talking about. And you're in the process of letting something go that's got a grip on you. I just want to pray for you. And so if they're in the room and that's you, I want to simply ask you to stand to your feet. And you might say, why do I got to stand on my feet? I want to encourage you to stand into your feet because of an act of obedience, just to say, I see you, I hear you. And for you to be able to know that, hey, around you, when you stand, you'll still be accepted. You'll still be loved. Nobody's gonna look at you differently because you're going through something because we're all going through something. So if that's you, stand to your feet. And I just want to pray a prayer of surrender for each of you that are standing. If you would please bow with me. God, I'm grateful for those who are here tonight. And for those who are standing to their feet because of whatever struggle they're going through, God, this is not a little thing.

Each person in this room who's standing represents a big issue, God, that they've been doing battle with for a long time, that they've been working through, but yet haven't gotten a handle over. And so I'm asking God tonight, would you do a miracle for them? And would you teach us, God, to open our hands? And to release yet again our circumstances, our challenges, our trials to you? Because we know, Lord, that in your hands, it's the best spot for them. In our hands, God, we're gonna make a mess of it just like Solomon explained to us. So we pray, God, as we open our hands tonight, symbolically, Lord, we just want you to take these things that we're going through and work your way through them. God, save our loved ones. God, help our hurting bodies that are going through ailments that we can't even explain or understand. God, be our provider in the midst of moments where the math is not adding up. God, I pray that you would be our closest friend when friends abandon us. God, I pray that you would be our wisdom that help us to pass understanding in the moments that things just don't line up. Help us, God. We're your kids.

We're broken. We need your help. In so many ways, God, we are completely lost without you. So we're asking God, give us fresh eyes. We're asking God, give us a fresh heart. We're asking God, give us fresh ears to be able to walk through our days in a way that gives you the most glory and draws the most people to yourself. God, set our hearts on fire. Help us to live on purpose, to be wisdom seekers, ultimately being God seekers. So we commit ourselves afresh to you and pray, God, have your way in and through us. Before I say amen, I wanna keep this holy moment. For those who are standing, you can go and have a seat. There's one more person I wanna pray for, and those are the people in the room who would say, Ruben, I don't have a relationship with the Lord. You talk about this God, you talk about this Father, you talk about Jesus, you talk about salvation, and I don't even know what you're talking about. And maybe you have even walked in tonight with a load like Solomon had in chapter seven and eight. Maybe you've got these loads of pain. And when I talk about a friend in God, you're like, a friend? He wants to be my friend? When I talk about a God who wants to heal you, he wants to heal me of what I'm going through?

When I talk about a closeness of a heavenly Father to your life, and if you've never had an experience with the Lord like that, we wanna offer that to you tonight. The Bible makes it very clear that God is not far off, he can be found. God is not far off, he is here tonight. And he's made that possible through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the Bible says that there's this problem that we have called sin. In John 3, 16, the Bible says God loved you so very much that he gave his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for you so that we could have relationship with him. And if you're in this room tonight and you've never given your life to Christ, can I implore you? Can I beseech you? Can I beg you, give your life to him? Don't go another day without making a decision to follow the Lord Jesus because you simply don't have a surety of tomorrow. You don't have a confidence that tonight is your last night. Why would you waste another moment without giving your life to Christ? Some of you in the room would say, Ruben, give me some evidence. Like, how is my life gonna change? I wanna challenge you, try him and find out. I wanna challenge you, I wanna be so bold to say to you,

you're walking a dangerous path without him. If you hear me say anything tonight, hear me say this, Jesus loves you. He wants to have relationship with you. And so if that's you and you say, well, Ruben, you're talking right to me. I can remember when this was the case in my life. When the Lord was talking right to me, I got so afraid. I got so locked to my seat. I didn't even hear the pastor. It was like my life was playing in front of me and I couldn't even understand the person around me. And so I wanna challenge you, if that's you, that's the Holy Spirit working in you. That's him getting a hold of your life and saying, I'm drawing you into relationship with me. And so if you're in the room tonight and you wanna give your life to Christ, you know it's the time. You've heard me say what I'm gonna say. You understand that there's this need of you. Then we're gonna play a song. And when that song is played, that's your cue to come forward. And by coming forward, you're simply acknowledging that I wanna give my life to Christ. I'll pray a simple prayer with you. It'll sound something like this. Dear Lord, I confess that I'm a sinner and I wanna live for you, Lord.

That simple prayer will be your acknowledgement that you give your life to Christ. We'll put a Bible and a Bible study in your hand and then you'll be back with your friends. So if that's you, as this song is played, get up out of your seat and come forward now. I'll be privately praying for you to make that decision for Jesus. ♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain ♪ ♪ There's salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain ♪ ♪ There's salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪ So proud of the courage of each of you for coming forward. So proud of you. I'm gonna pray a prayer and that's your cue. You can sit quietly, repeat it after me or out loud. In this prayer, although it's my words, let it be your own. Allow them to be the words that you pray in your heart. Now, remember the Bible says in Romans 6, 23, that the wages of the payment of sin is death. That death means separation from God. But the free gift of God that he gives you tonight is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Bible says.

Tonight, the Bible clearly says, that the wages of the payment of sin is death. Tonight, the Bible clearly says that there is a celebration in heaven when one person gets saved. And look across this hall, there's five people here. There's a big party in heaven for the sins that you've made. And we're so excited to share that with you tonight. So if you would bow with me and we'll pray, you can simply say, dear Lord Jesus, I admit that I'm a sinner. I believe that you sent your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for my sins. I confess him as my Lord and Savior. Help me to live for him from this day forever. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Proud of each of you. Hey, we've got some friends right behind you. And on this side, we'd love to put a Bible and a Bible study in your hand. If you would, please follow them over to that exit sign and they'll put that Bible study into your hand. Church, let's give it up for them. If you would, please stand with me. I want to encourage you this week to look for a space, look for a simple, quiet space to seek wisdom. In the midst of your seeking wisdom, Remember, you're seeking God.

And as you do, allow Him to change you from the inside out, amen? God bless you. We'll see you next week. Let's sing of His holiness as we leave this place today. Let every knee come down before the King of Kings. Let every tongue confess that He is alive. Lift up your shout, let us join with all of heaven singing. Holy, you are holy. Holy, we cry out, holy. All hail King Jesus, let's lift His name. All hail the Lord of heaven and earth. All hail King Jesus, be glorified. All hail the Savior of the world. All hail King Jesus, you're worthy of our praise. All hail the Lord of heaven and earth. All hail Jesus. All hail the Savior of the world. It's been so sweet to worship with you tonight, church. As you leave, remember, there are prayer teams that are gonna come and line these altars. If you need prayer, don't leave this place without being prayed for. We love you and we will see you next week.