[MUSIC PLAYING] God's going to speak last. God's going to speak loud. That is something the world needs to know. Because we, as believers, should not forgive, that when God has our lives, your life is no longer a matter of coincidence, because that's all you would see. But it is a matter of providence. [MUSIC PLAYING] ♪ In your grace, you have your end on me ♪ ♪ And all that I do, love will keep me strong ♪ ♪ And love will be in your grace ♪ All right, let's open our vioels this morning to the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 9, verse 11. As we continue our journey, Sunday by Sunday, through this letter, this journal of Solomon, who became King when his father, David, died. And he was certainly a man that was wise. God gave to him wisdom like no other man in history. His commitment to the Lord was sure early on. He led godly ways in the godly ways of the Lord, I should say, to the people. Unfortunately, later on in life, marrying a lot of different wives, he turned away from God. The good news is, in chapter 12, he came back. But in the meantime, he spent years running around, trying to find a way to live this life without a relationship with God. He called it in this poetic book, "Life Under the Sun." And so these are his adventures, his observations, his conclusions, and it is a book that really speaks to us today that I think these verses as well. So we're gonna start in verse 11 and down, go down through verse 18, where we get some good advice from Solomon that the wisdom of God in our lives will win out in the end, but it doesn't always look like that as we begin. Certainly, life is frustrating when your life is out of control. And I think maybe for us and many of us, the world for that matter, since four or five months ago, life has been out of control. We really can't do much about what we face. We just kind of have to endure it and go through it. As God's people, we are comforted knowing that God holds our future. In fact, the Lord has a lot to say about our lives and the way that he has an involvement in them so that we can be encouraged not to make our determinations based solely upon what we see, but that we can find rest and joy in his care, in his promises by faith. He said that all things work together for good. He means that. That certainly is the case for us, and it's the case for you. But we don't like when things are out of control. You know, I like to drive. When we go places with others, I always volunteer to drive. And it's not because I'm worried about someone else not driving well, I just hate to be out of control, right? If I sit in the driver's seat, I can decide how fast to go and what path to take and what corner to turn on, what music to listen to, what temperature to set in my car. And yet the minute I get in your car, I don't like it so much. 'Cause I can't touch any of that stuff. That's your car now. Now I gotta listen to what you wanna listen to, and if you're cold, I guess I'm cold. And so it goes. If you're ever taking a cab ride in New York or in Paris or in Moscow, it will redefine for you the idea of someone else taking your life in their hands. Because it's a pretty scary place to ride in a cab. I think Jerry Seinfeld in one of his bits said that his only comfort in taking a cab ride in New York was saying to himself, well at least he's a professional as he was driving on the sidewalk. So we know that while life is unpredictable and out of control, God's in charge. And so unlike the world around us, as Solomon will say, those under the sun without really any hope, we have to come to the realization that God is in charge. Sometimes though, we wonder what he's doing. I heard a story a couple of years ago about two men that were playing a round of golf. One of them was a preacher and the other was a meteorologist. And about the fourth hole, it started to pour down rain, they hadn't expected it. And they had to take cover and they stood under cover for an hour before the preacher said to the meteorologist, between the two of us, we either should have seen this coming or prayed this away. But isn't that kind of the rub, you know, no matter who you are, no matter who you know, life is uncertain. And if there's one thing we want in our life, it's certainty. The more certainty we can have, the better we like it because faith really means to let go and let God. And that's not such an easy move on our parts. We spend a lot of our time guaranteeing the future. We'll go to the gym even in the morning, we'll eat the right things just so that we can feel a little bit, better stay a little bit more healthy, we'll work hard or work late to save up for a better future, a financial-based security, we'll try to send our kids to the right schools or move into the right neighborhoods, all designed to create for us a established kind of hope. And yet, even if all of your ducks are in a row, is that a sufficient reason to guarantee life and the future with some kind of stability and predictability, and Solomon will say here, it is not. That life is unpredictable. And so our only hope, our only rest, is knowing that God is good and that God has allowed it to be so. I don't think any of us would have chosen these last six months. I don't think any of us anticipated them and those who said that they did, I think are probably lying because I don't say how you come up with this. But I do know that God allowed it and that God is good all of the time that he works everything together for good and that he knows what he's up to. So what does this do for me as a Christian? Well, it creates an adventure. You know, we were sitting outside today with hundreds of folks in a parking lot, saying, isn't God good? I'm thinking, well, it'd be better if he could be inside, but he has plans, his plans are good. Why would I complain? It brings excitement to see that God's in charge. It also, in times like this, pressures me to stay close to the Lord because he's the only one who knows what is coming. I think if God were to lay out for you all the good that is coming to your life, he'd probably not work very hard or give it much effort. You just kind of sit back and soak it all in. If the Lord showed you all that was coming your way that was difficult or suffering, it might very well paralyze you, but thank the Lord, he only raises the curtain on today. And then he promises to get you through it before he pulls on the string and raises the curtain for tomorrow. So we don't know the future, but we know the one who does, and our rest is found in that, so that we're very different, even in this time of great upheaval than the world is. Because we rest in the world, we don't make plans, really. His plans are sometimes beyond our finding yet. But when James was writing in chapter four, I think verse 13, he said, you know, you that would say, "Today or tomorrow I'm gonna go here to the such a city "and I'm gonna make a profit, "and then I'm gonna go here and do that." And James said, "Your life's a vapor. "You don't know what's coming tomorrow. "You can't say I can go here and I'm gonna go there. "You better add to those plans if the Lord will." And that really is the crux of the issue. Doesn't it? We serve a God who has a plan and it's good, and we have to submit to it and be thankful for it. The world, even now, maybe more apparent than ever, is upside down now knowing where to turn, having no assurance. Now, life is completely unpredictable. Mine is only in that God hasn't told me what he's up to yet, but I'm excited to be able to follow him and to see what he is up to. But when Jesus told that parable in Luke chapter 12 of the farmer who had had such a great business year that he wanted to build some bigger storage facilities for all of his crops. And his plan was I'm gonna bring these in and put these away. I'm gonna live off the gain for years to come, put my feet up, gonna live the high life. And the Lord said, "You're kind of a fool "because you didn't consider. "You might just die today." And he did. And the Lord said, "That's really the fool's life. "When he's rich in the world, "got all kinds of plans, "but he's not rich towards God. "Doesn't account for the Lord in his plans." So in our verses this morning, Solomon makes the observation that we aren't in control, but the Lord is, that the world when they applaud things and look for heroes always looks in the wrong place. And so it can discourage us from doing the right thing, but that in the end, the wisdom of God found in our lives wins out. It'll bring you to where God wants you to be, into his presence, and it'll deliver you from a world that is so confused, doesn't know where to turn. In the end, the wisdom of God in your life is stronger and more powerful and more advantageous than anything else. Well, starting in verse 11, and at least inside, there's no wind blowing my pages closed. It says this, "I return, and I saw unto the sun, "that the ray, sorry, is not for the swift, "nor the battle for the strong, "nor bread for the wise, "nor riches to men of understanding, "nor favor to men of skill. "Time and chance happens to them all. "Men also do not know his time, "like a fish taken into a cruel net "or birds caught in the snare. "The sons of men are snared in an evil time, "when it falls suddenly upon them." We have no control of our future, but the Lord does, and he begins by saying as he makes these observations of life under the sun, the horizontal plane where people live without God, that the only predictable thing in life is that it's unpredictable. The prophet Forrest Gump said, life is like a box of chocolate, you never know where you're gonna get. Well, here's Solomon very poetically, 'cause this is a poetry book, lays down five examples of truths that things don't always turn out like you want. He takes an example from athletics and from the military and from industry and from the economy and even individual kind of proficiency to just drive home the fact that you can't predict what comes next. For example, generally, the fastest runner will win the race. That's what we work for, but that's not always the case. The fast runner in a marathon may have run too fast, worn himself out. Two laps from the finish, he can't go another, another inch. And eventually the tortoise kind of runs by him. Or he may twist his ankle in the final stretch or fall to the ground in pain or hit that last hurdle with his shin and his stride goes off. You don't always win. You should win. We predict that you win. We anticipate that you win, but Solomon's point is that's not always the case. Sometimes, and most often, the strongest, best equipped, best trained army will win the battle, but that's not always true. If you've gone to Israel with us, we spend a day up in the Golan Heights with a tour guide who usually has very much to say about the Yom Kippur War of 1973 when Israel found itself a small nation surrounded by two very large armies on two flanks. For 48 hours, it looked like it was over for the country and then got intervened. Miraculous things took place. And what looked to be certain defeat turned out to be unbelievable victory for the Jews. The battle to the strong, usually the case, but not always. And that's Solomon's point. Usually, generally, smart, able people get the best paying jobs, but that's not always true. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, the late Stephen Jobs are all, and we're all millionaires, but they were all college dropouts, right place, right time, whatever you would like to call it. Sometimes gifted, talented, extremely educated people fail miserably. Most of the time, bread goes to the wise, but that's not always true. Suffice it to say that Solomon's point is nothing's guaranteed even when we assume that it would be. That there's no slam dunks, there's no predictability. The fast runner may not win the race, the strong army may not win the battle, bread or prosperity may not go to the wise, or riches to the one with understanding or favor, to the one with great skill. In fact, what you read in the yearbook, most likely to succeed, is at best a guess. We think, as far as we can tell, but really who knows? And notice that Solomon here in verse 11 adds a couple of mitigating factors that says life is uncertain, and he adds two words. The words time and chance happen to everyone. Now, those two words literally are experience and misfortune. In other words, people have to live their lives, which is a built-in danger of life. Danger as it begins. And then there are the misfortunes of life that are added in. For you and I as Christians who know God, even in the midst of this terrible time, God uses these situations to steer us to him, to question our relationship, to probe out how strong are we. Are we convinced of who he is and what he says to embrace life as he promises to give us to us, that he's a good heavenly father, that he's doing things well. For the unbeliever, though, someone who doesn't know God, who's living life under the sun, God uses these unexpected turns to hopefully get them to look up instead of looking around. With Solomon's eyes on the world under the sun, he sees a person with talent and ability and resources and skills. And then he marvels that they don't make it to where he thinks they should go. Where people say, well, he's going places. His possibilities are endless. He can ride his own ticket. He'll never fail, and yet he does. But notice in verse 12, man doesn't know his time, man under the sun. He doesn't know the times in which he lives, the sense of men that they're snared in the evil time in which they live. And the outcome of not being aware of God in the days of our lives is that the evil in which they've surrounded themselves with will unfortunately, and with great suddenness, unexpectedly bring its judgment to their lives. It leaves a permanent judgment and stain. You probably have known someone who's riding high on top of their game and then something unexpected happens. Maybe the athlete who's in college is destined to be a star football player, baseball player. And one day at practice, he has a heart attack and he dies. We expected him to be something and to go somewhere and everyone did, but not always. It doesn't always work out. A financial crisis leaves a successful investor penniless. Or you have a job, and now you don't have one. You're still available, but your job is not. Solomon, with very kind of poetic language, illustrates the drive home the point that we shouldn't be surprised when our life takes a sudden turn. It's like a fish and a cruel net. It's like a bird caught in a snare. Both of them living their lives, if it's all as well. But then that sudden kind of change in fortune, that unexpected turn of events, that adventure that goes sour, the wheels that come off. Who could have seen this happening? How many of you could have predicted what we've seen the last few months? How valuable that we know the Lord as we face a life that is unpredictable? I wrote in my Bible something, I would love to tell you who said it, but I don't know. But I heard it, and I wrote it down because I liked it, but this gentleman on this one particular verse, at some point in my life, when I was listening, said I've learned two things in this life. Number one, that there's a God. And number two, I'm not him. And that's a pretty good lesson, right? The Lord is the one that's in charge. In fact, Solomon would write in Psalm, no, no, in Proverbs 21, there's no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord. You know, horses can be prepared for the day of battle, but the deliverance comes from him. So you can plan all you like and assume all you want, but God's gonna speak last. God's gonna speak loudest. That's good for us to know as Christians. That is something the world needs to know. Because we as believers should not forgive that when God has our lives, your life is no longer a matter of coincidence because that's all you would see, but it is a manner of providence. In other words, God is the designer. He's the engineer or the builder. The word providence means that God's hand overrules your life. It's a supernatural work of God, but it's done in a natural way. And so, you know, so often when you look back over your life, as a Christian, you can see, oh man, how the Lord work, I met this person, I went to this job interview, I showed up in this place, somebody stopped along the way and I met the, and it looks like, gosh, the Lord was working. When you're in the midst of stuff, it's harder to see God's hands oftentimes. And to look forward, that's even harder to predict, right? We almost have to just look up and hang on. So if you look at life from Solomon's perspective, life is unpredictable, but if you look at it through God's point of view, as his people, you can say your life is providential. It's not precarious, it's purposeful. Darby who, I actually have a Bible translation, it's not the best one, but he was a Bible commentator for years, he said of this verse, God's ways are always found behind the scenes, and he moves all the scenes which he is behind. So, there is unpredictability in the horizontal living of life without knowing God, but that unpredictability can be overcome by the knowledge of the providence of a loving God. So, although the world's freaking out, I don't think we should be. God's in charge, he knows what he's doing. Do I always like what God's doing? No, can I explain to you what he's doing? I cannot. Are his ways beyond my finding out? Absolutely, but he's not. And so, under the sun, there was time that's coming, there's chance that's coming, and if you don't know the Lord, people live in evil times that will ensnare them, unaware, and unexpectedly it'll fall upon them, but that shouldn't happen to you. This might be, oh my gosh, we didn't see it coming. All right, but we see the Lord, and we rest in him. Second of all, beginning in verse 13, Solomon then takes that same view of the world, and he says, you know, when the world honors things, it honors the great and the mighty, it's not the way God works. So not only is life unpredictable, their world's view of life is untenable, you can't live that kind of life. Here's what he says in verse 13. This is the wisdom that I've also seen under the sun, it seemed very great to me, here's his explanation. There was a little city with few men in it, when a great king came and besieged it, came against it, and built great snares around it. And yet there was found in that city a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city, and yet no one remembered that poor man, that same poor man. So here's a picture, right? You live in a little city in Israel, it has a wall around it, like most safe cities would. And yet it's kind of a wall you don't need because nobody has anything. There's few people there, everyone's poor, and yet one day you wake up, and you hear the horses hooves outside, and the military beginning to gather, and you look over the fence, and now they're building ramparts to kind of get to you over the wall, and you realize death is certainly going to be around the corner for you, there's no way out, no way to turn, no place to look. And you find yourself, this is it, life is over. And that was true until they had a city council meeting, and there was one poor man who was never regarded by anyone as much, but he had some ideas, and through his diplomacy, through his wisdom, whatever that is, we aren't told. He was able to deliver this very small and poor town from a very big and threatening enemy. But the irony for Solomon in verse 15 is, when that deliverance has taken place, no one remembers this hero for long. In other words, that's just not the way the world cares. He brought great deliverance. He delivered people from a death that was sure, but somehow, when he did, no one seemed to care. The underdog being bullied and threatened with certain defeat is saved by a poor weak man who is wise, and when the deliverance come, no one applauds the wisdom that this man brought to the table, though he was weak and though he was poor. Let's look at the other side of things. The world is always impressed with the great, the great king, the great army, the one that can ensnare and capture the weak, might is honored wisdom, not so much. The world honors heroes that are far different than the Lord would honor, for example. Let's look at the world. The world honors exalts, movie stars, sports players, music artists. They flock to hear them, they pay to see them, and then they have to put up with their baloney to tell them how to live. But what about the doctor or the teacher? Although I think the teacher in the next couple of months is gonna be more greatly valued by parents who are gonna have their kids at home, or the police officer who has been risking his neck with these idiots in the streets. How do they get honored? Well, we don't honor them, the great parent, or the football player who is blocking on the line to be sure that the quarterback looks good. No one remembers them. No one bothers to think about them. The songwriter is far less honored than the singer. The actor far more honored than the screenwriter. And so it goes, you do it in the church too. Pastors get honored, worship leaders get honored, maybe the singers as well. But how many of you have gone over to the Sunday school to a teacher in roommate who's been there 25 years and said, "Man, we're so thankful for you being here." A lot of you wouldn't know him or her name, or the janitor, or the folks that work with the last three days outside to put the can of bees up in between the buildings and we're here at five o'clock, six o'clock in the morning setting up chairs and making sure everything was ready. Those are people of honor, and certainly they get the least honor. You've probably all heard of D.L. Moody, who was known for his great boldness and all. But there's a man in his life when he was young named Edward Kimball, he owned a shoe store in Chicago called Holton's Shoes. And when D.L. Moody was a young man and went in to get shoes, Edward Kimball began to witness to him and then to come back and share some more with him. And when he got saved, he became kind of his mentor. And I don't think that there would have ever been a D.L. Moody in the world without this unknown hero, Edward Kimball, who ministered to him for years. When Paul wrote his first Christian, Corinthian letter, chapter 12, he said, you know, there's a lot of members in the body. And we do have members, but we're only one body. You can't all, the I can't say to the hand, I don't have any need of you. And neither can the head say to the feet, I don't need you. But so often in the body, we give honor to the weaker parts, which is interesting because, you know, you can go to church and look in your mirror and do I shave and I put on my makeup and do I look as good as I could be, but you can live without a lot of that stuff. But your heart and your liver, your lungs, those better work. That's really where your strength and your life is found. But we give honor to look how beautiful her hair is or how handsome he looks. We lose track of the value of the individual. And that's kind of, I think, what Solomon is pointing to here. Being anonymous never means you're unnecessary. The most important man in this little story in this city was the poor, unknown, quickly forgotten, deliverer. So from the standpoint of living our lives in the world, we might very well, you know, feel like we're not needed. But you should never stop seeking to reach your family or be in fellowship with your friends or preach the gospel. You might feel unappreciated, unknown, unapplauded. But I think that it is the quiet heroes that keep the work of God alive while the world seeks to applaud the wrong people in the wrong place. I'll take a teacher over a quarterback. I'll take a doctor over a rapper. In fact, I'll just take anything over a rapper. I'll take a faithful Christian praying and serving in a local body over a national known evangelist who gathers 20,000 people together and then just heads out of town. Solomon's lesson is pretty stark. Wisdom, the kind that brings deliverance to many, may very well be set aside by the majority. In other words, they don't honor or embrace what God has said. Even as they don't look to the Lord in the unpredictability of life, when it comes to deliverance, they don't really look to the right place. Look at this story here. I think that in the story that the city is you and I and that Satan is the one outside looking to overthrow us and we have no hope than coming to us, taking flesh like us. Jesus comes to deliver, to give life. And unfortunately, though that's true, many people forget him. They look, "Oh Lord, help me when I'm in trouble." And then set him aside. He's the poor wise man who comes to offer life to any who will look to him, but many won't. Well, Solomon ends this portion by saying in verse 16 and 17 and 18, "You might feel like you're not noticed or listened to or very impactful, but in the end, it is God's wisdom in your life that is going to save you and make you the most valuable person to be here around." So here's what he says as he ends in verse 16. "Then I said, 'Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless, the poor man's wisdom is despised as words are not heard. The words of the wise spoken quietly should be heard rather than the shouting of the rulers of fools. But wisdom is better than weapons of war, though one sinner can destroy much good." Solomon, having said that much of life is neither predictable or in our control. And the life that we live in the world is a world that celebrates and rewards and worships temporary idols rather than worshiping God. We might be tempted to give up on the wisdom of God and say, "Well, that's not working. Look where that's got me." But the answer is, "It'll get you where you need to be with him, not so fast." Says Solomon, "Just wait a minute. God's wisdom in your life and God's word in your heart, life lived through looking at life with God's perspective, is the only way you can live. The wise are the skillful who take God's word and apply it to their lives." Twice notice he says it here. Wisdom is better, verse 16. Verse 18, "Wisdom is better. It's better than worldly strength, better than the weapons of war. And even though one sinner, verse 18, can destroy much good through a poor man's wisdom, though he's not often heard and he lives his life without fanfare and quiet life, it is he that is going to have the influence, not the voices and the shouts of fools. God's going to be able to use him living by his strength. Solomon in writing proverbs used this word, what wisdom which talked about God's ways in the life of the saint. 120, I think, five times. That classic about trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him, he'll direct your path and don't be wise in your own eyes. Hear the Lord and depart from evil. It'll be healthier to your, I think the King James says, "Health your navel." But I think the word is flesh. It'll be strength to your bones. So, submit yourself to the Lord, walk in his wisdom, realizing he is in control, and then rest in what he's given you because that's the wise way to live. We live, you know, right now in a world that is just at war, it's the battle, right? It's the culture. There's much battle between religion and politics. Dave Roth was a good friend and pastor, said it a couple of days ago, mixing religion and politics is like mixing manure with ice cream. It won't hurt the manure, but it'll sure make your ice cream take terrible. And he said, "I'd rather just have the ice cream." So, we're in that battle right now, right? There's lots of upheaval. And yet, God is good and he's in charge and is where his work. And you may feel like you're in the minority and the church is being kind of pressed down and pushed out of the way, but I doubt that's gonna happen because we serve a God who wants to reach the world and though we're obligated to kind of follow along with the rules, we're also obligated to speak up for him. And I think this might be a time as never before. Certainly, the wisdom of God is better than strength and the wisdom of God is better than weapons of war. Hey, sinners can wreck a lot of things, but somebody's standing at with God's word and their hands can accomplish much. So, wisdom's gonna win out every battle God can deliver through his son. Some trust in chariots we read, some in horses, but we're gonna trust in the name of the Lord our God. Most folks in the world will not appreciate your wisdom, but it can save a soul. They may not appreciate your stance as you preach Jesus. Maybe it'll bring ridicule to you or dismissal of you, but yet Paul said to the Corinthians that the wisdom of God is even wiser than men and the foolishness of God, the preaching of God's word makes it even stronger than men. So Solomon, in looking at the world, said, "Look, we can't predict what's gonna happen, "but we know who is in charge." And because of that, we can rejoice and not just presume. And even though the world is quick to applause what they honor is the world, you're probably not gonna find that here. You're gonna be that little guy who has great wisdom in how to get saved, but nobody's applauding. No one's listening. You feel like you're just speaking to a wall. And though you should be heard, it is your quiet speaking that will override the shouts of the rulers that are just fools. You'll be stronger and win more battles by serving the Lord. And I'm hoping that we as a church can do that during this weird time where everybody's just at each other's throat. God's gonna help us and use us in ways that maybe never would otherwise. So we're looking forward to what God is gonna do. Amen. Well, let's pray together. Father, we thank you this morning for your word to us. We thank you for sending your son. We thank you that wisdom, your wisdom is gonna win out in the end, that you're the Lord, that you're the one in charge, that you're the one that we can look to. And though we certainly can't tell what tomorrow is gonna bring, we do know that you're in charge of tomorrow and that your decisions about tomorrow are gonna be perfect for us. And we're gonna just look forward to your plans. Thank you, God, that you're good all the time, that your ways are always good, that you work everything together for good. And so we're gonna look to you. We're gonna rest in you. And if this morning you don't know the Lord, maybe you're listening or someone invited to tune in and you realize you don't have that relationship with God or that assurance. The easy thing is, look, God is everywhere, he's listening to you even now. And if you'll say, Lord, I'm a sinner, I need forgiveness. Thank you for sending your son. Please take my life, make it your own. Fill me with your spirit, show me your way. God will do that, he won't turn you away. You can't mess that prayer up, he sees your heart. And the minute you call upon him, you'll be saved. And God will begin to make himself known to you. Since you're at home watching online, this third service, just go down to the bottom, wherever you're watching, whatever platform you're on, there'll be a link that you can click and get to a page that talks to you about receiving the Lord and what God promises to do. If you need more help tomorrow morning, call the church. And we'll be happy to just pray with you, talk to you, and rejoice with you. The God through all of this is still speaking to us and reaching out to us and giving us life. [MUSIC PLAYING] Well, thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and rating our podcast. You can visit us on the web at morningstarcc.org and on our YouTube channel at MorningstarCC. Again, that's at MorningstarCC. If you'd like to support this podcast, please look us up at patreon.com/morningstarcc. Again, that's patreon, p-a-t-r-e-o-n.com/morningstarcc. [MUSIC PLAYING]
