Life Isn't Fair, Get Over It! Ecclesiastes 8:10-17 (NKJV)

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, October 11, 2015 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister MESSAGE 13 in Ecclesiastes Sermon Series ( Finding Meaning In A Meaningless World ) Life Isn't Fair, Get Over It! Ecclesiastes 8:10-17 (NKJV) As we continue with our series of messages from the Book of Ecclesiastes, please turn with me in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter eight. And let's read verses ECCLESIASTES 8:10-17 (NKJV) 10 Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. 11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God. 14 There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it. P R A Y E R

2 I N T R O D U C T I O N ILLUSTRATION: We were all stunned recently to hear the news that a gunman shot and killed ten innocent people at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The victims ranged in age from 18 to 67. What was even more stunning was that the shooter targeted his victims for no other reason than that they were Christians. An eyewitness to the shootings by the name of Anastasia Boylan, said the killer would ask the students to stand up and identify their religion. If they said they were Christian, he said, Good, because you are about to see God in one second. And then he shot them dead. Had the victims been targeted because they were black, or gay, or Muslim, there would have been rioting in the city streets all across the country and the media would have portrayed the killings as heinous hate crimes. But because the victims were Christians all our president and the media could talk about was the need for more gun legislation. ************************************* When we hear news like this we shake our heads and ask, Why? Why is life so unfair? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do the wicked prosper, while the godly suffer? Why do evil scoundrels live long, happy lives, while God's people often seemingly die before their time? WHY? WHY? WHY? This was a question JOB struggled with. Job is described in God's word as A man who was blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil. And yet despite his righteous living, God allowed Job to suffer the loss of everything he owned, and the loss of all ten of his children, and the loss of his health. And Job struggled to understand WHY God would allow all these terrible things to happen to him.

3 In PSALM 73, Asaph cries out to GOD about the unfairness of life. In that Psalm, Asaph bemoans the fact that he had observed how wicked, evil men seemed to prosper, and seemingly live long, happy lives. He complained to God about how the wicked scoffed at God and seemingly God let them get by with it. And in verses 13, 14 of Psalm 73 Asaph cries out to GOD, Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning. What Asaph is saying is, God, I have tried to live a holy and righteous life. I have tried to live according to Your commands, and do what pleases You, and yet I have suffered greatly. What's the use? What is to be gained by living a righteous life? ***************** Many Christians today struggle with this same sense of frustration expressed by Job and by Asaph. Many are under the false notion that if you live a good, righteous life GOD will protect you from all of life's unfairness and injustice. That notion is completely contradictory to the scriptures. In fact, the scriptures teach us the exact opposite. Jesus said to His disciples in John 16:33 (NKJV)... These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation (TROUBLES) ; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. JESUS didn't say life is going to be fair! He didn't say If you follow Me you will never have anything bad happen to you. He said, In this world you WILL HAVE TROUBLE, but be of good cheer, I had lots of troubles while I was here too, and I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.

4 Solomon addresses this issue of UNFAIRNESS in this eighth chapter of Ecclesiastes. In fact, Solomon speaks a lot about unfairness throughout the Book of Ecclesiastes. And in today's message we are going to see that you and I have a choice in how we are going to live our lives in this unfair world. (1) We can either go through life whining and complaining about all of life's unfairness and injustice. (2) Or we can accept the truth that life in this fallen world is never going to be fair, but GOD is still in control and in the end He is going to make all things right. ******************** In our text there are three key thoughts I would like to share with you. First of all... I. There Is A LIFE To AVOID (v. 10) 10 Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. 1. Have you ever been to a funeral of someone who was a known scoundrel and heard a preacher say a bunch of nice, flowery words about the deceased, and wondered to yourself if you were at the wrong funeral?

5 HUMOROUS ILLUSTRATION Once there lived two brothers who were VERY RICH. Both were scoundrels who had cheated lots of people to attain their wealth. Well as time went by, one of the brothers died. The other brother went to the local preacher with an envelope in hand. He said, Preacher, there s enough money in this envelope to completely pay off your new Church building, if you ll just do one thing for me. The preacher said, What s that? The man said, All you have to do is tell everybody at the funeral tomorrow what a saint my brother was. The preacher agreed to do what the man asked and promptly went to the bank to deposit the man s money in the Church s bank account. Sure enough, the next day at the funeral the preacher was true to his word. In his eulogy he said, The man lying in this casket was an ungodly sinner and wicked to the core. He was unfaithful to his wife and abusive to his children, and a complete scoundrel in his business dealings. But compared to his brother, he was A SAINT! 2. In this 10 th verse Solomon is telling us he had witnessed the funerals of many wicked men who were praised as saints when they died. Notice, he says, these wicked men had come and gone from the place of holiness. In all likelihood, Solomon is describing the rich politicians and hypocritical religious leaders who went to the Temple in Jerusalem to give the Jewish people the impression they were real religious, when in fact they scoffed at GOD and lived wicked, immoral lives. And yet at their funerals you would thought they were some of the most righteous men who ever lived by the words of praise that were spoken about them. And yet once the funeral was over, Solomon says they were soon forgotten. Then he says, This also is vanity.

6 3. Life is full of this type of unfairness and injustice. -The student who cheats on a test gets an A and doesn't get caught, while the honest student who studied hard and didn't cheat gets a C-. -The worker who stabbed you in the back gets a promotion while you get stuck at the same pay grade. -A guy comes barreling down the highway doing 80 mph and doesn't get caught, while you get pulled over for not wearing your seat belt. -The coach's son or daughter gets to start every ball game while your son or daughter who is a better athlete has to sit on the bench. -A Christian wife is left to raise three kids on her own after her cheating husband leaves her for some blonde bimbo he met at work. -The government determines to take away your hard earned money and spread the wealth to people who refuse to get off their lazy rear ends and go to work. 5. Listen carefully! If you obsess over all the unfairness and injustice in this life, rather than focus on GOD, your life can become consumed with bitterness, and anger, and resentment. 6. If you obsess over all the unfairness and injustice in life, you will always see yourself as a victim and your life will turn into one continuous pity party! 7. Brothers and sisters, Life in this fallen, sin-cursed world is NOT FAIR! It never has been and it never will be! SO GET OVER IT! We must AVOID a LIFE of bitterness and resentment over life's UNFAIRNESS!

7 But not only is there A LIFE TO AVOID... II. There Is AN ATTITUDE To REJECT (v.11) 11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 1. Why doesn't GOD throw lightning bolts down from heaven and zap those who do evil things? It is because GOD is a merciful and patient GOD, who gives man the opportunity to repent of his wrong doing. ROMANS 2:4 God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. 2. God gives man the time and the opportunity to do the right thing. He gives man the chance to repent of his wrong doing. 3. But what Solomon is telling us in this 11 th verse is that man usually does the exact opposite. Instead of repenting of his sin, he takes advantage of God's mercy and patience, and continues to sin some more. 4. Brothers and sisters, we must REJECT the ATTITUDE that just because I got by with SIN this time, its OK to go ahead and sin a second time, and a third time. 5. We must never give into the notion that just because the consequences of SIN don't come immediately, doesn't mean there will never be any consequences. Just because one doesn't get caught. Just because nothing bad happens, just because there were no consequences the first time, doesn't mean there will never be any consequences.

8 6. There are ALWAYS consequences to SIN! ALWAYS! Galatians 6:7(NKJV) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Romans 3:23 (NKJV) The wages of SIN is death. Numbers 32:23 (NKJV) Be sure your sins will find you out. 7. One may smoke cigarettes for years and suffer no serious consequences. Then one day they go to the doctor and after some tests they discover they have lung cancer. You see, it wasn't the 10,000 th cigarette that ruined their health, the consequences started mounting after they smoked that very first cigarette. One may drink alcohol for years and suffer no serious consequences, then one day their marriage falls apart, or they lose their job, or they find out they have sclerosis of the liver. Was it that 5,000 th bottle of beer that did them in? No, it was the first bottle. The consequences started mounting after they drank that very first beer. One may engage in an adulterous relationship and it remain a secret for a long, long time. Then one day his wife divorces him or he gets a sexually transmitted disease, or a jealous husband shoots him dead. Was it that 100 th rendezvous that did him in? NO! The consequences started mounting after the very first rendezvous.

9 8. Christian brother, Christian sister, listen to me! If you are engaged in any sort of habitual or addictive sinful behavior and you think you have gotten by with it, think again. The fact that GOD hasn't brought swift judgment upon you means He has shown great patience and mercy towards you. He has demonstrated His kindness towards you in order to give you the opportunity to repent of your sins before its too late. There Is A LIFE To AVOID, and that is a life of bitterness and resentment over life's unfairness. There Is An ATTITUDE To REJECT, and that is just because you don't feel the consequences of sin immediately that its OK to continue sinning. And thirdly...

10 III. There Is A TRUTH To Be BELIEVED (v.12,13) 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God. 1. In these verses Solomon is revealing two truths we must believe: Truth #1: Every Sinner Will One Day Receive His Due Punishment v. 13a But it will not be well with the wicked. We must understand that most justice will NOT come in this life, but in the life to come. Right now it seems very unfair to us that evil people seemingly are getting by with their wickedness, but we can rest assured pay day is coming! If you and I could see what awaits evil men and women in the life to come we would never waste a day being bitter or resentful because they didn't get what was coming to them in this life. -Every murderer who got away with his or her crime. -Every rapists who never spent a day behind bars. -Every child molester who destroyed the life of an innocent young girl or boy.

11 -Every drug dealer who never got caught for selling drugs. -Every corrupt politician who supported godless, anti-christian causes. -Every atheistic college professor who attacked Christian beliefs. -Every Hollywood actor and actress who mocked Christianity. -Every crooked businessman who cheated people out of their hard-earned money. One day every last one of them will get what's coming to them! One day every one of them will reap what they have sown! They will be cast into outer darkness where they will be weeping and gnashing of teeth forever and ever. Now, here's the second truth we must believe... Truth #2: Every Righteous Man Will One Day Receive His Due Reward Notice what Solomon says in the last part of v.12 I surely know that it will be well with those who fear GOD, who fear before Him. Does it pay to live for GOD? Does it pay to live a life of righteousness rather than unrighteousness? ABSOLUTELY! When you and I die, we are going to a place where all of the unfairness and injustices of this life will be made right.

12 Children who were taken from us at a young age will be given back to us. We will be reunited with our Christian parents who seemingly were taken from us far too soon. We will be reunited with that Christian husband or wife who's life was cut tragically short by cancer or some other disease. It will be well with those who fear GOD, who fear before Him. ***************************************************** C O N C L U S I O N Let me give you some food for thought as we close this message: NO ONE EVER EXPERIENCED AS MUCH UNFAIRNESS AND INJUSTICE AS JESUS WHEN HE WAS HERE ON EARTH. -It wasn't FAIR that JESUS had to go through those mock trials and be condemned to die on the false testimony of a bunch of liars. -It wasn't FAIR that JESUS had to endure a merciless, brutal beating at the hands of the Roman soldiers. -It wasn't FAIR that JESUS had to suffer a horrible, agonizing death on the cross. -It wasn't FAIR that JESUS had to pay the penalty for your sins and mine! And yet never once did JESUS threaten to get even or seek revenge on those who had treated Him unfairly. Instead, I Peter 2:23 says, He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. One day GOD will right every wrong...correct every injustice... and balance the scales of UNFAIRNESS. and balance the scales of UNFAIRNESS. AND THEN IT WILL BE WELL WITH THOSE WHO FEAR GOD!