Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, October 25, 2015 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister MESSAGE 15 in Ecclesiastes Sermon Series ( Finding Meaning In This Meaningless World ) Three Valuable Lessons About Life Ecclesiastes 9:11-18 (NKJV) Today as we continue with our series of messages from the Book of Ecclesiastes, please open your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter nine. And let's read verses 11-18. ECCLESIASTES 9:11-18 (NKJV) 11 I returned and saw under the sun that The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare, So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, When it falls suddenly upon them. 13 This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14 There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man. 16 Then I said: Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. 17 Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.
I N T R O D U C T I O N We are all familiar with the saying, If I only knew then, what I know now. Imagine if you will a time machine that would allow the you that you are now to travel back in time and have a conversation with the younger you. What valuable life lessons do you suppose you might teach the younger you? Sadly, many of the life lessons you and I have learned have come from our mistakes in life. And the truth is you and I won't ever live long enough to learn everything there is to learn from our mistakes. And so we must learn from the mistakes of others. Solomon spent the better part of his life in a vain pursuit to FIND MEANING IN THIS MEANINGLESS WORLD, only to discover in the very twilight years of his life what life is truly all about. In today's scripture text, Solomon teaches us Three Valuable Lessons About Life that everyone of us needs to learn.
Life Lesson #1: Life Will Hurt You (v.11,12) 1. In verses 11, 12 Solomon reveals two causes of great hurt in this life. (A) We will get hurt by UNFAIRNESS. (v.11) 11 I returned and saw under the sun that The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. Chances are, when you and I were young we were taught things like, If you share with others, others will share with you, and If you treat people right, they will treat you right. And, If you are nice to people, they will be nice to you. But Solomon is telling us, that isn't always true. Life doesn't always turn out like we think it should. *The fastest runners don't always win the race. (think of the tortoise and the hare.) *The strongest don't always win the battle. (Goliath should have defeated David hands down, but he didn't.)
*Those with superior intelligence don't always make a fortune. (Think of the countless stock traders who are homeless and living on the streets.) *Those with incredible skills don't always get the best jobs. (There are thousands of skilled workers sitting at home drawing unemployment) *The hardest working students don't always get the scholarships...the best teams don't always become champions...the most loyal employees don't always get the promotions...the good guys don't always win...the nice people don't always come out on top...the guilty don't always get punished...and The innocent don't always get justice. You see, Solomon is telling us there is often a huge gap between how things ought to be and how things are in the real world. Life isn't always fair, and that hurts! In verse 12 Solomon tells us another reason LIFE WILL HURT US... (B) We will get hurt by DEATH.. (v.12) 12 For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare, So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, When it falls suddenly upon them.
Solomon is painting a picture of life's uncertainty for us here. Imagine if you will a fish is swimming around having a good old time, when all the sudden it finds itself caught in a net. Had it known that net was there it would have swam in the opposite direction. But now it is caught in the net and this will be the last day of its life. And imagine if you will, a bird leaves the nest early in the morning, flying freely to and fro as it does each and every day, when all the sudden it flies into a trap and can't get out, and soon its life is over. Had the bird known the trap was there it wouldn't have flown into it. But now it is too late. That trap will become the bird's tomb. Likewise, none of us knows the day or time of our own death, nor do we know the day or time of our loved ones deaths. Like the fish and bird, you and I are going through the daily routine of life, then all the sudden our life turns on a dime. It may be that dreaded test result. Or it may be those heartbreaking words from the doctor saying, I'm sorry but there is nothing else we can do for your loved one. Or it may be that dreaded phone call in the middle of the night informing you one of your loved ones has died.
Most all of us here has felt the painful blow of death and though the hurt eases with the passing of time, our lives are never the same again. We live with that hurt every day for the rest of our lives. And were it not for the glorious hope we have through JESUS CHRIST that we will see our Christian loved ones again, life might be too unbearable to go on. But BY FAITH we do go on, realizing one day GOD will heal our hurt. Brothers and sisters, one of the most valuable life lessons you and I must learn is that LIFE WILL HURT YOU. None of us will go through life pain-free or trouble-free. LIFE WILL HURT, AND SOMETIMES IT WILL HURT VERY DEEPLY. Life Lesson #2: Life Will FORGET You (v.13-16) 13 This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14 There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man. 16 Then I said: Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
1. Solomon tells the interesting story here of a little town with few residents, that came under siege from a powerful King. And in this town there lived a poor wise man who became a great hero when he stood up to the King and saved his little town from falling into the King's hands. But then the hometown hero died, and was soon forgotten. THE END 2. Now that's a sad little story, isn't it? But it illustrates that no matter what heroic or noble things we may do in life we are soon forgotten once we die. Julian Barnes once said, We live, we die, we are remembered, and then we are forgotten. 3. Sadly, from a human standpoint that is true. When you die, your immediate family and friends will go through a period of intense grief and feel a tremendous sense of loss. But within a few months of your death, most people will have moved on with their lives, and except for a few rare occasions, no one will ever think about you. And by the time all those who knew you die off you will have been completely forgotten.
4. Think of all the things we do to try to keep the memory of a loved one alive. -When a loved one has been killed in an automobile accident you may see a cross and some flowers along the roadside marking the place where they lost their life. This is so they won't be forgotten. -Why do we put up gravestones bearing the name, and date of birth and date of death of our loved one? Because we don't want them to be forgotten. -When a family loses a son in war, you may see a decal on the back glass of their car or truck bearing the name of their fallen soldier, because they don't want people to forget their sacrifice. -In many Churches, and hospitals, and even public libraries, you will see GOLD MEMORIAL PLACARDS bearing the name of someone who died. Why do we do this? Because we don't want our loved one to be forgotten. 5. Even Jesus knew our propensity to forget people once they are gone; this was one of the reasons Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper with these instructions, That as often as you partake it, this do in remembrance of Me.
6. But while you and I may be soon forgotten after we die, we can take great comfort in knowing we will never be forgotten by the LORD. The only thing of our life here on earth that will be remembered are those things we do for the glory and honor of GOD. Those things will never be forgotten! HEBREWS 6:10 (NKJV) For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. REVELATION 14:13 (NIV) Then I heard a voice from heaven say, Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them. 7. This is a reminder to us that we shouldn't live for the empty praises of people, but rather the praise and approval of God. Well, so far we have considered two important life lessons. LIFE LESSON 1: LIFE LESSON 2: Life Will HURT You Life Will FORGET You Now, here is...
Life Lesson #3: Life Will TEACH You You (vs. 17,18) 17 Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good. 1. What Solomon is telling us is if you and I want to learn the greatest lessons on life, don't listen to the loud-mouthed, know-it-all or the sinful man who lives in disobedience to God; but rather learn from the wise, God-fearing man or woman who teaches by example, more than by words. 2. It is true that LIFE WILL HURT YOU and LIFE WILL FORGET YOU but if you and I will look at the example of wise, God-fearing people we will learn the most important life lesson of all, and that is all of our losses, all of our pain, all of our suffering, all of our sorrow, and all of our grief that we experience in life should drive us towards GOD, not away from Him. 3. LIFE here is hard! Marriage is hard! Parenting is hard! Living a life of holiness in an unholy world is hard! That is why we need JESUS! 4. Every bad day, every sad day, every unfairness, every injustice, and every inequity in life is just a reminder why we need a SAVIOR!
5. Life here under the sun without GOD is meaningless and hopeless! It is only when we live our lives in the fear of the LORD that life has meaning and purpose. ******************************************************************** C O N C L U S I O N The Eagle And The Mouse There is an old story about an eagle who, on an early morning during the spring thaw, soared high above the forest looking for something to eat. As he followed the course of a river he looked down and spied a small mouse trapped on a piece of ice that had broken free and was floating downstream. Seeing an easy meal, the eagle swooped down and landed on the piece of ice, killed the mouse and began to eat. As he ate his meal, he saw that his icy perch was rapidly approaching a water fall, but determined to finish his meal he kept on eating. As the ice neared the falls, the eagle finished his last bite and spread his mighty wings and attempted to fly as the chunk of ice started over the falls. But what the eagle didn't realize is that while he was satisfying his temporary hunger, the warmth of his talons had caused the ice to melt around his feet and he had become frozen to the piece of ice. No matter how hard he flapped his wings he could not dislodge himself from the chunk of ice and he plummeted to his death in the raging waters below. Just like that EAGLE, many people are clinging tightly to the temporary pleasures of this world, not realizing they are moving closer and closer to their eternal destruction. My friend, if you want to live forever hold loosely to the things of this world and hold tightly to the hand of GOD.