Studies In Ecclesiastes

Studies In Ecclesiastes Presentation 10

Ingratitude To Wisdom Chapter 9v13-10v7 Presentation 10

Introduction One way or another every schoolboy has heard of Archimedes. Famous for producing the formula 2r2 which measures the area of a circle. He discovered the principle of buoyancy shouting ‘eureka’ as he jumped out of his bath. He invented a water screw still used for irrigation in parts of the Middle East today. Archimedes lived in the little town of Syracuse which for 3 years was unsuccessfully besieged by the might of the Roman Empire. Archimedes designed all sorts of machines to frustrate the Romans. In time of danger it was Archimedes the poor wise man to the rescue. Presentation 10

Introduction But Archimedes was soon forgotten by the inhabitants of Syracuse. It is clearly someone like Archimedes that writer has in mind in these verses. For here he describes the unappreciated deliverer. Presentation 10

The Wisdom Of God The writer of Ecclesiastes was in the first instance addressing Israel. And the wisdom that he has in mind at this juncture is the wisdom which comes from God. You see in spite of all of Israel's political, economic and military weakness, she had great strength - she had unique access to the word and the wisdom of God. But Israel had demonstrated her ingratitude by rejecting that wisdom. Time and again she had rejected God’s wisdom and had shown remarkable ingratitude for God's remarkable past deliverances. Presentation 10

The Wisdom Of God When Ahaz was on the throne, Jerusalem was besieged by a confederation of foreign kings. What was to be done? The prophet Isaiah encouraged Ahaz to trust in God to bring deliverance and pointed to God’s track record. But Ahazrejected the wisdom of God. He wrote God off as a piece of ancient history, reasoning that what was needed was not faith but military might, and so he forged an alliance with the ungodly Assyrian king and stripped God's temple of its wealth to pay for foreign help. God was locked out. 2Chron.28 cf. Isa. 7 Presentation 10

The Wisdom Of God Years earlier Israel had been in danger of loosing the land of Canaan. She had been disarmed by the Philistines who had the very latest in military hardware - her chariots were equivalent to the modern chieftain tank. What chance did Israel have? Humanly speaking none. In that situation God raised up a prophet called Samuel. He had access to God's wisdom and under his leadership Israel won through to a place of political stability hitherto unknown. When Israel was secure what did she say to Samuel? Presentation 10

The Wisdom Of God "Samuel we don't want you any more, we want to be like other nations, we want our own king to lead our army into battle” [1Sam.8]. Clearly they thought that a little bit of religion was OK in its place but they didn’t want to be laughed at by other nations as a people who were different! And so Samuel who had poured years of his life into shaping Israel was asked to step down. God encouraged Samuel with an illuminating comment, ‘it is not you they have rejected as their king but me’ v7. By rejecting Samuel they were closing God out. They had benefited from God's wisdom but met it with ingratitude. Presentation 10

The City Of Our Lives Have things changed so much after all these years? The city in danger can be likened to our daily lives. Was there a time in your life when things were at a very low ebb? You saw no solution. You felt besieged by some impossible circumstances, perhaps in connection to your marriage, business, family or health. And into the chaos came one whom you had forgotten; perhaps he came in response to a distress signal that you posted. Along came a poor wise man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His remedy brought you relief and deliverance. You felt life was worth living again. Now asks the preacher, "with what gratitude do you remember that deliverance"? Presentation 10

The City Of Our Lives As the trauma of our emergency slips into the past, does our gratitude to our Deliverer also evaporate? Has he become an embarrassment to us? He might not be popular with our family, our work colleagues and our friends and so we quietly drop him. Is he pushed into a spare room like an embarrassing relative that we don't want our visitors to see? Is that how we treat the one who has delivered us? Presentation 10

The Folly Of Rejection The question asked in ch.10 is, ‘has our ingratitude made us fools?’ A dead fly can foul the most fragrant perfume. What a vivid picture that conjures up- the fouling of something beautiful. It is possible for the costly work of Christ upon the cross to be fouled by our stupidity. God's grace is like a precious ointment. It comes to us through Christ; that is its rarity. It cost him his death upon the cross that is its costliness. We contaminate God's grace when we allow ingratitude to fester in our hearts. Have we deliberately forgotten the poor wise man and all he has done for us? Presentation 10

The Folly Of Rejection Verses2-3 speak of the struggle to make the right decisions... In the Bible right and left are a sort of shorthand for right and wrong. Now until the poor wise man broke into the city of our lives by his grace we never really struggled over decisions. Before his involvement with us our tendency was to live to please ourselves. Decision making was simply a matter of asking, ‘what best suits me?’ But his intervention changed all that – or ought to have! Now there is an awareness of an allegiance to our Deliverer. We feel ourselves to be under obligation. The spiritually wise will ask, ‘what course of action will please Christ?’, while the fool continues to please himself. Presentation 10

The Folly Of Rejection Before Christ breaks into a man's life his decisions tend to be influenced by the kind of selfishness that asks, ‘what’s good for me?’ But enter the poor wise man and life becomes complicated. There is a new factor in our living - the old way or, His way. That is the struggle for the Christian, two voices, two influences, two powers. Christ counsels us to choose the way of openness, purity, truth and love but the old influence counsels the fools way. How does one recognise the fool? His behaviour will be apparent for all to see. Hardness of heart, coldness of love for Christ, or words of devotion that have no ring of sincerity to them. And a preoccupation with self. Presentation 10

The Folly Of Rejection In v5-7 we are asked about life's priorities. Our priorities tell us who rules the city of our lives. Our lives have a control centre that is either operated by Christ or by self. Those who reject the poor wise man, sit before the control console and when self is in control the priorities of our lives are upside down cf6-7.. Are foolish things given first place in our lives? Have desire, greed, and lust, seized power from the rightful princes of self-control, patience and courtesy. Have the graces of Christ been imprisoned in the dungeon of our lives? Have we wrong priorities? If Christ has delivered us surely we want our lives to be patterned on his? Presentation 10

The Folly Of Rejection This is not simply a picture of how an unbeliever behaves but sadly describes the behaviour of many professing Christians. In crisis we have stretched out our hand to for help. Initially God is made welcome but afterward discarded and forgotten. Over the past week how much time have I, have you, consciously spent trying to please him? Have we abandoned wisdom, the poor wise man, the eternal Son of God in favour of other influences? Presentation 10

The Soreness Of Rejection Christians sometimes ask whether it has been worthwhile cultivating a certain lifestyle, adopting certain standards and giving themselves in the service of others only to discover that, like the poor wise man, they are forgotten, the victims of ingratitude. Jesus was met with ingratitude but that did not hinder his service. He did not grumble over the lack of appreciation that he received from those he came to serve. At the end of his life he could say, "Father I have glorified you” Jn. 17v.4. Pleasing the Father and enjoying the Father's smile more than compensated for the ingratitude of others. Presentation 10

The Soreness Of Rejection Can we see our Christian service in that light? Is it more important to us than anything else to hear the Father say, "Well done good and faithful servant.” Matt.25.23? You may know something of the great hurt of ingratitude caused by friends, colleagues or, members of your family. But do not allow that to overwhelm you for you are living your life first and foremost for God. Presentation 10

The Soreness Of Rejection Some time ago I read of the pain of many of the American Viet-Nam war veterans. Do you know the single greatest factor that frustrated their rehabilitation? It was the sense of ingratitude, indifference and coldness that met them upon their return home. Their costly service for their nation seemed to them such a waste since the nation’s attitude to that war had changed so dramatically from when it had first begun. Like those veterans you may have experienced the soreness of cruel abandonment and know what it is to feel used and despised? Presentation 10

Conclusion The question we need to ask is, ‘Does Jesus feel that same sense of abandonment because of our ingratitude towards the one who has done so very much for us?’ Has the ‘poor wise man’ diagnosed the poison of rebellion and ingratitude in our hearts? Has his word wounded us? The Lord Jesus gazes into our faces in order to say, ‘Don't take this grace of mine in vain’. He wants to create a tender heart and an obedient will and as that is achieved Jesus Christ will not be neglected but given his rightful place as our Lord. Presentation 10

Studies In Ecclesiastes