The following sermon was proclaimed at and then uploaded by Bible Baptist Church in McMinnville, Oregon. And now here with that message is Pastor Shawn McGoon. Ecclesiastes 8 is our text. The question is, what's the difference between sheep and politicians? Sounds like a crazy, sounds like a crazy question, but I read this story in Cadman, Maine. The Herald, that is the newspaper, ran two photos on the same page, and one photo was of the Cadman's board of select men and town manager, and the other photo was of a flock of sheep. And unintentionally, the captions were reversed, and under the picture of the sheep, the caption identified them left to right as the town officials. caption under the photo of the town fathers grouped around the table read the sheepfold naive and vulnerable they huddle for security against the uncertainties of the outside world well politicians aren't very popular today are they and the common slogan is question authority or if you see on the back of the car resist and sometimes they've got the president's name there, right? But here's a question this morning as we begin. Is it a wise thing to resist authority? Well, according to God's word, the preacher in Ecclesiastes as well as Apostle Paul in Romans 13 say no. And that brings up a question then, and that's where our sermon is gonna go. Three questions and we're done, you ready? First, how are Christians to relate to the government? Okay, that's a great question, isn't it? Especially if it's a godless government, but let's just say government. That's the question our text addresses. Another question is how can we accept what we cannot change? You could see how I could do whole sermons on each of these, okay? And then a third question, of course, is how can we enjoy what we cannot explain? I'll say it again. How is a Christian to relate to the government? Secondly, how can we accept what we cannot change? particularly in terms of injustices. And third, how can we enjoy what we cannot explain? You can't explain everything that's happened in the world, can you? I can't. Okay, so several ideas here in this text recall similar things the preacher, Solomon, has already said. And so you've got the notion that every matter has its time, verse six, that hearkens back to his poem on time in chapter three. Also his question in verse seven, who can tell them how it will be, in other words, in the future, repeats questions that he asked in chapter three, verse 11, and six, verse 12. Also the claim in verse 8, no one has power over the wind, reminds us the preacher's description of our lack of power with the repeated phrase when he says chasing after what? Wind. He said that in chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 4, chapter 6. And then this enigma And in verses 10 through 12, that the wicked are not punished but prolong their life, that was raised in chapter 3, 16, in chapter 4, verse 1, and in chapter 7, verse 15. Also, the preacher's conviction that God will reward those who fear him and punish the wicked, in verses 12 and 13, that was similar to what we saw in chapter 7, verses 17 and 18. And then, if you look at verse 15, his commendation of joy, of enjoying life, enjoyment, he made earlier in chapter 2, and in chapter 3, and in chapter 5. And he's going to again mention this enjoyment next week in chapter 9, and then two weeks later in chapter 11. And his search for wisdom in verse 16 is similar to what we saw in chapter 1, verse 13. And finally, his claim that man cannot find out all the work of God, verse 17, harkens back to chapter 1. chapter 3 and chapter 7 so we've been over this ground before but I'm so so I'm not going to try to you know lift every stone and see all the bugs underneath it okay so to speak we're not going to turn over every rock but we will go through verse by verse as we always do amen Sermon in a sentence, what's the big idea? You ready? Although we must use God's wisdom to survive in this fallen, unjust world. Dangerous, you could say. The world's a dark, dangerous place. Who would disagree with that? Right? Although we're to use God's wisdom to survive, I probably should have put thrive, okay, in this fallen, unjust world. Wisdom does not enable us to find out all the work of God. So all of a sudden you bump up against this. We're going to bump up against our wisdom, our human wisdom, the limits of it. And text is basically talking about living within wisdom's limits. That's the point. Our knowledge only goes so far. Our wisdom only goes so far. Even the wisdom God gives us, because we're not who? God. First then, he is going to tell us, submit to authority in verses one through nine. And he says, who is like the wise, he asked two rhetorical questions, who is like the wise and who knows the interpretation of a thing? And his expected answer to these questions is no one, in other words, not no one, period, but no one is as exalted as the wise man, on the one hand, and no one knows the interpretation of a thing except a wise person. That's his point, that truly the wise person is a rare commodity in the world. And how do we know that? In chapter seven, verse 28, he said he only found one wise person among a thousand. one wise man. Now here's what I'm going to ask. Have you ever read the Bible and scratched your head? Stroked your beard? I mean you come across some passages in the Bible that are hard to understand. Am I right or wrong? You know Peter says you know some of Paul's writings are hard to understand. 2 Peter 3 15 I think it is. Well the question is there are some passages that throw us for a loop. Okay, well, let's go further. Some people don't care about what the Bible says. What do you mean? What they really want to know is, how can I interpret what's happening in my life, providence-wise? So, for example, the mysterious providence of God, that he makes crooked things straight, or he makes straight things crooked in the world. So some people come to me, sometimes people ask, they'll say, Sean, is my suffering a sign of God's judgment, and thus a call for me to repent? Or is this an opportunity for God's grace, and thus a test of my faith? If someone asks you that, interpret my circumstances for me, will you? And you would say? Well, see, that's the thing. I mean, you're going to say, I don't know. The man or woman then who can solve such vexing problems is rare indeed. Here's my question. Do you pray for wisdom every day? James says what? If you lack wisdom, and it's what? If any man lacks wisdom, it's kind of almost an understatement, because everybody lacks what? Wisdom. Do you pray for wisdom daily? We need to. And yet, some individuals do have the gift of interpretation. What do you mean by that? Like interpreting tongues? No. What I'm talking about is like Joseph, who interpreted Pharaoh's dreams. Remember that? He told him exactly what's going to happen. And what did Pharaoh say? Where else can we find a wise man like this, through whom God is speaking? Genesis 41, 39. Or the prophet Daniel, who was wise enough not to eat the meat of the Babylonians, offered to their idols. And the Bible says, Daniel 1, 20, that in every matter of wisdom and understanding, Daniel knew, watch this, 10 times as much as any of the scholars or magicians in Babylon. And later we are told, that Daniel was the only man in the entire Babylonian kingdom who was wise enough to reveal and interpret King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Remember, the king said, I don't want just the interpretation, I want the dream. And the wise man said, not even if somebody came from heaven could he do that. Well, someone did come from heaven, by the way. Wisdom made Daniel's face shine. Look at verse one. A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. Interesting. So what he's getting at, that the wisdom then that made Daniel's face shine, the Babylonians noticed that Daniel's and his three friends' appearance was better than the appearance of their own young men. Daniel 1 verse 15. So you say, Sean, what has this got to do with us? What a great question. That the wisdom of the gospel in Jesus turns the frown of sin, right, into the smile of what? Grace. And so the preacher's not saying, put on a happy face. No, he's not saying that. He's not saying, you know, grin and bear it. He's not saying that. Instead, he's agreeing with his father David, Solomon is, that the people who look to the Lord are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed, Psalm 34, verse five. When Moses came out of the tent of meeting, his face what? Shined, he had to put a veil over it, right? So it's more than a metaphor. What he's saying is that true wisdom from God brings a joy to a person's life that changes everything, including a person's appearance. Here's my question. And I don't want you to feel guilty about this, but I'm gonna ask it. Are you, am I, a joyful Christian? Or have we become a curmudgeon? What's a curmudgeon? Well, you probably don't need to know. If you're not one, that's good. But what a difference wisdom's joy makes in our witness. We're showing people the joy, what it means to know Jesus, the joy of knowing Jesus as our Lord. Let me ask you this, do you think you will win more people by your grumpiness? No, it's by your what? Your gladness in Christ. And so then he goes on to tell us in verses two through five that the wise man or woman will submit to God-given authority. And he gives us three reasons, three reasons here. First, because of God's oath to the king, verse two. What's he talking about? Well, if the king was an Israelite king, this could refer to God's promise to David that the Messiah would be one of his heirs, okay? But the oath may refer to the subjects of the king's pledge of allegiance, like we give our pledge of allegiance to the flag, right? That we're pledging you know, to those whom God has appointed to govern us. But either way, whether it's the king's oath, God's giving an oath to the king, or whether the people are giving an oath to the king, a high view of God's providence is in mind here. In other words, he's saying, God who controls the times, chapter three we saw, also controls the reign of kings and politicians. He sets kings up and he puts them what? Down, Daniel 2, 21. Proverbs 21, 1, the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and he directs it wherever he will like course of water. Okay, that's the point. Question is, do you believe that? Because some people believe no, you know, politicians get in willy nilly, things just happen. We'll talk about it next week, time and chance, is that really what it's all about? Do we really believe that God rules and overrules, or do we assume that everything just randomly happens? Now, here's my question. Think of this. Jesus submitted to the Roman soldiers when they came to take him, am I right? He said he could have called legions, that means thousands of angels, but he didn't. And why not? Matthew 26, 53 says, because the scriptures must be fulfilled. Yeah, yeah. But also listen to this, because rulers like Pilate, he said, would have no authority at all unless it were given to them from God above, John 19, 11. And thus, here's the hard truth of our text. This is very difficult, I will tell you. Our attitude toward God-given authority is a reflection of our attitude toward God. It's true. So the application is in subordination to those in authority over us, whether it's, you can go through, it starts in the beginning when, you know, the kid says, the mom says, sit down. And he sits down, he says, I may be sitting down on the outside, but I'm standing up on the inside. So whether it's parents, you can think how it starts as a kid, talked about that last week, whether it's teachers in school or bosses or policemen or even presidents, et cetera, our insubordination to those in authority over us, God-given authority, shows an attitude of ingratitude toward God and mistrust in God. Instead, we're to be like Daniel and his three friends. What do they do? They don't compromise, but they're discreet and they're respectful, they're loyal and diligent and willing to endure persecution for Christ's sake. In other words, Jesus said, be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. As we serve our earthly masters and then Colossians and Ephesians knowing that you are serving the Lord Christ So our submission to authority on earth is one important part of our submission to Christ in heaven That's why it Paul says it in Romans 13 would be a really good cross-reference for this I know some people want to always talk about the limitations which we'll get to in a second But Paul says that the governing authorities have been set up by who? By God, and he says, you know, it's very interesting, just the first two verses of this chapter, let every person be subject to the governing authorities. Why? Four, because there is no authority except from God, and that those that exist, the authorities, have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, okay? And those who resist will incur judgment. And he goes on and gives various reasons for that. So the only exception would be when authorities forbid what God commands on the one hand, or command what God forbids on the other. Those are the only exceptions. So we'd have to know what God commands, and we'd have to know what God forbids, okay? We have to check scripture. But if we're getting pushed to go against God's word, it's time to stand firm against the government in that area. But we still gotta be respectful. We still got to what? Honor earthly rulers. That's what 1 Peter 2, verses 13 and 14 said. But remember in Acts 29 when they said, you can't speak in the name of Jesus anymore. They said, what? They said, we must obey God rather than man, Acts 5, 29. Why? Because, are you ready? Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. You say, well, Jesus said to render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Fine. Right? But if Caesar coins a different gospel, we're not rendering that, amen? Okay, well, so there are limits to the government. So Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. We're to believe that, we're to live it out, and if necessary, we are to die for it. There are many examples in scripture of people who died for their faith and the history of the church, yet we've got to still be in submission to the government where they're not contradicting the Bible, and we've got to honor earthly rulers. So, because of God's providence is the first reason. The second reason, verse five, is because of God's reward. Notice what he says. Whoever keeps a command, in other words, of the king, will know no evil thing, and the wiser heart will know the proper time and the just way. He's not giving us a promise that everything will go, an absolute promise that everything will go well in every case. He's giving us a valid principle. Why? Because you and I can do the right thing and still suffer for it. Isn't that true? Yeah, of course. But obedience to governing authorities generally has God's blessing. That's what he's saying. In most cases, submitting to the rule of law will keep us safe from harm. And this is one of the blessings of wisdom. It helps us know the right way to live, and it includes submitting to the government the way a loyal citizen should. Let me put it this way. If you are a Christian, you should be the best citizen there is in America. Did you know that? It's true. You should be the best citizen. Jesus asked in the Sermon on the Mount, what do you more than others? What's he saying? More than those who are not believers. The Christian should do more than the non-Christian. He said, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. The people, the disciples were probably scratching their head, because the Pharisees thought they were the most holy people on the whole planet. Nobody could be as holy as them. Well, outwardly, Jesus is talking about your righteousness that comes from who? God, inwardly. Changes your heart and then extends outwardly. You could read William Secker, one of the Puritans. I can't remember the title of it. The Unsuch Believer. The Nonsuch Believer. It's profound because he talks about how Christians should be different and why they should be different. That's the whole book in two questions and there's all these different ways that the Christian is different and why. But again, here we are, that how do we know, this brings up another question, then how do we know the proper time, notice what he says, verse six, and the just way for everything, especially when we don't know what is to be, that is in the terms of the future and the outcome of our actions. Well, let me state this simply. I'm gonna give the principles here and not all the details. The principle would be, I've got to know God's word first of all, amen? Okay, if I'm going to know the proper time and the just way, in other words, what he's getting at, how do I know the proper time to stand firm against the king's command? Right? And how do I know the way to do that? Okay, he's saying, well, I've got to know the word of God, but second, I've got to rely on God's spirit for when, that's the time, and how, that's the way, to apply it in each specific situation of life. Again, we need wisdom. Let me tell on myself, it's easier for me to tell on other people, But I'll tell on myself. When I was in Bible college, I thought, I don't have a problem with God. God and I are really close, you know. My problem is with who? People, you know. So I said, here's what I'll do as a young whippersnapper believer. I will memorize the book of Proverbs. So I can call it up. What are those little catalog things you call up, the Rolodex? I can call up whatever subject I want, A through Z, Proverbs 1 through 31. And that way, I'll have wisdom at any given time how to deal with knucklehead people, difficult people. You know what I'm saying? You've come across some of them, haven't you? You say, what if I binge one of them sometime? OK. But here's what I thought. I will just memorize the book of Proverbs to know what to do, when to do, and what to do in relation to, I'll say difficult people. You know, there are books written, how do you deal with those jerks? You know, you've probably seen them. But here's my point, apart from relying on God, would the book of Proverbs help me? No, no. It wouldn't help me, and even then, Even if I knew all the book of Proverbs and I relied fully on God, would that keep me from all trouble in the world? No, verse six says no. You look at verse six, it says, although man's trouble lies heavy on him, I couldn't avoid all the troubles. But that's what I want, a trouble-free, trial-free, pain-free what? Life. It's not possible. And so what he's getting at is, look, wisdom is good as so far as it goes, but who can tell you what the future will bring? In verse 7, notice he says, for he does not know, man does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? And the answer is what? No one. You say, well, God can tell you what will be. Yeah, He can, but He's not telling us. Not in a localized, detailed way, anyway. I mean, we plot and we plan. We should plan. But we should remember that we always need to say with James, if the Lord wills, we'll live and do this or that. James chapter 4. Now, here's what we do. We can pretend that that's not true, that we don't know the future. But as one man, Eugene Christian, he wrote a book entitled, How to Live to be 100, but alas, he died at 69. Listen, you gotta say, Sean, what's gonna happen tomorrow? The answer is, I don't know. And God is so wise not to reveal that to me because I might be foolish enough to go buy a lottery ticket. okay you're laughing you say what's wrong with that you could build a new church building yeah it's not the church building that with the problem it's all the other stuff I would do with it okay and how it would ruin me and I would look to the money instead of who God okay I can't tell you what's gonna happen tomorrow and neither can the astrologer by the way okay or the palm reader this earthly life is wrapped with uncertainties okay if you look at Verse 8, Christianity gives us the big what picture, which leads us to the third reason. So the first reason to submit to authority is God's providence. But the second reason is God's reward, doing the right thing, okay? And then staying out of trouble, in other words, generally. And then thirdly, because of God's rule in verse 8, notice what he says. No man has power to retain the Spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. All this I observe, says Solomon, while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt." Interesting. So people are ruling people and taking advantage of them and hurting them. And I think, in a sense, hurting themselves. So, like the future, which is unknown, Solomon gives us four things that we do not have control over. He mentions the wind, or it could be the spirit. He mentions death. He mentions war or being discharged from battle. And then fourthly, he mentions punishment for sin. They're all outside our control. What's the point he's getting at? Let me cut through all the sidebars. We don't know the future. That's what he just said. And we can't control the present. okay now if you look at the text you ask this question is he referring to the king who's in charge right or to the king subjects who are underneath the king and the answer is both how so well let's just go through it have you ever tried to control the wind now I'm just I'm just asking it's kind of funny when you think of it right we got windmills and stuff like that but who can control the wind No, no, no, that's what he said in chapter one, verse six, you can't. Remember the wind took down the house that Job's kids were in, Job 119? But some people don't say, they don't say it's the wind, they say it's the human spirit he's talking about here. Well, can you control your spirit? Let me ask you this. Have you ever struggled with anger? And you tried to get control over your anger. How'd it work for you? I mean, that's just human spirit. When you think about self-control, you're controlling your spirit. You may be cool as a cucumber here this morning, and you never struggle with anger, okay? But how about this? How about being angry when you should be angry with a righteous anger? And you're too calm as a cucumber, and you're cool as a cucumber, and you should what? You should be upset. So only one man controlled the destiny of his spirit. Who's that? Jesus, only one man, the God-man, gave his life rather than having it taken from him, John 10, 18. You remember, Jesus said, no one takes my life from me, remember? He said, I lay it down, I give it up freely, John 10, 18. I remember the soldier in France, he said, they said, oh, you lost a leg in the war. He said, no, I gave my leg for France in the war. Interesting. Jesus never lost his life, he what? gave it that that that that's just the exception here to what Solomon saying secondly how about the day of your death well we're told it's appointed man wants to die and then comes the so your death's not on your timetable amen Let me give an example of this. Svetlana Stalin was the daughter of the evil Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, and she spent some time in the home of British journalist Malcolm Mulgridge. And according to Svetlana, as Stalin lay dying, plagued with terrifying hallucinations, suddenly he sat halfway up in bed, clenched his fists toward heaven, fell back on his pillow, and was dead. And so we have no power over the day of what? Death. Now, how about being discharged from war, the third thing he mentions? Well, once a battle starts, there was no discharge from the army. You have Deuteronomy 30, where it says that if a guy was, what, scared, he could say, hey, I don't want to go into battle. But that was before the war started and the battle started. He could go home. Or it was the first year of marriage, he would go home and enjoy his wife. But once the battle started, he couldn't what? He couldn't leave. He couldn't go home. He couldn't take a furlough. He can't send someone else in his place. Again, we're powerless to be discharged from the military at that point. And then fourthly, he mentions wickedness. It does not deliver those who are enslaved to it. And his point there, this deserves a whole sermon by the way, that unrestrained power, we say absolute power corrupts absolutely, but what he's getting at is that it collapses under its own weight, that evil destroys other people, yes, but it also self-destructs at the same time. So even the wicked who seem all-powerful cannot be delivered from God's judgment by their wickedness. What's the preacher's point, simply? That death is the ultimate proof of our lack of control over life. And neither the king, on the one hand, nor his subjects, on the other, should consider themselves so important as to think that by issuing decrees on the part of the king, or making individual decisions, whether they're going to submit or rebel on the part of the subjects, right? That they're in control of their destiny of the world, or their nation they live in, or even their own personal life. And what's his point? Only the everlasting God rules forever. Right? Both the king and his subjects need a reality check. Has anyone ever done this to you? Or have you done this to anyone? Where they stop and they go, hey, by the way, you're not God. You know, have you ever wanted to be in control of everything? You want to micromanage. Everything's got a place. Everything's got a thing. You've got to do this and this time. Hey, you've got to, you've got to. I remember, you know, the person says, well, I have to, even like you could be in control of yourself, I have to eat the vegetables, I have to eat the things off my food clockwise. Nothing can touch each other. You know what I'm talking about? A certain food can't touch other food because, oh, oh, oh, oh. You've got to sit right there. Now fold your hands and don't say anything. What? I mean, everything has to be under their control. That's, we call it a control freak. Only thing, one thing worse than being a control freak is living with one, right? Okay, you've heard of this, right? Well, his point is, right, that both the king and the subjects need a reality check. Neither of them can control their own destiny. Both of them could be dead tomorrow. So think about this, the big picture. From the standpoint of eternity and the throne of God, we might say in colloquialism, the king, and his court or the president and, you know, his Oval Office are small potatoes. Would you agree? He's saying, in a sense, be still and know that God is God, amen? And the wise way to live is by submitting to the sovereignty of God and trusting our lives, body and soul, to the lordship of King Jesus, who is the wisdom of God. He's saying, look, since Jesus is the King of kings, he's the Lord of lords, when you submit to any earthly government, you're honoring Jesus' kingship because he's ruling over it all. that the Savior died at His own appointed time, and He patiently submitted His human spirit to God the Father. He offered His life on the cross for our sins, that Jesus is the Lord of eternal life, so He's able to deliver us from death and give us this fullness of joy and everlasting presence of God the Father. So, in a sense then, sum up Solomon. He's saying, give your life to Christ. Question, how long will He save you for? Amen and and your future will be secured despite all your troubles and uncertainties of this life on the way over this morning I was listening to it again. It came on the radio and I was like hallelujah because he lives I'm gonna fear tomorrow No, I can face tomorrow. Well preacher. I'm not worried about tomorrow. I'm worried about this afternoon tonight. I I think he's got that covered too, amen? I have to tell you something. Are you really concerned about what's going to happen in your life and after you die and what's going to go? Are you really concerned about that? Yes, yes, yes. Oh, so he saved you from hell, he just can't handle tomorrow. What? Or this afternoon. What? Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, some fear is gone. Because he lives, right? Because I know he holds not just the future, but what? My future, life is now worth the living because he what? Secondly, the preacher tells us to fear God. Look at verses 10 through 13. Solomon reports that he had been to some funerals. Notice this. Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in, these wicked, in and out of the holy place, meaning the temple, and they were praised in the city. The wicked were praised. You ever heard that happen? Yeah, where they had done such things. This is also vanity. Okay, so here is a wicked person, right? That's given a magnificent funeral with an eloquent eulogy. I'm tempted to tell jokes, but I won't. And his point is it's vanity. It doesn't make sense. It's absurd and why? And this was the point. You ever told kids, hey, you need to do the right thing. Sometimes we say it pays to be honest. And then you go to the funeral of a mafia boss and the priest has him on the front row in heaven. that will destroy incentive for the young person to be what? To be honest, to be good, to be wise. What's interesting is that even Elena Kutuzova, the infamous wife of the former dictator of Romania, Ceausescu, that's what it is. She was remembered fondly even by some of the people whom she oppressed. Question, are we in a twisted world or what? We are. It's just backwards. And to make matters worse, verse 11, wickedness rarely receives the punishment it deserves. Notice what he says, because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily or quickly, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. What is he saying? The slower the legal system moves, the quicker the crime rate rises, okay? According to one famous trial lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, he said, in America, the acquittal doesn't mean you're innocent. It just means you beat the rap. Now, it sounds cynical, probably, to us. But as the poet David Frost defined a jury this way, 12 persons who have chosen to decide who has the better lawyer. Now, tragically, many times that is true, but what he's getting at is justice delayed is justice denied. And his point is wrongdoers must be punished, and the quicker the better. And why? Because the delay of justice leads to further depravity. Evildoers take heart when the sentence is not carried out quickly. And they interpret the delay of judgment as meaning that judgment will never come. This is a great deception. Think about it. Unbelievers mistake God's patience for his indifference or even his approval of their sin and thus they make an eternal mistake. Someone said this, hell will be filled with people who thought they would never go there. Yikes. So here's what happens. We see delayed justice as an outrage, and rightly so. But it's also, from God's perspective, an interlude for repentance provided by the just and merciful God. In other words, a day is going to come when every man and woman who's ever lived will receive justice from the judge whose pronouncements are never wrong. But between now and then, Right? In the injustice of our fallen world, we have time for what? Repentance. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to what? Repentance. Romans 2, 4. What? It's his kindness in extending the sentence being carried out that leads us to what? Repentance. Otherwise, if we don't repent, we're storing up what? Wrath. So, while God uses injustices to test the faith of believers, the devil can tempt believers to think that there's no justice in the universe at all. Okay, well, here's the question. This is the big question. If the wicked seem to be winning, right? You say, they're not, but it seems that way. Have you noticed this? Every time it seems like the next election comes up and we're hoping for a conservative president to turn the culture back. You know what I'm talking about? But then it just seems like every time it just moves further and further what? Left. You know what I'm talking about? They said that if JFK was here today, he would be considered a conservative Republican. Okay. You say, Sean, what are we to do? If the wicked seem to be winning and the righteous have little or no power, what are we to do? There are a lot of people who ask me this question. Well, we're not told to do anything in the text. Instead, notice verses 12 and 13, we're told to know something and to trust in someone. And so wisdom cautions us to fear God, and it promises us that it will be well. Notice what he says. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know. He's not giving his opinion here, by the way. This is scripture. I know that it will be well with those who fear God because they fear before him, before God. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he, the wicked, prolong his days like a shadow because he does not fear before God. What's the point? What's he getting at? He's saying, you ready, that we must trust in God and his word instead of looking at our empirical observations that only get us so far. We must believe that ultimately it will go well with those who fear God and badly for those who do not. We must wait for God's timing and be certain of his coming judgment. The wicked will not prosper forever and the righteous in Christ will not suffer forever. Do you believe that? Well, that's what the text is saying, isn't it? In other words, so we're not just going to give in to wickedness. We're not going to give up in despair and quit, you know, seeking God. Okay. Ray Bradbury, he wrote a novel called Fahrenheit 451. And in it, he describes a future America where firemen are commissioned to burn any house that contains books. And the novel, basically, was an attack on the television culture of the late 40s and early 50s, and how it was destroying the interest in books and reading. And in the story, a secret society forms for the purpose of remembering great works of literature. And to join the society, you must have memorized a certain classic book. The protagonist, Guy Montag, is accepted into the society because he knows two books by heart. Guess what they are? Ecclesiastes and the Book of Revelation. You wonder, is this guy a Christian who wrote the book? Are you ready? And after a nuclear bomb destroys his city, The final page records Montag's musings. You ready? This is what it says. To everything there is a season. Yes, a time to break down and a time to build up. Yes, a time to keep silence and a time to speak. Yes, all that, but what else? What else? Something, something. And then he's got, and on either side of the river was a tree of life, which bear 12 manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing the nations. Profound. Question, would you memorize the book of Ecclesiastes? No way, pastor, I'm not memorizing the book of Ecclesiastes. How about the book of Revelation? No, that's um, I got a friend of mine, he goes, that's the book of speculation, I don't even read that book anymore. Only book in the Bible that actually promises a blessing to those who what? Read it. Interesting. The just shall live by Ah, and the faithful shall fear God. This is what's fascinating, the illustrations. When Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested April 5th, 1942, on suspicion that he was involved in a conspiracy against Adolf Hitler, he was taken to the Tegel prison in Berlin. And one of the first things that Bonhoeffer noticed about his prison cell was that a former prisoner had scribbled on the wall, in a hundred years, it will all be over. Little did he know, it would be quicker than a hundred years, and Hitler would go down, amen? Well, that's one way to cope with injustice, but the preacher tells us something even more counterintuitive. Third and lastly, in verses 8 through 14, chapter 8, 14 through 17, he tells us to be joyful. Notice what he says, there is a vanity that takes place on earth. that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this is also vanity. Interesting, the Living Bible paraphrases this. It says, Providence seems to treat some good men as though they were wicked, and some wicked men as though they were good. Interesting. Now, question, does that seem fair to you? Not at all. It doesn't even seem right. Okay. And he says it's vanity, which means futility. Let me give you some examples. The godly Scottish pastor, Robert Mermyshane, he dies before he's 30 at the age of, what, 29, I think it is. Well, the fierce skeptic Bertrand Russell made it to 98. Question, does that seem right to you? Not at all. How about Jim Elliott, 29 years old, when he and his four fellow missionaries were murdered by the Akka Indians in the Ecuadorian jungle, trying to reach them with the gospel, yet Joseph Stalin was allowed to tyrannize Russia for almost three decades before he died. It does not seem right to us. And so what is Solomon saying? Providence, the way God works, it's mysterious, isn't it? We can't fully figure it out, okay? Now here's my question. Look at verse 15, and you're gonna love this. And I commend joy. Why? For man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. Some people think verse 15 is just, what do we call, sarcastic. You can't do anything, you can't change anything, so just eat, drink, live it up. Like hedonistic. That's not what he's saying. Rather, I think what he's asking the question, are we to let what we cannot explain keep us from enjoying the life that God gives us in Christ? And the answer is, that would be foolish. To go through life letting your happiness wax and wane according to your circumstances. Instead, we sing it sometimes at the end, praise God from whom all. Yeah, we're to say grace and eat up. And by the way, get two scoops of Rocky Road instead of one, amen. I'm serious. Enjoy your what? Life, he's gonna say it in the next chapter. That we're to what? We're to celebrate the Lord's death. Interesting, how could you celebrate a death? Because out of his death comes our what? Life. A precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, Psalm 116, 15. We're to gather to rejoice in the death of God's saints. One guy said this, we're to host one counter-cultural party after another, hallelujah. And he said, you don't take the Christian life to be like sitting on a block of ice drinking sour milk as you wait for the 5 a.m. train, do you? And he said, I hope not. He said, the Christian life should be gathering together one day in seven at the very least to delight in pre-fall fun in light of resurrection realities. He said, count it all joy is our wisdom slogan, right? So now we're back to what he said. Wisdom makes your face what? Grumpy? God, it makes your face shine, amen? And so this preacher's odd exhortation to enjoy life in the midst of injustice seems out of place because, as Martin Luther put it, the world is ungrateful, always looking elsewhere and becoming bored with the things that are present, no matter how good they are. So look, his exhortation to us is this. Don't underestimate your daily bread and drink. Don't belittle your weekly work. Thank God for such gifts. Sometimes, I wanted to put it in the bulletin. We could have. Count your blessings. name them one by and it will amaze you what what the lord has done yeah you know the song and so what's interesting let me just point out from the text because we don't always see this and i didn't see it and i and i confess i read my commentaries and they helped me incredibly but it's right in the text and let me show you you ready the commendation of joy follows a number of other comforts or consolations. For example, verse 5, we're told that wisdom can deliver or keep us from tragedy in certain cases. Verse 8, we're told how the wicked will not be delivered by their wickedness. Verse 10, we're told how the wicked are buried, and the little footnote on it there is their praise, and they're not praised but forgotten, which would be a good thing. Verses 12 and 13, justice will come to the wicked, right? We're told how it will be well for those who are fearing God, on the other hand. Verse 14, we're told how injustice is temporary. And so after all those comforts, is it really strange to be told in 15 to enjoy life for God will ultimately determine the days? No, we should have seen it coming. But I confess so often I fail to see it coming because I refuse to let God be God. Okay, and because I take for granted all his blessings that are right under my what? Nose. Would you do this? Let me challenge you. Would you make a list of all the things you're thankful for? Write it down, write it down, write it down. In fact, don't just get a page piece of paper, get one of those blank books and just keep writing all the things that you're thankful for down. If you're a worry wart, I'm sure that will solve the worry, at least for as long as you're writing the list, amen. I'm serious. I told one gal, you know, she said to me, I said, do you ever worry about stuff? She said, yeah. I said, why don't you just say this? The Lord is my shepherd, so I'm worried to death. The Lord is my shepherd, so I'm scared to death. The Lord is my shepherd, so I'm freaking out. The Lord is my shepherd, so I may not eat dinner. What? You see how absurd it is? And so here's the point. Can science explain everything to us? This is fascinating, even though some claim that they have all the answers. You notice that's what he says in verse 17. He says that I applied my heart, verse 16, to know wisdom and to see the business done on the earth, how neither day nor night did one's eyes sleep. In other words, he just stayed up all night trying to figure it out, it sounds like. Then I saw all the work of God. I was looking around, and man cannot find out. the work that is done under the Son of the Lord by God. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out, even though a wise man, whether that's a philosopher or scientist, claims to know he cannot find it out. Bertrand Russell, his edict was this, you ready? What science cannot tell us, we cannot know. Really, really? Based on that load of manure, I'll call it, are you ready? If that's true, I cannot know if my wife and my children love me, or even if it's good to have a wife and kids. You think about this, one lady said, I tuck my child in, and I can tell them that they're just a bundle of cells, which is crazy. or I can tell them all the scientific facts about their body, but my kid really needs to know that he or she is loved by who? Mama. Amen. I love it. Augustine, in his confessions, he said this, a man may know all scientific facts yet he is not happy unless he knows you, God. But the man who knows you is happy even if he knows none of these things, these scientific facts. True or not? I love it. and why don't philosophers tell us what it all means because they don't know themselves now here's the beauty of this not even theologians and pastors have all the answers to life what a relief for me amen I'm serious when someone comes and says why this or what's good and I can say simple I don't know I'm clueless and then people could say you know what they'll say where we pay for anyway they want you to have all the answers I remember one friend of mine, his brother came, and my brother wants to talk to you, Sean. I said, okay. So I went over to the guy's house and I go, I got questions about the book of Revelation. What's it all about? I don't understand that book. I said, well, you could sum it up in three words. You ready? The lamb wins. Or if you want to sum it up the other way, the dragon loses. Now, you're either in the lamb or you're duped by the dragon. Which one is it? You can debate all you want about the details of the book, but that's the big picture, amen? It's beautiful to me. A father. and his son were talking about space. Travis will love this one. He said, Dad, how far is it to the sun? I don't know, son, his dad said. Well, then how far is it to Mars? I don't know, said the father. Well, how far is it the end of the Milky Way? I don't know, again. He said, Dad, you don't mind me asking you all these questions, do you? He said, not at all. He said, how else are you going to learn if you don't ask any questions? There is nothing wrong with godly curiosity that strives to know God and know about his creation, okay, but we must always be aware of our what? I think it was Eastwood that said it. Man's got to know his limitations. Many truths belong to God alone, and we're not going to ever know them beside a glory. And here's Solomon saying, let me sum it up, life is far too complex for any human being to figure out how all its parts fit together. So we're never going to have all the answers in this life, and even the most insightful person among us will be perplexed at times. I would just say this, expect to be perplexed. And then when it happens, you probably won't be so freaked out, or confused, or struggling. Look, we're going to see things that defy our idea of justice. You say, could you name some? Well, you may say impeachment. It doesn't seem right to us. It just seems crazy. I mean, you're nodding your head, but you could name other things. And so the idea is the mystery of God's revelation reminds us of our rightful relation to it. This is the way Charles Bridges put it. If all things were brought down to our poor level, in other words, if revelation, whether you say creation or scripture, if revelation contained no mysteries, if it were stripped of everything supernatural, surely its credentials as professing to come from God would be very doubtful. In other words, if we figured it all out, would it really be from God? No, we would be who? God. Okay. And so again, here's the encouragement. Although the believer in Jesus Christ is not exempt from questions over God's ways, his providence, the Christian is at a distinct advantage. How? He or she knows that God will ultimately reward the righteous. Where is that? Hebrews 11, six. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. And he that comes to God must believe that he is, he exists, and that he's a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. And in Habakkuk 2.14, that we believe that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. I love it. That the whole earth will know God's glory as wet as the Pacific Ocean is. If that doesn't encourage you, something's wrong, amen? Someone said this, the occupational hazard of the wise person is to walk by calculation rather than by faith. Sometimes I hear people say, well, faith is just a leap in the dark. Even Christians say that. I say, no, it's not. What do you mean? It's walking in the light of God's word. Listen, never doubt in the dark what God has shown you in the light, amen? Faith's not a leap in the dark, it's walking in the light of God's Word. Faith is not against reason, it just goes beyond reason. I put it, Isaac Watts' hymn, when reason fails with all her powers, then faith prevails and love adores. I love that. It's not that faith is against reason, it just must go beyond reason, because I can't understand everything, amen, I'm not God. The only way that pilots can fly in fog is by trusting their radar. I read about one guy, there they were, and they were in this storm and the fog and all this stuff, you know, and here's this guy just whistling and having a good old time. And they said, do you know where we're going? He said, no. He said, can you see what's going on? He said, no, no. And there's all this fog and everything. He said, but you see this instrument over here? He said, yeah, that tells me exactly where I am. I got Pan Am down over here, you know, Delta's guy over here. He's looking at his, it's the old days. He's looking at his controls, you know, and they're telling him everything that he needs to know. He's trusting the what? The dials. What's our dial? The word of? God. Radar tells us. that there are things are there, even though they're too far away or too hidden for our eyes to see. Corrie Ten Boone said this, faith is like radar and tells us even when we can't actually see with our eyes. We can't see God with our eyes, but faith tells us he's there. What did Job say? Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Christian, listen, somebody said, when you can't trace God's hand, you can always trust his heart, which we have in the Bible. It's so simple. Let me ask you this last question and we're done. How did Jesus endure the cross? For the joy set be for him, he endured the cross. Some Christians come to me and they go, yeah, but Sean, you can't help me with death. I've never died yet. I don't know what that will be like. And you haven't experienced it either, pastor. I'm like, you know what? He who created me, who's that? Jesus, and redeemed me, tells me that he's gone ahead to prepare a place for me. And why? That where he is, I may be also. And his word on it is as good as his death and resurrection. I like what one old preacher said. I don't know much about heaven, he said, but Jesus will be there and that's enough. Is that enough for you, Christian? Amen. Our God is so powerful, so true, so just, so sovereign, so loving that he can, someone said he can hit straight licks with crooked sticks. Listen, are you ready? His decreed will, I didn't say his prescriptive will, his decreed will will ultimately be done. so that every mystery in life, God's sovereign grace and love will sustain us. It will be well, the preacher says, with those who fear God, verse 12. And we can trust then in God's good governing of his world, amen? How? Three things. By submitting to authority, by fearing a reverence in God, and by what? Embracing joy. We are to live within the limits of wisdom to the limit. Live within the limit to the limit. Enjoy what? Life. And why? The best is yet to? Ah, we sing, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus. Do you remember that song? Life's trials will seem so small when we see who? Christ. He says, one glimpse, the hymn writer says, one glimpse of his dear face, all sorrow will erase. So let us what? Run the race till we see Christ. And that concludes this week's message. We hope you were encouraged, and thanks for listening.