Ecclesiastes 9, 13-18, God's holy word. This wisdom I've also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 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. Now, there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that, saying, poor man. Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless, the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. Words of the wise spoken quietly should be heard, rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. Wisdom is better than the weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Thus far, God's holy word. Let's pray. Our Father, we praise You for this Word, for Your Word, but particularly for this book, with all of its textures and layers, with all of its remarkable expression given to the reality of the world that You've made, both created and as fallen. Our Father, help us to better understand. ourselves and this world in your light. In Jesus' name, Amen. Wisdom, as we've seen it defined time and again in Ecclesiastes, and more broadly in the wisdom books as well as the whole Bible, means knowledge and understanding put into practice. The truth, in other words, given shoe leather. Well, the truth is always at the heart of wisdom, because that which is false ultimately doesn't work. But the skeptic who says that we can't know or we don't know the truth, or the pragmatist who says he cares only about what works, not about its truth value, is always left with nothing but a power struggle. If we marginalize truth or say there is no truth or we can't know the truth, all we have is a power struggle. We've seen that throughout history. Socrates objected to the selfish, cynical, might-makes-right philosophy. Socrates argued, no, we must seek to discover truth. His problem was, though, that he saw truth as an abstraction. Truth, even as is wisdom, is personal. We know that. Jesus said, I am the truth. And we read that Christ is wisdom. known personally and propositionally, known through this word. But that hasn't kept Western man, whenever he rejects truth and thus wisdom, from some form of might makes right. We see it all about us in the politicizing of all questions. Everything is politicized. And that's a part of this whole might makes right approach. Whoever can claim the greatest victim status and yell the loudest and the longest, taking a page from Marx, can ultimately get whatever they want. Whether it's a casino on the reservation, or gay marriage. Say, well all these things haven't come about. They will if we head down our current course. You can rest assured, they will. They're right in keeping with our whole might makes right mentality. Regardless of the truth of the matter. Regardless of wisdom. But our text tells us that wisdom trumps power. And we'll see this first of all, even though under the sun wisdom is scorned, and secondly, wisdom ultimately, true wisdom rules. And so we say wisdom trumps power, even though under the sun wisdom is scorned, yet ultimately wisdom, true wisdom rules. It's scorned, but it rules. Solomon tells us in these verses, in amazement, that wisdom under the sun is scorned. He's seen it with his own eyes. He's seen with his own eyes wisdom that appeared great to him being exercised, yet devalued and dismissed. He tells us about it, doesn't he? He tells us the story of evident and commendable wisdom that isn't properly valued and regarded. We see this in verses 14 and 15 of our text. There was, notice the contrast, a little city with few men in it and a man in it of no social standing, a poor man. This powerless group, however, was able to overcome a great king, a great king who came against it, and in siege built great siege work or bulwarks around it. How did this paltry lot triumph over such greatness? By the wisdom, we're told, of one poor man. We're not told what idea he had or what plan he enacted. That's obviously not important. What we are told is that by the wisdom of this one poor man, this city was delivered. Few opposed by many great odds, as we like to say. And through the wisdom of this one poor man, deliverance comes. But here's what Solomon struggles with, as he sees things under the sun. There's that phrase again in 13, I've seen under the sun. And that means, I know you know this, but that means how things operate here below in this fallen world. And under the sun, what is it he sees? This poor man, not remembered. No monuments were erected to this Deliverer. No holidays proclaimed. No gratitude expressed. In one sense, this is the gospel in miniature. Jesus came unto his own, who received him not, not only teaching wisdom as never before, but as Winston himself! Delivering his people. One poor man. Foxes have hole and birds have nest, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. One poor man delivering. His people, from all their enemies, not forgotten, yet not properly regarded and received by many who continue to say, I mean, is He really regarded? Is He honored as He ought to be honored? If men continue to say, I will not have this man to rule over me. If men continue to refuse to bow to Him and His Word, the King of kings and the Lord of lords has come and there's but one proper response to that. Submission. Obedience. Bowing before Him. And yet we see rejection. We see rejection. Not unlike this poor man. As God's wisdom, Jesus Christ didn't fit the profile of the wisdom of this world. Rejected by Jews and Greeks we saw in 1 Corinthians 1. Regarded by the world's wise. Need to put that in quotes. That's foolish. Yet true wisdom is from an under-the-sun perspective. Yes, we say, true wisdom is from an under-the-sun perspective, despised and forgotten. Verse 16. Why? Its voice and its lesson, the voice and lesson of true wisdom is lost, verse 16 tells us, in the cacophony of fools, in all of the noise and the clamor as the end of verse 16 says, this poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard because, as verse 17 says, because of the shouted slogans of those prominent among the fools. What is a premium placed on? Perhaps a premium is placed on authenticity or personal freedom. Maybe that's what's being shouted. We need personal freedom above everything. Perhaps a lot is being made of self-esteem, or what I'm owed. This is the wisdom of the day. This is the mantra of Oprah. Such rulers of the fools may indeed, as 1 Corinthians 1 say, appear to be wise, certainly to themselves and to the world. There's a lot that passes for wisdom! That's just folly. That's just pure folly. But those spouting it have the power, the place, and the position that no insignificant poor man will ever have. What does he know? How tempting it is for all of us to succumb to knowledge falsely so called, to be dazzled by what the world values. Education, wealth, power, and to despise God's true wisdom, which would always expose us, showing how weak we truly are, and thus how utterly dependent on nothing but God. The arm of flesh always failing us. Did you catch that in 1 Corinthians? That true wisdom involves no flesh glorying in His presence? True wisdom involves all praise, honor, and glory going to Him. He is our wisdom. He is our redemption, our sanctification. He is everything. God's true wisdom teaches us that we're so helpless that God Himself must, from first to last, save us. It is helplessness and inability. It is a realization of that and a belief in it that is at the heart of this true wisdom. Yes, true wisdom is despised and forgotten in the den of foolish claims about us and in the apparent weakness of true wisdom. Surely the counsel of the poor man, wise though it may seem, You can imagine people say, you can't compare verse 16 to strength. Wisdom is better than strength. Really? The world would say. Or weapons of war, verse 18. Wisdom is despised. That's what Solomon saw. He saw it with his own eyes. He saw wisdom doing the job, but not getting the credit. And as the end of verse 18 says, even though one poor man, albeit a forgotten, despised, rejected one, did by wisdom deliver the city, so one sinner can destroy much good, as did Adam. One sinner, that last little section of 18 says, destroys much good. What a sober lesson this is for all of us as parents, as spouses, as friends. Wisdom can be waylaid, it's saying. Let us as parents make clear what we most value and thus what is most to be valued, that our children walk with Christ. If they imbibe what we really value other than what we say we value, much good can be destroyed. Wisdom despised and forgotten. Yes, wisdom can be despised, forgotten, disregarded. And yet ultimately wisdom, true wisdom rules. true wisdom prevails. Commentators debate on Solomon's bottom line here. Is he despairing of wisdom's triumph? Or is he hopeful for it? Well, as we've seen, I think we need to be clear on this. Under the sun, here below, Solomon recognizes that wisdom often doesn't receive its due. We shouldn't be surprised if among friends or family, perhaps, in a certain situation, we come in with wisdom. That is, we understand how God's Word applies here. We seek God's answer. And we seek to minister that. We seek to offer that. We seek to serve with that. And people, either by their actions or words, say, no, thank you. No, thank you. True wisdom, though, Solomon saw, does accomplish great things. It delivered the city. And he says it's better than strength. It's better than weapons of war. Doesn't get respect under the sun, but nonetheless, It ultimately rules. The little honored, regarded, heeded. Think about all that is praised and lauded and followed instead of God's word. Which is to say Christ, the living word. And this inscripturated word and this preached word. Think about all that's followed instead of that. I mean, you see that right there is a disregarding of it. That's a devaluing of it. We have the answers in the sense that God has given us in the Word all that we need for life and godliness. But you're not going to turn over to CBS even now that Dan Rather is not there. I used to get to pick on him and he's not there. But you're still not going to hear Ms. Couric saying, As he used to with tremulous lip. What's the solution? God in his word tells us. And my point, I don't expect him to say that. But there's not just a not saying of that. There's a rejection of it. Not that. No, not that. And in fact, there's a rather militant rejection of God and His word cranking back up again. You have people like Sam Harris and people who have been around for a long time like Dan Bennett and Richard Dawkins saying, it isn't just the radical Muslims attacking who are a problem. It's as much Christians, it's religion, this religion business. It's a terrible, terrible problem. It's brought untold suffering. Religion has brought war upon war, they say. Although the 20th century witnessed in anti-religious kinds of movements more suffering brought to humanity than all the previous centuries, pretty much. I don't think Stalin's or Hitler's or Pol Pot's problem was that they were too Christian. But this is what passes for wisdom. Well, though ill-regarded by fallen sons and daughters of Adam, ill-regarded as true wisdom is, it triumphs. Unrecognized perhaps in the short run, undeniable in the long run. Undeniable. Undeniable at judgment. Where every mouth will be stopped. Where every knee will bow. Undeniable in eternity. Talked a little in the high school group about intermediate state, but then also the eternal state. And I don't think people in either are going to be saying, wow, that was a great philosophy we had back then. Who are in torment. Who are in hell. They're going to see it for the folly that it was. So we say even those under the sun can be, though, as with Solomon and all who trust Christ, given eyes to see wisdom triumphing here and hereafter. We can be given eyes to see it here. Those who look to Christ, those who are His. It was, after all, wisdom that delivered that city. Solomon understood that. Not strength, verse 16. No, might is not the measure of right or the guarantor of success. Remember just back in verse 11 that we talked about previously. We saw 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. That's saying the same kind of thing is here. God is pleased to make what appears to the world to be foolishness and weakness and defeat. He's pleased to make that very thing the wisdom of God and to deliver us by it. We can see God's wisdom in salvation's plan, particularly in which God shows us how it is that sinful man is reconciled to a holy God who is both just and justifier. You want to see wisdom? Here's beautiful wisdom. Yes, we're saved because God loves us. But His wisdom is what bridges it. How He might love us. How He might be the justifier of the ungodly. You and me. And at the same time, be just. Because just is being satisfied. in Christ accomplishing all righteousness by keeping the law for us and by paying for our lawlessness. That's wisdom! That's wisdom. Remove that necessity, as is being done today, even by some who are evangelical and who even dare to call themselves Reformed. Remove the necessity of God being implacably just! He's always just. He can't be anything but just. If he's not, he's not God. He would have to deny himself being just and the justifier of the ungodly. Remove that necessity and there's no wisdom in the atonement. The atonement makes no sense. It's only weakness. Now that's what a lot of people think the message of Christianity is. Oh, it's not power, it's weakness. But you see, I'm not saying when I say wisdom trumps power, that ultimately power isn't at issue. It's a matter of the truth. But power flows out of that. Because we also saw in 1 Corinthians 1 that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. He brings it all together. But He doesn't triumph at the expense of truth. He triumphs in the truth. He who is the truth triumphs. And you see, if you take away the fact that He is just and holy, and He requires justice and holiness, and how can sinful men come into His presence? If you take that away and you remove that He needs to be just and the justifier, you don't have wisdom in the atonement. You just have a pathetic, Weak, nonsensical display. Why did Jesus die? You deny the penal substitutionary atonement and you can't even answer that question. Because he's a pathetic loser. That's, as Nietzsche might say, he feels Christians believe. That's not a bad answer. If he mustn't die in order to pay for our sins. Do you get what I'm saying? He must die. God requires it. We don't require it. We don't have the power to require it. God requires it. God requires the death of the sinner. And Jesus stepped in your and my place. What love! What wisdom! What wisdom! Salvation, you see, is not absurd in terms of it making no sense, as Kierkegaard would have it, but rather as Tertullian would have it when he speaks of the absurdity. The absurdity is that he loves us! That's the absurdity. Not that, oh my goodness, somehow he's just weakened. God is just weakened. We don't really know how this works out, but he's weakened. That's good. Weakness isn't a virtue in itself. The reason he comes in weakness is because of our sin. He comes to identify with us. He comes as our substitute. He comes for us. So he must come in that weakness. He must not call 10,000 angels. He must not open his mouth. Not because he's guilty, but because we're guilty. And he's standing for us. But we seem to be losing this in evangelicalism. As the pastor said this morning, and it means we're losing the gospel. And if we don't have the gospel, Not only do we not have anything, but we're all going to hell. Wisdom delivered that city, not weapons of war, verse 18. Surely, assume fools who think themselves wise, the attainment of this weaponry is of the greatest importance, no? Not even in warfare do great armies and armaments replace wise strategies and tactics. Maybe I don't need to say a lot about that. You need to have a plan for victory, even an exit strategy. You can be a very strong country and that doesn't guarantee it. There has to be wisdom there. There has to be wisdom. Wisdom about a whole lot of things. Wisdom about whether a certain integrative religion that has a complete and is a complete worldview, I'm going out on a slight limb here, is amenable to democracy, whether they would ever even desire that, if they're faithful to their religion. Wisdom has to think about these things. While governments need arms and the wisdom rightly to employ them, the kingdom of Christ goes forward, not with swords loud clashing or roll of stirring drums, but by deeds of love and mercy. What we see in the church, what we see in the gospel, is the wisdom of God conquering Rome and the world. Rome came against the church and sought to destroy it. Ten ways of persecution. Rome fell. The church continues on. And Augustine, in his great work, The City of God, which he wrote as Rome was coming apart at the seams, and Christians were saying, how can this be? Constantine, the great Constantine, became a Christian. And isn't the church and the state now all just one? And aren't we going to go forward this way? If Rome is falling, doesn't that mean the church is falling? And Augustine said, no. No, it doesn't. Now, the state of Rome, even if the emperor is a Christian, isn't the same as the church. which shall never perish, her dear Lord to defend. The church is the eternal kingdom. The church is the city of God. And it will go forward. Ever. And it will triumph. Because wisdom trumps every power. This heavenly wisdom that ultimately triumphs is beautifully contrasted by James with demonic wisdom. You remember what James does there, just briefly over in James 3, also verses 13-18. James 3. Who is wise in understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above. But it's earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now, the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace. by those who make peace. This is the wisdom that's described in our text, verse 17, as words of the wise spoken quietly. Words of the wise spoken quietly over against the shouting of even preeminent fools. This quietness in Scripture always indicates humility before God. Be still and know that I am God. Here's wisdom. not in restless discontent, but in quiet resting in the presence of our all-wise Sovereign. It is waiting upon God in His Word, quieted to hear the still, small voice, which all the yelling of the fools threatens to drown out, seeks to drown out. The still, small voice. It's there that wisdom comes As James also in chapter four goes on to say, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. This wisdom that James speaks about, that Solomon speaks about, means living and walking with a heart open to God in his word as we wait upon him daily in word and prayer, particularly as we come together as his people and hear his word preached. That wisdom takes root and develops in us as we walk with God in all His ways. This is as Romans 12, 1 and 2, another place that calls us to wisdom, has it. It's our reasonable service. You see, wisdom is reasonable. Open. Self-aware. Recognizes our idle hearts. By the way, there was no collaboration between the pastor and I before this. But it recognizes our idle hearts. That's what wisdom does. Wisdom is never impressed with itself. The wise man never thinks that he thinks, God have mercy. God have mercy upon me. I am and have and in myself can do nothing. Teach me or I know not a thing. I wait upon you. I wait upon you. But you see, that waiting, that waiting on God produces a contentment, a satisfaction. It exposes the native idols of the heart and helps you to put them to death. Because you see, I don't need A and B and C. I mean, idols, the whole thing about idols, the lie of idols is I need this. We tend to so materialize them. I mean, I think as Christians especially, our idols are not those of the Baalim. And they're even not necessarily, we're materialistic. So yeah, I know our cars and our homes. But it's much more than that. I mean, we tend to recognize that those things can be idols. It's the kind of things we've talked about throughout this service. The way we see ourselves, even our own self-image. People have to see me this way. I am this way. There's so much that we hold dear. This is why the words of the wise, though spoken quietly, not manipulated, not fleshly, as verse 17 says, should be heard. Verse 17, words of the wise spoken quietly should be heard. I mean, there's a sermon right there. You should hear wisdom. You should hear the words of wisdom, though the world little regards them. Young people, this is what you should hear. This is how you should live. This is what wisdom has in mind. Wisdom keeps this in mind. What is it? The little, you know, Rudyard Kipling thing, if you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs. Well, if you can remember in the midst of everything that at the judgment day, God is going to be sitting on the throne. Not your friend who wants you to do something you shouldn't. Not your neighbor. Not anybody else. You're not having to impress anybody. God is on the throne. That's the one to whom you will answer. Live that way. That's wisdom. Live as if truly you know you're going to answer to Him. Not to anybody else. Not to your mother or father. Not to your brother or sister. Not to your friend. Not to the person you're trying to impress. No. God. Wisdom will teach you that he knows and you don't. That you're weak and he's strong. That there's no grace without weakness. Jonathan Edwards well understood this. His conversion was partly part of that experience for him was seeing and glorying in that verse, now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, recognizing God's wisdom and bowing to Him. And then the first work he wrote in 1731 was God glorified in man's dependence. And that sort of was the theme of his ministry. God glorified in man's dependence. Man is utterly needy. Man is unable. Man must look to Him. That's wisdom. Though you're but one poor man, yet by God's wisdom in the cross, you shall prevail. Not because you have strength, but because God has, even in weakness, by Christ triumphed, and you in and with Christ triumph. Acknowledge every day how radically dependent you are on the Lord. This is wisdom. Walk with him in such wisdom, in neediness, knowing his wisdom that is our strength, and by which alone we triumph here and evermore. Wisdom is the thing. Seek it and never let it go. Amen. Our Father, we pray that you would grant to us this petition through Christ our Lord. Amen.