Suffering and Sin

I’m not in business, but I understand that most products are developed in a certain pattern

someone in the ivory tower comes up with a brilliant idea of a new product

then the product is designed, a prototype of the product is made

and here comes the fun part: then the product is tested

I read last week of a product that was designed in Canada for the U.S. Army to move heavy equipment such as tanks

the time came for the field testing of this product

because it was being built for the army, the tests were pretty rigid, and the first prototype of this heavy equipment mover was blown into bits

now that would have been fun

to make a long story short, they had to go back to the drawing board and come up with a whole new design, which incidentally passed the test the second time

when you and I use a product, we want to know that it’s been field-tested

we don’t want to be the first to fly a new plane unless someone has already taken that sucker into the air and flown it before

the same goes for a lot of other things: cars, recipes, shampoos

they can test it on someone else, thank you

I’ll try the finished product

what about our faith?

when we trust in God, we become new creation; the old is gone, and the new has come

inevitably, we will encounter adversity in our lives

our spouses will frustrate us, we’ll lose a job, encounter an illness – whatever

and the real question is this:

will the life of faith survive hard and troublesome times when the "good old days" have gone and the "days of adversity" come?

is yours a fair-weather faith?

will it survive the hard times?

to help answer this question, we’re going to turn to Ecclesiastes 7 this morning

we’re at the half-way point in this book

Solomon has been examining life and concluding that everything is meaningless

in chapter 7, Solomon switches gears

in chapter 7, Solomon begins to examine wisdom and faith

he is, in a sense, field-testing a life of faith and asking if and how a life of faith can meet the trials that will come to it in life

Solomon helps us to understand how suffering and wisdom can benefit us and even strengthen our faith

you’ll notice that this chapter is in the form of proverbs

a proverb is a maxim, a pithy statement that condenses truth into a few, memorable words

in this chapter, Solomon is instructing us

so let’s begin by examining the results when faith is field-tested with adversity

the first thing that Solomon points out is that

SUFFERING BRINGS BENEFIT AND INSTRUCTION

Solomon points out that adversity and suffering have the potential to be beneficial instead of harmful in our lives

given the choice, all of us would choose only good and pleasurable things to happen to us

I’m sure all of us would rather laugh than cry, and we would rather attend a birthday party than a funeral

but Solomon points out that sorrow is better than laughter

read verses one to four with me

(Ecclesiastes 7:1) A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.

(Ecclesiastes 7:2) It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.

(Ecclesiastes 7:3) Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.

(Ecclesiastes 7:4) The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

let’s look at verse one a bit closer

we could translate this verse, "As a good name is better than perfume, so the day of death is better than the day of birth"

just as a good reputation earned from inner character is better than outward fragrance, so a funeral instead of a rowdy birthday party poses the ultimate questions about life that we need to face

happy times generally teach us less than hard times

Solomon continues this thought in verses two to four

when I attend a funeral, do you know what I do?

I anticipate my own

every time I conduct a funeral or sit in one, it reminds me of my own mortality and that one day it will be me lying in that casket

what will my life have been like? what will people say about me? what will God say about me?

that’s why Solomon can say that it’s good for us to enter the house of mourning once in a while

it causes us to think, doesn’t it?

do you get the point?

we should live with the awareness of our coming death

(Psalms 90:12) Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I received a phone call one morning while I was shaving that someone very close to me had died in her sleep

I got in the car and drove to meet with some others

in that car, my mind was clearer and more focused than probably any other time

I was thinking about the deep issues of life, the things that really matter

everything else becomes less important

there’s a true story told by Chuck Swindoll that comes from the sinking of the Titanic

a frightened woman found her place in a lifeboat that was about to be lowered into the raging North Atlantic

suddenly, she thought of something she needed, so she asked permission to return to her stateroom before they cast off

she was granted three minutes or they would have to leave without her

she ran across the slanted deck

the raced through the gambling room with all the money that had rolled to one side, ankle deep

she came to her stateroom and pushed aside her diamond rings and expensive jewelry, and reached above her bed and grabbed three small oranges

she quickly made her way back to the lifeboat and got on

thirty minutes earlier, she would have chosen any piece of jewelry for a whole crate of oranges

but death had boarded the Titanic

all of a sudden, priceless things became worthless

worthless things became priceless

and when death came calling, she preferred three small oranges to an entire crate of diamonds

death and adversity give us that wisdom

C.S. Lewis wrote, "Pain insists on being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to our conscience, and shouts in our pain. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world

I think you will agree that the times you have learned the most in this life have been times of adversity

the good news is that these times are not wasted in our lives

God is refining us and improving us

I once heard somebody say that they didn’t want to hear a sermon from a preacher who hasn’t suffered

there’s a certain type of wisdom that only comes from those who have been through the refiner’s fire

Solomon makes another point in this chapter

he’s taught us that suffering and adversity can bring benefit and instruction

THE OTHER BIG IDEA THAT IS IN CHAPTER SEVEN IS THE HUMAN NEED FOR WISDOM

although the trials of life can make us better, we need wisdom to equip us and to handle life as it really is

when the storms of life come, there is nothing we need more than the wisdom to know what to do

wisdom has been defined by one person as "the God-given ability to see life with rare objectivity and to handle life with rare stability"

but wisdom is easier to recognize than it is to define

if we are going to survive the trials of life, wisdom is essential

(Ecclesiastes 7:11) Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.

(Ecclesiastes 7:12) Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.

wisdom is better than a generous inheritance

money can lose its value or be stolen

true wisdom always keeps its value and cannot be lost

according to Solomon, the wise person is able to withstand the difficulties and trials that come in life because of their wisdom

(Ecclesiastes 7:19) Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.

wisdom gives us the strength to overcome the trials of life

what are some of the trials?

let’s look at them

one problem is that adversity is a part of life as much as prosperity

(Ecclesiastes 7:14) When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.

it takes a lot of wisdom and maturity to be able to accept adversity as well as prosperity in life

Job’s wife encouraged him to curse God and die, and Job replied:

(Job 2:10) He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"

(Job 1:21) "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

another problem is that the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper

(Ecclesiastes 7:15) In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

one of the mysteries of life is why the righteous seem to suffer while the wicked prosper

this problem requires wisdom and maturity

yet another problem is plain old sin

(Ecclesiastes 7:20) There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

it’s a fundamental law that everyone is a sinner and that everyone lets us down

human sin is seen particularly in the area of speech

(Ecclesiastes 7:21) Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you--

(Ecclesiastes 7:22) for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

people say nasty things, and if we try to listen to everything that goes on, we’re going to get hurt

Charles Spurgeon told his pastoral students that the minister ought to have one blind eye and one deaf ear

"You cannot stop people’s tongues," he said, "and therefore the best thing to do is to stop your own ears and never mind what is spoken. There is a world of idle chitchat abroad, and he who takes not of it will have enough to do"

Solomon expands on human sinfulness in verses 26 to 29

he begins with the sinful woman, the prostitute who traps men and leads them to death

Solomon had a thousand women himself; he was experienced, and yet no wiser

he realized the danger of being seduced into an illegitimate sexual relationship

he began searching for a righteous man or woman, and concluded that they are very rare

one righteous man in a thousand, he says figuratively, and no woman

let’s not get caught up in the numbers or the battle of the sexes: his point is that righteousness is hard to find

a fourth and final problem is our inability to grasp the meaning of what God is doing in the world

(Ecclesiastes 7:23) All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"-- but this was beyond me.

(Ecclesiastes 7:24) Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound-- who can discover it?

even Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, could not understand the ultimate questions of life

wisdom is inaccessible, it would seem

Solomon concludes his thoughts on this subject with some praise for the wise person

(Ecclesiastes 8:1) Who is like the wise man? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its hard appearance.

godly wisdom can make all the difference in the world

as we field-test our faith, we realize two things:

first, suffering brings benefit and instruction

and second, we need godly wisdom in order to survive

somebody has said:

"No pharmacist every weighed out medicine with half as much care as God weighs out every trial he dispenses. Not one gram too much does he ever permit to be put on us"

some flowers, such as the rose, must be crushed if their full fragrance is to be released

some fruits, such as the sycamore, must be bruised if they are to attain ripeness and sweetness

some metals, such as gold, must be heated in the furnace if they are to become pure

the attaining of godly wisdom – the process of becoming a mature Christian – requires similar special handling

it is often through pain, suffering, trouble, adversity, trials, and even temptation that we develop spiritual discipline and become refined and enriched

let us pray

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Suffering and Sin (Ecclesiastes 7:1-8:1)