The Application of the Wisdom of God

The speaker is nearing the end of their study of the book of Ecclesiastes. They discuss the importance of knowing that God is in control and being obedient to His commands. They emphasize the need to take action and not be paralyzed by uncertainty. They also talk about the importance of giving to the poor and helping those in need. The speaker mentions a ministry called FCDC that serves thousands of individuals in need. We are almost done with Ecclesiastes chapter 11 as our text for today and then next week will be chapter 12 and then we'll be finished walking through God's Word and working through God's Word. The 11th chapter of Ecclesiastes is our text for today. This is God's Word. Cast your bread upon the waters for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls there will it lie. Whoever watches the wind will not plant. Whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all, but let him remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless. Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart, and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. So then, banish anxiety from your heart, and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Please be seated. Getting close to the end of our study of Ecclesiastes. Today our text is entitled, The Application of the Wisdom of God. There's a big one for us. Can we do that in half an hour? Well, we'll see what we can do. Here's how we'll study the text. Verses 1-6 is talking about the unrestrained work of the believer, verses 7-10, the fingerprints of holiness, and then we'll talk about at the end, Jesus in Ecclesiastes. Today we're pointing out that we're going to complete our study next Sunday, and as we've been considering the story of the writer, we remember that we recall that Solomon's life, of course, was nearing its end, and Solomon's lifelong quest for wisdom is drawing to a conclusion. That's the status and the time of Solomon's life when we think Ecclesiastes was written. Now two Sundays previous to today, and we were in chapter 9, and we read these words from Solomon when he wrote, So I reflected on all this, and I concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands. The king has asked for wisdom from God, and the wisdom that he has received is this, that God is not going to give him dates and places and circumstances and outcomes. Rather the wisdom from God, the wisdom that is under heaven, is this, it is to know that God is God, and that He is sovereign over all things, that He rules and reigns over it all, and to possess true wisdom is to know and embrace this truth. And this truth, we know, permeates throughout God's Word. Solomon is not offering anything new. This truth about God's rule and reign over all things appears everywhere. We find it, for example, in Psalm 46. The psalmist writes, Be still and know. Okay, so give me wisdom. What is it that I am to know? Would God reveal to me precise dates and times of the various events of my life? Would God make known ahead of time the right choices I'm to make, and what are the wrong choices, the ones that I'm to avoid? Would God perhaps reveal something about me, about how wonderful I am, or how smart I am, or how special I am? No, it's none of those things at all. Recall the words of the psalmist who is relaying to us the very words of God when he wrote this, Be still and know that I am God. So if we're uncertain about this, the Word of God here then follows with confirmation from God as to His ultimate intentions. Remember the rest of the verse, which underscores the beginning part when we just read, Be still and know, and I am God, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. So to possess true wisdom, therefore, is to know that God is God. Get this right, and everything else falls into place. Miss this, and we miss everything. Moving on from Solomon's conclusion statement presented in chapter 9, chapters 10-12, give the reader the application. What are we to do with the wisdom that we have been given from Solomon? How to employ what we've learned? Why do we need to know this? Last Sunday, we saw that chapter 10 served as a bit of warning that we would do well to be careful for the little things that can pop up and trip us. Hazards abound throughout life, and even the tiniest of sins, if there's such a thing as a tiny sin, but even the tiniest of sins or the tiniest of mistakes can lead to our downfall. So we come to chapter 11, where the message is this. We know and we are aware that hazards abound, and yet we must remember that we who are the children of God are called to action. Just as a firefighter must run into the burning building and not away from it, or just as the soldier or sailor or marine or airman or coastguardsman faces the battle and runs into the fray, so also we are called by God to continue to do the work of the kingdom and to face it headlong and to run towards it and to not shrink from it. In this way we serve the kingdom of God with boldness, relying on God and not our own wisdom and not our own strength. Whatever the difficulty is, whatever the challenge is, no matter how bad, ugly, awful it is, we run towards it and not away from it because we rely on God. Now certainly we all have questions, difficult questions, challenging questions. They remain unanswered. How is God at work? Will God answer my prayers? Will God minister to me and to those for whom I intercede? Will those who I know who do not know Christ, will they come to faith in Christ? When will sin and suffering and the darkness of this world come to an end? These questions, of course, can paralyze us in an instant. And yet we know that our faith and therefore our action is engaged, our faith remains an active faith and not a passive one. One thousand years after Solomon and the Apostle Paul will affirm this truth. Recall the words of Paul, first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15, Paul wrote, My dear brothers and sisters, therefore, stand firm, let nothing move you, always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. In his commentary on Ecclesiastes, professor and theologian Philip Riken offers this encouragement. He writes, live boldly, not letting the uncertainties of life hold us back from taking risks, by faith for the glory of God. The better part of spiritual wisdom is not caution, but courage through Christ. A characteristic of the followers of Christ is that we will face our challenges head on and this includes our biggest challenge. We noted last Sunday as we imagine ourselves driving, if you will, in the vehicle of life and we look out over the dashboard and through the windshield and as we approach the scenes that are coming bigger and bigger in our view as we get closer to them and we approach the final chapters of our lives and in this way, glory becomes a larger image in our view. It's coming. It's coming. And yet we can face this head on and we can do so because we know who holds all things in his hands and he also holds our eternity. So we can face them head on because the one who is calling us to them holds them in his hands including our eternity. With this in mind, let's jump into Ecclesiastes chapter 11 and let's glean from the wisdom of God given through Solomon. Verses 1-6 tell us of God's commands, imperatives regarding our service to the kingdom. Ecclesiastes 1-2, cast your bread upon the waters for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. Now these two verses have been generally regarded as a command for believers to give to the poor, for families, to families who are in need and we would say yes to that metaphor. Bread here represents our possessions or our wealth or our livelihood which of course are the blessings and the provisions that we've been given, given by the hand of a loving and compassionate God. And also the waters here appear as a metaphor for the chaos or the tumult of our world, imagery that certainly appears throughout scripture as we have studied. Cast your bread upon the waters therefore, reminds us not to give just to one person in need but rather give multiple persons to seek to bless in multiple situations. And we're to do this because we never know where the need will be the greatest. We never know where challenges will emerge. And certainly this is good wisdom, particularly for the church. Recall in the letter to Galatians, Paul shares of his relationship with the apostles. It's serious business for the church. The apostles are affirming Paul's ministry to the Gentiles and in the midst of the deliberation as they affirm the work of Paul, Paul notes in Galatians chapter 2 verse 10, he says all they asked was that we should consider to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. I had the opportunity this week to speak with Mark Michael, the director of FCDC. I had a chance to talk to him some this week. I asked him if he could approximate the number of clients that come through the door at FCDC in the course of a year. And Mark says that across the board, the ministry, the whole ministry of FCDC has a account of roughly 11,000 visits per year, 11,000. Now some of these are regular clients who use multiple services multiple times during the course of the year. So the number of individuals served, those served one time and those served multiple times, the number of individuals served is close to 8,000. And this is in a community with a population of about 7,000. So the reach of this ministry is not only here, but it's going throughout the area as well as we can see. But even here in Napanee, and especially over these past couple of years amidst economic challenge and uncertainty, in our little corner of the world, the need is great. And we know that throughout the history of the church, wherever the gospel has been preached, the needs of the poor have always been addressed and so we continue to do that and we continue to bless FCDC and minister to them and pray for them. Some also regard verses 1 and 2 in a little bit different light. They'll regard verses 1 or 2 as wisdom, which would be for business and commerce. So if you're going to be in business, you would do well, of course, about being aggressive about selling your product. If you're a wise business owner, if you're a salesperson, you would not sell your product only to one customer, but you would engage with multiple customers so that when one customer stops purchasing your product, you have other customers who will continue to purchase from you. And this is certainly good wisdom, whether it's wisdom about our philanthropy or wisdom concerning business, these are good lessons here that Solomon presents in Ecclesiastes. But we would be amiss to think that God's word stops right here. Certainly Solomon intends more. The emphasis behind these scenarios is that the believer engages with life and engages in the work of the kingdom, and the work of the kingdom goes forward in the midst of the chaos and the tumult of our world. And the believers engaged in the work of the kingdom should never assume that their work is insignificant or unimportant or inconsequential. Case in point, we've just completed a five-year run as the collection site here in Apenny for Operation Christmas Child. We did this for five years. And during those five years, Angie was keeping very careful count. We processed over 10,000 boxes that came in our door. And the estimate is that for every box, about ten people, kids, adults, whoever, but ten or so, received something about the contents of that box. So that means over the five years, there were 100,000 people in countries around the world who have heard the message of the gospel, simply because of the boxes that came through our doors. The work of the kingdom goes forward, you see, and the labor, your labor, is not in vain. And there's a promise here for the child of God, God's continued promise to provide and sustain. We notice it here in the second half of verse 1. It says, For after many days you will find it again. My friends, we know that we serve a gracious God, who will always be a gracious God. God will never fail nor forsake his children. So the call remains for us to engage in the work of the kingdom. Recall earlier in the text Solomon's words in chapter 3 when he wrote, A time to plant, and a time to uproot. In today's text, verses 3 and 4 warn against watching and waiting instead of sowing or reaping, hesitating instead of acting. Commentator Derek Kidner here offers his commentary. He writes, If there are risks in everything, it's better to fail in launching out than in hugging one's resources to oneself. Solomon's words use the metaphor of farming, the metaphor of agriculture, in the application of wisdom. Notice the text, verse 3. If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth. Every farmer knows that rainy days are coming, so planting has to occur when the season arrives. Planting has to happen now. If you hesitate, you'll miss the rain that will water the new crop, so when it's time to plant, if you're a farmer, you plant. Also in verse 3, whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie. The tree, in fact, will certainly lie there unless and until you get out your chainsaw and put your gloves on and you set your hands to removal of that downed tree. The tree that has fallen across your property won't move itself, and it's highly unlikely that anyone's going to move it for you. So in the place where it falls, there will it lie. Good wisdom. Verse 4, whoever watches the wind will not plant. Whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. A wise farmer knows that he cannot wait for perfect weather in which to work. If the time for planting has come and it's a cold and blustery day, the wise farmer goes forth and he plants. Who knows if subsequent days or even subsequent weeks will present the same conditions. It's also true that if a farmer has a crop in the field which is ready for harvest, it's due to be picked, then the harvest must commence. The wise farmer will not wait for nicer days and nicer weather, as nicer days might not come, and a sufficient heavy storm can very well destroy the crop when it's in the field and ready for harvest. We see all these analogies of farming and agriculture. God's Word here following with two analogies to underscore God's wisdom. Notice the first phrase in verse 5, as you do not know the path of the wind, and it's followed with a second analogy, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb. Let's think about those analogies for a second. First, that first phrase in verse 5, as you do not know the path of the wind. Here we recall the words of Jesus spoken in Nicodemus, John chapter 3. Jesus said the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it's going, and so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Then the analogy about the body formed in a mother's womb. How can we not think of David's words in Psalm 139, when he wrote to God, And as each of these analogies expresses truth, Solomon offers the conclusion, so you cannot understand the work of God, the maker of all things. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, so all things are made in this mysterious and wonderful way, which is all beyond our ability to comprehend. Joel said the same thing, Joel chapter 5 verse 9. He said of God, He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. And of course the biggest miracle of all, how then can we explain salvation, and why do we get to receive it? We know that our salvation comes to us not by our merit, we didn't do anything to earn it. In fact, we were working in the opposite direction. I understand that my salvation is real because of Jesus' death on the cross, His sacrifice for me. So this is truly a wonder that cannot be fathomed, except that I know that Jesus did it. Except that I know that He did it. So as verse 1 begins this passage with an imperative from God, verse 6 wraps it up with a similar imperative. Notice verse 6 in our text. So your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle. For you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. These words call us to faith, to devotion, to obedience. Some might ask why we bother to do anything, but we know that we are commanded to continue to do the work of the kingdom. In fact, the words in chapter 3 here are also good wisdom. Remember when Solomon wrote, there's a time to keep, a time to give away. Is this not how we're supposed to communicate the word of God? 2 Timothy chapter 4, remember Paul wrote this to Timothy when he wrote, I give you this charge, preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season. And of course we're confident of the return of the harvest of the word of God. Isaiah 55, so as my word that goes forth out of my mouth, it will not return to be empty, but it will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. In fact, try to give away God's word and see what happens. The apostle Paul says this, remember 2 Corinthians chapter 9, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, but who also sows generously will also reap generously. Verses 1 through 6 therefore remind us of our active obedience to God and to his kingdom. It's the unrestrained work of the believer, the command of the father to his children. Our faith is an active faith, always working, always working for the cause of the kingdom. We come to verse 7, so Solomon has passed on to us godly wisdom, the reminder that the believer engages with life and engages in the work of the kingdom and the work of the kingdom goes forward and the believer is engaged in the work of the kingdom should never assume that their work is insignificant or unimportant or inconsequential because the work we do is the work of God. And because it's the work of God, it has an eternal quality about it. It has divine purpose and intent. It is part of the divine plan. You meeting with your neighbor across your fence or at the back door has divine purpose and intent. You're engaging with someone at the grocery store or at the coffee shop has divine intent. There's a divine element about it. Do not mistake this for a minute. Don't think this is inconsequential. Don't think that your activity is inconsequential. You are an ambassador for Christ sent out to serve the kingdom. When you engage with someone and you share something about your love, you can share something about Jesus. You could just give them a hug. That's a divine moment in a divine place. It's a sacred space. You are called in that moment to serve the kingdom in that way. There's nothing inconsequential about that whatsoever. The work we do is the work of God, so it has the eternal quality. It has divine purpose and intent, and it's part of the divine plan. Is it not indeed a privilege to be used by God in this way? Now, Solomon does seem anxious to convey this message to us, to convince us of this truth. Well, why might this be so? Why is he so anxious to communicate to us the need to be engaged in an act of faith now… … and to see herself in this very divine – part of this divine plan? Why is he so anxious to convey this message? Well, if verses 7 through 10 are any indication, it's because although God is certainly not limited in the accomplishment of this work… … we, of course, are limited in our participation. Here's the stark reality. Life itself has a limit. As we all know, life itself has a limit. Notice verses 7 and 8. Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. God gave us life so that we indeed might live it and we might enjoy it. There is nothing wrong with celebrating and basking in the gift of life that we have been given by God. But then we notice that verse 8 continues. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. As we have mentioned previously, this is not to be construed as a denial of resurrection or eternal life. That's not what's being discussed here. Solomon does not have that on the radar. This, rather, is a realization that each life on this earth does come to an end. Even before our days in this life are over, there will be days of darkness in between. The death of a spouse, loss of family and friends, broken relationships, health concerns, financial hardships, stuff that we just can't understand or get our brain around. And to this Solomon argues that everything to come is meaningless. Yes, wisdom that is under the sun sees all things in this way. Wisdom that is under the sun sees all things as meaningless because it doesn't understand the divine purpose behind any of them. So embrace the things we are given in this life. As they are given to us that we might truly and thoroughly enjoy life. And embrace the difficult things in this life because we're called to be servants of God in those circumstances and in those situations. We are given this life so that we might serve God faithfully throughout our lives. And sometimes the situations we serve in are wonderful and sometimes they are difficult. But remember, these things won't last forever. And we have to accept this. We have to be ready to move on with what God has next in store for us. I get that's easier said than done. Absolutely. I get that I don't know the circumstance that you are in or the situation you are going through. I can't possibly. It would be absolute baloney for me to stand up here and say I know how you feel because I don't know how you feel. I can't, but I know the one who does, and he knows what you're going through, and he's walking through it with you, whatever the situation, whatever the circumstance. We come to verses 9 and 10 as we conclude this chapter. Now while we're certainly encouraged to enjoy life, we're nevertheless reminded that life exists also within the bounds of what is good and with what is right. We note verse 9. Our life and our ways do matter to God. We know this to be true, but the last phrase in verse 9 reminds us of the call to holiness. The text says this. Now I realize that I'm probably just saying that to myself, and I need to hear that. You might not have a problem with that one, but I'm going to say it again only because I know I need to hear it. It should not be for us a light idea or a flippant attitude. Rather, the righteousness of God must guide and direct everything we do. Yes, we are saved by grace. Yes, we are justified by grace through faith in Christ. Yes, our salvation is assured and secure in Christ. And yet there is nothing here that would ever even suggest that because the saints persevere in this life that there then exists therefore a license to sin. Nothing could be further from the truth. Never let anybody tell you that the notion or the understanding of our salvation and the security of salvation in Christ offers a license to sin. That's baloney. It does not in any way whatsoever. God continues to call us to a life of holiness, and we seek to live that life. Now, it's clear to me here that if we had only verses 1 through 6 in this chapter, we would be tempted to think the wisdom of the passage would be limited to the call to philanthropy or the call of financial wisdom, good wisdom as we pointed out. But the chapter goes through verse 10, and the wisdom of verses 7 through 10 remind us that beyond philanthropy or beyond financial wisdom, there is spiritual insight here too. Here the words of the Solomon Ecclesiastes offer us a wisdom from God that is guidance and direction for all of our lives. And we can further apply the wisdom to the spiritual business, if you will, of the kingdom of God. Would we be bold to do seven, yes, even eight things for the work of the kingdom, for the proclamation of the gospel? And so to bless and so to minister to people around us and people around the world so they would hear the good news about Jesus, that they would respond to Christ by placing their faith and their trust in Christ. As verse 10 concludes, youth and vigor are meaningless. Meaningless, yes, if they do not embrace the moral truth of the word of God, the fingerprints of holiness. Derek Kidner, who we quoted earlier, concludes his commentary on this chapter, and he offers this wisdom. He says joy was created to dance with goodness and not alone. Joy was created to dance with goodness and not alone. So let us banish anxiety. Let us cast off troubles by maintaining the enjoyment of life within the embrace of the holiness and the righteousness of God. So the words of Ecclesiastes chapter 11 remain for us a call to obedience and a call to service and a call to trust. So what extent, though, are we to do this? How are we to cast our bread upon the waters? I always was confused by that statement when I was a kid, when I was a little guy. There's that verse in the New Testament where the line is used that says, cast your bread upon the waters, for they will come back to you a hundredfold. And in my mind, my little joking mind, I always thought, what am I going to do with a hundred loaves of wet bread? That was where I always thought of this verse. Cast your bread upon the waters is what we're called to do. So what extent are we to do this? Well, here's what the apostle Paul says. Here's the call of God's word. Here's the call on our lives of the extent to which we cast our bread upon the waters. This is 1 Corinthians chapter 9, starting with verse 19. Listen to what Paul says. Paul says, though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law, though I myself am not under the law, so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law, though I am not free from God's law, but I'm under Christ's law, so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men, cast my bread upon the waters. I become all things to all men, so that by all possible means I might save some. And I do all this. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Let's bow our heads and pray, shall we? Father, your word challenges us today. We admit that we are far away from a complete understanding of your wisdom. But we see here today that we find wisdom in knowing you. We find wisdom in trusting in you. We find wisdom in the understanding that you are bringing all things to pass. This is the wisdom that you present. This is the wisdom that is from under heaven. This is the wisdom given to us by a sovereign God who rules and reigns over all things. We thank you, Father, that you give us this. Help us to embrace it and help us to understand it and help us to work in it. And then, Father, call us. Call us to extravagant service. Call us to service that we would never regard as insignificant. Call us to serve you in this world. Call us to speak in the midst of the darkness. Call us, Father, to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and to share the truth of the gospel. Use us as you will, Father, for your kingdom and for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.