Ecclesiastes 7:15-18

Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verses 15 through 18. All things have I seen in the days of my vanity. There is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness. Be not overly righteous much. neither make thyself over wise. Why shouldest thou destroy thyself? Be not over much wicked. Neither be thou foolish. Why shouldest thou die before thy time? It is good that thou shouldst take hold of this. Yea also from this withdraw not thine hand. For he that feareth God, shall come forth of them all. May God bless to us his sacred and holy word this evening. Winchester, England is famous for two things. It’s famous for its college and its cathedral. If you visit the cathedral, there’s a story that’s told about its history. And it relates to the news of the Battle of Waterloo that took pace many years before. And it relates how the news to that battle reached England. There were no telegrams or telephones or internet or anything of that nature, radio transmissions. Everyone knew that well in the internet, or anything of that nature, radio transmissions. was facing Napoleon on the continent of Europe. But they were all waiting breathlessly for the result of this climactic battle that was taking place in Belgium. Well, the standard procedure was this, that a sailing ship would signal with flags, news to the signalman on the top of Winchester Cathedral. And then it would be passed a Winchester cathedral. Cathedral along to another station and another station eventually get the London and eventually it would go out to all England. It was all done by signals. So when the battle was over, they would signal a ship. The ship would come across the channel and then as soon as they got close enough where they could signal Winchester Cathedral, they started signaling. Well, when the ship approached port, the signal men on board signaled the first word, Willington. And then the next word, the signal, was defeated. And then a fog came in. And that’s all they got. Wellington defeated. So that was what ended up getting passed by signals to London. And so all England eventually was in a gloomy mood that Wellington had lost the battle. After two or three hours, the fog lifted. And they finally got… Another signal, the complete transmission, and the complete transmission was this. Wellington defeated the enemy. Then all England was happy. Rejoiced. There are certain problems that arise in the Christian life because you can’t see how things actually end. There’s a fog that covers things up. So you see only a portion of what God is doing. You don’t. know everything that he’s doing. Sometimes it causes you to moan and groan. Things don’t just seem right. Solomon here talks about the problem of the righteous man perishing. The wicked man prospering in our text. Now that’s hard to fathom, isn’t it? We live in a world that is controlled by God. How can this possibly be? However, like England, It’s best to wait till the fog lifts and you get the end. You get the complete picture. The whole story. Let me begin tonight by saying this. You will have some unsettling observations in life. Verse 15. It says, all things have I seen in the days of my vanity. There is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that perishes. long of his life in wickedness. So the first thing he talks about here is you observe the problem here of the just man perishing. Now normally, a man who is living a life that is honoring unto God is going to prosper. I mean, all of us know Psalm 1 and verse 3, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. That’s the righteous man. That’s the godly man. But there is calling exceptions to the rule. And here is one of them. These exceptions occur frequently enough. We can’t just sweep it under the rug and protect that it doesn’t exist. At times it is distressing. We wonder about God’s manner of ruling the world. It doesn’t seem right. Sometimes you feel like Jeremiah and Jeremiah 12.1. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper. Wherefore are all they happy that dealed very treacherously? Abel was a righteous man whose sacrifice was accepted by God, he was hated by his brother and killed. Naboth was murdered by an evil plot by Queen Jezebel so that his vineyard could be stolen by the king. And the charges that were trumped up against him were not true. We read tonight in our scripture reading 2nd Chronicles chapter 24 about Zachariah. Joe Ash you’ll recall was one of the youngest kings to ever rule over Judah. He was seven years old when he became king. You’ll recall that his grandmother, the wicked Atheliah, killed off all the royal seed that she could find and took the reins of government for herself. Well, Joash only survived because Jahash Abith, the sister of the previous king, wife of Jehoiada, the high priest secretly hit him. She snuck him out of the royal residence and into the temple where they kept him secreted away for a number of years. When the moment was ripe, Athaliah was executed in Joach, the true heir to the throne, was placed in power as the king. In all the days of the high priest Jehoiada, Joash did what was right. He had a good religious guide to help him. But as soon as the death of Jehoia occurred, Joas and the princes of Judah decided that they were going to involve themselves in idol worship. And they turned away from the Lord. And the Lord sent messages, these prophets, to try to warn them about what was going to happen if they didn’t turn from their sin. Finally, we read here about the Spirit of God coming upon Zachariah, who is the son of Jehoiada, the high priest. And he stood before the people and rebuked him about their idol worship. Thus saith God, why trespass ye the commandments of the Lord? But you cannot prosper. Because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath forsaken you. So did the people repent? Did the king say, boy, that was the wrong thing to do? We better straighten. up here and go back to the Lord? No, they stone Zachari to death. Killed him right there in the courtyard of the temple. The kindness of Zachariah’s father and mother sparing Josiah’s life was forgotten and this righteous man perished. And so there were times when the just man perishes at the hands of the wicked. It’s upsetting. It’s troubling, but it’s a reality in our world. And then he says here, there’s another problem he observes, and that’s the problem of the wicked man prospery. Now here’s a person who lives a life that is deliberately opposed the commandments of God. He violates what God has commanded men to do, but he lives a long time. He shows no sense of remorse. for his evil ways, and yet somehow he greatly prosperes, maybe as the mightest touch financially. isn’t God paying attention? Doesn’t the Lord care? Like Job’s friends, there’s a tendency for us to try to put God in a box, and that tendency is to say, well, the righteous are always blessed and the wicked are always cursed. So if anything bad happens to you, you have to be wicked. The real world in which we live, there are contradictions to that assumption. Now we like things cut and dry. We like things logical, consistent, neat and tidy, and so forth. And so you expect God to immediately intervene and just bring his lightning bolts and let them fall on the wicked, but that doesn’t always happen. Remember we looked at ASAP in Psalm 73 how many weeks we spent with him troubled about the prosperity of the wicked. Until he went to the house of God. Until he went to the temple, until he heard what the scripture says, then he realized that God had set them, even though they’re prospering. He’s sort of just fattening them up for the destruction. He set their feet in slippery places. And eventually he will bring them to distraction. We just have to be patient. We just have to wait. And the righteous, of course, will find the way of the Lord. leads to joy of heaven. So you have some unsettling observations is life, the problem of the just man perishing, the problem of the wicked man prosper. Now, secondly, these unsettling observations must not cause you to overreact. He takes that up in verses 16 and 17. Be not righteous over much. Neither make thyself overwise. Why shouldest thou destroy thyself? Be not much. wicked, neither be thou foolish. Why shouldest thou die before thy time? Now I suppose if you read this, you may think, well, that’s not right. What does he mean? Don’t be overly righteous. I thought God is holy and we’re supposed to be holy too. What he means here is don’t live a self-righteous life. So at first, glance things seem to be out of place. Solomon’s not saying here, relax, don’t be serious about your Christian life. That’s not what he’s saying. He’s not advocating some pathetic moderation where you’re lukewarm and not hot or cold, as the Church of La Eadesea is warned about. Yes, if we have scripturally formed views, we may be looked upon as harsh, as unloving, as extreme, but God says God, the Lord says that God’s way is a narrow way that we’re following. But here I think Solomon is actually talking about a deviation from the path of God. Because you’ll notice in verse 18, the one who fears the God fears God is distinguished from the two groups there in 16 and 17. So we’re talking about the one who truly fears God. So the idea here is more pretense. about your religion. Claiming to be better than you are. Self-righteous. Posing is wiser than you are. Thinking you know all things. Sort of like Job’s friends. You can make religion consists mainly of externals, and that’s what most people do. They’re narrow-minded. And you think people or other people are not righteous unless they are just like you. Like the Pharisees thought. What happens is you can press Christians’ duty beyond their due proportion. Be like the Pharisees. They impose literally thousands of trivial laws upon people that weren’t in Scripture. But they thought they were righteous and therefore they condemned others if you didn’t follow their particular laws. One of them, of course was eating with unwashed hands, remember? They blamed Christ as if you did something great and evil. And he had to explain to them, you know, it’s not what, it’s not the outside and coming in that makes you evil. It’s the heart within you. What comes out of the man, it’s really the evil part of man. One Pharisee bragged at the temple that he fasted not just once a week but twice a week. Of course, if you didn’t fast twice a week, if you liked that public and you didn’t fast at all, maybe, well, you can’t be any good at all. So the Pharisees were known for their straining at the gnat and swallowing the camel. They were meticulous about their tithing. You know, they had to tithe every little seed that they had and so forth. Yet the weightier matters of the law, Jesus said, like love of God. and justice and mercy and faith, you left those out. You can stand a long time before the money box if you put your tide in in quarters rather than $20 bills. So they would spend the long time at the money box at the temple, make it look good. Jesus denounces these all as hypocrites, these things. Most people thought they were righteous, but Jesus says, indeed, they were self-righteous. They were full of pride, arrogance, and a desire to be seen of men. They were unloving, ungracious, in spirit. Pride goes before destruction. So why provoke God to judgment? By living this way. You should avoid as self-indulgent life. Verse 17, he brings this up. Be not over much wicked. Neither be thou foolish. Why shouldest thou? die before thy time. Is Solomon here possibly saying that moderate wickedness is okay? Don’t, you know, don’t go whole hog wild on wickedness, but a little bit’s okay. Know that God is not going to look favorably upon sin. You know that God’s going to judge all sin. So that can’t be the point of this. The thought of foolishness is sin itself. any wickedness is overmuch. So Solomon’s not saying here, so you’re wild oaks, cheat a little bit here and there, but don’t go overboard. That’s not what he’s saying. So you must not draw the wrong conclusion here. Don’t give yourself over to sinful living either. Why act foolishly? Because God is going to hold you accountable, and he’s going to judge you for it, so don’t be foolish. Flaugrant sin rushes you toward certain destruction. the murderer, by his overmuch wickedness, dies before his natural time. His death comes early by the death penalty. The drunkard, by slowly poisoning his body, prepares it for a premature ruin as the liver goes out. Haman’s malicious spirit caused him to be hanged while in the prime of his life. King Herod’s pride caused him to be struck. down on the peak of his political career. So these unsettling observations must not cause you to overreact. Thirdly, tonight, a true fear of God will keep you from overreacting to these unsettling observations. Verse 18, it is good that thou shouldst take hold of this. He also from this withdraw not thine hand, for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all. Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. It’s good to grasp that the dangers of self-righteousness will never and never let go of your convictions about the sinfulness of sin. Don’t withdraw your hand from these things. A true fear of God leads you away from these two extremes we just talked about. And fearing God involves submitting to his providence, control over life. This is the way of life and joy in fellowship with God. So we fear God. We wait patiently for him to remove the fog and see what happens. Let’s look at Psalm 37, verses 32 to 38. The wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand nor condemn him when he is judged. Wait on the Lord, keep his way. He shall exalt thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. I have seen the wicked in great power spreading himself like a green bay tree, yet he passed away. And lo, he was not. Yea, I sought for him, but it could not be found. Mark, though perfect, man. Behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together. The end of the wicked shall be cut off. This is our hope as the people of God. This is what he calls us to do. Wait on the Lord. People of England got the wrong idea about the ballot because the fog came in. Eventually, they got the full message. sometimes that’s the way it is in life. The fog comes in. We don’t see the end of things. Wait on God. Eventually, everything will clear up. Let’s close with the word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we pray for your blessing upon your people. Please strengthen us in the things of Christ. Bless us, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Let’s stand for the benediction. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Amen.