Ecclesiastes 9:11-18

Ecclesiastes 9 verses 11 through 18 for our text and study this evening. I returned and saw unto the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither bred to the wise, or yet riches to men of understanding, or yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth. to them all. For man also knoweth not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time when it falleth suddenly upon them. This wisdom have I seen also unto the sun, and it seemed great unto me. There was a little city and few men within it. And there came a great king against it and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he, by his wisdom, delivered the city. Yet no man remembered the same poor man. Then I said, wisdom is better than strong. strength, nevertheless, the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. The words of wise men are heard in quiet, more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroyeth much good. May God bless to us his sacred. and holy word this evening. There was a plumber who finished working on the pipes for a doctor’s family and the wife was presented with the bill. $400 for a broken pipe, she exclaimed. My husband doesn’t get that much for a consultation. The plumber said, my sympathies are complete with you. When I was a doctor, I didn’t get that much either. You know, doctors are supposed to be wealthy and successful. You don’t expect them to be out-earned by many other people, especially a plumber. The stereotype of do this and you’ll be successful doesn’t always hold. things don’t always turn out the way you think they should turn out. Solomon here has praised spiritual wisdom all throughout this book, and he has spoken of the believer living in hope, finding contentment in serving God faithfully. It’s a wonderful thing to know that God accepts your works. however, distinction has to be drawn between God’s general rule things and what we might call the exception. As a believer, you have gifts to use, you have things to do, you have promises to claim, and you can live, I think, in expectation of God’s blessing. But that’s a general rule. if you live as the scriptures direct you, generally, you will be successful and blessed. But the world in which we live is no friend of the Christian. It’s hostile to the Christian. And God doesn’t guarantee that either your God-given gifts or wisdom will always produce success. At least not not. with regard to this life. And you must realize that God in his providence directs all the affairs of this life very much sovereignly, and so we have to look to him for his wisdom and what he brings about in this life. I want to speak tonight on remember your limitations. And one is this. your gifts do not guarantee success. In verse 11, you can’t place your trust in gifts or abilities. He says, I returned the song to the sun that the race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, neither yet bred to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men, of skill but time and chance happeneth to them all we often think that the person who’s most gifted in his particular field is bound to always come out ahead that’s logical thinking whether it’s sports or politics or business or education it’s usually the case Solomon would have you realize it’s not always the case God sovereignly controls the outcome of events. The preacher here uses the word chance, but he doesn’t use it in the sense that many use it today as fortune or luck. He uses it in a sense of opportunity, saying the people have opportunity. Everybody has opportunity. Time here is used in the sense of God’s providence. God’s providence is such that you often have opportunity for success. I think that’s the idea behind all this. But the point is that providence governs it. No matter how gifted you may be, you only have an opportunity to be successful. In a foot rate we think that the fastest runner is going to win. If you look at some of the Olympic runners, you know, they get timed all the time, and you can say, well, this guy’s faster than this guy. So surely this guy running the 100-yard dash is going to beat these other guys because he’s faster. Or the 440 or whatever the case may be. The problem is you don’t know if there’s going to be a slip. You don’t know if there’s going to be a fall. You don’t know if he’s going to twist an ankle. You don’t know if he’s going to pull a hamstring. You just don’t know what’s going to happen. You can’t be positive that that is the case. There is an opportunity for someone with lesser talent to win in battle. We would think the most powerful army, the most numerous army, is going to win. Maybe the army with the best general is going to win. But such is not always the case. Look at this story of Jonathan and his armor bearer and how he defeats all these Philistine soldiers at the encampment. He just, just he and his armor bearer, and his armor bear doesn’t even have a weapon. Got some kind of rod, perhaps, or something, but he doesn’t have a sword. Only Jonathan has a sword, and yet he defeats them all. I read about Adeno, the Esnite, David’s, one of David’s mighty man. 800 Philistine soldiers at one time. One time, one man, Samson, slays a thousand Philistines. Without a weapon, which is a jawbone of an ass. That happened to be laying around. He picked it up and used it as a weapon. When you look at the odds, there’s David going out to fight Goliath. Now Goliath is a seasoned. veteran of the army. He’s huge. He’s nine, he’s like nine feet tall or something. He’s huge. He’s got all this large spear. He’s got a gigantic sword. And when he sees David going out there and all he’s got is a slingshot, you’re like, what chances David have? Does he, you know, if you were a slingshot, you know, if you were a slingshot, you’re like, you know, if, if he were laying odds on this, you’re saying, I don’t know, you know, David doesn’t have a chance here. This guy’s experienced. He’s huge. But you’d be wrong. Because time and chance, opportunity was available. Of course, God’s providence directed in it so that that that stone that came out of that sling hit Deliah at the right spot. the joints of the armor, so to speak, and struck them down. Didn’t seem like it was going to work out that way, but it did. I remember when I was younger, my father and I would listen to the fights on the radio, and we listened to several fights, and this guy named Cassius Clay. He was beating everybody. First Round Lockouts and all this stuff. And he’s going to fight this young brash fighter And when he had eight professional fights, and it was going to be, like, the odds were like eight to one or something. It was like, this, he’s, you know, this guy’s going to kill this young kid. This young kid was named Cassius Clay. Now, we didn’t realize at the time that he was going to be Muhammad Ali. But this young kid was, what I didn’t know was, I thought, well, he’s going to knock him out in the first round, and this will be all over. So when my dad said, well, who do you like it? I like Cassius Clay. The thing is that, or I like Sonny Liston, the Cassius Clay was fast. He would dart in there, pop, pop, and get back out again. And here, Sunny Liston couldn’t lay a glove on. He had trouble hitting him. By the eighth round, it was all over. And it was like, how can this happen? How can this young brass kid win this thing? It’s impossible. But he did. And so we see these things happen. It’s not always the worst. wise and the understanding that get ahead in this world. The most skillful person is not always even the person who lands the job. Some of the most ingenious people have been discarded while complete fools are promoted. It occurs every day in the business world. Believe me, I know from experience from being in there. And I can guarantee you it also happens in the political world. You wonder how some of these people are you. people even got in the office. One of the representatives, I remember one time they had a general, he was in there answering questions that they were asking him. And the question came up a buck. I think it was Guam. Well, what happens if everybody gets on one side of the island, won’t it sink? I do not know how the general kept his straight face and responded to this guy, but he sort of kept his cool and he gave me an answer and I’m thinking, thinking, I can’t believe that somebody got into office, it would ask such an asinine question. But I begin to believe that there are a lot of people in office that really have no clue about how to run anything. But they’re the ones who get in office. Who knows? Solomon is saying here, whatever your gifts, I don’t care how fast you are. I don’t care how much strength you have. I don’t care what skill or wisdom. you have? It really doesn’t matter. Time and opportunity is available for all men. You don’t know what’s going to happen. And his providence is the one that brings about what does happen. We should never forget that as we go through this life. He often baffles our natural expectation. He does according to his will among the inhabitants of the earth. And it’s a good thing he does because if we looked at the odds, the church would be long gone off the face of the earth by now. If it weren’t for this. God’s providence watching out and directing everything. Now, Russell read the Old Testament prophet Tobakuk, who was complaining to the Lord about letting the wisdom. wicked be able to succeed in their attack against Israel, the Babylonians. Why should the Babylonians who were a wicked and an evil nation be permitted to crush and exploit the Israelites who are the people of God? Yeah, they’re a sinful people, but there’s still, aren’t they considered God’s special nation? and the backbook portrayed the Babylonians as fishermen or using their net or their lure, their military prowess, if you would, to capture, overrun all these other nations. He’s understood, you know, the Babylonians are understandably elated because they’re living a life of luxury because to the victor go all the spoils from the these different countries. And to what or to whom is the fisherman thankful? Does he thank God? The true God about all this? No, he thanks the net. He thanks his military prowess. Why, my army’s the best. And therefore, the Babylonians sacrifice under their net. Burn incest to their net, their drag. Because by them, their portion is fat and their meat plenliest. So here they are worshipping their military strength. And they give it all the credit. And Abacca wants to know, God, when are you going to condemn them for this? How long are you going to let them get away with this? Aren’t you a pure eyes and look upon evil? So he expects God to do something, and God says he will. If you read the whole book, eventually I will. Bring them all down. But you can’t place your trust in your gifts. That’s the wrong thing. thing to do. Secondly here, evil comes unexpectedly and spoils your efforts. Still onto this first point. Notice verse 12. For man also knoweth not his time as fishes that are taking in an evil net and as birds that are caught in the snare. So are the sons of men snared in an evil time when it falleth suddenly upon them. Boy, an evil time can fall suddenly upon you. And you’re incapable of controlling the flow of events in your life. You can never tell what is going to happen next. You just can’t be sure. You expect to get up tomorrow and get on with a new day. Maybe you have plans for the day to do this or do that. You don’t know what a day is going to bring forward. You don’t know what a day is going to bring forward. You don’t know what’s going to be. going to happen. You do not know what troubles you’re going to run into. And like the fish or the bird get caught up in the net or the snare become entrapped and some calamity strikes. Can you do about it? You’re unable to escape. You don’t know what a day is going to bring forth. Individuals and nations have to live as if they’re going to going to go on indefinitely. But the truth of the matter is you get sick. Nations decline and collapse. Death can come in any moment for an individual as well as for a nation. You never know. I remember when I was growing up there was a marathon runner who ran, you know, all the time. Had a heart attack and die. They’re like, man, this guy ought to be in great shape. He’s doing this all the time. He has a heart attack and he dies. Who would have thought that was going to happen? So just when you think you’re going to grab the brass ring somehow, rather, something in snares. Something throws everything out of kilter. You know, the city of Lucerne was once a very important city in Switzerland. and Swiss history because of its strategic location. It guarded the mountain pass through the Elps. And so they built it into a fortification. And so they had people that could were up there on the ramparts and so forth. And so if you wanted to get past and try to sneak through the mountain pass, they’d shoot at you. And it was an impregnable situation. And they, for many years, no one could break through. They were protected. And so they thought they were in great shape. But as time went on, they ran into a problem. And that was the increasing use of gunpowder and the ability of cannons to be more powerfully made until what happened was, somebody came along with a cannon and started shooting at the walls and knocked them down. And so this was conquered and the pass was open to them. They thought, well, no one’s ever going to build. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know what’s going to happen. And the walls got flattened. Our own real security is only in the war. So your gifts do not guarantee success. Secondly, your wisdom does not guarantee success. Versus 13 to 18. Now your wisdom may go unrecognized. Notice verses 13 to 16 here. This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great under me. There was a little city and a few men within it. And there came a great king against it, resieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a poor, wise man he by his wisdom delivered the city yet no man remembered the same poor man then I said wisdom is better than strength nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard he gives us a story about the case of a poor wise man who lived in this little town this little city and it was besieged by a very powerful enemy. Now the odds against this little city surviving were long. The city has only a few men in it. The king that comes up against it is a great king. He’s building, you know, these bulwarks and these besiegements against it. So they’re cut off from food supplies, water supplies, and they have these earthen works and ramparts. by which they can shoot at the people in the city. They’re able to throw their spears and shoot their arrows and so forth. And ultimately, they’re going to storm the town and take it. But there was a wise man who lived in the city. He wasn’t well respected because he was poor, but he had some idea about how the city could be saved. and he tells the leadership. And lo and behold, it must have been a great idea. We’re not told how he, what it was, but he spared the city. And it wasn’t conquered. Now, you would think at this point that poor wise man would be given the royal treatment. We ought to make him mayor. We ought to give him some type of honor in the city here. and maybe a poor wise man’s day to celebrate once a year or something you got to get some kind of credit but solomon says sadly they just forgot about the man didn’t remember that he had saved the city didn’t even recognize him in any any way what a terrible thing that was his wisdom was rewarded so wisdom is invaluable it can accomplish incredible feats and yet it also can be tossed on the scrap people of oblivion and forgotten completely. Wisdom should be prizes a great gift. But you should be prepared for some bitter disappointments because people don’t always appreciate wisdom. If you expect that being wise and stating the truth is going to gain you attention and approval that you deserve, well, think again, during World War II, some men of a young soldier’s company, occupied a new area and the men were jubilant because they found a case of liquor in an abandoned building. And they were going to have a party that night and drink it up. But just as the container was about to be opened, one of the soldiers, who was a Christian, said to them, fellows, we think were safe, but the enemy may be nearby. If they should attack us, and we are drinking and not able to defend ourselves, it could be disastrous. The officer in charge realized that what the young man said had some wisdom to it, said, you know, nobody’s going to be drinking tonight. Sure enough, did not the enemy counterattack and try to retake the territory. And if the good thing that they listened to the young Christian man, or else they might have all died in the battle. now you would think that afterward they would be very thankful for the good advice of this Christian and they would have said something to boy i’m glad you spoke up and said something you saved our lives not a word was said not even a thank you was said to him about it and that’s the way it is sometimes your wisdom may go unrecognized sin destroys much of the good your wisdom produces. Versus 17 and 18. The words of wise men are heard in quiet, more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroyeth much good. People will listen to the person who cries out, even though he rules fools. he’s a rabble-rousing politician or thinks he knows everything. When they should be listening to the quiet words of a minister or a Christian, they don’t. Noise attracts attention, whether it be politics, whether it be anything else in this life. Quietness is unexciting for most people. considered unimportant. You may say something very wise, but you’re not, you know, raising the roost about it. You’re just saying, hey, gentlemen, you do this, this is what’s going to happen. And they just ignore it. Gentle thoughtfulness is considered to be wimpish. But in scripture, quietness is of great value in the eyes of the Lord. The message is the true. True wisdom is it a premium. And really, wisdom is better than weapons of war. Better than an aircraft carrier. Better than a tank. Better than nuclear missiles and so forth. Because wisdom can overcome all these things. However, there is a warning provided. No matter how precious wisdom is, one sinner, one bad apple in the butt. can create all kinds of havoc and spoil things. Destroy much good. In a fallen and depraved society, wisdom is swimming against the tide. Sin runs with the current, and sin has all the natural advantages. And sadly, most people follow sinful thinking of the majority, because there’s not a wise man among them. It doesn’t need to have someone be converted. It doesn’t need changed hearts. It doesn’t require meditation upon the Word of God. Wisdom involves all those things. For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But one foolish Aiken troubles the whole camp of Israel. One foolish Absalon destroys much. good that David the king brought to the nation. One foolish Judas turns Christ over to his enemies to be put to death. All took us one bad apostle. Solomon’s going to take up this line of thought in chapter 10, so I’m not going to dwell anymore on it at this point. But your wisdom does not guarantee success. The plumber, who made more money, than the doctor is surprising to us. You expect things to be other way around. Many times, though, in this life, things do not follow expectations. It’s just the way it is. There are reversals of conventional wisdom. Time and opportunity are available so that the person who does not have the most skill or ability somehow is the one who can come out ahead. So Saul then says, remember your limitations. Neither your gifts or your wisdom can guarantee you success. Ultimately, it’s all in the hands of God’s Providence. Therefore, behind every success in life is God’s sovereign purpose. So he points you to the Lord. And since the church, as I mentioned, is often far behind the powers of this world, it is It is a good thing that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. And he often comes to the rescue of his people and enables them to overcome great odds and they are spared. May the Lord bless us as we ponder this and may we realize that the underdog can win in God’s program. weak can overcome the mighty. God can cause you to look to him and he would have you look to him instead of some kind of human ability or gifts for your victory or success. Let’s close with a word.