And in God's word, we turn to Ecclesiastes chapter
four. We're gonna look at the whole chapter today,
one through 16, simply picking up where we left
off. So I would ask you to give close attention
for this is God's word, Ecclesiastes four. Again,
I saw all the oppressions that are done under
the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed,
and they had no one to comfort them. On the side
of their oppressors, there was power, and there
was no one to comfort them. And I thought the
dead who are already dead more fortunate than
the living who are still alive. But better than
both is he who has not yet been. and has not
seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
Then I saw all the toil and skill and work that
come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This
also is vanity and a striving after wind. The
fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.
Better is a handful of quietness than two hands
full of toil and a striving after wind. Again,
I saw vanity under the sun. One person who has
no other, either son or brother, yet there is
no end to all his toil. And his eyes are never
satisfied with riches so that he never asks,
for whom am I toiling and depriving myself of
pleasure? This also is vanity and an unhappy
business. Two are better than one because they
have good reward for their toil. For if they
fall, one will lift up his fellow, but woe to
him who is alone when he falls and has not another
to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they
keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? And
though a man might prevail against one who is
alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord
is not quickly broken. Better was a poor and
wise youth than an old and foolish king who no
longer knew how to take advice. For he went from
prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom
he had been born poor. I saw all the living who
move about under the sun, along with that youth
who was to stand in the king's place. There was
no end of all the people, all of whom he led,
yet those who come later will not rejoice in
him. Surely this also is vanity and is striving
after wind. And this is God's word. Let us pray.
Lord Christ, you are the word and the Bible reveals
who you are. For we remember that you, Jesus,
were on the Emmaus road and you were talking
with those disciples and you revealed to them
how the scriptures were speaking of you. Help
us to see you in this. Would you apply this passage
to our hearts? And by your spirit, would you
use what I say in my weakness to strengthen our
faith? Would you impart your strength and your
power to encourage our hearts, to exhort our
hearts, to challenge our hearts that we might
grow in the grace and the knowledge of you? This
we ask in your name. Amen Ecclesiastes chapter
4 I wonder what you think of it There are some
tough sayings in here There are some perplexing
sayings in here and really what I think the writer
of Ecclesiastes is doing who I believe to be
Solomon as He's responding to objections regarding
chapter three. For you remember, especially in
the beginning of chapter three, it talks about
there being a time for every matter under heaven,
a season. And yet you could understand how someone
would read that and say, is there really a season,
a time for oppression, which is mentioned in
chapter four? Is there really a time for envy?
mentioned in chapter four. Is there really a
time for loneliness again in chapter four? And
what is underneath all of these questions is
this big question. God, are you really sovereign?
Do you really know what you're doing? Are you
really in control? Perhaps this is a question
that you have. Well, I'm here to tell you. God
is in complete control of every single moment
of your lives and specifically chapter four talks
about how God is in control of our relationships
and it really mentions even though there's a
plethora of things mentioned here it really is
talking about two different types of relationships
the way that we relate to the authorities the
people in positions of power and the way that
we relate to one another in community And so
that's what we're looking at, people in power
and people in the community. And what we should
see from this is that we were made for community.
You were made to be together with one another.
And that is why when we are sinned against, it
hurts so badly that it bothers us so much because
sin interrupts our harmony. Sin is the answer
to why there is oppression, to why there is envy,
to why there is laziness, and to why there is
loneliness, again, all topics addressed in chapter
four. But the answer to these questions about
community is Christ, who comes to make all things
new, Christ who establishes the church, and Christ
who he promises eternal life without the problem
of sin. And yet we do live under the sun in a
very fallen world. And it's a world at times
that seeks to oppress. And so let's look at the
reality of oppression from verses one through
three and verses 13 through 16. This section
of chapter four. is really a continuation of
the end of chapter three. You remember looking
at chapter three and we noted injustice and unrighteousness
that was there. It kind of carries over here
into chapter four, this discussion of oppression.
Again, verse one, I saw all the oppressions that
are done under the sun. And so what Solomon is
showing us here is that oppression is prevalent
and it's pervasive. It's everywhere. And the
real heartbreaking part of oppression is also
mentioned there in verse one. Behold the tears
of the oppressed. They had no one to comfort
them. That's the real heartbreaking part of oppression,
that people who are oppressed oftentimes feel
terribly alone. They feel that no one's got their
back. And as Solomon sees this, verses two and
three kind of come alive, I thought the dead
who were already dead more fortunate than the
living. He's not saying that he wishes he was
dead or that he wishes he was never born. He's
saying, I have seen oppression and I cannot unsee
it. Perhaps you have seen oppression. You have
seen the wicked way that people treat one another,
especially when governments now rule people in
such an oppressive manner. Solomon, though, is
the king, and yet he feels powerless against
the oppression that he sees. Friends, there is
a lot of oppression that happens in the world
today. If you read the stories of the persecuted
church, you realize how oppressive people can
be towards one another and especially towards
Christians. It's happening all over the world
in places like Nigeria, in Eritrea, in China,
in North Korea, in Afghanistan. It's happening
all over the place. And yet the one thing that
Christians say that they need the most when they
are oppressed is prayer. For in prayer, they
are not forgotten. In prayer, we appeal to somebody
who can actually do something about it, and so
we should remember our brothers and sisters in
Christ in oppressed areas. It really is happening
all over the world. In the last several years,
in Rwanda, it's become especially prevalent.
I learned this not too long ago when I was in
Uganda and stopped over in Rwanda for a brief
second. Do you realize that in Rwanda, this kind
of Eastern African nation, and it's not very
big, over 14 ,000 churches and houses of prayer
have been closed since 2018. 14 ,000 churches
and houses of prayer have been closed since 2018.
What are the reasons for this? According to Rwanda's
own government, according to their own website,
the reasons for closing these churches, some
of them are they're not up to par with building
codes, they don't have adequate parking, they
don't have sufficient soundproofing in their
sanctuaries, and their bathrooms are not sufficient.
These are the reasons that churches are being
closed. And as it speaks to adequate parking,
Rwanda has one of the lowest rates of car ownership
in the world. Why do they need parking? Talk
about feeling alone. The government there is
making this a reality with these restrictions
of closing churches in the name of progress.
Friends, We should recognize this, and I think
this is where Solomon is going, that God has
placed authorities in power not to oppress, but
to provide relief from oppression. The Westminster
Confession of Faith says here, God, the Supreme
Lord and King of all the world, has ordained
civil magistrates to be under him. over the people
for his own glory and the public good. It also
says that it's lawful for Christians to accept
and execute the office of a magistrate to maintain
piety, justice, and peace according to the laws
of each land. In other words, we have elected
officials who are supposed to work for the good
of the people, not to oppress them. There was
a time when I saw what I viewed to be terrible
oppression, and especially corruption. Living
in Bulgaria from the end of 2012 through 2014,
it was a time of oppression, many said. It was
a time of corruption, as there was a new government
in power every year, as cost of living was skyrocketing,
and the people of Bulgaria began to be very upset
and agitated. And so they began to assemble to
protest. And in those years of 2013 and 2014,
they set the all -time record for the most consecutive
days of protesting. They protested for 404 straight
days. People were brought in by the busloads
to the capital city of Sofia in order to protest,
tens of thousands of people protesting. because
what they saw was oppression and corruption and
it got to be so bad that the people began to
be a little bit violent and at one point the
government was meeting in the Parliament and
the people decided to barricade them inside the
Parliament building and they wouldn't let them
out until the authorities intervened but then
the people were still angry at this and so they
began to barricade the bus that was being used
to get the government out of the city and they
dragged all sorts of things into the streets.
At one point I saw a baby grand piano in the
street in front of a bus carrying parliament.
Oppression and corruption drive people to survival
mode, drives them to desperate measures. But
friends, when we as Christians see oppression,
and we see corruption and we see injustice. This
should drive us not to those things. This should
drive us to the King of Kings and the Lord of
Lords. This should drive us to the one who can
do something about it. This should drive us to
Christ because his kingdom is everlasting. His
kingdom's not made by human hands. His kingdom
has no boundaries and Jesus has no successor
waiting in the balance to replace him. He rules
with perfect justice and righteousness and grace.
There is no oppression in Jesus' kingdom because
actually Jesus was the one who was oppressed.
Jesus is the one who was oppressed for our sake.
Jesus is the one smitten, stricken, pierced,
crushed, chastised, and afflicted. Isaiah 53,
by oppression and judgment, he was taken away.
The same one who was oppressed is also the one
who frees us from oppression. Revelation 1 says
he loves us and has freed us from our sins by
his blood, and he is the ruler over all the kings
of the earth. And so if you should ever see oppression,
if you should see injustice, if you should see
corruption, friends, seek Jesus. He is the permanent
and eternal King. And so what he shows us and
what Solomon shows us here is the limits of human
leadership. Look in verses 13 through 16. There's
this story that is told here, and I don't know
if it's a real story or something like a parable,
but the way that it goes is that there was an
older king who no longer knew how to take advice.
He no longer knew how to take counsel and he
is replaced by a young man who came from prison.
And this is unexpected because typically in the
scriptures and just in our own culture we view
those who are older to have more wisdom. But
here comes this young man from prison, maybe
think Joseph here, to replace the king. But there's
another twist to it, that apparently there's
another youth who will eventually replace that
king. Why? The text is telling us nothing stays
the same. Kings come and kings go, no matter
how wise, Vanity cannot be slowed simply by wisdom.
The wise king will eventually be replaced and
eventually forgotten. And friends, what this
tells us then is that if you place all of your
hope and all of your trust in a person fulfilling
a role, you will be let down. Oppression can
return just as quickly as it left. Think of the
kings of Israel. Think of the kings of Judah.
Think of the cycle of the judges. Think, I mentioned
Joseph. Think about how Joseph was imprisoned.
Joseph was incarcerated and yet Joseph rose to
power in God's providence, brought incredible
blessing to Israel, but then he died. Exodus
chapter 2 tells us then came a king in Egypt
a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph and oppression
followed. Oppression can come and go just like
that. Kings come and go just like that. But Jesus
is the same yesterday today and forever. He is
our eternal King and as our eternal King he tells
us how to live. And so let's look at verses four
through 12, as we focus on people in community
with one another. You see in verse four, what
Solomon is getting at, then I saw that all the
toil and all skill and work come from a man's
envy of his neighbor. What drives people to work,
he observed, is envy. It's a desire to be better
than our neighbor. It's a desire to have more
than our neighbor. We are living in a constant
game of comparison, trying to one -up one another.
We are self -centered, and we want to see our
own success. And certainly, this should bring
to mind the 10th commandment. We are to be content,
not envious of one another. and not envious of
one another's possessions. Kohelet says, Solomon
says, that this is vanity. It's hevel. Why is
it hevel? Because there's always going to be
someone who is more successful, who is younger
maybe, more diligent, faster, smarter. I realized
this recently. I had a birthday. About a week
and a half ago, it's crazy how those things come
around once a year. Two days after my birthday,
I went to play some basketball with a friend.
Not even competitive basketball. We were playing
horse. And afterwards, my knee swelled up to
the size of a grapefruit, right? There's always
gonna be someone younger, faster, smarter, more
athletic, and I was never very good at basketball
in the first place. But when we're in this constant
game of envy and comparison, we are going to
be sadly mistaken, sadly disappointed when it
comes crashing down and we're lying there on
the floor of the basketball court. Remember,
Solomon is likely near the end of his life as
he writes this, and he knows he can no longer
keep up. And this is a lesson that we must all
learn. And so this is the danger with our work
is that we work and we toil and we slave away.
And for what? Just to show that we're better
than someone else. And so that's a danger. But
in verse five, we get the other danger. The danger
of laziness. For we might push back on that.
We might say, well, I don't want to be like that
guy. I don't want to be envious and in competition
all the time. So instead, I'm just going to do
nothing. Again, the danger of laziness, of dropping
out of the race entirely, of forfeiting, of not
doing our work. And certainly this is written
in a way that makes us cringe. The fool folds
his hands and eats his own flesh. What is that
talking about? It's talking about how we, if
we just choose not to do anything, we no longer
want to work, we just give up. This is destructive.
This is self -destruction. The man who does this,
who refuses to work, will actually waste away.
And so where should we be? Not on this side,
not on this side. We need to be right in the
middle. We need to learn contentment. Look at
verses seven and eight. Or actually, let's stay
in verse six. Better is a handful of quietness
than two hands full of toil. and a striving after
wind. Yes, it's better to keep working and striving
and providing for our families and for those
who are in need. We need to ask ourselves, for
whom do we work? Colossians three says it best,
whatever you do, do your work heartily as for
the Lord rather than for men. And so this is
the answer to envy. When we work for the Lord
and for His glory, we are freed from needing
the approval of our neighbor or trying to keep
up with the Joneses, right? Whatever you do,
are you working for the Lord or are you motivated
by envy? We all should understand that we need
to be working for the good of one another. Look
at verses seven and eight. This is communicating
someone who has nobody. The solitary worker who
works tirelessly but has no one, no son, no brother,
no friends, no family, and yet he never stops
to think, for whom am I doing this? It's just
herself, right? I saw a poll recently that I
think illustrates this very well, and the poll
just asked two questions. It said, how much do
you make? And how much would you need to make
in order to be happy? It's very telling that
the results of that poll showed that people overwhelmingly
said, if I just had 25 % more, then I would be
happy. Now indeed, there are some who definitely
could use 25 % more. But to have that many people
saying, I just need a little bit more, shows
us something important. about ourselves. It'll
never be enough, will it? For you could get that
25 % more and you would still want 25 % more.
Friends, when we work only for ourselves, when
we're seeking to satisfy only self, we are going
to be, as I said, very disappointed and very
lonely, which is our last point here. Verses
nine through 12. it speaks to companionship.
Companionship is better than aloneness. And Solomon
illustrates this with four examples, verse 9.
Two are better than one because they have a good
reward for their toil. Working together you can
accomplish more good and therefore there will
be a greater reward for this. We should be working
together on things that really matter, right?
like reaching our community for Christ. This
is done better when we all engage in it together.
Second example is verse 10. If one falls, the
other can help him up. To fall and be alone is
a dangerous and scary thing. Yes, physically
falling, but emotionally, spiritually and having
no one to pick us up, we need community. Verse
11 for example 3 2 can keep each other warm.
We should remember in Solomon's time. They didn't
have heat right and so what this is speaking
of is probably Travelers who are on the way to
a destination to have nowhere to stay and this
isn't talking about anything sinful here This
is just talking about travelers who would sleep
near one another to keep each other warm When
they're perhaps in the elements And then finally,
verse 12, for example, number four. One who is
alone may be overpowered, but two can stand against
an attacker. Sometimes it just really helps to
have somebody have your back, right? And so for
all of these reasons, this proverb here in verse
12 is true. This threefold cord that is not easily
or quickly broken. He's saying what is often
communicated in wisdom literature, that if one
thing, if two things is good, then more than
that is better. If two is good, three is better,
right? That there is strength in numbers. And
so friends, to go through life without companionship
is not just sad. It's downright foolish. We need
one another. Before the fall, God said it was
not good for man to be alone. And while that
first referred to marriage, Solomon is making
a broader point about the human need for companionship,
to have friends and family and people who are
with you. But where can we find this community?
Where does it come from? How can I have it? Well,
here I could tell you to join a bowling league.
Or if you're single, I could tell you to try
online dating. But no. I'm telling you, a great
place to find companionship is right here, right
now. We need one another in the church, right?
We need a community that worships together and
prays together and serves together and walks
through all of the miseries of this life together.
And I think that Solomon would absolutely agree
because he's the one who built the temple. And
his very name in this book literally. The title
that is used here is Kohelet and that means literally
convener or assembler for the purposes of teaching.
His name means getting together. And so we ought
to be together. And if Solomon would agree with
this, how much more would Jesus agree with this?
That Jesus, the one who is followed by all the
crowds, Jesus who assembled his own small team
of men, right? And Jesus who commanded us to
love one another, and you cannot keep that commandment
if you're not with one another. And Jesus who
is ultimately abandoned at the cross, My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus knew
more than any of us what it was like to be completely
alone. And he went through it all for you. And
ultimately, when he did that, he kicked off the
greatest organization in the world, the church,
the early church, the model for us. comes from
Acts chapter 2 and I'll begin to wrap up with
just two passages of scripture. Acts 2 42 through
47 and they devoted themselves to the apostles
teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of
bread and the prayers and awe came upon every
soul and many wonders and signs were being done
through the apostles and all who believe were
together. and they had all things in common,
and they were selling their possessions and belongings
and distributing the proceeds to all as any had
need. And day by day, attending the temple together
and breaking bread in their homes, they received
their food with glad and generous hearts, praising
God and having favor with all the people. And
the Lord added to their number, day by day, those
who are being saved. Perhaps you feel alone.
Perhaps those who are listening online maybe
feel alone. Friends, you are made for Christian
community. In community, you grow in faith. In
community, you bear one another's burdens. In
community, you worship the living God. In community,
you give help to each other in saying no to sin.
In community, you look after the needs of those
who are desperately in need. And in community,
you prepare for the perfect fellowship that awaits
you in glory. And so friends, let us have this
closing statement, not from me. but from God's
Word. Hebrews 10, 24, and 25. And let us consider
how to stir up one another to love and good works,
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit
of some, but encouraging one another in all the
more as you see the day drawing near. Let us
pray.