Take your Bibles or the pew Bibles there in front
of you and turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 10. Ecclesiastes
10 as we continue in our sermon series through
this book. As you turn there, let me say this
chapter is one of the more proverbial chapters
in Ecclesiastes. And what I mean by that, it
is proverb -like. Ecclesiastes 10 is colorful
in its descriptions. It contains short, pithy
statements that seem like they belong in the
book of Proverbs. It continues to deal with wisdom
and with folly. And so let us see all of this
in Ecclesiastes 10, the whole chapter. Dead flies.
make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench.
So a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
A wise man's heart inclines him to the right,
but a fool's heart to the left. Even when the
fool walks on the road, he lacks sense. And he
says to everyone that he is a fool. If the anger
of the ruler rises against you, do not leave
your place. For calmness will lay great offenses
to rest. There is an evil that I have seen under
the sun as it were an error proceeding from the
ruler. Folly is set in many high places and the
rich sit in a low place. I have seen slaves on
horses and princes walking on the ground like
slaves. He who digs a pit will fall into it and
a serpent will bite him who breaks through a
wall. He who quarries stones is hurt by them,
and he who splits logs is endangered by them.
If the iron is blunt and one does not sharpen
the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom
helps one to succeed. If the serpent bites before
it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer.
The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor.
but the lips of a fool consume him. The beginning
of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and
the end of his talk is evil madness. A fool multiplies
words, though no man knows what it is to be.
And who can tell him what will be after him?
The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not
know the way to the city. Woe to you, O land,
when your king is a child. and your princes feast
in the morning. Happy are you, O land, when your
king is the son of the nobility, and your princes
feast at the proper time for strength and not
for drunkenness. Through sloth the roof sinks
in, and through indolence the house leaks. Bread
is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life,
and money answers everything. Even in your thoughts
do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse
the rich. For a bird of the air will carry your
voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.
Blessed is he who hears and keeps what is written.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, how very aware
we are of our own weakness. and inability to
understand everything in Ecclesiastes chapter
10. Father, I do pray that you would guide us
by your spirit, enlighten our understanding that
we might be wise in your eyes. These things we
ask for Christ's sake. Amen. When you are asked
to sign a waiver before you participate in something,
you should pay attention. Have you ever had to
do that? You go to do something that might have
a little bit of danger to it, and they say, please
sign here. About just over a week ago, I went
with my family to the Green River near Saluda,
North Carolina. It was a beautiful day. The sun
was out. It feels like it's always out right
about now. But the sky was blue and the water
temperature in the river was perfect. And so
we signed our waivers. We got our tubes to go
down this river. And we had to listen to the
words of an instructor. And the instructor told
us a few things. Namely, there are class two
rapids within this river. And secondly, if you
fall out of your tube in a class two rapid, do
not stand up in the river. it will sweep your
feet away. Instead, you should get face up, he
said, nose and toes to the sky so that you can
float through the rapid and hopefully survive
unscathed and get to calmer waters. All right,
that's great. Sounds good. Let's go. The river
was mostly very pleasant. The biggest danger
for the most part was The water level was pretty
low and sometimes you could bruise your tailbone
if you're not careful. However, there was one
who was floating at the same time that we did.
And he came to the class two rapid and you know
what I'm going to say, he stood up in the class
two rapid. He did not listen to the wise word
of caution. Consequently, he went tumbling down
the rapid as his feet were swept away. bumping
off of the rocks, including his head off of a
rock. Now at the end of the rapid, we checked
on him. He was mostly fine. I think his pride
hurt as much as his head. But friends, this is
where I'm going, is to say that to ignore wisdom
can have serious, even deadly ramifications.
Solomon writes this chapter and it behooves us
to pay attention. Do not ignore the wise word
of caution. Now, the way that this is organized
can be a little tricky, but what I want to do
is organize it into sections. And so as I go
along, I will share with you the section that
I am in. The first one being verses one through
four in which we see wisdom and folly. contrasted.
Verse one, it's very graphic here. Dead flies
make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench.
What is going on here? It's showing us that a
little bit of folly, sometimes just a little
bit of foolishness can outweigh much wisdom.
Children, kids, have you ever had the experience
of putting some food coloring into water in a
glass, what happens? The food coloring goes throughout
all of the water. Just a drop or two can turn
the water red or yellow or purple or pink, blue,
green, whatever it is, right? That's kind of
what's being taught here. Obviously, perfume
is nice. It's supposed to smell good, but just
a little bit, just a couple of dead flies in
such an ointment. can turn it from something
that is pleasing to smell into something that
does not smell very good. And so it is with wisdom
and honor, one foolish decision on our part can
outweigh a lifetime of honor and wisdom. I was
thinking, I thought of a movie actually just
this morning that I think illustrates this well.
It's a movie called State of Play. Have anybody
seen that movie before? I don't know that it's
all that popular, but it's about a congressman
played by Ben Affleck and a journalist played
by Russell Crowe. And the congressman admits
his folly, his sin of adultery to the journalist.
And then the congressman realizes that his career
is essentially over. And he says this. It doesn't
matter what I do in Congress, I will always be
the guy who cheated on his wife. Friends, what's
illustrated in that movie is what's kind of illustrated
here. One foolish decision, one just moment of
forgetting who we are in Christ Jesus can really
affect us throughout our whole lives. Just one
singular moment. And yet, praise God for the
blood of Jesus, which washes away all of our
sin, all of our follies, right? From the greatest
to the least, when there is repentance and trust
in Christ. Sadly though, in this life, the damage
may be done. And in the eyes of others, we may
always carry that moniker of the fool. Which
is why we need this word of caution. So look
at verses two and three. A wise man's heart inclines
him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left.
Have you ever spoken with somebody who really
needs wisdom and you've tried to share wisdom
and they just don't seem to get it? It's maddening,
right? Why can't you see it the way I see it?
Well, I think this text tells us why. because
a fool's heart is inclined in a completely different
direction. And in doing so, they broadcast their
foolishness. Verse three, even when the fool
walks on the road, he lacks sense. They're going
a different way. Indeed, this metaphor of the
road, I think it's a metaphor for life, how you
behave and how you speak shows whether or not
you have wisdom. Think about that, friends. The
way that you talk out loud with other people,
the way that you behave can show whether or not
you have real godly wisdom about you. Friends,
don't play the fool. Play the wise man. Be the
wise man. Because it can have incredible ramifications
on our life. Look at verse four. This picture
is somebody who is under the authority of another.
If the anger of the ruler rises against you do
not leave your place and it mentions calmness
here Okay, so maybe place yourself in a position
of your maybe you're under a boss Who is maybe
not that great of a boss and you're angry with
your boss You've fallen out of favor with your
boss. And so you say I just quit I'm just gonna
walk off. I'm done with this. I'm gonna resign
in a huff But friends, this is not the wise way
for this effectively ends your work. And I think
Christians need to hear this out loud because
sometimes we act like that. Our feelings get
hurt and we say, I'll show him, I'm done with
this. But would you remember our Lord's example
here? I want to take you to 1 Peter chapter two,
1 Peter two, 18 through 23. 1st Peter 2 18 to
23 servants Be subject to your masters with all
respect Not only to the good and gentle but also
to the unjust for this is a gracious thing When
mindful of God one endures sorrows while suffering
unjustly But what credit is it if when you sin
or beaten for it you endure? But if when you
do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is
a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to
this you have been called because Christ also
suffered for you, leaving you an example. So
you might follow in his steps. He committed no
sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth. When
he was reviled, he did not revile in return.
When he suffered, he did not threaten. but continued
entrusting himself to the one who judges justly.
Friends, this should be us. And I get it, fighting
fire with fire feels good, doesn't it? But according
to Solomon, it just is not wise. Our responses,
even underneath an oppressive person, some authority
figure, must be governed by wisdom. But even
to the wise, even if we have such wisdom here,
we do see things that are tough in this life,
and that's been one of the key themes throughout
Ecclesiastes. Look in verses five to seven. We
might call this section the irony of folly. That
even to the wise there are these perplexing sights.
He sees a slave riding on a horse while the prince
walks. This kind of echoes Solomon's earlier
observations when he saw that sometimes the righteous
die young while the wicked live on and we wonder
why. But within this don't miss the why. Because
there is a flaw in this life, a flaw in this
fallen world. Look in verse five. There's an
evil that I've seen under the sun as it were
an arrow proceeding from the ruler. Here's the
flaw. Sometimes foolish leaders put foolish people
in exalted positions. That's what's going on
here. Foolish leaders putting foolish people
in exalted positions. Friends, we live in a world
wrecked by sin. And so sometimes these things
happen. Things are not the way they should be.
But here's the good news for you. Things, while
not the way they should be, they also will not
always be this way. Ecclesiastes reads like a
longing to return to Eden and Christ indeed.
is making all things new. Folly will not reign
forever. Indeed, folly doesn't reign now, even
though it appears to. Christ is reconciling people
to himself. Christ is building the church. Christ
has promised to return. And so though we see
such evils, let us not despair. Let us not resort
to folly. The wisdom of God has already prevailed.
in our Savior Christ Jesus, and the way in which
it prevails is through the preached word. Let
me take you to another spot in the New Testament.
First Corinthians, chapter one, 18 to 21, as
we see how God works by His word. For the word
of the cross is Folly to those who are perishing
But to us who are being saved it is the power
of God for it is written I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise and the discernment of the discerning
I will thwart Where is the one who is wise? Where
is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age
has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since in the wisdom of God the world did
not know God through wisdom it pleased God Through
the folly of what we preach to save those who
believe If I can summarize that the fool hears
the preaching of Jesus Christ and says what is
this nonsense But the preaching of Christ is
the means of salvation. Verse 21, again, it says
God is pleased by the preaching. This is how
God operates. It is God's wise plan to save sinners
through the preaching of Christ and Him crucified.
You see, God ordains not only the ends that you
would be saved, God also ordains the means, which
is biblical. Christ centered preaching, his instrument
to convert, to change hearts and to strengthen
our faith. And so, friends, do not ignore this.
Do not ignore godly wisdom, which has a name.
And that name is Jesus Christ. For if you do,
here's what may happen. You may just reap what
you sow. Look at verses eight through 11. within
our text. He who digs a pit will fall into it.
No doubt if you're using a different translation,
you may see that it reads a little differently
there. It may say that he who digs a pit may
fall into it. Again, we need to remember the
genre that we are studying here. This is wisdom
literature, and so what we have are not promises,
but strong possibilities. And so the strong possibility
is the person without wisdom who digs a pit will
fall into it. I think this is illustrated well
within the book of Esther. For you may recall
Haman and Mordecai, right? Haman built a gallows
for Mordecai. He wanted Mordecai killed. And
it appeared that injustice would win the day
until Haman and his wicked ways are exposed and
he was hanged on his very own gallows. Justice
wins. We might call this ironic justice. That
fools destroy themselves by their own foolishness.
It is their undoing. You see within this as well
the second part of verse 8, the snake charmer
who is not cautious with the serpent finds himself
charmed by it rather than the other way around.
Matthew Henry says on this and in verse 11, wisdom
will teach us to enchant the serpent we are to
contend with rather than to think to out -hiss
it. You can see something like that in verse
10 as well. As one pastor says of verse 10, it's
like trying to chop down a tree with a baseball
bat. It just will not work. We need wisdom, not
necessarily more physical strength. Wisdom grants
success, whereas folly promises failure. And
not just folly in our actions, but folly within
our words. Look at verses 12 through about 14.
or so. The words of a wise man's mouth win him
favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. Wisdom
or its lack is apparent in our speech. It's no
surprise that so much of biblical wisdom has
to do with how we talk. What broadcast foolishness
the most is our tongue. It's the primary means
of expressing folly and not just uncareful speech,
but of sinful speech. Look in verse 13. The beginning
of the words of his mouth is foolishness and
the end of his talk is evil, madness. Yes, when
we use very foul, inappropriate language, we
broadcast ourselves to be foolish. When we slander
people with our tongues, this is the work of
fools. Friends, let us use our speech for building
people up, not for tearing them down. But not
just this, but verse 14 expresses this idea that
the fool thinks that by his many words, he will
be seen as wise. And that, friends, is not the
case either. Students in here, Children, but
maybe more appropriately teenagers or college
students. Have you had the unfortunate experience
of having to do an essay in an exam with a big
space that is white that you got to fill up?
I've had that experience. But have you really
had the experience when you've got that white
space to fill up and you have no idea what you're
supposed to write there? Now that's terribly
uncomfortable. But those who are perhaps wise
within the classroom might think, well, if I
just fill up the space with anything I can think
of that may possibly be related to the topic,
maybe then I'll get partial credit. Well, friends,
that might be wise in the classroom, but that's
not wise in real life. Proverbs 10, 19, when
words are many, Transgression is not lacking.
We will not be seen as wise by our many words,
but by the wisdom of our words. And the same
principle reveals wisdom. You can know a person's
wisdom or lack thereof simply by how they speak,
which is a public thing. And that's what the
last section is getting at 16 through 20. Visible.
public folly and its consequences. Look at verse
16 and 17. This presents two different kinds
of kings. One king who is very, very young. really
incapable of leading. And the princes within
the kingdom do not spend their time working for
the good of the kingdom. No, instead this pictures
them neglecting their responsibilities. Woe to
you, O land, where your king is a child and your
princes feast in the morning. They're not doing
their work. They're not serving. Compare that
with verse 17, a king of nobility whose princes
feast at the proper time for strength and not
for drunkenness. And you can see the consequences
of these verses. For the first one begins, woe
to you, O land. But the second one, happy are
you, O land. So we might say that wisdom has
incredibly wonderful consequences, right? But
again, wisdom and folly are visible things. Look
in verse 18. Through sloth, the roof sinks in.
This pictures the consequence of neglect. If
you neglect the work that you must do, your situation
is going to be like a house with a sunken roof,
and it's going to fall in. Friends when we neglect
our marriages when we neglect our families when
we neglect our work and especially our walk with
the Lord We are inviting the roof to fall in
on ourselves When we fail to give ourselves to
the means of grace Bible reading prayer worship
sacraments service Do we really expect to grow
in the grace and knowledge of Jesus when we neglect
these things? Friends, don't wait for the roof
to fall in. Don't wait for the roof to fall in
before you recognize the problem. Do not ignore
the wise word of caution here. And not just in
your work, and not just in your families, but
even with God's good gifts. Look at verses 19
and 20. Even with his good gifts, like money
or food or drink, we must utilize wisdom to properly
enjoy them. Even in private, as it shows us in
verse 20, even in your thoughts it says, do not
curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the
rich, for the bird of the air will carry your
voice or some winged creature tell the matter.
Friends, We need wisdom in every single possible
way, not just in our actions, not just in our
words, but even within our own thoughts. We need
wisdom. And you know, if you somehow don't want
to take Solomon's word for it, which you definitely
should, take Jesus's word for it. For Jesus communicates
this in many places, if you will. Go to Matthew.
Matthew 7, verse 24. No doubt you've likely heard
this before. This contrast between the wise man
and the foolish man. Matthew 7, 24. Everyone
then who hears these words of mine and does them,
will be like a wise man who built his house on
the rock and the rain fell and the floods came
and the winds blew and beat on that house but
it did not fall because it had been founded on
the rock and everyone who hears these words of
mine and does not do them will be like a foolish
man who built his house on the sand and the rain
fell and the floods came and the winds blew and
beat against that house and it fell and great
was the fall of it." Notice within that passage,
who listens and who obeys versus he who does
not listen and obey. It's the wise man once again,
wise man against the fool. And so from this passage,
perhaps we can formulate a definition of wisdom
and it's quite simple. Wisdom is listening. and
obeying the teaching of Jesus. The wise man listens
to Jesus and obeys, but the fool ignores the
teaching of Jesus. So let me ask you, are you
listening to Christ by His word? Are you being
wise with it? The teaching of Jesus here is to
trust Him, not to trust yourself. That's what
fools do. Christians, though, trust in Christ.
To ignore His teaching is folly, and this is
teaching that spans not just in Ecclesiastes
and not just in the Sermon on the Mount. This
is a teaching that spans the entirety of Scripture.
This is true wisdom. If I can, before I land
the plane, just give you one more. Psalm 1, 1
and 2. Blessed is the man who walks not in the
counsel of the wicked, Nor stands in the way
of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers But
his delight is in the law of the Lord and on
his law. He meditates day and night friends There's
a whole host of things that we might say broadcasts
our lack of wisdom a poor financial investment
Sinful decision made on a Friday night a time
we were unprepared a time when we did not listen
well, ignoring the caution of the guide in the
river and enduring the consequences. All of these
things broadcast folly. The greatest wisdom though,
what we really need is listening to the Lord
Jesus Christ who speaks to us by His word. Let
us always give heed to the inerrant word in which
we find our Savior because He is our true wisdom.
Let's pray.