The Vanity of Living Wisely
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Good morning...
Today, our topic might look like a repeat of what we discussed 2 weeks ago...
…but i think you’ll see that as we get into it...
It will have a little bit of a different flavor to it...
Today we’ll be looking at - The Vanity of Living Wisely
Two weeks ago we looked at - The Vanity of Wisdom...
and in doing so - we really focused on the PURSUIT of Wisdom...
Where we looked at - Trying to attain more knowledge...
maybe of biochemistry...
mathematics
nutrition
business
marketing...
WHATEVER it is…the pursuit of Wisdom.
And what we saw THEN was that the PURSUIT itself - was a pointless one - ULTIMATELY!
THIS week we’re going to look at - NOT the PURSUIT of WISDOM...
But HOW we USE that wisdom in our lives!
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.
13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
15 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!
17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
What I want you understand as we go through this book is -
When I read through our verses this week and saw that this was going to be our topic...
my INITIAL response was - Well - we can just skip these verses and go to the next topic...
But then I thought - WAIT A MINUTE!
God wrote these words…He must WANT us to go through them again!
What is Solomon trying to do here?
Solomon is DRIVING nails in the coffin of life
He takes a topic - and he HEADS down that road - TO THE END!
And so if we HEAR something AGAIN THIS WEEK that we heard 2 WEEKS AGO - and our response is - OK…i get it ALREADY!!!
Solomon would say - Good! Mission accomplished!
Why? - Because here’s what’s going to happen -
REGARDLESS of how many times we hear it - we will walk out these doors...
..and we’ll pursue WISDOM
We’ll pursue LIVING WISELY....
And SOLOMON wants us to know how to maneuver through all of that!
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.
STOP THERE - So I turned to wisdom and madness and folly.
Question - When do we realize that it’s WISE - NOT to touch the stove?
And so when Solomon here says - I considered WISDOM, and MADNESS, and FOLLY...
He’s saying...
I didn’t JUST pursue WISDOM without a MEASURING stick to hold up against it!
*Think about how SUBJECTIVE musical talent is...
Can anyone in here play the guitar?
OK - so when you see me playing the guitar - you might think - OK, Mike’s pretty good...
Some of you might think - He’s really good!
UNTILLL......what?
Until you go to a Shane and Shane concert and see Shane Barnard play the guitar...
See, when you do THAT...
When you measure MY aptitude for guitar playing up against NO ONE - Mike’s good!
BUT - when you measure my aptitude up against Shane Barnard - Mike just tinkers around.
THAT Guy’s LEGIT! He’s WORLD CLASS!
What Solomon does here - is - he wants to measure HOW WISE his choices are…in light of the foolishness around him!
What does that do? It actually brings VALIDITY to his experiment!
12b - For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.
What is he saying here?
Many theologians debate what he means here...
But MY take is that he’s referring to himself as the king....
And he’s saying - LISTEN - I’ve walked down ALL of these ROADS - TO THE END!!
I’ve EXHAUSTED every path...
every possibly outcome...
I’ve tested it all...
“What could the next guy do to IMPROVE my test?”
Solomon says - Nothing!
*Watching gymnastics (Nationals) this past week - Simone Biles (floor exercise)
13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
*If i was to walk you into a room that is completely DARK…think of how much knowledge you would have about your situation...
IN THIS DARK ROOM...
Should you walk to the right?
Should you JUMP forward 10 steps?
Should you BLINDLY run as fast as you can to the left? (haunted houses - I ALWAYS CLOSE my eyes when walking thru…)
NOW - turn the lights on...
NOW YOU HAVE all the answers...
you SHOULD NOT walk to the right - because there’s a pit over that way, with a lion inside
you SHOULD NOT jump forward 10 steps - because there’s an electric fence straight ahead
NOW you know that running as fast as you can to your left would result in you impaling yourself on all the spears pointing at you.
Even an UNBELIEVER knows that there is more GAIN in light, than in darkness...
And Solomon is going this way because he’s going to end up making a point...
Just like there is more gain in light, than in darkness...
Solomon says - there is MORE gain in wisdom than in folly!
EVEN from a worldly perspective...
AND the WORLD will try and push this on you…we SEE these things...
PHYSICAL HEALTH:
Over the years we’ve seen the world become more knowledgable in this area...
Remember when “Subway” came out…?
It was probably the first chain restaurant that really pushed HEALTHY eating.
“Eat Fresh” - (eat less)
If you remember - we had just walked through...
Burger Kings - Have it Your Way… (extra mayo - SURE! - Onion rings ON your burger - YES!)
McDonald’s - Super SIZE ME!
Bigger sandwiches....more meat…bigger portions…this battle going on...
And then here comes this cold-cut, hoagie bun, 4 slices of meat - Sandwich place...
And their message to the world was - BE WISE! (If you ONLY KNEW how they made those nuggets)...
We’ve all lived through that...
ENTERTAINMENT:
I can’t speak for everyone, but i know a lot of people who have DROPPED Cable...
And either go without...
OR
They pay a 1/4 of the cost for Sling or something like it...
Netflix
Amazon
Hulu
Sling
All of these companies exist to help you - SAVE MONEY…on cable...
Their pitch is - “Wanna keep paying $150 a month for channels you don’t even watch?”
NO - come to us! Pick and choose what you want to pay for!
SAVE MONEY!
BE WISE!
EDUCATION:
How long ago did they start allowing high school kids to get college credit for classes...
Why did they do that?
To help people - SAVE MONEY!
TRAVEL:
Not TOO long ago, there WASN’T a - Southwest Airlines…Frontier Airlines…Spirit Airlines...
So why do they exist now?
*Disney - Frontier - $39 tickets.
BE WISE! - Save Money…the world says...
Regarding:
Medicine: we have knock-off brands (same drug…just cheaper)
And so for Solomon - He found that yes - there IS more gain in wisdom than in FOLLY...
Now the WORLD looks at these things we’ve just walked thru...
Health
Entertainment
Education
Travel
Medicine
And it says - WOW - if you can walk down all of these paths…
If you can adhere to only eating healthy...
If you forgo cable to go with the cheaper option...
If you were wise enough to save money on college....
If you’re always seeking to save -
WELL THEN - YOU are WORTHY of honor!
You’ve got it ALL together!
Solomon came to a different conclusion...
14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
The first half of this verse REALLY highlights the different paths that these men are on - IN LIFE...
The one walks through life - ALWAYS aware of what’s around him...
Always knowledgable about the choices before him...
Making wise decisions…with the info provided...
The OTHER walks through life:
NOT KNOWING if he should go right where the pit is with the lion
NOT KNOWING if he should jump forward where the electric fence is
NOT KNOWING if he should run to his left where the spear awaits him...
Walking in DARKNESS…and living with the consequences of that...
2 VERY different paths - YET…leading to the same END.
“Yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.”
So for Solomon - The WISE man sees death coming - and contemplates it...
The OTHER who walks in darkness - Tumbles into death...
Is walking through life - THINKING it’s great - and THEN - falls into the pit.
tangled in the barbed wire
impaled by the spear
Never contemplated it!
With eyes wide open, the fool never sees death coming
The WISE man is different though...
He understands that Genesis 2:17 is about HIMSELF....
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
The wise man has HUMBLED himself, and sees himself in this verse...
The wise man makes this verse - personal
He knows that without Christ - He’s a dead man...
And not only that - but the WISE man should get to a point where he sees WHAT Solomon sees...
in this verse...
14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
So for as much as we want to praise WISDOM…over and above FOLLY...
the same end is waiting for both!
Death! - Physical Death!
And this leads Solomon to contemplate - WISE LIVING...
15 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
Blow all your money...
Eat 100 grams of trans fat every meal
NEVER workout
End result? - Death
Make EVERY WISE choice you can make in life...
Eat right
manage your finances well
Workout
Hit on all the right stocks
Do it all WELL…and in the end - Death.
It’s ALL Vanity!
QUESTION: How many of you know the name of your dad’s, dad’s, dad’s, dad’s, dad’s name?
so you’re Great-Great-Great Grandpa’s name...
16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!
No one remembers...
We’re talking about
If we put our hope in the PHYSICAL…then our HOPE will be TEMPORARY...
Older guys - Hope ALL YOU WANT that you’re gonna be running Marathons when you turn 85, does that mean it’s going to happen?
No - why?
Younger guys - Hope ALL YOU WANT that when you turn 50 years old, your energy levels will be at an all-time-high, does that mean it’s going to happen?
Ladies - Hope ALL YOU WANT that as you age, your skin will actually begin to look younger, does that mean it’s going to happen?
NO - WHY? - Because putting our hope in the physical is to put our hope in that which is - FADING
I’ve heard Matt Chandler explain it this way before...
Athletic ability isn’t enough to fill the Gap of Eternity...
Just ask - Michael Jordan - No
Jim Brown - No
Barry Sanders - No
And so it doesn’t matter:
how fast you run
how high you can jump
It doesn’t LAST - it’s not enough to fill the gap of Eternity - heck - it doesn’t even fill the gap of 50 years...
Beauty isn’t enough to fill the Gap of Eternity...
Just ask - Marilyn Monroe
It doesn’t LAST...
These things DON’T LAST...
AND yet - we will spend our lives - trying to make them - last
Forgotten is what we all end up...
*We all know about the National Anthem protests (Started with Kolin Kaperneck)
*Mahmoud Abdul Rouf - 1995 didn’t stand for national anthem
So what has Solomon said today?
Without Jesus Christ, living wisely is vanity
Why is this true?** Because without Jesus Christ - save all you want....*
Think of how many people right now are in Hades, and have been there for 500 years...
You think they’re glad that 550 years ago, their parents had saved and given them a bunch of money
Without Christ, all LIVING is vanity...
And so - as we leave here today - HOW DO WE LEAVE HERE - and live life WISELY, BUT NOT in vain?
There are probably 1000 different answers for this…but let’s focus on 1...
Pursue the Truth of God
15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
The Bible this says - is what BRINGS WISDOM - the kind of wisdom we want - in our lives...
So....
True Wisdom Comes From God Alone
True Wisdom Comes From God Alone
Wisdom is Given by God Alone
13 “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.
2. Wisdom is Received Through God’s Word
130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
3. Wisdom is Received Through Submission to God
33 The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
4. Wisdom is Imparted by God’s Spirit
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
And so we can see how - ONCE SAVED...
We’re no longer pursuing MAKING WISE choices by the world’s standards...
BUT INSTEAD...
it’s NOW the WISDOM of God that is TEACHING US...
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The Wisdom of God:
teaches us
rebukes us (exposes error) (but doesn’t just blow the whistle and call fouls…it shows us WHERE to head)
corrects us (gives us direction)
trains us (to look and feel more like Jesus)
And so we LEAVE HERE today, not avoiding the idea of LIVING WISELY...
But instead...
Living Wisely - AS WE live for Christ....pursuing His truth!
And that happens through:
Bible Study
Prayer
Fasting
Service
Let’s Pray...