Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading

Introduction

We come this morning to the end of our study in the book of Ecclesiastes.

For me, it has been an important study.

It has not always been easy, as a preacher, to get to the bottom of what that great teacher, Solomon, has sought to convey.

But through the study of this book, I’ve learned (or at the very least had reinforced) some critical and essential truths concerning our perspectives in life.

When we assess the world around us, and when we try to make sense of that which is taking place, and as we seek to live our lives in this world in wisdom and understanding, it is critical that we have the right perspective on things.

Without the correct perspective and understanding of the world, we are led to a sense of hopelessness and despair.

Alternatively, we so lie to ourselves about the world around us, that we ...

As we come now to the close of this book, we find these final sentences written for us as a concluding summary based on the teachings of this wise man Solomon.

This final section of the book of Ecclesiastes is written in the third person.

Someone who knew Solomon and his teaching, wrote this final section as a summary on who it was that wrote the letter, and also the main thrust of what his teaching was.

1.

The Counselor (vv.9-10)

The first aspect that we notice from our text this morning is a word on the Counselor… the teacher, otherwise known in the book as Qoholet.

As the scribe who penned these words thinks upon the man who had conveyed the teaching in this book, he makes a number of comments on the wisdom of this counselor.

We will consider these under three broad headings.

1.1.

The Extent of His Wisdom

In the first place, we are told about the extent of the Counselors wisdom.

The first words in verse 9 are these:

Not only was the Teacher wise

In one sense, this truth concerning the teacher goes without saying.

Throughout the course of our study in Ecclesiastes, we have been told and reminded of the fact that Solomon had been endowed by God with great wisdom, greater than any other person than had ever lived.

But as we come to the close of this book, we are reminded again of something of the extent of this wisdom of the teacher, and how he went about obtaining that wisdom.

At the end of verse 9, we read that

He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.

10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words,

We must appreciate the fact that Solomon did not suddenly obtain wisdom through some supernatural impartation of that wisdom by God.

We know well by this time that Solomon asked God to give him wisdom to lead this great nation Israel.

But we may be tempted to believe that this happened as an event, rather than a long and difficult process.

If you’ve followed along through the study of this book of Ecclesiastes, you will have realised that this wisdom was indeed obtained by a process.

Solomon tested things; he explored all the activities in which men engage in under the sun; he went about seeking that which would bring him some measure of satisfaction; he engaged in every way he could think of in order to gain this wisdom.

What is sure is that God allowed his mind to gain this wisdom and understanding.

It says in our passage that “he pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.”

Many of those proverbs we have recorded for us in the book of Proverbs.

The opening line of the book of Proverbs says:

And so, by God’s grace and design, Solomon was a man who sought out wisdom, and gained that wisdom, and then set that wisdom out in the form of proverbs and other writings.

1.2.

He Shared His Wisdom (v.9a)

This leads us then to the second aspect of this Counselor, and that is the fact that He shared his wisdom.

Solomon was not a person who sought out wisdom merely for the sake of personal gain and fulfillment, and then kept all of that wisdom to himself.

Instead, he became this great teacher that would gather around him those who longed for learning, and he would teach them this wisdom.

At the end of verse 9, it says that Solomon “imparted knowledge to the people.”

This is significant!

In this verse, the emphasis is not so much that he was wise, but that not only was he wise, but he also imparted knowledge.

This is significant for us for two reasons.

1.2.1.

The Benefit

Firstly, we must consider the benefit that there is to us.

The benefit to us is that through the course of history, this teaching of one of the most wise people who has ever lived in the course of history is available to us in the written words of Scripture.

By God’s grace, Solomon was endowed with wisdom.

And by God’s grace, that same wisdom that was a part of Solomon’s life has been handed down to us (along with the rest of Scripture of course!).

But the point is simply that there is immense benefit to us to have the words of this wise, spirit-anointed teacher, so that we may access such riches of wisdom as contained in Scripture.

And again, this is not limited to merely the words of Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Song of Solomon etc.

But the question is, have we come to appreciate the extent of that which has been made available to us? Have we come to appreciate that there is a treasure-trove filled with words of great and deep wisdom, beckoning us, pleading with us, urging us to delve into them and gain wisdom.

The call of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:1ff is clear...

The question to us again is this: are we delving into this wisdom.

As the people of God, we must ask ourselves if the gaining of this great wisdom is a deep burden and delight to our souls?

Do we long for the very wisdom of God as has been given to us through the Scripture!? Oh that we would be people who long for, thirst for, and hunger for this true wisdom that comes from the very Creator God.

Solomon, and the rest of the authors of Scripture, did not merely have the wisdom from above through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but they shared that wisdom, they granted that wisdom, and we are the benefactors!

1.2.2.

The Example

Secondly we must consider the example given to us through the Counselor.

If Solomon in all his wisdom found it important to share that wisdom with others, then so should we!

In all his investigations of the world around him, and in all his investigations as to his search for the meaning of life, he learnt lessons that are essential for any person.

We will come in a moment to the summary lesson that was learnt, and that was taught.

But for now, realise that the summary is that existence without proper relationship to our Holy God and the Lord Jesus Christ is vanity!

We live in a world that is crying out for wisdom - without them even knowing it.

The cry is a silent one, that is seen through the actions of people as they engage in any number of meaningless pursuits, hoping to find some measure of meaning in life!

The word “revelation” there means prophetic revelation - the revelation by God through the Scriptures.

The parallelism there relates this revelation with the law.

“but blessed is he who keeps the law.”

Where the world around us doesn’t have the revelation of our Holy God, the revelation of Scripture, they cast off restraint.

The world descends into an abyss of sinful conduct and godless activity.

Dear friends, what a great need there is for the teaching of the wisdom that is gained through the Word.

If any of us have a knowledge of God through the Scriptures, we urgently need to teach that wisdom to others.

We will not all be on the same level of wisdom, or at the same place in our journey of growing in wisdom, but when we know the true and living God by His grace through the Scripture, we must become teachers of that wisdom in every way we can.

Let me remind you of our guiding verse, Colossians 1:28...

1.3.

The Trustworthiness of his Wisdom

Finally in this section, notice that the wisdom that Solomon conveyed was trustworthy.

At the end of verse 10, we read that “what he wrote was upright and true.”

Having had the leading and the guiding and inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, we can rest assured that the words that Solomon wrote are worthy of our deepest considerations and attentiveness, since they were the very words of the living God as recorded for us in Scripture.

The words were “upright”.

The word there means that they were straight, that they were words of integrity.

In a world that is drowning in the pool of popular opinion, we would do well to consider those words that are indeed words of integrity, and without fault.

The words that Solomon wrote are true.

One of the great truths concerning our Saviour Jesus Christ was this...

The words of Solomon are among those that are upright and true.

When we turn our attention to the Holy Words of Scripture, we can be assured that we are coming to feast on that which will never deceive us and lead us astray from God.

How sad that so often today the Word of God is entirely undermined!!

2. The Commendation (v.11)

We move on from the biographical sketch presented to us on the author of this book, and we find next a commendation to the readers of this wisdom literature, these words which are upright and true.

We read in verse 11...

We’ve already considered that Solomon himself was a wise man, and a man who sought to convey the truth of his wisdom to others through his teaching.

In this verse, we see two important aspects concerning these words of wisdom.

2.1.

Wisdom is a protector

Firstly, we see that wisdom is a protector.

We are told that the words of the wise are like “goads” and like “firmly embedded nails.”

Both of these expressions convey the sense that the words of wisdom keep us in the right place, and prevent us from going astray to places that we ought not to be.

If you’re not sure, a goad is a metal stick / pole with a sharp point that was used to prod an animal (particularly cattle) to certain behavior.

It was used to move the animal in the right direction and to do the correct thing by prodding it with a pointed goad and so inflicting some measure of pain in the event that it wanted to go in the wrong way.

The other picture is that of firmly embedded nails, speaking about an improvised prod of nails that is attached to a board, and then similarly used to motivate in the right direction, or prevent an animal from going to a place where it ought not to be.

Both pictures then demonstrate the words of the wise to be those words that inflict a measure of hurt to the mind and conscience of the person receiving those words, the intention being to move a person to think and act in an appropriate manner that is in accordance with that wisdom.

In Hebrews 4:12, we get a wonderful picture of the word of God doing exactly this...