Searching for Answers Amidst the Questions of Life

Starting in chapter 7, verse 15, we read,

In my thing life I have seen everything.

There is a righteous man who perished in his righteousness,

and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evil doing.

Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise.

Why should you destroy yourself?

Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool.

Why should you die before your time?

It's good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand,

for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Wisdom gives strength to the wise men more than ten rulers who are in the city.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Do not take to heart all the things that people say,

lest you hear your servant cursing you.

Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

All these I have tested by wisdom, I said, I'll be wise.

But it was far from me,

the which has been as far off and deep,

very deep.

Who can find it out?

I turn my heart to know and to search out

and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things,

and to know the wickedness of folly

and the foolishness that is madness.

And I find something more bitter than death.

The woman whose heart is snares and necks,

and whose hands are fetters,

he who pleases God escapes her,

but the sinner is taken by her.

Behold, this is what I find,

says the preacher,

while adding one thing to another

to find the scheme of things

which my soul has sought repeatedly,

but I have not found.

One man among a thousand I find,

but a woman among all these I have not found.

See this alone I found,

that God made man upright,

but they have sought out many schemes.

Who is like the wise,

and who knows the interpretation of a thing?

A man's wisdom makes his face shine,

and the hardness of his face is changed.

I say,

keep the king's command

because of God's off to him.

Be not hasty to go from his presence.

Do not take your stand in an evil course,

for he does whatever he pleases.

For the word of the king is supreme,

and who may say to him,

what are you doing?

Whoever keeps a command

will know no evil thing,

and the wise heart will know

the proper time and the just way.

For there is a time

and a way for everything.

Although man's trouble lies heavy on him,

for he does not know what is to be.

For who can tell him how it will be?

No man has power to retain the spirit

or power over the day of death.

There is no discharge from war,

nor will wickedness deliver those

who are given to it.

All this I observe while applying my heart

to all that is done under the sun,

when man had power over man to his hurt.

Then I saw the wicked buried.

They used to go in and out of the holy place

and were praised in the city

where they had done such things.

This also is vanity,

because the sentence against an evil deed

is not executed speedily.

The heart of the children of man

is fully set to do evil.

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times

and prolongs his life,

yet I know that it will be well

with those who fear God,

because they fear before him.

But it will not be well with the wicked,

neither will he prolong his days

like a shadow,

because he does not fear before God.

There is a vanity that takes place on earth,

that there are righteous people

to whom it happens according to the deeds

of the wicked,

and there are wicked people

to whom it happens according to the deeds

of the righteous.

I said that this also is vanity

and a combined joy,

for man has nothing better under the sun

but to eat and drink and be joyful,

for this will go with him in his toil

through the days of his life

that God has given him under the sun.

When I applied my heart to know wisdom

and to see the business that is done on earth,

how night or day or night

do one's eyes see sleep?

Then I saw all the work of God

that man cannot find out

the work that is done under the sun.

However much man may toil in seeking,

he will not find it out.

Even though a wise man claims to know,

he cannot find it out.

This is the word of God.

Great. Thank you so much, Joanne.

Well, good morning, everyone.

Let's pray together

as we look at this wonderful passage.

Heavenly Fathers, we come to your word this morning.

We really want to hear you.

We want to hear your word and your wisdom to us.

God, as Oscar reminded us this morning,

some of us are weary.

Some of us are anxious.

Some of us have been searching for the good life.

Some of us are discouraged.

God, we pray that your word will both provoke us,

but more than that will encourage us,

will draw us near to you.

God, this morning I pray as you draw near to us

and your word,

won't you help us by your spirit

to draw near to you,

to trust in you,

to hold on to you.

God, as we've prayed many times before,

even my words,

I pray if anything is not of you,

won't they fall on deaf ears.

God, we want to hear you speak to us this morning.

So come and help us, God.

Give me grace to open up your word

and so we can hear from you.

We pray this in your wonderful name.

Amen.

I wonder if you've ever found yourself

sinking in quicksand.

Maybe you haven't found yourself in mud,

but you've gone for a hike up a hill

and you find yourself in soft sand or shale

and you take one step forward

and it seems like you fall back three or four

and you're making negative ground.

I wonder if you've ever felt that

life is like grasping a handful of sand

that the more you try and grasp it

and hold on to it,

the more it slips through your fingers

and in the end you've got hold of almost nothing.

I wonder if you've ever found yourself

searching for answers

and the more you search,

the more questions you come up with

to your answers

and you find yourself even more lost

at the end of the search

than you were before.

I wonder how many of us feel frustrated

or maybe exasperated

by the lack of control we have over life.

It seems like so much of life

is really beyond our control.

Have you ever found yourself

being frustrated by the injustice of the world?

You find somebody who is honored

and esteemed and revered

and looked up to

and yet trailing behind him or her

is a trail of injustice and abuse

and yet an upstanding, good, righteous man or woman

just seems to be marginalized,

trodden over and ignored.

Today as we come to Ecclesiastes 7 and 8,

our teacher continues with his reflection

of life under the sun.

Remember Ecclesiastes,

there's two authors

and most of the book is written by this man

who observes life under the sun.

He knows there's a God out there

but it's not the God

that's the covenant-keeping God of Israel.

It's not the God that breaks in

and is involved in his life.

He observes life under the sun.

He's noticing and reflecting

what does life look like

if all you do is just observe

the world around you.

And today he's wrestling with these things

that leave him frustrated

and exasperated.

In his search for the good life,

the teacher, Kohileth,

has walked into three brick walls

that are in his path

and have stopped him finding

what he's looking for.

There's a constant refrain.

I don't know if you picked it up

when Joanne was reading to us.

It's the refrain,

I cannot find.

I cannot find.

He says it seven or eight times

in the passage.

But look at the final verse

of our passage.

8 verse 17.

He says,

Man cannot find out

the work that is done

under the sun.

However much man may toil in seeking,

he will not find it out.

Even though a wise man claims to know,

he cannot find it out.

And throughout our passage,

he keeps on saying,

he cannot find

what he's looking for.

You know where this is going, right?

If the theme song of Ecclesiastes chapter 3

Ecclesiastes 3 · chapter mention

is turn, turn, turn,

the theme song of Ecclesiastes 5 and 6 is,

I can't find no satisfaction,

rolling stones.

The theme song of chapter 7 and 8 is,

but I still haven't found

what I'm looking for, right?

You too.

That's what he's getting at today.

I cannot find.

I cannot find.

Everywhere I search and I look,

I still cannot find

what I'm looking for.

In this passage today,

the author is searching and longing

for three things,

three brick walls that he runs into.

The mystery of wisdom and righteousness,

the illusion of control,

and thirdly,

the yearning for justice.

Let's dive in.

Now, the first one's going to be the longest.

So, if you feel like after the first one,

boy, this is going to be a three-hour sermon,

don't worry, we'll come into land eventually.

So, firstly,

the search for wisdom and righteousness.

By the way,

if you need a Bible in front of you today,

or a bulletin,

we're going to be looking at a lot of the passages.

You're going to need it in front of you.

Now, in the first section,

chapter 7, verse 15 to 29,

he's going to talk a lot about this search

for wisdom and righteousness.

Wisdom and righteousness.

Now, in Hebrew thinking,

wisdom and righteousness

always are two sides of the same coin.

They always go hand in hand together.

And the reason is because they have their source

in the same being.

Wisdom and righteousness find their source

in God, God alone.

Wisdom, according to Hebrew Scripture,

is the skill of right living,

living life rightly.

And righteousness is loving what is right.

Okay?

So, wisdom and righteousness

always go together.

Do you remember how Proverbs says,

the beginning of wisdom

is the fear of the Lord.

That's where you start off with wisdom.

And the result of wisdom and righteousness

is prosperity, abundance, and life.

And conversely,

wickedness and foolishness

always go hand in hand together

because their origin,

their source,

is in the same source.

The rejection of God.

The rejection of God

as designer and creator of life.

Remember Psalm 14 says,

the fool says in his heart,

there is no God.

And the fruit of foolishness

or folly and wickedness

is death, destruction, ruin.

That's what the Bible constantly says.

Except our teacher,

when he looks at life,

that's not what he finds.

He finds it the other way around.

Look at verse 15 with me.

He says,

In my vain life,

I have seen everything.

There is a righteous man

who perishes in his righteousness.

There is a wicked man

who prolongs his life

and his evil doing.

He's grappling with the paradox

of life around him.

For him,

life is not working out

the way that it's meant to be.

Here is a righteous man

and he's dying.

Here is a wicked man

and he's prospering.

He's saying,

life is not working out

the way it's meant to be.

Life, for him,

wisdom is disappointing.

It doesn't turn out the way.

It doesn't deliver

what it promises.

Friends,

have you ever felt like this?

Maybe you're at the office

and you make a decision.

There's a difficult situation

and you choose

to take the ethical decision.

You're not going to do

what all your colleagues do.

You decide to do what's right.

And what happens?

You get sidelined

and marginalized.

And one of your colleagues

decides to cut corners,

fudge the truth a little bit,

not quite honest with your boss.

And what happens?

They get promoted.

And that's what

the teacher's grappling with.

What's his conclusion here?

Verse 16,

The teacher suggests,

listen,

if you want to make life work,

don't be too righteous.

Don't be too good.

I mean,

righteousness and wisdom is good.

But hey,

if you need to make life work,

if you need to get ahead in life,

you need to dabble

in a little bit of foolishness,

that's okay.

Just try and follow

the middle road somewhere.

Now remember,

the teacher is not giving us

orthodox biblical teaching.

Right?

He's describing life

under the sun.

He's saying,

listen,

I've observed life.

This is all I can see.

If you want to get a life,

be wise,

be righteous.

But don't be too wise.

Don't be too principled.

Sometimes you might just need

to take the middle road.

He's saying,

wisdom sometimes disappoints us.

It doesn't give us

what it promises.

It doesn't lead to

the abundant,

flourishing life

that I expected it to.

Look at the other brick wall

that he runs into.

He says,

wisdom is limited.

Sometimes it's beyond us.

Look at verse 19 to 21.

He says,

wisdom gives strength

to the wise man

more than ten rulers

to a city.

Okay, that's good.

So he's saying,

wisdom and righteousness

benefits a city.

It's a good thing for a city,

a civilization.

Oh, but there's a problem.

Because look at verse 20.

But surely there's not

one righteous man on earth,

one who does good

and never sins.

Here he's saying,

imagine a city

that is full of wise

and righteous people.

What a wonderful place

to live.

Right?

All you lawyers,

sorry,

you're out of a job.

There's no public prosecutors

anymore.

There's no more defenders.

A city's full of people

that are caring

and considerate.

Everyone's law abiding.

Everyone's a good neighbor.

Everyone is caring

towards their friends

and their neighbors.

Everyone's thoughtful

and wise.

What an amazing city

to live.

Oh, but the problem is

no such city exists.

Wherever there's people,

there's sinners,

he says.

Surely there's not

a righteous man on earth

who never sins

and always does good.

And how do you want to know?

If you want to know

that this is true,

how do you know

that it's true?

We'll look at verse 21.

Do not take to heart

all the things

that people say,

lest you hear

your servant cursing you.

He means slandering you,

gossiping about you.

For your heart knows

that many times

you've done that

to others.

Right?

So he's saying,

wisdom and righteousness,

right living,

good and rewarding.

Its benefit to society

is obvious.

Better a city

full of good citizens

than a city full of good

laws and regulations.

Laws and regulations

don't make a city prosper.

Wisdom does.

Righteousness.

How wonderful to have a city

that's full of good citizens.

Oh, the problem is

that city never really exists

because there is no city

that is full of perfect people.

Friends, can I say,

there's no church

that is full of perfect people.

Every church is full of sinners

that are broken like you

and like me.

And he says,

how do you know that?

Well, just consider the person

sitting next to you.

No, no, he doesn't say,

consider your own life, right?

None of us are perfect.

The problem is

who is completely wise?

Who is completely righteous?

Which city or society

has ever existed

full of people

that are completely wise

and righteous?

Surely there is

not a righteous man on earth

who does good

and never sins.

The limits of wisdom

and righteousness.

If only we could find

a place where

we could be like that.

But it's always

beyond our grasp.

Even,

the teacher says this,

the problem with wisdom

and righteousness

are twofold.

One,

he says,

is that it doesn't deliver

what it promises.

But two,

even if it did,

none of us

are completely wise

and right.

But look at the third thing

he says here.

He says,

the problem with wisdom,

it's evasive.

It's like trying to grasp

a cloud or a mist.

As soon as you grasp it,

it's out of your hand.

You can never quite find it.

What about the person

who truly seeks wisdom?

The person who truly seeks

the answers to life's big questions

and who's determined

to find them

and to live by them.

Someone who says,

okay,

fine,

everyone else,

they're a mess.

The rest of the city,

okay,

they can do what they want.

But as for me

and my household,

we are going to live rightly.

We are going to pursue

wisdom and righteousness.

Well,

look what he says

in verse 23.

He says,

all this I've tested

by my wisdom.

I said,

I will be wise,

but it was far from me.

That which has been

is far off

and deep,

very deep.

Who can find it?

The teacher is on a quest.

To find wisdom.

To find right living.

He wants to find

the skill of living right

and he wants a heart

that loves what is right.

But the problem is,

he says,

I can't seem to find it.

The teacher is like

a deep sea diver

with his goggles

and his snorkel

that is diving deep

to try and find the Titanic

on the ocean floor.

And the deeper he dives,

the more disorientated

and lost he becomes.

Look at verse 25

and onwards.

He says,

I turned my heart

to know

and to search out

and to seek wisdom,

to find the scheme of things

and to know

and to understand

wickedness

and foolishness

and madness.

But I found something

more bitter

than death.

A woman

whose heart

is snares

and nets,

whose hands

are fetters.

Fetters means like

chains.

He who pleases God

escapes her,

but the sinner

is taken by her.

Behold,

this is what I found,

says the preacher,

while adding one thing

to another

to another

to find the scheme

of things,

that which my soul

has sought repeatedly,

but I could not find.

One man amongst a thousand

I found,

but a woman amongst all these

I have not found.

Now,

this passage

is very perplexing

and challenging,

right?

Look at what he says.

He says,

I sought for wisdom

and behold,

I found

a woman.

And how does he describe her?

More bitter

than death.

What's going on here?

Well,

it's a couple

of different things.

Some people suggested

the teacher

is clearly

a misogynist,

right?

Because,

I mean,

it's a thousand B.C.,

men didn't treat women

very well.

He's saying,

listen,

women are foolish,

and if you're going to,

all they're going to lead to

is just trouble

and difficulty in life,

right?

Men,

stay clear of women,

they're going to lead to problems.

Okay,

maybe,

maybe not.

Some people have said,

no,

he's warning us

against the sexually loose woman,

the lure

of the lustful woman,

right?

Because he describes her

as her heart is a net

and a trap.

Her hands are chains.

Don't be ensnared by her.

But I think that misses

the point altogether.

Remember,

the book of Ecclesiastes

is part of the Old Testament

Jewish wisdom literature.

There's five books in the Bible

that are part of wisdom literature.

Job,

Psalms,

Proverbs,

Ecclesiastes,

and Song of Songs.

And the pinnacle of wisdom literature

is the book of Proverbs,

right?

That's kind of like

the high point of wisdom literature.

Well,

in the book of Proverbs,

Proverbs 1 · chapter mention

chapters 1 to 9,

personify wisdom

and foolishness

as two women.

It's kind of like,

you know,

in Central,

there's the statue

of Lady Justice.

She's blindfolded

and she holds the scales.

And it's a picture of

a personification of justice.

Well,

Proverbs says the same thing.

It personifies wisdom

and foolishness

as these two women.

Lady wisdom

and lady foolishness.

And Proverbs says

both of them stand

on the street corners,

lady wisdom

and lady foolishness,

and they call to passers-by

to come and dwell with them,

to come and live with them.

But the problem is

lady wisdom

and lady foolishness

have two very different characters

that lead to

two very different consequences.

And so the whole point

of Proverbs 1 to 9

is

beware of lady foolishness.

That's going to lead

to death and destruction.

Set your heart

on lady wisdom.

Okay?

So that's what's going on

in the background here.

So look at what

the teacher says here.

I turn my heart

to seek

and to find out

and to search for wisdom.

But what happens?

That which my soul

has thought

I could not find.

I have found one,

a man in a thousand,

but a woman

amongst all these

I have not found.

The teacher

is searching

for lady wisdom

but all he does

is he finds

lady foolishness

wherever he goes.

It's like a man

who knocks on

a hundred different doors

and every time

he knocks on the door

who opens the door?

Lady foolishness.

And he goes to another door

and he opens the door

and he says

maybe life and prosperity

and wisdom

is found here

and he opens the door.

No,

it leads to death.

And he says

maybe life and prosperity

and contentment

and abundant life

will be found here

and he opens the door

and all it is

is lady foolishness.

Look what he says

verse 27.

This I found

while adding one thing

to another

to find the scheme of things.

What he means is

by observation.

I looked here,

I searched there,

I searched there,

I've added all my observations

together

and what have I found?

I still haven't found

what I'm looking for.

Friends,

by searching for wisdom

with only human wisdom

and human observation,

what he finds

is the opposite

of what he's looking for.

He is searching

for lady wisdom

for life's answers

to questions

but all he finds

is more questions.

He finds foolishness.

Friends,

I wonder if you can relate

to the teacher.

Maybe you've been searching

for the good life.

You've been searching

for the answers to life.

Looking for contentment

and hope

and deep peace

and the abundant life.

Maybe you've gone

and you've knocked

on the door

of love and romance

and you've downloaded

the dating app

and you've tried one date

and you've tried another date

and you've tried another date

but all of them

have not,

you haven't found

the deep abundant life

that you've been looking for.

Friends,

maybe some of you

feel like

the problem

is not with those people

out there,

the problem is with me.

Maybe I'm the wrong gender.

Maybe if I change

my gender

that will be the answer

to deep contentment.

Then I'll find peace.

Then I'll find,

I'll finally be at peace.

And so maybe you've gone

a knocking on that door.

But as the door's open,

you haven't found

the contentment

or the peace

that you're looking for.

Whereas maybe some of us

have knocked on the door

of career success

and you think,

if I can get on

that management trainee program

and I can get

that extra qualification,

finally I'll make it

into the broad

and wide road

and then my life

will be set.

Then I can sit back

and life will finally be made.

And as you've progressed

through your career

one step into the other,

you still have not found

what you're looking for.

And the lesson

that the teacher

wants us to find is this.

If you go looking

for ultimate answers

to life's big questions

by your human understanding

and your wisdom alone,

you will tire yourself out.

Because you will never find

the answers

that you're looking for

by human wisdom.

The answers

that you're looking for,

the deep peace,

the deep contentment,

the abundant life

that you're looking for

is not found

by looking within yourself

and is not found

by exploring

all the things out there.

Those,

the answer,

the revelation

must come to you

from outside of yourself

but it's got to come to you.

The answer to life's questions

don't come from within,

they come from

another source to us.

And how do we know that?

Well, look at verse 29.

Because the preacher

doesn't find the answer

he's looking for

but he does find

something else.

He says this,

See this alone I have found

that God has made man upright

but they have sought out

many schemes.

The teacher has noticed

that God has designed

mankind with a moral compass.

He says that

there's a compass within us,

there's a navigation system

inside of us

that is meant to lead us

to the truth

but the problem is

our navigation system

is broken.

It's been corrupted.

There's something wrong.

He says,

God has made man upright,

that means virtuous,

but we have sought out

many schemes.

His searching has revealed

that the wisdom

and the righteousness,

the truth and the goodness

are not merely

social constructs,

they're not merely

tools of economic oppression

as Karl Marx

would have us believe.

They are lodged

deep within us,

they're part of our DNA,

they're hardwired into us.

But the problem is that

a corruption has set in

so we can't find

the way that we're meant to.

It's kind of like

he says the navigation tools

of our heart

are corrupted and broken.

The problem,

says the teacher,

is that mankind

keeps on missing wisdom

and he cannot find it out.

It's like the navigation systems

of our hearts

have gone wonky.

Imagine you're on your phone

and your GPS system

is broken down, right?

And you're trying to find

that place you go to.

So it says go one direction

and suddenly it says

go another direction

and suddenly you've got to turn.

You can't find

what you're looking for.

He says God has made man

upright virtuous.

He's made man

with an assistant

to find the right way to live

but the schemes of man

we've broken,

we can't find our way.

This I observe,

God has made man upright

but they have become corrupted

by seeking out many schemes.

And the teacher's

onto something here.

He says ultimately

the problem with our minds

is ultimately

a problem with our hearts.

He says that sin

has corrupted

the compass

of our hearts.

The reason we can't find,

we can't live right

is because we don't know

what is truly right.

The reason we can't find

ultimate truth

is because our hearts

have been magnetized

by sin.

You know if you have a compass

and you hold a magnet to it

it messes up the compass?

That's what sin

has done to our hearts.

And so just because

something feels right

doesn't mean it is right.

We long to do

what feels,

we long to,

we seek what we want

but we want

all the wrong things.

And the reason we stumble

in our search

for what is true

and right and good

is because we cannot find

what's true

and right and good.

Because our truth seeking

instruments of our hearts

are off kilter.

And so the question is this,

where are we going to find

one who will bring us

wisdom and righteousness?

Where are we going to find

one who truly is

a righteous man?

Who never sins

and has done good on the earth?

Where are we going to find

that outside revelation

that's going to come in

and lead us back

onto the paths

of righteousness?

Well the answer is

Jesus Christ did come

and to be our wisdom

and to be our righteousness

and to lead us

and to be our redemption

to bring us onto

the paths of righteousness.

There's a fascinating verse

in the New Testament

in 1 Corinthians chapter 1

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

Paul writes and he says

the wisdom of God

is wiser than the foolish

no, let me get that right.

He says even the foolishness

of God is wiser

than the wisdom of man.

Even the weakness of God

is stronger than

the strength of man.

And he goes on and he says

God has made

God has shamed

the strong things

of this world

through his own weakness.

And he's talking about

Jesus' death on the cross.

And then he says this,

he says Jesus Christ

came to be our wisdom

and our righteousness

and our redemption.

Paul is saying this,

the way to true wisdom

and righteousness,

the way to find truth

and life,

the way to living

the right life

is not through self-discovery,

it's not by diving deep

into philosophy

and to the many things

of life,

it's not by searching out

wisdom and truth

on your own

by your own observation,

revelation,

it's found

in a person.

It's found in revelation

coming to us

from outside of us.

And what is the ultimate

revelation of God?

It's the person

of Jesus.

Jesus Christ came

to show us

wisdom and righteousness.

Jesus Christ came

to be for us

wisdom and righteousness.

Jesus Christ came to us

so that all those

who trust in him

and look to him

may not find

every answer in life,

but he will lead us

on the paths

of righteousness

and wisdom.

Psalm 119 says this,

Your word is a lamp

to my feet.

Well, Jesus Christ

is the ultimate word

made flesh.

Those who trust in him,

those who follow him,

will not find

every path lit up,

but they will find

the light to their feet

leading them

and guiding them.

Jesus said,

I am the way.

I am the truth.

I am the path

to life.

Friends,

Jesus doesn't promise

that if you follow him,

suddenly all your questions

will be answered.

Jesus doesn't say,

follow me

and I'll give you

the cheat sheet to life.

I'll give you

the secret code book

and you'll know

everything you need to know.

But he does promise you

to light up your path.

He does promise

to guide you

in the way of wisdom

and righteousness.

Jesus came to be

our wisdom,

our righteousness,

our redemption,

that those who trust

in him

are no longer left

floundering in the dark

looking for the answers

to life.

The teacher

is searching

for wisdom

and righteousness.

Okay,

does that make sense?

Okay,

thank you,

Oscar.

The second thing,

the second brick wall

that the teacher runs into

is the illusion

of control.

The teacher

wants to

find,

he walks into

the brick wall

of human control

and he discovers

that he's not quite

in control of his life

as he thought he was.

Look at chapter 8

verses 2 to 4.

He says here,

I say,

keep the king's command

because of God's oath

to him.

Do not be hasty

to go from his presence.

Do not take your stand

in an evil

or rebellious cause

for he does

whatever he pleases

for the word

of the king

is supreme

and who may say

to him,

what are you doing?

Now,

the basic idea here

is that all of us

are under

some kind of authority,

some kind of

authority

over our lives

that we are not

the supreme

authority of our lives.

the basic idea here

is that if you try

and bend

the authority

that you sit under

to your will,

you are going to

encounter some

strict limits

in your ability

to do that.

He says,

who can say

to the king,

what are you doing?

The king is

an authority over you.

So for instance,

if your boss

has rejected

your proposal

to him

and you keep

on harping on

about that proposal,

it's not going to

serve you very well

in the long haul.

Sometimes you just

got to realize

he's the authority

and I've got to

listen to him.

If you argue

with the traffic

officer

about the laws

of parking

in Hong Kong,

you can argue

as much as you want

but that's not going

to change

your illegal

parking ticket

that you just

received,

right?

If you argue

with the judge

about the outcome

of the case,

it doesn't matter

how much you tell

the judge

whether you like

his ruling

or not,

he is the judge

and you are not.

There are certain

limits to your

authority or your

ability to control

the outcome of life

according to your will.

Does that make sense?

So he's saying

you are not

sovereign in life.

You are not

ultimate authority

in what happens.

You are under

authority in this life.

But now,

he says the word

of the king

is supreme.

Kicking against

the limitations

of human sovereignty

is like punching

a brick wall.

Only one of you

are going to come

off second best

and it's not going

to be the brick wall.

But you ask,

but what about

the king?

Is the king

under any authority?

I mean,

especially,

you know,

1000 BC,

the king is supreme,

right?

His word goes.

Whatever he says

happens.

So what about

the king?

What about

billionaires?

What about

those world leaders

that sit on top

of the world?

I mean,

they are not

subject to any

authority.

Surely they can

do whatever they

want.

Well,

look at verse 8.

He says,

no man has power

to retain the spirit

or power over

the day of death.

He says,

you think of yourself

as all power

without any constraints?

You're destined

to be disappointed

because no matter

how much power

or how much authority

you possess

in this life,

there are some things

that even kings

and billionaires

have no control over.

The most powerful

leaders in the world,

they've got control

over nuclear bombs

and military arsenals

and economic levers

and parliaments

and political powers.

Even dictators

have great power.

There are some things

that even the most

powerful dictators

in the world

have no control over,

like the day

of their death.

No man has power

to retain the spirit

or the day

of his death.

Look at the second

half of verse 8.

there is no discharge

from war.

He says,

when that final battle

comes that each one

of us are going

to have to fight,

you can't call in sick

on that day.

There's no sick leave

on the final battle

that you've got to fight.

You can't call in

the substitutes.

You can't say to your coach,

hey, I'm injured,

call in the subs.

You can't tap out

of that final battle.

There is no discharge

from war,

he says,

nor will the wickedness

deliver those

who are given to it.

He says,

even those who thought

that they could strike

a deal with the devil

will not be delivered

from that day.

Ultimately,

he says,

every human being,

sovereignty is limited.

You are not God,

he says.

And the point

that the teacher

is making this is,

think of yourself

as sovereign over your life,

as the captain

of your fate,

the master of your destiny.

That's an illusion

that is soon

going to be shattered.

You are not in control

of your life

any more than you

are in control

of the weather

or the wind.

Friends,

I wonder how many of us

can relate to that.

How many of us

feel frustrated

by our lack of control

in life?

Maybe you're here

in Hong Kong

and you've got parents

that are abroad

and they're sick

and you desperately

want to go visit them

and COVID hits

and regulations

and quarantines

and you're stuck here

and you want to get

to go see elderly parents

but you just cannot

get to them.

Friends,

maybe you've got

a career path

for yourself

and you think

I'm going to do this,

I'm going to study,

I'm going to go abroad,

I'm going to get

some experience,

I'm going to jump

on that management path

and my career

is going to be set.

And every step

of the way

there's one setback

after another

after another

and your life

just can't get moving.

Friends,

maybe you have a child

and you hear of

and your child

is sick with COVID

and you think

I don't care

what they say,

I will not be separated

from my child

when I go to hospital

and you go to hospital

and you just realize

there's just a limit

to how much

you can put your foot down.

Friends,

you see what the Bible

is telling us?

You are not in control

of your life.

It doesn't matter

how much authority

you have,

how much power

you have,

how much money

you have,

the limits

of your sovereignty

will eventually,

you will run

into that brick wall.

And so what is

the resolution?

there is one

who is truly sovereign.

There is truly one

who is Lord

of all creation,

who lives beyond

the limits

of time and space,

the limitations

of our world.

There is one

who Isaiah says,

for him,

the nations of the world

are like dust

on a scale.

One breath

and they're all gone.

There is one

who truly brings

galaxies and stars

and universes

and multiple universes

into existence

and being.

Friends,

there is one

who sets up kings

and removes kingdoms,

who sets up empires

and can blow them

over in a day.

There is one

who is truly sovereign

over all creation.

Do you remember

the words of the disciples

when they're in the boat

with Jesus?

They said,

who is this man

that even the wind

and the waves

obey his voice?

Friends,

there is one

who is sovereign

even over the grave,

over life,

and death

because the tomb

that he was put into

2,000 years ago

stands empty

and he lives

and he reigns.

And he says

that for those

who trust him,

those who come to him,

those who surrender

to him,

even the final,

the one thing

that is beyond

all of our control,

death itself,

even that he has

conquered and mastered.

And so the apostle Paul

writes in Corinthians

and says,

death,

where is your sting?

Death,

where is your victory?

Even the one battle

that none of us

can beat,

it has been beaten

because there is one

who is truly sovereign

and Lord of will.

There is one king

to whom every king

and empire

and dictator

and sovereign

will one day

bow the knee.

Jesus Christ

is truly sovereign

and Lord.

And so friends,

when you run

to the brick wall

of time limits

and the limits

of your authority

and your autonomy,

when you come

to the end

of yourself

and you can do

no more,

Jesus Christ

stands ready

and saying,

come and turn to me.

Come and trust me.

Jesus doesn't promise

that he will make you

sovereign.

He doesn't promise

that he will overcome

all the limitations

of your life.

Jesus doesn't promise

to give you every answer

and to solve

every frustration.

But he does promise

that if you come to him,

he will give you a peace.

He will give you a wisdom.

He will give you

an understanding

that will transcend

even the roadblocks

of this life.

Come to him.

Now friends,

the third part

of our passage,

I'm going to skip over,

we're not going to get to it.

It's the yearning

for justice.

And in this passage

he says,

I went to a funeral

and I saw this man

and everyone honored him

and esteemed him

and praised him

and everyone said

about what a wonderful

man he was,

but actually he was

a scoundrel.

Where is justice?

And then ultimately

he says,

oh, there is one

who has got to bring

justice to bear.

Friends,

in this world

of paradox,

searching and injustice,

you may never find

the answers

to your questions.

But there is one

who has true wisdom,

who has true righteousness,

who is truly sovereign,

who truly administers

justice and mercy,

who truly holds

the keys to righteousness,

who has come

that we may no longer

need to walk

in our own wisdom.

Friends,

this week

you will run

into the brick wall

of your wisdom

and righteousness.

You will come

to the end

of yourself.

And when that happens,

turn to Jesus,

the one who is wisdom

and is righteousness

and who is justice.

Friends,

this week

you will run

into the brick wall

of your sovereignty

and your control

over matters of life.

And when that happens,

turn to Jesus,

the one who truly

is sovereign

and truly is control.

Friends,

this week

you will run

into the brick wall

of injustice

and things will happen

and you will think,

where is the justice

in that?

And when that happens,

turn to the one

who truly brings

righteousness

and justice

and mercy to it.

The one who will come

and judge the living

and the dead.

Friends,

don't trust in yourself.

Don't trust in your ability

to find the answers

in life.

Don't trust in your ability

to make it in life.

Don't trust in your ability

to get through life.

Turn to Jesus,

the one who came

from outside of this world

into this world

to save us,

to rescue us,

to give us what we need.

And to lead us

on the paths

of righteousness.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus Christ,

this passage is challenging,

but it's inviting.

God,

you confront us

with our own limitations.

The limitations

of our own wisdom.

The limitations

of our own control

of life.

But God,

that confrontation

invites us

to come to you.

God,

I pray

for my friends,

my brothers and sisters,

I pray for myself.

Lord,

I pray that this week,

God,

when we run

into the brick wall

of our own limitations,

may we in that moment

turn to you.

God,

may we come

and bow our knee

to you.

May we surrender

freshly

to you.

God,

may we

for you.

Maybe this morning

you feel

the frustration

and the exasperation

of having run

into one brick wall

of another.

Maybe you've

knocked on

a hundred different doors

looking for the answers

to life,

looking for

the answers

to right living.

And every time

the door's been opened

and it hasn't satisfied,

it hasn't given you

the answer

that you're looking for.

Friends,

why don't you freshly

come to King Jesus

this morning?

Why don't you come

and surrender to Him

and hand over

your life to Him?

Friends,

maybe you're a Christian

this morning,

but actually,

if you're honest,

you've lived

like an agnostic.

You've lived

by your own wisdom

and your own understanding.

Why don't today

you change that?

Why don't today

you freshly come

and surrender

to King Jesus?

Friends,

maybe you're here

this morning

and you're not a Christian.

Jesus Christ says

He came

to this earth

to die on the cross

and to rise again.

so that you don't

need to save yourself,

that you don't need

to have all the answers

for your own life.

Jesus came

to bring ultimate truth

and revelation

and wisdom

to save you.

Come and bow down

to Him this morning.

Lord Jesus,

come and have Your way

in our lives,

we pray.

Today,

God,

come and have Your way.

We hand over our lives.

We surrender.

We bow down to You.

In Your wonderful name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.