The Vanity of Power (Ecclesiastes 8:1-17)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

And so, yes, would you take your Bibles and open

them to Ecclesiastes chapter 8? Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 8 · chapter mention Ecclesiastes 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8, and we will look to do, or at least

to read through the whole chapter. If I can say

something about chapter 8, it's notoriously difficult

to translate. And so as we may be looking at

different versions within our English Bibles,

you may notice that yours sounds a little bit

different than mine. Again, it's notoriously

difficult to translate, but here is where prayer

helps us. We ought to always pray as we read

Scripture, and so I'm going to read this passage

for us, and I'll pray asking for the Lord's help.

Would you follow along? from Ecclesiastes 8.

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 oath

to him. Be not hasty to go from his presence.

Do not take your stand in an evil way. For he

does whatever he pleases. For the word of the

Lord or 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 observed 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 I commend

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

neither day nor 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. Friends, this

is God's word. Let us pray. Heavenly Father,

we come before you with your word open before

us. And in what is perhaps a difficult chapter

for us, we ask for your help. We know that it's

your word. and we know that you are all -wise

and all -powerful and all -righteous and that

your word is indeed truth. Lord, would you help

us to see it that way? Would you open up the

eyes of our hearts to trust you as we study Ecclesiastes

8? We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Do any of

you own or have you owned a greatest hits album?

You know what I'm talking about? Maybe your favorite

artist has been producing music for many years

or even decades and they've had all their hits

on the radio and So they come out with a new

album. That's not really all that new It's just

their best hits on the same album. You know what

I'm talking about. I have some of those Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8 is kind of like Solomon's greatest

hits. As I have read this, maybe you're thinking,

well, I've heard a lot of this before, right?

You've heard the classic hit, Eat Drink and Be

Joyful. You've heard of that chart -topping single,

There's a Time for Everything. You certainly

know of the song, Applying My Heart to Wisdom,

and my personal favorite, The Fear of God. We

have heard these things before. Is there anything

new for us in Ecclesiastes chapter eight? Yes,

there is. There is something new here, but it's

mixed in with all of these phrases that we have

heard before. And yet there is an overarching

theme that is here. Ecclesiastes chapter eight

is talking about the limits of mankind, that

we are limited in all sorts of ways. And because

we are limited, in maybe our wisdom, maybe our

knowledge, or our power, we must look to the

one and rely upon the one who is perfect in all

of these ways. As we recognize our limitations

from this text, let us look to the God who is

all -powerful and who is all -wise. We see this

right from the start in verse 1, this rhetorical

question, who is like the wise? And who knows

the interpretation of a thing? The implied answer

is of course the wise do. The wise are the ones

who know the interpretation. And so what Solomon

is doing here is once again upholding wisdom

to say it's a good thing. But yet also look at

the very last verse of the chapter. Even though

a wise man claims to know, He cannot find it

out and so yes on one hand he upholds wisdom

on the other hand He says we don't have all of

the wisdom in the world Why because that certainly

belongs to God now just because we don't have

it all just because we are limited in these ways

Do we do we throw the baby out with the bathwater?

Of course not because he upholds wisdom, and

yet there are other things in our lives where

we recognize our own limitations, and yet they're

still good things. Think about the human body

for a minute. The human body is wonderfully made,

right? Think about the athletic achievements

of the human body. The sub four -minute mile,

I find that incredible. Those weight lifters

who can just lift so much weight or high jumpers

that can get to new heights quite literally.

Think about a rock climber, one of those solo

free climbers who are just clinging to the rock

face with their fingertips. That's incredible.

But what happens if that climber or that athlete

forgets the limitations of man? the results can

be dangerous, they can be catastrophic. And the

same is true with wisdom. When we forget that

we are limited in some ways in wisdom, we become

wise in our own eyes and yes, the results of

that are equally damaging. And so you see where

this is going here. It's talking about the limits,

but it's talking specifically about the limits

of power. Look in verse two. I say keep the King's

command because of God's oath to him. There is

a theological element to our earthly submission

to authorities. Westminster Confession 23 says

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. And so what God does is he is the supreme

king, the ruler, the one with absolute power,

but underneath him are rulers who were installed

in positions of power. And in verse four, the

king that is mentioned here appears to wield

near absolute power over his subjects. But friends,

this king's power mentioned here is real, but

it's not absolute. Why? Because look at verse

eight. No man has power to retain the spirit

or power over the day of death. Notice that it

says no man. It's not just talking about kings

here, but certainly that applies to kings as

well. Kings and other rulers, other people in

positions of authority, they will die too. They

do not have power over their own death. God installs

people in positions of power. But he is the one

with absolute power. This week, some of you went

on a mission trip down to Mullins, South Carolina.

And it was a mission trip of service. And no

doubt, you, we worked with power tools. On my

job site, doing the Sheds of Hope, there must

have been about 12 DeWalt drill drivers that

were there. But how good are those drills if

they're not plugged in, if they're not charged,

right? They have to be charged to be effective,

to do anything whatsoever. Well, friends, when

it comes to authorities and rulers in this life,

God's the one who puts them on the charger. God's

the one that gives them the power, right? No

single person has absolute power. All authority

is derived from God and this is not just found

in this text it's actually taught throughout

the scriptures. Romans chapter 13 verse 1, let

Romans 13:1

every person be subject to the governing authorities

for there is no authority except from God. But

that too is not the only place. First Peter chapter

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

2 is another go -to location for this. First

Peter 2 13 says be subject for the Lord's sake

to every human institution, whether it be to

the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent

by him to punish those who do evil and to praise

those who do good, for this is the will of God."

What these scriptures are showing us is what

I've already said. God is the one with the power,

but he does place kings, presidents, governors,

mayors, people who were in positions of authority

on the job, people in positions of authority

in the church, God installs those people. Should

we rebel against those people? Well, Peter has

something else to say about this in 1 Peter 2,

17. He says, honor everyone, love the brotherhood,

fear God, honor the emperor. Now how incredible

is that that Peter says to honor the Emperor

knowing what we know about the early church and

the persecution that came upon the Christians

and yet Peter's encouragement his exhortation

is not to rise up to take down the Emperor no

it's to honor the Emperor and again it's not

just Peter and it's not just Paul we actually

see this in so many other places in the scriptures.

Jeremiah writes to the exiles and says seek the

welfare of the city or perhaps you remember Joseph

in Egypt or Daniel under Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon

and especially those two are important because

they show us not only submission to authority

but they also show us wisdom. Because Joseph

and Daniel were the only ones able to interpret

the dreams in all of those empires such that

I think that verse 1 is very very true of people

like Joseph and Daniel. Look at the second half

of verse 1. A man's wisdom makes his face shine

and the hardness of his face is changed. The

very wisdom of God changes who we are. Philip

Riken says here, it is strange, but true. Godly

wisdom makes a difference in the way people look.

People who live without God in the world often

show the proud demeanor or stern expression that

comes from a heart hardened by sin. What the

preacher calls the hardness of face, but the

wisdom of the gospel turns the frown of sin into

the smile of grace. God's grace and his wisdom

changes everything about us. Even as we go through

the miseries of this life, I have had so many

conversations with so many of you as you go through

hard times and what do you say time and time

again that gets you through? It's God's grace

and what do you ask for? You ask for wisdom.

We rely upon God who is bigger than our problems

Mighty enough to handle them and friends should

you find yourselves lacking in these things lacking

in wisdom? Remember the book of James James says

to ask God for wisdom and he will certainly supply

but that's that's not all that's going on in

this text because actually as Kohelet Solomon

here the teacher speaks about power in the king.

He seems like he is addressing, yes, a familiar

topic, oppression and injustice. He raises it

again here in order to encourage, because verses

two through five seem like they're written to

a servant in the king's court. And what does

he tell this servant? He says to go about his

work quietly. without causing a scene. He's essentially

saying in these verses, don't stand up for yourself

just because you're not getting your way. It

is wisdom to know it will not go well with you

in such a scenario. Look at verses five and six.

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. You see, the wise man knows the right

thing to do and the right time to do the right

thing. The wise man knows the right thing to

do and the right time to do the right thing.

Let me illustrate this, and I'm going to illustrate

it with perhaps, in light of this text, a silly

illustration. Certainly nothing on the level

with what's being described here, but I want

you to get the point of submission to authority.

and using wisdom. When I was in the 10th grade,

I played baseball. Not very well, but I played.

And that year, the head coach of the varsity,

who is also in charge of putting players where

they ought to be on the field for the JV, told

me right before the season started, you're going

to be our starting second baseman. I said, yes.

But a couple days later, that head coach quit.

He just up and quit baseball altogether. And

the JV coach now was the varsity coach, and he

got to make all of the decisions about who would

start. And right before a preseason game, I was

in the on -deck circle, getting ready to no doubt

hit a home run or maybe just ground out. But

he comes over to me and he says, hey, Kenny,

I've been thinking a lot about it. And you're

not going to start at second base. Joe's gonna

start in front of you. And I thought, what? Joe's

in the ninth grade. I'm in the tenth. Pride,

right? And so I stepped into the batter's box

and I drew a walk. Nothing exciting, just a walk.

But then I stole second. And then I moved to

third base. And when I got to third base, that

coach was standing there as also the third base

coach. And I said to him, coach, I've been thinking

a lot about what you said. And I tell you what

I'm gonna do. I'm going to score. I'm going to

touch home plate, and then I'll come back to

you. I'm going to hand you my jersey. I'm going

to get my stuff, and I'm going to leave. And

I quit. And that's exactly what I did. When I

got home, I was absolutely crushed. I'd quit

the baseball team, all I'd ever wanted to do.

Now, that coach is in a position of authority.

Maybe it's a small position of authority, but

still a position of authority. And what I did

was not submitting to authority. It was seeking

to show up the coach, right? To somehow prove

that I was better than what he thought. Friends,

that's not how Christians are to be. That's not

the encouragement from this text. No, it says

keep the King's command. We are to be in submission

to the King. Really what this is all getting

at in a way is the fifth commandment. The fifth

commandment to honor your father and your mother,

right? But by extension of that as Jesus teaches

on it we recognize that we are yes we are supposed

to honor other people too or in positions of

authority Now keeping the fifth commandments

pretty easy When you like everything that that

person does when you've got that great boss or

that great coach or that great mayor or president

or whoever it may be But how are we to be? When

we don't like those people And we don't think

they're doing a good job. Well friends, let's

think about this as well. God is the supreme

ruler, the supreme. He is the king of kings,

right? He is generous and he is kind and he is

loving and do we keep his commands? Do we always

honor God? No, we don't. And so how much more

do we need God's grace? with those who are oppressive

or who are perhaps bad rulers. Now, I know what

you may be thinking. Is there a time to take

a stand? Is there a time to say no to those wicked

rulers? Yes, of course. When wickedness arises,

we are to take a stand, but not just for self

-interest, but to take a stand against evil.

There is a time to stand up, and it's against

sin. Benjamin Shaw says here, to follow the command

of God is always a wise path. As Paul observes

against such, there is no law. But friends, we

do not combat wickedness with more wickedness.

We do not seek retaliation. That's not the instruction

that the text offers to us, and neither does

Jesus. Jesus, like Solomon, called his disciples

to exercise wisdom. in such situations. Jesus

said in Matthew 10 -16, be wise as serpents and

innocent as doves. This is who we are to be,

asking God for his help, asking for him to supply

us with wisdom when we find ourselves under difficult

authorities. But we should also take the long

view in these things. Look at verses 11 and 12.

Let me read 11 again. Because the sentence against

an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart

of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Sometimes those who perform acts of wickedness

seem like they're getting away with it, so they

keep doing it. And sometimes we who observe this

think they're getting away with it, and we lose

heart. But also, look at 12 and 13 here. 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." What

you see in here is this sentence that says that

the sinner will prolong his life in verse 12,

but in verse 13 it says he will not prolong his

life. And so the question we have naturally is,

is this contradiction? Which is it? Does he prolong

his days? Or does he not? Well, don't forget

about the important little word in verse 13 of

shadow. The key word there is shadow. Any prospering

of the wicked is only a shadow. The wicked may

seem to prolong their days. The wicked may even

seem to prosper, but do not be discouraged. The

prospering of the wicked will not last. It will

not be well with them. A shadow only exists while

the sun shines upon something, but when there

is no sun, there is no more shadow, just darkness,

and the sun will set on the wicked because they

do not fear God. And as I begin to wrap up here,

I just want to spend a few minutes on this idea.

The fear of God, the fear of the Lord. Solomon

has touched upon this previously and he's gonna

touch upon it again in chapter 12. So consider

this the fear of the Lord part one. Just three

quick ideas about the fear of God. To fear God

is to forsake sin. To fear God is to have a proper

object of fear. And to fear God is to believe.

You see, within the text in verse 12, the sinner

just goes on sinning. His ways are called wicked.

Unrepentant sin and the fear of God do not go

together. They are incompatible. You cannot fear

God and enjoy your sin at the same time. You

can't. Paul addresses this in Romans chapter

Romans 3 · chapter mention

3 when he says, there is no fear before their

eyes. He's talking about universal sin. He's

talking about unrepentant sin. He's saying there

is no fear before their eyes. Matthew Henry says,

where no fear of God is, no good is to be expected.

And so that's quickly point one. Point two, to

fear of God is to have a proper object of fear.

We have many misguided fears in this life, and

I'm going to elaborate more on this, Lord willing,

in chapter 12. Many misguided fears, and there

are many fears that we may have, that we see

within Ecclesiastes, the fear of the oppressive

ruler, the fear of the unknown, the fear of losing

wealth, the fear of suffering and the fear of

death. Christian, what do you fear? These things

are not to be feared. These are things that if

you do fear them, to take them to the Lord, ask

for repentance, ask for forgiveness, and fear

God alone. Thirdly, to fear God is to believe,

to wholeheartedly trust in Him. An unbeliever

can tremble before God and they will if they

remain in their unbelief, but the believer fears

God in faith, a trembling belief and reverence

in awe of who God is. and the fear of God produces

in us a desire for righteousness that is not

present in the unbeliever. Psalm 112 verse one

says, blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

who greatly delights in his commandments. But

maybe there's somebody in this sanctuary today

and you're asking, how can I fear the Lord? How

can I have this belief? Friends remember what

I've been talking about talking about limits

here You are limited by your sin You cannot produce

belief or the fear of God in yourself You're

dead in your trespasses and therefore you who

are not in Christ. You need God to move You need

a new heart planted in yourself Because Christ

has done what we could not do again from first

Peter, which begins, according to his great mercy,

he has caused us, he does the work, to be born

again to a living hope through the resurrection

of Jesus Christ, to an inheritance that is imperishable,

undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

Jesus does this. Now you talk to all kinds of

Christians, About what God can do and just about

every Christian will say God is sovereign. Yeah,

I believe that But then when it comes to salvation

People want to insert themselves into the equation

as if they have something to do with their salvation,

but no friends It is all God's grace God is not

limited where we are. He has done what he does

within us and it's something we just could not

do. And knowing this, knowing what God has done

in Christ Jesus for us, this should produce incredible

amounts of joy in our lives. And so final thing

here, there is a link between the fear of the

Lord and the joy of the Lord. Psalm 47, clap

your hands all peoples, shout to God with loud

songs of joy, for the Lord the most high is to

be feared, the great King over all the earth.

Solomon in verse 15 commends joy immediately

after this section on the fear of God. You see

friends, when you are regenerated, when you are

born again, when you come to faith in Jesus Christ,

you do not come to God kicking and screaming.

Because God changes our affections. We love Him

because He first loved us and sent Christ to

die for us such that what we find at the end

of this section is truly true. We can now in

Christ Jesus enjoy God and we can enjoy what

God gives to us such that I would say Westminster

short of catechism number one. is very, very

correct when it says, man's chief end is to glorify

God and to enjoy him forever. It's written, this

is written in such a way that only the believer

can truly understand. Fear of the Lord is the

joy of the Lord. Friends, let us recognize our

limits. Let us trust in Jesus, the one who is

unlimited in all that he can do, and let us live

wisely and joyfully giving thanks always for

what Christ has done for us. Indeed, thanks be

to God. Let's pray.