The Vanity of Being Overly Righteous (Ecclesiastes 7:15-22)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

And if you would now take your Bibles and open

up to the Old Testament. Wisdom book. Of Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes chapter 7. As we continue in our

Ecclesiastes 7 · chapter mention

sermon series through this book, we're going

to start in verse 15, simply picking up where

we left off and taking it through the end of

the chapter. And I would ask you to pay close

attention because this is God's word, Ecclesiastes

7 -15. In my vain life, I have seen everything.

There is a righteous man who perishes 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 is 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 man,

more than ten rulers who are in a 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 this

I have tested by 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

out? I turned 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

nets, and whose hands are fetters, 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 find the

scheme of things, which my soul has sought repeatedly,

but I have not found. One man among a thousand

I found. 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

Friends this is God's word. Let's pray Our Lord

and our God and the father of the one who is

called the word I Do ask that you would illumine

our hearts and our minds that we would understand

What is perhaps a perplexing text to us? Help

us to see how this points to our Savior Jesus

Christ Would you grant us the help of your spirit?

We pray for Christ's sake amen If you can remember

What did you think of the Christian faith before

you were a Christian? Did you understand and

maybe you're still figuring this out now Did

you understand that the Christian faith is one

of at times suffering of? Trouble of challenge

of difficulty of sadness We know that Jesus said

there would be times of trouble and we know that

Jesus said take up your cross and follow me But

do we really get it? What are our thoughts about

the Christian faith? When we're going through

something terribly difficult Do we expect that

all things will go well? Because we're Christians

Well friends Maybe we think it'll go well for

a time or a season But trouble is coming we will

all experience it no doubt you've felt it before.

You've seen it before. A young pastor recently

ordained loses his son to death in the night.

The doctors don't know why. A missionary is killed

by the very people he sought to convert. A woman

comes down with terminal cancer who's doing a

phenomenal job loving her husband and her children.

Why do these things happen? It's the classic

question. Why do bad things happen to good people?

Have you ever been asked that? Have you ever

yourself asked that question? Why do bad things

happen to good people? I was asked this question.

I think I've shared this before. I was inside

of a women's prison doing prison ministry and

a young woman incarcerated for a long time asked

me that question. Why do bad things happen to

good people? Why am I here? To be honest with

you, I didn't know the answer. R .C. Sproul gave

perhaps the finest answer I have ever heard.

Why do bad things happen to good people? He said,

that's only happened once. And he volunteered.

Jesus is the one who does good all of the time.

But when bad things happen, people tend to respond

in very unhealthy, ungodly ways. When things

aren't going our way, do we just think, well,

I must not be living up to God's standard. I

must not be righteous enough. I just need to

try harder. Or you have those who say, well,

I'll just give up. What's the point? You know

what we probably would not say? Verses 16 and

17. Be not overly righteous. Don't be too wise,

don't be too wicked, just don't. Amen, let's

pray, right? No, this is a perplexing statement.

Professor Benjamin Shaw says these verses are

a commentator's nightmare. He probably wrote

that from the comfort of his own home or office

rather than preaching in front of people. So

let's ask ourselves, how is this passage to quote

from Second Timothy, profitable for teaching,

for reproof, for correction, and for training

in righteousness. How is this passage useful

to us? Well, let's remember what Solomon is doing

here. Solomon is putting on his detective's hat.

He's going after some of the mysteries, some

of the things that he sees in life that he doesn't

understand. It's like he's on unsolved mysteries.

He's trying to unlock life's most baffling whodunits.

And this one relates to righteousness and to

wisdom. And so, look at verse 15. In my vain

life, I have seen everything. everything he says.

Now this is hyperbole, this is exaggeration.

It's seen everything, but what's really perplexing

to him is what continues. There is a righteous

man who perishes in his righteousness and there

is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his

evil doing. Meaning the righteous sometimes die

and suffer while the wicked prosper. And so as

he sees this in his life, It is perplexing. He

doesn't understand. It's tough for him, and it's

probably tough for us as well. Why do the wicked

prosper while the faithful suffer? The crook

should not get rich, and the liar should not

get his way, and the murderer should be the one

who loses his life, but sometimes it doesn't

seem to happen that way. But friends, long life.

Maybe this makes it more perplexing long life

and the scriptures are often seen as a blessing

from God, right? And so that makes it even more

challenging, right? It seems like life is maybe

unfair You think of the fifth commandment to

honor your father and your mother and your days

will be long in the land that God gives to you

How do we understand that kind of a commandment

that kind of a even a promise? Well friends,

this is not a blanket statement We have plenty

of examples in the scriptures of those who love

God suffering for it, right? We've already mentioned

many times Cain and Abel. What about this from

Psalm 73? The observation from the psalmist who

says, such are the wicked, always at ease, the

increase in riches, all in vain. I have kept

my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence

for all day long I have been plagued and am punished

every morning. Sometimes friends the faithful

just don't live to a ripe old age while the wicked

prosper. How perplexed you think must Solomon

would Solomon have been to see all of Jesus's

disciples suffering as they did. Solomon though

knows the answer to why things are this way.

He's already shown us many times the bigger question

to why these things happen is How shall we live

in such paradox? how shall we live in such a

world where the righteous die and the wicked

prosper Well, here's to get back to it a little

bit the two dangers the two unhealthy ungodly

ways that people approach trouble and suffering

people who say on this hand things aren't going

well, I just got to do better. I got to lace

up my sneakers a little bit tighter. I got to

get my hands dirty. I got a knuckle down. I'm

just not righteous enough. These are those that

Brian Chappell calls sola bootstrappa. I like

it too, right? Pulling oneself by one's own bootstraps,

but the other On the other hand, those who say

if the same end befits us all and the wicked

prosper, why not just sin more? Let's put God's

grace to work. So these are the two dangers.

And if I can use more technical terms, legalism

and antinomianism, right? Legalism that says,

yes, I can do those things, God, but I can do

them better. The antinomian, which quite literally

means against the law, those who perhaps say,

oh, I've been baptized, I profess faith in Jesus

Christ, and therefore I'm good to go, I can live

however I want. Friends, hear this quote from

Thornwell who said, the gospel, like its blessed

master, is always crucified between two thieves.

Legalism of all sorts on the one hand and antinomians

on the other. The former robbing the Savior of

the glory of his work for us and the other robbing

him of the glory of his work within us. Friends,

as we look at these two dangers, I want us to

see that there is a better way. There is a better

path forward and His name is Jesus. But please,

as you see this perplexing statement here, don't

be too righteous. Please understand this. Solomon

is not saying disregard practical means of growth

and holiness. He's not saying that. Actually,

he upholds wisdom and righteousness in verse

19. But look at verse 20. This is where it all

hinges. Surely there is not a righteous man on

earth who does good and never sins. There's not.

That was true in Solomon's day, and that is true

in our day. All of our strivings will not make

us righteous before God, and yet this is how

many people think. I heard a song just yesterday

and I wanted to share the lyrics because I think

it captures this perfectly. It's by a Christian

contemporary artist named Matthew West. He said,

I used to think grace was a ladder. Every sinner

had to climb. If only I could do better, I could

earn it over time. Tried to work my way to good,

trouble is I never could. But then you showed

me just exactly how grace works. I'm not loved

because I'm worthy. I'm loved because you're

good. Period. I'm loved because you're good.

Looking to ourselves for righteousness, being

wise in our own eyes, pursuing wickedness, the

results of this kind of behavior will be utterly

devastating upon us. You need the righteousness

of another. And for you who have it, keep looking

to Him and trusting in Him for His righteousness

because you see what the problem is. Look at

verse 29. This alone I found that God made man

upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

We are to think here of what happened after creation.

We are to think of the fall into sin. With Adam

and Eve, they were walking in perfect relationship

with God. All was right in the world until it

wasn't. God gave them freedom to sin and freedom

not to sin. Thinking that they would acquire

wisdom, Adam plunged the whole world into sin.

And Solomon's statement has been correct ever

since. And so what is Solomon doing here? He's

looking around. He's looking near and he's looking

far. He's looking high and he's looking low,

trying to find is there anybody on the face of

this earth who does good all the time and never

sins? And does he find it? No. No. A similar

episode happens with Abraham. Do you remember

Abraham haggling with God? over mercy towards

Sodom? What a statement that is. Abraham in prayer

says, God, will you destroy this place if there

are 50 righteous people in it? And God says no.

And he talks him down from 50 to 45 to 40 to

30 to 20 to 10 and says, God, if there are 10

righteous people in this place, will you destroy

it? And God says no to these things. But then

Abraham stops. and he doesn't continue haggling

with God, why? The text doesn't tell us, but

I think we can understand two things about it.

One, he stops because he understands the mercy

of God. If any one will be saved, it'll be because

God shows him mercy, the righteous for the unrighteous.

And two, Abraham stops because there is no unrighteous.

He gets to the end of the line. Here's the good

news, though. Abraham stops. God does not. Abraham

stops. God does not. He spares Lot and his daughters.

And yet with Solomon here, he's looking around.

He doesn't haggle at all. He just looks and sees

there is none. There are none righteous. Why?

Because we are urged to look for righteousness

elsewhere He also understands that in our unrighteousness

oftentimes we give in to temptation that sometimes

we play with the fire of temptation look in verses

26 and 27 This kind of temptation Solomon knows

a thing or two about that He's been burned by

it, and he's done the burning. What Solomon's

doing here is he's describing a particular kind

of woman. Do you remember the sort of women that

Solomon pursued? Let me give an innocent plug

for Sunday school, particularly the fellowship

Sunday school class in which we have been reading

about this. First King's Chapter 11, verses 1

through 4, reads like this. Now King Solomon

loved many foreign women, along with the daughter

of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian,

and Hittite women. From the nations concerning

which the Lord had said to the people of Israel,

you shall not Enter into covenant into marriage

with them neither shall they with you for surely

they will turn away your heart after their gods

Solomon clung to these in love he had 700 wives

who were princesses and 300 concubines and his

wives turned away his hearts and so as you see

Solomon here the teacher, the preacher, the one

called Kohelet. As you see him making these statements

about women and temptation that is here, we must

understand that this is not a condemnation of

women. This is not a gender issue. What he is

getting at is the real problem. Our fallenness,

the temptation to sin, those who toy with our

sin instead of fleeing from it. You all know

John Owen who famously said be killing sin or

it be killing you. And so what he's showing us

here is is that when we give into these things

they are terribly destructive. And I find something

more bitter than death. The woman whose heart

is snares and nets and whose hands are fetters.

He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner

is taken by her. Who else could write that? But

Solomon. And so his experience is playing into

this. But please also see this. Men are not faring

any better. The playing field is level, according

to verse 20 and 29. And even if you crunch the

numbers of 28 men, come out only one -tenth of

a percentage point better than women in Solomon's

experience. And this is not dogma. This is his

experience. That we all fall short of the glory

of God. Look at verses 21 and 22, because this

illustrates this. 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 What is he doing

but illustrating this point? That we all struggle

with sin We all struggle with temptation But

because we all do Shouldn't we be much more quick

to forgive? Do we really need to be hung up?

on every single little problem that we have with

one another, knowing how sinful we are as well,

that's what he wants you to see, right? And he

wants us to see that men and women left to their

own devices are hopelessly unrighteous, foolish,

and wicked. Have you ever heard of the name G

.K. Chesterton? In 1908, the Times newspaper

reached out to a number of famous writers and

said, would you please respond to this question?

And the question was this, what is wrong with

the world? Chesterton wrote back, dear sirs,

I am. Sincerely, GK Chesterton. Friends, since

we have all fallen short, what are we to do?

We must recognize that God provides the way of

escape, and he provides the righteousness. Look

at verse 26. I've already read this a couple

of times, but he says there's something worse

than death. People sought out many schemes. What

they do and what we do sometimes is to twist

what is good into something that which is wicked,

right? But God's word is clear on this. Hebrews

12 one. let us lay aside every weight and sin

which clings so closely. Jesus says it too, right?

He talks about our hand causing us to sin or

our eye, right? To take that out, right? And

so maybe we can apply that into our own lives.

I don't have a phone up here with me, but if

your cell phone causes you, tempts you to sin,

throw it in the trash can. If your job over and

over again tempts you to sin, then maybe you

need to consider a new job. If your friends over

and over again tempt you to sin, maybe you need

some new friends. You see it from our text, the

one who does good before God is the one who escapes

his sin. Perhaps there's no better spot to see

this than in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Verse

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

13, some of you I believe have this memorized.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common

to man and God is faithful and he will not let

you be tempted beyond your ability. But with

the temptation, he will also provide the way

of escape that you may be able to endure it.

Friends, it is true. God provides the way of

escape. But let's say that your sin has you so

wrapped up in it. You're so entangled by it that

you cannot get out of it on your own. What then?

Well, friends, that's kind of the point, isn't

it? That's kind of the point. You need God's

help. You need His rescue. You cannot do it on

your own. Ancient Church Father John Chrysostom

said, Paul implies, reflecting on 1 Corinthians

10 .13, Paul implies that there are temptations

that we cannot bear. What are they? All of them,

in effect. The ability to bear them comes only

from God's grace. And that is a very, very true

statement. Just like Solomon's observation, Surely

there is not a righteous man on earth. Well friends

Surely there is Surely there is and this is Christ

For second Corinthians 521 says for our sake

he made him who knew no sin to be sin So that

in him we might become the righteousness of God

Jesus is our righteousness and Jesus is our wisdom

and so Christian Whether you're battling sin,

whether you're enduring temptation, whether you're

suffering through the miseries of this life,

you need one thing. You need the righteousness

of Christ. You see, Christ fulfills verse 20

that I've said many times over. Christ also fulfills

verse 15. Let me read it again. In my vain life,

I've seen everything. There is a righteous man

who perishes in his righteousness. Jesus perished

in his righteousness so you could have it. The

righteous for the unrighteous. Let's pray.