Men are Schemers

Sermon Text

Ecclesiastes 7:15-8:1

15 I have seen everything in my days of vanity:

There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness,
And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.

16 Do not be overly righteous,
Nor be overly wise:
Why should you destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overly wicked,
Nor be foolish:
Why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you grasp this,
And also not remove your hand from the other;
For he who fears God will escape them all.

19 Wisdom strengthens the wise
More than ten rulers of the city.

20 For there is not a just man on earth who does good
And does not sin.

21 Also do not take to heart everything people say,
Lest you hear your servant cursing you.
22 For many times, also, your own heart has known
That even you have cursed others.

23 All this I have proved by wisdom.
I said, “I will be wise”;
But it was far from me.
24 As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep,
Who can find it out?
25 I applied my heart to know,
To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things,
To know the wickedness of folly,
Even of foolishness and madness.
26 And I find more bitter than death
The woman whose heart is snares and nets,
Whose hands are fetters.
He who pleases God shall escape from her,
But the sinner shall be trapped by her.

27 “Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher,
“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
28 Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find:
One man among a thousand I have found,
But a woman among all these I have not found.
29 Truly, this only I have found:
That God made man upright,
But they have sought out many schemes.”

Obey Authorities for God’s Sake

8 Who is like a wise man?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
A man’s wisdom makes his face shine,
And the sternness of his face is changed.

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

• The righteous may suffer and die while the wicked prosper, so present circumstances cannot be treated as a simple measure of holiness or God’s favor.
• Ecclesiastes does not tell us to balance a little righteousness with a little wickedness. It warns against proud self-righteousness and scrupulous fear while also warning that foolish sin truly destroys.
• The fear of God produces practical wisdom, but even the wisest people must confess that no one on earth does good without sinning.
• Because we also have spoken contemptuously of others, we should neither be enslaved to every opinion nor arrogantly refuse helpful criticism.
• Solomon’s pursuit of wisdom through personal experience led him into folly and snares; wisdom tells us to flee temptation rather than learn sin by entering it.
• God made humanity upright, but fallen people devise many schemes and cannot make themselves righteous.
• Our only hope is Jesus Christ, the perfectly righteous wisdom of God. By faith his righteousness is counted as ours, and in him we are freed to stop scheming and start trusting.

• Do you ever assume that suffering proves someone is faithless or that prosperity proves someone is righteous?
• Where are you tempted to establish your worth before God through your own performance rather than Christ’s righteousness?
• Does your examination of small moral questions produce wise obedience, or fear, pride, exhaustion, and paralysis?
• How can you take sin seriously without being surprised that sanctification remains a lifelong struggle?
• Whose approval has become so important that it keeps you from obeying God or speaking about Christ?
• How can you distinguish enslaving concern about criticism from humble willingness to receive correction?
• What temptation are you trying to study from close range when wisdom is telling you to flee?
• Are any relationships or digital habits setting snares that steadily pull your heart away from Christ?
• What schemes are you using to control your reputation, security, pleasure, or future?
• How does the imputed righteousness of Christ free you to confess sin honestly and walk in joyful wisdom?

Providence

God’s wise and fatherly government of every circumstance, including events whose purpose we cannot presently explain.

Prosperity gospel

The false teaching that faithfulness should reliably bring health, wealth, and an easy life in the present age.

Self-righteousness

Trusting in one’s own moral record or religious performance instead of depending on the righteousness of Christ.

Scrupulosity

An anxious, paralyzing attempt to classify and control every detail morally, often driven by fear or pride rather than resting in Christ.

Fear of God

Reverent trust and submission toward the Lord that turns us away from both self-confidence and careless sin.

People-pleasing

Living as a slave to other people’s approval instead of seeking above all to honor God.

Original uprightness

The goodness and righteousness in which God created humanity before Adam and Eve’s fall into sin.

Imputed righteousness

Christ’s perfect righteousness counted to believers, received by faith rather than earned by their works.

Unequally yoked

A binding partnership between a believer and an unbeliever that pulls in opposing spiritual directions; the sermon applies this particularly to marriage.