Now I want to direct your attention
tonight again back to the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes
chapter 10. And I'm going to continue. I
left off the last time ending with verse 3. And I'll begin
with verse 4 here because this is a continuation, a series of
proverbs or a series of proverbial sayings by Solomon as he was
inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these things concerning
the great difference, the great contrast between wisdom and folly
or foolishness. Wisdom and foolishness and I
entitled this message Last Wednesday and tonight the same title This
is just the second part of it and that is simply this wisdom
is better than folly Wisdom is better than folly Now as I said
Wednesday night, I said most of you would think about that
and you say well preacher that's obvious I mean everybody knows
that wisdom is better than folly So we don't really have to be
told that. But what shows us that it's not an obvious statement
is the fact that by nature, by nature, and especially when it
comes to issues of salvation and issues of a relationship
with God, who is the supreme ruler of all things, the sovereign
ruler of all things. Solomon has a lot to say about
rulers, kings. Solomon himself was king over
Israel. But he knew and recognized that
God Almighty is the supreme, sovereign ruler of all things. And God is not an absentee landlord. He is directly involved in his
purposes in Providence, not only in the salvation of sinners,
salvations of the Lord, but God governs this universe according
to the good pleasure of his will. The book of Ephesians chapter
1 and verse 11 says God works all things. after the counsel
of his own will. And that's a great truth that
gives his people confidence and comfort and peace. Because, you
know, when we look around this world under the sun, you know
Solomon has talked a lot about under the sun. That's here on
this plane. here on this earth. He's shown
us that salvation cannot come by man's works or man's thoughts
or man's religion under the sun. It must come from God. We've
got to look above the sun. I'm not speaking geographically.
I'm speaking to look to God for salvation. But as we look around
and we see things happening in our daily lives and we study
history and we contemplate the future, We see a lot of things
that are happening in the good providence and wisdom of God
that may, in our sight, seem like it's foolish. We may wonder,
what in the world is God doing? But make no mistake about it,
there's no foolishness with God. And so, man by nature, when it
comes to those things, we're foolish, and God is all wise. Now, the ultimate wisdom of God
And the ultimate application, I believe, to everything that
Solomon says here, even though we can make an application to
earthly matters and things of wisdom and foolishness as it
applies to our everyday lives, the ultimate wisdom of God is
found in the person and the finished work of Christ. If you want to
see the embodiment of the wisdom of God, You must look to the
grace and the goodness and the power of God in the salvation
of sinners by Jesus Christ. He is our wisdom. In fact, 1
Corinthians chapter 1 speaks of that quite a bit when it speaks
of how what men call foolishness in God is wise. And what men
call wisdom, God calls foolishness. And then he concludes that Christ
is of God made unto us wisdom. Think about the wisdom of God
in Christ. How God can be just and justify sinners like us.
I spoke of that this morning. How Christ is my righteousness
before God. Christ is of God made unto us
righteousness. I have no forgiveness, no pardon,
no acceptance, No completeness before God except what He has
given me freely by His grace in Christ. And Christ is made
of God unto us sanctification. He is our holiness. You know,
it is Christ that sets us apart from the world. Really, it's
not what we wear and what we don't wear and what we eat and
what we don't eat. Because I'll guarantee you that
you'll find some religion of natural man that'll do all those
things, probably even greater than what you'd ever think of.
I was watching the story of the man they called the Buddha. You
know what Buddha means? It means awakened one. And that's
why they gave him that name. His name was Siddhartha, and
then he became awakened. And one of the ways that he went
is he would deny himself food and water. The only thing he
would drink was what poured from the heavens in the rain. He wouldn't
drink out of a well. He wouldn't even think about
taking a drink out of a water fountain. And boy, didn't that
set him apart. Well, that's just man's religious
efforts to save himself. And he tried to wake himself
up, but even after they called him the awakened one, he was
asleep. He was ignorant of God's righteousness. Solomon talks
about submission to the king, talking about earthly kings,
but ultimately the supreme king as being wise, and rebellion
against the king as being foolish. Now, he's certainly not talking
about kings who go against God and who command and make rules
that are opposed to God's revealed will by way of commandment, but
he's talking about this, he's talking about how we as subjects
to be submissive to the state in the sense that we're to follow
the commandments of God. And that's wisdom. So all of
these things, you know, as they come into play as he makes these
statements, summarized in this one verse in Proverbs chapter
9 that Brother Stan read, verse 10, where it says, the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of
the holy is understanding. So with that in mind, let's just
read through some of these verses. Look at verse 4. He mentions
here a ruler. Now the rulers of Israel, and
I'll deal with this in just a moment too, but the rulers of Israel,
and that's Solomon's realm of operation here now as king of
Israel. The rulers of Israel would set
up in the government of Israel and the economy of Israel under
the old covenant, the law of Moses, you'd have the king, you
would have the prophets, You'd have the priest. You'd even have
the heads of families. You'd have all these different
ones who could be classified as rulers in Israel. They were
to be guides. And they were to rule the people
and guide the people in the things of the Lord. Now, when we read
the history of Israel and the history of the southern kingdom
Judah, we find that most of them did not do that. They did that
which is evil in the sight of the Lord, the scripture will
tell us. But they were ultimately and ideally to lead the people
in the ways of God, in worship, in faith. Believe God. That old covenant law of Moses,
that was never given to Israel to be a way of salvation by men's
works. It never did say. The law of
Moses, let me tell you something. The law of Moses, listen to what
he says here. He talks about the spirit of the ruler rising
up against you. When the ruler becomes dissatisfied,
when he has a matter against you, he says, leave not thy place.
In other words, where God has put you. Be content, and he's
talking about a just matter here, he's not talking about just somebody
who wants to torture people or who wants to lord over people.
If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy
place, for yielding pacifies great offenses. In other words,
obey the authority. Now we can see that, Romans chapter
13 tells us that. For those who are in authority
are not enemies to those who are citizens who obey the law,
the laws of the land. But now the rulers of Israel
were to lead the people and guide the people in faith, in worship. And the law of Moses was never
given in the sense that it commanded sinners to keep the Ten Commandments
in order to be saved. It was never given for that.
It was always given to show them their sinfulness and drive them
to God in His grace through the promised Messiah. That was shown
in types and pictures and shadows and the sacrifices, the tabernacle,
the temple, all of these things. And the lesson here, the wisdom,
is that those rulers who guide in justice and in mercy and compassion,
when they have a matter against you, don't argue, don't rebel,
just yield. Take sides with them against
yourself. Now, one way we can see the reality
of the wisdom of that is in, I believe, in the conviction
of sin. when we take sides with God against
ourselves and say, God, you're right, when God shows us what
we are and what we are and what we deserve and what we've earned,
when the Holy Spirit convinces us of sin. For we know that if
God were to judge a right according to our sins and according to
our best works, Where would we be? God has a matter against
us when he rises up against us because of our sin. If God were
to judge us based upon our best efforts to keep the law, we would
be eternally damned. And when the Holy Spirit convicts
us of sin, what do we do? We yield to God's judgments against
us. But you see, yielding to God's
judgments against us not only applies to taking sides with
God in judgment against our sin, knowing what we deserve and what
we've earned, but it also means believing God in his grace. It means believing God in His
way of salvation, justly and rightly, in the person and finished
work of Christ, knowing that it's the blood of Christ that
pacifies great offenses. That's the only way. On the cross,
Christ pacified great offenses. He brought peace. He made peace
with God for his people by the blood of his cross. So that yielding
to civil magistrates and rulers in a just matter against us is
only a reflection of the grace of God in our hearts to yield
to God, to say, God, you're right. As David wrote in Psalm 130 when
he made this statement, I believe it's verse 3, he said, O Lord,
if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who among us would
stand? None of us. What's he teaching us here? He's
teaching us the wisdom of God's grace and God's goodness. Here's
the wisdom of it. None of us, at any time, at our
best or at our worst, deserve the grace of God. Grace cannot
be deserved. Grace cannot be earned. And the
ruler of this universe, when he has a matter against us, we
have but one recourse, and that's to turn and run to Christ and
rest in him for all salvation. Now, there's another way that
we can see this, too. Now, this is totally to believers.
And I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 12, and I want you to
see the wisdom of God here. We know God's in control. We
were talking earlier in the study, Brother Jack, I mean, about how,
you know, we talk about the sovereignty of God, how God's in control
of all things, and it's one thing to say that, but it's another
thing to live it, and really believe it. You know that? Because,
I mean, we're human, and we're sinful human beings, even sinners
saved by the grace of God. And we'll complain, and we'll
murmur, and we know what that is, that's unbelief. We're like
the disciples, Lord, I believe, The fact that I believe is a
miracle of grace. That's a gift from God. I'm telling
you folks, think about that. Sometimes we let that just fly
from one ear and out the other. And it's like that story I heard
about three guys, two of them, three of them were out hunting
a deer, and one of them was a preacher. And they all shot at one deer
at the same time, and they were arguing over who killed the deer.
And they got an objective bystander to come down and look at the
deer, and they said, no, we want you to look at this deer and tell
us who actually shot him. And the guy went down there and
he looked at the deer, and he said, well, I can tell you right now who
shot that deer. And he said, who? The preacher did. He said,
really? How do you know that? He said,
well, the bullet went in one ear and out the other. Well, don't let this go in one
ear and out the other when the preacher shoots with the word
of God. Think about this, if you believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you truly rest in Him, and I
want to show you how this trickles down, not only into my relationship
with God as my Savior, but as my sovereign Lord who controls
my life, who works all things in my life, to the, according
to the counsel of his own will. And I know it's tough now because,
you know, we've got the why me syndrome just like anybody else.
But if we truly rest in Christ for all salvation, that's a miracle. That's not something that you
can, that's not a pedestal upon which you can stand up and crow
loudly about your free will. You understand what I'm saying?
That's not a platform upon which you can stand and boast and say,
well, look at me, I made the right decision, whereas all these
other fools make the wrong decision. No. You're a walking, talking
miracle of grace. That's what a believer is. Created
in Christ Jesus. His workmanship. Now we know
and we see how the importance of what Solomon's saying here
about yielding, when there's a matter against us. And sometimes
we can't always tell when there's a matter against us in our lives.
But look at Hebrews chapter 12. You know what he's talking about
here in Hebrews chapter 12? He's talking about the matter
of chastisement. Now, what is chastisement? Well,
the best way I can tell you about chastisement is this. It's kind
of like When you parents have children whom you love and whom
you're nurturing and trying to teach, and when you have to correct
them, when you have to correct them and guide them in the wisdom
that God has given you to get through life, and certainly that
would apply also to your teaching them the gospel, being a faithful
witness as a father and mother. You see, chastisement in the
legal sense is not punishment for sin, in a legal sense. In
other words, it's not a believer who's messed up, and we mess
up a lot, don't we? We mess up a lot. It's not a
believer paying for his sins. Do you understand what I'm saying
there? Somebody said, well, he's sure paying for his sins. Well
now, he may be reaping what he sowed, but he's not paying for
his sins. Because I'm going to tell you
something, if you're a believer, if you're a child of God, if you're washed in his
blood and clothed in his righteousness and imputed as I spoke on this
morning, your sins are already paid for. And there's really
only one payment for sin. What is that payment? Romans
6, 23 again. The wages of sin is death. So chastisement, and this applies
only to God as a heavenly father, Abba, Abba, Father, and his children
now, all right? And he chastises his children.
He corrects us. And what he's talking about here
in Hebrews chapter 12, he's talking about as we walk through this
world, walking in the grace of God, walking in the wisdom of
God, And I know, now let me say this too, I know that even believers
can act foolishly sometimes, a lot of times. But he says we're
running the race of grace. Now how do you run that race?
Well, you run the race of grace looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. That's Hebrews 12 too. In other
words, you keep your eyes focused on Christ. If you want to be
wise, if you want to walk in wisdom and not be a fool, You
keep your eyes on Christ, and you trust God for all things
that are for his glory and your good. And don't you take your
eyes off of him, for he is everything. He's our all and in all. And
so he says, he uses Christ as an example. Look at verse three.
He says, for consider him that endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself. You know, when sinners, and we'll
call it the sinful human race, all right? You know, we weren't
there actually when Christ was crucified, but we were there
in spirit and in nature, weren't we? Because we would have taken
sides against him too. That's the nature of fallen man.
That's how we were ruined in Adam. fallen in Adam, rebellious. And when sinful man looked upon
the Lord of glory and called him a malefactor, that's a criminal,
and said he deserved the condemnation of the cross which he got. Now
let me say this, he did deserve it because our sins were charged
to him. He became guilty, actually guilty.
But in our eyes, see, we looked upon him as a sinner. We called
him a sinner. That was a contradiction. And
you know why it was a contradiction? Because he's the Son of God in
the flesh. He knew no sin, did no sin. The perfect God-man. The perfect
God-man. What a contradiction. Now when
you look at me and say I'm a sinner, that's not a contradiction. Because
that's what I am. I'm a sinner saved by grace.
But I'm still a sinner. But when we call the Lord of
Glory, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who knew no sin, did
no sin, thought no sin, that's a contradiction. And he endured
that contradiction of sinners against himself. Consider that. Now, we get upset and we get
angry. When people accuse us, even when
they accuse us wrongly, he said, but don't be weary and faint
in your mind. That's what Solomon is saying
over here in Ecclesiastes 10.4, when he says, when there's a
matter against you, when a ruler, verse four, in the spirit of
a ruler, rise up against thee, leave not thy place, in other
words, don't run, and don't give up, and don't hide, For yielding
pacifies great offenses. You're right. I'm wrong. And that's what he's talking
about here. Think about Christ and what he endured. And why
did he endure that? Well, he says that he endured
it, verse 2, for the joy that was set before him. There was
a joy set before him. What was that joy? The glory
of his Father. Remember he said in his high
priestly prayer in John 17, I've glorified thee on the earth.
I've finished the work which you gave me to do. The salvation
of his people, he loved his own until the end, until the finishing
of, that was the joy that was set before him. His own exaltation
as mediator, all of that, okay. So he says, now when you consider
that, think about when you get upset and when a ruler rises
against you, now here's wisdom now, not foolishness. He says,
you consider Christ and what he endured for your salvation. And don't be wearied. lest you
be wearied and faint in your minds. And then look at verse
4, he says, you have not yet resisted unto blood striving
against sin. You haven't been, you haven't
had, how many of you in here tonight have been asked to give
your life for the faith? You haven't. You may have had
people who thought, I wish you were dead. But we haven't been, nobody's
put a knife to my throat and said, now you renounce Christ.
Common thing back then, you remember that's what he was talking about
in Hebrews chapter 11. But now here's wisdom now. Now listen
to this. In submission to the supreme sovereign ruler of this
universe, believer, child of God. He says in verse 5, listen
to this. And you have forgotten the exhortation,
that's an encouragement, which speaketh unto you as unto children. Now that's key. As unto children. Children of God. Now is there
any child who doesn't need correction? No. We all need correction. And he said, and he quotes from
Proverbs chapter 3, quotes from Solomon here. He says, My son,
despise not thou the chastening, the correction of the Lord, nor
faint when thou art rebuked of him when he has a matter against
you. You remember when Nathan came
to David? And he told him, he says, you've done this evil in
the sight of God. And David said, God's right, I'm wrong. God has a matter against you.
And then Nathan spoke those great words of grace and mercy. But
God has forgiven your sin, David. Not without justice. It's based
upon the promise of a Messiah to come. And so he says here,
don't faint when you're rebuked of him. Verse six, for whom the
Lord loveth, He chasteneth, he corrects, and scourgeth. You know what scourging is? That's
a whipping. Sometimes our children need a whipping. I know that's
not politically correct today. And he says every son. Now listen
to that. The Lord chasteneth and scourgeth
50% of those sons. Every son whom
he receiveth. If you're a child of God, you
can expect it. And then he goes on, he says in verse 7, now listen
to this, this is good. He says, if you endure chastening,
this correction, God dealeth with you as with sons, children
of God. You didn't deserve to even be
in his family. You didn't earn your way into
it. You didn't work your way into it. He chose you before
the foundation of the world in Christ to be a child of God. He justified you in Christ. He made it right. He did it with
justice, not without. He adopted you into His family. And one day, He sent His Son
into the world to redeem you and pay the price of that redemption
by His blood. And then He sent His Holy Spirit
into your life to impart or give unto you the spirit of adoption. and bring you to Christ for salvation.
And he's dealing with you right now. However God's dealing with
you right now, child of God now, however God's dealing with me,
he's dealing with you as a child, as a son. Ladies, that's speaking
generically of children of God. He's got daughters too. And so
he says, for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Look
at verse 8. But if you be without chastisement,
without correction, whereof all are partakers." You know, this
is part of our fellowship. That's what he's saying there,
this correction. That's part of our fellowship. We're in the
same family. had the same father, the same
elder brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he says, but if
you be without chastisement, where of all our partakers, then
are you bastards. That's an illegitimate child.
That's a false professor right there. And not sons. So yields,
what he's saying. Yield to the will of God in salvation,
yield to the will of God in providence. Go back to Ecclesiastes 10. Now,
he gives us a listing of Proverbs and proverbial statements. Look
at verse 5, he says in Ecclesiastes 10, he says, there's an evil
which I've seen under the sun as an error which proceedeth
from the ruler. And here he's talking about earthly
rulers. He's talking about those who rule foolishly. He says, folly, foolishness is
set in great dignity and the rich, and what he's talking about
is rich in wisdom here. Rich sit in low place. In other
words, among man under the sun, in man's sinful state, foolishness
is sometimes held high and wisdom is esteemed low. He said that's
an error under the sun. He says in verse 7, look here,
he says, I've seen servants upon horses and princes walking as
servants upon the earth. I've seen the foolish Riding
on a horse there means dignity and power. He said, I've seen
foolish people riding on horses. And those who are wise in the
things of the Lord, the wise in the things of this world,
just walking on Shank's pony. Because they don't have that
dignity and power that the foolish have. He says in verse 8, look
here, he says, He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it. And
what he's talking about there is digging a pit trying to trap
your enemy. Don't dig that pit. I'll tell you what to do. Isaiah
said it, the prophet. He said, remember the pit from which you
were digged. Don't try to set a trap for people. You'll fall
into your own trap. And whoso breaketh a head, a serpent shall
bite him. Men may try to work their way out of it, plotting
mischief in their own foolish wisdom, in their own selfishness.
and they'll get bit by the snake that lives in the hedge they're
trying to cut. Breaking it up. The trap you set might catch
you. That's what he's saying here. He says in verse 9, Whoso
removeth stone shall be hurt therewith, and he that cleaveth
wood shall be endangered thereby. Again, he's talking about man's
foolish efforts to get by on his own, to make his way in this
world in the sense, in the sense now, Nothing wrong with hard
work to try to make a living, take care of your families and
yourself and all that. But he's talking about the wisdom
of men in trying to set things right. We can't set things right. And our efforts to set things
right usually come back on us, don't they? And he's not talking
about some kind of a fatalism here, some kind of a passivism.
You know, we say, well, God's in control, he'll take care of
it. Now, that's true, but we're to use the means that God has
given us in his word. And that's our rule right here.
This is our rule of wisdom right here. Not our own devices, not
our own will and our own works. God's word. I've got a problem. How do I handle it? Go to God's
word. That's what he's saying. He says,
you try to correct it with your own wisdom, you end up just playing
the part of a fool. He says in verse 10, look here,
he says, if the iron be blunt and he do not wet the edge, then
must he put to more strength, but wisdom is profitable to direct. What he's talking about here
is the only way we can sharpen that instrument that we use is
to use the means of God's wisdom, God's word. When we try to chop
that tree that's in our way down with a dull axe, that's what
he's talking about. It's men trying in their own
efforts and their own foolishness to take care of the problem.
And all it does is add more work and we don't get anything done,
don't get anything accomplished. But we go to God's word. That's
the wisdom that he's talking about. And he's saying the duller
the axe, the harder the work. So what do you do? Use wisdom.
Well, where are you going to find wisdom? Go to God's word.
Go to God's word. Look at verse 11. Surely the
serpent will bite without enchantment, and a babbler is no better. Babbling
fools who babble against God, and they're exposed. It's like
the secret bite of a poisonous serpent. If the snake bites before
it's been charmed, what's the point of then sending for the
charmer? In other words, then it's too late. The damage is
done. No use trying to use wisdom after
the fact to correct that matter. Wisdom will teach us to charm
the serpent before, not to provoke it. What does all that mean?
That's just a simple way of saying, let's be guided by the word of
God in every matter, in every matter. Because if we don't,
we'll either get caught by our own trap as the fools that we
are, or we'll be bit by the serpent, the poisonous serpent. Look at
verse 12, he says, the words of a wise man. Now he's talking
about man's efforts there, they're not gonna do any good. Then he
says, man's words won't do any good. Look at verse 12, the words
of a wise man's mouth are gracious. And I like that, literally just
grace. And when I read that, the first
thing that popped into my mind was the gospel. If you wanna
listen to the words of a wise man, you listen to a preacher
of the gospel of God's grace, their grace. The wise man will
not point you to seek salvation by your works and efforts. Now
let me show you that. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. I mentioned
this passage earlier. But listen to this now. And this
is why this wisdom and folly is set in contrast here. Here's
another passage in the New Testament that sets it in contrast. And
he says in verse 18 of 1 Corinthians 1, For the preaching of the cross. Now what is the preaching of
the cross? That's the preaching of the grace of God in the salvation
of sinners by the death of Christ. The blood of Christ. The righteousness
of Christ. That's what that is. It's the
person and work of Christ. And so when a preacher preaches
that message of grace, he points sinners away from themselves
and to Christ for all of salvation. But now that preaching of the
cross is to them that perish, them who are perishing, that's
unbelievers. It's foolishness. It's folly. But unto us which are saved,
or are being saved literally, well that's the power of God.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. That's the only
message that God uses to save sinners. Isn't that right? That's the only message that
God empowers to the salvation of sinners, to bring sinners
to faith in Christ and repentance. and by which the Spirit sheds
abroad within the hearts of sinners the love of Christ. And he goes
on, verse 19, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise, that's men who are wise in their own eyes, human
wisdom. See, he's not going to destroy
his own wisdom, the wisdom of God, that's eternal, that's forever.
Read about it in Proverbs chapter 8 sometime, the embodiment of
wisdom, which is Christ. He says, for it is written, I
will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent, the one who considers that they
know the state of things, they know the score. That's what the
prudent is. And so he says in verse 20, where
is the wise? Where is the scribe? The scribe
back then was an interpreter of the law. Where is the disputer
of this world, the debaters? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? That's what Solomon's talking
about, the wisdom of this world. It's foolishness, we just don't
see it until God reveals it to us. So he says in verse 21, for
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom, that's
human wisdom now, knew not God, but it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. Now notice he doesn't say the
preaching of foolishness. the foolishness of preaching.
Now, let me show you what he's talking about here. All right,
he says, by the foolishness of preaching, that's the preaching
of the cross, the preaching of Christ and him crucified and
risen again to save them that believe. Now, for the Jews require
a sign. Surely it's got to be more than
preaching. Surely a lightning bolt's got to hit you. Or you've
got to have some wild dream that just wakes you up in the middle
of the night and you won't ever forget it and you'll be telling
it until you're dead. Some experience, a sign from heaven. Lord, give
me a sign. Do you know he's already given
a sign? The Lord said that it's the sign of the prophet Jonah.
What is the sign of the prophet Jonah? What is that? The resurrection
of Christ. And you know, that's all the
sign you need and I need right there. He's risen. He finished
the transgression. He made an end of sin. He brought
in everlasting righteousness. How do you know that? The sign's
been given. Christ is risen from the dead. But they want more, all right?
And he says the Greeks seek after wisdom. That's human philosophy.
Verse 23, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling
block and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called,
called by the Spirit, That's the new birth and regeneration,
conversion. Both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Now, why does God do
it that way? I won't read the rest of this chapter, but go
down to verse 29. Here's why God does it that way.
That no flesh should glory in his presence. That's why. He that glories, let him glory
in the Lord. Go back to Ecclesiastes. That's what he's talking about.
The words of a wise man, verse 12. The words of a wise man's
mouth are grace, but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. Remember when Christ told the
Pharisees, your words condemn you. That's what he means there.
He says in verse 13, the beginning of the words of his mouth is
foolishness, when he starts it off it's foolishness, and the
end of his talk is mischievous madness. Spiritual insanity. Verse 14, a fool also is full
of words. He's got a lot to say. So don't
judge it on the multiplication of his words. A man cannot tell
what shall be. A man cannot know the future. That's not in man. Only God knows
the future. He determines the future of what
shall be after him. Who can tell him? In verse 15,
the labor of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he
knoweth not how to go to the city. Now, the city in that time,
a city in that time represents a place of refuge and safety
and defense. And that's what he's saying.
A foolish preacher with foolish words, a false gospel, cannot
guide you to a place of refuge and peace and safety and defense. So you see, the wise man's words
are grace. Look to Christ. Look at verse
16. He says, Woe to thee, O land,
when thy king is a child and thy princes eat in the morning.
What he's talking about there is the rulers of youth, and youth
here doesn't necessarily represent age as much as it does immaturity
and foolishness. That's the picture. And when
a ruler, a king, rules in foolishness and immaturity and selfishness,
which all that represents, he says, woe to thee, woe to that
land. That's why Solomon over in Ecclesiastes
12, 1, he makes this statement. He says, remember now thy creator
in the days of thy youth. There's the only place that we
can find wisdom. Well, I'm going to conclude there
and I'll pick up there next time. But this is very instructive
when we see this great contrast between wisdom and folly as God
reveals it to his people. Ultimately, in and by the person
and work of Christ. Okay. Let's sing hymn number
58 as our closing hymn.