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let patience mark you Daniel Patz, Lead Pastor Grace Church, Sunday Worship Ecclesiastes 7:8-10 March 13th, 2011
INTRODUCTION In the beginning God created the heavens and earth and everything therein. He made plants, animals and mankind. He made everything good and He gave them everything to enjoy. He told them they could not eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is something that they would have to wait upon God for. I believe that God, in time, had every intention in giving them of this tree – but He tested them and told them to wait upon Him. They were impatient and proud. They thought they knew better and they ate of the tree. Instead of trustingly waiting upon God, they foolishly ate the unripe tree that was poisonous to their underdeveloped souls. Wisdom was waiting in faith and obedience on God – they foolishly doubted and disobeyed. This passage in Ecclesiastes calls us to Wisdom. A wisdom that trustingly waits upon God in the midst of a seemly vain and frustrating world. In chapter 7 Solomon is answering his question proposed in 6:12 – so what is good for man in this vain world? The wise man who fears God will trust God and embrace His wisdom – and He gives three better than statements. Let me summarize them in my own words:
SUMMARY Ecclesiastes 7:8-10 ESV (8) Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. (9) Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. (10) Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Solomon is saying here and in the message of this book: The wise man patiently waits upon the God of the harvest. The man of understand is patient and does not demand everything now. He does not take his ball and go home when the teams are not divided up in his favor. Here is the logical order or argument in these three verses that I think are related. Verse 8 – The main point – The wise are patient and not arrogant. Why? Because they know that the outcome is better than the beginning. They know that it 401K plans take time; a crop needs time to grow; muscles need to mature before you can run a marathon. Verse 9 – He warns of a temptation when forced to be patient and wait – ANGER, resentment and simmering frustration. Verse 10 – He gives another warning or sign of foolish impatience and a lack of trust – whining about the past – the “good ole days.”
MAIN POINTS Let’s look at each of these verses and see three important lessons regarding patience and wisdom. Given that the wise patiently wait with hope for the God of the harvest. They wait for God to bring the good times in His good season. These 3 verses teach us this: 1. The wise patiently wait and do not demand immediate results. – Verse 8 a. Patiently wait: This means that they endure hardship and pain. Patience is related to an old term called – long-suffering. They endure hardship and pain. i. Scripture: (Jas 5:8) You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. James 5:10-11 ESV As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. (11) Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. b. Principle: “The end of a thing is better than the beginning” i. Examples in life: 1. Christ birth and death/resurrection 2. Ripening of fruit 3. waiting for harvest 4. Labor pains before delivery 5. Investments 6. Rain before growth 7. Child rearing 8. Surgery (bullet, cancer) 9. Waiting for film to develop 10. Growing pains 11. Learning and instrument 12. Running and exercise 13. Cooking – mess and work before product 2. The wise do not get easily angered or bitter during the painful waiting period. – Verse 9 a. Scripture: (Pro 14:17) A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated. (Pro 16:32) Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. Ephesians 4:26-27 – be anger and sin not b. The wise wait upon God and are not angry but wait upon the Lord c. Example – Joseph in Egypt; David with Saul; Jesus d. They know that the end is better than the beginning because they trust God who is sovereign over the end – the harvest.
3. The wise do not fall prey to the discontent of nostalgia. – Verse 10 a. They don’t say “the olden days were better.”
b. Uncle Rico – Napoleon dynamite illustration
c. This is not wisdom it is blindness and discontent
d. The wise enjoy the present because God is over the present
e. The past is farther away from the end in which God has – and it is much better. The wise are able to do this because they trust God. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 – God has made everything good in its time. There is a season for everything and God appoints those seasons. We trust with hope. Application: Where are you? Where is God calling you to be patient, even when it hurts? Where in the process does God have you? Are you patient in Spirit or proud? It may be the long and grueling task of parenting? Or the cultivating of a marriage that has been untended for so long. Maybe it is sanctification in general – God is working you pretty good. And He calls you to wait patiently. Are you demanding to eat the fruit before it is ripe? Are you pulling up carrots before they have developed? Are you prematurely taping in the 401k of God’s work in your life? Are you sheltering yourself from the rain that is necessary for you to grow? The way of wisdom is patience and it requires an absolute confession that we are incapable of such endurance apart from the grace of God. Then we need to cry out for it and thank Him for the goodness of labor pains, rain, and side aches. The grow pains of our daily life is God’s plan.
CONCLUSION with the Gospel
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