Aug. 16, 2023

“LIFE ACCORDING TO THIS WORLD”

“LIVING A LIFE OF HUMILITY”

ECCLESIASTES 8:1-17

Humility and submission go hand in hand, and we are to humble ourselves to God and to others:

1 Peter 5:6 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”

James 4:7,10 “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 10.“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

Ephesians 5:21 “Submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

Life is a process of learning humility.

Solomon reminds us of things that make us humble in chapter eight:

1.    Humility Is Knowing What You Don’t Know- Ecclesiastes 8:1

Ecclesiastes 8:1 “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.”

Throughout the Bible we are warned against being wise in our own eyes:

Proverbs 3:7 “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.”

1 Corinthians 8:2 “And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.”

Anyone who thinks they know it all, is already suffering from pride.

2.   Humility Is Living With What You Don’t Like- Ecclesiastes 8:2-7

*Submitting to the King-

Ecclesiastes 8:2 “I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God.”

We have to obey not because we like the king but because God says so. 

Romans 13:1-2 “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”

Ecclesiastes 8:3-7 “Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.” 4Where the word of a king is, there is power;
And who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment, 6Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly. 7For he does not know what will happen;
So who can tell him when it will occur?”

Humility is knowing what you don’t know and living with what you don’t like.

3.   Humility Is Accepting What You Can’t Change- Ecclesiastes 8:8-13

Solomon says there are four things you will never be able to control:

*Death-

Ecclesiastes 8:8 “No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.”

When it comes to death, you can run but you cannot hide. 

Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”

Death is a reality of life that we have no control over, wisdom embraces that fact.

*Distress-

Ecclesiastes 8:9 “All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.”

Everyone will face distress in this life, but as believers we don’t have to fear.

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

*Deception-

Ecclesiastes 8:10-11 “Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. 11Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”

*Defiance- 

Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 “Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. 13But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.”

Wisdom will leave ultimate judgment to God.

4.   Humility Is Enjoying What You Can’t Explain- Ecclesiastes 8:14-15

Solomon reminds us that our privilege is to “eat, drink, and be merry” in this life.

Ecclesiastes 8:14-15 “There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.”

Focus on what you can control, the choice to enjoy the life Almighty God has given you as His gift.

We need to count each day as precious and live it to the fullest, thanking God all the while for the opportunity.

5.   Humility Is Discovering What You Can’t Discover- Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 

Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 “When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, 17then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.”

Wisdom and humility acknowledge the gap that exists between Him and us and doesn’t try to close it beyond what He allows.

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Philippians 2:7-8 “But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”