Ecclesiastes 7

CHAPTER 7This is the last experiment that Solomon tries. He has made experiments in everything under the sun to see if any of it would bring satisfaction and enjoyment to him. He tried science, the study of the natural laws of the universe, which made some contribution but did not satisfy him. Then he went into the study of philosophy and psychology. They didn’t satisfy. He went the limit on pleasure and materialism. He tried fatalism, which is such a popular philosophy of life today. He tried egoism, living for self. Then he tried religionno religion can satisfy because only Christ can satisfy the heart. Wealth was another thing which Solomon tried. He was the wealthiest man in the world, but he found that wealth did not bring satisfaction in and of itself. Now we will see him try the last experiment: morality. Today we would call him a “do-gooder.” I would say that this is the place to which the majority of the people in America are moving. (I think the majority would still be classified as do-gooders.) They are going down the middle of the road on the freeway of life. This group can be described as the Babbitts, doing business in the Big City, under a neon sign, living out in suburbia, in a sedate, secluded, exclusive neighborhood, and taking it easy. Their children go to the best schools. They move with the best crowds. They go to the best church, the richest church in the neighborhood, the one with the tallest steeple, the loudest chimes, and the most educated preacher, who knows everything that man can possibly know, except the Bible (of course, if he did know and preach the Bible, he would lose his job). This is the kind of do-good society Solomon now tries.

Ecclesiastes 7:1

SEEKING SATISFACTION IN MORALITY THE GOOD LIFEThat is true, by the way. There is nothing wrong with that statement. A good name is better than precious ointment. It is gratifying to a man to have people say he is a wonderful neighbor and that they have never had an argument with him, that he won’t discuss religion or politics, or won’t get involved in any kind of bad situation. He just smiles and goes right down the middle of the road, never veering to the right or to the left. He is a respectable person, recognized in the community.

He joins different organizations of the town and does business with all kinds of people. Some day at his funeral the preacher will say all kinds of good things about him to try to push him into heaven. Solomon says a good reputation and a long eulogy at your funeral are what we should strive for down here. But will that satisfy the heart?

Ecclesiastes 7:2

All of this life of morality and do-goodism is done in a dignified manner. People go to a club meeting and listen to a man come and talk about pollution. They don’t do anything about it, but they sit and talk about it in a very dignified way. The next week someone talks to them on civic problems. They sit and listen to that, and again nothing will be done. Then they all go to the funeral of one of the men in their fraternal lodge and hear nice things said about him. Nobody is particularly moved; no one will miss him too much. This is just how life is in our hometown. That kind of life cannot satisfy the needs of man. To me, that life would be blah. I am glad I have never lived like that, and I don’t live like that today. It is not really living. I think this is the worst situation of them all. Frankly, I cannot blame a lot of young people who are rebelling against that kind of society.

Ecclesiastes 7:3

People today do anything to avoid sorrow. We have it arranged now so that you can laugh all the way to the cemetery. Reality is so covered over with flowers and soft music and a preacher saying a lot of easy things, nice things, that everyone goes home and says, “My, that was a nice funeral"and forgets the grim reality of death as soon as possible.

Ecclesiastes 7:4

They don’t get more than fifty yards from the cemetery until someone tells a joke and they all have a good laugh. This is living in the presence of death. Somehow it doesn’t occur to these folk, as they see their friends slipping out of this life, that they, too, are moving along to death. Doesn’t it occur to them that it might be well for them to check to see where they are going? Are they saved? Are they lost? Are they rightly related to God? They don’t consider that important. They give to the Community Chest and are active in Red Cross. They are involved citizens in the community. They wouldn’t dare confess Christ and take a public stand for Him.

Ecclesiastes 7:5

Solomon’s point is this: Why not try both groups? Listen to the rebuke of a wise person, then go down and listen to a rock band and enjoy that also. One may be better than the other, but it is easier to go with both groups. This is the picture through the remainder of this chapter.

Ecclesiastes 7:9

Don’t get angry at anything. Be a nice fellow, stay friends with everyone because that will help business. Go the easy way, walk softly. Don’t be an extremist, be willing to compromise. Go with one crowd to be popular with them, and the next night go with a different crowd to be popular with them. You see, the do-gooder in this chapter is the man who lives like hell on Saturday night and then goes to church and passes for a Christian on Sunday. A man who had been stone drunk on Saturday night saw me on Sunday morning and said, “I want you to know that I am a Christian. What do you think I am, a pagan?” And that’s what he was, a pagan.

Ecclesiastes 7:11

In the Book of Proverbs we see that “wisdom” is another name for Christ. Christ has been made unto us wisdom. Oh, how this do-gooder needs to have Christ!

Ecclesiastes 7:12

“Money is a defence"this man wants plenty of money, but he doesn’t want Christ. “Wisdom giveth life to them that have it.” And you can’t buy life with money. Medical science may be able to extend your life for a few years, but it doesn’t give eternal life here and out yonder in eternity. Only wisdom, which is Christ, can do that.

Ecclesiastes 7:21

Don’t be disturbed by reports that somebody who knows you well says you are a crook. If you take the middle of the road, in the long run the community will applaud you. My friend, seeking satisfaction in life by just trying to be a do-gooder is living like a vegetable, not a man! Yet this is the life-style of the majority in modern America. They will go to the burlesque show on Saturday night and to church on Sunday morning! What hypocrisy! We have seen our youth rebelling against this type of living. There are two thousand of them over on the island of Hawaii. I had the privilege of ministering to some of them, and quite a few turned to Christ. They have tried everything else. But why didn’t they find Christ in their homes in which their parents were church members? They saw that there was something radically missing in their homes and in their churches. They have seen the hypocrisy, the emptiness of the life of the moralist, the do-gooder. I believe it is easier to reach a godless atheist than a hypocritical churchgoer. The godless atheist may respond when he hears the gospel for the first time, but the hypocritical churchgoer has heard the gospel again and again and has become hardened to it. That is the real tragedy.