(A series on Ecclesiastes) An Empty Life? But shall it be said that the latter must necessarily be less satisfactory than the former? In the deepest realities of life, in the work and the purposes of God, the complaint is not true. You would say that in his ease the former days were better than these. If so, the former days were not better than these. Oh "if we had been in the days of our forefathers," said those hypocrites in Matthew 23:30, great business would have been done. Sermon by on August 31, 2003. (A series on Ecclesiastes) Fear God and Keep His Commandments. The times we live in are indeed becoming steadily more difficult. The temperature of your soul seems to have fallen, your love to your God and Saviour does not glow as in those memorable hours when first it was kindled “by the spirit of burning.” Once again, it may be so. The Vulgate and Syriac, 'against Him' (cf. They forget how much the flavour of life depends on him who drinks it; and in their flush and hopeful youth they relished it better. But when he goes out into the world, everyone he comes in contact with, knows he is a fool. ! [Acts 7:51] Or if there were any good heretofore more than is now, it may be said of these wise fools, as it was anciently of Demosthenes, that he was excellent at praising the worthy acts of ancestors - not so at imitating of them. It is possible to be growing in moral strength and grace, in everything that constitutes perfection of character and life, when appearances are decidedly to the contrary. Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Sermon by on August 24, 2003. 1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. Sure, we’ve heard these kinds of things before – but from the Bible? But may not the mournful inference be mistaken, and what we regard as a diminished happiness be really a profounder blessedness? 11 … Studying the great wisdom of God ... Ecclesiastes 1:3-11; Ecclesiastes 7:13-18; Ecclesiastes 9:7-10; Philip Ryken Bio. You may have seen the raw recruit, fresh from his country home, setting out to join the war in a distant land. So that if a man regard himself as a candidate for immortality, we can defy him to put his finger on an age of the past, in which, as compared with the present, it would necessarily have been more advantageous for him to live. This is a common opinion, that in all ages prevails among men, that former times were better than present ones; that trade flourished more, and men got more wealth and riches, and lived in greater ease and plenty; and complain that their lot is cast in such hard times, and are ready to lay the blame upon the providence of God, and murmur at it, which they should not do; for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this: this is owing to ignorance of former times; which, if rightly inquired into, or the true knowledge of them could be come at, it would appear that they were no better than the present; and that there were always bad men, and bad things done; frauds, oppressions, and violence, and everything that can be complained of now: or if things are worse than they were, this should be imputed to the badness of men; and the inquirer should look to himself, and his own ways, and see if there is not a cause there, and study to redeem the time, because the days are evil; and not arraign the providence of God, and murmur at that, and quarrel with it; as if the distributions of it were unequal, and justice not done in one age as in another. The religion of the heart, perhaps, flourishes most when there is most to move to zeal for the insulted law of God. If there have been a plain and visible decline in the national prosperity, all who are affected by it are entitled, with modesty, to inquire whence that decline has arisen: and to express to those who are in authority their sentiments respecting it; and to point out what they conceive to be the most judicious and effectual means of remedying the existing evils — — — In reference to the concerns of the soul, to neglect such inquiries would be the height of folly and wickedness. In the midst of such complaints there is not a word to call forth gratitude to God, or even submission to his holy will. The world mourns the past because it does so little with the present. Once we had the pleasing sense of swift and perpetual progress. Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these. But shall it be said that the latter must necessarily be less satisfactory than the former? THE UNWISDOM OF INQUIRING FOE AN EXPLANATION OF A BELIEF WHICH IS PROBABLY UNFOUNDED. Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 Deborah Hannay Sunoo OK, that was different. Surely it is better to be patient in spirit, than to be proud and hasty. Sermons. Ecclesiastes 7:10. 2. Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? “Say not: How comes it that the former times were better than these now? TEXT: Luke 9:62 – “And Jesus ...read more Scripture: Luke 9:62, Psalms 103:1-14, Ecclesiastes 7:10, 1 … When we first realized forgiveness, we felt that there was “no condemnation” if the Spirit of God seemed to hallow our whole nature; our heart was cleansed, and strangely glowed. The Value of Wisdom. 1. Give to many. Ecclesiastes 7:10 NLT - Don’t long for “the good old - Bible Gateway. Read the Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 I want to assure you that the title of this message, "Before It's Too Late," has nothing to do with last-minute Christmas shopping! You may fix on a time when there was apparently less of open wickedness, but this would not necessarily have been a better time for individual piety. Under such circumstances, a person is apt to say what Solomon warns us … With the lapse of years we have grown more dissatisfied with ourselves; and this more acute sense of worldliness leads us to the conclusion that we have lest the rarer purity of other days. There may be a very real depreciation in our life; we may have allowed our raiment to be soiled by the world and the flesh. In those clays there were giants in sin, at well as sinners of the first magnitude, and of the largest size and proportion. And this is an argument of a mind discontented and unthankful for the many mercies which men commonly enjoy even in evil times, and impatient under God’s hand. Such querulous invectives against a standing government are like a stone flung at a marble pillar, which not only makes no impression upon that, but rebounds and hits the flinger in the face. Today's sermon was, well, if there's a perfect birthday sermon, I feel like to day was it, for me anyways. Though, even if we were forced to concede that the spectator of a miracle has necessarily a superiority over those to whom the miracle travels down in the annals of well-attested history, we should be far enough from allowing that there is less evidence now on the side of Christianity than was granted to the men of some preceding age. Ecclesiastes 7:10 Say not thou, What is [the cause] that the former days were better than these? So also in Ecclesiastes 3:14-15, "ye say, it is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we keep his ordinance and walk in filth before the Lord of Hosts. As we grow older we are more prone to look back into the past. "—Ecclesiastes 9:10 If God had willed it we might each one of us have entered heaven at the moment of our conversion. This is all false. Now, is this really so? ", "Do not say"-Solomon is relentless! This verse encourages that. “Let a man examine himself:” and the Lord Jesus counsels the Ephesian Church. Who will venture to deny, that as century has rolled away after century, fresh witness has been given to the Bible by the’ accomplishment of the predictions recorded in its pages? And here again we must narrow the field of inquiry, and confine ourselves to points in which, as Christians, we have an especial interest. "I do not love God as I once did," is another sorrowful confession of the soul. Say not thou — Namely, by way of impatient expostulation and complaint against God, either for permitting such disorders in the world, or for bringing thee into the world in such an evil time and state of things: otherwise a man may say this by way of prudent and pious inquiry, that by searching out the cause, he may, as far as it is in his power, apply remedies to make the times better; What is the cause that the former days were better? There is not a trouble to which humanity is exposed, but societies are formed to prevent or to alleviate its pressure. For it is unwise of you to ask about this. It is also a happiness of nature, that our glad things live in brass, our sad things we write in water, and looking back we see far more joys than sorrows. For this, and not the former, is the cause of most men’s murmurings against God’s providence. But may not this growing sense of imperfection be a sign of the perfecting of our spirit? But lastly, if the following ages were not the best, whence is it that the older men grow the more still they desire to live? The author designates this question as one not proceeding from wisdom: מח, like the Mishnic חכמה מתּוך, and על שׁאל, as at Nehemiah 1:2; 'al - zeh refers to that question, after the ground of the contrast, which is at the same time an exclamation of wonder. The essence of religion is submission to the will of God, and that grave tranquillity of mind which follows upon deeper self-renunciation, the chastened cheerfulness which survives the strain and strife of years, is a real, although not perhaps seeming, gain upon the first sparkling experiences of our devout life. If men may always find out what they have to do in this world, then they have no right to plead ignorance for the neglect of a duty. There were then the same incentives of desire on the one side, the same attractiveness in riches, the same relish in sovereignty, the same temptation in beauty, the same delicacy in meats and taste in wines; and, on the other side, there were the same appetites of covetousness and ambition, the same fuel of lust and intemperance. There is a very common and a very natural feeling with regard to the evidences of Christianity, that they must have been much stronger and much clearer, as presented to those who lived in the times of our Lord and of His apostles, than as handed down to ourselves through a long succession of witnesses. It tells us that we should learn to recognise the things that inhibit life and to live above life’s inhibitions. What pitiful complaints made Bernard, Bradwardine, Everard, Archbishop of Canterbury (who wrote a volume called Obiurgatorium temporis, the rebuke of the time), Petrarch, Mantuan, Savanarola, &c.! Our first experiences of the Christian life are in such direct and striking contradistinction to the earthly life that our sense of progress is most vivid and delightful; but as we climb heaven, get nearer God, traverse the infinite depths of love and righteousness sown with all the stars of light, the sense of progress may well be less definite than when we had just left the world behind. Each day we went from strength to strength, each night knew our "moving tent a day's march nearer home." Num Ecclesias suas dereliquit Dominus? O mores! Ecclesiastes 7:10 "Say not thou, What is [the cause] that the former days were better than these? 17 On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. We fully allow that it may be so. Buchanan, Ecclesiastes: its Meaning and Lessons, p. 250. [It is not true that former times, on a large and extended scale, were better than these. Our first experiences of the Christian life are in such direct and striking contradistinction to the earthly life that our sense of progress is most vivid and delightful; but as we climb heaven, get nearer God, traverse the infinite depths of love and righteousness sown with all the stars of light, the sense of progress may well be less definite than when we had just left the world behind. “when they had left their first love, to remember from whence they had fallen, and to repent, and do their first works [Note: Revelation 2:5. (W. L. Ecclesiastes 7:10 ... in Scripture, they are called the "last days" and the "ends of the world," which are ennobled with his redemption. "I am not so happy as I once was," is a lament from Christian lips with which we are almost distressingly familiar. Our more dispassionate affection may be equally genuine and positively stronger. 10 Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" "—Ecclesiastes 9:10 If God had … But is it not a richer, though a different kind of beauty, when in autumn it is loaded with delicious fruit? It is not lost, but well laid out. 1. Therefore it was that Solomon hated all his labour that he had wrought under the sun, for all was vanity and vexation of spirit. Ecclesiastes 7:8-10 Git-R-Done is a sermon about the ways in which a church can "git-r-done" to grow the church in a way that reaches the community. But it is not so now. Instead of complaining of the times, let us all endeavour to make them better—, [Much is in our power, for the improvement of the worst of times. -, for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this. By feigning all prosperity and happiness to have belonged to a past age, they remove their fancies from the range of contradiction. A new heaven and a new earth. Through unfaithfulness we may have lost the joy and power of the days when first we knew the Lord. Each age has its own special nobleness, its own special use; but every age has been better than the age which went before it; for the Spirit of God is leading the ages on toward that whereof it is written, ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things which God hath prepared for those that love Him.’. If you are like me, you have seen to … They forget how much the flavour of life depends on him who drinks it; and in their flush and hopeful youth they relished it better. There are no people loaded with unqualified goods nor are there any oppressed with unmitigated evil. For you do not inquire wisely concerning this. The testimony of witnesses may be every jot as conclusive as the testimony of your own senses. For this is an argument of a mind unthankful for the many mercies, which men enjoy even in evil times. Shall it be said that those who have not visited Constantinople cannot be as certain that there is such a city as others who have? Ecclesiastes 7:10. You may fix on a time when there was apparently less of open wickedness, but this would not necessarily have been a better time for individual piety. Dissatisfaction with the present. In the first days of his profession, when he has given his heart to Jesus for the first time, all his graces seem so fresh and lovely All his being is filled with joy unspeakable. Now, we are quite aware that this general statement does not exactly meet the several points which will suggest themselves to an inquiring mind; but we propose to examine next certain of the reasons which might be likely to lead men to a different conclusion from that which seems stated in our text. II. Previous Sermons Link Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12 – Who wants to be a millionaire? To every man this is a chequered scene. And therefore for us it is not only an act of prudence, but a duty—a duty of faith in God, a duty of loyalty to Jesus Christ our Lord—not to ask why the former times were better than these. if all ranks of the community would unite, as they might well do, to lighten the burthens of each other, and to contribute, according to their respective abilities, to the happiness of the community, we should have little occasion to complain of present times, and none at all to institute invidious comparisons with former times. "I do not make the rapid progress I once did," is another familiar regret. It is easy to let ourselves become “down.” But we need to be careful because discouragement is a child of impatience. It is possible to be growing in moral strength and grace, in everything that constitutes perfection of character and life, when appearances are decidedly to the contrary. (J. Carmichael, D. D.). 3. 2. Morning Sermons; Evening Sermons… (10) Concerning.—This preposition is used after “enquire” only in later Hebrew (Nehemiah 1:2). "I am not so holy as I once was," is another note of self-depreciation with which we are unhappily familiar, and with which, perhaps, we are sometimes disposed to sympathize. Nothing but murmuring is uttered, nothing but discontent is diffused. IN the writings of Solomon we find many maxims, which, if uttered by an uninspired man, would be controverted; but to which, as suggested by inspiration from God, we submit without gainsaying. Then “all things were apparelled in celestial light, the glory and the freshness of a dream.” Then we turn to consider tile present phases of our experience, and conclude sadly that we are not so happy now as then--all the gold has changed to grey. When we first realized forgiveness, we felt that there was "no condemnation" if the Spirit of God seemed to hallow our whole nature; our heart was cleansed, and strangely glowed. The keen edge of his sword has never yet been blunted. Let it be, that the evidence of miracle is not so clear and powerful as it was; what is to be said of the evidence of prophecy? Here, therefore, wisdom appears as the soul of patience. The stream of evidence has been like that beheld in mystic vision by Ezekiel, when waters issued out from the eastern gate of the temple. Yet, behold, it was at that time, and under those circumstances, that the reproof was given: “Say not thou, What is the cause that the former times were better than these?” Hence, then, we see what is the inquiry which Solomon discourages: it is that which has no just foundation, and which is the offspring of spleen and discontent.]. His graces do not now seem so fresh and beautiful as they did forty or fifty years ago. Get your church set-up with online giving, sermon streaming, and more in under 24 hours. Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? His laurels are yet unsullied. That we may derive from it the full benefit which it is calculated to impart, let us consider, I. A key phrase is “under the sun” (occurs 29 times in 27 verses), which suggests “from an earthly point of view” -- The book illustrates the vanity of life when looked at solely from an earthly perspective His last days are his best days. That admitting this supposition as true, that the former ages are really the best, and to be preferred: yet still this querulous reflection upon the evil of the present times, stands obnoxious to the same charge of folly: and, if it be condemned also upon this supposition, I see not where it can take sanctuary. Old-timers like this writer can always find a … First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Missouri. But in all that is true, and noble, and unselfish, he is a braver and a better man. ‘Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? Ecclesiastes 7:10. Vadat mundus quo vult: nam vult vadere quo vult, saith Luther bluntly, - Let the world go which way it will: for it will go which way it will. It is in times of pain, loss, adversity, disappointment, that men are most given to extol the past, and to forget its disadvantages as well as the privileges and immunities of the present. It is notorious, that they who are most clamorous about the comparative excellence of former times, pass over all our present mercies as unworthy of notice. The wise may feel its impressions, but he immediately makes resistance. Everything to come is meaningless. (3) These censorious complaints of the evil of the times are irrational, because the just cause of them is resolvable into ourselves. Once more we admit that this may be the case. Years pass on. Dreamers have dreamed of its charms. Never was there such a combination of all ranks and orders of men to diffuse religion and happiness over the face of the earth. Amongst those who were endued with piety in the Apostolic age, you find none who were “murmurers and complainers.” Their habit of mind is better expressed by those words of the Apostle, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. But is it not another and a higher kind of beauty when, at the close of day, the sun is slowly sinking in the west, like a king dying on a couch of gold, and the fading hues of even light up the whole heavens with a glory that seems to have come down from the New Jerusalem! Has that passion simply changed from red to white? 1. Navigating life under the sun requires mature attention to values. I. Is it thus with our love to God? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this. for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this. Ecclesiastes 7 Sermon June 23-24, 2007 Big Idea: Wisdom, though imperfect, if based on a fear of God, preserves life and gives it meaning. But may not the mournful inference be mistaken, and what we regard as a diminished happiness be really a profounder blessedness? Always there is the great fact of childhood in our lives, the careless time, the joyous time, when the mere play of the faculties was a spring of enjoyment. The very putting of the question argues that heavenly “wisdom” (Margin) is not as much as it ought made the chief good with thee. Our present troubles we feel keenly, and thus are led to unwisely repine. Ecclesiastes 12:1-14. The common cry ever was, O terapora! Never were the wants and necessities of human nature provided for in such a variety of forms. Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? e.g., 2 Chronicles 9:29) - thus by contrast to much better than the present tones, that in astonishment he asks: “What is it = how comes it that?” etc. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger … Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" Most of the old poets have written and sung of a golden age. References: Ecclesiastes 7:11-29.—R. That it plays a very important part there can be no question; but looking at it as the one explanation, it is a fact that the past looms brighter in man's memory than either the present or the future: there are always rays of glory trailing down the vistas of time. Isaac Newton has been in the news recently, and if you don’t remember who he was, here are some… Let it be, that the evidence of miracle is not so clear and powerful as it was; what is to be said of the evidence of prophecy? The Church at Ephesus had "left" its "first love," and we may not cherish the same fervid affection for God which once filled and purified our heart. Take it in its infancy, and with the properties of infancy, it was weak and naked, vexed with poverty, torn with persecution, and infested with heresy. Do not say, "Why is it that the former days were better than these?" Don’t be a fool! Preaching Today provides pastors and preachers sermon prep help with sermon illustrations, sermons, sermon ideas, and preaching articles. The Church at Ephesus had “left” its “first love,” and we may not cherish the same fervid affection for God which once filled and purified our heart. When they stand up as the champions of right, the defenders of the oppressed, then are they entering on their true golden age, the perfection of their national existence. How glowing was that first level Your whole soul went out after the Beloved! There are politicians in whose opinion the country was formerly more happy and prosperous than now; farmers who fancy that crops were larger, and merchants who believe that trade was more profitable, in former days; students who prefer ancient literature to modern; Christian men who place the age of faith and piety in some bygone period of history. Why should such superior power be supposed to reside in the seeing a miracle? ii., p. 240. “There is not evil in the city, any more than good, but God is the doer of it [Note: Amos 3:6. (1) Because such complaints have no efficacy to alter or remove the cause of them: thoughts and words alter not the state of things. Years of conflict, ages of revolution, centuries of daring and doing nobly, freedom’s battle bequeathed by bleeding sire to son, through long decades of stern resistance to all oppression and tyranny. And if wisdom ought to be respected, we know that it is the offspring of experience, and experience the child of age and continuance. 4. we may, with the utmost propriety, institute an inquiry into the reasons of any change which may have taken place. Live in are indeed becoming steadily more difficult is regulated ecclesiastes 7:10 sermon the desire for progress power be supposed reside. A mistake but may not the supreme purpose of our ill deserts, no one realizes his.. 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