123: Neville Clark - Exhortation: What Is Better Is Good

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Welcome to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. Thank you so much for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help each one of us get the Bible in our daily news feed. And we post at the start of each week for you to listen with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to hear.

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   And now let's hear more about this week's talk. Happy New Year. And thank you for joining us for another talk. This week, we're listening to an exhortation that was given by Brother Neville Clark last year in April at the Hyde Park Ecclesia when he was visiting from the Tea Tree Gully Ecclesia. And Brother Neville is taking a look at Ecclesiastes 7.

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   So if you want to read through that before listening to this class, now's the opportunity to pause and flip through that chapter before you listen to the exhortation. But specifically, he's looking at what is better is good and the concept of better being good in Scripture. And he's spending a lot of time in the first 12 verses, almost doing a verse-by-verse exposition of Ecclesiastes, looking at a lot of different examples of things and how those relate to different stories throughout Scriptures.

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   They may have been even echoes that Solomon was thinking of when he was writing Ecclesiastes. And he does a really good job of tying all this really great Bible exposition, a lot of really interesting nuggets and comments about things based on the verses in Ecclesiastes, and then pivots it to Christ at the end in a way that is really powerful.

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   And if you didn't know it was an exhortation, which sort of gives away the ending, you know the exhortation is going to end by focusing on Christ. The first chunk of the exhortation would just be like a good Bible class. But all of the little points that Brother Neville is bringing up through his exhortation at the beginning, by the time you get to the end, really ties into the memorial of Christ in a way that is really powerful.

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   This exhortation and this talk was a recommendation that was given to us by one of our listeners a while back. So we were excited to get to this one and be able to share it to all of you. I really enjoyed it and I hope all of you do as well. So as always, please continue to send in your recommendations.

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   They're always very much appreciated. We definitely live on those and especially now there's so many different places that we can find those. Having more of them at our fingertips and coming from you is going to be way better than anything any of us can find searching for it ourselves. So thank you as always for listening and we hope this is beneficial.

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   And with that, we will turn it over to Brother Neville Clark for his exhortation on Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 titled, What is Better is Good. Well, thank you, Brother Ralph. Good morning, my dearly loved brethren and sisters and our Lord Jesus Christ. As our chairman indicated, we're going to speak this morning on Ecclesiastes Chapter 7.

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   Again, it's of course because the second portion of our daily readings at present is traversing the book of Ecclesiastes. And even though today's reading is Chapter 5, I thought Chapter 7, in fact, in many ways makes a better subject for exhortation. You may be aware that the book of Ecclesiastes is the summary of the findings of Solomon as he conducted his great royal experiment trying to discover in life what there was that could give any lasting value.

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    That is, what could he do in life that could be described as giving any lasting value? Brother Perse Mansfield calls it the quest for the greatest good. And really, that's true. A great royal experiment looking for the greatest thing that life can offer. Very briefly, I believe the book of Ecclesiastes falls into three main sections, each describing the process that Solomon took on this royal experiment.

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    So, for example, Chapters 1 and 2, the quest pursued by personal experience, the things that Solomon did. Chapters 3 to 6, the quest pursued by general observation. All the things Solomon saw. And then Chapters 7 to 12, the last half of the book, the quest pursued by mature reflection. And it's in this section where Solomon pulls together all his observations, all his doings, and starts to distill pearls of wisdom, some of which we're going to consider this morning.

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    What that means, however, is that when we embark on Chapter 7, we're embarking on the beginning of a major subsection of the book of Ecclesiastes. A section in which Solomon puts together all his experiences of life that he has learned from the previous chapters.

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    This morning, I intend to spend a bit of time just on the first 12 verses of Chapter 7, and then jump to the end. I think there's too much in the chapter to consider, all together in one exhortation. But I think you'll find it very illuminating, nevertheless, just in the verses we consider.

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    This is a section in which Solomon describes things that are better. Not just things that are good, but things that are better. Now, he commences the section, or leads into the section, in the last verse of Chapter 6. He says there, Chapter 6, Verse 12, And the word good, in Chapter 6, Verse 12, is the Hebrew word tob, T-O-B.

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    And it just means good in the widest possible sense. Anything that's pleasant, or pleasurable, or favourable, or precious. But in this section, in Chapter 7, it's translated by the word better. And that's the significance. And so if I was to reread Verse 12 of Chapter 6, Who knoweth what is better for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow?

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    That's really what Chapter 7 now commences to discuss. You'll see the word better. It appears in Verse 1. It appears in Verse 2. Verse 3. Verse 5. Verse 8. Twice. Verse 10. Verse 11. Verse 11 is the word good, as your margin says is the word better. And so what he's going to basically say, all the way through Chapter 7, is he's going to compare one thing in life over against another.

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    Better is a good name than good ointment. Better is the house of mourning than the house of feasting. Better is sorrow than laughter, and so forth. And he's going to contrast these two things. To at least pull out things in life that are more useful. In fact, the whole section, if we were to have a Hebrew Bible in front of us, the whole section in Chapter 7 reads like poetry.

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    Whenever one of these comparisons are made, the verse begins with the word better. So in the Hebrew Bible, these verses begin. Verse 1. Better is a good name than precious ointment. Verse 2. Better is the house of mourning than feasting. Verse 3. Better is sorrow than laughter. So every verse begins with the capital word, as it were, the word better.

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    And not only that, but a number of times in the Hebrew version, you'd find these verses rhyme. So for example, in verse 1, it says a good name is better than precious ointment. The Hebrew word for name is the word shem. And the Hebrew word for ointment is the word shemen. Amen. So there's a rhyming, if you like, in the language of the Hebrew, which we don't capture in the language of the English.

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    What Solomon does in this section, as we say, is to quantify all the learnings that he's had in Ecclesiastes up until this point. For example, in Chapter 5 and 6, he considered wealth, that prosperity and riches aren't always good. This is his section of general observation. He looks around. He hasn't found satisfaction himself.

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    And so he looks around at other people in life to see whether they've found something that he hasn't. And he observes rich people in Chapters 5 and 6. And wealth, he says, isn't always good. I mean, it might be a blessing of God, but you're never satisfied. The more you have, the more you want.

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    Wealth will never ultimately satisfy you. When you come to Chapter 7, Solomon now points out that, in contrast, adversity is not always bad. We may consider adversity to be a chastening of God, but it develops character in a way that it really couldn't be developed any other way. You see, this is the commencement of his section on mature reflection.

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    After observing and doing many, many things in life, he starts to pull it all together. Now, I've got a fair bit to say on these verses, and I'm going to refer to a bit of Scripture, but in the order of time, I can't turn up all the quotes I'm going to mention. So you might need your pencils ready.

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    I'm going to quote many verses, but I can't, of course, turn them. Well, here's Solomon's first observation. Chapter 7, verse 1. A good name is better than precious ointment, and a day of death than the day of one's birth. The word good is the word better. So really, the verse would be, a better name is better than precious ointment.

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    That's how it begins. Now, what is this precious ointment? Well, generally, it was olive oil, which was perfumed by being boiled together with other ingredients. In Bible times, this precious ointment was used for anointing, prophets, priests, and kings to office. And so, for example, Psalm 133, verse 2, you'll be familiar with. We read of the precious ointment that runs down upon the head, down Aaron's beard.

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    Now, generally, after these ointments had been stored for some time, they became more and more valuable. They were stored, for example, in alabaster jars. And over time, they matured and became even more fragrant. Well, he says, a good name is better than that. So a good name is better than good ointment, as it were.

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    And a good name here obviously means a good reputation. So by implication, therefore, a good reputation has got a fragrance far more pervasive than the best perfume. Perfume. That's what Solomon says. Song of Solomon, chapter 1, verse 3. The bride says to the groom, Thy name is as ointment poured forth. Therefore do the virgins love thee.

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    And there is, of course, in Scripture a classic illustration of this verse. In Matthew 26, verses 6 to 13, we read the story in the house of Bethany, where Mary cracked open an alabaster box of precious ointment and poured it upon the Lord's feet as he sat at the table. And there was a dispute amongst the disciples about, really, what should have become of that ointment, because it was worth a lot of money, maybe $20,000 or $30,000 in today's money.

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    And it says in Matthew 26, verse 13, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever the gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman have done, be told for a memorial of her. And for the next 2,000 years, Mary's example has inspired believers throughout the world to go that extra mile in the service of the truth because of what she did.

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    And she's famous for it. She got a name, as it were, more valuable than all the wealth of ointment that she poured out. But here's the interesting thing. That's the story of Matthew 26. The parallel record, of course, is John chapter 12. And when you go to John's record in John chapter 12 of that event, you find that it was Judas who began that dispute amongst the disciples.

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    Judas! He said that that ointment should have been sold and the money given to the poor. Not that he cared for the poor, but that he kept the bag and he was a thief. And he took some of that which was put therein. He despised the use of that ointment. And in John 17 and verse 12, he got himself a name.

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    He's called, in John 17 verse 12, the son of perdition. Immortalized, just like Mary, immortalized in Scripture for the next 2,000 years. But with a very different name to what she had. It's a remarkable scriptural illustration of Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse 1. Well, Simon goes on as the verse continues. A good name is better than precious ointment.

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    The day of death than the day of one's birth. So better is a good name than good ointment. Better is the day of death than the day of birth. And you might wonder at that statement and say, well, really? How can death be more beneficial than birth? Especially when you read comments like Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 4, a living dog is better, same word, than a dead lion.

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    But you've got to read the second statement in the context of the first. So read the second half of verse 1 and the context of the first half of verse 1. You see, for a believer, when we die, it's the closure of a lifetime of character development. Isn't it? And in that context, the name is important.

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    So listen to this. Revelation 3 verse 5. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life. So there's your answer. The dead in the Lord have a name, which is better than precious ointment. Better than every accumulation of this life.

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    And that name will exist long after the fragrance of that ointment or the reputation of the person is gone. So when we talk about our reputation, having a good name or a good reputation, it's really our reputation before God that's the critical thing. But of course, if we're going to be effective in the truth, we can't completely ignore what man thinks about us also.

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    I mean, just turn one page to Ecclesiastes 10 verse 1. Look at this. Dead flies caused the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour. So doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. And which of us hasn't fallen to that trap? An ill-advised action can discredit years and years of consistency.

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    And Solomon knew that better than any of us. Because he was the wisest man after the Lord that ever lived. And yet had a little folly, perhaps more than a little folly in his life, which discredited much of what he ever did. So a good name indeed. Better than precious ointment. And the quality of that name when we die is all important.

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    Well, verse 2. Better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting. For that is the end of all men. And the living will lay it to his heart. And this is the point about adversity not always being bad. You've got a picture here, you see, in verse 2 of two houses.

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    Think of it. Two houses in the same street. One is celebrating a funeral. And the other is celebrating a wedding. And you see, in Old Testament times, weddings and funerals both lasted, the festivities of them both lasted seven days. So Judges 14, verse 12. Samson marries the woman of Timnath. The festivities were conducted for seven days, it says.

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    In Genesis 50 and verse 10, Joseph mourned after the death of Jacob seven days. So whether it be a wedding or a funeral, the tradition was seven days. But naturally speaking, you'd look at this and say, well, I'd much rather go to a wedding than to a funeral. Yes, but in the nature of our probation, the house of mourning is much more beneficial than the house of feasting.

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    Psalm 90, verse 12, Moses says, Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. You see, the sobriety of the funeral is much more calculated to impress upon us the frailty of life than the merrymaking of the wedding. And the living, verse 2 says, will lay it to his heart.

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    It's ironic, really. Death makes you think about life. Why? Well, because every funeral you were to go to is really an anticipation of your own. Because we all die, but we don't all get married, you see. And so funerals, in fact, mean something more to us than weddings ever could. And in the same way, verse 3, sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better.

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    Not that laughter is bad. Chapter 3, verse 4 of Ecclesiastes. There's a time to weep. There's a time to laugh. So laughter has its place. But this is the contrast between sobriety of mind, in verse 3, and vacant hilarity. And Solomon is concerned to overturn the general bias of human nature that would seek to avoid sorrow at almost any cost.

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    I mean, think about what the world's like that we live in. This is the sentiment of Hollywood, in verse 3. This is the escapism of our age. Go travelling. Buy something. Satisfy yourself. Distract yourself. Do anything that avoids confronting the unpleasant issues of life. And so he goes on in verse 4, and he says, The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

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    Now, this is the third time already, in four verses, that he's contrasted happiness and sadness. I mean, you look at verse 2. Mourning versus feasting. Mourning is better than feasting, he says. Verse 3. Verse 3. Sorrow is better than laughter. Verse 4. Mourning is better than mirth. Now, why is he saying this?

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    Because Proverbs 1, verse 22 says, Fools hate knowledge. They're blind to spiritual issues, and they're content to be so. And he's talking about the heart of the wise here in verse 4. Whereas, in contrast to that, Paul says to the Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians 7, verses 9 and 10, I rejoice that you were made sorry.

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    Sorry, I rejoice. Not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance. For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, but the sorrow of the world worketh death. And that's the point. It's when things don't go well for us. When perhaps circumstances go against us. When we are chastened by God. When we're chastened by man.

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    We start to think about our character. We start to think about the kind of people we really are. Could I have done that better? Is that what Christ would have done? And you see, godly sorrow repents. Worldly sorrow. Well, it might have remorse. It might have regret. But it doesn't result in a change of heart.

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    It might result in anger. And so verse 5. It's better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. The word rebuke here means a serious or a grave warning. And the Bible speaks volumes on this subject. Proverbs 29, verse 1. He that being often reproved and hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy.

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    Proverbs 27, verse 6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Well, none of us, be honest, none of us likes to be censured. But sometimes it's essential. He talks about the wounds of a friend. This is not just a tap on the shoulder by someone you trust.

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    This is when your friend comes to you and says, brother, you're wrong. You really are wrong. But there's another kind of friend, isn't there? The friend that says, don't tell on me and I won't tell on you. The friend that says, God wouldn't expect this or that. That's not a friend. That's a fool.

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    That's an enemy. God would expect this or that. Real friends make an effort to correct error. Proverbs 22, verse 17. Iron sharpeneth iron. So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. And you can't sharpen anything without friction. But that's what friends are for. Here's the words of David. Psalm 141, verse 5.

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    Let the righteous smite me. It shall be a kindness. Let him reprove me. It shall be an excellent oil. My head shall not refuse it, he says. And you know, there's a Bible story about that too. The greatest wound of a friend that ever came in David's life. What was it? 2 Samuel chapter 12.

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    Thou art the man. Thou art the man, Nathan said. Nathan to David, of course, after the incident of Bathsheba. Changed him for life. But it was the words of a friend. And they deeply wounded him. But he couldn't resist it, could he? Because those words were true. But what if the song of fools?

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    Verse 6. As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool. This also is vanity, Solomon says. And there's more poetry here, actually, in this verse. The word pot in the Hebrew rhymes with the word thorns. The word pot is the Hebrew word ser. The word thorns is the Hebrew word serim.

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    So Moffat, in his more paraphrastic translations, tried to capture the poetry of verse 6. He says it like this. The laughter of the fool is like nettles crackling under the kettles. Not bad. In eastern countries, you see, people used to use charcoal to cook with. It would give a lot of heat and it would burn for a very, very long time.

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    But he says in verse 6 that relying on the advice of a fool is like trying to boil the pot with dry thorns. I mean, you light them. They blaze up like tinder. They'd explode. There'd be a shower of sparks going everywhere. And the whole thing would go out before the heat even touched the pot.

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    No substance, just meaningless irritation. He says that's what the laughter of fools is like. So sorrow is better than laughter, verse 3. Mourning is better than mirth, verse 4. A rebuke of a friend is better than the song of fools, verse 5. These are all sentiments of adversity, you might say. But when he comes to verse 7, his point is, but adversity does have its limits.

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    There are some trials that can come upon us which can reverse a life of development. Look at verse 7. Surely, he says, oppression maketh a wise man mad, and a gift destroyeth the heart. The New International Version. Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bride corrupts the heart. The point is that continual oppression will wear down even a wise man, even a faithful man.

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    When he sees the wicked get away with everything, he's tempted often to follow them, forgetting that in his case God is watching him. You'll notice, perhaps you'll notice as we've gone through, the word heart keeps appearing. It appears at the end of verse 2, the countenance of the heart is made better in verse 3.

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    The heart of fools is in the house of mirth, verse 4. Surely, verse 7, oppression maketh a wise man mad, and a gift destroyeth the heart, he says. This is all about the development of the heart. And more often than not, oppression and adversity develop the heart in a way that laughter and frivolity don't.

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    Even though those things may have their place. But too much oppression can destroy the heart in verse 7. You see, that's the point. And particularly, as verse 7 says, taking bribes. Taking bribes, of course, blinds you to the godly interpretation of circumstances. And it reverses the development of the heart. Because it removes your allegiance from God to the briber.

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    We're comforted, of course, by the words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians again. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13. God will not tempt us beyond which we're able to bear, but will, with the temptation, also make a way of escape. That we may be able to bear it. And often, the only way to bear some of these trials is to escape.

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    Leave the situation. Well, when you come to verse 8, in fact, verses 8 to 10, we come now to proverbs which concern patience as opposed to rashness. And verse 8 says, Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. And the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

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    The thing, he says, better is the end of a thing. The word thing is the word word. Better is the end of a word than the beginning. And the point he's making here is to hear the whole issue through to the end before drawing a conclusion. You'll all know how easy it is to jump to conclusions.

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    Proverbs 18, verse 17. He that is first in his own cause seemeth just, but his neighbor cometh and searcheth him. Here's the New International Version again of Proverbs 18, verse 17. The first to present his cause seemeth right till another comes forward and questions him. And it's true, isn't it? It's true of everything in life.

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    The first Bible comment you read sounds very plausible until someone else puts an alternative view. And the excitation here is do your homework. Don't let impatience rule your decisions. It might take more time, but you get a better answer. And that's true especially if the issue involves people. And especially if it involves people in transgression.

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    Verse 9. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. Proverbs 14, verse 29. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. Why? Why? Why otherwise slow to wrath? Simply because James 1, verse 20 says that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

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    Therefore, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. If we're hasty to be angry, it's more often than not sin talking, not God talking. But think about that. Because there's another great Bible story concerning that or enshrining that proverb. David and Abigail in the context of Nabal. You remember the story.

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    David and his men were fugitives from Saul and they were guarding Nabal's flock from loss. And they were very successful and Nabal had a bumper harvest of the flock that year. But when he asked for something, and the request was fair. He asked for Nabal to share his bounty and was met with rebuke.

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    Whoa. He told his men immediately to gird upon their swords. They were intending to completely wipe the family of Nabal off the face of this earth. A very, very hasty decision. In the moment of anger. But as he journeyed to Nabal's house, he was met on the way by an extremely faithful woman.

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    And in 1 Samuel 25 and verse 31, Abigail says to David, Don't do it. I'm married to a fool. You can kill him. He can't stop you. But it will come to pass that God will do good to you if you don't do it. He'll make you king over Israel, David. But if you do this, grief will come to you in your life because you've shed blood causes.

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    You've avenged yourself. And Nabal will look like a martyr if you go and kill him with men that he can't resist. He's powerless before you. This will be terrible. And David turns to her, Blessed is thy advice. And blessed be there. You know, he married that woman. But she encapsulated the very spirit of these words, didn't she?

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    But there's another form of impatience as well. And that's spoken of in verse 10. Say not there. What is the cause that the former days are better than these? For they must not inquire wisely concerning this. This is the problem of the good old days. You know the problem of the good old days?

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    They're often based on bad old memories. There's nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia until it hinders the present work. Until it gets in the way of progress today. Every age has its difficulties. Every age has its opportunities. And you can't face the difficulties of this age by pining for an age gone by.

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    You can't bring time back. And we have another classic illustration of this in Scripture. Ezra chapter 3 verse 12. In Ezra chapter 3 or Ezra chapter 2, 50,000 people returned from Babylon in captivity, from Babylon back to Jerusalem. They returned. They built the altar. They laid the foundation of the temple. And they had a great celebration.

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    They had only laid the foundation. And they had a great celebration after the custom of Solomon. Many of the old men, it says, at the end of Ezra chapter 3, many of the old men cried because the house they were building now, the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, was not as good as Solomon's temple.

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    It wasn't as good as the temple that had been destroyed. And they poured cold water upon that building project, so much so that it divided the Ecclesia, the Samaritan opposition of Ezra chapter 4, won the day and the entire building work stopped for 15 years. You see, it was a day of small things.

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    And Haggai the prophet, the old man stood up at that very time. And Haggai chapter 2 verse 3, how many of you here saw this house in its former glory? Speaking of Solomon's temple. And how do you see it now? Isn't it as of nothing in your eyes, he says? Yet be strong, ye people of the land, for I am with you, saith Yahweh.

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    And that was the issue. That was the simple issue. Forget about what it was like yesterday. Is Yahweh with us or not today? Well, Solomon concludes this little section in verses 11 and 12 with a final observation. Wisdom is good, better, margin. Wisdom is better, as it is, than an inheritance. And by it there is profit to them that see the sun.

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    For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense. But the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom giveth life to them that have it. And money can't do that. The inheritance can't do that. So wisdom is better than an inheritance. Proverbs 3 verse 14. The merchandise of it is better than silver and fine gold.

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    Proverbs 3 verse 17. She's a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her. So wisdom is certainly better than money. Do you want to see the real context of this? Look at this. Come a couple of pages back to Ecclesiastes 2 and verse 26. Here's an application of Ecclesiastes 7 verses 11 and 12.

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    Ecclesiastes 2 verse 26 says, God giveth to a man that is better in his sight, wisdom and knowledge and joy. But to the sinner he giveth travail to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is better before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit, he says.

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    What's that verse telling us? If you're wise, you'll get wisdom and the inheritance. Because the sinner today lays up money, what for? Well, he thinks it's for himself. But in fact, it's to give to him that's better. So God giveth to a man that is better, wisdom and the inheritance. Ecclesiastes 2 verse 26.

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    Remarkable, isn't it? Quite remarkable. Well, back in chapter 7, Solomon's distilled from his experience of life all these great pearls of wisdom for us. And he's put one thing over against another and says, listen, pursue the wise course. Pursue the wise course. Look at what life can offer and look at it in its true perspective.

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    But as he reaches the climax of his vindication of wisdom, or with his vindication of wisdom in verses 11 and 12 of this chapter, he realizes that there's something about it. Wisdom's the greatest of all the better things of the early verses of Ecclesiastes chapter 7. But he's very troubled by this because look what he says in verse 19.

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    Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city. For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Wisdom, it's great. We all know it. We can all learn it. But who can live it? In his famous prayer, Solomon's famous prayer, in 1 Kings 8 in verse 46, he says, There is no man that sinneth not.

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    1 Kings 8 verse 38, a few verses earlier. Because every man possesses what Solomon calls the plague of his own heart. The nature we bear rails against the wisdom from above. That's the problem. So Solomon says, look, I'm telling you in life, verses 1 to 12 of chapter 7. What's good? What's better?

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    What you should aspire to? What you should learn from? He says, ah, who can do it? It's easy to say. It's very difficult to live. And then he comes to verse 25 as he concludes the chapter and he says this. I apply my heart to know and to search and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness.

91. 37:03

    What you're reading in verse 25 is an intensive search that Solomon conducts. An intensive and exhausting investigation. I mean, look at the key words. I applied my heart to know, to search, to seek out, the reason, to know. Your margin helps you. I and my heart compassed, it says. What's it saying? He said, I'm going round and round in circles.

92. 37:34

    I'm looking for something. I'm looking for something. I'm looking for something round and round and round. Because as wise as Solomon is, he can't understand sin. He says, it's so illogical. I've just told you all these things in chapter 7, but I can't do them. I don't do them. And I watch myself not doing them.

93. 37:50

    He says, I can't believe it. It makes no sense to me. And now he makes some deeply personal comments as chapter 7 comes to a close. I find, he says, in all the searching of verse 25, I've found one thing, verse 26. One thing more bitter than death. The woman whose heart is snares and nets and whose hands are bands.

94. 38:16

    So this was the search. He's looking and looking and looking in verse 25 and he finds something in verse 26. But then in verse 7 he says, I have found this as well. Then verse 28, which my soul seeketh, I find not. But I did find a woman. But among all those I found not.

95. 38:35

    Verse 29, lo, this have I found. And so you see all the searching in verse 25 results in finding verse 26. Finding verse 27. Finding or finding not verse 28. Finding in verse 29. What's he looking for? What's he found? Well, look at verse 26. I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets.

96. 39:00

    Her hands is bands. Whoso pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her. Behold, this have I found, said the preacher. Counting one by one to find out the account. Counting one by one. Adding one thing to another, as your margin says. I'm calculating. I'm looking. I'm searching.

97. 39:22

    I'm calculating. I'm adding things up, he says. Verse 28, which my soul seeketh, but I find not. I'm looking for something, but I can't find it, he says. One man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those have I not found. What's he talking about? What's he looking for?

98. 39:40

    Well, it's interesting because when you come to verse 28, you've got the clue. He says, he can't find one man among a thousand, but a woman among all those, he says, have I not found. And you notice that where it says a woman among all those, there's a little marginal reference to 1 Kings 11 and verse 3.

99. 40:06

    These were the foreign wives that Solomon had collected. He collected 1,000 wives and concubines. And these wives and concubines weren't the Sarahs, the Ruths, the Hannahs of Scripture. They were the political wives, the objects, the trophies. It's not surprising he can't find virtue amongst those 1,000. But even amongst mankind, he says, the man of real quality is only one in a thousand.

100. 40:36

     Very seldom do I ever find a man who tries to apply the wisdom to the level that I'm speaking about it. And it's not God's fault. Verse 29. This only have I found. God made man upright, but they've sought out many inventions. But can you see what Solomon's looking for?

101. 41:00

     Round and round in circles. Applying his heart. Seeking, searching, reasoning. Weighing one thing over against another. Looking at human nature. Looking at human society. He's looking for something better than wisdom. He's looking for something much better than wisdom. Because wisdom itself won't help you. And even if you know it, who can live it, he says.

102. 41:26

     The phrase, one among a thousand is the clue. Because one among a thousand is used in Scripture as a phrase of redemption. Job 9 verse 3. Man cannot answer God. One of a thousand. So not one in a thousand men can answer God, he says. Job 33 verse 23. Is there one in a thousand to show unto man God's uprightness?

103. 41:53

     Is there one man among a thousand who can accurately represent God's character to man? You see what he's looking for here? He's looking for the better man, isn't he? He's looking for the better man. And he says, I'm looking around. There's no one there. There is no man, he says.

104. 42:18

     But there is an answer. And the answer is contained in the Song of Solomon. Have a look at this. Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 10. Solomon does find the answer. And it says in Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 10. My beloved is white and ruddy. The cheapest among 10,000. 10,000, he says.

105. 42:48

     Now the word thousand in Song of Solomon, 5, verse 10, is not the same as the word thousand in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 28. The word thousand here means myriad. Often translated, 10,000 times 10,000. This is not just a man among a thousand. This is a one in a million, as it were.

106. 43:08

     And it's not just the cheapest. I mean, you can look at your margin. The cheapest among 10,000. The standard bearer. So the beloved of the Song of Solomon is the standard bearer. One in a million. One in a hundred million. There's no man like him. This is the altogether lovely one. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.

107. 43:32

     This is the better man that Solomon was looking for. The man who could really apply every syllable of the wisdom he understood to be true. What do you know about that better man, brothers and sisters? Did he have a good name? Well, he had a name above every name, didn't he? Was his death greater than his birth?

108. 43:54

     Well, in his death he wrought the greatest conquest the world has ever seen. Did he value mourning above feasting? Well, the greatest feast he ever celebrated was a commemoration of his death in breaking of bread and drinking of wine. Well, what do you think the Lord thought about sorrow versus laughter? Twice in scripture you read of him weeping.

109. 44:20

     Never do you read of him laughing. What about wisdom over against folly? Well, morning by morning he opened his ear to his father. He sought wisdom every day. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning of a thing. That's interesting because what were the Lord's last words in his mortality? John 19 verse 30.

110. 44:43

     It's finished. It's finished. I've got to the end. And what about wisdom versus money? Well, he was born to be the king. He was promised the world and all the wealth that the world can occupy or can offer. And he resisted it in preference to wisdom, in preference to keeping the commandments of God.

111. 45:06

     Even though attempt to offer him the world, he preferred to follow the wisdom of God. And instead of taking that money and taking the kingdom then, he disseminated wisdom like no one has ever disseminated it before. He was furious with man's refusal to accept that wisdom. They asked him for a sign. He said, I'll give you a sign.

112. 45:33

     The queen of the south shall rise up in judgment against this generation. She shall condemn it because she came from the uttermost parts of the world to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, a greater than Solomon is here. You're not listening to me, he told the religious leaders of his generation. And if there could have been any doubt whatsoever, brothers and sisters, about the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ, about the fact that he was the better man, I think the apostle Paul obliterates it in the book of Hebrews.

113. 46:01

     He speaks of a man who was better than angels, who possessed a better priesthood, offered a better hope, confirmed a better covenant, made better promises, offered a better sacrifice, provided a better reward, gained a better redemption for all those who seek him in truth. The word better is a better. The word better is a major theme throughout the book of Hebrews.

114. 46:24

     And Christ is better than every institution which preceded him. And the apostle concludes the catalogue of betterness and the catalogue of the faithful in Hebrews 11 and verse 40. He tells us that God has provided some better thing for us, that those faithful without us should not be made perfect. And here we are this morning.

115. 46:56

     Come to remember that better man. That better man who will conclude the entire purpose of God. And we're going to remember him in bread and wine, in his death. Because his death was better than his life. And we do so, brothers and sisters, in celebration of the better hope which he has given us.

116. 47:33

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117. 47:50

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118. 48:12

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119. 48:26

     God bless.