Time Lapse Theory

Introduction
Welcome to our prerecorded livestream. We are living in uncertain and unprecedented times, in fact so much so that people are getting really tired of hearing the words uncertain and unprecedented!

All of us are asking the same question? How long will it be before we can gather again? How long will it be before we open up the economy? What are some metrics we can use where we can safely say, “Things are good.”

We are all tired of relating to one another through screens.
We are tired of isolation.
We are tired of the insecurity

When can things just get back to normal?

Now I think Solomon would hear that question and smile. I think he would say, “What is normal? Normal doesn’t happen under the sun. Nothing is normal. Normal is nothing more than constantly, ever changing. Normal is broken. Normal is corrupt. Normal is imperfect”

There’s no such thing as Normal. Stop living your life as if a normal can be attained. That question is an absolute death trap.

Life will never be normal. All there will ever be is different combination of problems.

As soon a coronavirus is over we are going to have different problems.
Next we’ll have economic problems. Next we’ll be talking about nation debt.
Maybe a national disaster will be on our hands.
Maybe our country will embark on a war of some kind.

If you wait to live your life until normal shows up, you’ll never live your life.

Here are two of the most deadly words that your mouth can utter, “If only…”

If only I could go back to work… If only the economy would recover… If only schools would reopen…

Solomon in the passage today points out the danger of the “if only” and gives us an absolutely beautiful alternative. So if you have a Bible turn to Ecclesiastes 8

Solomon is going to begin chapter 8 by reminding us again of this precious treasure of wisdom. In chapter 7, we saw that while precious, it’s not ultimate. Wisdom does have limitation. It can’t solve the sin problem, the meaning problem, or the death problem but it can solve a lot of problems. It’s a wonderful asset. So he begins chapter 8 by reminding us of it’s value.

He’s saying that wisdom is like a candle that lights up a darkened soul. And men, who are perpetually in search of more complete light, see this illumination on the face and are drawn to it.

When we see men who understand, who comprehend, who have vision, who see with clarity, who are razor focused, we find ourselves drawn to that light. This is what he is saying. Some men are gifted with the ability to see life with clarity and the rest of us like moths are drawn to that brilliance.

They’ve got, as the text says, special ability to interpret. That word ‘interpretation’ is a word that means secret mystery. It’s the word used when Daniel interprets the dreams of the king. There was an interpretation but nobody could figure it out. But wisdom takes the darkness of mystery and transforms it into light.

Wisdom has the power to reveal mystery. Wisdom can unlock answers that have been there all along, but nobody was smart enough to figure it out.

Life itself is this giant mystery. We suspect that an answer exists. We are trying to crack the code. And it’s a giant puzzle. Whose smart enough to figure out? Who can crack the code?

And in this passage, wisdom does it. Wisdom is going to crack the code of life. The answer has been there staring us in the face all along but we weren’t wise enough to see it. So that’s where Solomon is headed.

But before he gives us the answer, he’s going to lead us down a bunch of dead ends. He’s got four roads he’s going to take us down that all look really wonderful. They are all very alluring. And they all begin with that deadly phrase, “If only…” He’s going to tease us 4 times.

Each of those dead ends represents a longing of the heart to “get back to normal.”

If only we had a king that represented justice, that used his power to serve the people, that listened to the people, that loved the people. That describes no king I know.

We can look at life and see all the problems with the current political structure and think, you know, what we need is new leadership. It might be tempting to say, the problem in life is politics. The problem in life is rulers, kings, judges, politician, congressmen and congresswomen, who are in these positions of power and have authority but don’t use their powers justly. Life stinks when you have tip toe around corruption. A king has power, but doesn’t use it wisely. And the rest of us are in the position to have to suffer by submitting to him whether or not we like his decisions.

Solomon says here, “Kings will do what they want. You want to know what the best way of working with a king is? Listen to him. Do what he says, or you’ll get squashed.”

Now this is interesting, coming from the king of Israel, one of the most powerful kings who ever lived. Now this could be read as Solomon going:

I’m supreme.
God put me in this position of power.
I’ll squash you if you try to stop me.
Be wise and obey me.

And in a sense that is what he’s saying. But there’s an underlying tone here that the people aren’t entirely happy with the way this king is ruling.

He says in verse three, do not take your stand in an ‘evil cause’. Many scholars believe that is the word for a political insurrection or a political protest. Now if that’s the case, under what circumstances do political insurrections take place? When you have a bad king. It means you have a king who isn’t caring well for the people or making bad decisions or aggravating things. And the advice here is be careful about being mouthy to a guy who uses sword-bearing armies to vent his anger.

Do you remember John the Baptist in the NT. He confronted Herod and said it’s not lawful for you to marry your brother’s wife. And Herod said, “I’m the king. I can do whatever I want.” In fact, I don’t like you. I’m going to cut off your head. And he did.

You try to confront the king and you lose. The king does what he pleases. Instead he says in verse 5, the wise in heart will know the proper time and the just way. In other words, the wise will wait for the king to be in the right mood, they will try the art of persuasion and getting the king to think it was his idea and all that.

These are the conundrums of living under kings. You either confront the king and get bulldozed or you try to hold your nose and persuade the king with limited results.

If only we had a perfect king?

Is that not what many are saying now. Some are saying, “Man are leaders are being ridiculous about this cornovirus thing. Can we just get back to work? If only we had some reasonable people up there making decisions, this whole national crisis would never have happened.”

If only we had a perfect king? But alas, the more you think about it, the more you have to agree, we never will.

Solomon points out a second “if only…”

Okay, I’ll grant that kings will make their decisions how they want. But what if I could pull out my magic looking glass and see what this imperfect king would do. That way I could respond in advance. Man, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to adjust based on a knowledge of what the future holds. Wouldn’t it have been nice to know that coronavirus was coming.

If only I would have known that these knucklheads would have shut down the economy, I would have sold my stock, invested in Zoom and hand sanitizer and bought some TP. If only I could know the future, I could sidestep the problem of bad kings.

If we could know the future, we would make decisions differently. Solomon says.

The inability, Solomon says, to know what is coming next is the source of incredible stress and anxiety.

We can all relate to Solomon’s statement, “A man’s trouble lies heavy on him.” Stress feels like a heavy weight. It’s a giant boulder that just sits on your shoulders. I know for me, when I get stressed, I can feel the muscles in my back tightening up, I get headaches.

What is stress? Stress is nothing more than problems that your in charge of solving in the future and are yet unsolved. What is causing you stress right now?

How am I going to pay this months bills? That’s a problem yet unsolved that you need to figure out?
How is my company going stay profitable and respond and pivot in this new market?

Because we don’t know the future, these problems lie heavy on us. If we knew the future, it would all be easy. If you knew cornovirus would last two more weeks and then suddenly the economy spikes back into full swing well you’d respond one way; but if you knew this was going to be a long term deal with a 5 year recovery, well that’s another thing entirely.

That’s why after describing the trouble he says, “he does not know what is to be, for who can tell it to him?”

“If only we could know the future!”

There is a time and a way for everything. You just don’t know it. Wouldn’t it be nice to peer into the future and have an advance on those solutions?

He says, “And you know what piece of future information that is most influential and most important and entirely lacking is? The day of your death!”

No man has the power to retain the spirit or power of the day of death.

If you knew you’d die next week, would you mow your grass? Would you worry about the virus? Would you worry about finances. I mean, it changes everything. And yet Solomon says we can’t control it. No man can alter that in any way.

If only we could know the future.

Now he turns to another longing of the human heart, the longing for peace. War is terrible. War is destructive. If only we could stop wars and fighting. Solomon observes how impossible this is.

War is so destructive.

I remember years ago I read the book the Chinese Sun Tzu “The Art of War” This was written in the 5th century B.C. so not quite as old as Solomon but close. “There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare” War is downright terrible.

Think how much it costs to keep our military going? Roughly 50% of our taxes. Think what kind of a drain it is on our society? Think about the tragedy of the death of brilliant minds, business owners, fathers, doctors, educators, mothers.

Not many in our body have experienced war, but some have. And all who have experienced it will say the same thing. It’s terrible. It has so little purpose. Here you are cutting down men in the prime of their life because two kings have pride issues and can’t work out their differences.

That’s depressing. And yet how do you escape it? Remember the king does whatever he pleases. He says, “You are going to war.” There’s no discharge from it.

Try to run away? Court-martialled.
Try to be heroic? You die.
Try to hide and self-protect? Shame.
Try to protest? Go to jail.

There is no escaping war, but there’s not using it either. You can’t put down wickedness through wickedness. It’s Jesus words to Peter, “Those who live by the sword die by the sword.” You can’t escape the sword and you can’t use the sword. Your stuck.

The bottom line is that war is the expression of people who want to be mean to each other and find pleasure in using their power to hurt one another. They are like grown-up bullies on the playground. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could end that?

If only we could stop wars and fighting.

Again, it’s hard to not get angry at all these men in power who are in charge.

You see the evil behind the individuals in positions of power and it makes you cringe. Solomon envisions a guy who looks all shiny and beautiful on the outside. His Facebook page is perfect, the media love him and shower him with praise, he lives a storybook life and yet you know that inside his heart is dead men’s bones. He’s just living a double life and getting away with it.

He says, there are some guys who are fully gaming the system. The machinery of society is well-lubricated with bribery. He’s got the police force on the payroll. He’s got the media in his back pocket. He’s leading the politicians by a leash.

And he’s just laughing. He’s winning. And He’s winning because he doesn’t experience any consequences. Sure this guy grew up in church and heard the same message we all have heard, “Be sure your sin will find you out. God will judge every evil deed.”

He stands overlooking the empire he built like a modern day Nebuchadnezzar and blows a ring from his fat cuban cigar and says, “What God?” Look at this great city I have built with my great hand.

You even get a window into a religious corruption. Pictured is a guy who walks into and out of the holy place. So this is like a priest, our modern day pastors.

He preaches this extraordinary sermon and leaves everyone bedazzled. He’s hailed on the front pages of CT as the most innovative pastor of the year or the most liked pastor or the pastor with the fasted growing church. He’s got a golden tongue and a forest of words at his disposal. He’s an intellecutal giant. Everybody worships him.

And he’s sleeping with another woman. He’s part of pornagrpahy ring. He’s got a crooked business deal cooking in the background. And he’s not even the least bit sorry about it. His heart is fully set to do evil because why? He’s getting away with it.

If only we could expose evil.
The Conclusion of the Matter
Now where is Solomon going with all this? He’s exposed all these problems in society. And our hearts, when we see problems, are prone to think, Aha! The reason I’m not fulfilled is because of these problems. IF ONLY these problesm were solved, I’d be happy, we could get back to normal. And yet, all the problems he points out can’t be solved. He creates us in us this longing for things that can never be.

But wisdom is limited. Wisdom can’t give us these things. We will never have a perfect king. We will never know the future. We will never be able to stop wars and fighting. We will never be able to expose evil.

That’s all setup to create a hunger for something we can do.

Here’s where it’s all driving. Solomon gives us a really strong indicator of where this book is headed. He’s going to end with a deep dive into this very concept. For now he gives us a hint.

He says, sin is destroying the world everywhere you look. And the longer you look into solutions to that sin problem, the more despariing you become. And it’s very easy, when we get despairing, to fall into the trap “if you can’t beat em, join em.”

Being godly isn’t working. I’m look at all these righteous people suffer and all these warlords, these politicians, these people that game the system, these religious figureheads that pretend to be all righteous but then sin like the devil. I’m watching all this and they are all getting away with it scott free. And worse than that, Solomon, you are telling me that no matter how wise I am, I can never stop it?

So if this is true - if they are winning and I’m losing - give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just join them?

You see, sin is busy wrecking the world at a pace that no amount of wisdom can ever correct, and you know what wisdom says, “That’s true; but it’s not your job to fix the world. Fear God.”

You see the wicked aren’t winning. God will never let them win. It may look like they are winning, but they are dying. They are dying without purpose and with a debt of sin they could never afford and they will meet their maker and they will lose.

Don’t look at today, look at tomorrow. Don’t look at the present self. Look at the future self.

Because in the long run, it will not be well for the wicked; it will be well with those who FEAR God.If only we feared God.
What Does it Mean to Fear God?
So we’d be foolish not to spend just a few minutes on what this means. The entire direction of Ecclesiastes is pointing here. Solomon is going to get more and more specific.

If you want a good resource on this in more depth, I ran into a little book this week that I had never heard of but was surprisingly insightful and helpful.

John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, wrote a book entitled, “The Treatise of the Fear of God.” This book was nearly lost. For a couple hundred years publishers would print the complete works of John Bunyan but for some reason, this book was omitted. It was somewhat recently discovered and it’s a real gem.

But let’s just begin our study of this concept and grab just a single idea that will begin serving us into the remaining four chapters. The first thing to say is that this is not small theme in the Bible. The fear of the Lord is a massive concept.

There is so much here but for our purposes today, let me just give you one angle on what it means to fear God. And I’ll do it by way of an analogy.

Electric cars are becoming more and more popular but one of the most dangerous things about an electric car is the battery. It’s common for an electric cars to have these giant DC battery packs with several hundred volts capable of delivering thousands of amps of current.

And DC voltage is very deadly. It would almost certainly kill you if you touched the ends of that battery. And yet, it is that deadly battery that powers you down the road, that propels you forward, that air conditions or heats the cab, that powers the radio. It’s amazing.

What’s the difference between having that battery bless you or kill you. They could not be more opposite?

The answer has to do with your relationship to the battery. The battery is what it is. The battery never changes. What changes is your relationship to the battery. If you decide to cross that battery the wrong way, you die. And so, it is right to fear that battery. You better fear it.

Now you can see the parallel I’m trying to make. Whether God is for us or against us is entirely a function of our relationship to him not his relationship to us. God never changes. Either we are absolutely destroyed by his majesty or completely enraptured and transformed by it.

And that is why we fear him. It is true, that - in a sense - if we cross him we are consumed. We ought to fear great power like this. But it is also true that this power has the potential to absolutely transform our lives and empower us beyond what we could dream.

On the one hand there is a legitimate terror and dread of God.

He is the infinitely Holy One, before whom all sinners must stand and his white hot gaze will penetrate into the souls of corrupt kings, all the evil and injustice done in wars, all those who looked good on the outside but inside were dead men’s bones.

To cross this God is eternal death and men are right to fear it.

But..

The cross of God is eternal life and now, all the power of God instead of being turned against you, is not for you.

Now you experience the love of God, the Father of mercies, and fountain of all blessing, poured out in the gift of his Son, the gift of adoption into his family, is now yours.

And having been so blessed by this benevolence and grace, the soul fears to offend him.

So how do we get in right standing with this great power we must fear?

How do we know if we will be destroyed by crossing God

or

Be given eternal life by the cross of God?

Here’s the answer. If the slightest dependence is placed upon any supposed good works of our own….“I just need to live a better life so that God will be pleased with me and not angry or wrathful to me. I need to live a really moral life so I don’t cross God.”

Then your done. Any happy fear of God is swallowed up in dread and terror. Because now, salvation depends upon your perfect holiness. And you know you can’t do that. And so all that remains is fear. That perfect holiness can only be found in Christ.

But if you trust in Christ. And you say, God your cross has saved me. And because it’s your righteousness and not mine, I’m insulated from your wrath. I’m protected from a power that could easily in a second vaporize me. And my soul fears grieving a God who would love me that much.

My soul fears grieving the perfect king,
My soul fears grieving the God who knows the future
My soul fears grieving the the prince of peace who ends all war
My soul fears grieving the Judge who exposed all the evil in my heart and paid for it.

God we love you and fear doing anything that would bring sorrow to you.