Please turn to Ecclesiastes 10. I want to look at Ecclesiastes 10:15 today, but let us read from the beginning of the chapter. We read in Ecclesiastes 10:1-14:
Dead flies cause 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. A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left. Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool. If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct. Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
This next verse is the verse that I would like to look at. We read in Ecclesiastes 10:15:
The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
A lot of the book of Ecclesiastes is similar to the book of Proverbs. These are parables. They are actually the same Hebrew word. Sometimes they translated it “proverb” and sometimes they translated it “parable.” They are usually statements that have practical meanings, and yet the Gospel is hidden in them in a deeper sense.
So we will just look at this one verse today, Ecclesiastes 10:15:
The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
We will just examine the four major words in this verse today to see how God uses these words and these principles in other parts of the Bible.
Many of you who have been in the Word for awhile probably already understand what this verse is saying:
The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
What does God generally mean when He speaks about a city in the Bible? The word “city” sometimes represents a body of believers or the elect.
For example, we read in Matthew 5:14 where Christ told His disciples:
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Let us now look at Psalm 107. We will read the first nine verses of Psalm 107. In the beginning of this Psalm, it says in Psalm 107:1-3:
O give thanks unto JEHOVAH, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of JEHOVAH say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
This is talking about the elect, those whom God has gathered and redeemed from out of the four corners of the earth, as it were.
Then we read in Psalm 107:4-7:
They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto JEHOVAH in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
This is speaking of salvation.
Then we read in Psalm 107:8-9:
Oh that men would praise JEHOVAH for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
So the “city” is really looking at God’s elect.
God literally set up the city of Jerusalem to represent the Kingdom of God. He told them in Deuteronomy 12 before they entered the Promised Land, “There shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you.” This is referring to the same thing.
Turn now to Hebrews 11. This is a well-known chapter that speaks of the patriarchs and heroes of the faith. Hebrews 11:8 says:
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
God called him out of Ur of the Chaldees, which was actually Babylon or what is the present-day Iraq.
Then we read in Hebrews 11:9:
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
This is referring to the promise of salvation or the covenant.
Then we read in Hebrews 11:10:
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Let us keep reading through verse 16. It says in Hebrews 11:11-12:
Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
I believe that this is speaking of Isaac because when God commanded Abraham to take Isaac his only son and sacrifice him, Abraham was perfectly obedient to this. God therefore speaks of Isaac as being “as good as dead” as if he had been sacrificed, as we just read in Hebrews 11:12:
Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
In Galatians we read, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Again, this is referring to God’s promise for the true believers.
But let me just read to verse 16. It says in Hebrews 11:13-15:
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Then we read in Hebrews 11:16:
But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Salvation or the Kingdom of God is the city that is spoken of here in Ecclesiastes 10:15. The labor of the fool wearies him because he does not know how to go to that city.
The book of Proverbs and the book of Ecclesiastes both speak a lot about the fool or the foolish. This is certainly referring to someone who does not know God or an unregenerate person.
Let us look now at Proverbs 13:19. It says:
The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul…
This is speaking of salvation. The desire of every child of God is the Lord Jesus.
But the second part of Proverbs 13:19 says:
…but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
It is an abomination to a fool to depart from his sin.
Look now at Proverbs 18:2, which says:
A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.
Or turn to Proverbs 10:18. It says:
He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
Now look at Proverbs 28:26 and what we see in this verse:
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
Speaking of a fool that trusts in his own heart brings to mind Proverbs 3:5, a verse that most of us are familiar with. It says:
Trust in JEHOVAH with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Turning back to Ecclesiastes 10:15 again, we read:
The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
The sense that we get from this particular word for “labour” is an oppressive labor. It is toil, as if being under bondage. This word is also translated as “toil,” “misery,” “pain,” “sorrow,” etc. It really has to do with an oppressive type of labor.
Look at Genesis 41 where Joseph is stating his thankfulness to God for the birth of his son. In Genesis 41:51, it says:
And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil…
This word that is translated “toil” is the same Hebrew word that is translated “labour.”
We know that Joseph was sold into slavery, and the verse says:
…For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil…
Joseph was speaking of all of that oppressive labor.
Then the verse continues:
…and all my father’s house.
Joseph had been sold into slavery by his own father’s house, by his brothers. We can see Christ and the atonement in this. But this word “toil” is the same Hebrew word that is translated “labour” in Ecclesiastes 10:15.
Look now at Deuteronomy 26 where God is speaking to the Israelites through Moses. In Deuteronomy 26:5-6, we read:
And thou shalt speak and say before JEHOVAH thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:
We know that when the Israelites were in Egypt, it was a picture of before salvation and being under the bondage of Satan and under oppression.
Then Deuteronomy 26:7 says:
And when we cried unto JEHOVAH God of our fathers, JEHOVAH heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:
“Labour” is the same word, and we can see how He links oppression and affliction with this word.
Then Deuteronomy 26:8 says:
And JEHOVAH brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand…
Again, this is a picture of salvation.
It continues:
…and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:
So we can see what God is saying in Ecclesiastes 10:15. The labor of the foolish wearies him. This is because if we are trying to work for our salvation, it is a labor that will continue to keep us under the wrath of God. It is not going to bring salvation.
Again, Ecclesiastes 10:15 says:
The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them…
Let us now look at this word “wearieth.” The sense of this word is almost identical to the word “labour.” As a matter of fact, this word is even translated “labour” in a couple of places.
As we think of how “the labour of the foolish wearieth,” let us look at Psalm 6. This is a Messianic Psalm. We are to hear a sinner in this supplicating Christ for salvation, and we see Christ as well in this. Psalm 6:1-6 says:
O JEHOVAH, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O JEHOVAH; for I am weak: O JEHOVAH, heal me; for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O JEHOVAH, how long? Return, O JEHOVAH, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? I am weary…
This is the same word. It continues:
I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
This word “weary” is associated with being under the wrath of God.
Look now at Joshua 24. Many of you are familiar with Joshua 24. In Joshua 24, Joshua is recounting what God has done for them in the wilderness. At this point, God has brought them into the Promised Land. Joshua is recounting what the Lord said about how He had driven out the heathen tribes before the Israelites as they came into the land of Canaan. God says in Joshua 24:12:
And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
This is how salvation works.
Then we read in Joshua 24:13:
And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour…
This is the word “wearieth” in Ecclesiastes 10:15.
Again, this is spiritual language that is speaking of salvation in how they were given the land and brought out of Egypt entirely by the hand of God and by nothing that they have done, by none of their own labor.
So Ecclesiastes 10:15 again says:
The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them…
It keeps them under the wrath of God:
…because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
He understands not how salvation works.
This is a very important principle. All through the Bible, God tells us how jealous He is for His salvation and for what He has done through the Lord Jesus. If we are working for our salvation, it just continues to keep us under the wrath of God.
This is something that in this time we need to really ponder and consider. At this time, we all need to be examining ourselves, as we read in 2 Corinthians 13:5:
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
We are to examine ourselves and to prove ourselves. Both of these words suggest testing. We test ourselves against the Word of God.
2 Peter 1:10 says:
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
This is a very important principle that we have to keep in mind at this time.
Pride and glorying in our own works can be very subtle in the way in which it sneaks in and takes over in our minds to where we begin to glory in something that we have done as we see ourselves working for the Lord.
We have to keep in mind, however, verses like Philippians 2:13 that tell us how these things work. Philippians 2:13 says:
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
In Philippians 2:12, the verse before this one, we read:
…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Again, we are told to examine our own salvation. We are to continue to examine ourselves and to test ourselves against the Bible. Are you working for your salvation or is it God working in you?
Sadly in the churches of our day some of the freewill people have really taken working to an extreme. They are teaching rewards and more crowns for someone who has worked harder for the Lord, but this is a wicked doctrine to teach. This is a terrible doctrine. It is demeaning to God, and yet they are teaching this.
I have a couple of verses that have the word “crown” in them. This word just speaks to the crown of salvation, which is spiritual. The crown relates to salvation.
Let us look at 1 Corinthians 9:24-25. We read in there:
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
The sense of this, in other words, is to strive to enter in at that strait gate, but yet we do not strive to enter in unless God is working in us. We have to examine all that there is to know about how salvation works to understand these things.
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it…
In other words, those who are working to obtain salvation:
…they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
Turn to 2 Timothy 4. This is the Apostle Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This is towards the end of his ministry. Of course, God inspired him to write these things. We read in 2 Timothy 4:7-8:
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
There are other verses that we could look at that speak of a crown, but they are only speaking of salvation. There are no special rewards for someone who has done a lot for the Lord in their time. Again, this is a terrible doctrine to teach.
Look at Isaiah 26:12. It says:
JEHOVAH, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
This is the way that salvation works. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” He has wrought all of our works in us. If we are working because God is truly working in us, it is not of our own will. It never was in the first place, and yet God continues to encourage us in the Bible to strive and to labor for Him.
Let us look at Philippians 3. Again, this is the Apostle Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We know that of all of the men in the Bible, Paul was probably put to the worst tests. Afflictions were put on him more than anyone else in the Bible. Again, it was God working in him and it was God who inspired Paul to write these words. We read in Philippians 3:7-11:
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
As if he could work to attain salvation, Paul says:
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Then we read in Philippians 3:12:
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect…
Paul knew that he was a saved man. He knew that he had eternal life, but he is working as if he was trying to obtain it. But this is different than the fool in Ecclesiastes 10:15.
Let me start from verse 12 again. We read in Philippians 3:12-14:
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
This is the spirit of a true believer who is working for Christ.
Then we read in Philippians 3:15:
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
But we must keep in mind what we read in Proverbs 20:9, which says:
Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Only a very proud person could say, “I have accepted Christ. I am so glad that I made a decision for Christ and that I went and got myself saved.” This is another terrible doctrine that is demeaning to God. It shows an utter lack of understanding the way in which salvation works.
In Matthew 20, there is a parable of the householder who went out in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. He agreed with each one of them for a penny a day, and then he sent them to work in his vineyard. Then he went out about the third hour and hired others. Then he went out at the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same. At last, he goes out at the eleventh hour. At the end of the day when it was time to be paid, he first paid the ones who had gotten hired last. The ones who had been hired first became offended because they thought that they should have received more than those hired at the last hour. We read then in Matthew 20:13-16:
But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
“The last shall be first, and the first last” is a principle that is all through the Bible. In the ones who are first, we simply see those who believe that they should merit something more because of the work that they have been doing. They have endured the heat of the day and worked much longer hours. But there is no love of Christ in them, however, if they have no joy in themselves to see the ones at the last coming into salvation. And once again, this is all about examining ourselves against the Scriptures to know that we truly are saved.
Let us look at Romans 12:1. It says:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice…
This is the heart of a true believer. He presents his body as a living sacrifice. He gives God everything that he has. God calls this “your reasonable service.”
This reminds us of the poor widow casting in all that she had into the treasury. We read about this in Luke 21:1-4:
And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury [or poverty] hath cast in all the living that she had.
Again, we need to examine ourselves. Most of us are well off, especially in this country. All of us have a roof over our heads. We know where our next meal is coming from. But in this poor woman’s trust of the Lord, she put into the offering everything that she had. This is salvation.
So we need to examine ourselves to make sure that we are not trusting in any works. Like I said, this can creep up on us very subtly. This is something that we have to watch out for constantly.
At this time, God in His mercy has shown us that the world is going to end. He has given us a time that we cannot question. We just cannot question this. It just checks from too many different directions. It checks from 4990 B.C. It checks from 7 B.C., as well as other time paths. It checks from 1948 to 1988. It checks from the crucifixion. There are just too many different ways in which God is assuring us that May 21st of 2011 is the date.
So it is just critical now that all of us examine ourselves as to whether or not we are in the faith. Before, I had questioned as to why we would need to know the date. Why would God tell us the date? And a lot of people hearing this want to know this, too. They take the verse that talks about the Lord coming as a thief in the night to defend their way of looking at this. We have heard now, however, what this verse means.
We are seeing why God is giving us the date. There are probably a couple of different reasons. God tells us in Psalm 90 that He has given to man 70 years on this earth, “threescore years and ten.” This is in general, of course. But now that this date is coming, God has given each one of us seventy years, as it were, to see that there is a God and to turn to Him and to do it His way.
Now that there is a cut-off date, there are many who will never reach the physical number seventy in years, children and such. But more importantly, this is to convict those who are in the churches who are just rejecting this teaching and refusing to look at the Bible. They are going to be more convicted and they are going to be beaten with more stripes. It is going to be a horrible shame to them.
God has given us this date and now we see why. So what do we do? All through the Bible, He commands us to look unto Him for salvation, and yet He tells us how this works. We simply stay in the Word and we watch and pray.
Luke 21:36 says:
Watch ye therefore, and pray always…
We watch as we look in the Scriptures and continue to study the Bible and continue to pray. Praying is part of watching. We pray God for His mercy and we pray God for the understanding of His Scriptures.
So Luke 21:36 continues:
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Again, we are commanded to seek God for His salvation. In Isaiah 55, He says, “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near,” while it is still the day of salvation.
Romans 10:9 says:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Because we understand that we have to compare Scripture with Scripture, we know that these words “confess” and “believe” entail much more than just verbally acknowledging and believing intellectually.
And Romans 10:13 says:
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
This sounds very simple, but in Psalm 145:18, we read:
JEHOIVAH is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
So there is more to Romans 10:13. We are not calling on Him in truth unless it is God working in us.
Again, the commandment is there to “seek him with all thy heart,” and it adds to our judgment and conviction if we do not do this when the Lord does come on May 21st of 2011.
Shall we pray.