Turning Point

Guest (Male): In the midst of trouble, have you wondered what possible good can come from this? King Solomon had the same question and shared his answers in Ecclesiastes. Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah offers more of Solomon's God-given wisdom in his series, Searching for Heaven on Earth. Listen as David introduces the conclusion of his important message, When Bad is Better.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And thank you for joining us. We’re looking at a conundrum in many respects from the Bible. The things that don’t seem logical but yet are very logical. Sorrow is better than laughter. Looking back is better than looking forward. Learning from mourning is easier than learning from feasting. Rebuke is better than praise. The hard way is better than the easy way. And today is better than yesterday. All of these things in this section of Scripture that we’ve opened to in Ecclesiastes chapter seven.

Maybe you’re going through a time when life just seems sort of backwards. It doesn’t make sense. Well, I remind you again of the statement in Genesis chapter fifty and the life of Joseph where we read: They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. If something's going on in your life that’s imponderable, God might just be up to something, and I hope that today’s lesson will help you sort it out.

We’ll get to this lesson in just a moment, but it’s the Friday edition of Turning Point, and I want to remind you that Friday is the kickoff place for going to church on Sunday. Get your mind set, get your schedule set, and be sure to be in church with your family on the Lord’s day. It’s the important thing you do to keep centered in your life, and you have no idea what a blessing it will be to the people around you with whom you fellowship when you go to church.

Once again, the priority for the weekend is go to church. And don’t forget, we’re on television all over the world on the weekend. If we’re on during church time, just record us. Don’t use us as an excuse to stay home. Go to church and then come home and watch us later in the afternoon or whatever. It will be different than what you’re listening to right now, and it will be a blessing to you, I’m sure.

And then, before we get into today's teaching, I want to just remind you again that our resource for the month is 31 Days to Happiness: The Contemporary Commentary to the Book of Ecclesiastes. One of my great joys was to put this together because so little is available on this Old Testament book. Ecclesiastes is a great study with great insight and great help to you in your personal life. Be sure to ask for your copy of 31 Days to Happiness when you send your gift to Turning Point during the month of February. And now, here is part two of When Bad is Better.

Solomon is saying here that it is better to die than to be born. Obviously, you have to be born before you can die. He knows that. But what he is saying is that there are two days in a person’s life when his name is prominent. The day when you receive your name is the day you’re born, and the day your name shows up in an obituary column is the day you die.

If you die with a good name, you can no longer do anything to tarnish that name. But the day when you receive your name when you’re born, you have an entire life before you that is yet unwritten. In that respect, if you have a good reputation, the day of your death is better than the day of your birth.

What Solomon is saying is this: Looking back at a life well lived is better than looking forward to a life unlived. And in that respect, he’s right. He is saying that there is a sense about the ending of a good life that is better than the beginning of an unknown life. We’ll talk more about that in a moment. That’s his first statement under this whole idea that sometimes sorrow is better than laughter.

Notice secondly, not only is looking back better than looking forward, but number two, learning from mourning is easier than learning from feasting. Notice verses two through four, read what Solomon writes: Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living will take it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance, the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of the mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

Notice how many times he talks about the heart. He’s talking here about our character and how we develop as people. Solomon is not telling us that we need to be preoccupied with death and going around morbid all the time. He is reminding us that we need to take life seriously and not let it slip through our fingers. And he is certainly telling us that it is easier to learn from adversity than it is from prosperity.

By a sad countenance, says Solomon, the heart is made better. Wisdom is forged in the fire of mourning and trouble and difficulty. But fools, in a frivolous and carefree manner, are never learning from the experiences of life. When wise men and women face adversity like death and disease and destruction, they take to heart the lessons learned, and they become better instead of bitter. It is a choice that is made in the heart.

Why is sorrow better than laughter? Because a person who is laughing is not really facing reality. A person who is frivolous and filled with joy and jumping around and partying and having all of this, most of the time it is an exercise to deaden the pain of an empty life. Very little is learned from prosperity and frivolity and festivals and joy and all of that.

But often we learn the most important lessons of life. I can testify to that. I know that the most important time in my life as an adult, I could never have learned the things God has taught me with an unmitigated, unbridled, uninterrupted success pattern of life.

We do not learn anything about the nature of life through mirth, through joyous celebration. We pretend that happiness will make us whole. But man’s highest purpose is not to be happy. Man’s highest purpose is to know God. We can be impressed by truth and doctrine, but usually it takes pain to change us. A.W. Tozer said that God cannot use a man until he has hurt him deeply. Great men and great women are shaped by pain.

How can the day of one's death or the day of mourning be a day of greatness? I was here when we had the celebration service for Dr. Art Peters, who was one of the founders of our college, who lived a long and full life serving Jesus Christ with all that he had. He was a gracious, godly man who lived life well. I saw his wife sitting in the front row, filled with sorrow at his loss, but also with a sense of satisfaction that for those years God had granted them, she had been privileged to live with a good man who had lived his life well.

And there was a sense of joy in the midst of the sorrow. Do you understand what I’m saying? That’s where Solomon is coming from. He’s saying it’s better to look back on a life well lived than to look forward to a life yet to be lived. It’s better to sense that you’ve done it right, you’ve lived right, you’ve honored God. That’s a better day in many respects than the day when you don’t know what in the world is going to happen or where that life is going to go.

You look at those little babies that are born into your family as children and grandchildren, and you pray to God that they’re going to be okay and they’re going to walk with the Lord and they’re going to honor him, but you don’t know. You don’t know the influences that are going to touch them, the things that will influence them. You pray, but there’s no guarantees. And so looking back is sometimes better than looking forward. And you sure do learn a lot more from mourning than you do from rejoicing.

So sorrow is better than laughter. That’s the first thing. So now you know why that question I asked you, you answered wrong. Number two, rebuke is better than praise. Notice what he says in verses five and six: It’s better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.

Now, when we are rebuked for something that we have done, we are prone to resist it, to resent it, and to return it. But Solomon puts a whole new spin on this here in Ecclesiastes when he tells us that a rebuke from a wise man is far better than the praise of a fool. In fact, he likens the praise of a fool to the crackling of thorns in a fire. Now watch this.

He used an illustration the Palestinians would have really understood because in Palestine when they wanted a short little burn, when they just wanted to warm something up for a moment, they would put thorns under the pot and light them. And the thorns would fire up and they would burn out. They would pop and crackle and you could warm up some water maybe for a cup of coffee. But you’d never use thorns for a lasting fire that needed to be used for cooking something genuine.

So in the same way, Solomon says the praise of the fool is only temporary. It just flames up, makes a lot of racket and noise, but it doesn't have any lasting value. But the rebuke of a wise man, oh, that’s something very valuable. The value of rebuke as a means of wisdom is a very prominent theme in the writing of Solomon.

Did you know that? I noticed it when we were studying the book of Proverbs and I went back again and I want to go through these verses and I want you to notice how often this theme comes up in Solomon’s writings. And I want you to notice that because it is the one thing we do the worst: accepting correction, accepting rebuke, accepting instruction from someone. How many of you know that’s hard? We don’t like to do that. But Solomon says the rebuke of a wise man is better than the praise of a fool.

Have you ever been around a stroker? My goodness, everything you do is golden. And you know what? I've discovered over the years that sometimes strokers can't be trusted. Can I get a witness? They stroke you and stroke you and stroke you, and all the time they’re stroking you, they’re figuring out how they’re going to strike you. And before you know it, you find out this person you thought was your greatest fan has become your worst enemy.

Now listen to the words of the Proverbs. Proverbs 10:17: He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray. Proverbs 12:1: Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. Proverbs 15:5: A fool despises his father’s instruction, but he who receives correction is prudent.

Proverbs 17:10: Rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a hundred blows on a fool. Did you hear that? A rebuke to a wise man does more good than beating a fool a hundred times. That’s what he’s saying. Proverbs 25:12: Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear.

Proverbs 27:5: Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Proverbs 29:1: He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. And Proverbs 29:15: The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

Solomon is saying, don’t get enamored with the praise of people who don’t really care about you. Be more interested in the rebuke of somebody you know is wise and who loves you and listen carefully to their instruction. To whom are you accountable and who has the permission to come to you and say, "You are doing something that is wrong"? If you open your heart to that, Solomon says you will look back to be grateful for the rebuke of someone who loves you.

Sorrow is better than laughter. Rebuke is better than praise, and here’s the third conundrum in this list: the hard way is better than the easy way. That’s why the shortcut's never the good answer. Listen to what Solomon says: Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason and a bribe debases the heart. The end of a thing is better than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

Now, to bribe someone, what is that? That’s a shortcut. It’s a shortcut to get your own way. But it will always be the hard way. It will corrupt your integrity. It will destroy the purity of your heart. And Solomon says that we’re better to be patient in our spirit than to be proud in our spirit. We don’t need to take things into our own hands if we will wait on the Lord to accomplish his purposes through us.

What does he mean when he says the end of a thing is better than the beginning? In other words, start with the end in mind. The principle is not just a popular idea in a business book. Stephen Covey may have used that as one of his seven most important principles. But it is a principle to be followed in life. Ask yourself this question: Where will this lead me? What will be the result of this action? What are the outcomes of this particular deed?

God always saves his best for the last. Satan always front-loads his best and it’s downhill from then on. Did you ever notice that? God always saves his best for the last. Satan front-loads his good and after the first day it’s downhill from then. I could illustrate that. Oh yeah, you get a kick out of a glass of wine or a strong drink. Maybe there’s a jolt from that at the beginning and it’s fun, but watch what happens if you get hooked on it. It takes you down, down, down, down. Yeah, you might get a thrill out of a snort of cocaine, but it’ll destroy your life. Over and over again, that’s what it says. The end of a thing is better than the beginning of a thing when that's true in life, isn’t it?

We come here to this church and we have weddings and I preside over the weddings and sometimes I get to go to the reception and it’s a joyous time. Everybody’s so excited. And everybody says, "Oh my goodness, those early days, those are the best days of a marriage." No, they’re not. They’re the noisiest days of a marriage. The most tumultuous days of a marriage. You know the best days of a marriage? It's when you’ve been married to the same woman for 40 years and she knows she knows you and she loves you in spite of who you are.

You all know what I’m talking about. The best days of a marriage are not the beginning of the marriage. The best days of a marriage is the marriage matures and becomes a mature relationship. So all you that think the best is over, it’s not. It gets better and better. The end of a thing is better than the beginning of a thing. Do you see what I’m saying? If it’s in the Lord’s hands, he always makes things better and better unto a brighter day.

Sorrow is better than laughter. Rebuke is better than praise. The hard way’s better than the easy way. And here’s the last thought. Today’s better than yesterday. Some of you raised your hand when I asked you: would you rather have the good old days than today? Almost everybody said yes. You know what? There isn’t any such thing as the good old days. There isn’t. There are no good old days. The days we’re living right now will be the good old days in the future. Right?

Just go back and think about the good old days. And oh, there’s so many things you forget along the way. Solomon says, "Do not say, 'Why were the former days better than these?' For you do not inquire wisely concerning this." Don’t live in the past. Don’t live always talking about the good old days. The good old days do not exist except in the minds of people who have decided to avoid living in the present.

Arthur Bennett wrote a prayer called The Valley of Vision that wonderfully summarizes some of the things in this section of Ecclesiastes and I want you to listen carefully. It's a little free verse, but it’s a wonderful prayer, and listen for Ecclesiastes' thoughts in this prayer.

"Lord high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights. Hemmed in by mountains of sin, I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Your stars shine. Let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty and Thy glory in my valley."

You find the glory of God in the valley. You don’t find it on the mountain top. When you’re on the mountain top, you forget how you got there, you forget why you’re there, you forget who brought you there. When you’re in the valley and you have no place to turn but to turn to the Lord, you see him high and lifted up, and you discover what I have discovered: that God is enough in any situation if you know him personally.

Some of you say, "Pastor Jeremiah, I don’t understand how all of these things work, these wisdom words of Solomon. I have a sense in my heart that they’re true, but how does God use them?" Let me remind you that the New Testament teaches us this principle in a very famous verse in Romans 8:28. Do you remember Romans 8:28? "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Did you know that verse?

The Bible says we know that. We’re going through this stuff and we don’t understand, and it seems like our life is turned upside down and all the things we understood before don’t seem to fit, but we know one thing: God knows what he’s doing. And we know that all things work together for good.

Watch this. To those who love him and are called according to his purpose. That’s the promise to believers. You say, "Well then why am I so convoluted and confused and even as a Christian don’t know what to do?" And I remember the first time I saw this in this context. Twice in Romans chapter eight we’re told we know something. For instance, back in an earlier verse, not 26 but 22, we read: "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs until now." What does that mean? We know that this isn’t the way life is, that life is going to get better, that God has a plan ultimately.

We also know that he’s in charge of right now. Then why am I so confused? Look at verse 26 in the same chapter: "Likewise the Spirit helps in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought." Do you remember what we learned in Ecclesiastes? God’s plan is good. We know that. His purpose is clear. We know that. But his program is mysterious, isn’t it? And that’s why we don’t always know how to pray.

Does that change the fact that God’s plan is good? Absolutely not. God’s plan is good. We know that. We know he’s working all things together for the good. We know that someday we’re going to be with him and in the meantime he’s still in charge. But do we understand what he’s doing? No, that’s why we don’t know how to pray. Am I alone here?

I mean, that’s the way I feel sometimes. I know what I know, but I also know what I don’t know. I know God’s plan is good, I know his purpose is good, but I cannot for the life of me figure out his program. So I pray and my spirit groans and I pray like this: "Lord God, I know you’re up to good, I just wish I could figure it out. What is going on here? I know you would never do anything that would ultimately hurt me, but God, somehow this doesn’t make sense and I don’t know how to pray."

So when I go through times like that, I have to do what Paul teaches us to do. I have to take a step back and remember what I know and thank God that what I know is far more important than what I can’t figure out. And I trust him. This is the way a Christian lives. This is the way a godly person walks in his life. He’s not cocky sure about every little move. He knows that God is mysterious in the way that he does his work, but he knows that behind it all is the hand of God doing his good work. And someday, what is it the old song says? We’ll understand it better by and by. Someday when we get to heaven, we’ll be able to look back at this time and say, "Lord, what were you doing? What was that all about?" And we’ll be able to trace his hand and see his purpose. Annie Johnson Flint tried to capture this in a little bit of poetry that she wrote.

She kind of likens life to a factory. Listen to this. "In a factory building there are wheels and gearings, there are cranks and pulleys, beltings tight or slack. Some are whirling swiftly, some are turning slowly, some are thrusting forward, some are pulling back. Some are smooth and silent, some are rough and noisy, pounding, rattling, clanking, moving with a jerk. In a wild confusion, in a seeming chaos, lifting, pushing, driving, but they do their work. From the mightiest lever to the tiniest pinion, all things move together for the purpose planned. And behind the working is a mind controlling and a force directing and a guiding hand.

So all things are working for the Lord’s beloved; some things might be hurtful if alone they stood. Some might seem to hinder and some might seem to draw us backward, but they work together and they work for good. All the thwarted longings, all the stern denials, all the contradictions hard to understand. And the force that holds them, speeds them and retards them, stops and starts and guides them, is our Father’s hand."

If you try to figure God out without God in the equation, you will never do it. Solomon will prove that to you. This whole book is his terrible, terrible experiences that go along with life without God. He is sorting life out, trying to make sense of it in this particular time in his life. As I mentioned to you before, he gets it right at the end. We’re so thankful for that. But right now, he’s in the midst of a quandary and that quandary as we’ve learned the last two days is sometimes what happens when bad is better.

Well, we’re going to take time off for the weekend. We’ll be back on Monday and we’re going to talk about wisdom to be thankful for as we move forward into the rest of this book. I’m so grateful to be your teacher. Thank you for inviting me in your home each day. It’s a wonderful privilege and I don’t take it for granted. We’ll see you next time right here. I’m David Jeremiah.

Guest (Male): The message you just heard originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and senior pastor Dr. David Jeremiah. Turning Point is also on radio and TV this weekend. To learn where to find it, visit our website, davidjeremiah.org/radio. That’s davidjeremiah.org/radio. Or call 800-947-1993.

Ask for your copy of David’s book, 31 Days to Happiness. It’s filled with Solomon’s wisdom and it’s yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International, and New King James versions complete with notes and articles from Dr. Jeremiah’s decades of study. Your notes of encouragement mean so much, so please write to Turning Point, PO Box 3838, San Diego, California 92163. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us Monday as we continue Searching for Heaven on Earth on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.