Ecclesiastes 9:13

Order of Service

• Preparation Reading — Ecclesiastes 12:9-13
• Call to Worship — Psalm 150
• Hymn — Hallelujah (#10)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Psalm Reading — Psalm 27 (responsive)
• Hymn — Beneath the Cross of Jesus (#251)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Sermon
• Hymn — Jesus Paid It All (#308)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Preservative of Wisdom and the Power of Sin

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 9:13-18

I. The Preservative of Wisdom

A. Solomon encounters something that seems "great" to him — a rare moment in Ecclesiastes

1. A poor wise man delivers a small city besieged by a great king
2. The contrast: wisdom overcomes might, yet the wise man is forgotten
3. This story has a cross-shaped quality — the "foolishness" of God making foolish the wisdom of the world

B. Solomon's conclusion: wisdom is better than might, even without recognition (Ecclesiastes 9:16)

1. We live in an age obsessed with getting credit; Solomon calls us to love wisdom for wisdom's sake
2. Proverbs 16:16 — wisdom is to be chosen over gold and silver
3. Proverbs 8:35-36 — wisdom personified: whoever finds wisdom finds life and favor with God

C. Wisdom functions as salt in a foolish world (Matthew 5)

1. Salt preserves and makes palatable — God's people shed the wisdom of Christ on the world
2. Examples from history: John Newton, Augustine, Calvin, Luther — all swimming in Christian salt before conversion
3. Pursue wisdom for wisdom's sake; it benefits your soul and has an unseen, preservative effect on society

II. The Popularity of Foolishness

A. The loud rule over the quiet (Ecclesiastes 9:17)

1. In public life, the loudmouthed fool wins the crowd; wisdom is heard only in quiet
2. Derek Kidner: in human politics, the last word regularly goes to the loud voice or cold steel — seldom to truth or merit
3. Social media amplifies this: theatrics and personality draw crowds, not wisdom

B. Popularity is as enticing as riches

1. The desire to be liked drives behavior — illustrated by Sally Field's Oscar speech
2. Matthew 10:22 — followers of wisdom incarnate may face hatred, unpopularity, even family rejection

C. Wisdom is by nature quiet and self-effacing; foolishness is loud and self-promoting

1. The picture is not a loud wise man versus a loud fool — wisdom doesn't fight on those terms
2. Even the faint whispers of wisdom are Salt and Light to a dying world
3. Wisdom incarnate will come again and silence all foolishness — wisdom will have the last word

III. The Putrification of Sin

A. One sinner destroys much good (Ecclesiastes 9:18)

1. Wisdom is better than weapons of war — a strong summit statement
2. Yet one sinner can undo all the good the poor wise man produced
3. The forgotten wise man (v. 15), his despised wisdom (v. 16), now overthrown by a single sinner (v. 18)

B. Sin's destruction spreads like gangrene

1. 1 Corinthians 5:6 — a little leaven leavens the whole lump
2. Joshua 7 — Israel defeated at Ai because of one sinner, Achan
3. Romans 5:12, Romans 5:15 — sin and death entered the world through one man, Adam; all creation subjected to decay

C. Sin destroys what is good, not what is evil

1. Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 14: sin is any want of conformity to, or transgression of, the law of God — both commission and omission
2. Sin is not pulling weeds — it pulls out the roses; it destroys the good, beautiful, and wisely made
3. Jesus addresses this in Mark 3 — Satan does not cast out Satan; a house divided cannot stand

D. The greater one man: Christ reverses Adam's ruin

1. Romans 5:17 — where one man's trespass brought death, the abundance of grace through the one man Jesus Christ brings life
2. Christ, wisdom incarnate and altogether good, destroys sin itself
3. Unlike the unclean things of the Old Covenant that made others unclean, those who touched Jesus were made clean — his power is greater than sin
4. In the meantime, trust that God uses our quiet wisdom as Salt and Light; wisdom incarnate will come again and foolishness will be vanquished once and for all