July 22, 2018 – Wisdom from Ecclesiastes and the Sermon on the Mount – Under the Sun or In the Light

Under the Sun or In the Light

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 - New International Version (NIV)      

¹² I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! ¹⁴ I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be straightened;
    what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶ I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸ For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
    the more knowledge, the more grief.

What was the Teacher (verse 12)?

How did the Teacher study and explore “by wisdom all that is done under the heavens” (verse 13)?

What has the Teacher seen (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does the Teacher mean by “all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (verse 14)?

What can not be straightened (verse 15)?

Who is the Teacher wiser than (verse 16)?

What did the Teacher decide about the “understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly” (verse 17)?

What comes with “much wisdom” (verse 18)?

What comes with “more knowledge” (verse 18)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Matthew 7:15-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

How does Jesus describe false prophets (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he asks “do people pick grapes from thornbushes” (verse 16)?

What tree bears good fruit (verse 17)?

What tree cannot bear good fruit (verse 18)?

Where will trees that do not bear good fruit end up (verse 19)?

How will we recognize false prophets (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does what Jesus said about false prophets in Matthew 7:15-20 apply to what the Teacher says in Ecclesiastes 1:12-18?  Why do we need to consider all of Ecclesiastes before we apply what Jesus says?

Romans 6:19-23 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Why is Paul offering an example “from everyday life” (verse 19)?

How should we offer ourselves as “slaves to righteousness leading to holiness” (verse 19)?

When were we “free from the control of righteousness” (verse 20)?

In your opinion, how would you answer Paul’s question “what benefit did you reap at that time from the things that you are now ashamed of” (verse 21)?

When do we reap the benefit that “leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life” (verse 22)?

What are the “wages of sin” (verse 23)?

What is the “gift of God” (verse 23)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, why can Paul talk about people who used to be slaves to sin but are now slaves of God in Romans 6:19-23 when the Teacher said in Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 that “what is crooked cannot be straightened”?

In your opinion, what does Paul’s statement in Romans 6:19-23 that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” help us to understand about the good and bad trees that Jesus is talking about in Matthew 7:15-20?

Ephesians 5:8-20 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴ This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How does Paul describe the Ephesians that he was writing to (verse 8)?

What is the “fruit of the light” (verse 9)?

In your opinion, “what pleases the Lord” (verse 10)?

How should we treat “the fruitless deeds of darkness” (verse 11)?

What is shameful (verse 12)?

When do things become visible (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what does it mean for the sleeper to wake up and have Christ shine on them (verse 14)?

How should we not live (verse 15)?

How should we live (verse 15)?

Why should we make “the most of every opportunity” (verse 16)?

How do we avoid being foolish (verse 17)?

What should we be filled with (verse 18)?

How should we speak to each other (verse 19)?

When should we give thanks (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the wisdom that is “chasing after the wind” in Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 and and living as the wise as Paul instructs in Ephesians 5:8-20?

In your opinion, what does Paul in Ephesians 5:8-20 teach us about the good fruit from the good tree that Jesus tells us about in Matthew 7:15-20?

In your opinion, how does Paul in Ephesians 5:8-20 give us a better understanding of how we can receive the “gift of God” that is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord that is promised in Romans 6:19-23?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Ecclesiastes, Matthew, Romans and Ephesians help us to understand the difference between things that are “done under the sun” and things that are done as “children of the light”?

In your opinion, how can we avoid the wisdom that is meaningless and live in the light as the wise?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)