God offers us a full life in an empty world. The Irony of Solomon’s Great Wisdom The Irony of Solomon’s Statements About Sin The Irony of Being Self-Righteous The Irony of How God Views You Ecclesiastes 2:1-3 1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. (ESV) Solomon in all his wisdom, couldn’t “out-wise” evil. Ecclesiastes 7:19-25 19 One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town! 20 Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins. 21 Don’t eavesdrop on others—you may hear your servant curse you. 22 For you know how often you yourself have cursed others. 23 I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work. 24 Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find. 25 I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness. The Irony of Solomon’s Wisdom: Solomon in all his wisdom did not see himself as wise. Allow God and His Word to define a better path of living. Ecclesiastes 7:20 Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins. Ecclesiastes 7:26-29 26 I discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare. 27 “This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle. 28 Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman! 29 But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.” Sexual immorality has a way of capturing our hearts and our attention 1 Kings 11:1-8 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. The Irony of Solomon’s Statements About Sin: Solomon was definitely one of the worst examples in the Bible of sexual sin. Two Big Truths About Evil There is no “safe” sin God’s grace is enough to cover all of it 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. The Irony of Being Self-Righteous: We’re often better at judging others than we are our own hearts 1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. The Irony of How God Views You: You are no longer eternally defined by your actions.