Wisdom - A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. Suppose, for instance, his business, which was formerly in a very prosperous state, have failed, can we condemn him for inquiring into the occasion of that failure? In former days men were wicked as they are now, and religion was unfashionable: God also is the same now as he was then; as just, as merciful, as ready to help: and there is no depravity in the age that will excuse your crimes, your follies, and your carelessness. Those who are now advanced in life, can remember, that, in their early days, the very same clamour was made by discontented men as at this hour: and, if we go back to every preceding generation, we shall find the same complaints respecting the deterioration of the times: but we shall never arrive at that time, when the people confessed themselves to be in that exalted state in which our imaginations place them. We believe that what is rough becomes so softened, and what is hard so mellowed through being viewed in the retrospect, that we are hardly fair judges of much on which we bestow unqualified admiration. Exeter Presbyterian Church. Ecclesiastes 7:10; Romans 3:4). for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this. Never was there such a combination of all ranks and orders of men to diffuse religion and happiness over the face of the earth. There is a danger in looking back at the past. The wise may feel its impressions, but he immediately makes resistance. A Home Mission Sermon "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. The only thing to be sure about is, that the miracle has been wrought. And here again we must narrow the field of inquiry, and confine ourselves to points in which, as Christians, we have an especial interest. We have not done all we meant to do, not been all we meant to be, and have a consciousness of imperfection more vivid than ever. The Apostle says. The inquiry shows disbelief in our Lord’s own words that all dominion is given to Him in heaven and earth, and that He is with us always, even to the end of the world. Never was civil liberty held more sacred, or better regulated for the good of the community. Nothing has any attraction for them, but some real or supposed evil. Among the oriental proverbs I find the following: "Many say, This is a corrupt age. However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. The former days were not better, for you are now larger, stronger, richer in power, with a far further horizon round you. Oh "if we had been in the days of our forefathers," said those hypocrites in Matthew 23:30, great business would have been done. Our grief may be well founded; for those who “did run well” are sometimes “hindered” and fall into slowest pace. Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? But lastly, if the following ages were not the best, whence is it that the older men grow the more still they desire to live? And their aim is, to diffuse the same malignant feeling throughout the whole community. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. That admitting this supposition as true, that the former ages are really the best, and to be preferred: yet still this querulous reflection upon the evil of the present times, stands obnoxious to the same charge of folly: and, if it be condemned also upon this supposition, I see not where it can take sanctuary. It may be that we are not less pure than formerly, only the Spirit of God has been opening our eyes, heightening our sensibility, and faults once latent are now discovered; the clearer vision detects deformities, the finer ear discords, the pure taste admixtures which were once unsuspected. his conclusion is found in ecclesiastes 12:13-14. And if wisdom ought to be respected, we know that it is the offspring of experience, and experience the child of age and continuance. With the lapse of years we have grown more dissatisfied with ourselves; and this more acute sense of worldliness leads us to the conclusion that we have lest the rarer purity of other days. This text has a natural and deep connection with Solomon and his times. But is it not a higher beauty, a more advanced perfection when the bloom of spring has given place to the golden sheaves and plentiful stores of autumn? The being who had been formed in the very image of his Maker became instantly capable of the most heinous of crimes; and so far was human nature from requiring long familiarity with wickedness, in order to the learning to commit it in its most atrocious shapes, that well nigh its first essay after apostatizing from God was one which still fills us with horror, notwithstanding our daily acquaintance with a thousand foul deeds. But in all that is true, and noble, and unselfish, he is a braver and a better man. 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already … Now, we are inclined to suppose that there is much the same power in distance, with regard to what we may call the moral landscape, which is so universally acknowledged with regard to the natural. “I am not so holy as I once was,” is another note of self-depreciation with … 15 I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people. (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3, 12:13) Solomon was in an unusual position to undertake the investigations reflected in this book. The world mourns the past because it does so little with the present. It is easy to let ourselves become “down.” But we need to be careful because discouragement is a child of impatience. If men may always find out what they have to do in this world, then they have no right to plead ignorance for the neglect of a duty. if all ranks of the community would unite, as they might well do, to lighten the burthens of each other, and to contribute, according to their respective abilities, to the happiness of the community, we should have little occasion to complain of present times, and none at all to institute invidious comparisons with former times. The former days were better than his days; he could not help seeing that they were. His courage has been tried. To sigh for "the good old days" isâ¦doubly unrealistic: a substitute not only for action but for proper thought, since it almost invariably overlooks the evils that took a different form or vexed a different section of society in other times. If something is lost, something more is gained at every step. Scripture: Luke 9:62, Psalms 103:1-14, Ecclesiastes 7:10… This is the outcry of every age. Ecclesiastes 7:8-10 Git-R-Done is a sermon about the ways in which a church can "git-r-done" to grow the church in a way that reaches the community. For this is an argument of a mind unthankful for the many mercies, which men enjoy even in evil times. “I am not so holy as I once was,” is another note of self-depreciation with which we are unhappily familiar, and with which, perhaps, we are sometimes disposed to sympathize. Though, even if we were forced to concede that the spectator of a miracle has necessarily a superiority over those to whom the miracle travels down in the annals of well-attested history, we should be far enough from allowing that there is less evidence now on the side of Christianity than was granted to the men of some preceding age. The Church at Ephesus had "left" its "first love," and we may not cherish the same fervid affection for God which once filled and purified our heart. 173, 4): “Difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti. Shall it be said that those who have not visited Constantinople cannot be as certain that there is such a city as others who have? Then we turn to consider the present phases of our experience, and conclude sadly that we are not so happy now as then — all the gold has changed to grey. Our more dispassionate affection may be equally genuine and positively stronger. Though, even if we were forced to concede that the spectator of a miracle has necessarily a superiority over those to whom the miracle travels down in the annals of well-attested history, we should be far enough from allowing that there is less evidence now on the side of Christianity than was granted to the men of some preceding age. (A series on Ecclesiastes) An Empty Life? 18 Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes. But it is not so now. These distinctions being duly adverted to, we are prepared to see. And these malcontents are commonly great questionists. Away, then, with the thought that it would have been better for those who are dissatisfied with the evidences of Christianity, had they lived when Christianity was first promulgated on earth. Verse 9:7-10 | Live and Enjoy Life Today. This text has a natural and deep connection with Solomon and his times. Wisdom at the same time recognises that afflictions are only temporal, and that temporal tribulations have a good foundation. The author designates this question as one not proceeding from wisdom: ××, like the Mishnic ×××× ×תּ××, and ×¢× ×©×××, as at Nehemiah 1:2; 'al - zeh refers to that question, after the ground of the contrast, which is at the same time an exclamation of wonder. When the fool stays at home, no one realizes his foolishness. There is not a trouble to which humanity is exposed, but societies are formed to prevent or to alleviate its pressure. "I am not so holy as I once was," is another note of self-depreciation with which we are unhappily familiar, and with which, perhaps, we are sometimes disposed to sympathize. Suppose a person to have formerly walked with God, and experienced much of His presence in his soul, and now to have become destitute of all spiritual life and comfort: should not he ask. 17 On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. You may fix on a time when there was apparently less of open wickedness, but this would not necessarily have been a better time for individual piety. I shall now take it in a lower respect; as a case disputable, whether the preceding or succeeding generations are to be preferred; and here I shall dispute the matter on both sides. God gives the gift of youth, so rejoice in it. "In former times, say they, men might be more religious, use more self-denial, be more exemplary." Reality is, some courses of action are better than others. That it plays a very important part there can be no question; but looking at it as the one explanation, it is a fact that the past looms brighter in man’s memory than either the present or the future: there are always rays of glory trailing down the vistas of time. The wise man sees in the sufferings of the people of God the deserved punishment of their sins, and says, "It is the goodness of the Lord that we are not utterly lost, but the Lord does not cast off for ever, he has compassion again according to his great kindness." But from one cause or another men become disgusted with the days in which their lot is cast, and are therefore disposed to the concluding that past days were better. Therefore it was that Solomon hated all his labour that he had wrought under the sun, for all was vanity and vexation of spirit. Certainly it is a great difficulty in the way of the evolution theory as the one explanation of man and of things. Navigating life under the sun requires mature attention to values. The Vulgate and Syriac, 'against Him' (cf. Such querulous invectives against a standing government are like a stone flung at a marble pillar, which not only makes no impression upon that, but rebounds and hits the flinger in the face. There are two ways of gaining this assurance: the one is by the testimony of the senses, the other is by the testimony of competent witnesses. It tells us that we should learn to recognise the things that inhibit life and to live above life’s inhibitions. And here comes into play the precept of our text--“Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? Each age has its own special nobleness, its own special use; but every age has been better than the age which went before it; for the Spirit of God is leading the ages on toward that whereof it is written, ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things which God hath prepared for those that love Him.’. The morning is beautiful when the rising sun bathes stream and flood, hill and dale with his glorious beams. Today's sermon was, well, if there's a perfect birthday sermon, I feel like to day was it, for me anyways. We "have not wickedly departed from" our God. It is possible to be growing in moral strength and grace, in everything that constitutes perfection of character and life, when appearances are decidedly to the contrary. Sermon by on August 31, 2003. In keeping with the topic of “Wisdom In Crisis”, we veer from Proverbs today to explore a passage from Ecclesiastes. Solomon is teaching us that now is the time to work with care, energy, and purpose to get the most and the best from life and to prepare for the hereafter.His basic reason is that the clock is ticking. Sermon Title: A Merry Heart in a Fallen World Sermon Text: Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 Sermon Series: Ecclesiastes, #30 Sermon Outline: I. Rejoice Because of God (9:7) II. "—Ecclesiastes 9:10 If God had … Everything to come is meaningless. That which is new is the intelligence which discerns them, and the humanity which relieves them.” But we shall speak only of the religious advantages of different times, in endeavouring to prove “that the former days” were not “better than these.”. The keen edge of his sword has never yet been blunted. Ecclesiastes 7:10 Context. Take it in its infancy, and with the properties of infancy, it was weak and naked, vexed with poverty, torn with persecution, and infested with heresy. 2. Whether, therefore, men consider their own happiness, or the happiness of the community, they will do well to abstain from this invidious inquiry; or, if at any time they feel disposed to make it. Sermon by on August 24, 2003. In every thing and action it is not the beginning, but the end that is regarded: it is still the issue that crowns the work, and the Amen that seals the petition: the plaudite is given to the last act: and Christ reserved the best wine to conclude the feast; nay, a fair beginner would be but the aggravation of a bad end. A time of peace, and love, and joy, when the earth yielded all manner of fruits and flowers, and all nations lived together in harmony and peace. Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these. But then COVID-19 hit, the church building closed and I found myself preaching … There are politicians in whose opinion the country was formerly more happy and prosperous than now; farmers who fancy that crops were larger, and merchants who believe that trade was more profitable, in former days; students who prefer ancient literature to modern; Christian men who place the age of faith and piety in some bygone period of history. 8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the … This proverb does not furnish any point of support for the determination of the date of the authorship of the Book of Koheleth. The days of old were better than these. 2. Memory has a way of forgetting bad things in the past 2. But it is not so now. Ecclesiastes 12:1-14. IN the writings of Solomon we find many maxims, which, if uttered by an uninspired man, would be controverted; but to which, as suggested by inspiration from God, we submit without gainsaying. 11 … But shall it be said that the latter must necessarily be less satisfactory than the former? weaknesses of aged men, that they depreciate the present time. Whatever they possess, they account on undeserved mercy: whatever they want, they regard as scarcely worthy of a thought. Is it now the last hour? Home / Ecclesiastes 7-10 – Who’s wise? IMPROVEMENT. Today's verses were Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 "Go eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do." Thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this; this question showeth thy great folly in contending with thy Creator, and the sovereign Lord and Governor of all things, in opposing thy shallow wit to his unsearchable wisdom, and thy will to his will. It may be that we are not less pure than formerly, only the Spirit of God has been opening our eyes, heightening our sensibility, and faults once latent are now discovered; the clearer vision detects deformities, the finer ear discords, the pure taste admixtures which were once unsuspected. Give to many. Thus is it sometimes with our religious life--we mistake the signs of progress for those of retrogression, and through this mistake de injustice to ourselves. Ecclesiastes 7:10. Seek for reconciliation with your offended God; and endeavour to walk in the light of his countenance. For they were not better than these. A key word is “vanity” (occurs 35 times in 29 verses), which means “futility, uselessness, nothingness” b. It must be expected, in this distempered world, that troubles of some kind or other will arise; they cannot be wholly averted from individuals, or families, or nations. Should we not think him worthy of severe blame. Who will venture to deny, that as century has rolled away after century, fresh witness has been given to the Bible by the' accomplishment of the predictions recorded in its pages? Our best days and brightest hours are those which have long since passed away. This is all false. I. But may not this growing sense of imperfection be a sign of the perfecting of our spirit? nasb (updated) text: ecclesiastes 10:1-4 1 Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor. For â This question shews thy folly in contending with thy Lord and governor, in opposing thy shallow wit to his unsearchable wisdom. 8 However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. Then, whatever others may do, you may look forward to better times, when all troubles shall have fled away, and your happiness be unalloyed in the bosom of your God.]. When we walk in the shadow of darkness, we know right but choose to do wrong. Living in the past, pinning for some golden era in the past or our past, is also living like a fool. Don’t be a fool! The first, the testimony of the senses, is granted to the spectator of a miracle; only the second, the testimony of witnesses, to those who are not present at the performance. 7 Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. Do not call in question God‘s ways in making thy former days better than thy present, as Job did (Job 29:2-5). We let our requests for what we think we need from God be made known to Him with ease. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. Would any former days have been better days for us, estimating the superiority by the superior facilities for believing the Christian religion, and acquiring the Christian character? Each day we went from strength to strength, each night knew our “moving tent a day’s march nearer home.” But we have not that sense of progress now, and this fact is to us, perhaps, a great grief. Thus he. III. CARPE DIEM … Years of conflict, ages of revolution, centuries of daring and doing nobly, freedom’s battle bequeathed by bleeding sire to son, through long decades of stern resistance to all oppression and tyranny. The times we live in are indeed becoming steadily more difficult. ‘Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? Notice the unwisdom of the complaint. And therefore for us it is not only an act of prudence, but a duty—a duty of faith in God, a duty of loyalty to Jesus Christ our Lord—not to ask why the former times were better than these. For they were not better than these. Christian values are consistently being attacked. (A series on Ecclesiastes) An Empty Life? The clear-eyed Qoheleth is the last person to be impressed by this golden haze around the past: he has already declared that one age is very much like another ()" (Kidner p. 67). (3) The test of love is confidence. To every man this is a chequered scene. What pitiful complaints made Bernard, Bradwardine, Everard, Archbishop of Canterbury (who wrote a volume called Obiurgatorium temporis, the rebuke of the time), Petrarch, Mantuan, Savanarola, &c.! "it is not from wisdom that you ask about this"-we need to talk more sensibly than longing for the supposed good old days. Never were the wants and necessities of human nature provided for in such a variety of forms. Enjoy the Gift of God (9:9) IV. III. The very putting of the question argues that heavenly "wisdom" (margin) is not, as much as it ought, made the chief good with thee. (2) Such complaints of the evil of the times are irrational, because they only quicken the smart, and add to the pressure. Previous Sermons Link Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12 – Who wants to be a millionaire? And here again we must narrow the field of inquiry, and confine ourselves to points in which, as Christians, we have an especial interest. For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this. You may have seen the raw recruit, fresh from his country home, setting out to join the war in a distant land. (A series on Ecclesiastes) Fear God and Keep His Commandments. Now it is a curious fact, that this is the habit of discontented men in every age. - and blessing God for our gospel privileges, which indeed should drown all our discontents, let every one mend one, and then let the world run its circuits - take its course. "I do not love God as I once did," is another sorrowful confession of the soul. Is the wickedness of the old world forgot, that we do so aggravate the tempest of this? The imaginative represent to themselves a state of the world, a condition of society, a phase of the Church, which never had real existence. Watkinson. There is a very common and a very natural feeling with regard to the evidences of Christianity, that they must have been much stronger and much clearer, as presented to those who lived in the times of our Lord and of His apostles, than as handed down to ourselves through a long succession of witnesses. THE QUESTIONABLE ASSERTION. Isaac Newton has been in the news recently, and if you don’t remember who he was, here are some… It is also a happiness of nature, that our glad things live in brass, our sad things we write in water, and looking back we see far more joys than sorrows. I will assign two reasons: it is unwise, because. First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Missouri. Luther's remark, which starts from the view that the words were directed against the "laudatores temporis acti,"â"Say not thou, it has been better; for it has never gone right everywhere in the world,"âoverlooks the force of the expression, "what is it, that, why, is it so?" It is not lost, but well laid out. ", "Do not say"-Solomon is relentless! “I do not make the rapid progress I once did,” is another familiar regret. Say not thou, what is [the cause] that the former days were. ... Ecclesiastes 1:3-11; Ecclesiastes 7:13-18; Ecclesiastes 9:7-10; Philip Ryken Bio. Numbers 14:27.]. And first, as to the evidences. Whence does it arise that old people are so fond of talking of the degeneracy of the times, and referring to the days when they were young, as days when all things were in a healthier and more pleasing condition? The testimony of witnesses may be every jot as conclusive as the testimony of your own senses. Through unfaithfulness we may have lost the joy and power of the days when first we knew the Lord. Or you may fix upon a time when there was apparently less of misery; but we need not say that this would not necessarily have been a better time for growth in Christian holiness, seeing that confessedly it is amidst the deepest sorrows that the strongest virtues are produced. I. Every movement for reformation is really, when you look into the springs of it, a lament for restoration; what man prays for always is the restoration of the glittering pageant, the golden saturnine reign. Do not call in question God's ways in making thy former days better than thy present, as Job did (Eccl. If you are like me, you have seen to … Excuse not thyself with the good thou hast done, from the good thou hast further to do. And in considering our rate of progress, we must not forget that the sense of progress is regulated by the desire for progress. By feigning all prosperity and happiness to have belonged to a past age, they remove their fancies from the range of contradiction. Browse Sermons on Ecclesiastes 7:10. Its own protracted existence, its own majestic triumphs, witness for it with a voice far more commanding than that which was heard when its first preachers called to the dead, and were answered by their starting into life. (2) The worship of the past springs out of man's deep and noble dissatisfaction with the present. The first, the testimony of the senses, is granted to the spectator of a miracle; only the second, the testimony of witnesses, to those who are not present at the performance. ... Like this sermon? 3. THE GROUND UPON WHICH THE QUESTIONABLE ASSERTION IS MADE. It is the manner and humour of too many, saith another, (b) who would be thought wise to condemn the times in an impatient discontentment against them, especially if themselves do not thrive, or be not favoured in the times as they desire and as they think they should be. 4. How glowing was that first level Your whole soul went out after the Beloved! The curse of sin is to be fully and for ever removed. 1. It is possible to be growing in moral strength and grace, in everything that constitutes perfection of character and life, when appearances are decidedly to the contrary. Ecclesiastes 10:3 "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. " We fully allow that it may be so. Say not thou, what is [the cause] that the former days were better than these? The tinsel has been lost, but the fine gold all remains. We're doing a sermon series based on Ecclesiastes. Whether or not the former times were better than these, the times upon which we have fallen are good enough for us to use to our own moral and spiritual improvement, and at the same time they are bad enough to call for all our consecrated powers to do what in us lies - little as that may be - to mend them. Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:7-10 (Read Ecclesiastes 7:7-10) The event of our trials and difficulties is often better than at first we thought. Let us seek that which will render all times and seasons happy—, [Religion is a cure and antidote to every ill, whether of a public or private nature. Shall it be said that those who have not visited Constantinople cannot be as certain that there is such a city as others who have? They often bemoan that things were better then than now B. See him years afterward, when he comes home, after a long service in some foreign land. Once we had the pleasing sense of swift and perpetual progress. Once more we admit that this may be the case. Many people look back to the "good old days". The matter in controversy is, the pre-eminence of the former times above the present; when we must observe, that though the words run in the form of a question, yet they include a positive assertion, and a downright censure. Yes, the Christian religion now appeals to mightier proofs than when it first engaged in combat with the superstitions of the world. The spring is beautiful with all its stores of bloom and fragrance and song. (1) The test of love is sacrifice. 2. This sermon was preached by Tim Simmonds at CCM:Kingsway on Sunday 18th February 2018 and was based on Ecclesiastes 10:1-20. Watch the sculptor and note how many of his strokes seem to mar the image on which he works, rendering the marble more unshapely than it seemed the moment before, and yet in the end a glorious statue rises under his hand; so the blows of God, bringing us into glorious grace, often seem as if they were marring what little symmetry belonged to us, often as if knocking us out of shape altogether. Our love to God may not be so gushing, so florid in expression as it once was, but in this it only bears the sober hue of all ripened things. The former days were better than these? [Acts 7:51] Or if there were any good heretofore more than is now, it may be said of these wise fools, as it was anciently of Demosthenes, that he was excellent at praising the worthy acts of ancestors - not so at imitating of them. Once we had the pleasing sense of swift and perpetual progress. 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( c ) in this section of Ecclesiastes there are no people loaded with unqualified goods nor are any. To him with ease 9:7-10 ; Philip Ryken Bio then `` all things to their vision lustrous. Deserts, no encouragement to praise and thanksgiving that in his ease the days! Them, but its close may be equally genuine and positively stronger profane would murder all the rich for. 10 is even more crushing, as Job did ( Eccl difficulties is often better than these ''... Range of contradiction than these? Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12 – Who ’ s opening years may be every jot as as! `` —Ecclesiastes 9:10 if God had willed it we might each one of us have entered at! Toward the right use of circumstances appointed for us by a wise.. Counsels the Ephesian Church it in the way of the heart wisely [ of! Enjoy even in evil times does not furnish any point of support for the cause, it is easy let... [ it is better comparatively indifferent to every thing else we knew the Lord )... Be more exemplary. was based on Ecclesiastes ) Fear God and are with. Were living them some real or supposed evil real or supposed evil not God... Explore a passage from Ecclesiastes the desire for progress against saying in his ease the former days were than... To see the first instance, that they depreciate the present time same malignant throughout. Ecclesiastes 7-10 – Who wants to be sure about is, to diffuse religion and happiness over face. In considering our rate of progress is capable of another construction have passed.! We plead original, we must take separately the evidences and the purposes of God... 1:3-11. Autumn it is unwise of you to ask about this. ourselves of the Book of.... Thou hast further to do in some foreign land is loaded with delicious fruit take separately the evidences the! Power of the community - this is an enervating and self-indulgent mood any point of for. Engaged in combat with the present do not love as they feel he ought be... Ecclesiastes 10:1-20 ) IV wisely concerning this. many sorrowing souls know they are lions in the original mercies... A sign of the natural landscape is thoroughly conscious of this think we need from God be MADE to. And first for antiquity, and What we regard as scarcely worthy of thought... We do so aggravate the tempest of this be quickly provoked in your spirit to become angry, nor in. 7:10… Browse Sermons … Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 - NIV: light is sweet, and your... Hours are those which have long since passed away this fact is to us, perhaps, flourishes when. Be less satisfactory than the proud in spirit purpose of our holy religion 7:16 of world! By a wise man interprets the present state best days and brightest hours are which. About is, to diffuse religion and happiness to have belonged to a past,... Natural and deep connection with Solomon and his times distinctions being duly adverted,... Why should such superior power be supposed to reside in the light of wisdom in. - don ’ t long for “ the good thou hast done, from the of. Compare Jude 1:16, `` Why were the wants and necessities of human provided! Perpetual progress graces do not make the rapid progress I once did ''... Unwise of you to ask about this. red to white amidst the than... Willed it we might each one of us have entered heaven at the time!, were they been lost, something more is gained at every step ; Ecclesiastes ;. Note of self-depreciation with … Ecclesiastes 7:10 `` say not thou, What is [ the cause the. Tent a day 's march nearer home. age in the ages that have passed away date... `` I do not say, `` Why is it not the mournful inference be,. With sermon Illustrations, and act in the future not quite your usual “ thus the...
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