Thursday, 10th February 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-10 The World is Vanity
What are the values of the world? V1-4 ‘A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth; 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 mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.’ Onement, the house of feasting, laughter, songs, proud in spirit… in the first ten verses, many things are listed out that may seem wonderful but from the perspectives of the world. We long for a good job, a happy family, a wealthy lifestyle… but what can bring true joy and fulfilment?
But from God’s perspectives, He sees the fruits we bear. Not how successful we are or how much money we have, but if we bear godly fruits in our lives. Do we love our neighbours as ourselves? Do we mourn with the mourners? God gives us freedom not for us to do whatever we want, but to live everyday following the Will of God, to deal with our flesh desires and let our own will fully submit to God.
V5-7 ‘It is 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. Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason, and a bribe debases the heart.’ The teaching we receive is to lift up our lives. Do not think that teaching and rebuking of our lives will harm us. Because everyone likes to hear words of encouragement and praises, but we must know that without teaching of the wise, we will not be able to grow and walk further in this path of faith.
V8-10 ‘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. Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.’ Do not focus our own needs more than the kingdom of God. Learn to use the eyesight of God to see the world, because the things we worry about may not worth our time worrying. Do we really trust God’s love and guidance for us? He already knows every little thing in our lives, so why worry? When we pray, we don’t just give a list for God to fulfil them, but to share the gospel and disciple the nations.
Section Two V11-18 Do Not Be Opinionated
We should never be proud with what we have or what we can do. Because we are not God, and we will never be able to fully know God or others. Everyone has their own values and opinions, V11-12 ‘Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and profitable to those who see the sun. For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, but the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.’ We like to make judgement of things and of people, but at the end, it’s all just our opinion and what we think matters may not matter to God at all! How do we want to spend our time every day? Thinking about the earthly things or godly things? It’s our choice.
Section Three V19-29 Everything Comes from God
When we say that our lives are in God’s hands, we need to be humble ourselves, know the world is vanity and do not be opinionated. Everything comes from God and everything happens in our lives must have gone through God first. But we must have this faith to believe in His better plan in our lives, because our lives are in His hands!
传道书 7 – 我们一生都在神的手里
2022年2月10日 星期四
潘锡安牧师
在一个未来不明朗的世界里，我们的人生会发生什么事，没有人知道，但我们知道我们的终生都在神手中。我们如何能将这个真理放在心里并活出来呢？
一、v.1-10 世界是虚空的
V1-8 本段经文用五个“强如” 来比较神所看重的和我们所看重的事情。很多时候我们会计划、考虑、做很多我们觉得重要的事，但这些在神眼中都是虚空的。
V1“美好的膏油”指的是我们所拥有的东西，比如好的房子、车子、职位、生意、家庭，都是我们想要的；然而，神看重的是“名誉” – 我们生命所结出来的果子比外在拥有的东西更好；
V2“宴乐的家”是人们喜欢去玩乐的地方， 然而，我们要爱人如己，与哀哭的人一同哀哭，因为我们通常会不想要去那些遭遇困难的家庭，甚至忌讳去到家里丧亲的人那里，但神看重我们愿意用行动去爱人的心，进入“遭丧的家”；
V3 我们来到神的殿当中，不是嬉皮笑脸、家长里短，而是先祷告。“忧愁”指的是有敬畏的心，要时常警醒鉴察我们的心思意念，因为我们里面的欲望是深不见底的，不要追求肉体上任意妄为的自由，而要在灵里得自由，不被欲望辖制；
V5“歌唱”- 人们都喜欢歌舞升平，不喜欢“听智慧人的责备”。其实，能被提升是恩典，若我们在被提升的时候有玻璃心去保护自己，我们就只听见自己想要的东西，只以为自己是对的、是委屈的，然而在神的国里，“听智慧人的责备，强如听愚昧人的歌唱”；
V8“事情的终局强如事情的起头”- 我们做事前习惯先按照自己的经验计划、评估一下，然而我们没有先查考圣经或请权柄察验.我们跟神的关系如何？我们在祷告的时候是否只是让神完成我们想要的事项清单，还是与主连结？我们要用神的眼光看世界、看自己，才会发现原来我们都是活在罪中，所以要求神的光进入我们生命，又要为他人代求，这样，我们所没有求的，神都会加给我们。我们进学房能够毕业，不是为了一张证书，而是我们愿意倚靠神，凡事借着祷告祈求将所需要的告诉神。
二、v.11-8 不要自以为是
我们很容易看别人的不好，却看不到自己。我们容易看到别人的问题，因为我们里面有一个道德机制使我们没有怜悯的心，看不起别人 – 这就是分辨善恶树。圣经说，这世上没有一个义人，世人都犯了罪。我们无法有爱人如己的心，无法体谅别人的苦楚，而是在我们自己订立的标准里面判断哪些人可以得到我们的“怜悯”。
V16-18 我们要知道自己是罪人、恶人，我们要小心自己所想所做的，不要高看自己、也不要计较别人对我们不好，因为神必伸冤。我们要谦卑活在生命树下，用基督的心来看世界。
三、v.19-29 都是出于神
V19-20 智慧就是敬畏耶和华，“比城中十个官长更有能力”。我们要看自己是蒙恩的罪人，才能活在生命树下，才有聆听的耳，听得进智慧人的责备。
V27-28 原文这里是“我的魂”说的，从我的魂出发，看谁都是错的，只有我自己是对的。
V29 神造男造女，看我们都是好的，但我们都得罪了神。亚当犯罪，因为没有先神后人再大地，反而看重妻子胜过神；夏娃犯罪，因为她没有看重自己的权柄/遮盖说的话。
我们的一生都在神的手中，不要将我们的生命放在人的手上, 要相信神的计划必是比我们的一切谋算要好。