"The Divine Aristocracy"
An examination of Ecclesiastes 9 & 10 and how it applies to the contemporary church..
Download or email this sermon Ungodly Rulers
Let's continue in Ecclesiastes 10 with verses 3-5:
"Even when a fool walks along the road his sense is lacking, and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool. If the ruler's temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because composure allays great offenses. There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which goes forth from the ruler:"
This is a ruler from whom we should not back down; an error goes forth from him. Therefore we know that this ruler is not God or of God – no error goes forth from God, and from Him we had all better back down. This, on the contrary, is a ruler we must stand up to, from whom error comes. Obviously this is the ruler of this world, the devil; however, it is also those who operate in his character. We must link this to what was in the previous chapter (remember, there are no chapter divisions in the original text), where we are told that “the words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools”. Ungodly leaders of the church operate in the character of Satan. Why did Jesus call the Pharisees a generation of serpents? (Mt. 23:33) Because Satan was also a serpent and a beguiler.
2 Corinthians 11:13:
"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers disguising themselves as apostles of Christ."
They try to look like the genuine article.
"And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light; therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their deeds."
Wicked leaders who come to deceive operate in the character of Satan, as Jesus describes in Matthew 23, serpents and deceivers - -or as Paul states, liars trying to look like angels of light. Do not back down from such rulers any more than you would back down from Satan himself.
Notice how these rulers operate: we are told in Ecclesiastes 10:4 not to abandon our position if his temper rises. These men hate to be challenged because they cannot respond biblically. If you are being attacked for upholding God's Word there is a holy anger that may come on you like it did on Moses when he found the people worshiping the golden calf, but you will always be able to respond biblically. These wicked leaders cannot respond biblically, so instead they say things like "You have a rebellious spirit", "Don't you trust us?", or "You're divisive". The divisive man, according to Romans 16:17, is the one who departs from biblical truth. They get angry when you confront them, but do not back down from them.
People ask me everywhere what they should do about the state of their church or the attitude of their pastor. However, they are asking the wrong person. I am not the Holy Spirit, nor is any man, however godly; we must all ask Jesus what we should do in our particular situations. If you find yourself in a bad church, you either stay in and fight or stand up and leave. If God tells you to stay in and fight, that is what you must do; if He tells you to leave, then that is what you must do. If you stay and fight, however, expect to be thrown out. But whatever you do, do not stay in and pretend everything is all right. Don't back down from these guys who rant and rave or have people behaving like fools. "The shouting of a ruler among fools" – don't back down from people like that; they operate in the devil's character. False prophets are exposed and proven by their false prophecies.
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Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.