John 1:29-33 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

John provided the baptism of repentance. Jesus provides the baptism of the Holy Ghost. John came first and Jesus came after. Repentance must come before salvation. The younger you are in accepting Jesus Christ into your heart, the less you have to repent. The issue here is a heart prepared to receive, not the condition of the heart prior to salvation. All unsaved hearts are equal in the sight of God for He is looking to find Jesus there. If He cannot find Jesus in your heart, it matters not how little or how much you have sinned. It matters not if you only lied or are a mass murderer.

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Do you see the separation of heart and thought? Way speaks to the path you are walking. It does not address sin but rather the path you have chosen to take. The plea for God to lead you in the way everlasting is a sign of your surrender to His Lordship.

Ecclesiastes 7:25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:

These words were penned by King Solomon. He was blessed with wisdom by God for having a heart to serve his people. In many ways we think of Solomon in this way and take to heart much that he says without questioning the wisdom of those actions. Here is a prime example.

Sun Tzu in The Art of War is often misquoted as having said “know your enemy”. What is excluded is the line “know yourself”. In this quote from Ecclesiastes that same mistake is made. So often we look to the momentary quote, the line that sounds right and have ignored much that went before.

v1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

We have left the warning far behind, not even a distant memory because what we seek is what we want. The real dangers of following this 7:25 approach is hidden from view.

Look to the last verse from chapter 7. “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.”

The end result of studying “the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:” is judgment. What is it that our Lord said to us?

Matthew 7:1-2 Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Psalm 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

Victory comes from knowing who we are in Christ.