STAND IN AWE BEFORE HIM

INTRODUCTION

One of the things that bother me to my core is the lack of respect that it's given to the Lord these days. An atheist denies the very existence of God; insults God; uses God’s name in vain. A modern scientist claims that true science must explain the origin of the cosmos without reference to God. A televangelist seeks to manipulate God, frequently using God’s name and Jesus’ name in healing services, ultimately to enrich himself. A Christian speaks to God in prayer as if God were a mere pal. A theologian dissects the nature of God as if God were a creature. In our busyness, all of us have times when we think we alone are in charge and forget God.[1]

Have you noticed that it has gone beyond the point of not believing in him to an outright assault on his character and his name? According to Steven Carter, American intellectuals have moved beyond the culture of disbelief and have entered the culture of disrespect. This movement from benign neglect to active opposition, hostility, and discrimination is being played out in academia, the business world, and government. This is a dangerous place to be as a nation, but my greatest concern is about the disrespect that he receives from those who are supposed to be his children. There was a time when respect for God's name and word were revered, But it ain’t like that anymore. It is not uncommon these days to hear professed believers mixing God’s name with cursing slandering and blaspheming. Striving to live holy and sanctified lives have been replaced with a new brand of falsely attributing human designs to God, when in fact God has nothing to do with the thoughts they think, the decisions they make, or the actions they take. A.Z. Tozer remarked: “There’s an awesomeness about God which is missing in our day altogether; there’s little sense of admiring awe in the Church of Christ these days.” I submit to you today beloved that the real problem facing American culture and society today is that it does not see Christians standing in awe before the Lord.

Context of the Text:

In the text before us this afternoon, we are arrested by the reality that Time is on a steady march toward eternity and that God is the one controlling it. When we look at this passage of the scripture, we see from the start that the overarching theme emerges right away. In fact, the word time appears at least 29 times in the first 8 verses and again in verse 11. The question that needs to be answered is “What does the author intend to say about time?” Is it about humans discerning the right time to act or about God setting the times, or a combination of the two? Although the passage speaks about “workers” (v. 9), it nowhere makes explicit the point that people should act at the right time. On the contrary, it clearly makes the point that God set the times; in fact, “he has made everything suitable for its time” (v. 11).[2]

The Author’s intention can be seen in verse 14 “so that all should stand in awe before him.” But the author’s goal is more than simply to encourage Israel to stand in awe before God. With his lengthy poem on the times and the following arguments, he seeks to convince Israel to stand in awe before God. I truly believe that this is the assignment that I have been given today as it relates to this gathered congregation; I rose to convince this body of believers to stand in awe before their sovereign God.[3]

See Eccl 3:1-15

Ecclesiastes 3:1–15 (NASB 2020)

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven— 2 A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. 5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. 6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. 8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace. 9 What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to occupy themselves. 11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; 13 moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will fear Him. 15 That which is, is what has already been, and that which will be has already been; and God seeks what has passed by.

CENTRAL IDEA:

PEOPLE NEED TO STAND IN AWE BEFORE GOD BECAUSE HE GIVES TIME

Explanation:

The poem starts with the times that begin and end every human life. Verse 2, “a time to be born, and a time to die.” We did not decide to be born, let alone the time to be born. And we don’t decide the time to die. The time to be born and the time to die are beyond our control.

Verse 9 challenges this proposition by asking “What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors?” So many people are asking this question and deciding how they will relate to God based on their station in life. They look at time as a punishment rather than as a gift.

New American Standard Bible. 2020. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

Illustration:

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching One Day at a Time

One Day at a Time

The nineteenth-century Scotsman, author Robert Louis Stevenson, is reputed to have said: “Anyone can carry his burden, however heavy, until nightfall. Anyone can do his work, however hard, for one day. Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely till the sun goes down.”

Application

Instead of complaining about our lives we ought to Stand in awe before him telling him “Lord, thank you for my life.”

PEOPLE NEED TO STAND IN AWE BEFORE GOD BECAUSE HE SET THE TIME

Explanation:

The text says "He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end” (v 11). This is interpreted to mean he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” Just as Jesus said to his disciples, “It is not for you to know the times,” so the Old Testament Teacher declares that human beings “cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” We do not know what God has done in the distant past nor what he will do in the far-off future.

Illustration

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Creation/Creator

The story is told of a science professor who constructed a planetarium, a precisely scaled model of the universe. A student came into his office and asked him who made it. The professor said, “No one.”

The student laughed and asked again, “Come on, who made this fantastic piece of precise work?” The professor replied, “No one. It just happened.”

The student became confused and angry, and the professor said, “Well, if you can go out of this class and look at nature around you and believe it just happened, you can also believe this precise piece of work just happened without a creator.”

Application

Preaching Christ from Ecclesiastes: Foundations for Expository Sermons Sermon Exposition

since human beings cannot understand the times God set, let alone control them, it is best to concentrate on the present: enjoy God’s gifts of food, drink, and toil

See Ps. 31:15

Psalm 31:15 NASB 2020

15 My times are in Your hand; Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.

PEOPLE NEED TO STAND IN AWE BEFORE GOD BECAUSE HE IS ETERNAL

Explanation

Preaching Christ from Ecclesiastes: Foundations for Expository Sermons (Sermon Exposition)

Verse 14 is the key verse in this passage: “I know that whatever God does endures forever;50 nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.” Here finally we get an answer to the question why God set the times. The Teacher says, “Whatever God does endures forever.” The times God set are permanent and unchangeable. “Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it.” We cannot add anything to the past, nor can we take anything away from it. By the same token, we cannot add anything to the future, nor can we take anything away from it. The point is “that what God wants to do will invariably be done, and no human being can hope to alter the course of things by sheer effort.”

“God has done this,” the Teacher concludes in verse 14, “so that all should stand in awe before him.” This is why God has set the times: “so that all should stand in awe before him.” This was God’s purpose in setting the times. God’s times make us aware of our helplessness: we cannot control the times. .

Illustration

Back to the Future is an American science fiction/comedy movie directed by Robert Zemeckis and released in 1985. It is about a young man named Marty McFly who accidentally travels into the past and jeopardizes his own future existence. This is the mindset of those who seek to go back to attempt alter the events of time. It is a just that a fiction .

Application

God’s times make us aware of our total dependence on God: we do not even know the times. Awareness of our helplessness and dependence makes us stand in awe before God. He is the sovereign God who controls all things. Jesus says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted” (Matt 10:29–30). God set the times; he controls all things

CONCLUSION

Preaching Christ from Ecclesiastes: Foundations for Expository Sermons Sermon Exposition

Why is it that we often do not stand in awe of God? Why is it that we often think that we alone are in charge and forget God? Why is it that even when we remember God and approach him in prayer, we do so with a lack of awe and reverence? Sometimes we talk to God as if he were a mere pal; at other times we may seek to manipulate God. Why is it that we often fail to revere God?

Could it be that we do not stand in awe of God because we cannot see him? When we see lightning strike close by, we stand in awe. When we see a tornado approaching, we hunker down in fear. When Israel saw the lightning on Mount Sinai and heard the thunder, “all the people who were in the camp trembled” (Exod 19:16). But when the signs of God’s awesome presence were gone, they soon rebelled against God.

Given our failure to stand in awe before God, the Teacher urges us to consider the hand of God we see in creation around us. God set the times to which we are subject. God set the time for our birth and the time for our death and every appropriate time in between. In other words, God is in control and we are completely dependent on him. When we reflect deeply on God’s greatness and our own dependence on God, we are bound to “stand in awe before him.”

Jesus also taught us to stand in awe before God. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28). Jesus also instructed us to address God as “our Father in heaven” (Matt 6:9). God is in heaven. This means that God is wholly other from us his creatures. He is infinite while we are finite. He has all authority while we are his subjects. He controls the times while we are subject to the times.

There is only one way to approach this God, and that is with awe. Whether we seek God in personal prayer or worship him with his people, whether we study his word or study his creation, there is only one way to approach God—and that is with reverence and awe. As the author of Hebrews puts it, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:28–29). We should always approach God with reverence and awe.

[1]Greidanus, Sidney. 2010. Preaching Christ from Ecclesiastes: Foundations for Expository Sermons. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.