Approaching Worship; Our Attitude Toward God
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Our focus tonight is on Proper Worship.
Our focus tonight is on Proper Worship.
Key Questions
How do you view God?
What are your thoughts about Him?
What is your understanding of God?
Where did you get your understanding of God?
Key Definition: Prolegomena
Prolegomena means the things that need to be said beforehand to give the learner a better understanding—or better—a foundation for what is forthcoming.
We are concerned with God—to know Him. It is worship. Any consideration of the Bible is worship and to me there is nothing so dangerous as to approach the Bible and its teaching as you approach any other text book.
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Ecclesiastes 5:1–7 (NASB95)
Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil.
Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.
For the dream comes through much effort and the voice of a fool through many words.
When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow!
It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?
For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.
If it’s black, fight back. If it’s brown, lay down. If it’s white, say good night (Ways to approach bears).
(Story about a big running bear at Northland camp)
I. Approaching God correctly (V. 1).
Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil.
A. Viewing God as He has revealed Himself
We are not at liberty in calling upon God to follow the suggestions of our own mind and will, but must seek God only in so far as he has invited us to approach him.
John Calvin
Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
“You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.
“Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it;
when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the Lord.
“When you come to appear before Me,
Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?
“Bring your worthless offerings no longer,
Incense is an abomination to Me.
New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.
“I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts,
They have become a burden to Me;
I am weary of bearing them.
“So when you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Yes, even though you multiply prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood.
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Reprove the ruthless,
Defend the orphan,
Plead for the widow.
“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are as scarlet,
They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They will be like wool.
“If you consent and obey,
You will eat the best of the land;
“But if you refuse and rebel,
You will be devoured by the sword.”
Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
II. Hasty words and impulsive thoughts (Vv. 2-6).
Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.
For the dream comes through much effort and the voice of a fool through many words.
When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow!
It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?
My words fly up, my thoughts remain below:
Words without thoughts never to heaven go.
—Shakespeare, Hamlet
William Shakespeare
Examples of rash or impulsive thinking
Judges 11:30–31 (NASB95)
Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand,
then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.
Matthew 17:1–8 (NASB95)
Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”
When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.
And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”
And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.
“But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before Him.”
There is a scene in heaven where there is silence.
Revelation 8:1
“When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”
But why the silence?
The first seal. The first seal introduces the Antichrist (Revelation 6:1–2). From the biblical description, we gather several details: he rides a white horse, which speaks of peace; at the beginning of the tribulation, the Antichrist will come under the pretense of bringing peace to the world (cf. Daniel 9:27).
The second seal. When the Lamb opens the second seal, great warfare breaks out on the earth (Revelation 6:3–4). This is symbolized by a rider with a large sword on a fiery red horse.
The third seal. The breaking of the third of the seven seals causes famine (Revelation 6:5–6). The rider that John sees is riding a black horse and “holding a pair of scales in his hand.” Then John hears a declaration that people will have to work all day to earn just a little food.
The fourth seal. The fourth seal is opened, and John sees a pale horse. “Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him” (Revelation 6:7–8). The result of this fourth seal is that one fourth of the earth’s population are killed “by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
The fifth seal. The scroll’s fifth seal reveals those who will be martyred for their faith in Christ during the tribulation (Revelation 6:9–11; cf. Matthew 24:9). T
The sixth seal. When the Lamb of God opens the sixth seal, a devastating earthquake occurs, causing massive upheaval and terrible devastation—along with unusual astronomical phenomena: the sun turns black, and the moon turns blood-red, and “the heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place” (Revelation 6:12–14). Survivors of the sixth seal, regardless of their social position, take refuge in caves and cry out to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (verses 16–17).
So why was there silence after the sixth seal? Because they have just experienced a phenomenon, a fear that has never been experienced in all of history.
The seventh seal. When the Lamb opens the seventh seal, “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (Revelation 8:1). The judgments that lead up to the close of the tribulation are now visible in the scroll and are so severe that a solemn silence falls upon all of heaven. The seventh seal obviously introduces the next series of judgments, for John immediately sees seven angels who are handed seven trumpets ready to sound.
At the moment of the seventh seal, all they could do was sit in anticipation of what was about to happen next.
(Back to our text about hasty or impulsive actions)
Ecclesiastes 5:2 (NASB95)
Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.
Our words are few and we keep our promises.
“God delights in those people who keep their word because he is the original ‘“promise keeper.’”
David G. Moore and Daniel L. Akin, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Max Anders, vol. 14 (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2003), 66.
Scripture speaks to God’s character and how He is unlike anyone else concerning character.
Num. 23:19
“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent;
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
God calls us to be more like Him. He calls us
For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.
III. Reverential Fear (Vv. 7).
For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.
-Ecclesiastes 5:7
“The author concludes the passage by again mentioning the fantasy of thinking our words affect God, and then He calls us to fear God. We have a hard time understanding the concept of the fear of the Lord because we live in a culture that has no reverence for authority. We no longer approach parents, teachers, or coaches with respect. Lack of respect and honor has bled over into a new casual Christianity where Jesus is our homeboy or copilot and not so much our absolute, formidable King and awe-inspiring, sovereign Master. The only way we can appropriately approach God is through Jesus.”
-Daniel L. Akin and Jonathan Akin, Exalting Jesus in Ecclesiastes
Mindful Meditation and Application for Self
Solomon uses dreams as an illustration and common theme, but why? There is nothing substantive or long-lasting about dreams. The morning comes and the dream is forgotten. Many words are also empty and don’t amount to anything of real value. But the person who fears God on solid ground. How do you view and approach God? Not only in life but how do you approach Him in prayer?
“ The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”
-Oswald Chambers
Fill in the Blanks.
I. Correctly
II. Hasty, impulsive
III. Reverential