It is Better to Fear God
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
The life of a Christian is often not an easy one. We are never told that is will be either. We will often see where people that are openly against Christ are successful in life and things are going well for them while some of the most devout followers of Christ deal with some of the most difficult things that life offers. This is not always the case but it seems to be so often. This leaves us as Christians asking why. This leaves non-Christians asking why. This leaves many questioning the faith. Because of all the questions that this leaves for Christians and non-Christians alike, and the prominence that this topic holds in everyone's life we can see why this is an important topic for our own personal Christian walk as well as for our defense of the faith.
This last weekend I was able to spend a lot of time with my friends going through a book called caled “all things for good” by a puritan named Thomas Watson. Throughout this book he talked much about suffering, temptation, sin, and evil as he expounded Romans 8:28 which we will read here in just a moment. It was a great couple of days but it also showed me how much suffering there truly is in the life of a Christian. Thomas Watson had suffered much through his life, many of my friends have had a higher level of hardships in recent times as well.
The topic of suffering and bad things happening to good people is one that has struck particularly close to home within this last year. From the many health issues that have gone on with my family that is here and that you know about, to the multiple miscarriages the my wife and I went through. This is all on top of the many pains and difficulties that have happened through my ministry within the last year. As all of this has happened I have seen and heard of countless people that are not living for Jesus, or even following him for that matter, having babies and living a great life.
This is not meant to be a pity party for me though, I don’t need it. I know the truths that Paul tells us in places like Romans 8:28 which says “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” I also know what the preacher says in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 8 which is going to be our focus for today so if you would please turn with me there. Ecclesiastes 8.10-13 with emphasis on verse 12.
While you are turning I will give us a little bit of background for the book of Ecclesiastes. This is a book that is not turned to as much as some, this is probably because it is not the most upbeat book of the Bible. I find that I enjoy reading this book most when I am feeling down because that is the point I most relate to it. The big themes that you see throughout it is that everything is vanity, everything is worthless and meaningless, and that we are to just fear God. This hits on the tragic reality of the fall as we will also see in our passage today. The author calls himself the preacher at the opening of the book and is technically unknown, but from what is seen in the book it can be determined that it is most likely King Solomon. Solomon, as you know, is known for his wisdom and this book is a part of the wisdom literature in the Bible. As I mentioned before though with the big themes that run through the book, the bulk of the wisdom, informs us that everything is meaningless, sin is a problem, and fearing God is the only way to get through it all.
This leads us to our passage today as we consider the problem with sin and the vanity of life and see ultimately that we just need to fear God. Lets read now our passage, Ecclesiastes 8.10-13.
Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
These few verses give us insight into a lot of the struggles that we have as mankind. From the heart of man being fully set to do evil, to the prosperity of sinners and the struggles of the righteous, and even on the eventual turning of the tables after our time on earth is done.
The area that we are going to focus on here today is verse 12. This verse is the focal point of the section and we will see how it is built up by the surrounding verses and the surrounding chapters. In this verse there are three conjunctions that introduce a clause. or put a different way there are three sections to this verse that are started by connecting words. These words are; though, yet, and because. These three words will stand as the three points of today's sermon. The thing about these sections is that they all rely on each other for meaning. On their own they don’t stand very well but they build to give us the fullest understanding of what the author is trying to convey to us. Lets read this verse on it’s own now, Ecclesiastes 8.12
Ecclesiastes 8:12 (ESV)
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him.
This verse and all of its sections begin to give us some understanding to some of the most difficult questions about the faith. So often we take these questions such as why do the righteous suffer and explain it as the mystery of God. Let me tell you there are some things that we are not meant to ever understand, but there are more things that we can grasp if we will just seek out the understanding. Today let us seek to at least begin to understand Christian suffering.
Pray
Though
Though
Ecclesiastes 8:12 (ESV)
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life,
This part of the verse that we are focusing on follows the words in verse 11 that say that mans heart is fully set to do evil. This is the core issue that this passage presents, people are fully set to do evil and live lives engulfed in sin having never repented of it and what do we see? We see them live a nice long life, we see what we think is the exact opposite of what they deserve. The preacher says it in a different way in Ecclesiastes 7:15 “In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.” This can be discouraging to us who were once fully set on evil but have now repented and strive after holiness. We follow Christ, we don’t live that way, why does this happen?
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Why is the question that goes through the minds of thousands of Christians, if you have ever thought this know you are not alone. The root of this issue along with all of our issues goes all the way back to the fall in Genesis. Once sin entered into the world it brought with it all forms of nasty things. This question is no different from why do bad things happen to good people, or why do good things happen to bad people. It all gets back to our issue of sin.
I am not saying in this that we are rewarded or punished for our sins. It is the larger problem of sin as a whole. It says in Matthew 5:45 “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Just like the sun rises on all and the rain falls on all the effects of sin fall on all.
We as Christians do tend to face more hardship though because of our faith. The Christian life is described in many ways throughout the Bible and easy is not one of them. It’s our dwelling in the world that brings the added hardships because we are not of the world. We are in the sinful fallen society but that is not what we are. We are to be a set apart people, a holy people, and if there is anything that the world dislikes it is those that choose to not conform to their ways.
Bad things happen to good people because of the broader issue of sin. More hardships are also faced by followers of Christ because we are not of the world. Good things happen to bad people because the broader issue of sin. Our world is sinful so it is easy to see that the sinful people can get ahead in it. Overall the rain falls on the just and the unjust, bad and good happen to all.
Yet
Yet
Ecclesiastes 8:12 (ESV)
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God,
The preacher of Ecclesiastes knows it will be well with those who fear God. Even though we see those that do not fear God being successful and thriving here on earth, we can know that it will be well with those who fear him, with those who follow him, with those who are true Christians.
Paul also says with confidence in Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” It will be well, it will work for our good. This is the truth that we can stand on.
It may be tough right now but God will use that, think of the truths that we see in James 1:2–4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” These trials and hardships shape us, they push us forward in our progressive sanctification, they grow us in our holiness, they grow us in our Christlikeness. We can think about this in the way that the preacher J.C. Ryle said:
Trials are intended to make us think, to wean us from the world, to send us to the Bible, to drive us to our knees.
J. C. Ryle
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So when will it be well? We see that it isn’t here on earth because our time here will be wrought with joyous hardships as a result of sin but we can trust them to grow us, preparing us for something. It will be well for us as individuals when we get there, when we get the gain of leaving this life and going to be with the Lord. It will be well with all that fear the Lord after Christ returns and binds Satan ushering in his millennial reign and we enjoy the new creation eternally with him.
I know that it will be well with those who fear God. Sin has come in and wreaked havoc on earth and it always seems as though we are more fallen today as a people than yesterday. It will be well with those who fear God but for those who do not we see in Ecclesiastes 8:13 “But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.” This person does not get the same assurance, they get the promise of judgment. God is just and here on this earth we have the freedom to make our own choices but there will come a day when the just judge will enact his judgment. The price for even single sin is eternal punishment. This is what is promised for those who do not fear God, for those that are not saved. Praise be to God though because salvation is possible! It is through the death of Jesus on the cross that we might be saved. Through his death he paid the price that we owed and by putting our faith in him and repenting of our sins we are able to accept this salvation that he offers. If you have not put your faith in him it will not be well with you, you may gain the world but in the end you forfeit your soul. You have the opportunity to change this right now, turn from your sin and walk in the fear of God.
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Because
Because
Ecclesiastes 8:12 (ESV)
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him.
We know that it will be well for those that fear God because they fear before him. This wording is a bit difficult to grasp in the English. The NET translation puts it this way “for they stand in fear before him” while the LSB translates it “who fear him openly”. We can gather from these varying translations that this is an outward fear, this is living a life that fears God everywhere not just on Sunday morning. This is a lifestyle that is evident in all true Christians.
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So what does it mean to fear God? Martin Luther describes this as a two fold fear. A fear of getting the punishment that we deserve and a fear of disappointing our Master. The fear of getting the punishment that we deserve is the fear that brings us to the point of salvation and the fear of disappointing our master is the fear that we walk in throughout our Christian life. This fear is similar to a son that does not want to disappoint his father. It’s the fear I have when my dad is walking into the barn to see the progress I have made on my race-car, in that instance I am not worried about some punishment (I am an adult that owns the car) rather I want him to approve of the work that I have done. In both instances it is tough to live up to the standards before us. For me with my dad it is tough because I am a better driver than I am a mechanic (and I have never won a race), for us with God we have to war against the sin in the world that so often engulfs us.
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I want to take a brief moment here to address what this fear is not. This is important because we have such a narrow view of the use of the term fear. This fear is not being afraid of God. Afraid is what we are when someone jumps out in front of us unexpectedly. That is not what fearing God is. Fearing him is the desire to diligently live up to his standards. We will fail but this is what we strive after.
Fearing God openly is living life in the fear of him. This is being consistent, not just when we think about it or at church. This goes down to our own personal time when we are alone, because still then we are before God.
This is an important thing in the life of a Christian and because of it we can know that it will be well among us through all of life's toils. Because we fear God we can know that in the end it will be well among us. The same cannot be said about the wicked as it says in Ecclesiastes 8:13 “But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.” Because they do not fear God it will not be well among them.
This fear all stems from those who are truly in Christ, those who are a part of his flock, to those who are truly saved. I think Thomas Watson put it best in his book that I mentioned earlier “all things for good” where he said this;
Here is the matter of consolation you who are effectually called. God has magnified rich grace toward you. You are called to great honour to be co-partners with the angels, to be co-heirs with Christ; this should revive you in the worst times. let men reproach and miscall you; set God’s calling of you against man’s miscalling. Let men persecute you to death; they do but give you a pass, and send you to heaven the sooner. How may this cure the trembling of the heart! What though the sea roar, though the earth be unquite, though the stars are shaken out of their places, you need not fear. you are called, and therefore are sure to be crowned.
Because we are called by God and are of true faith we do not need to be afraid, we are sure to be crowned. We must just fear before God. To those that are not of the faith though they need to be afraid because it will not be well among them. But as we said before there is hope of salvation is Jesus.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
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Conclusion
Conclusion
As we come to a close this morning I am reminded of a story that I am sure many of you have heard before;
Horatio Spafford, this is a name that you might find familiar, was a minister in the 1800’s that had a life plagued with problems. From fires that burned down the majority of the town that he ministered in to severe financial difficulties following that. The most known part of his life though was after all of these events the doctor recommended that his wife go to Europe for medical reasons, his wife Anna began to travel there with their kids while he stayed behind to finish up some business that he was doing. On the journey there was a shipwreck and their children died in the accident. Anna after being rescued sent a short telegram message to her husband that started by saying “saved alone”. The agony and heartbreak must have been such a great weight upon him. After all of this horror that has happened in his life he went on to write one of the most well known hymns “it is well”. Laying aside the details of his personal theology, this was a man that feared God and for him it was well.
When peace like a river, attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul!
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The Judge of all the earth will do what is just, it is better to fear God.