Enjoy the Silence - Part II
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It was once written. What a marvelous thing a promise is! When a person makes a promise, she reaches out into an unpredictable future and makes one thing predictable: she will be there even when being there costs her more than she wants to pay. When a person makes a promise, he stretches himself out into circumstances that no one can control and controls at least one thing: he will be there no matter what the circumstances turn out to be. With one simple word of promise, a person creates an island of certainty in a sea of uncertainty.
Promises and promise keeping. In our culture today it seems as if it is to make promises because maybe it is easy to break. Shane you always get things in writing. Why? Because they do not say what they mean and mean what they say. That’s why. We all know this. But this was told to me as a young minister when it comes to working for churches by some older pastors. Really, you mean people in the house of God do not keep their promises? People in the house of God do not let their yes be yes and their no be no? You know this is actually not a new thing. Solomon saw this, more strange fire, going on in the Worship of God in the temple and addressed it oh so long ago. Lets take a look at this today.
As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.
Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.
When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.
Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.
Do What You Say
Mean What You Say
Fear God
The first thing we will look at today is the importance of doing what we say or paying what we vow. The second point we will explore is how sinful it is to play games with God by not meaning what we say to Him. Finally we will uncover why in all of this Solomon sums up the best way in worship is to simply fear God, which is half of the final conclusion after all has been heard.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to offer strange fire when we lose control of our words especially in the house of God and worship, it is the word and worship of our Lord Jesus which brings us meaningful life and meaningful worship in the Fear of God for all eternity.
I. Do What You Say
Preaching the Word: Ecclesiastes—Why Everything Matters Watch What You Say!
The Preacher is concerned not only with how we listen, but also with how we speak.
- The Preacher is concerned not only with how we listen, how we speak, but also doing what we say.
A. So far what Qoheleth has been communicating to us can easily be summed up in a passage in James...
The Preacher is concerned not only with how we listen, but also with how we speak.
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
B. Now the Preacher wants to communicate something else that can easily be summed up in James...
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
C. He wants us to do what we say in light of God’s word. More literally than do what you say, is pay what you vow.
When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.
D. This is clearly declared in the Law of God.
“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin. However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to fulfill your promise to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy
E. Now after telling us to listen up and to watch what we say, Solomon now tells us what to do. He says, “Do what you say.” Or to be more literally, he says, “Pay what you vow.” Ecclesiastes is now talking about one very specific and pointed kind of talk—the promises that we make before God. Vows.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (pp. 124–125). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
F. Vows were common in the OT. Especially temple vows which was common when it came to worship and it involved promises to consecrate such things as sacrifices or money to God in return for granting a request in prayer. So the point of Qoheleth is very simple: if we make a vow, we need to be sure that we do what we say and pay God what we owe.
The point the Preacher makes is very simple: if we make a vow, we need to be sure that we do what we say and pay God what we owe.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 125). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
“If you bring an offering to fulfill a vow or as a voluntary offering, the meat must be eaten on the same day the sacrifice is offered, but whatever is left over may be eaten on the second day. Any meat left over until the third day must be completely burned up.
G. The temptation that Solomon is warning against is the worshiper who is trying to avoid fulfilling the vow once the prayer had been answered. Well it sure is easier to make the promise than it is to keep it. People do this with God all the time don’t we, especially when we are bargaining with him in prayer.
:
H. Oh Lord if you will forgive me this time, I promise not to do that again. Oh Lord if you get me through this, I will never drink again. Lord if you give me more money, I’ll give more to missions. If you help me through this problem, I will volunteer more time to the church. If you have ever offered a prayer like that—as many people have—then you also know how easy it is to forget what you promised! We suffer from amnesia. When it comes to money, we often suffer from amnesia.
People do this with God all the time don’t we, especially when we are bargaining with him in prayer.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 125). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
If you have ever offered a prayer like that—as many people have—then you also know how easy it is to forget what you promised! Before
I. Many times before we know it, we are committing that same old sin again or being just as selfish with our money or our time as ever, in which case, Solomon is saying, it would be better if we had never made God a promise at all.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 125). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
J. Jesus told a parable about someone like that.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 125). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Matthew 21:
“But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.
“Which of the two obeyed his father?”
They replied, “The first.”
Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do.
K. Solomon would have called the boy a fool because he never did what he said. It is clear, it is not just our words that we owe to the Lord but also our works. What we do. If we tell Him we will do something—if we make a commitment to ministry, or if we pledge to give our money for kingdom work—then we need to do what we promised and pay what we owe. In fact, Ecclesiastes says that we need to do it without delay. Following through promptly on our commitments is an important part of practical godliness. Do what we say and do it quickly. Do not delay.
II. Mean What You Say
The Preacher who wrote Ecclesiastes would have called the boy a fool because he never did what he said. It is not just our words that we owe to God but also our works. If we tell him we will do something—if we make a commitment to ministry, for example, or if we pledge to give our money for kingdom work—then we need to do what we promised and pay what we owe. In fact, Ecclesiastes says that we need to do it without delay. Following through promptly on our commitments is an important part of practical godliness.
- Let us not play games with God.
A. In other words…if you promise something, be a man or woman of your word.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 125). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.
B. In some cases this means that it would be better for us not to promise God anything at all. Let us not try to make excuses for not honoring it. If the temple messenger or the pastor or elder remind us of the vow or promise don’t say I was just kidding or I made a mistake. Ministers today hold us accountable for our stewardship before the Lord. The trouble was that some people tried to get out of their commitments by coming up with all kinds of lame excuses.
The trouble was that some people tried to get out of their commitments by coming up with all kinds of lame excuses.
In some cases this means that it would be better for us not to promise God anything at all. But
C. The warning is given. It is a great sin not to keep promises that we make to God. How great? Solomon said that it would make God angry. This is why people sometimes say that “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” However good our intentions may be, they will not get us to Heaven. In fact, they may only add to our condemnation. If we keep promising God that we will do this or that and the other thing, but never do it, then we are more guilty than ever.
This is why people sometimes say that “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” However good our intentions may be, they will not get us to Heaven. In fact, they may only add to our condemnation. If we keep promising God that we will do this, that, and the other thing, but never do it, then we are more guilty than ever.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 125). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 126). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
D. Booker T. Washington describes meeting an ex-slave from Virginia in his book Up From Slavery : "I found that this man had made a contract with his master, two or three years previous to the Emancipation Proclamation, to the effect that the slave was to be permitted to buy himself, by paying so much per year for his body; and while he was paying for himself, he was to be permitted to labor where and for whom he pleased.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 126). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
"Finding that he could secure better wages in Ohio, he went there. When freedom came, he was still in debt to his master some three hundred dollars. Notwithstanding that the Emancipation Proclamation freed him from any obligation to his master, this black man walked the greater portion of the distance back to where his old master lived in Virginia, and placed the last dollar, with interest, in his hands.
In talking to me about this, the man told me that he knew that he did not have to pay his debt, but that he had given his word to his master, and his word he had never broken. He felt that he could not enjoy his freedom till he had fulfilled his promise."
III. Fear God
- The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom.
A. So what we come to is the answer to strange fire and profane worship… fearing God. The Lord must be Revered.
B. Charles Bridges defined the fear of God as “the grand fundamental of godliness.” To fear God is to recognize his might and majesty. It is to acknowledge that he is in Heaven and we are on earth, that he is God and we are not. He is Holy and when we approach Him, we approach Him as such.
C. When we fear God in this way, we will come to worship with expectancy and awe. We will be ready to listen to what he says (he is God, after all). We will be careful what we say, limiting our speech to words that are pleasing to him. We will give God what he deserves, including whatever time or talent or treasure we have promised to give.
Charles Bridges defined the fear of God as “the grand fundamental of godliness.” To fear God is to recognize his might and majesty. It is to acknowledge that he is in Heaven and we are on earth, that he is God and we are not.
D. But yet we struggle with it. We struggle with apathy in worship offering blemished or imperfect sacrifices with half hearted worship. We don’t watch our steps and listen up to His word like we should. We are not careful with what we say when our yes is not yes and our no is not no. We make promises we don’t keep to each other and even worse to God. We don’t do what we say, we are not good stewards with what the Lord has given us and what he commanded us. In short, for many of us, we don’t fear God like we should.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 127). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 127). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
E. This is the reality of sin. The reality of sin in our lives. The reality of remaining sin in the flesh even as Christians. Causes us not to take the worship of God seriously and this is a great sin. And we know that the wages of sin is death. All have sinned and fallen short… We were all by nature children of wrath. We had a serious serious problem.
F. Not only do we have a God who must be feared, we also have a God who does not lie. He keeps His promises. And even though mankind fell into rebellion against God in the Garden, the Lord promised to save us. The seed of the woman was coming.
G. He he did. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and he was raised on the third day… Jesus came to seek and save that which… Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in …He became sin who knew no sin...
H. He also made promises that He will keep. All who call upon the name… If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord… Salvation is here.
I. Jesus did not bring strange fire, but the Holy Spirit and Fire. And that is why we want our words to be few, so that God’s words will abound. This is true wisdom. This is not meaningless, but oh so meaningful.
J. All this was made possible because of what Christ has done. His words and His works bring life and life more abundant.
