Vanity of Worldly Worship
Wisdom Literature for application • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 49:15
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Stop Thief!
Stop Thief!
Koheleth has been proving his hypothesis that everything is “vanity of vanities under the sun.” From the courtroom to the market place, from the highway and the palace he now comes to the temple, the place of worship. He has been explaining his conclusion and may we look at what we have seen previously.
His conclusion is based on his personal experience (Ecc1:1-2:26)
His conclusion is based on his personal observations (Ecc3:1-6:12)
We have looked at the inexplicable purpose of God
The injustice and oppression of man; God see’s and will deal with
The vanity of skillful labor that comes from strife and envy
Wisdom offered for living “under the sun” (Ecc3:12-13; 4:9-10)
Make the most out of life, enjoy God’s provisions
Appreciate the value of friends
Our passage this week and the next couple of weeks will look at some more wisdom being offered for life “under the sun” today it is looking at worship and what Koheleth sees is vanity of many who worship and offers some bold admonitions.
Regarding reverence (Ecc5:1)
Regarding prayer (Ecc5:2-3)
Regarding vows (Ecc5:4-7)
Regarding faith (Ecc5:8-10)
Admonition regarding reverence
Admonition regarding reverence
Do people today have reverence for God anymore? Do we know what reverence truly means? Koheleth takes on the problem of reverence and the solution too.
Reverence defined
Noun: deep respect for someone or something
Verb: regard or treat with deep respect
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.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
When you go to worship, guard your foot, guard your steps (Ecc5:1; Isa29:13-14; Mt15:7-9)
It is implied here that it was common to go to the temple for worship, but common practice does not necessarily mean sincerity of worship.
We can see examples of that in the Bible, doing the right thing but with the wrong heart. That was a problem in the O.T. and in the N.T. and today.
13 Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, 14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”
And then looking at the words of Jesus
7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.
9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”
The worship of God is the highest ministry of the Church (the people, for today we are the church) and it must come from a place of devoted hearts and yielded will’s. Yielded will has no room for unconfessed, unrepentant sin. For you cannot worship God while harboring these things, we are opening the door for an open rebuke from the Lord as He did to Israel.
When you go and you offer sacrifice, the best sacrifice you can offer is your ears; listen and obey (Rom12:1-2; Rom15:14-16; Php4:18; Heb13:15-16; Ps51:17; Ps141:1-2)
We are priests of God as believers today and we do offer up spiritual sacrifices.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We do that through our body, by the renewing of our mind as seen there in Rom12:1-2.
We do it through people we lead to Him through the Gospel
14 And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. 15 But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God,
16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Yes, by our financial contributions, sacrifices
18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
By our good works
15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. 16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
That is the praise of our lips and our good deeds
Another act that is acceptable worship is a broken and contrite heart
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
and just one more for the moment, of acceptable worship
1 O Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to You! 2 May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.
Prayers of faith
As worshipers, offering acceptable worship, we must be more ready to hear, that is to hear with hearts, hands and life of obedience. Sacrifices are not a substitude for obedience.
The unacceptable sacrifice is offering up an offering, a sacrifice without a heart of faith and obedience, then it is the “sacrifice of fools” as noted in (v.1).
May we remember they were going to the temple and the worship was not acceptable, we are the temple and if we don’t “guard your steps” then we too can be offering a sacrifice of fools.
Empty ritualism, coming to assembly because that is just what you do, without the heart of coming to hear from God, to meet with God, to worship God in spirit and in truth we are then worshipping in vain, we are not reverencing God and giving him the praise, honor and glory due to His name.
Regarding prayer
Regarding prayer
Prayer, like worship needs to come from the heart. Koheleth admonishes those who were going to the temple for the pious prayers that are repetitious but not reverent or heartfelt.
2 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. 3 For the dream comes through much effort and the voice of a fool through many words.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
Prayer is serious business. Don’t rob God by entering into prayer lightly or flippantly. But we need to enter carefully and soberly in reverence to God.
Koheleth says don’t be too quick in thought before words (Mt12:34-37; Ps141:1-2)
34 “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
36 “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. 37 “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Share with you a secret I read, but don’t tell anyone: A key to acceptable praying is a prepared heart.
1 O Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to You! 2 May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.
For we do need to remember who we are calling on when we are praying
Remember we are dealing with God, let our words be few (Mt6:7; Lk18:11)
7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
John Bunyan said:
“In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.”
C. J. Spurgeon said:
“It is not the length of our prayers, but the strength of our prayers, that makes the difference.”
May our prayer life be done in reverence to the Lord and be acceptable and not done in vane and be unacceptable.
Just one more quick example
11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
Koheleth has gone from guarding your food (v.1) to guarding your mouth (vv.2-3) He is going to continue with mouth and actions next.
Regarding vows
Regarding vows
Vows were not demanded in worship. They were introduced at a later time by man, not by God. Many vows were made hastily and without reverence to God when being made. Koheleth advise, admonition here is some general advise that is good for today is it was then.
4 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! 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
6 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? 7 For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
If you make a voluntary vow, keep it (Deu23:21-23)
21 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you. 22 “However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you.
23 “You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised.
what can we know about God and vows here in (Deu23:21-23)
When you vow to the Lord keep your word and do not delay, for if you do it is sin
If you vow to the Lord He requires that you keep your word
Vows that are spoken should be fulfilled, so be careful what you say, don’t make vows you don’t intend to keep.
Vows without actions are empty words and makes empty worship (Ecc5:7)
Resolve to do what you say and say what you do (Ps66:13-14)
13 I shall come into Your house with burnt offerings; I shall pay You my vows, 14 Which my lips uttered And my mouth spoke when I was in distress.
Acceptable worship is in spirit and in truth (Jn4:24) so be honest
24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
God is Spirit, God is truth, and if God is in us we have truth and should proclaim truth, say what we mean and mean what we say.
IT is better not to make an oath, make a promise or vow than to make one and not keep it.
A couple of broken, foolish vows, exampled (Jud11:30-35; Mk9:23-26)
30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, 31 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.”
32 So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. 33 He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.
34 When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.”
what was the results of the vow that was promised? - it was to be death of daughter.
What did he try to do? - take it back, and when it is made it is sealed and there is no taking it back or it was done in vane and that is unacceptable to God
23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”
25 Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her.
Look at (v.26) what was the outcome, what was the feeling Herod had here?
So be careful what you say, don’t say it if you are not ready to fully commit to it and keep it. Keep your word, keep your vows, keep your promises
Regarding faith
Regarding faith
Faith can be shaken and we can get discouraged when we see the oppression or the evil that man does to one another. Koheleth sees the oppression being put on people by the government and gives some thoughts.
8 If you see oppression of the poor and denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight; for one official watches over another official, and there are higher officials over them.
9 After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
Do not be shocked (surprised) what you see
Koheleth has already mentioned this previously (Ecc3:16; Ecc4:1)
Its a dog eat dog world, one tries to take from the other
All you have to do is turn on the TV and you can see the government doing that to itself even, each working against and trying to take from one another.
God is over all and knows and sees all things
May we remember that there is a day coming, a day of judgment and all social injustice, all oppression and evil will be dealt with
(Encouragement slide 1)
So this section I named regarding faith. we need to be people of faith to hold to our faith even when we see these things going on around us in our world. We need to be people of faith who share the faith so others can come to have faith regardless of circumstances they see or they have going on in their own lives
May we also be people who offer up proper worship in heart with reverence, people of heartfelt words in prayer and people who keep our word and not a part of the problem of social injustice but a part of the solution.
(Encouragement slide 2) Prayer (exit slide)