The God of Now and Forever

This transcription is a sermon about the importance of worshiping God and the proper attitude and actions that should be taken when going to the house of God. The speaker emphasizes the need to listen and be attentive to God's word, rather than offering meaningless sacrifices. The sermon also discusses the significance of making vows to God and the importance of fulfilling them. The overall message is that true worship requires reverence and obedience to God. Scripture. Continuing our series in Ecclesiastes, and so Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 1 is where we'll begin today, reading through the first seven verses in our ongoing study of this book written by Solomon so many years ago, but a book so important and so relevant, as is all the Scripture, so relevant for us today. So God's Word for us this morning, Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verses 1 through 7, and this is God's Word. Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not protest to the temple messenger, my vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore, stand in awe of God. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Please be seated. Continuing our series today, we're looking at the God of now and forever, and as we study this text, we're going to break it down in a few different parts. Verse 1 reminds us that God commands our worship, and then the second half of verse 1 through the first part of verse 7, God describes our worship, and then the last part of verse 7, God merits our worship, and then we'll see Jesus as he appears in Ecclesiastes. Last Sunday, we concluded Ecclesiastes chapter 4 with the consideration of a parable that Solomon offers with regard to the young man who was born into poverty and oppression and yet ascends to the throne of the nation. Solomon tells us that this young king was initially admired by the people, as it was evident to all that he ruled with wisdom and with compassion. He was seen as the successor to the previous king, and he was wise beyond his years. And so this young king enjoyed a time of rule over the nation, and the people were respectful of and appreciative of this new king. But as Solomon tells it, the era of good feelings had come to an end, and somewhere along the line, the people became displeased with this successor. And as we consider this story, we ponder the question of why would the people ultimately come to reject a good and successful and wise king? Why would the people reject such a glorious gift to the nation? Why would the people turn their back on this blessing from God? As Solomon pointed out, such is wisdom that is under the sun. It is an attitude that is indeed meaningless. It is an attitude that is a chasing after the wind. Solomon has provided this parable, and he's positioned it here in Ecclesiastes, so as to transition into what we see in chapter 5, which is his fundamental words of wisdom. And he's making here what we would recognize as an argument, which we would call an a fortiori argument. It's logic that progresses from the lesser to the greater. If the lesser is good, the logic says, then certainly the greater is really good. And Solomon is supplying this kind of logic here. If the devotion to and the celebration of the young king is justified, then how much more is devotion to and celebration of God justified? Solomon has made the case, and he will continue to push the argument that wisdom that is under the sun, wisdom that seeks to find its home outside of the purview of God, out from under the sovereign rule and reign of God, that wisdom that is under the sun is meaningless. It is futile. It is vanity. And as a counter, Solomon further states that it is wisdom that is under heaven, wisdom that rests under the sovereign rule and reign of God, that truly is good and beneficial and true and right. So instead of spinning your wheels, seeking after that which is under the sun, wisdom under heaven says, I believe in God and I'm committed to God and I seek after God and I devote myself to God. Sometime last year, and I didn't have time to go back and figure out when it was, but sometime last year, I posed a question through Facebook concerning our thinking and our attitude toward God. I asked everybody to respond with the primary thing that the world needed to know about God. If you wanted people to know one thing about God, what would that one thing be? And there were a lot of answers, and there were a lot of really good answers. It was really neat to see everybody's responses to this question. Some of the answers were very close to hitting the target. The answer that I was looking for was this, that the primary thing the world needs to know about God is that He is Lord, that God is God, and that there is none other, and that God is God, and that we are not. And so that God's lordship is universal, that God is sovereign, that He rules and reigns over all things, God created all things, and God has determined His plan of redemption, and God will carry out His judgment. God is Lord over all things. And this is what we need to know concerning God, that He is indeed Lord. And Solomon's wisdom here is right. If devotion to and the celebration of the young king, depicted in Solomon's parable, is justified, then how much more is devotion to and celebration of God justified? And so it's considered Solomon's wisdom, as it's presented to us today through God's Word. This is how God commands our worship. And the first thing we must notice is the truth that's presented to us in verse 1 of our text. Notice the posture of the people. Solomon writes concerning, when you go to the house of God, when you go to the house of God. Notice that our English translations do not render the preposition as if, but as when. The text does not say, if you go to the house of God. The text says, when you go to the house of God. Now the word that's rendered as when could also be read as whenever, or as, or because of, or since. There's a number of words that could fit in there. The word in the original language has more strength than it would be employed by a simple if. So when is the correct word? Solomon says here, when you go to the house of God. Now it sounds like Solomon is perhaps making a big assumption. He's thinking that it's very likely that you will some point go to the house of God. So when you do go, here's how you do it. But of course, we would argue that the truth that God's Word conveys here is even bigger. My friends, here's the bigger truth. You will go to the house of God. You will go to the house of God. And there will come a day, for example, there will come a day when everyone, each and every person, will stand before the throne. So get used to it. You will go to the house of God. And in the meantime, when in this life you have occasion to go to the house of God, Solomon's wisdom here is of vital importance. He says, guard your steps. Know that when you go to the house of God, you are to guard your steps. What does it mean when Solomon says to guard our steps when we go to the house of God? Well, it's this. When you go to the house of God, know this, you are treading upon God's property. Of course, the universe is God's property, but we know that there is something particular about the sacred space developed for and dedicated to and sanctified for the worship of God and the fellowship of God and service to the kingdom. We would do well here to recall the story given to us in Exodus when Moses approached the bush that burns but is not yet consumed. Remember what the text said, Exodus chapter 3, verse 5, Do not come any closer, God said, take off your sandals, for the place where you're standing is holy ground. There was a sacredness, there was an apartness, there was an otherness concerning the location of the burning bush. So the land and the space and the place which is set aside and declared and dedicated for the service of God is the house of God. And in that place, we and all believers must guard our steps when we go there. We realize, I think, that we have a similar consideration before us, before this church in this day. Sixty plus years ago, when this church purchased this property and then they built this building and they declared this property to the glory of God and the worship of God and the service to the kingdom. And then twenty years ago, the church acquired additional acreage and that acreage was also dedicated to the glory of God and the worship of God and the service to the kingdom. And so now, matters before this church must be informed by this truth. This is not just a piece of real estate. The city of Napanee, as we all know, is inquiring whether the two acre property next door, part of our property, could be available for a new fire station. And while the transition, while the transaction would technically and legally amount to a real estate deal, we know that there is much more involved. We know that there is a much greater issue. Why? Because this property is sacred space. And the question before us is whether this sacred space, of which we are the stewards, can be used in the manner under consideration. Would such action glorify God? And then this week, I had this really great thought. Now I'd love to be able to claim it and say I thought of this. I mean, I really dreamed this one up. I'm sure that this is something that comes from the Holy Spirit because I can't take credit for this. This is really cool. But it occurred to me this week how amazingly glorious it would be that the future responses of the Napanee Fire Department in the addressing of the emergency needs of our community would begin at the sacred space, the space dedicated to the glory of God. Wouldn't that be amazing to know that every time we hear the sirens fired up, that the place they're launching from is sacred space declared to the glory of God? After the proclamation of the gospel, would this not be the glorious gift that we could give to our community, to our neighbors, and to this city? We'll see how this is all going to turn out. But just think about that possibility that every time we would hear the sirens kick off at 2 in the morning or whenever it is, and that happens, that those who serve us through our fire department would be starting from a sacred space. So when we each approach this property, and when we each enter the doors of our building, and when we engage in worship and fellowship, let us do so with reverence and awe. Let us do so with the seriousness of devotion. Let us remember that this is the house of God, and so when we go to the house of God, let us heed the wisdom of Solomon, and let us guard our steps. Now, we notice here in the text at the beginning of verse 1 and the end of verse 7, if you've noticed, this text provides us, the beginning of verse 1 and the end of verse 7 provides us a framework. It kind of describes the overall picture of devotion and constitutes the manner in which we worship, in which we glorify God in this place. Look at these two phrases together. Verse 1 says, guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Verse 7 says, therefore stand in awe of God. Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Stand in awe of God. Notice that these are imperatives. They are not suggestions. Guard your steps. Stand in awe. This is a command from God, and we should notice that there's no choice here. God's not offering options, and certainly He is not suggesting His detachment from the matter, as if He would be indifferent to our response. No, these are indeed imperatives. They're commands. It's God's place, and so God makes the rules. And the rule is, guard your steps when you come in the door, and stand in awe of God while you're here. We're going to walk in the door, and here's the admission requirements. Guard your steps. Stand in awe. We should put a sign over the door that says, by the way, when you walk into this place, just remember two things. Guard your steps and stand in awe, because you're about to enter the sacred space. So if the devotion to and the celebration of the young king depicted in Solomon's parable is justified, how much more is the devotion to and the celebration of God justified? How are we to do this? Well, God gives us great instructions here on exactly how to do this. How do we guard our steps? What's our posture when we stand in awe? Well, before we proceed to the rest of the text, we want to notice one thing about the worshiper that's described here in verses 1 and in verse 7. Guarding our steps and standing in awe. How are these both done? They're both done on our feet. Guarding our steps and standing in awe are both done on our feet. They're not done sitting. They're not done kneeling. They're not done laying prostate. They are done standing. So the word here communicates an active faith. We're on our feet, so we're active and engaged. We said this a couple weeks ago, that the Christian faith is not a passive faith. It's an active faith. And here again, we're seeing this demonstrated in the text. We're on our feet and we're active and we're engaged. And this is further borne out for us in the second half of verse 1. Notice what the text says. Go near to listen rather than offer the sacrifice of fools who do not know that they do wrong. Now Solomon here reminds us not just to listen. He's reminding us to listen. He says go near to listen. He says indeed go near to listen. So when God calls us to his house, he calls us to worship. But he also calls us to focus and pay attention and be ready to receive knowledge and wisdom and discernment and to learn and to be educated and also to be motivated and to be encouraged to then serve. As one commentator offered, God's word calling us to go near to listen commands that a person hear with the intent of taking to heart what is said. We hear with the intent of taking to heart what is said. And notice that we are to actively engage in this way rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools who do not know that they do wrong. That's kind of strong language from God. Watch out for the sacrifice of fools who do not know that they do wrong. Do we mean to say that some sacrifices presented to God and in the place of worship are valid and some are invalid? And the answer is yes. Yes, some sacrifices are valid and some sacrifices are invalid. Some sacrifices are presented by the devout and humble believer and other sacrifices, God says, are presented by fools who think that their sacrifice has some worth or value. But in the sight of the one receiving the sacrifice, in the sight of God himself, God is saying the sacrifice has no value. And the givers are actually doing wrong by their actions. And with this God is not pleased. And Solomon is not the only person in the Old Testament who is presenting this argument. This has been argued in other places in Scripture, other places in the Old Testament. Listen to these words recorded by the prophet Isaiah. These are the words of God, Isaiah chapter one verses eleven to seventeen. Very similar to what Solomon is saying. Listen to what Isaiah says. The multitude of your sacrifices, what are they to me, says the Lord? I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals. I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats when you come to appear before me. Who asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings. Your incense is detestable to me. New moons, sabbaths, convocations, I cannot bear your evil assemblies, your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts. My soul hates. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right. Man, that's a heavy load from our loving and compassionate Father. To be sure, God calls His people to bring sacrifices. Yes, He does, but not merely to bring sacrifices, for this text bears out our truth. This truth, a mere sacrifice is an insufficient sacrifice. There's more to making a sacrifice than just the sacrifice. There's more to the sacrifice than just the sacrifice itself, the thing itself. Recall David's words. This is Psalm 51, verses 16 and 17. When David wrote to God, he said, You do not delight in sacrifice or I would bring it. You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. It almost sounds like God is saying, I really don't care what you bring me in your hands, just as long as your hands are open. The one who comes to hear and receive from God's word is truly a person of faith. A person who comes only to deposit an obligatory sacrifice is a person without faith, and that person God regards as a fool. And here God's word directs refers to such a person as a fool. The word will appear again in verse 3 and verse 4. So this last part of verse 1, to offer the sacrifice of fools who do not know that they do wrong. Our New International Version and the King James Version read it similarly. It talks about fools who do not know that they do wrong. There are a few English translations that render this as, to offer the sacrifice of fools who do not know how to do wrong. Now we generally think the text supports the first rendering. The fool is one who makes a vow to God in the temple that cannot or will not be fulfilled, and this is a wrong thing to do and thus it is foolish. But even the second rendering is also telling. Because the fool is one who thinks they can keep God happy, or at least buffaloed by a promise high on verbiage but low on substance. Demonstrates precisely what the Apostle Paul would later declare in his first letter to the Corinthians, verses 19 and 20. Listen to what Paul says about foolishness. Paul says, For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written, he catches the wise in their craftiness, and again, the Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile. So God is on to something. God's not stupid, and God's not blind, and He knows when a sacrifice is valid, and He knows when a sacrifice is invalid. Man, we're messing with a serious God here, are we not? We better figure this out. In Old Testament times, the Israelite faithful made vows to God for various reasons. Now if you want some homework this week, you can study Leviticus chapter 27. Leviticus, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, third book of the Old Testament, Leviticus chapter 27. Some homework this week. And you'll read about instructions concerning vows made to God. There were a number of things that you would make vows for in the day of worship of the ancient Israelites. And you can go to Leviticus chapter 27 and you will read about these vows made to God. And the important thing for us to understand is that vows were promises made to God in a public manner before the priest, at the tabernacle, and later at the temple. Now perhaps today we don't regularly make public vows at the temple in the manner of the people of God during Solomon's day. Now we still do this somewhat on occasion. We still make some vows here in worship and in the context of our church. We'll make vows during a baptism, or during a new member installation, or as in a wedding, or at a pastor's ordination and installation. So we do make vows in some cases. We do this sometimes, but it seems not necessarily with the frequency of the Old Testament believers. However, in this day, we do make promises to God, do we not? We certainly commit ourselves to God and we commit our actions to Him, even if it's more privately than it is publicly, but we do it. And so the big question concerning both the vows made in the Old Testament or the promises made to God in the New Testament by Christians today is the same. And the same is this. Will we keep the vow? Will we keep the promise? Will we fulfill a promise made to God? Now, before you jump on this one and say yes, just remember there is an accompanying question. It's not voiced here, but it's there, and you know it's there. The question is not just will we keep the promise, but the question is can we keep the promise? Can we keep the promise? I'm not going to ask for hands about how many of us have made a promise to God that has remained unfulfilled. I'm not going to ask for hands. I don't have to be the first one that goes up. From here we find that God describes our worship. Solomon proceeds with specific wisdom, applications that also appear as commands, as imperatives, to consider before making a vow to God, before making a promise before God. Solomon says there are some things you need to think about. If you're going to do this, if you're going to make a promise to God, let's think of certain things. So verse 2, do not be quick with your mouth. Do not be hasty in your heart. Verse 4, when you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. And verse 6, do not protest to the temple messenger, saying, my vow was a mistake. These three truths are valid. They point to very good wisdom for the believer. Folks, you need to remember this. No one has ever impressed God by the promise that they have made to Him, because God knows the heart of the one making the promise. God knows whether the person can deliver on the promise. And God knows the outcome. He knows whether the promise will actually be fulfilled. God will not be shocked and overwhelmed by your promise or my promise, and God will not be surprisingly impressed by your ability to fulfill a promise. And God will not be stumped by your inability to deliver on a promise. Why? Because He's God. Because He's God. And He knows. He knows it all. Now, to follow each of these commands, Solomon also includes a motive, a reason for obeying the command. And there's several of them listed here. Notice the second half of verse 2, God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. Notice the last sentence of verse 4, he has no pleasure in fools. Follows with verse 5, it's better not to bow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. And then verse 6, why should God be angry at what you say? And then He's going to destroy the work of your hands if He's angry. And then to conclude, Solomon loves to give proverbs, and so he's got three little statements here that read very much like proverbs. These could be in proverbs, but they're not, they're in Ecclesiastes. He's got proverbs that support each one of these arguments. Verse 3, as a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. Verse 6, do not let your mouth lead you into sin. Verse 7, verse 6, I could have used that one. I think I've ignored that far too many times in my life. Verse 7, much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Do we do too much talking and not enough listening? Certainly Solomon's wisdom supports such an attitude. Do preachers do too much talking? Yes, absolutely. And so the pastor has an obligation to state the word of God clearly and directly. Pastors are not here to entertain or to pontificate or to elaborate or to offer a comedic stand-up routine or to engage a political or ideological diatribe. There's plenty of that in this world, and it's all available in a little device we now carry in our pockets and we can't seem to put down. The pastor must certainly be careful to let his words be few, and the few that he does declare must be directly from and directly in line with the word of God. So we come to verse 7, the conclusion of today's text, and we rightfully ask, what's the point then concerning all of this? Why does Solomon sense the need to pass on to believers wisdom concerning our vows and our promises made before God? Well, let's revisit again that framework for this text, the two verses that we considered together earlier. Recall verses 1 and verse 7, we put them together. We said, guard your steps when you go to the house of God, and therefore stand in awe of God. Now, we did see earlier, we noticed that our faith is to be an active faith, so to be active and engaged in the practice of our faith. But now it seems we're being discouraged from making vows or promises to God, so what are we to do? My friends, the expression of our faith, let's get this one right, the expression of our faith does not consist in what we do or in what we promise to do, because when we commit to God and what we do for God, it's certainly our response to God, it's our response to who He is, our recognition of His holiness and His Lordship, it's how we stand in awe of Him, it's how we revere Him for who He is, God merits our worship, God is worthy of our worship. Solomon concludes here with the final phrase of verse 7, and this is why we do what we do, therefore stand in awe of God. As the writer of Hebrews will later remind the church and the faithful, the writer of Hebrews says, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. Now let's think about Jesus in Ecclesiastes. We fast forward almost 3,000 years, and the believer in Jesus is confronted again with this text. How are we to receive and comprehend Solomon's wisdom? For admittedly, Solomon presents God here in Ecclesiastes as somewhat separate and distant. We think that God is kind of sense that when we're reading this text. Notice the second half of verse 2, in fact, it says so. It says God is in heaven and you are on earth. You see that in the text. By Solomon, by his words and by what he teaches, we find that God is certainly transcendent, that He exists and further that He engages with man from this overarching position. And this seems right, for God of course is sovereign God over all things. He rules and reigns over all things, and so it seems logical to us that God must rule and reign from this position and in this posture. God is in heaven and you are on earth. And of course this is a typical view of our culture. Recall back in 1990. Here's a little pop music trivia for you. Pop artist Bette Midler releases her album entitled Some People's Lives, and a hit song from that album repeats a chorus that says God is watching us, God is watching us, God is watching us from a distance. The song was a popular song then. It remains a popular song 30 plus years later. The words of the song and the music of the song are both beautiful and they're challenging. And yet the song conveys a notion that there yet remains a disconnect between God and man. That God certainly maintains His transcendence, but that He is not imminent, that He is not present with us, that He has continued this separation from man. And as such this separation must be recognized and must be respected even as we would draw near to God in order to worship Him. Well, if you ever get to talk to Bette Midler, and you get to talk to anybody in this world that seems to want to present the notion that we remain somewhat separated from God, if you ever felt like we were separated from God, I have to tell you something today. There's good news. There's good news. Remember the words of Jesus on the day that he met the Samaritan woman at the well, the woman who longed to worship God. Remember that she sensed that she was separate from God, right? She was separate because of the cultural and ethnic differences and distinctions of her day, but she was also separate from God because of her record of sin. And what did Jesus say to her? This is John chapter 4, starting with verse 21. Jesus declared, Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know. Salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth. The woman said, I know that Messiah called Christ is coming, and when He comes, He will explain everything to us. And then Jesus declared, I who speak to you am He. My friends, here's the good news. Jesus is the Son of God who has come to us, and Jesus is the one who has removed the barrier between God and man. Jesus is the one who has broken down the wall of division. God is no longer only watching us from a distance. He is present with us. He is God with us. Yes, of course, we would do well to heed the counsel of Solomon, that we would watch our words, that we would tend to the words that we lift before God. We do this by our profession of faith, by our confession of sin, by our gratitude for His grace and mercy, by our longing for His return, and by our confidence in His ability of our eternal home. God is not absent. He is not distant. He is here, and He is here for you and for me, and He is here for everybody who places their faith and their trust in Him for His salvation. When He died on the cross, He actually physically was nailed to the cross, and He actually bled, and He actually died for you and for me. This is not a myth. This is not just some story made up later on. This is not a book just gathering dust laying on the shelf. This is truth that the world must hear, because only in Jesus will they find salvation. There is no other name under heaven and earth whereby we must be saved. Listen to these words given to us by the writer of Hebrews. Therefore, dear children, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, who is our great priest? Jesus. Let us draw near to God, not distant, near. Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, not half assurance of faith, full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us, cleanse us, not just get a little dirt away, no, cleanse us from a guilty conscience, and having our bodies washed, not just cleaned a little bit, but washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. Amen. Let's bow our heads and pray, shall we? Heavenly Father, You have called us to guard our steps when we go to Your house. And we do pray that as we consider the wisdom of this text, that we would be reminded again of that truth, that we would take time to stay in awe of You, and we would recognize You for who You are and for what You have done. We confess that we are not a people who can truly guard our steps when we go into the house. And we don't always guard our words, and we don't always guard even the motivations of our heart. And Father, You forgive us for doing so, but we continue to rely on that forgiveness. We thank You for Jesus, who has opened the way to paradise. We thank You for Jesus, who has broken down the barriers. We thank You for Jesus, who has removed the wall. We thank You that there is no more separation, Father, between You and us, because Jesus has connected us again. We are reconciled unto You, and for this we praise You and we give You glory. So, Father, we thank You that we would indeed guard our steps when we go to the house of God. And we would stand in awe of You, because You have seen fit to love us and to draw us unto Yourself and to give us Your Son, who is, who has come to this earth and has been present with us and will return again to usher us into everlasting glory. And for this, Father, we praise You and we give You glory. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.