Worship Like You Believe! Ecclesiastes 5:1-7. Worship Much of Ecclesiastes consists of observations...

Worship Like You Believe!

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

Worship

• Much of Ecclesiastes consists of observations of life on the horizontal plane

• Today we’re going to take a little break and look upward

Two Key Characteristics:

• They were brilliant on the basics

• And they “were simple in a complex world”

People Hunger For Simple Answers:

• Especially in a world that focuses on the complex, the oblique, the fuzzy, the confusing, the ridiculous, the stupid, and the non-essential.

• Perhaps we over complicate our worship.

• Its covered with a veneer of the ritualistic, complicated ways of reaching God.

Worship

• The Bible is still in great demand because:

• It is both brilliant on the basics and,

• Simple in a complex world

Let’s Look At Hebrews 4:12-13

For the word of God is living and active andsharper than a two-edged sword, and piercingas far as the division of soul and spirit, of bothjoints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughtsand intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12-13

And there is no creature hidden from His sight,but all things are open and laid bare to the eyesof Him with whom we have to do.

God’s word is “living and active”

What God’s Word Does:

• It cuts through the superficial garbage

• It cuts through our phony fogs

• It cuts through lame excuses

• It cuts through intricate rationalizations

• It cuts through a calloused heart

• It cuts through blind eyes

What God’s Word Does:

• It cuts to the core of any issue

• It punctures and penetrates as far as the division of joints and marrow

God’s Word Also Judges:

• Literally it means “sift”

• It sifts our thoughts

• It sifts our intentions

• It reveals the truth

• It exposes our motives that prompt our words and actions

Why It Works:

• What is it about God’s word that, when its truths are declared and believed they work regardless of:

• Culture

• Age

• Sex

• Maturity

Why It Works:

• Circumstance

• Era

• Location

Firstly:

• God’s word works because it is universal in scope. No one is hidden. No creature can hide from its truths. When an issue in our lives is addressed, nothing is left unexposed.

Secondly:

• God’s word works because it is limitless in exposure.

• The word open in verse means uncovered.

• The term laid bare comes from the Greek word trachea.

• What does trachea have to do with being laid bare?

“Laid Bare”

God’s Word Goes For The Jugular!

The Levite in charge of the sacrifice would puthis hand under the chin of the animal and pullback. This would “lay bare” the throat. Thisis a picture of what God’s word does to each ofus.

Question???

• Let’s hear some examples of how God’s word works….

Let’s Hit It !!

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

Let’s start with a quote from J. Vernon McGee.

Read Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

Guard Your Steps!!

• The worship of God is the highest ministry of the church and must come from devoted hearts and yielded wills – Warren Wiersbe

What Are Our Sacrifices Today?

• Our bodies (Rom. 12:1-2)

• People won for the Lord (Rom. 15:16

• Money (Phil. 4:18)

• Praise and good works (Heb. 13:15-16)

• A broken heart (Psalm 51:17)

• Our prayers of faith (Psalm 141:1-2)

Chuck Swindoll’s Airport Illustration…

The pew zone is for learning, listening andchanging only – No Parking!

1st Seven Verses – Four Commands:

• Command

• Draw near and listen well…

• Be quiet and stay calm…

• Reasons

• Because God is communicating

• Because God hears the inaudible and sees the invisible

1st Seven Verses – Four Commands:

• Command

• Make a commitment and keep it…

• Don’t decide now and deny later…

• Reasons

• Because God believes it and doesn’t forget it

• Because God doesn’t ignore our decisions

Trite Worship

Re-read verse 1…

Don’t offer up foolish words. Offeringswithout obedient faith become “the sacrificeof fools”. Only a fool thinks he or she candeceive God.

Trite Worship

• How would Solomon’s life example have lead his people into trite worship?

• We are blessed with a church that holds God’s word in high esteem.

• God is speaking to us, we need to listen!

2nd Be Quiet And Stay Calm…

• If you were to go to the White House or Buckingham Palace to speak to the President or the Queen, wouldn’t you prepare your words carefully and act respectfully?

• Have a prepared heart because the mouth speaks what the heart contains.


• In “Pilgrim’s Progress”, John Bunyan wrote, “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.”

• Additionally – we’re all vulnerable to “verbal doodling.”

• It’s all too easy to lose our focus when praying or listening to a sermon.


• Psalm 46:10 – “Cease striving and know that I am God.”

• We can get so pre-occupied with the pressures of life that we go through the motions and miss God’s communications to us.

Back To Solomon…

• Verse 2, “For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.”

• Beloved – What does Solomon mean here?

It’s Perspective – Not Distance…

• He lives in the infinite.

• He hears the inaudible.

• He sees the invisible.

• That’s why we listen carefully.

• Read John White quote…


• We all come as fellow strugglers to hear God’s basic and simple answers to life in all its complexity.

• Yet if we’re not careful we drag into the scene all the tumult and turmoil of our problems.

• We don’t need to dump all that on our worship….Be Still…

3rd Make A Commitment And Keep It…

• These days a vow is little more than a casual hope.

• Whether you pay back your mortgage.

• Or stay faithful in marriage.

• The idea of sticking to a vow is almost unheard of (Oath of office maybe).

• God doesn’t see it that way...

You Vowed It – You Keep It!

• Brothers and Sisters what kind of vows do we make?

Types Of Jewish Vows…

• The most notable was the Nazirite Vow.

• One could make vow not to shave his hair.

• Touch a dead body.

• Or drink any intoxicating drink.


• No one was required to make such a vow.

• One did so out of a sense of love and gratitude towards God.

• One could voluntarily assume the deprivation associated with being a Nazirite.


• If you violated the vow you could start your time period over after you made suitable offerings for cleansing.

• Who were some of the better known Nazirites in the bible?

Samuel

Samson

John the Baptist


• There were other types of vows in which objects, lands, and persons could be dedicated to Yahweh for various lengths of time.

• Again vows were purely voluntary.• However once undertaken they were to be carried

through.• Failure to do so was an act of sin (Deut. 23:21).


• God does not require vows from His people to be accepted by Him today.

• But we can make a vow if felt led to do so.

• We live in times when certain authorities, both religious and secular, feel it is their calling to relieve us of any and all guilt – Period!


• Now – there is false guilt, and that is not healthy.

• What are some examples of false guilt?

• However, authentic guilt is healthy.

• It is the work of the Holy Spirit convicting us.

• Conviction may be subtle or bold…


• What is a commitment without accountability?

• When we commit to God and others it is saying – “I will carry this out, painful and difficult though it may be.

• Be careful about relieving all commitments so you can be free, it’s dangerous and unbiblical.

Remember Jonah?

What Made Jonah Change His Mind?

• God said, “Go to Nineveh”, and suddenly his political zeal outstripped his vow.

• We all know what happened – Jonah finally obeyed God and one of mankind's greatest revivals took place.

• Would some one read Jonah 2:2-9 for us?

• Please?


• Sometimes we have to go through painful experiences to bring us back to our basic commitments to God.

• God doesn’t forget!

4th Don’t Decide Now And Deny Later…

• Let’s read verse 6.

• Don’t allow yourself to worm out of something you once took seriously before God.

Examples:

• You know what, that commitment I made back then was a mistake.

• I made a mistake, I married the wrong person.

• I shouldn’t have said that I’d rearrange my priorities and spend more time with such and such.

Examples:

• I didn’t think that one through. It was a mistake to commit myself to that project since it’s so time consuming and exhausting.

• I made a mistake in saying I’d stay morally pure. I mean God Knows I’m only human.

• I was pretty young back then. I’ll call it a youthful mistake.


• God does not ignore or overlook our decisions.

• Keep Short accounts.

• Keep your promise.

• Keep your vows.


• Read Verse 7.

• Don’t live in a religious dream world.

• Words are not the same as deeds.

• Worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

• Fear God – Or, take Him seriously.

• Read 3rd quote.

Take Him Seriously

Change Of Subject – Oppression

• Read verses 8-9.

• In a nut shell, the rich tend to take charge and their power intimidates the poor.

• Oppression should not surprise us.

• Never-the-less government is better than anarchy.

Worship Like You Believe! Ecclesiastes 5:1-7. Worship Much of Ecclesiastes consists of observations...

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