WEBVTT 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:22.019 As you grab your seat and these students continue to receive their gifts, I want to invite you to open up to Ecclesiastes chapter 5. 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:23.780 Ecclesiastes chapter 5. 00:00:23.940 --> 00:00:26.339 We are going to be in verses 1 to 7 this morning. 00:00:26.420 --> 00:00:36.019 And if you don't have a copy of God's word, the ushers are making their way down the aisle right now, and you can flag one of them down, and they'd love to get a copy into your hands. 00:00:36.659 --> 00:00:38.420 Ecclesiastes chapter 5. 00:00:38.579 --> 00:00:46.579 There's a question that I think runs in the background of each of our lives, and I don't know that we necessarily ever stop to really address it. 00:00:46.659 --> 00:00:48.260 And that's what I want to do this morning. 00:00:48.420 --> 00:00:51.459 The question is maybe two one or two variants. 00:00:56.659 --> 00:00:59.459 Am I enough and am I doing enough? 00:00:59.620 --> 00:01:10.739 Now maybe we never utter those words out loud, but certainly the question dresses itself up and walks through each of our weeks. 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:22.260 It is why, when you have that conversation where you either say that embarrassing thing or say the wrong thing, you replay that conversation in the shower. 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:30.340 It's why, as you enter into that hard conversation, you think about what you're gonna say and how you're gonna be perceived. 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:40.340 It's it's why you send the text and then go back to the text message to reread it and make sure that there are no typos or anything said wrongly. 00:01:40.900 --> 00:01:53.780 It's why when someone asks you, how are you doing, you often feel the rise of joy and saying, I'm busy, I'm so busy, I am just way too busy. 00:01:53.939 --> 00:02:05.460 Because with a along with this busyness comes this sort of settled feeling in your mind that busy means productive, and productive means that you are enough. 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:08.340 Are you enough? 00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:10.740 Are you doing enough? 00:02:11.379 --> 00:02:13.460 Are you sufficient enough? 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:20.900 Now, the reality of these questions is that each of them requires an audience. 00:02:21.460 --> 00:02:28.179 Whenever we ask those questions internally, even though we may not realize it, we are putting ourselves before an audience. 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:32.979 Your child has a meltdown in the store, and so often you're not so concerned about the child. 00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:34.019 What are you concerned about? 00:02:34.179 --> 00:02:41.299 The audience of people that are watching that that it looks in front of that audience like you have no control over this child. 00:02:42.099 --> 00:02:45.379 You're in front of an audience, someone is always watching. 00:02:45.539 --> 00:02:54.419 Maybe it's your boss, maybe it's maybe it's your parents after all these years, still watching, working for their approval. 00:02:55.219 --> 00:02:56.739 It's your spouse. 00:02:58.099 --> 00:03:10.259 And when no one else is watching, you and I have the ability to split ourselves in two and become our own judge and jury, watching our own life, giving verdict over our own life, answering the question, am I doing enough? 00:03:12.340 --> 00:03:14.579 Do you feel that this morning, loved one? 00:03:15.060 --> 00:03:26.500 Do you feel that exhausting treadmill, the exhausting grind of having to prove that you are enough? 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:30.259 If you feel it this morning, Solomon has a word for you. 00:03:30.419 --> 00:03:36.419 If you don't feel it this morning, I don't know that you're human and this is gonna be an incredibly boring few minutes for you. 00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:40.419 Solomon has a word for us. 00:03:40.739 --> 00:03:43.939 He wants to show us what to do with this feeling. 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:46.419 What do you do with this feeling that you're not enough? 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:50.659 What do you do on this exhausting grind of having to be impressive and prove yourself? 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:53.139 You know, the world says to deal with it somehow. 00:03:53.299 --> 00:03:54.979 I was listening to a podcast recently. 00:03:55.139 --> 00:03:59.939 It said this, that you should live your life like a documentary crew is following you. 00:04:00.259 --> 00:04:01.539 That's pretty terrifying. 00:04:01.699 --> 00:04:04.979 A lot of things happen in my day that I wouldn't want a documentary to see. 00:04:05.379 --> 00:04:11.859 But you get the idea that if a documentary crew is following you, filming your life, well, you'd kind of sort of live with this impressiveness. 00:04:12.019 --> 00:04:20.980 I don't know if you've ever maybe watched your favorite YouTuber or maybe athlete and watched a day in the life, and you get a sense of like, I don't think that anyone's day could really look like this. 00:04:21.139 --> 00:04:24.340 There's a certain impressiveness that they that they live with. 00:04:24.899 --> 00:04:32.340 And so the world says, well, why don't you just harness that energy and sort of drive it to make you do something great? 00:04:35.379 --> 00:04:38.980 What you'd expect the Bible to say then is to say, well, then stop. 00:04:39.460 --> 00:04:43.300 Maybe don't perform for other people, perform for God instead. 00:04:43.620 --> 00:04:48.660 And I don't know about you, but that also feels a little more terrifying to me. 00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:53.220 Maybe to you that that's a thing that fills you with a sense of dread. 00:04:53.300 --> 00:05:04.180 That now you're not only performing for a person who you know at the end of the day is fallible and makes mistakes, now you're performing for the perfect God who has been eternal for all of eternity. 00:05:04.259 --> 00:05:07.060 He has been powerful creator and he's never failed once. 00:05:07.140 --> 00:05:08.980 Now you're performing for him. 00:05:16.340 --> 00:05:28.819 So many of us look at the Bible and say that the answer is then to put on this performance for God, to not care about what other people think and then live in the eyes of God instead. 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:30.819 Maybe that's what you did this morning. 00:05:31.140 --> 00:05:37.620 Maybe, maybe you are here this morning trying to prove to God that you really do love Him. 00:05:38.020 --> 00:05:40.819 And so you get the kids dressed and you got yourself dressed. 00:05:40.980 --> 00:05:42.180 You did a great job, each of you. 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:43.379 I can see you did it. 00:05:43.620 --> 00:05:53.140 And you got here and you're here, and there's this kind of this feeling of calming the anxiety that will last for a good hour right now as you're here and you're saying, God, I'm here for you. 00:05:53.460 --> 00:05:58.580 I'm giving up my Sunday morning for you, and the settledness watches over you. 00:06:01.780 --> 00:06:14.259 This morning, Solomon walks into the temple, he walks into the worship service, and for four chapters, having found emptiness everywhere that he looked, he finds in the temple emptiness again. 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:17.540 If you've been with us through Ecclesiastes, you've seen this. 00:06:17.860 --> 00:06:28.020 Solomon has been walking through the world, picking up everything and determining the same thing about everything under the sun, that it is having, that it's vapor, that it's meaningless. 00:06:28.100 --> 00:06:30.819 He looks at money, he picks it up, he said, I mean it's meaningless. 00:06:30.980 --> 00:06:33.620 He looks at work, meaningless if that's all you have. 00:06:33.780 --> 00:06:42.980 He looks at family, he looks at pleasure, he looks even at wisdom and says this if all you have are these things, then it is entirely meaningless. 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:53.939 He's doing diagnostic work for four chapters, looking at the world, simply making observations, and then in chapter five, something incredible happens. 00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:55.860 He utters a command. 00:06:56.340 --> 00:07:05.939 And it's as though at the end of himself, he sort of grabs you by the shirt, and he's got something really important to say because the emptiness has also infiltrated the temple. 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:09.140 It's in the temple of God. 00:07:09.460 --> 00:07:12.259 I want you to see this with me this morning. 00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:17.939 We're gonna read Ecclesiastes chapter 5, and I'm gonna ask you to stand up again as we get an incredible workout this morning. 00:07:18.340 --> 00:07:21.939 Ecclesiastes chapter 5, verses 1 to 7. 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:24.660 This is the word of the Lord. 00:07:24.900 --> 00:07:27.620 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:34.819 To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know what they are doing. 00:07:35.300 --> 00:07:40.340 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. 00:07:40.740 --> 00:07:43.300 For God is in heaven and you are on earth. 00:07:44.020 --> 00:07:46.180 Therefore, let your words be few. 00:07:47.140 --> 00:07:52.020 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. 00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:58.580 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. 00:07:58.819 --> 00:08:00.020 Pay what you vow. 00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:04.020 It is better that you should not vow than you should vow and not pay. 00:08:04.259 --> 00:08:09.140 Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. 00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:12.740 Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? 00:08:12.900 --> 00:08:19.220 For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity, but God is the one you must fear. 00:08:19.379 --> 00:08:20.580 This is the word of the Lord. 00:08:20.660 --> 00:08:23.780 You can grab a seat this morning. 00:08:25.860 --> 00:08:29.620 Emptiness doesn't stop at the church doors. 00:08:30.420 --> 00:08:42.100 Solomon asks you to hit a pause button on what you are doing this very moment, because the dangerous reality is that you can be performing right now. 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:56.500 You can be sitting in the worship service, sitting under the word of God, doing the very act of listening, and yet here to put on a show for God. 00:08:56.659 --> 00:09:05.779 Verse 1 is terrifying because it says that you can do it not even knowing, notice the end of verse one, that you are doing evil. 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:09.779 This passage then is the preacher's intervention. 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:16.180 This passage then is the preacher's word in the middle of worship about worship. 00:09:17.060 --> 00:09:28.500 Every word of each verse is aimed at the performing self, about how you walked in, about how you talk, about what you promise, about what you fear. 00:09:29.060 --> 00:09:33.379 All of it then, driving to verse 7, where there is one verb. 00:09:33.460 --> 00:09:36.740 It is the verb that Ecclesiastes was written for. 00:09:36.899 --> 00:09:41.060 It is the conclusion that Solomon will come to in chapter 12. 00:09:41.220 --> 00:09:43.379 He says, fear God. 00:09:44.340 --> 00:09:48.340 God is the one you must fear. 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:51.300 Sounds like a problem. 00:09:52.659 --> 00:09:59.940 To live for the perfect, eternal God who has never failed once, but the preacher means for it to be the opposite. 00:10:00.659 --> 00:10:09.860 Solomon wants you to know that there is only one way to find freedom from the exhausting grind of trying to be impressive, of trying to be enough. 00:10:11.300 --> 00:10:15.139 And the way to find freedom is by the fear of God. 00:10:16.259 --> 00:10:23.060 Where every other fear puts you on a stage where you must perform, only the fear of God gives you freedom. 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:24.820 This is what I want you to see this morning. 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:33.220 This is the main point that Solomon's getting to, the main point of our text this morning, the main point of the sermon, the thing that if you forget everything else, remember this. 00:10:34.820 --> 00:10:41.620 The fear of God is the only thing that can set you free from the exhausting work of being impressive. 00:10:42.500 --> 00:10:49.940 The fear of God is the only thing that can set you free from the exhausting work of being impressive. 00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:52.980 We want freedom this morning. 00:10:54.500 --> 00:10:55.620 Freedom from this grind. 00:10:55.700 --> 00:10:57.700 And it's only the fear of the Lord that can do it. 00:10:57.860 --> 00:10:59.620 I want you to see that in four ways in this text. 00:10:59.700 --> 00:11:05.300 The first thing I want you to see is this the fear of God frees me when I receive instead of perform. 00:11:05.779 --> 00:11:08.259 When I receive instead of perform. 00:11:08.500 --> 00:11:15.060 Guard your steps, Solomon says, when you go into the house of God. 00:11:15.940 --> 00:11:18.899 That word guard is watchman language. 00:11:18.980 --> 00:11:21.379 It's used elsewhere in the Bible. 00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:27.860 Guard the city, guard the king, to be watchful over the thing that has been entrusted to you. 00:11:28.019 --> 00:11:30.740 Here, Solomon says, guard your steps. 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:49.779 There is an incredible danger whenever you walk into the temple of God, whenever you walk into the presence of God, not because God is dangerous to those who are humble, to those who are not worthy, but because worship is dangerous if you are just performing. 00:11:50.659 --> 00:11:58.019 If you are just here to put on a show for God, God wants you to understand that worship is dangerous. 00:11:58.259 --> 00:12:07.060 And so we then hit the pause button again to ask ourselves: do we understand the reality of what we walked into this morning? 00:12:07.300 --> 00:12:14.019 Do you understand the reality of what is happening right now as we sit in corporate worship? 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:16.820 The Bible is clear. 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:21.620 You did not just walk into a building in Newmarket. 00:12:22.420 --> 00:12:28.980 That when you step into corporate worship with other believers, something incredible happens. 00:12:29.139 --> 00:12:42.019 The writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 12 says that when the church gathers, he says, you have come, present tense reality, to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God. 00:12:42.899 --> 00:12:44.740 This is God's kingdom. 00:12:44.980 --> 00:12:47.860 This is the kingdom of God of God on earth. 00:12:48.019 --> 00:12:49.379 You have stepped into it. 00:12:49.539 --> 00:13:03.860 The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that as you gather together in the presence of your brothers and sisters in Christ, you also gather together in the presence of thousands of angels who join your voice in singing in the spiritual realm. 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:15.300 To which I mean our eyes should open wide, our jaws should drop by the reality that though there are maybe more than a hundred of us in this room, there are thousands of angels. 00:13:15.620 --> 00:13:19.700 To which the setup crew says, We're thankful we don't have to set up chairs for them. 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:23.139 And the angels say that they're thankful they don't have to sit in these chairs. 00:13:23.220 --> 00:13:26.580 And it's a back and forth, but they are here, they are worshiping. 00:13:26.740 --> 00:13:28.259 This is what you walked into. 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:48.420 This amazing spiritual reality that you are in the presence of God, in the presence of thousands of thousands of angels in joyful assembly, in the presence, the writer of Hebrews continues to say, of the God who is judge of all, and Jesus, who is the mediator of a new covenant by which you cannot enter into his presence without the blood of the Son. 00:13:48.659 --> 00:13:54.659 All of those people, those angels, those beings are here this morning. 00:13:56.340 --> 00:14:07.700 So that it's a problem when we just kind of stroll in with our coffee and all of the worries of the week on our shoulders, and we're just here because, well, it's Sunday morning and this is what we do. 00:14:10.259 --> 00:14:28.180 Have you considered that the God, I mean, we just sang a few minutes ago, all hail King Jesus, that when Isaiah got a vision of that God in the temple, he was broken by the holiness that was on display. 00:14:28.340 --> 00:14:32.180 And all that he could cry out is, Woe is me, woe is me. 00:14:32.420 --> 00:14:34.340 He fell flat on his face. 00:14:34.659 --> 00:14:46.740 Can you sit and sing and listen to the word of God in the presence of God and sort of have your shoulders shrugged and sort of have your spirit dulled and say, Oh, it's just another Sunday. 00:14:47.539 --> 00:14:54.259 So then Solomon says, in light of all these things, guard your steps when you come into the presence of God. 00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:56.980 Know who you are standing before. 00:14:57.139 --> 00:15:04.019 Now it's a fascinating reality for you and I because you and I guard our steps all the time throughout the week, don't we? 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:08.259 We watch our life, we we watch the way that we present ourselves. 00:15:08.420 --> 00:15:13.620 We go to work, we're very careful at work to present ourselves a certain way. 00:15:13.860 --> 00:15:17.220 We come to church, we're very careful at church, aren't we? 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:23.860 In the conversations we have to make sure that people see us a certain way. 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:39.300 Everywhere we go, we're careful with sort of the image that we're projecting, whether it's the school parking lot, whether it's the cafeteria, whether it's social media, we are careful, careful, careful everywhere we go. 00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:45.379 Then we come into the presence of God and we just kind of stroll in and we say, Oh, well, it's just another Sunday. 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:46.100 Here I am. 00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:48.420 Solomon says, Guard your steps. 00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:56.500 There is no place that is more dangerous, there's no place that is more necessary to make sure that your heart is in the right place. 00:15:59.220 --> 00:16:00.980 He then gives us command. 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:03.060 Look down at your copy of God's word. 00:16:03.620 --> 00:16:05.860 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. 00:16:06.019 --> 00:16:12.420 To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools. 00:16:13.060 --> 00:16:17.060 Why does God want us to guard our steps? 00:16:17.460 --> 00:16:20.980 Because of the gift that is offered to us. 00:16:21.220 --> 00:16:27.220 To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools. 00:16:27.379 --> 00:16:32.259 Loved ones, the gospel is all over this passage. 00:16:32.659 --> 00:16:36.340 What does God want from you this morning? 00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:50.340 What does that eternal God who is in heaven, who is reigning, who one day will send his son to return and consummate all things, what does that God want from you this morning? 00:16:50.659 --> 00:16:55.379 He wants you to draw near to him. 00:16:56.500 --> 00:17:08.659 For all of redemptive history, God has been working so that he can be the God of His people, and His people will turn to Him and worship. 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:11.460 This is temple language. 00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:13.460 This is worship language. 00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:23.220 The glory that God wants from your life is not the glory of producing something special for him, it is the glory of drawing near to him. 00:17:24.099 --> 00:17:29.220 Do you then see the freedom that comes when you fear the Lord? 00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:39.620 The first act of true worship is an act without which worship cannot begin, and it requires nothing impressive from you. 00:17:39.779 --> 00:17:42.740 It is simply to come and to listen. 00:17:44.099 --> 00:17:46.579 There's nowhere else in the world that's like that. 00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:49.940 There's nowhere else in the world where you get to do that. 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:52.740 Where you get to come with nothing in your hands. 00:17:53.140 --> 00:17:55.940 Loved ones, I mean, it reminds me of the story of the prodigal son. 00:17:56.099 --> 00:17:58.180 You remember the prodigal son when he returned to the father? 00:17:58.420 --> 00:17:59.140 What did he say? 00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:02.740 You know, Father, just make me the lowest of your servants. 00:18:02.900 --> 00:18:04.740 Let me come and work for you. 00:18:04.900 --> 00:18:06.740 I will do whatever it is, Father. 00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:09.539 I'll do whatever it is just to be in your presence. 00:18:09.620 --> 00:18:11.539 And what does the father say to the prodigal son? 00:18:11.779 --> 00:18:13.140 No, no, no, no, no. 00:18:13.460 --> 00:18:14.980 You got this backwards. 00:18:15.220 --> 00:18:17.140 You're not earning your way into my presence. 00:18:17.299 --> 00:18:18.339 You are my son. 00:18:18.500 --> 00:18:20.180 You have a spot at the table. 00:18:20.740 --> 00:18:29.860 Loved ones, God, God is saying to some of you this morning that you need to live in your identity as a son, that you have nothing to offer him. 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:33.620 The only thing that is being offered here is from his hands. 00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:37.700 It is an offer for you to draw near to him. 00:18:38.819 --> 00:18:44.019 Look then, who stands beside the true worshiper in verse one? 00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:45.620 It is the fool. 00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:48.339 His arms are full. 00:18:48.900 --> 00:18:51.779 He has brought a sacrifice to God. 00:18:52.579 --> 00:18:56.500 You look in the temple, and he's the one who looks devout. 00:18:56.740 --> 00:19:05.299 If they were shooting a Netflix documentary on temple worship, the cameras would be all around him because his arms are filled with sacrifice. 00:19:05.460 --> 00:19:09.700 It looks like he loves God, but God refuses it. 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:14.259 Because behind this fool's life is this premise. 00:19:14.740 --> 00:19:20.019 And the premise is an insult to God that God needs what I brought. 00:19:21.860 --> 00:19:35.299 The fool walks into the presence of the creator of the ends of the earth, who does not grow weary, who has never been tired, who has all the strength in the universe, and he says, God, I have something to offer you. 00:19:35.539 --> 00:19:37.460 I have something for you. 00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:41.460 He says to that God, Good news. 00:19:41.779 --> 00:19:42.740 I'm here. 00:19:43.539 --> 00:19:44.740 I'm here, God. 00:19:46.660 --> 00:19:51.460 Scripture has been mocking that premise for 3,000 years. 00:19:51.860 --> 00:19:56.500 Psalm 50, God says, If I were hungry, I would not tell you. 00:19:56.740 --> 00:19:59.940 For the world and its fullness are mine. 00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:04.259 So God says, Call upon me in the day of trouble. 00:20:04.420 --> 00:20:08.420 I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. 00:20:08.819 --> 00:20:12.500 God says to each of us, you don't need to feed me. 00:20:12.819 --> 00:20:15.700 You don't have anything that I need. 00:20:16.339 --> 00:20:18.339 Your part is the need. 00:20:18.660 --> 00:20:20.500 My part is the rescue. 00:20:20.740 --> 00:20:32.019 The glory that God seeks from your life is the glory of his giving, not you bringing anything to him for to which he does not have. 00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:41.460 And the words at the end of verse one are incredibly chilling for us. 00:20:41.620 --> 00:20:46.500 Look at the end of verse one, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 00:20:48.099 --> 00:20:49.620 It's terrifying. 00:20:49.940 --> 00:20:52.420 The fool in verse one is sincere. 00:20:53.220 --> 00:20:55.220 He's not a hypocrite. 00:20:56.180 --> 00:21:02.099 He's not like pretending like he's played God and you know he doesn't actually want to give the sacrifice. 00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:05.940 He is genuinely thinking that this is what God wants. 00:21:09.059 --> 00:21:10.019 It's evil. 00:21:10.900 --> 00:21:16.420 Even though it doesn't feel evil, even though it feels like effort, even though it feels like showing up. 00:21:20.900 --> 00:21:22.819 Does that put the fear of God in you? 00:21:24.099 --> 00:21:29.940 I mean, in a room like this, you know, we have really great evidence to say that you are people who show up. 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:31.220 Do you know why? 00:21:31.700 --> 00:21:33.059 Because you showed up this morning. 00:21:33.299 --> 00:21:33.860 You're here. 00:21:34.019 --> 00:21:37.860 This might not be relevant to people who aren't here this morning, but it is relevant for you. 00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:45.620 You got yourself out of bed and you got to the presence of God in the corporate gathering of his people. 00:21:46.819 --> 00:21:48.259 How did you do it? 00:21:48.740 --> 00:21:50.740 Why did you do it? 00:21:52.420 --> 00:21:56.579 You know, theologically, how do you enter into the presence of God? 00:21:58.019 --> 00:22:01.940 Do you enter into the presence of God with something to offer because your life is put together? 00:22:02.099 --> 00:22:06.900 Because you are ready to show God something meaningful that is your life? 00:22:07.620 --> 00:22:12.099 Or do you enter into the presence of God by the blood of Jesus? 00:22:13.059 --> 00:22:14.339 Love ones, that's the offering. 00:22:15.380 --> 00:22:20.980 Scripture says that the offering that we make to God to enter into his presence was done on the cross. 00:22:21.140 --> 00:22:24.019 Everything you needed to offer has already been paid. 00:22:24.180 --> 00:22:30.099 The ticket into God's presence was purchased by the life of the Son of God. 00:22:30.500 --> 00:22:32.980 Do you see the freedom back here? 00:22:33.779 --> 00:22:38.180 Are you allowing the freedom to wash over your life? 00:22:38.500 --> 00:22:44.420 To let you breathe this breath of relief to say, I don't need to give God anything here. 00:22:44.579 --> 00:22:48.339 I am here to listen, to draw near. 00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:55.779 We sit down at the table to listen. 00:22:56.019 --> 00:23:00.180 Now, as soon as we do that, we're going to discover a problem that Solomon wants to point out to us. 00:23:00.500 --> 00:23:05.059 The problem is that when we sit down to listen, our mouth doesn't stay shut. 00:23:05.299 --> 00:23:10.019 We are like the people who are told to listen and then continue to speak. 00:23:13.380 --> 00:23:17.539 That the fear of God frees me when I shrink myself to size. 00:23:18.099 --> 00:23:19.620 Look at verse 2 with me. 00:23:19.940 --> 00:23:26.579 Solomon says, Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. 00:23:27.380 --> 00:23:28.740 And then he tells you why. 00:23:29.059 --> 00:23:33.460 The reason is not about your mouth, it is about the reality of where God is. 00:23:33.539 --> 00:23:40.819 Look what he says: For God is in heaven and you are on earth, therefore let your words be few. 00:23:41.140 --> 00:23:45.940 Notice the reason Solomon gives for letting your words be few. 00:23:46.099 --> 00:23:48.339 It is a comment on the dimensions. 00:23:48.660 --> 00:23:53.140 God is in heaven, you are on earth. 00:23:54.180 --> 00:24:01.779 The sheer size of the gap between those two places is meant to do something in your soul. 00:24:02.019 --> 00:24:03.940 It is meant to humble you. 00:24:04.259 --> 00:24:06.339 It is meant to silence you. 00:24:06.819 --> 00:24:14.099 The bigger God gets, the less words you need. 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:23.220 Solomon is pointing to a principle that says the reverence we have for God regulates our mouth. 00:24:23.380 --> 00:24:30.740 Then he goes to point out that it works the other way, that when God shrinks in our imagination, our words begin to multiply. 00:24:30.900 --> 00:24:32.259 Look at verse 3. 00:24:34.180 --> 00:24:40.819 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. 00:24:41.299 --> 00:24:43.299 Solomon pairs these things together. 00:24:43.539 --> 00:24:51.620 A mind that is crammed with too much activity, that is dreaming, it spills out into restless racing. 00:24:52.740 --> 00:25:00.339 A soul that is crammed with too much of itself spills out into a flood of words. 00:25:01.539 --> 00:25:03.299 They're the same symptom. 00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:08.420 The overworked mind can't stop dreaming, the inflated self can't stop talking. 00:25:08.579 --> 00:25:11.940 Now, there certainly is an application to the way that we speak here. 00:25:12.099 --> 00:25:19.299 Certainly, if this applies to anything, and it applies to the way that we use our words, but Solomon, I think, is going even deeper here. 00:25:20.259 --> 00:25:22.259 The principle is with activity. 00:25:22.900 --> 00:25:27.620 Solomon is diagnosing this reality that many of us are busy in life. 00:25:27.860 --> 00:25:28.500 Amen. 00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:30.180 You feel busy? 00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:33.940 I can't remember the last person I talked to who I said, hey, how are you doing? 00:25:34.019 --> 00:25:36.420 And they said, Oh man, I just got nothing to do. 00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:40.259 We're always so busy. 00:25:40.660 --> 00:25:48.740 The calendar is so full, and we look forward to the summer, but as summer approaches, we look at the calendar and again, what have I done? 00:25:48.900 --> 00:25:53.059 I filled the summer again with activity, with busyness. 00:25:54.579 --> 00:25:57.700 Solomon's addressing the busyness of our lives right now. 00:25:57.779 --> 00:26:02.900 And he's saying that there's something happening here, that the busyness is happening for a reason. 00:26:03.140 --> 00:26:13.779 Solomon is diagnosing this reality that the reason that many of us are busy is because we are trying to disprove this feeling of smallness we have. 00:26:14.579 --> 00:26:28.099 The reason that so many of us are busy is because we believe if we are doing, if we are talking, if we are filling our lives with different activities, it is saying something about our worth. 00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:33.620 It is validating our lives that we are making ourselves into something. 00:26:33.779 --> 00:26:35.380 We are going to the gym. 00:26:35.620 --> 00:26:38.579 We are studying to become better at work. 00:26:38.740 --> 00:26:43.059 We are taking our kids to the extracurriculars to give them the chances that they need. 00:26:43.299 --> 00:26:44.740 We are going to church. 00:26:44.900 --> 00:26:47.059 We're pouring into our small group. 00:26:47.220 --> 00:26:47.940 We are doing this. 00:26:48.420 --> 00:26:50.420 We got all these things going on. 00:26:50.579 --> 00:26:59.140 And behind them is this heart of if I just keep spinning these plates, I will prove this reality that indeed I am enough. 00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:08.579 Each of us are busy trying to disprove the reality of our smallness. 00:27:09.140 --> 00:27:12.900 Here's how I know that is true of you and I. 00:27:14.180 --> 00:27:24.980 Think about the last time you discovered someone more talented than you at the very thing that you have spent your life trying to become great at. 00:27:27.779 --> 00:27:36.019 Maybe it's at work, maybe it's at like you see another family and you see the way that their kids behave, and you think, man, what book are they reading that I'm not reading? 00:27:37.220 --> 00:27:39.140 You see another person's body, whatever. 00:27:39.220 --> 00:27:41.860 I mean, are we not always playing this comparison game? 00:27:41.940 --> 00:27:53.220 And it's I mean, it's worse now than it ever has been with social media of look what that person has that I don't, and this feeling of being crushed because of the reality of what that person has. 00:27:56.099 --> 00:27:59.140 What happens in you when you see that? 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:03.380 So often, you don't say good for them. 00:28:05.299 --> 00:28:08.980 So often something in you collapses. 00:28:10.180 --> 00:28:14.099 So often, maybe it leads to a sleepless night. 00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:20.660 It leads to this sort of irritability of why does that person have the gift that I have always wanted? 00:28:20.900 --> 00:28:22.500 It's incredibly strange, isn't it? 00:28:22.740 --> 00:28:25.460 That person probably doesn't even know that you're thinking about them. 00:28:25.779 --> 00:28:30.180 And yet, there there is all this damage that it's doing personally to you. 00:28:33.700 --> 00:28:35.299 Simply because they exist. 00:28:36.180 --> 00:28:38.099 Because they're more gifted than you. 00:28:38.900 --> 00:28:42.579 Their existence alone is enough to wound you. 00:28:42.740 --> 00:28:43.779 Why are we like that? 00:28:44.099 --> 00:28:44.819 Are we like that? 00:28:45.059 --> 00:28:45.700 Is it just me? 00:28:45.940 --> 00:28:47.220 I hope it's not just me. 00:28:47.539 --> 00:28:48.500 We're all like that. 00:28:48.660 --> 00:28:54.579 We're crushed by the reality of that someone might be better at something than us. 00:28:59.059 --> 00:29:02.740 Solomon's exposing us this morning. 00:29:03.539 --> 00:29:06.420 Telling us that the more talented person did not create your problem. 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:08.259 They only exposed it. 00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:19.620 What the more talented person does in your life is pull back a curtain on a bigness that you had been manufacturing your whole life, and they showed you it was never that real. 00:29:20.500 --> 00:29:30.900 That all that activity, all those words, all those crushing busyness, it was like scaffolding that you were building around yourself, terrified to admit that you were small. 00:29:31.059 --> 00:29:38.099 And the moment someone better walks into the room, you notice the scaffolding for what it is, that you really are not all that great. 00:29:38.259 --> 00:29:42.900 Now, Solomon wants to take that little exposure and show you where it is pointing. 00:29:43.059 --> 00:29:51.059 Because if being outdone by a coworker can ruin your week, what is going to happen when you stand before God? 00:29:52.099 --> 00:29:57.539 When you stand before the one whose glory outshines them all. 00:29:58.339 --> 00:29:59.700 One day you will. 00:30:00.259 --> 00:30:09.059 One day every one of us in this room will stand before the one who is in heaven while we are on earth, and there will be nothing to hide behind. 00:30:09.140 --> 00:30:12.980 The Bible says that we will be naked and exposed before him. 00:30:13.299 --> 00:30:32.019 And it's not talking about physically, it's talking about spiritually, that every single way that we thought that we were something great will be exposed in the presence of the infinitely glorious God, to whom his glory is like the brightness of the sun, and we are like a flickering candle. 00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:35.299 We will stand before him exposed. 00:30:35.539 --> 00:30:40.900 Every talent, every act of goodness will be revealed. 00:30:41.539 --> 00:30:47.299 Paul says in Romans 3, you know, I find it interesting, Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, let your words be few. 00:30:47.539 --> 00:30:52.819 Paul looks forward on Romans 3, he says, On that day every mouth will be stopped. 00:30:54.099 --> 00:31:02.740 There is a coming moment when every mouth in the universe will fall silent because of the sheer and crushing weight of the greatness of God. 00:31:04.339 --> 00:31:12.099 And the question for you right now is that is when you stand before God because you will, will his greatness be a terror to you? 00:31:12.259 --> 00:31:17.140 Because you've spent your whole life trying to prove your worth by saying, Hey, listen, I'm something great. 00:31:17.220 --> 00:31:18.099 I'm something good here. 00:31:18.259 --> 00:31:19.299 I can take care of my family. 00:31:19.460 --> 00:31:21.220 I can, I mean, I can really do it at work. 00:31:21.380 --> 00:31:22.980 I can I can keep my life together. 00:31:23.059 --> 00:31:33.620 You've spent your whole life trying to prove something about yourself, and now you stand in the presence of the God who is the only one who is worthy, who is the only one who is glorious, and now you are shattered by your smallness. 00:31:33.779 --> 00:31:39.220 It will it be a terror to you, or will standing in the presence of that God be rest? 00:31:40.339 --> 00:31:48.019 And the difference between standing in the presence of God under sheer terror and under rest is the gospel. 00:31:49.380 --> 00:31:52.579 Only the gospel can change that moment. 00:31:52.980 --> 00:32:02.180 Because the God who is that much greater than you, in Jesus Christ, he did not come down to expose you. 00:32:03.860 --> 00:32:05.539 He came down to be with you. 00:32:06.420 --> 00:32:09.860 Isn't it fascinating that the gospel reverses this? 00:32:10.019 --> 00:32:21.059 That Jesus Christ, who all for all of eternity was infinitely powerful, who had everything in the presence of God, who was infinitely great, he became small. 00:32:21.299 --> 00:32:24.740 He became like a baby who could not even speak. 00:32:24.900 --> 00:32:28.180 He gave up everything, he emptied himself. 00:32:30.579 --> 00:32:43.620 Greatest one became the smallest one on purpose for you, so that when you finally stand before the one who you can never measure up to, you will not be standing as a rival. 00:32:44.420 --> 00:32:46.660 You'll be invited in as a child. 00:32:47.460 --> 00:32:49.220 That is the gospel, loved one. 00:32:49.779 --> 00:32:54.740 That in every other place in the world, you need to compare yourself to people who may be better than you. 00:32:54.980 --> 00:33:03.779 In the presence of God, through the blood of Jesus Christ, in union with him, you are invited into his eternal presence as a child. 00:33:04.019 --> 00:33:04.819 You know what that means? 00:33:04.980 --> 00:33:06.259 It means you can stop. 00:33:06.900 --> 00:33:09.220 It means you can stop all of the striving. 00:33:09.460 --> 00:33:13.460 You can stop the exhausting work of trying to be impressive. 00:33:13.620 --> 00:33:17.860 You no longer have to be bigger than the person next to you. 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:22.099 You've been saved. 00:33:25.779 --> 00:33:30.420 You've been humbled by the greatness of God's presence. 00:33:31.539 --> 00:33:40.339 What God does to us in the gospel is instead of demoting us, he discharges us. 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:49.220 He's like the person who comes to the army soldier who has been on guard for years fighting a battle, who says, stand down. 00:33:49.779 --> 00:33:50.339 Stand down. 00:33:50.819 --> 00:33:51.779 I got this. 00:33:52.180 --> 00:33:55.220 You have nothing left to prove. 00:33:55.539 --> 00:33:56.660 I've got this. 00:34:00.180 --> 00:34:05.299 Solomon looks at our activity and says we need to shrink ourselves down. 00:34:06.099 --> 00:34:12.739 We need to get a glimpse of the greatness of the glory of God and be humbled in light of it. 00:34:13.380 --> 00:34:16.420 Solomon isn't done with our words here. 00:34:17.619 --> 00:34:21.699 There's one more kind of word, more dangerous than all the rest. 00:34:22.259 --> 00:34:24.099 It's the word that we promise. 00:34:24.500 --> 00:34:25.940 So I want you to see this thirdly. 00:34:26.099 --> 00:34:31.380 The fear of God frees me when I close the gap between my word and my life. 00:34:32.019 --> 00:34:37.139 The fear of God frees me when I close the gap between my word and my life. 00:34:37.380 --> 00:34:39.699 Look down at verse 4 with me. 00:34:40.420 --> 00:34:46.659 When you vow a vow to God, Solomon says, do not delay in paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. 00:34:47.139 --> 00:34:49.300 Pay what you vow. 00:34:50.019 --> 00:34:52.179 Now it gets strange in verse 5, doesn't it? 00:34:52.500 --> 00:34:58.579 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 00:35:00.019 --> 00:35:03.380 Let God's word challenge you here for a moment. 00:35:03.860 --> 00:35:08.099 We assume that a big vow honors God. 00:35:08.579 --> 00:35:11.380 It's the raised hand, it's the tearful commitment. 00:35:11.539 --> 00:35:15.059 God, I will always follow you, I will always serve you. 00:35:17.059 --> 00:35:19.619 Surely God is pleased with that size of promise. 00:35:19.780 --> 00:35:27.460 Solomon said actually says, God would rather you promise him nothing than promise him something big and not deliver. 00:35:27.780 --> 00:35:32.659 God prefers an honest silence than an impressive commitment. 00:35:34.260 --> 00:35:37.539 Verse 6 even cuts the escape hatch for us. 00:35:37.699 --> 00:35:42.900 He says, Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. 00:35:44.260 --> 00:35:59.059 Don't just come to God and say, listen, you know, I made that vow, I made that vow, and I thought I knew what I was talking about, but I didn't consider the reality of, you know, maybe the suffering that was coming in my life, or how busy I would be when I said, you know, I'm gonna read the Bible every day this year, and I'm gonna be a man of prayer this year, and I'm gonna share the gospel this year. 00:35:59.139 --> 00:36:02.260 I didn't realize how difficult it would really be. 00:36:03.139 --> 00:36:09.300 God says, don't walk back that commitment, that promise you made to him. 00:36:09.780 --> 00:36:19.780 Otherwise, I mean, this is so clear, God, he will be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands. 00:36:20.420 --> 00:36:23.300 God takes your commitments seriously. 00:36:23.460 --> 00:36:28.579 Now, I think probably many of us are here thinking, well, you know, I don't really make vows to God. 00:36:29.619 --> 00:36:32.019