Let Your Words Be Few

Good morning, guys. It's a joy to worship with you all.

Please turn in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 5.

Ecclesiastes 5 · chapter mention

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sean,

and I am one of the pastors of Trinity Campus Church.

And it is my great joy and privilege to preach God's Word to you this morning.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Heavenly Father, we do what the world might consider odd once again.

We come to listen to your Word,

written so many years ago, but timeless.

The Word of God that makes people wise unto salvation in Jesus Christ.

So, Lord, we incline our years,

and we humble our hearts before your Word.

Speak to us.

Speak to us.

Make your presence known,

your authority known,

your glory known,

in the reading and preaching of your Word,

so that we might be filled with

a holy fear of God,

reverence and awe before you.

So we might stand in wonder at the grace you have shown us in Jesus Christ.

Meet with us now in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Please stand, if you are able,

as we read God's Word.

Ecclesiastes 5, 1 through 7,

and I will read it out loud for us.

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.

To draw near to listen is better

than to offer the sacrifice of fools,

for they do not know that they are doing evil.

Be not rash with your mouth,

nor let your heart be hasty

to utter a word before God.

For God is in heaven,

and you are on earth.

Therefore, let your words be few.

For a dream comes with much business,

and a fool's voice with many words.

When you vow a vow to God,

do not delay paying it,

for He has no pleasure in fools.

Pay what you vow.

It is better that you should not vow

than that you should vow and not pay.

Let not your mouth lead you into sin,

and do not say before the messenger

that it was a mistake.

Why should God be angry at your voice

and destroy the work of your hands?

For when dreams increase

and words grow many,

there is vanity,

but God is the one you must fear.

This is God's holy and authoritative Word.

You may be seated.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

About 3,500 years ago,

there were two men named Nadab and Abihu.

They were sons of Aaron, the high priest,

and as such,

they were prestigious members

of the priestly class

among God's people in Israel

with privileged access

into the tabernacle,

which is the dwelling place of God,

where the sacrifices were offered

and worship was given to God.

And one day,

it says that each of them

took his censer

and put fire in it

and laid incense on it

and then offered unauthorized fire

before the Lord,

which he had not commanded them.

Judging from the prohibition

of drinking alcohol

before entering the tabernacle

that issues forth from this event,

we can infer that Nadab and Abihu

were probably inebriated.

They were drunk.

And because of that,

they didn't have the presence of mind,

the composure,

the self-control

to resist taking a strange

or foreign fire,

an unauthorized fire

into the tabernacle

to offer it before the Lord.

And in doing so,

they profaned the holiness of God.

They treated the Lord God

with casual contempt.

And because of that,

it says,

fire came out from before the Lord

and consumed them

so that they died.

Leviticus 10.2.

A few hundred years later,

Hophni and Phinehas came along.

They were sons of Eli,

again, the high priest.

Having grown up reading the story

of Nadab and Abihu

in their God-worshipping home,

you would expect

that they would know better.

But despite the fact

that they were priests,

1 Samuel 2.12 tells us

that they did not know the Lord.

When the people of God

would come to offer their offering,

and the meat would be being boiled,

about to be offered to God,

they would send their servants.

They would come

with their big forks

and dip it into the pot

and grab a big hunk of meat,

and they would march back home

to their places,

their rooms,

to eat it

while the offering

was being offered to God.

And then,

when the burnt offering

is being offered,

the sin offering

is being offered,

that offering was,

the fat of the offering

was to be burned completely

because God said

the fat belongs to the Lord.

But these guys,

they liked their steak,

juicy and fatty,

so they would interrupt

the offering

and say,

we want raw meat

before you offer it to the Lord.

And they would take it

and eat it.

As a result,

it says that,

thus the sin,

1 Samuel 2.17,

thus the sin of the young men

was very great

in the sight of the Lord.

for the men treated

the offering of the Lord

with contempt.

As a result,

both Hophni and Phinehas

perished on the same day

in the hands

of the Philistine army

as the Lord

has said they would.

Irreverent worship

is a grave sin.

God cares about

how we approach Him

in worship

and how we relate to Him

as our God and Lord.

So Ecclesiastes 5.1-7

begins by saying,

guard your steps

when you go

to the house of God.

And then it ends by saying,

God is the one

you must fear.

And that's the main point

of this passage

and indeed the main point

of the entire book

of Ecclesiastes

and indeed the main point

of all wisdom literature

in Scripture

is the fear of God.

That we ought to fear God.

This is not a fear

that terrorizes,

fear of punishment,

but a different kind

of fear.

The fear of punishment,

it says in 1 John 4.18,

is driven away

by God's perfect love

for us.

But there's a second

kind of fear

in which we ought

to relate to

and respond to God

with reverent obedience

and humble submission.

I'm not trying

to take some

barbaric teaching

in the Old Testament

about being terrorized

by God

and making it palatable

for the modern audience.

The Bible itself

makes this distinction

between two types

of fears.

It says in Exodus 20.20,

after God appears

to the Israelites

to give them

the Ten Commandments

and Moses says

to the people,

do not fear

for God has come

to test you

that the fear

of God

may be with you

that you may not sin.

Don't fear.

In other words,

don't be afraid

of God

and His punishment

and flee from this place.

but fear God,

meaning revere Him,

stand in awe of Him,

know how big He is

and how small you are

so that you are

constrained

onto obedience.

That's the kind of fear

that's in view

in this passage

and Ecclesiastes 5.1-7

is particularly concerned

with one way

that the fear of God

ought to be expressed

and that's in the fewness

of our words.

That's the main point

that I want to bring

to you this morning.

Before God in heaven,

we should let our words

be few.

And my first point

is going to be

talk less.

It's pretty simple.

My second point

is going to be

walk the talk.

It says in verse 1,

guard your steps

when you go

to the house of God.

The command in Hebrew

is literally

guard your feet.

This is not a warning

about some uneven steps

on your way

up the temple staircase.

It's getting at the fact

that whichever direction

your feet are pointing,

that's the way you walk.

Your feet and walking

is a common metaphor.

The metaphor of the journey

and life and walking

is commonly used

in the Bible

and so this here

is referring to

the same thing.

Proverbs 4.27 says,

Do not swerve

to the right or to the left.

Turn your foot

away from evil.

So then,

the preacher is warning us,

when you approach

God in worship,

guard your steps.

Watch your conduct.

Watch your attitude.

Make sure that it fits

the glory and honor

and holiness of God.

More specifically,

the preacher continues

in verse 1,

To draw near to listen

is better than

to offer the sacrifice

of fools,

for they do not know

that they are doing evil.

to listen,

which in Hebrew,

as is the case

in the English,

also means to obey,

to listen to someone,

to obey someone.

And it's a very important

command in the Bible.

In fact,

if you look at

the greatest command

summarized

in the Old Testament,

in Deuteronomy 6.45,

it begins this way.

Hear,

hear,

O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

You shall love

the Lord your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

and with all your mind.

Hear,

pay attention,

listen.

Some people have said

that hearing

is the most important

spiritual faculty

for the Christian.

That of all our senses,

that hearing

is the most important.

If you remember

Doubting Thomas

after Jesus' resurrection

saw Jesus,

he touched Jesus'

nail-scarred hands

and his spear-pierced sides

and then he believed

and then Jesus said,

you have believed

because you have seen.

Blessed are those

who have not seen

and yet have believed

because we as Christians

ought to walk by faith

and not by sight.

And faith

is the assurance

of things hoped for

and conviction

of things unseen.

And so how

do we come to faith?

Romans 10,

14 to 17

tells us,

how then will they

call on him

in whom they have

not believed?

And how are they

to believe in him

of whom they have

never heard?

And how are they

to hear

without someone preaching?

And how are they

to preach

unless they are sent?

So faith

comes from hearing

and hearing

through the word

of Christ.

Saving faith

is not a fruit

of our personal

search

or investigation

or an experiment.

Saving faith

is the fruit

of our proclamation

of God's revelation.

It is something

that is heard.

It is something

that is received.

And that means

the activity

that we're engaged

in right now,

the preaching

of God's word

and the hearing

of God's word

is a matter

of life and death,

of eternal salvation

or eternal damnation.

When some people

hear the word of God,

the gospel

of Jesus Christ,

it lands on their ears

like a seed

that falls along

the path

that people walk on.

It gets trampled

on their foot

and it gets pecked at

and devoured

by birds.

These are the people

who listen to the gospel,

listen to the word,

but they don't really hear it.

It just goes out

the other ear.

The seed never takes

root in their hearts.

And it's snatched away

by the devil.

And then there are

some people,

you guys might recognize

this parable.

Somebody famous

said this.

Some people,

the word of God

lands on their ears

like a seed

that falls upon a rock.

There's some shallow soil

on the rock

and so the seed

quickly takes root,

shallow root,

and then it springs up quickly.

But because it doesn't

have deep root,

it withers away

when the sun shines on it.

It's like people

who listen to the word

and at first

seem to eagerly embrace it

and gladly receive it,

but then as soon as

trials and temptations come,

as soon as the pressures

of life bear upon them,

there's no root

and so they wither away.

For some people,

the word of God

lands on their ears

like a seed

that falls among thorns.

thorns.

They grow up,

but they're choked away

by the thorns

and don't bear fruit.

They're like the people

who hear the gospel,

hear the word of God,

but then when they are tempted,

they're preoccupied

by the cares of this world,

by the worries of life,

by the riches of this world.

When they are lured away

by the pleasures

of this world,

these things distract them

and these things

choke spiritual life

out of them

so that they don't ever

bear fruit.

But for some other people,

the word of God

enters their ears

like a seed

that falls on good soil

and then it grows

and grows and grows

and bears fruit

a hundredfold.

They are like the people

who hear the word,

hold it fast

in an honest

and good heart

and bear fruit

with patience.

This is from Jesus' parable

in Luke 8.

And you know what determines

the fate of the gospel,

this gospel seed

in your life?

Do you want to know

how you can be

this good soil

that bears fruit

a hundredfold?

Jesus tells us

in Luke 8, 18.

Take care

than how you hear.

How do you hear?

Are you listening?

To draw near to listen

is better than to offer

the sacrifice of fools

for they do not know

that they are doing evil.

The preacher of Ecclesiastes

has in mind a worshiper

but a foolish worshiper

who comes to the temple

and offers sacrifices

to God in the temple

but doesn't actually

listen to God,

doesn't actually obey God

in his life.

This contrast

between listening

and sacrifice

is one we find

in other parts

of scripture as well.

We just read

in our confession

of,

in the call to worship,

right?

The sacrifices of God

are a broken heart

and a contrite spirit.

in 1 Samuel 15,

1-3,

prophet Samuel

tells King Saul

while he is on his way

to make war

against the Amalekites,

he says,

now therefore

listen to the words

of the Lord.

And this is the word

of the Lord

that Samuel gives to Saul.

This is what you should

listen to.

He tells him,

the Amalekites

have oppressed

my people.

They are thoroughly

idolatrous

and therefore

you must devote

them to destruction.

Do not save

the spoils.

But Saul

thinks he knows better.

All these

animals,

all this wealth,

all this gold,

all these women,

he decides to keep

the spoils

to indulge in them.

And then when Samuel

comes to confront

Saul about his

unfaithfulness,

he deviously says,

oh no, no,

I kept this

so that we can

use these animals

to sacrifice to God.

He was all for

a good reason,

to worship God.

And then this is

what Samuel says.

Has the Lord

as great delight

in burnt offerings

and sacrifices

as in obeying

the voice of the Lord?

behold,

to obey

is better

than sacrifice

and to listen

than the fat of rams.

What good

is lip service

of sacrifice

when you have

no listening ear?

What God desires

is obedience.

We are to present

our bodies,

our very lives,

as it says

in Romans 12,

as a living sacrifice,

holy and acceptable

to God.

That is our

spiritual worship.

David echoes

the sentiment

in Psalm 40,

Psalms 40:6–8

verses 6 to 8.

I think I have that

to show.

In sacrifice

and offering

you have not delighted,

but you have given me

an open ear.

Burnt offering

and sin offering

you have not required.

Then I said,

behold,

I have come

in the scroll

of the book.

It is written of me.

I delight to do

your will.

Oh my God,

your law

is within my heart.

The expression,

you have given me

an open ear,

if translated

more literally,

is you have dug

open my ear,

which is a powerful

illustration of how

we ought to take care

to listen to the word

of God.

It's as if God

takes a hole

and shovel

and picks

at our hard heads

and our deaf ears

to dig open

an ear

upon which

he can plant

the gospel seed.

What good is it

if we come

to church

on Sunday

to worship God

in our Sunday best clothes

with our Sunday best smiles on

and then we shake

our hands

with each other

and then we raise up

our hands in worship

and then we utter

our platitudes

in prayer

only to let

the word of God

that we hear

go in one ear

and out the other.

only to contradict

our profession

of faith

on Sunday

with the conduct

of our lives

Monday through Saturday.

Proverbs 28.9 says,

if one turns away

his ear

from hearing the law,

even his prayer

is an abomination.

Why would a worshiper,

think about this

for a second,

why would a worshiper

offer sacrifices

to God

but not listen to him?

because other people

see sacrifices

offered in public.

They don't see

the way they talk

and live

in private.

There's another reason

to consider

why would a worshiper

offer sacrifices

but not listen to God.

Some people offer

sacrifices without obedience

because sacrifice

seems like

an effective

or efficient way

to get God

to do

what you want him

to do.

hundreds of millions

of people

throughout the world

still keep idols

and altars

in their homes

and businesses

and they bow to them

and bring food to them,

offerings to them,

and worship these idols

because they believe

that if they do

make these regular sacrifices,

then those so-called gods

will help them

to prosper,

keep their families healthy,

keep their businesses

prospering.

this is a classic

patron-client relationship.

The client brings

the payment

and the patron

bestows the favor.

It's transactional,

not relational.

It's selfish

at its root

because it's really

not even a gift,

it's a bribe

designed for your own

selfish ends.

It's a way of getting

God to do

what we want

instead of doing

what God wants us to do.

it's a presumptuous

attempt to shape God

to be the way

we want Him to be

instead of being

shaped by God's Word

to be the way

He wants us to be.

It's what we confessed

earlier,

it's a way of improperly

seeking concessions

from God

when we should be

seeking guidance

from Him.

When our proper

posture before Him

is submission,

not negotiation.

what is your relationship

to the Word of God?

Are you submitted

to it?

Or are you trying

to extract

concessions from it?

Are you listening

to it?

Or are you talking

over it?

That brings me

to verse 2.

Be not rash

with your mouth,

nor let your heart

be hasty

to utter a word

before God.

For God is in heaven

and you are on earth.

Therefore,

let your words

be few.

If we have

a humble posture

of submission

before God

in worship,

then we're going

to let our words

be few.

Why?

The preacher tells us,

for God is in heaven

and you are on earth.

Imagine that

you're a student

and your professor

invites you

to accompany him

to a prestigious

gathering

of leading experts

in this research field.

Would you go there

and then take a seat

among the table

among these

great scientists

or whatever they do

and then blabber away

about the little

that you know?

or would you

just stand up

to the side

quietly

and listen?

If you're

a summer intern

at your new work

in your company,

would you go barging

into the CEO's office

and tell him,

hey,

I can tell you

how to run

this office better.

I can tell you

how to run

this company better.

Or would you

seek to learn?

If that's the case

with humans,

how much more

with God?

For as the heavens

are higher

than the earth,

so are my ways

higher than your ways

and my thoughts

than your thoughts.

Between the Lord

and us,

there's an infinite gap.

I talked about,

would a firefly

go to the sun

and say,

look what bright

light I have.

Would a muddy puddle

on the ground

on a rainy day

say to the ocean,

look how deep

and pure

my water is?

And even that

doesn't quite capture

the gap between

God and us

because as I said

two weeks ago,

God is not only

quantitatively

different from us,

he's qualitatively

different from us.

He's not just

a superlative

version of man.

He's as different

from us

as the author

of the book

is from a character

in the book

as the potter

is from the clay

that he is shaping.

Who are we

to speak back

to God?

We should know

our place

and know better

than to blabber

on and on

and on

before God.

God.

This is why

the reading

and preaching

of God's word

has such a prominent

place in our

corporate worship.

We gather here

for about two hours,

a little less,

every Sunday.

We spend

almost half

of that time

reading

and listening

to God's word

preached.

this is also

why my job

isn't

to regale you

with entertaining

stories from my life

or to peddle

some self-help tips

and give motivational

speeches

or be a mouthpiece

for politicians

from the pulpit.

Rather,

my job

is to faithfully

interpret

and apply

God's word

to our lives.

I don't get

to say

what I want

to say.

I must say

what God's word

says

and no preacher

should ever

preach

unless they

have first

listened

to the word

of God.

This also

has implications

for how we

pray to God

and this is

one of the reasons

why during our

corporate prayer times

I ask people

to pray,

especially during

that popcorn prayer time,

pray concise

to the point

prayers

because I don't

want people

to feel pressure

to pray

these elaborate

eloquent prayers

because I want

us to be able

to listen to

one another

pray and join

in instead

of planning

our next

prayer lines

while someone

else is praying

just like

when you talk

to somebody

they're not

really listening

to you

because

they're planning

what they're

going to say

next to you.

Jesus taught us

in Matthew 6,

7, 8

and when you

pray

do not heap

up empty

phrases

as the Gentiles

do

for they think

that they

will be heard

for their

many words

do not be

like them

for your

father knows

what you

need

before you

ask him

God is

in heaven

and we

are on earth

and God

is sovereign

he is

all-knowing

he knows

better than

we do

what we

actually need

God doesn't

listen to us

more

just because

we talk

more

or because

our words

are well

phrased

it's the

heart

not the

word count

that counts

when my

children ask

something of

me

they don't

you know

butter me

up with

flattery

or say

some

you know

long

elaborate

request

they're

right to

the

point

they're

simple

direct

but

their

requests

have

power

with

me

why

not

because

they're

eloquent

not

because

they have

this

long

fancy

request

but

because

they're

my

kids

and

I'm

their

dad

that's

why

your

prayer

has

power

because

you're

God's

children

God

is

your

father

not

because

your

prayers

are

long

or

eloquent

so

don't

be

discouraged

that

you

can't

pray

as

some

other

Christians

can

pray

from the

heart

to your

heavenly

father

and let

your

words

be

few

verse

three

continues

for a

dream

comes

with

much

business

and a

fool's

voice

with

many

words

a

fool's

voice

comes

with

many

words

Proverbs

17

27

and 28

says

whoever

restrains

his

words

as

knowledge

and he

who

has

a

cool

spirit

is

a

man

of

understanding

even

a

fool

who

keeps

silent

is

considered

wise

when

he

closes

his

lips

he

is

deemed

intelligent

the

season

four

episode

ten

of

the

Simpsons

have

you

guys

seen

the

Simpsons

actually

includes

a

take

on

this

proverb

in

the

scene

the

mom

Marge

says

to

her

baby

daughter

who

has

delayed

speech

oh

Maggie

when

are

you

going

to

talk

and

then

her

precocious

other

daughter

Lisa

responds

well

don't

push

her

remember

tis

better

to

remain

silent

and

be

thought

a

fool

than

to

open

your

mouth

and

remove

all

doubt

and

at

that

point

Homer

Simpson

thinks

to

himself

what

does

that

mean

I

better

say

something

or

they'll

think

I'm

stupid

and

then

he

blurts

out

it

takes

one

to

know

one

thereby

removing

all

doubt

that

he

is

a

fool

we

live

in

an

age

of

many

words

an

average

person

can

speak

up to

16,000

words

per day

every

day

7.5

million

blog posts

are written

published

7.5

million

that's

many

words

as a

younger

pastor

I

diligently

wrote

blog

posts

and

scheduled

out

my

posts

out

on

then

Twitter

and

Facebook

because

I

didn't

deem

preaching

God's

word

to be

enough

I

also

needed

to

share

my

wonderful

opinions

and

hot

takes

on

every

cultural

issue

for the

world

to

hear

I'm

not on

any

social

media

anymore

it's

pride

that

produces

many

words

I'm

not

saying

that if

you're

on

social

media

you're

prideful

I'm

just

saying

that

that's

possible

as

it

was

the

case

for

me

the

book

of

Proverbs

makes

an

insightful

connection

between

wealth

and

words

Proverbs

10

15

says

the

wise

lay

up

knowledge

but

the

mouth

of

a

fool

brings

ruin

near

a

rich

man's

wealth

is

his

strong

city

the

poverty

of

the

poor

is

their

ruin

the

mouth

of

a

fool

parallels

the

poverty

of

the

poor

and

they

both

bring

the

person

to

ruin

there

is

an

implicit

parallel

there

between

the

wise

who

lay

up

knowledge

store

up

knowledge

and

the

rich

who

lay

up

wealth

and

store

up

wealth

as

a

safeguard

the

stored

up

knowledge

of

the

wise

protects

them

stored

up

wealth

of

the

rich

protect

them

so

the

wise

save

up

their

money

and

spare

their

words

Proverbs

10

18

continues

when

words

are

many

transgression

is

not

lacking

but

whoever

restrains

his lips

is

prudent

the

tongue

of

the

righteous

is

choice

silver

the

heart

of

the

wicked

is

of

little

worth

again

there's

a

connection

between

words

and

wealth

choice

silver

is

rare

silver

precious

silver

it's

worth

a lot

like

the

tongue

of

the

righteous

his

lips

are

restrained

in

contrast

the

heart

of

the

wicked

is

of

little

worth

and

that's

paralleled

by

many

words

when

transgression

is

not

lacking

in

other

words

when

there

are

many

words

there

is

a

lack

of

wisdom

when

words

are

few

there

is

much

wisdom

wisdom

words

are

like

money

the

more

you

print

into

circulation

the

more

it

loses

value

the

more

you

speak

the

less

value

it

has

the

less

weight

it

has

the

less

wisdom

it

has

when

there

are

many

words

there

are

often

premature

words

imprecise

words

partial

words

words

that

are

out

of

place

out

of

turn

but

once

they

leave

our

mouths

we

can't

take

any

of

it

back

so

it

says

the

wise

store

up

their

words

like

the

rich

who

store

up

their

wealth

the

first

clause

a dream

comes

with

much

business

is

related

to

this

idea

people

with

many

dreams

are

preoccupied

with

much

anxiety

in

their

hearts

they

say

to

themselves

today

or

tomorrow

I

will

go

into

such

and

such

place

and

such

towns

spend

a year

there

and

trade

and

make

a

profit

but

James

4

13

to

16

reminds

us

yet

you

do

not

know

what

tomorrow

will

bring

what

is

your

life

for

you

are

a

mist

that

appears

for

a

little

time

and

then

vanishes

instead

you

ought

to

say

if

the

Lord

wills

we

will

live

and

do

this

or

that

as

it

is

you

boast

in

your

arrogance

all

such

boasting

is

evil

I

think

I've

told you

guys

this

already

I

forget

when

I

told

some

of

you

this

but

I

have

had

two

friends

in

my

life

who

told

me

confidently

I'm

going

to be

the

president

of the

United

States

of

America

one

day

honestly

with

one

of

them

I

almost

believe

that

they're

two

of

the

most

charismatic

people

I