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The Vanity of Human Religion

Sermon Title: The Vanity of Human Religion

Sermon Text: Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

Sermon Purpose: To call the hearer to guard against formalized and external habits when dealing with God.

Sermon Proposition: There are 4 aspects to watch out for in human religion.

 

I.          Watch your step when you come before God. V.1

            A.        The believer should be more ready to learn than to engage in a lot of rash talk. (1 Kings 8:15-21)

Jeremiah 18:15 "Because My people have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in pathways and not on a highway,

Exodus 3:5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

B.        The believer should know that rash promises are the offering of fools, and unthinking people make them without considering it as evil.

Jeremiah 23:32 "Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams," says the LORD, "and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all," says the LORD.

II.        Watch your mouth when you come before God. V.2-3

            A.        The believer should avoid recklessness in offering prayers to God.

            B.        The believer should avoid recklessness in offering promises to God.

            C.        The believer should avoid recklessness in offering professions of devotion to God.  (Judges 11:29-40)

Proverbs 20:25 It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, And afterward to reconsider his vows.

                        Proverbs 10:19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.

III.       Watch your vows when you come before God. V.4-6

            A.        The 1st principle if you make a vow is to pay what you vow. V.4

            B.        The 2nd principle if you don’t intend to pay don’t make the vow. V.5

            C.        The 3rd principle if you don’t keep your vows you have sinned. V.6a

            D.        The 4th principle is there are no excuses for breaking vows. V.6b

Deuteronomy 23:21 " When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. 22 "But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. 23 "That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth.

Numbers 30:2 "If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Proverbs 6:2 You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth.

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts." 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged." 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." 9 And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' 10 "Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed." 11 Then I said, "Lord, how long?" And He answered: "Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate, 12 The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 13 But yet a tenth will be in it, And will return and be for consuming, As a terebinth tree or as an oak, Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump."

IV.       Watch your reverence when you come before God. V.7

            “The actual fear of insuring the displeasure of the Almighty.”

Psalm 76:11 Make vows to the LORD your God, and pay them; Let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared.

Proverbs 2:3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.

Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Isaiah 8:13 The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread.