WWUTT 1694 Let Your Words Be Few (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7)

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We must all live our lives with a healthy fear of God, knowing that He is in heaven, we are on earth, and He is ultimately the judge of all things, even holding our lives in His hand when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

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Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

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Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. Well, being Thursday, we come back to our study in the book of Ecclesiastes.

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We're up to Chapter 5. If you want to open up your Bible and join with me there, I'm going to read through the first seven verses here, a little bit shorter section today.

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This is out of the Legacy Standard Bible, the Word of the Lord. God your steps as you go to the house of God, and draw near to listen, rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

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Do not be hasty with your mouth, or impulsive in your heart to bring up a matter in the presence of God.

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For God is in heaven, but you are on the earth, therefore let your words be few.

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For the dream comes through abundant endeavor, and the voice of a fool through abundant words.

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When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it, for he takes no delight in fools.

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Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow, than you should vow and not pay.

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Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin, and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake.

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Why should God be angry on account of your voice, and wreak destruction on the work of your hands?

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For in many dreams and vanities are many words. Rather fear

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God. That's a good conclusion to that particular section, that we should have the fear of the

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Lord that is in our hearts. As we read at the beginning of Proverbs, Proverbs 1 -7, the fear of the

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Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Without the fear of God, all that we learn really just puffs ourselves up.

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We think more high and mighty of ourselves, but you can see the humble attitude that the preacher has in coming about these things that we read in just these first seven verses of Ecclesiastes 5, all pointing back to having a healthy and a reverent fear of God.

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In Matthew, Jesus said, do not fear him who can kill the body, and then after that can't do anything more to you.

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Rather fear him who after he kills the body can also destroy the soul in hell.

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Yes, I say, fear him. Who is Jesus talking about there? He's talking about God.

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We must have a fear of the Lord. Hebrews 10 -31, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living

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God. So what does it mean then to have the fear of God, a reverent fear of God?

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Well, it means to know that he is the supreme judge. He is the creator of all things.

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Nothing happens outside of his control. He holds your life in his hand.

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And so knowing this, you have a fear of God. You know that he can determine what happens to you, where your soul goes, whether you live or whether you die, whether you will be with God forever in glory or whether he will punish you under his wrath forever.

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And just knowing that develops this reverent fear of the

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Lord. Now, we as Christians, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we don't need to fear the wrath of God.

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You are not destined for wrath, Paul said to the Thessalonians, but we're destined to receive eternal life in Jesus Christ.

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So we don't need to fear the wrath of God, but we still know that he is fearful.

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He is mighty. He is holy and beyond our comprehension.

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So that we not think of God in like a buddy -buddy sort of a way. Yes, we are friends of God through faith in Jesus Christ, but we should not ever think in our minds or translate that into, you know, running up to God and feathers in his hair and we can elbow him and laugh and be giddy and have fun.

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Okay. You can't do that with the president of the United States. You can't do that with the queen of England.

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There are some world rulers. You try to do that with, it could get you killed. It's disrespectful.

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There's a certain decorum. There's a certain reverence that you need to have around a person who has that kind of power.

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And so with the Lord, it's even much more so. We have no fear of man. We should fear

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God. How many of you, when you're driving down the road, if you pass by a police officer, you're checking your rear view mirror to see if that officer is going to turn around and start following you.

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You know why you feel that way? Because you have a fear of the law. Maybe you're even doing something wrong and you don't know that you're doing something wrong.

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You can have a headlight out and you're not aware of it. And the cop is going to pull you over and tell you that you have a headlight out.

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Whatever, whatever the reason might be, you're checking your mirror because you're like, am

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I doing something wrong? Or does this cop think I'm doing something wrong? Is he going to come after me?

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There's a fear there. There's a fear of judgment. And so that is the same.

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That should be the same kind of fear that we have before God, because we know that he searches and knows all.

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I mentioned this on the podcast yesterday, that there is nothing that we can hide from God.

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He knows our thoughts. He knows our actions. He knows what we're going to do before we know what we're going to do.

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The Lord knows all these things. There is nothing that we can hide from God. We might be able to put on a good song and dance for other people, put on a fun facade, fake our religion, our

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Christianity, fake our morality with other people. You can't do that before God. He knows whether your heart is genuine or not.

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He knows whether you are actually carrying these things out in secret when nobody can see you.

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And so knowing this about God, that he ultimately holds all judgment in his hand, we have fear of him.

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Now, again, we know that in Christ, we won't experience the wrath of God, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have a fear of God at all, because we still know he is the great judge.

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We still know that he is all powerful. He could squash the universe if he wanted to. And that kind of acknowledgement puts in our hearts a certain and healthy sense of fear before God that we must have.

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And when you have that fear of God, you understand the instructions a little bit better here. The wisdom that the preacher is giving in Ecclesiastes chapter five, verses one through seven, guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools.

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Now what is the sacrifice of fools? We actually have that question answered for us here in just a moment. But notice the language here again, guard your steps as you go to the house of God.

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What does that mean? Know that as you are coming into the presence of the

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Lord, check your behavior. How is it that you are living? Are you living according to the path that God has set, according to his word, like you are obeying

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God, his commandments? Jesus said, if you love me, you'll obey my commandments, John 14, 15.

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We don't like that. We don't want to think that love has anything to do with obedience. I can just love

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God and he loves me and it doesn't matter what I do. Right? Well, you are saved by faith.

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You are justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not by your works. That is absolutely true. But then it must be demonstrated in your life that you have been justified.

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If you have truly been saved, if the grace of God is upon you, then you will walk in the righteousness of Christ and not continue to do unrighteous things.

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If you continue to live in sin that you demonstrate by your life that you're still enslaved to that sin, you've not actually been set free in Christ.

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So this justification by faith has never actually happened. The faith that you have in Jesus Christ must change your life because this is not simply believing by your own will.

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That said, in John chapter one, those who believe in him, he gave the right to become the children of God who are born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of Christ.

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So if we have this faith by the blessing of God given to us by God, therefore we're going to live according to what

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God says. Now there's this sanctification that happens. We are growing in holiness. So it doesn't mean that you're perfectly holy the moment that you come to salvation, you're never going to do anything wrong again.

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But our orientation is now for God and not for our flesh or for sin or for the ways of Satan in this world.

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We desire God and with our whole lives we are pursuing God. So with your life, you are living in obedience to God, guard your steps, walk in a way that is pleasing unto the

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Lord. Ephesians four one, walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling to which you have been given.

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That calling specifically referring to the gospel. Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen.

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Guard your steps as you go to the house of God, as you come into his presence.

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In other words, now we know on this side of the cross, we who believe in Jesus Christ, our bodies are temples of the

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Holy Spirit whom we have from God. So honor God with your body. As Paul says in first Corinthians six in Romans twelve and in other places.

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So we are a house of God. The church is the house of God. Ephesians chapter two, we're being built up into a spiritual house.

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Also first Peter two. So so this is the house of God. Have this reverend fear as you live.

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Have this reverend fear as you come into a place of worship with the saints. Guard your steps. May your whole life be lived in a manner that is pleasing unto the

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Lord, not according to your flesh, but according to the will of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools.

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James says, be quick to hear and slow to speak.

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So we must be quick to listen, not just hearing with our ears, but even understanding what is being said and doing what is being said.

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As is also said in James, don't be merely hearers of the word, also do what it says.

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So we must be quick to listen to what God has to say, not telling God what we have to say.

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So listen rather than offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

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Now what that and that's really the understanding of foolishness there. So foolishness, they're not wise.

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They have no wisdom. They have no understanding. They do not know that they are doing evil.

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But what is the sacrifice of fools? What is that reference there? Well, it's what we have next in verse two.

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Do not be hasty with your mouth or impulsive in your heart to bring up a matter in the presence of God.

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That's the sacrifice of fools. A person who has no reign over his tongue and doesn't even have the discipline to guard his mind, his thoughts, and the inclinations of his heart.

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They have not been so disciplined in this way. It's almost like whatever the heart desires, that's what the mind wants.

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That's what the person goes after. That's the sacrifice of fools. They can't reign in their tongue.

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They have to speak whatever stupid thing is on their heart. But the preacher here says, do not be hasty with your mouth or impulsive in your heart to bring up a matter in the presence of God.

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And where is the presence of God? It's everywhere. So once again, just as the statement in verse five is to guard your steps as you go to the house of God, whatever we do and whatever we say is in the presence of God.

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So again, have a fear of the Lord, knowing that there is nowhere we can go and nothing that we can say that God does not know about.

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For God is in heaven, but you are on the earth, therefore let your words be few.

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Now this doesn't mean that if a preacher preaches on for an hour rather than a 45 minute sermon that he's a fool because he's got too many words that he is saying.

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Maybe he is a fool depending on the doctrine, depending on what it is that he's saying. But this doesn't inherently mean that the more you talk, the more foolish you become.

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Rather, what this is speaking into is a person who thinks that by their many words, they can change the mind of God.

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They can turn God's mind in their direction. But the preacher is saying here, no, you need to not be hasty with your mouth.

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You need to be silent and listen. You are on earth. God is in heaven.

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So you need to let your words be few. Listen to what he has to say and listen to what he says in the

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Bible. God speaks to us through scripture. And so this is again, all in the fear of God, being impulsive in your heart, going after those things that you want in your flesh is to be foolish, is to not have a fear of God.

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But when we know that he is judge of all things, and he is watching even every one of our actions, then we speak not to impress

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God. We close our mouths and we listen and do what it is that he has said.

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Verse three, for the dream comes through abundant endeavor and the voice of a fool through abundant words.

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Now, to understand what that means, you have to recognize that the preacher is actually referring to dreams here is something bad.

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We don't typically think of dreams as bad. That word dream is usually used in a very positive sense.

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And now if you had bad dreams last night, well, then you are aware of your dreams being bad. But what do we usually call bad dreams?

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We tend to call them nightmares, right? So there's a difference between a dream and a nightmare.

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A dream is something that you look forward to. What are your hopes and your dreams?

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Did you have sweet dreams? There was that love song back in the 90s. Do you dream of me?

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When there's somebody that you really like and you have a crush on, you say that they are dreamy. So we use that word very positively.

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But here in verse three, it is not used in that positive sense. For the dream, think of it as something bad.

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The dream comes through abundant endeavor and the voice of a fool, since we're talking about something bad, through abundant words.

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So what's being meant here is that when a person devotes themselves to constant work and toil, which we've read about in Ecclesiastes, right?

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The preacher has mused about how there's meaninglessness in the work that we do.

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It's all vanity. I don't get anything from it. And even what I accomplish, the next guy that comes along is just going to squander everything that I did.

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So all is vanity. He can't seem to find satisfaction inherent in any of the work that he does.

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Now, of course, there's satisfaction in the job we do to the glory of God, which even the preacher recognizes here.

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But work in and of itself is not something that tends to yield anything meaningful.

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It's vanity. It's chasing after wind. So the person that is constantly working and is still looking for meaning but cannot find it, his mind is constantly going, and therefore he finds no rest.

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So the dream is indicating—what the dream is talking about here in verse 3 is the fact that he can't go to sleep dreamless.

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He can't go to sleep and just rest and let his mind be still. It's still working even after he lies down.

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So as he's constantly pursuing things, even when he sleeps, he cannot rest.

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His mind is still racing. And so compare this to the fool that multiplies his words, the voice of a fool through abundant words.

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It just keeps right on going, and there's no rest from it. We see that in politics all the time, right?

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The voices of fools. It's just constantly going, and there's no rest from it. The news cycle, my goodness.

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Don't devote your mind to that much stuff constantly. Take a break. Go outside, work in your yard, read your

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Bible, pray, sing songs of praise that you may meditate on the Lord. Go for a drive, spend time with the family, whatever.

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Just get your mind unplugged from social media and the news and constant politics.

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There's no rest in any of that. Verse 4, when you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it.

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For he takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than you should vow and not pay.

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I saw a foolish vow by a preacher just last month. He said the following,

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I made a vow to God several years ago that concerning two issues, I would never shy away from speaking out of fear.

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Number one, abortion, and number two, racism. To the best of my knowledge, I have kept that vow and to the best of my ability,

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I always will God helping me. I got to tell you, that's actually a foolish vow and it would be better for that preacher to not vow than to have made that vow and not keep it.

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Now, having said that, you might have heard it and gone, well, what was wrong with that vow? I mean, shouldn't we want to speak against abortion without fear?

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Shouldn't we want to speak against racism without fear? Yes, we absolutely should. But I can tell you matter of factly, not even knowing anything else about that particular preacher, he has not kept that vow.

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There are plenty of times when we should speak up even about issues that we're passionate about and we second guess ourselves because of the recourse or the response that we might get from other people.

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We do it all the time. It's natural that we feel that way. And in some senses, it's wisdom that we would think about how is this going to be perceived by other people?

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Remember what we read yesterday in 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul absolutely was concerned with what other people thought so that they would be blameless not only before God, but before man so that man could not bring any kind of accusation of wrongdoing.

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So it's good to have that checks and balances and have accountability around you for that reason, for that purpose.

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But when we make vows like this, when we say, I am absolutely always going to speak up on these issues and I'm I vowed before God in this way, you've instantly set yourself up for failure because you are not going to be able to keep that vow.

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You're not that good. Sorry, your your will is just simply not that strong.

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And Jesus, in fact, said in Matthew chapter five, simply let your yes be yes and your no be no.

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Anything else is from the evil one making a vow like that. Yeah, absolutely.

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It's hubris. It's pride to think that I can do this every single time.

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It would be better for you to not make that vow at all. But when those opportunities arise to speak up against abortion or speak up against racism, then do it, but do it not under the obligation of some vow, which you won't be able to perfectly keep until the end anyway.

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It's foolish to make vows like that. It's it's puffing yourself up. I mean, is anybody supposed to be impressed by that?

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Oh, yay. Good for you. Well, you made this vow and to the best of your ability, you've kept it. Well, God knows you haven't.

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So now what? It would be better for you to not make that vow at all. Verse six, do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake.

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Why should God be angry on account of your voice and wreak destruction on the work of your hands?

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For in many dreams, once again, we got to think of a dream as being a bad thing here, for in many dreams and vanities are many words.

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Rather, fear God. Quoting to you again from James 119.

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Know this, my beloved brothers, but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger, for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

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Therefore, laying aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness in gentleness, receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

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But become doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror.

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For once he looked at himself and has gone away, he immediately forgot what kind of person he was.

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But the one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.

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Amen. Heavenly Father, help us to be able to do that very thing, to be slow to speak, quick to listen, to be hearers of your word, the

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Bible, and doing what it says. This is the word that has set us free.

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It is the word that has saved our souls. And if we have truly been transformed by it, then may our lives be a reflection of that.

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And we are in obedience to your word, not haughty about our words, but humble to the word of God.

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It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. This has been When We Understand the

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Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt

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.com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast, or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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And let your friends know about our ministry. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word when we understand the text.