Studies In Ecclesiastes

Studies In Ecclesiastes Presentation 11

Apathy Chapter 10v8-15 Presentation 11

Introduction Preachers often wonders what sort of response their preaching is producing. The preacher in this book is no different! Have his hearers fallen asleep? Did they nod approvingly or, did they look at their sundials and wonder when the man was going to finish? The verses we are considering today uncover one of the greatest dangers that lurk in the human heart – apathy! It’s not really a response. It’s more of a non-response. The tragedy of it is that it is so widespread.. Presentation 11

What's The Point Of Trying You Might Get Hurt! In v8-9 we are confronted with a hunter, a builder, a stonemason and a carpenter. The common thread that binds all of these occupations together is the dangers associated with them. And the implication in these verses is, "What is the point of trying you might get hurt. The possibility of disaster awaits you so why bother. Give up before you start. You are safer doing nothing." This philosophy of life encourages laziness and a lack of involvement. It’s the worst sort of escapism! Presentation 11

What's The Point Of Trying You Might Get Hurt! Taken to its logical conclusion it causes a man to say, "I'm not going to my work today, I might be involved in an accident." To which his wife could well reply, "I'm not cooking any more meals for you because the kitchen might go on fire.“ Apply these reactions to those areas that are uppermost in the preacher’s thinking. First, to man’s search for God. The word ‘search’ is often inaccurate because many people give up before they start. Why? Because the search for God is a risky business. If the truth be told, we are not quite sure what we would do when we found him. Presentation 11

What's The Point Of Trying You Might Get Hurt! It’s like equipping an expedition for a voyage of discovery and then refusing to set out. Why this reluctance? Is it because we know that if God was discovered and he became personally real to us, then we would need to begin to take his commands seriously? This God would want to turn us inside out, make us like himself, and moral change is something that many find very threatening. We would no longer be free agents. Presentation 11

What's The Point Of Trying You Might Get Hurt! The problems people have concerning belief in God are rarely intellectual but are invariably moral. We don't want change! A student who said he couldn't accept the existence of God was asked by a Christian, "If I could prove to your complete satisfaction that God exists would you put your faith in him." He shifted uneasily from one foot to another and eventually said, "No!" Why? He knew it would mean a change in his way of life and he didn't want that. He didn't want to take the risk. God's holiness exposes the shabby, sinful shallowness of our lives as you may well have experienced. Presentation 11

What's The Point Of Trying You Might Get Hurt! The implications of discovering a God who is real cause many to take no action or to postpone until a later date taking any action they might take. This is tellingly illustrated from the life of Augustine. He tells us in his ‘Confessions’ that in his early life during his search for God he was living with his concubine. He could not countenance giving her up and so he prayed, ‘Lord give me continence but not yet’. Presentation 11

What's The Point Of Trying You Might Get Hurt! If the first application of these verses has to do with searching for God then the second has to do with serving him, with being involved in building the church of Christ. With our safety helmets on we sit on the fence and watch others build. We see others expose themselves to danger, to criticism, to making mistakes and to exhaustion. However, there is no sweat on our brow because we are operating a policy of non-involvement. Presentation 11

What's The Point Of Trying You Might Get Hurt! Jesus surely had this in mind when he told the parable of the talents in order to focus on the one servant who buried his [Matt.25v14-30]. Why did the servant do so? He didn't want to take risks. He didn't want to chance getting hurt. But his lame excuse lost him his reward and branded him a ‘lazy and unprofitable servant’. Are we reluctant to get involved in God's work in in our church fellowship because involvement is a costly business? In the long term, non-involvement is far costlier. Presentation 11

To Do A Job Well Get Properly Equipped! The picture in v10 encourages us to be properly equipped for the work. Have you ever tried cutting wood with a blunt instrument? You expend a great deal of effort and energy for very little result. Have you ever tried dressing a piece of wood with a blunt plane? How much needless energy is wasted but what a difference a sharp blade makes. To do a job well we need to be properly equipped. So often in the work of God we say, "I'm not lazy, I'm expending all sorts of effort".Yes, but what are we accomplishing? Will our work stand the test of time and last for all eternity? Presentation 11

To Do A Job Well Get Properly Equipped! We can pour a great deal of energy and effort into Christian work but if we are not properly equipped we will make little progress. But if the blade is keen the work becomes easier. There are no short cuts or smart tricks in Christian service but there is a secret to fruitfulness. A famous minister on one occasion recorded in his diary the result of his preaching and wrote, "the wind was behind me tonight". To what was he referring? To the enabling power of the Holy Spirit who makes all the difference to our service by making us sharp cutting tools. Have we discovered the value of having the wind behind us in our Christian service? Presentation 11

To Do A Job Well Get Properly Equipped! Paul discovered that to be effective for God, what he needed was not, a great intellect, or persuasive arguments or eye-catching gimmicks. But to see his weakness and his need of God’s Spirit. Paul wrote to the Corinthians of a physical handicap that was hindering his service. He had asked God to remove it but God had replied, "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness". [2 Cor.12.9]. Having grasped the lesson Paul wrote, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ's power may rest on me...I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties for when I am weak then I am strong". Presentation 11

To Do A Job Well Get Properly Equipped! You see if we want to be razor sharp for God then we need to be persuaded of our need of God's Holy Spirit. We need to recognise the folly of engaging in Christian work in our own strength. We need regularly to run to God and say, ‘I'm blunt and in need of the Holy Spirit to sharpen me that I might be effective’ Learn to pray that God might sharpen you and make you effective instruments in your daily witness. Often we bring to God all of our energy and effort, only to hear him say, ‘I can't use you until you see your own weakness and therefore your need of me. Only when you become weak in your own eyes can I make you strong’. Presentation 11

Use The Resources Given You Before It’s Too Late! The final picture is found in v11. It describes a snake charmer with the ability to overcome danger. But what happens if he doesn't get round to using his resources and charm the snake? What if the snake strikes first? What is the value of all his ability then? "There is no profit for the charmer". What needless tragedy. The ferryboat, ‘Herald Of Free Enterprise’, need not have sunk in the English Channel. It need not have been the victim of the sea. But the compartment doors which were designed to keep the water out were not used! Presentation 11

Use The Resources Given You Before It’s Too Late! How do we apply this lesson? First to recognise that here are dangers lurking that are poised to strike at the spiritual fabric of our nation and the quality of our individual lives. One thinks of the advance of secular thought and philosophy, the new morality, materialism, humanism, rationalism, secularism and every other ‘ism’. These serpents are set to deliver their venomous bite. However, God has placed at our disposal the resources to combat them. God has given gifts to his church, a pipe to charm the serpent. But are we found using it? Presentation 11

Use The Resources Given You Before It’s Too Late! People sometimes complain about the state of the nation and I have to agree they have every right to be concerned. But the challenge facing us is apparent here - are we using the resources that God has given us? Do we know what it is to cry to God in earnest in prayer for the welfare of our land? Do we know what it is to agonise to plead with God for his blessing? Will we take up the pipe of prayer and charm the serpent or will we let it strike? Presentation 11

Use The Resources Given You Before It’s Too Late! Others express their concern over falling church membership, or at the church’s failure to make inroads into the secular world. But are we using the resources God has given us? How seriously do we take Christ’s command to be his witnesses? A witness is one who speaks for Christ. Do the false cults put us to shame with their zeal to win others? And if we excuse ourselves by saying, ‘We don't have the ability’, then we have failed to grasp that the same Jesus who said, "be my witnesses," also said, "you shall receive power”. Acts 1v8.Do we take up the pipe of God's provision and charm the serpent or do we let it strike? Presentation 11

Conclusion The life of Christian discipleship is hazardous and costly but that is no reason to opt out, to be apathetic, and to refuse to get involved. God has provided us with all we need. And we in turn are called upon to make use of the resources he has laid at our disposal. What might we together accomplish in the days that are ahead if we determine to do just that? Presentation 11

Studies In Ecclesiastes