Confessions of a Church: Books
The Psalm writer wrote: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God. It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.
Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly. The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
In 2010, Google reported that after 6 years of digitizing books on the internet, there were 129,864,880 books listed in their database.
Surely that number has climbed significantly in the last 11 years.
You can jump online, or visit your local library, (if anyone still does that), and discover books about cooking, the civil war, alien civilizations, economics, art, philosophy, the history of automobiles, and Christianity. There are whole bookstores devoted to the study of all things Christian. Ever been to the Christian book nook? If you like a little light reading, that's your spot.
There's books about war, reptilian conspiracies, the Rothschild's, interdimensional wormholes, Kennedy's assassination, and Pizzagate.
If your imagination can conjure it up, someone has written a book about it. There are likely few if any subjects about which someone hasn't written volumes in regard to it.
Information abounds. Liberal thinkers tend to lean towards the belief that more information leads to greater education, and greater education leads to a higher intellect, and a populace with a higher intellect will culminate in a society as close to a utopia as we can achieve as humans.
Living in the year 2021, the age of information, quickly dispels the notions just described. We have at our fingertips more accumulated information than any group of people in the history of the world, and yet collectively, we show ourselves to be supremely stupid.
See Tik Tok, Pride month, and charred shells of buildings caught up in mostly peaceful protests in 2020 for evidence of our increasing levels of stupidity.
What gives? How is it that greater accumulated information, for our illustration, more books, leads to a situation where people are actually regressing in what one may call wisdom, or, the application of facts, figures, experience, reasoning and true information in a manner which Glorifies God, not man?
The answer is in our text today:
The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.
How many among us have intellectual appetites and curiosities which have no restraints, no guardrails, but instead, have an insatiable desire to consume every little morsel of conspiracy, every little tidbit of "new" information?
In your quest for the latest red pill, do you find yourself all too ready to dive right down the rabbit hole, consuming volumes of books, Facebook posts, blogs, and other resources, all the while with little to no interest in plumbing the depths of God's Word?
Do you find yourself reading, listening to, and searching for more and more information which merely bolsters what your heart's desire is, what your imagination has already determined is true, with great zeal, all the while having little to no discipline with respect to hiding God's Word in your heart, that you might not sin against Him?
When I was first introduced to Reformed Christianity years ago, one thing that immediately caught my attention was the desire by many in this circle to be as well studied on the issues of the day as humanly possible. Study was not limited to the professional Ministers teaching Theological matters on a Sunday morning, but includes all faithful Christians, rightfully so. Study spans a wide range of issues, across a broad spectrum of disciplines: history, science, politics, economics, alternative history, entertainment, pop culture, self defense, weapons, tactics, warfare, prepping, self sustained living, and on, and on, ad nauseam.
It appears that for many, there is no end to the "learning". Now, lest you think this is me on a soapbox, spouting off about a pet peeve of mine, books, and learning, for the record I happen to like good books and have quite a few of them.
What I am getting at is that the excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.
How so?
Scripture says that man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God. As interesting as your favorite sci-fi series may be, there is no eternal life there.
Scripture says that God's word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. The study of things like history, and science, while important, will not lead you towards holiness.
To borrow a concept from Mr. Cox: how often does our spiritual, mental, and emotional diet consist of junk food, leaving us unsatisfied, hungry, distracted, and trained to only want more junk food because of the instant gratification associated with it, versus the slow digesting meat of God's Word?
Put another way: how much time, energy, and resources do you spend on the latest, greatest volume of the inner workings of the "deep state", the newest blog by your favorite culture warrior, the scientific journals which totally blow up the covid narrative, or the most recent release of your favorite fiction author, versus the slow, methodical, intentional study of God's Word, and the consumption of writings by Godly men, expounding upon God's word, goading you towards holiness, godly living, and a deeper relationship with Christ?
Children, why do you think it is that you have difficulty immersing yourself in Scripture, but can get lost for hours in a book about aliens, zombies, and epic heroes ?
Why is it the case that you can memorize every line from the latest marvel movie, yet memorizing God's word, which you would say with your mouth is delightful to your soul, is so very difficult to do?
Brothers and sisters the answer is simple: we have itching ears. We have an appetite for things which satisfy our flesh. We realize that the study of God's word is hard work, so because we tend towards being sluggards, we choose the path of least resistance. This fact indicates one of two possibilities: either
1) You are a Christian who needs to repent, make war against their flesh, and put to death the old man and his lusts and passions, or
2) You are lost, outside of Christ, self deceived, and stand condemned already.
Which is it?
Which type of consumption, the worldly garbage, or the Word of God, makes one wise for salvation?
Which one, your favorite titillating piece online, or the Holy Scriptures, contain the Words of Life?
As the preacher says:
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
How do you learn a fear of the Lord, without an understanding of His nature and yours, which is revealed in His Word handed down to us?
How can you keep His commandments, if you do not diligently study His Word?
Brothers and sisters, I do not believe that God is opposed to the increase of knowledge, but there is a principle present which says that some are always learning, yet never arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
Is this you? Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent! Lest you likewise perish.
If you are able, please kneel as we confess our sins to God Almighty.
Heavenly Father,
Please give us an appetite for Your Word.
Father, Your Son Jesus, the Word become flesh, is the bread come down from Heaven: help us to taste and see that He is good.
Please grant us discernment, that we might recognize the writings and information which will goad us on towards holiness, and the wisdom to reject those which lead us away from You.
Father, please show us grace, and bless us with the fruit of self control, that we might approach the study of Your perfect Word with diligence, perseverance, and an unquenchable hunger for the truth.
Please strike us with awe regarding Your majesty, holiness, perfection, hatred of sin, love and grace towards Your people, and perfect hatred for workers of iniquity.
Help us to have wisdom, as we seek to apply Your Word to our lives.
Forgive us Father, when we have traded Your perfect Law for novels, comics, and fairy tales.
In Jesus's name we pray, Amen.
Please stand and listen to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church:
Ephesians 1:15-23 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!
(From the 10/31/2021 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie.)