Well brothers and sisters, would you turn in your Bibles please to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. If you're able, this morning, when you're ready, would you please stand for the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Luke 10, beginning at verse 38. Hear now the very words of God. Now, as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. And then would you turn over to Ecclesiastes chapter five, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. As we continue our series, we come to Ecclesiastes chapter 5 this morning. 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's 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. Amen to the reading of God's word. Let's pray. Truly, Lord, this world is passing away. And truly, our lives in this realm are fleeting as well. But we pray this morning that as we meditate upon your word, that we would transcend, as it were, time and space, that we would meet with you and that you would help us to listen. Please, by your spirit this morning, help us to listen and speak to as we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. If not all of us, I would imagine many of us are affected by what I call the buzz. The buzz of tweets and TikToks, of online articles, of videos, of news headlines and so forth. We're affected by the phone dings or As I was speaking to someone in the congregation, I won't say who, the other day, he or she was speaking to me and mid-sentence looked at his or her watch and did a double take like that and put the arm down. I thought, oh, that's weird. Mid-sentence stopping to check the time. And then I realized, no, they just got a message. And they'd been distracted by the message. There's emails, and phone calls, and text messages, and WhatsApps, and Instagrams, and so forth. So much so that our very vocabulary is changing. Either we use words that we didn't use before, or we use words that we did use before, but now they have like a whole new dimension. Words like viral, post, platform, follow, hashtag, meme, trending, traffic, spam, binge-worthy, and so forth. There's a buzz. There are a thousand voices, a thousand opinions that just bombard us every day. And my opinion is, for what it's worth, is this world is a very distracted, and very preoccupied place. Last season I took Bertie to basketball, we were in the gym hall down at the Baptist Church and I was looking around and every single parent, every single one was sitting there on their phone, not watching the basketball, except for me, but I wanted to be on my phone, I just couldn't do it, you know, we can't all be on our phone. It's a preoccupied place, all the buzz, all the chatter, and paradoxically I think we're actually less able to think and less able to listen. One man in his book likens us to jet skiers. We're not deep sea divers anymore, we're jet skiers. We can skim, but we can't meditate. We can't let marinate, we can't contemplate, we can't listen. And people seem to be less able to listen. I was reading an article the other day that it used to be if you're going to write an article, you're looking at 1,500 to 2,000 words. Now you have to get closer to 400 to 500 words. Because people can't read as much. Apparently, studies show that 15 years ago, the average concentration span was 12 seconds. Now it's 8.25. And goldfish have a concentration span of 9 seconds. So, there we go. Endless blogs and vlogs and headlines and trends and posts, and yet we're less able to listen. And at the same time, we're hasty to speak. James says, let every person be quick to hear and slow to speak. And yet we're the opposite. We're slow to hear and quick to speak. Everyone has their opinion. Everyone wants to share. Everyone wants to wield it. We talk about keyboard warriors. And so we're less able to listen and more vocal and opinionated. Now, this doesn't bode well, does it, for worship? And actually, this doesn't bode well for the Christian life. If you're one of those people with an 8.25 concentration span, come back in. We're going to start looking at the text. My first heading this morning is simply listening. Listening. In verses 1 through 3, listen to what Solomon says. 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 come to God's house, you are to listen. You're to listen, you're to contemplate, you're to meditate, you're to let marinate, you're to heed, you're to receive, you're to think, you're to lay up, you're to listen. Your posture should be one of attentively and intentionally, not speaking, but listening to God speak. There are a thousand voices in your life, but there's only one that's really important, or more important than all the other ones, and you're to listen to Him. And yet it's easy, isn't it? To listen and not listen. Just like we can sing and not sing. We can confess our sins and not confess our sins. We can be here and not be here. We can be alive and not be alive. And we can listen and not listen. And the fact is you can have lots of opinions. You can sing with gusto. You can rehearse all the lines. But if it's just acting, or if you are unwilling to listen, then God is not impressed. 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. That's why we read Luke 10, isn't it? Martha. She's distracted with all this stuff, but she couldn't listen. And there's Mary, and she's listening. And her portion will not be taken away from her. You know, in 10 years of ministry, it's officially 10 years this month for me being ordained, I think. There's some passages that just become more and more real over time in the ministry. And one of them is Matthew chapter 13 with the parable of the sower. And you remember the parable where you've got the sower casting out the seeds. And it falls in the different kinds of ground, but one of the kinds of ground that the seed falls on is the path. And the path's been hardened, it's solid, it doesn't absorb the words. And the bird comes down, Satan comes down and he snatches the seed away. And I've seen that. I've seen that with unbelievers. There's people who have preached the gospel to and spoken the gospel to their face over and over and over. This is who God is. This is how you are made right with God through Jesus Christ. And you say it over and over and then you go to their house and you speak to them and it's like they've never heard the gospel. They just can't receive it. And I've actually read this verse from 1 Corinthians 2. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they're folly to him and he's not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. I've seen that. And you may have seen that. People in your life, and it doesn't matter how many times they hear of Christ crucified, it's just like it's hitting the path. But the fact is, even as Christians, we can be so slow to listen. There's times, and I want you to know that when I'm preparing to preach the word, I'm examining myself first and foremost, but there are times when I am preparing a sermon and I'll say, ah, Lord, I hope such and such is there. They've this massive blind spot in their life, but oh, this will really speak to them. This will speak into their situation. And they're there, and you preach, and it doesn't make a jot of difference. Because they didn't listen. And we can be hard of hearing, and I can be hard of hearing, and Solomon is saying that we've got to listen. We must listen. So the question is, how can we listen better? And to answer that, I would say, first of all, if we're gonna listen, we need to realize who we're listening to. We need to realize, I know we all know this, but we need to realize that the Word of God is the Word of God. The Word of God is the very Words of God. When you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, Paul said, you accepted it not as the Word of men, but what it really is, the Word of God. And if we really want to listen, then we need to remember who it is that's speaking to us. And surely then we'll be slow to speak and quick to listen. I want you to think of an alternate reality, use your imagination, where I am teaching Andrew Joyner how to play basketball. Andrew, this is how you stand. This is how you hold the ball. You've got to do the wrist action and all the rest of it. Imagine we're there and then LeBron comes into the room. Wait a minute, LeBron. I'm just giving Andrew a wee basketball lesson here. It's absurd. LeBron comes into the room. Right, well, I'll just shut up then. You speak because you're LeBron. And you know what you're talking about. This is the very Word of God. And we need to let it sink deep, deep, deep, deep down that when we read this, and when we come here and we read this, that God is speaking to us. Surely, we will listen if we just acknowledge deep down that these are the very words of God. Esteem the larger catechisms, esteem the scriptures with a firm persuasion that they are the very words of God. That's the first thing. Realize What it is you're listening to. The other thing I would say, which I hope is helpful, is that we're to prepare to listen. Prepare to listen. We rehearsed Short Catechism 89 this morning. Spoiler alert, next week we're gonna go into Short Catechism 90. How is the word to be read and heard that it may become effectual to salvation? How is the word to be read and heard that it may become effectual to salvation? That the word of God may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer. Receive it in faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives. We must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer. Receive it in faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives. If you really want to listen, then you need to prepare to listen. Let me ask you, who's going to profit more? Let me tell you about Susie. Susie, from Monday to Saturday, she's not really in the word at all. There's one day where she tried to read it, but then her friend called and she got interrupted. One night Susie tried to have a season of prayer, but she fell asleep. There's a couple of evenings of family worship, but she was just zoned out. She certainly didn't think of Sunday. She didn't pray for Sunday worship. On Saturday, Susie stayed up till midnight watching TV. On Sunday, she wakes up and gets ready, thinking about what she's going to do Sunday afternoon. She does put a lot of effort getting ready. For church, trying to look nice, but that's because she's got a crush on Stevie. And then she turns up at church a million miles away from God. She's tired. She's prayerless. She's unexpected. And she's distracted. That was Susie. Let me tell you about Sarah. Sarah's been in the Word all week, seeking to store it up in her heart, as Psalm 119 says. She muses how her daily reading overlaps with Sinclair Ferguson's podcast, which you're all listening to. There's lots of drama in her life, but like Jesus getting away from the crowd, she snatches time just to be in prayer with God every day. On Monday, she reviews her notes from Sunday and asks God to help her lay them up. On Tuesday she reads ahead for the coming Sunday, and Wednesday through Saturday she is praying specifically the Lord will bless her and the congregation this coming Sunday. She prays for the pastor's preparation. He's not a particularly good preacher, but she knows that God can speak through him. She prays for him. Saturday night, she goes to bed at 10. She gets up early to pray and to listen to some hymns. She has a crush on Stevie as well, but it's Sunday and she's not going to go there because this is about Jesus Christ. She enters the sanctuary in good time, unrushed, ready, prayerful, expectant. Just after the announcements, she quickly prays, Lord, help me to worship you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. She knows God is present, she knows it's a serious thing, and she's here to hear His voice. Her pastor preaches, he's as dry as the Sahara, but she's been praying hard and she's jolly well going to listen with her notebook open. Halfway through the second point, she drifts, she's got a school assignment or something, she's distracted. But she stops herself, prays, Lord, bring me back, help me to listen. Susie or Stevie, or Stevie, well, maybe Stevie. Susie or Sarah. That the word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer. Receive it in faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives. Someone this morning may have an objection. Well, I'm listening, but God isn't speaking. If that's you this morning, I want to respond to that. First of all, God is speaking. God is speaking. He speaks in His creation. You can't even open your eyes without being confronted by God. The heavens declare the glory of God. You go outside that front door and look at the leaves on that tree, full of vigor, and ask the question, who made those? And what's He like? God of fullness, and blessing, and joy, and life. He speaks to us in His creation. He speaks to us in His Word. When God's Word is read and preached, God is speaking. Now, He may seem distant, but He is speaking. One commentator, I love this, he says, the reality of God is measured by the truthfulness of His speech not by my grasp of His presence. The reality of God is measured by the truthfulness of His speech, not my grasp of His presence. There are times when we may feel like heaven is silent. Perhaps we've hardened our hearts. Perhaps we've crowded him out. Or perhaps, like the larger catechism says, he has simply withdrawn the light of his countenance. Sometimes he does that. There may be times that he feels far off, that it feels like he's not speaking, but he is not silent, he is speaking. The reality of God is measured by the truthfulness of his speech, not my grasp of his presence. And I would add to that, that God ordinarily operates in the ordinary. God speaks through ordinary means, through unspectacular preaching. One man I've quoted before said, I don't remember 99% of the meals that I've eaten, but they've kept me alive. God uses faithful, forgettable sermons. I don't remember what I had for lunch two weeks ago Thursday. but it fed me, it kept me alive, it was probably chocolate. God speaks through faithful, forgettable sermons. You may not have had a Mount Sinai experience with the thunder and the lightning and the mountain shake. You may not have had a Pentecost experience with the building shakes and there's tons of fire coming down from the roof, but God is still speaking. in the ordinary, through His Word and Spirit. And Solomon is saying, if that's the case, don't speak, just listen. God give us the grace to listen. The second heading is speaking. Speaking in verses 4-7. Look again at verse 4. When you vow a vow to God, Do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It's 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. Now, we do take vows. Vows are not that common. They're actually not that common in the scriptures. But there is a principle here which we do need to heed. And that is to use, I think it's a British word. I'm not sure. Maybe use it over here. We don't blag God. B-L-A-G. We don't blag God. You've been in an exam, you come to the question, oh, 20% of the grade, no idea what the answer is, better write something, and so you write a page, and you have no idea what you're talking about. That's called blagging. It's the Pharisees who blagged, who made long, pretentious prayers, but when you speak to God, You're to say what you mean, and mean what you say. You were here this morning. You spoke. You repeated the Lord's Prayer. You confessed your sin. You confessed your faith. You sung hymns. Did you fake it? Solomon said, don't fake it. Don't blag. Speak to God properly. God likes straight talkers. Remember when we were looking at Malachi and they were bringing all the sacrifices and they were going through all the motions. God wasn't interested in that. He says, Oh that there were one among you that would shut the doors that you might not kindle fire on my altar and vein. Amos chapter 5, take away from me the noise of your songs. Not interested in that. I think of John chapter 3, Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and he's trying to butter him up. Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher. No one that does your works, someone that does the works you do must be from God. And Jesus just cuts right across him. You're blagging me here. Let me get to the bottom line. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you're born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God. Let's just talk straight. Unless you're born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God. And that's what Solomon is saying. Speak straight. Speak truthfully to God. Now going back to vows, there are times when we make vows. Solomon said, if you make a vow, keep it. If you make a vow, keep it. You can read the Westminster Confession chapter 22, goes more detail into vows, which we won't do this morning. But if you do take a vow, Solomon is saying do it properly. But speak straight, speak truthfully with God, don't blag. So that's speaking and listening. I want to close by saying this, that the world is heavily, and your life is heavily, it's passing away, and it's all too easy for us to think that things in our lives are a massive deal when they're not. Even in the scope of our lives, we go through stuff and we think, this is a really big deal. And then two years down the line, we think, oh, I forgot about that. Yeah, that wasn't a big deal at all. And in the grand scheme of history, it will be like we never existed. But we think it's a massive deal. We make mountains out of molehills and molehills out of mountains. And we get things out of perspective when actually we're heavily. But Solomon is saying, here is something that is actually extremely important, something that should be taken deadly serious. And that is our worship of God and our approach to God. This is serious. And this is where we stop blagging. This is where we listen up. And this is where our words are serious and meaningful. God says in Psalm 46, be still and know that I am God. Or to use Solomon's words, this is where we fear God. This is where we fear God. This is important. Let's pray. Father in heaven, it's sometimes so difficult for us just to listen, to recognize that your Word is your Word, to attend to it with diligence, preparation, and prayer, to receive it, to pray over it, to store it in our hearts, and to practice it in our lives, we're so deaf sometimes. Unable to listen. And so we come now in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and ask that you would take this word, your word, and by your spirit, sear it upon our minds and hearts that we would actually listen. That we would actually be conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who spoke the very words that we've been considering this morning. Yes, Solomon, but ultimately the preacher is Jesus Christ. And we pray that by your spirit we would listen. We pray that you would forgive all of our sins. We pray that by your word you would raise them up before us, that we could confess them and have them chopped down by the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, be at work in us. Let the deaf hear. The Christians here who are hardened and are wandering, Lord, restore them. for the lost who cannot understand your words because it's spiritually, it's a spiritual word. We pray that you would open their eyes and open their ears and change their hearts, give them birth from above. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.