Eph. 5:15-17 It is about time!
Intro: There is a story of an "old Norwegian who had kept very careful note of his life in a series of notebooks on the shelf of his business. On his eightieth birthday he went to the store and pulled the books from the shelf and behan to compute his life. He was surprised to find that he had spent five of his eighty years waiting for people. He had spent six months tying neckties, three months scolding children, eight days tellling dogs to lie down and be quiet…"(Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, p. 572).
Ben Franklin said of time, "… that is the stuff life is made of."
Time forms life’s building blocks.
How did you use your time in this year? How are you going to use your time this next year?
Prop. Christians need to think about the time of their life.
Why? Because:
I. It is limited (16).
Paul did not use chronos (continuous clock time: hours, minutes & seconds) but
he used kairos which means "a measured , allocated, fixed season or epoch" of
time.
He is saying that God has set certain boundaries to our lives. God has
predetermined the days of our lives. (The Bible speaks of us this time possibly
being shortened, but not lengthened.)
Ps. 39: 4-5 "LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days,
what it [is; that] I may know how frail I [am]. Behold, thou hast made my
days [as] an handbreadth; and mine age [is] as nothing before thee: verily
every man at his best state [is] altogether vanity. Selah."
Ps. 90:10 "The days of our years [are] threescore years and ten; and if by reason
of strength [they be] fourscore years, yet [is] their strength labour and
sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
1 Peter 1:17 "And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons
judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning
[here] in fear:"
James 4:13-15 "Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into
such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your
life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then
vanisheth away. For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall
live, and do this, or that."
II. It needs to be effectively used (15-16).
We are told to "Redeem" (16) the time. "redeem" means to "buy back" or to
"buy up all that is anywhere to be bought"
God through Paul says we are to "buy up the time" we have here on the earth. He
means not to allow any suitable moment to go by and not live for God.
A. By walking/living carefully (v. 15)
Circumspectly (akribos) = be accurate and exact with, to examine with great care,
to pay close attention to something, thus to be careful how you live.
B. By not living like a fool (v. 15)
1. A person is a fool when he doesn’t believe there is a God.
The Bible says in Ps. 14:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, [There is] no God."
One is a "fool" if they deny the existence of God.
One is also a "fool" if they live like there is no God.
As John MacArthur put it, "The fool is the person who lives apart from god --
either as a theological or practical atheist or as both, denying God by his actions
as well as his words. The supreme fool is the person who has anti-God thinking
and living patterns" (p. 215).
2. A believer is a fool when he does not believe God completely.
Luke 24:25 "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken:"
3. A believer is a fool when he adds to the gospel message.
Gal. 3:1-3 "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not
obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set
forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye
the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so
foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the
flesh?"
The Galatians knew that salvation was by faith alone, but they fell prey to
the heresy that a Gentile must become a ceremonial Jew before he could
become a Christian." This was wrong, unscriptural and foolish.
4. A believer is a fool when he desires the wrong things.
For example, 1 Tim. 6:9-10 "But they that will be rich fall into temptation
and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men
in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil:
which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
Napoleon said, "There is in the midst of every great battle a ten to fifteen
minute period that is the crucial point. Take that period of time and you
win the battle; lose it and you will be defeated."
Folks we must effectively use all of our allotted time to serve God. We
must repeatedly shun sin, draw near to God and follow are that which is
godly.
III. It is not going to be easy to use our time wisely. (the days are evil)
A. This world is the enemy of God and opposes the things of God. (James 4:4)
B. Satan often brings about persecution on the church (history, and entire 1 Peter).
C. We have to contend with the flesh (1 Peter 2:11)
There are temptations to be greedy, dishonest, immoral, etc….
IV. It is essential to use our time wisely. (the days are evil)
A. This world is lost.
B. Most will not be saved.
Mt 7:13 "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the
way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
It is because this world is evil, and in desperate need of salvation that we need to
redeem the time.
Conclusion: A New Year is upon us. There are 8,760 hours in a year (24 x 365 = 8760).
If the Lord tarries, and gives us health to make it through this coming year; how
are you going to spend those 8,760 hours?
Invitation:
Pray for me:
1. I need to stop wasting time.
2. I need to take advantage of the opportunities to serve..
3. I need to stop leaving God out of my life.
