Series: All His – Time
Question: What do you think is the most precious commodity wasted in most people’s lives every day?
The answer to that question: Is Time!
Thesis: Scriptures address time as a divine gift from God and a divine element with seasons. It’s also noted as a human element that requires wise stewardship, and a force that is used and governed by God's perfect plan.
Scripture Verses: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: Solomon
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Key verses highlight God's perfect timing follow in the points below: (e.g., Ecclesiastes 3:1, Galatians 4:4), wise time management (e.g., Ephesians 5:15-16), and trust in God's eternal perspective (e.g., 2 Peter 3:8).
I. God's Perfect Timing and Divine Perspective
a. Ecclesiastes 3:1: "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven".
i. This verse establishes that God has a perfect, ordained time for all events.
ii. In the Gospels we hear Jesus say, “My time has not yet come!”
1. Timing is important in your spiritual life as well. Jesus was very conscious of timing. He lived His life with an acute awareness of God's timing for His life. The gospel of John records these words of Jesus,
a. John 2:4 "My time has not yet come"
b. John 7:6 "The right time for me has not yet come"
c. John 7:30; 8:20 "His time had not yet come"
i. Peter even tells us that the second coming of the Christ is a matter of timing. God’s timing!
2. "My time has not yet come" is a phrase Jesus uses in the Gospel of John to indicate that the appointed moment for his death and resurrection had not yet arrived, but the divine timing set by God for these events was imminent. He used this phrase to explain why he couldn't fulfill requests at certain times, such as the wedding at Cana or traveling to a feast, because it was not yet God's plan for him to suffer and be exalted.
3. Context in the Gospel of John
a. John 2:4: Jesus says, "My hour has not yet come" to his mother, Mary, when she requests his intervention at the wedding at Cana. Although he performs a miracle, he is indicating that the "hour" of his ultimate mission (his death and resurrection) was not yet fulfilled.
b. John 7:6-8: Jesus tells his brothers, who suggest he go to the feast in Jerusalem, that his time has not fully come, but their time is always ready. He later travels to Jerusalem in secret because his time was not yet fulfilled.
4. Divine Timing: Jesus' statement emphasizes that events in his life, particularly his passion and glorification, were governed by God's precise divine timing.
5. Do you believe in Divine Timing?
a. Have you experienced this in your life?
6. Embrace the process of God’s Timing: Every season, good or difficult, contributes to who you are and shapes your life story.
a. Find purpose: In each season, especially the challenging ones, seek to understand what you can learn and how you can grow, often by drawing closer to Jesus or finding inner resilience from the Holy Spirit.
b. Galatians 4:4: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son". This highlights God's strategic timing in sending Jesus for humanity's redemption and to fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant which took years to come to fruition in Jesus.
i. We know Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise God made to fallen mankind in Genesis. But time had to guided by divine providence and timing.
1. God's promise from Genesis to bless all the nations is found in Genesis 12:1-3, where God tells Abram (later Abraham) that through him and his descendants, all families on earth will be blessed. This promise signifies that Abraham's lineage will be a channel for God's blessing to the entire world. This covenant is a central theme in the Bible, emphasizing that the blessings God gives are not solely for the recipient but are intended to reach all peoples.
2. Key Aspects of the Promise
a. Origin of the Promise: The promise is given by God to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 as part of the Abrahamic Covenant.
b. Fulfillment through Abraham: God declared He would make Abram into a great nation, bless him, and make his name great, and through him, all the families of the earth would be blessed.
c. Purpose of the Promise: The promise was not an end in itself for Abraham but was the primary reason for his calling. He was meant to be a mediator of God's blessing to the world.
d. Recurring Promise: The promise was reiterated to Abraham's descendants, including his son Isaac and grandson Jacob.
3. Significance: This promise established a lineage from which the blessings of God would flow to all people, demonstrating God's continued desire to bless and rescue His world despite human corruption.
4. In Christian theology, this promise finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the descendant of Abraham, through whom all nations are blessed
c. 2 Peter 3:8: "But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day".
i. This verse reminds believers that God's timing is not human time and encourages patience in His plans.
1. God has a season for all things, and we need to wait but be diligent with our gift of time for the Kingdom of Heaven.
ii. Possible Angles: 1) Divine Knowledge; Omniscience of God – The multiplied billions of events around the world each minute are no match for the infinite knowledge of God. With him, a day is like a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8), he has an infinite amount of attention for each person’s hopes, pain, thoughts, and prayers (Matt. 10:30; Luke 12:7). (2) Redeeming the Time—Ephesians 5:16 reminds us to make the most of the time because the days are evil. (3) Accepting Christ; Conversion—This can also be the moment when you turn from sin and give your life to Christ.
II. We have the responsibility to make sure we are good Steward of our Time:
a. Psalm 90:12, 17:
i. Teach us to make the most of our time…and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful” (NLT).
1. This prayer is by Moses! In Hebrew repeating words shows this is a significant thought!
2. God placed this verse in Scripture thru Moses to tell us this is important. God created us to be successful. God wants our life to be significant. It’s God’s desire to use our lives to make an eternal difference in this world.
3. Today success is defined by society rather than by God’s standards and they look at temporal rather than eternal significance – Ecc. 3:11 “He has put eternity in their hearts!”
b. Ephesians 5:15-16: "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil". This encourages Christians to use their time wisely and intentionally.
i. Are you using your time wisely and correctly for eternal rewards?
ii. I know eternity is hard to grasp in this world of temporal – dictionary defines it as infinite time! But trust me we need to be in tune with God’s timing and not this worlds timing.
c. Psalm 90:12: "So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom".
i. This prayer expresses a desire to understand the brevity of life to live more wisely.
ii. In other words, to be Trusting in God's Plan and timing:
1. Habakkuk 2:3: "For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens toward the end and will not lie. If it seems to delay, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not be false". This verse offers hope and patience to wait for God's promised fulfillment.
2. Psalm 56:3: "What time I am afraid, I will trust in you". This verse shows that even in fearful or uncertain moments, God's timing and plan offer a reason for trust.
iii. Timing is everything:
1. You could say from looking at our Scripture texts today that, “Timing is everything!” There is time to study and time to take tests. There is time to listen and time to talk. There is time to ask questions and a time to be quiet. There is time to have fun and time to be serious. There is time to prepare for things and time to do things. You could make the case that timing is a major part of life -- “Learning to understand what time it is becomes crucial to success and to failure in life.” The truth is timing does make a difference in life as a matter of fact it’s critical. Time goes by all too quickly and it impacts our lives every day. Time has come and gone during the 10 years since I last addressed this church and every one of you have experienced it – It seems that Time approaches so quickly and then flash right by us and before we know it’s gone. It can even become a blur at times because of how quickly it flies by.
2. But the Lord in His Word encourage us to enjoy the journey of life with Him at our side and to make the most of our time?
a. Each day brings with it a precious commodity and it is not money, power, fame or fortune its -- time. Every morning you wake up brings a new day and the Lord has placed 86,400 seconds of time into your hands which represents 1,440 minutes which also equals 24 hours in a day to be used for eternal purposes. So, each day brings God’s gift of time. This time is precious, and it is not to be wasted or used unwisely. This priceless commodity is so important that it will determine your eternal destiny. So how are you doing with your limited amount of time?
d. Illustration: Data on time - What Happens in One Minute Around the World? The following 10 things will happen around the world every 60 seconds of this new year:
i. Births: Approximately 250 babies are born worldwide every minute. (Source: Worldometers)
ii. Deaths: Approximately 105 people die worldwide every minute. (Source: Worldometers)
iii. Marriages: Around 116 people get married worldwide every minute. (Source: The World Bank)
iv. YouTube Uploads: Approximately 500 hours of video content are uploaded to YouTube every minute. (Source: YouTube)
v. Packages Delivered: Amazon delivers approximately 1,200 packages per minute. (Source: Amazon)
vi. Emails Sent: Approximately 200 million emails are sent worldwide every minute. (Source: Statista)
vii. Google Searches: Approximately 40,000 Google searches are conducted every minute. (Source: Google)
viii. Social Media Posts: Approximately 1.5 million social media posts are made every minute. (Source: Statista)
ix. Netflix Streams: Approximately 100 million minutes of content are streamed on Netflix every minute. (Source: Netflix)
x. Twitter Tweets: Approximately 500,000 tweets are sent every minute. (Source: Twitter)
1. Note: These statistics are approximate and can vary based on various fa Editor, “World Births and Deaths, Simulated in Real Time,” WorldbirthsandDeaths.com (Accessed 11/5/24); Editor, “World Population,” Worldometer.info (Accessed 11/5/24); Laura Ceci, “E-mail Usage in the United States,” Statista (9-18-24).
e. I read this the other day and really opened my eyes to the importance of time.
i. Do you know what happens in 30 minutes every day? “Mission Maker Magazine”, page 18, Edition 2008, (www.WorldChristianDatabase.org). Tell us:
1. 7,764 souls began life in the world – they are born
2. 3,444 souls die
3. 3,420 baptisms occur on the foreign mission field
4. $1,311,888 dollars are given to foreign missions
5. 10,896 people migrate internationally from one place to the next
6. 402 children became homeless or family-less
7. 2,275 rural poor migrate to cities
8. 1,140 people moved into urban slums
9. 68 people began supporting themselves only by collecting garbage
10. 1,375 children under age five died from preventable starvation related causes
11. 10 Christians are martyred for their faithful Christian witness in the world
a. Wow, all this happens in 30 minutes everyday worldwide. Many people take time for granted every day. I know I have done this at times.
III. What am I to do with my time?
a. In the Bible, time is a divinely appointed, finite gift from God to be used wisely for His purposes, not a random occurrence. It's a resource for human accountability, a vehicle for God's redemptive plan, and an opportunity to glorify Christ. Believers are called to live intentionally, making the most of each moment for wisdom, spiritual growth, and sharing the Gospel, as evidenced by verses like Ephesians 5:16, Colossians 4:5, and Psalm 90:12.
i. God's Creation and Sovereignty Over Time
1. Originator:
a. God is the creator of time, establishing the temporal order at the beginning with the six days of creation and setting apart the Sabbath as a sacred time.
2. Lordship:
a. God is sovereign over time and history, guiding it according to His divine plan. His power extends over the beginning, end, and future, as seen in His titles as "the First and Last" and "the King of the Ages".
ii. Time as a Finite, Precious Gift
1. A Call to Wisdom:
a. The Bible teaches that human lives are short and time is valuable, urging believers to use it wisely. Psalm 90:12 asks God, "So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart".
2. A Command to Stewardship:
i. To "make the best use of the time" is a direct command from God to be diligent and intentional in how we spend our moments.
iii. Living with Awareness and Purpose
1. Be Vigilant:
a. Believers are encouraged to be alert and on guard, recognizing that they do not know when their time will end or when Christ will return.
2. Seize Opportunities:
a. The instruction in Colossians 4:5, "redeeming the time," encourages Christians to be wise in their interactions with others, using their time to bear witness to Christ and spread the Gospel.
3. Align with God's Will:
a. The wise use of time involves understanding and following God's will, which leads to spiritual growth and the glorification of Christ.
4. Purpose and Accountability –
a. Fulfillment in Christ: The fulfillment of time is found in Christ, and making the most of time means living to glorify Him and bring others to Him.
b. Accountability to God: The Bible implies that believers will be held accountable for how they spend their time, like how a servant is accountable to the master who entrusted them with tasks.
Conclusion:
What do we need to know from this message?
Why do we need to know this message?
What do we need to do from this message?
Why do we need to do this?
