Time’s Running Out
November 3, 2002
Introduction: Two elderly women were out driving in a large car, both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red but they just went on through. The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself, "I must be losing it, I could have
sworn we just went through a red light."
After a few more minutes, they came to another intersection. The light was red, and again they went right through. This time, the passenger was almost sure that the light had been red, but was also concerned that she might be seeing things. She was getting nervous and decided to pay very close attention.
At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was definitely red and they went right through it. She turned to the other woman and said, "Mildred! Did you know we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us!!"
Mildred turned to her and said, "Oh Goodness! Am I driving?"
-Reflections on yesterday, getting older (physical aspects)
Five Facts Of Life
1. Life Is Short
Job 14:1-2 "How frail is humanity! How short is life, and how full of trouble! 2 Like a flower, we blossom for a moment and then wither. Like the shadow of a passing cloud, we quickly disappear." (NLT)
Psalm 39:4-5 "Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath." (NLT)
"Time is fire in which we burn" -Star Trek
Dreams, Ambitions in youth, now gone
Ill-girl on Oprah wanting to make $1 million by age 30.
Psalm 90:10,12 "Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone. . . Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom." (NLT)
2. Life Is A Gift Of God
Job 33:4 "For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." (NLT)
Job 12:10 "For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of all humanity." (NLT)
Genesis 2:7 "And the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person." (NLT)
Each breath we take is a gift of grace; It’s easier to die than to live.
(Gift given for a reason)
3. Life Has A Purpose
Opportunity to honor the life giver
All-loving God created us to have someone to love
Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (NLT)
Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person."
Matthew 22:37-40 " ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
Romans 13:8-10 "If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting—and any other commandment—are all summed up in this one commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all of God’s requirements."
4. Life Has A Limit
Psalm 89:48 "No one can live forever; all will die. No one can escape the power of the grave."
Death is inevitable
Job 34:14-15 "If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, 15 all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust.’
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 "Remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. 7 For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it."
5. Life Is A Test
Proverb 20:27 "God is in charge of human life, watching and examining us inside and out." (TM)
Ecclesiastes 12:14 "God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad."
(Hebrews 9:27 "And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment")
God = Judge Ill-make something-it’s only good as long as it meets the purpose for its creation (invention)
A. Graded On A Curve
Ephesians 2:4-6,8 "God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God."
Not by how well we did, but by how much we knew and loved Jesus
B. Pass/Fail
Pass-graduated into eternal rewards; Fail- expelled into eternal punishment
John 5:25-29 "And I assure you that the time is coming, in fact it is here, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. 26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted his Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge all mankind because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, 29 and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to judgment."
Matthew 25:31-34, 41, 46 "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 34 Then the King will say to those on the right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 41 "Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons! 46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."
C. Once graded, the grade cannot be changed
Luke 16:26 "And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. Anyone who wanted to cross over to you from here is stopped at its edge, and no one there can cross over to"
