Series: The Importance of…
The Importance of Time
Ecclesiastes 3:1-17(KJV) 1To every thing
there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time
to pluck up that which is planted;
3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a
time to build up;
4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to
dance;
5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a
time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to
cast away;
7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a
time to speak;
8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of
peace.
9What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
10I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men
to be exercised in it.
11He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he
hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that
God maketh from the beginning to the end.
12I know that there is no good in them, but for a man
to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
13And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good
of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
14I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing
can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men
should fear before him.
15That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already
been; and God requireth that which is past.
16And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that
wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that
iniquity was there.
17I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the
wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
INTRO: We are going to continue with our series, “The Importance of…” Today we will look at the importance of time.
What time is it? Most of us worry about that every day. What is time? How important is it to you? Can you buy time? Can you regain it?
Time is money – I hear that all the time. And in a great sense it is true. We pay for time, do we not? We purchase things that save us time. In fact we often pay a premium. We live by the clock. We watch the clock. We are either on or off the clock.
What about God… Is time important to Him? Is He driven by the clock like we are? Is He looking at our clock?
Let’s go ahead and look today at the Importance of Time.
Did you know that God always has been and always will be?
2
Peter 3:8-12(KJV) 8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that
one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day.
9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up.
11Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness,
12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein
the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat?
And we need to live our lives like today is our last
2 Kings 20:1-6(NKJV) 1In those
days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz,
went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for
you shall die, and not live.’”
2Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord,
saying,
3“Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in
truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your
sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court,
that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
5“Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the
Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your
tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of
the Lord.
6And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and
this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for
My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.”’”
Even though God does not get into a rush about time, He knows what time it is!
2
Kings 20:8-11(NKJV) 8And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign
that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the
third day?”
9Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the
Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward
ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”
10And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go
down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”
11So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord, and He brought the
shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.
Hebrews 9:27(KJV) And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
We all have an appointment with death (and judgment)
Daniel
5:5-6(NKJV) 5In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared
and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s
palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
6Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him,
so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each
other.
Daniel
5:24-30(NKJV) 24Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and
this writing was written.
25“And this is the inscription that was written:MENE, MENE, TEKEL,
UPHARSIN.
26This is the interpretation of each word. Mene: God
has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;
27Tekel: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
28Peres: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and
Persians.”
29Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with
purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation
concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.
Luke
12:16-21(KJV) 16And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground
of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I
have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build
greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for
many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall
be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast
provided?
21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not
rich toward God.
Matthew
25:11-13(KJV) 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord,
Lord, open to us.
12But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein
the Son of man cometh.
Acts
24:24-27(NKJV) 24And after some days, when Felix came with his wife
Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith
in Christ.
25Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the
judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have
a convenient time I will call for you.”
26Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul,
that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed
with him.
27But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix,
wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.
When I think of Felix, I think of a Jeopardy contestant…
Who just as the buzzer buzzes, blurts out the answer, but too late.
Proverbs 27:1(KJV) 1Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Psalms 90:12(KJV) 12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Psalms
95:7-11(KJV) 7 For he is our God; and we are the people
of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in
the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and
said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known
my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my
rest.
2
Corinthians 6:1-2(NKJV) 1We then, as workers together with Him
also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
2For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And
in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the
accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Hosea 10:12(KJV) 12Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Psalms 89:47(KJV) 47 Remember how short my time is…
James
4:13-14(NKJV) 13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go
to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;
14whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what
is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then
vanishes away.
Ecclesiastes 12:1(KJV) 1Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
Colossians 4:5(KJV) 5Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Jeremiah 8:20(KJV) 20The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
It is irreplaceable
It is not too late today
Have you called upon Him as your savior (while you still have time?)
Romans
13:11-14(KJV) 11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high
time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we
believed.
12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast
off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and
drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for
the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Revelation 10:6(KJV) 6And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
We should not wait to serve Him any longer.
There is joy and peace and happiness in the Lord!
Gary Marcum – New Beginnings Church – 030710am