Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .
Speaker 2Welcome to a new week of the Daily Blade . And how about Derwin Gray from last week ? Huh . Welcome to a new week of the Daily Blade . And how about Derwin Gray from last week ? Huh , I mean , the dude is a straight killer . Joby and I are very , very thankful to be brothers in Christ and brothers in ministry with him .
Speaker 2But this week we will focus on a passage from chapter three of the Old Testament , book of Ecclesiastes
. So the book of Ecclesiastes is traditionally attributed to King Solomon , the son of King David , and it was likely written in the late 10th century BC and Solomon wrote it towards the end of his life . So you can tell as you read it , as you read through really all of Ecclesiastes , that it seemed like Solomon is reflecting on his life and the lessons that he's learned over his life . And you know there were clearly some hard lessons and some that weren't so hard . But the audience was God's covenant people , israel , and broadly the writing tackles subjects like the futility of life and the folly of pursuing worldly things apart from God , and the passage that we are going to focus on this week is from Ecclesiastes 3 , verses 1 through 8 . I'll read it here For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven a time to be born and a time to die .
Speaker 2A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted . A time to kill and a time to heal . A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted . A time to kill and a time to heal . A time to break down
and a time to build up . A time to weep and a time to laugh . A time to mourn and a time to dance . A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together . A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing a time to seek and a time to loose . A time to keep . Refrain from embracing a time to seek and a time to loose . A time to keep and a time to cast away and a time to tear and a time to sow and a time to keep . Silence and a time to speak . A time to love and a time to hate . A time for war and a time for peace .
Speaker 2So , to start , solomon says that for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven . So the key doctrine of what follows is God's providence . Okay , so essentially God's sovereignty is applicable in all seasons and his involvement in the affairs of this world never ceases . But let's key in today on verse 2 . A time to be born and a time to die . So I want to emphasize this that God is the Lord of life and death . So the beginning of our lives are not random and the ending of our lives are not random . Everything and everyone lives and dies in the purview of the sovereign will of our Creator . So that may seem a little dour to some of you , but it should be very encouraging actually . So , yes , god
is in charge of the ways and means of life and death . But we have been given an incredible responsibility we are to steward well the time we are given . So my buddy , dakota Meyer he's a retired Marine and a recipient of the Medal of Honor . He calls it owning the dash . Marine and a recipient of the Medal of Honor , he calls it owning the dash . So , essentially , one day all of our fleshly bodies will be buried in a wooden box about six feet under the ground and to mark who lies in that grave will be a tombstone with the day that we were born and the day that we died In between a dash , and that's where we come in and no matter what happens to or because of us during that time , we can have ultimate comfort and ultimate hope .
Speaker 2So I find ultimate comfort in verses like Psalm 139 , verse 16 . Your eyes saw my unformed substance . In your book were written every one of them , the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them , so before I was even a twinkle in my father's eye , right , god knew me , god had a plan for me and God was calling me to himself . I mean , that doesn't give me a big head , you know , it humbles me . It should humble all of us . The creator , god of the cosmos and everything in it , allowed me to come into existence and I am to serve him while I'm here . And the same goes for you .
Speaker 2And I find ultimate hope in verses like John 11 , 24 through 27
. So in John 11 , we see that Jesus's good friend , lazarus , has died . And before Jesus goes to Lazarus's tomb to resurrect him from the dead , he's having a conversation with Lazarus's sister , martha , and Martha is distraught and confused because she thinks Jesus should have showed up before Lazarus died to prevent his death from happening . So Jesus actually informs her that Lazarus will live again . And here is Martha's response , in verse 24 , and then we'll go through verse 27 . Martha said to him I know that he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day .
Speaker 2Jesus said to her I am the resurrection and the life . Whoever believes in me , though he die yet , he shall live . Yet shall he live . And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die . Do you believe this ? She said to him yes , lord , I believe that you are the Christ , the son of God , who is coming into the world . So there certainly is a season and a time for every matter under heaven , a time to be born and a time to die . But for believers , we can rest assured that our earthly death is by no means the end . In the most ultimate of ways , it's just the beginning . If you want everlasting life , you must repent of your sins and put your faith in Christ
. If you have never done so , let today be the day I compel you to come in .
Speaker 1Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .