Time - Use It Wisely 5-19-96 AM

 5-19-96 AM

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Genesis 28, Ecclesiastes chapter 3. For those in here on the bottom floor, it's getting a little chilly. We did uh turn it up one degree, so that'll be subsiding in just a moment. For those up in the balcony, uh, we're doing our best to find the right balance. Genesis 28 and Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Everybody ready to go this morning? Amen. Good. Genesis 28. Notice with me as we I want to want to, what I want to do is take just a moment and review quickly some things in the life of a man named Jacob. So follow with me a little bit chronologically in Genesis chapter 28. A very important event occurs in the life of Jacob in verse 10. The Bible says, and Jacob went out from Beersheba and went towards Haran. Now the Bible also says that he got over to a place in verse 12 where he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth. And Genesis 28, 12, the top of it reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it. He stood above this ladder, and he says, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land wherein thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. He goes on down in verse 15. Look what he says, and he says, Behold, I am what? Say it, with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken of to thee of. In verse 19, Jacob has a special name for this place, and he called the name of that place what? Bethel. So God is with him, and if you would, look at chapter 29. Chapter 29, just flip over. Jacob goes for his bride, and he goes to Uncle Laban. And when he gets there, he sees one of the daughters, and he falls in love with this daughter. And look at verse 18 of Genesis 29. Verse 18 of Genesis 29. And Jacob loved who? Rachel. And said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel, thy younger daughter. And look what it says in verse 20. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel. Notice the little comment here, and this is where we'll begin to focus. And they, those seven years, seemed unto him but what? A few days. For the love he had for her. You see, in that point in time in his life, time was going very quickly. The seven years that he served for the one that he loved and wanted to marry, I mean, it seemed just like a few days. If you know the story, he ended up staying with Uncle Laban quite a bit longer than that. If you know the story, look at chapter 31, please. Chapter 31. Chapter 31. And you can see now a little frustration as Jacob lives continues on. Look at verse 38 of Genesis 31. This twenty years have I been with these, talking to Laban. Thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I need not eaten. That which was born of beast I brought not unto thee. I bear the loss of it, of my hand that thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Verse 40, thus I was in the day that drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. Do you feel a little, do you hear a little frustration there, verse 41? Thus have I been, how long? Twenty years in thine house. I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle. And thou hast changed my wages, how often? Ten times. Verse 42, except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had been with me, surely that had sent me away now what? Empty. You see, as he goes on along here, now life gets a little more complicated, if you would. The seven years that he was going to serve just was going by quickly, but that didn't work out. He ended up staying here, if you would, almost 20 years, and life got a little more complicated. Look at Genesis 32, please. Genesis 32, stay with me. And look at verse 6. Verse 6. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and 400 men with him. Now, if you know anything about Jacob and Esau, Jacob had deceived Esau twice and received his blessing and received his birthright. And when Jacob hears that Esau's coming, he feels like, uh-oh, retaliation is on the way. Verse 7. Then Jacob was greatly what? Say it? Afraid. And say it? Distressed. Have you ever been there? You see, as life went on, it got more complicated. It got more challenging. Look at Genesis 34 in Jacob's life. Stay with me. Genesis 34. And by the way, God puts these examples in the Old Testament for our admonition. Genesis 34, look at verse 30. Verse 30. Jacob's son had just dealt with a situation involving their sister named Dinah. And they had killed a number of men. Verse 30, and Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me stink among the inhabitants of the Lamb, among the Canaanites and the Perizites. And I being a few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed. I and my house. Would you agree with this? Those of you who've been around for the earth for a while, as life goes on, it doesn't get easier so much as it does get more complex. May I say this to you? The heartaches increase. The grief increases. Sometimes we think, oh, how easy we had it 10 years ago, or how simple it was 25 years ago. Oh man, 30 years ago, I thought I had it rough, but boy, with what I'm in now, do you know what I'm talking about? You say, well, wait a minute, I don't know that far back yet. Well, you may be into 25, 26, and you may say, man, three years ago, life was much simpler. Wait till you get 50 and 60 and 70. You say, no, it'll get easier. No, the the griefs and the heartache begin to mount up. Listen to me more and more. Look at Genesis chapter 35. Genesis 35. And look if you would in verse 49. Verse 49. I'm sorry, verse 19. If you found verse 49, you've written a few extra verses. Amen. Look at Genesis 35 and verse 19. And the Bible says this. And who died? Rachel. That's the one he loved. That's the one he served 14 years for. And death came. And if you would, look at verse 27, please. Verse 27. And Jacob came unto Isaac. Isaac was his father, it says, and Jacob come to Isaac, his father, unto Mamre, which is the city of Arbah, which is in Hebron, where Abram and Isaac sojourned. The days of Isaac were 104 score years. And Isaac gave up the ghost and died. His wife dies, and now his dad dies. Look at Genesis 37. Genesis 37, please. His wife dies, Rachel. His dad dies. Genesis 37, look at verse 3. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age. He made a coat of many colors. And look if you would at verse 31. Verse 31. In the deception his brothers take Joseph and sell him off, if you would. The one that Jacob loved. And look what they did in verse 31. And they took Joseph's coat and killed a kid of the goats and dipped the coat. Remember that coat of many colors in the blood? And they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found. Know now whether it be thy son's coat or no. And he knew it and said, It is my son's coat. And look what what look what happens in Jacob's life. He says this in his heart, an evil beath has devoured him. Joseph without doubt rent in pieces, and Jacob ran his clothes and put south cloth on his loins and mourned for his sons many days. Rachel, his wife, died. His dad Isaac dies. And please look up here. And now in Jacob's heart, the son that he loved, Joseph dies. For almost 20 years. In Jacob's heart, Joseph is dead. Look at Genesis 45, stay with me. Genesis 45. Life didn't get easier so much. Life brought along more grief and more heartaches and more trouble, more disasters, more complications. Look at Genesis 45, verse 25. Verse 25. And they went up out of the Egypt and came to the land of Canaan and Jacob their father, and told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted. For what? He believed them not. You see, in Jacob's heart, Joseph has been dead for over twenty years. And they told him of all the words of Joseph when he had said unto them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, what? Revived. And Israel said, It is enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die. What I'm saying to you is there's there's ups and there's downs and there's heartaches and there's grief. Look at Genesis 47, please. Genesis 47, one more chapter. You don't mind studying your Bible, do you? Come on. Genesis 47. And look what happens in verse 8. And he's asked an interesting question towards the end of his life. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, look at it, the days of the years of my what? Pilgrimage. You know what a pilgrimage is? He's just passing through. The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Now we would think, man, a hundred and thirty-year-old person. Wow! But the next word he says is what? Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers. Remember, Isaac lived 180 years, 160 years. In the days of their pilgrimage. You know what? Jacob looked at the end of his life and he was at 130 years old, and you know what he said? My pilgrimage only been a few years. Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been. I want to talk to you about subjects this morning. It'll be introduced in Ecclesiastes 3. Would you turn there? Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Jacob's heartaches didn't get less, they grew more. Jacob's life's really, uh somebody says, oh, your life just gets easier as you get older. And certainly I know this, there are some things that probably get a little easier, but uh there are some other things that get more grievous. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 3. And I'll introduce the subject this morning. Look at verse 1. To everything there is a season and a what? A what? Say it. Come on. A time. To every purpose under the heaven. I want to talk to you about something this morning. Please look up here just for a moment. I want to talk to you about the subject of time. They say, come on, what are you going to tell me about time? It's running out. What do you want to tell me about time? You and I can't stop it. Verse 2. A time to be born. A time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill and a time to what? Heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep. You see, I think I heard a song about this. This was written before the song was, amen. 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 restrain from embracing. A time to get and a time to what? Lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. A time to render a time to sow. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate, a time of war, and a time of peace. Brethren, when we're younger, we don't think so much about time. As we start getting a little bit older, and you say, where are you at? I'm only 42, I'm still young. Now, if you're 25, you're saying, no, that's not that young. If you're 65, you're saying, yeah, you are young. As we get a little bit older, we start thinking about time. And the utilization of it with this idea in mind, listen to me. We can't stop time on the face of this earth. Time will continue to travel on. Why? Because the sun rises and the sun sets and the sun rises and the sun sets. Please look up here, and days go by. And we have no influence over stopping those days of going by. Every once in a while we should do this, though, as Christians. We ought to take a step back from our life and look at it. And we ought to look at our life and say, how are we using the time that God has granted to us? I can't stop time, but I can surely take a step back and say, How am I utilizing that which God has given me? And I know this many, many, many yesterday was their last day. I don't know all their names. But I know last yesterday God decided time was up for many people. Are you listening to me? Are you listening to me? And I know today God will decide that time is up for more people. And time on this earth will be over. And yet, by the grace of God, we still breathe. I said, by the grace of God. You see, we don't realize sometimes that God is in control of the time that we have down here. And the very fact that we're in church this morning is because God has given us enough grace to have a little bit more time to do something for Him. But if God decides today that Doug Fisher's time is up, it's up. There's no discharge in that day. Amen. When God says, Doug, I've given you all the time I'm going to give you, my days are over, and there will be no effect by what I think. It's done. Say, what a morbid subject. Not when you're a Christian. No, not when you're a Christian. You see, in this world, there's two types of people. Now listen to me. There are Christian believers and there are non-Christian believers. Now you say, wait a minute, I don't, that doesn't compute. There are Christian believers and they're non-Christians. No, no, they're non-Christian believers. They believe in something. Even an atheist believes in something. Amen? You see, as a Christian believer, we believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Is that right? Come on, say amen. There's none of the name given among us men whereby we must be saved. He's the only way according to what we believe and what we understand from this Bible. But there are non-Christian believers who have all different other kinds of beliefs about what's going to happen to them later on. But we believe this, in order to be saved, in order to be forgiven, it must come through the Lord Jesus Christ. Would you agree? Must trust the death and the burial and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and be forgiven. The Bible says if the gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are what? Say it, lost. So they're saved and lost. There's Christian believers and non-Christian believers, but they do believe in something. Some of them are trying to believe in themselves. There's regenerated believers, and there's unregenerated. It has to do with what's going on up here in the mind. Statement. For 24 years, I was an ungenerated, unregenerated quote-unquote believer in something. After salvation, my mind was regenerated, and my philosophy changed, and my attitude changed, and my belief system changed, and it's becoming more and more lined up with this Bible. Stay with me. If I could talk to you just a little bit about, I'll use the word philosophy because philosophy deals with our attitude. Would you agree with this? There's a big difference, and I'll put the Christian believer over here so I remember where they're at. There's a big difference between the way the Christian believer thinks about time and the non-Christian believer. You say, well, they don't believe. Well, they believe in something. Amen? Somebody says, now wait a minute. What if they believe in Muhammad? Then they're a non-Christian believer. Come on, talk to me. Because a Christian believer says it is only in one. Somebody says, oh no, no, no, no. No, you don't understand. I'm a Christian. I believe it could be Muhammad or Buddhist or Jesus. No, no, no, no. Let me tell you, you're not a Christian believer. Because the Bible says that there is one name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. That's it. You say that's pretty narrow. He said it's a narrow way. Few there be that find it. Amen? Stay with me. And I know that's offensive to some people, but it shouldn't be because he is the only way. Christian humanism says, oh, you know, just be sincere and everything will be okay. Come on. But there's a difference in philosophy. For example, the Christian believer, we believe this. The outward man does what? Perishes. The inward man renewed day by day. Hey, my body's deteriorating. Have you noticed? It's getting thin up there, amen. You know what that tells me? It's falling apart. Work it up, eat right, get rid of the bacon, all the rest of the stuff, it's still falling apart. Amen? Nothing I can do but grin and bear it. Uh statement. Your body's falling apart too. Not me. Yes, you. Yeah, you. Yeah. Because the outward man perishes, but the inward man is what? Strengthener, renewed day by day. Wait a minute. That's the Christian believer over here on the non-Christian side. The outward man perishes. And so does the inward. Self-reliance only goes so far. Self-reliance begins to fade. When you start thinking about what happens in time, for the Christian faith grows and self diminishes. For the non-Christian, they start to realize that self doesn't have what it takes. And self won't have what it takes in the future. Now stay with me. You see, over here that with the Christian, it says that we're not without hope. As the non-Christian gets older and older and older and older and older, the hope that they had in this and they hope they had in that, and they hope they had in this over here, and they hope they had in that, and the hope they had over there, and all the hopes that they had, they all come up empty. And sooner or later they ran out of things to hope in. Life is uh is a test that God puts us through to prepare us for the future. To the non-Christian, after life, there is no future. I was thinking about many of you in here that are Christian soldiers. And you've been in the battle for a while. For the Christian soldier, and I don't know how you feel, but I think I would express this for many of us the Christian soldier doesn't want to go back 20 or 30 or 40 years and live it all over again. I mean, there's certain things we look back on and say, man, if we could have done this or if we would have done that, but the Christian soldier doesn't look back and say, Oh, I just wish I could live my whole life over again. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. But for the non-Christian, you know what? They're constantly looking for that fountain of youth. How can I return to my youth? How can I return to my childhood? How can I live this thing over again? And the question. The question is futile because the answer is they can't. Put them in a tube and freeze them. All you got is a frozen body. Come on. You see, time takes on two different aspects for the Christian and the and the non-Christian. The Christian, I believe this, should face reality, and we ought to do it this way. We ought to do it in some way, shape, or form with a smile on the outside and glory and hope and a smile on the inside. But I know this and I've talked to many. For the non-Christians, they may have a smile on the outside, but there is turmoil inside. The older they get, the closer they get to reality. Look if you would in 1 Peter chapter 1 and Luke chapter 2, please. You're doing well. Stay with me. 1 Peter chapter 1 and Luke chapter 2. You see, you're almost saying that the Christian is just so much better than the non-Christian. Well, the Christian views time in a different way than a non-Christian. Look at 1 Peter chapter 1 and Luke chapter 2. 1 Peter 1 and Luke chapter 2. Now I realize that messages that have a lot of illustrations are easier to listen to, and this one is one that makes us think, but I want us to think this morning. Look at 1 Peter chapter 1, and here's the admonition that God gives us through Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1. Look at verse 17, Christian. And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons judges according to every man's work, look what he says. Past the what? Come on, say it. Past the what? Time. Of your sojourning here in, say it, fear. Why should I be afraid of time? Time is not what we fear. The God of time is what we're concerned about. You say, I thought God was a loving God, he is. But also says that we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, and that judgment will begin at the house of God, not according to so much salvation, that's finished on the cross, but according to what we did in our bodies, whether it be good or bad. It's possible that in the last six months, maybe there's a Christian who just hasn't done a whole lot in the way of working for the Lord. Statement. There's no way to get that time back. It's gone. You know, Mrs. Longo came up here and she said, we'd like to invite you ladies out and for a summertime of maybe some evangelism, or if you're already in the ministry and you want to work a nursery or something like that. You know why we have those things? We have those events and those organized activities to help us utilize our time for the Lord. Now people pass by them and well, I don't know, I don't know if I'm that kind of person, or I don't know if I like that or not. And you know the point of it is though, if you're not careful, 30, 40, 50, 60 years go by quickly. Oh no, no, life is slow, slow. Wait till you get older. Life is very quick. You know, I'm looking at the summertime right now, and my summer is almost over. I got so much to do this summer that it's just, it's packed with things that I that I need to get accomplished, and I'm saying, man, I'm gonna have to put that off to the fall. It used to be I looked at days and weeks and months, and now it seems I look at seasons. It's fall. What am I going to do in the fall? And then what am I gonna do next winter? And then what about next spring? Because time rushes on. And remember what Jacob said? Few and evil are the days of my pilgrimage or sojournment. And he says that we're supposed to pass the time of our sojournment here in fear as a Christian. We're only here on this earth for a little while. And please look up here, time is a factor. Look at chapter 2 of 1 Peter, and look what he says. Chapter 2 of 1 Peter. As newborn babes, we're supposed to desire the sincere milk of the word that we may what? Grow thereby. But once we start growing as a Christian babe, we don't stop there. In verse 5, he says, ye also as lively stones are build up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. Brother, the reason we're down here is to offer our lives as a living sacrifice, and as time marches on, we only have so much time to do it. In Luke chapter 2, if you've turned there with your finger and you have your place there, look at verse 48 in dealing with time and what Jesus said. Luke chapter 2 and verse 48. And when they saw him, they were amazed, just as Jesus' stepdad and mother coming back. When they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee, sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that you sought me? Wished ye not that I must be about my father's business. You know what Jesus was thinking about? How old is he at this point in time? Twelve. At the age of twelve, knowing what he had to accomplish and knowing the time he had to accomplish it, he was already busy about the father's business because time was short. How is it that you sought me? Didn't you know, Mom, that I was going to be about my father's business? And every once in a while, please, it's good for us to take a step back and look at our lives and say, what am I doing with this life God has given me? What am I doing with this time? Whose business am I about? Am I thinking about the Father's business or am I just living a life for myself? Now, God allows us to take care of ourselves and he takes care of us, but brethren, what I want to say to you is the very fact that you're in church this morning is telling me that you're concerned about the Father's business. You're concerning about what you want to do with the time you have in your life. The Christian believer over here, the non-Christian believer over here, that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and has never received Christ as their savior, that man or that woman may have a lot of good morals. They may do kind acts to people, they may be pretty clean livers, they may have all that, but please look up here. Unless they receive Christ as their Savior, all of that that they're working for, if you would, to, well, I'm moral and I'm I live a pretty clean life and I help people, it's all for naught if there hasn't been regeneration. It's all for naught if there hasn't been salvation. Hey, brother, we can't do anything for God until we get saved. Until we accept Christ, because then it becomes not our works, but his work in us, where over here without Christ, it's their works for themselves. My oldest daughter is nineteen. It doesn't seem like that long ago. I watched graduation on Friday night with Joshua Stevenson, and he said that he had been here and he named the number of years, and I said, has he been here that long? Some of those will that will graduate on Wednesday night, they started school here. Are they that old already? How they grow up so fast? Well, they growed up at normal speed. It's just that for some of our lives, as we get closer and closer to the end of this time, our lives seem to get going faster and faster and faster and faster. Look at 2 Peter chapter 3, would you, brethren? 2 Peter chapter 3. You say I'm I'm tired of turning to scriptures, alright? I only asked you to turn to two more. 2 Peter 3 and Revelation 21, please. 2 Peter 3 and Revelations 21. It's a hard message to amen, isn't it? I mean, it's not shouting time. I mean, not many people would come to church and say, glory to God, my time is running out! Glory to God, it won't be long, and I'm gonna die! I hope what it does, I hope the person next to you. In fact, why don't you just take a moment of time and look to your left and look to your right and make sure they're not taking a nap time. It's not time for a nap. Sleep in front of the TV with it turned off. Not at church, amen. 2 Peter chapter 3. Look, if you would, how God looks at it all. Look at verse 8. But, beloved, that's Christians, be not ignorant of this one thing. That one day is with the Lord as a what? A thousand years. And a thousand years is one day. We use that prophetically, but may I say to you, that tells me a lot about God's mind. We're gonna live a 24-hour day down here. You know how God views that 24-hour day? About like a thousand years. His time and our time are totally different in retrospect. Oh, wasn't that a long day? Men have had a long day. I've been up for 18, 19 hours. What a long day. To God, that was about a thousand years. So a week would be about 7,000 years, about as long as the earth has existed. Oh no, it's been here millions. Oh, read your Bible. Maybe the earth has been here, but mankind hasn't. Oh no, the Austro Yeah, I've studied all that stuff. How are you doing with your time? Preacher, it's almost like you're saying, I can't have any fun. Oh, you can have fun. God gives us all things richly to what? Enjoy. But we need to be careful that the weeks don't slip away, and the months, and the years, and we don't take time to redeem that time. The beloved be not ignorant as this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. Look at verse 10: 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. Therefore, if all my time is spent building things down here that has no real spiritual significance, and I'm not saying if you're in a job where you're building, or if you're in your job where you're working or something like that, brethren, you you you should needs work. I understand that, but that work can't be our whole life. If my job was building great concrete skyscrapers and I read an article last year or last week how they're building the tallest building in the world. And if I was the architecture and the and the and the contractor and I had the fame of building the tallest building in the world. Don't take this wrong. What a waste of time. Unless there was some spiritual reason. Because all it's gonna do is melt back into the ground. Everything that building made of is made of came from the ground in one way, shape, or form. The steel came from the ground. Is that right? From rocks. And the Bible says that when God comes back and He He puts His heat on this earth, that building is just gonna melt right back in. And I'm gonna look and say, well, that was a waste of time. It was a good while lasting had a lot of fame among men, but God was not that impressed. Verse 11, seeing then that all these things, temporary things of this world, shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be? In all holy conversation in God in this, looking 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, nevertheless we, that's the beloved, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth what? Say it, righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be what? Diligent, that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. Look at verse 18. But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm not saying you can't have things. I have things. I'm not saying you can't have a home, I have a home. You can have a car. I mean, have all that. But be careful that we don't go through this life and waste our time and not lay anything up spiritually for him. As that offering plate went by today, maybe you participated, maybe you didn't. Not after your money. I'm after fruit that may abound to your account. If you put some money in that offering plate as it went by, we'll use it to turn the lights on here so people can hear the gospel. We'll use it to buy tracks and we'll put those tracks out. We'll use it to buy buses and run buses and bring children in and give them the gospel. Are you listening to me? We'll use part of it to a missionary somewhere that you've never met and maybe on a field you'll never get to, and I'll never get to, but they'll get the gospel out on that field. You see, that's all not a waste of time. To the world it is. Why do you go down to that church all the time? You go down there Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night, then you go out there and you're involved in this. What? Why are you down there wasting your time? When they get before God, they'll say, Shut my mouth. I belittled those people. I mocked them. I looked at them and thought they were fools, and what big fool am I? There really is a God. And there it was, right in front of my nose. They even gave me a gospel track, and I took it courteously, shoved it in my pocket, threw it away at home, and laughed at those dumb Christians for wasting their time. They have already decided. If there is no God, I didn't waste my time. Listen to me. I've already decided. If there is no time, I've not wasted my time. My family has got a better start of being in a local church with morals and standards and the right kind of friendships. If there is no God, this is the right place for my family. Already decided that. My daughter is safe in this community. I didn't say San Diego. The church community. If there is no God, I didn't waste my time. There is a God. Absolutely, unequivocally, without a doubt, the regenerated mind of those of us who believe know that there is a God. You can't say all the things that happened to us have happened by coincidence. Somebody, somewhere, in fact, we know the somebody, and we know the somewhere, is influencing what's going on in our life. Above what we're able to. He said, This. Beloved, be not ignorant, this one thing. That day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years one day to God. He says, you better pass the time of your sojournment here with little fear. And then I want you to look at Revelations 21. And I am watching the time. There's a wedding. They will be on time. We won't get her to the altar late, don't worry. Look at Revelation 21. And those of you who are Christians, let me just show you a couple scriptures to build your hope. Revelations 21, verse 22. Look at it, please. And you've been good to preach to this morning. I think you're listening. Not to me, but to the book. Revelations 21, verse 22. And I saw no temple therein. This is New Jerusalem. For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city, that's New Jerusalem, hath no need of the what? Say it. Son, S-U-N. Neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, that the Lamb is the light thereof. There's no need for the S-U-N anymore, because we get our light in heaven from the S-O-N. Now, think with me for a moment. If there's no S-U-N, then there is no time. You know how we measure our time? The sun comes up, the sun goes down. The moon comes up, the moon goes down. That's how we measure the time. In heaven, there's no sun, no moon. So there's no time. You say, now wait a minute, what about the millennium? How long is that millennium? A thousand years? Just like a day. Gone. Look at chapter 22. Look at verse 5. There shall be no night there. What do you mean no night? That's what it says. No night. Well, what do you think that spiritually means? That spiritually means there's not going to be any night. What do you think it says in the Greek? There's not going to be a night. Well, give me the deep hidden meaning, alright? There's no darkness in heaven. Bible says not even a shadow. And they need no candle. Neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light. And they shall reign. Here's the time factor. Forever and ever. How long's that? That's more than a long time. Amen? What do you mean? Hey, please look up here. You won't see any of these in heaven. Gone. You say I kind of like watches. Then get all you can of them right now. Because if you're a Christian, one of these things, when we go out of here, these are dropping off. You say, what's going to happen to these little watches? They're going to melt back into the earth again. It's time to be here. How many of you are constantly late? You'll never be late in heaven. How many are frustrated with those that are constantly late? You'll never be frustrated again. If you go to heaven. And we certainly hope you do. And if you're unsure, we can show you how to be. Sure. No sun, no moon, no shadow. One last verse, look at it. Verse 4 of chapter 21. Look at it. 21 4. And we're on time. Here I'm looking on my wrist and my watch isn't there. It's in my hand. Oh, you've done dumb things too before. Revelation 21, look at verse 4. And God shall wipe away all what? Tears from their eyes. Hey, Jacob, all those tears. Those 20 years you thought your boy Joseph was dead? That all be gone. Rachel's dying? That's gone. Isaac, Dad's dead, it's gone. What they did to Dinah, done. Esau and you, your problems, finished. Same God, Jacob, that was with you down here, you'll be with him forever and ever and ever. There shall be no more what? Death. In order to die, it involves time. Like your time is up. In heaven, your time is never up. Neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Watch it, for the former things are what? Including time. It's gone. Well, that's the future. But, brethren, we're still breathing. And we still have opportunity. And there's still time. Oh, preacher, what should I do? I've wasted so much. I've wasted months and years. Stop wasting it. Well, how do I go back and get it all back? Stop thinking about getting it all back. It's gone. I have people come to me from time to time that they've been away from the Lord for years. I said, Preacher, what can I do? With all that time I wasted. The only thing I can tell them is this learn from it and forget it. It's gone. You can't do anything. But you can do something with the rest of the time that you have. Why don't you jump back into church? Why don't you do it more than just Sunday morning? Why don't you, why don't you, if you wasted your time for so long, why don't you why don't you try Sunday night or maybe Wednesday night? Why don't you try a ministry in some way, shape, or form? Why don't you get involved in the Lord's work where every week you've got a commitment to be in a place and a position and a responsibility? And that way, when the week's gone by, you had to be there. You were there. You did your work for Lord, and after 10 or 15 years of that, you'll be second book as glad I had a position in the church. I was doing something on an organized, committed basis, and I didn't waste my time. Because when we get out of church, we get away from God, sending up the things we used to do. Around God's people, accountable to God's people. We don't do those things anymore. And time goes by, and time goes by and time goes by. It's over. That's why the local church has been good for me. It has kept me accountable on a weekly basis. Now, as a pastor, I'm in church a lot. I was in church Monday night. Tuesday all day in Michigan. Tuesday night. I was in church here, Wednesday. I don't know what I did on Thursday. Oh, yeah, I do. I was preparing for church. Friday. Did a lot of work and then went out in my little garden. You say, what a waste of time. Not for me, it wasn't. I prayed for some of you all down there. Fellowshiped and abided a little bit down there. You know it's easy to hoe weeds and think about God. This dumb curse. I'll be glad when it's over, man. Look at these weeds. This curse. Curse! Cursed. Man, I wouldn't be down here hoeing. If it wasn't for Adam, I probably would have blew it too, but come on, is that right? You know what the greatest thing about heaven? You can read it. There shall be no more curse. As a gardener, that means something to me, amen. No more weeds that look like plants. Produce nothing. Saturday? Talk to some of you all. Pray. Ask God to show me what we needed today and tonight. Worked for him. Went to sleep last night tired, but it was a good tired. It wasn't a wasted tired. Oh, I waste my time sometimes too. Don't think I walk on water. I sink. I want to encourage you. Time is running out. Redeem the time, brother. It goes quickly. Jacob said, my days? 130 years, but few. It just went by so quickly. Brother Marvin, I was thinking about you. When I visited you the other night and you said you'd been in the military, uh, Marine Corps, what, 27 years? Looking at seeing what the Lord would do, whether he'd have you in their 30. 27 years in the military is honorable. But the greatest thing I heard when I visited them that along the way they've been serving God. The Marine Corps, what do you get when you get out? You get your little box and all the medals and all those remembrances. It's honorable when they have a big retirement thing. You'll leave a part of your heart there. But the nice point about retiring from the military or your job or whatever it is is if you're a Christian, there is no retirement. No retirement party. No gold watches. You say, well, what do you get? Heaven. Crowns. Uh that don't fade away. What was those crowns called? Incorruptible? When I retired from the military, they uh they gave me a couple things. That was nice. Recently, my mother, whose house we're getting ready to sell back east, shipped to me uh a footlocker full of military memorabilia. Oh, platoon flags and awards and a lot of different things, and they all mean something to me. My boys opened up the footlocker and started getting all these things out. Cups and awards and all that, and don't take this long. Wow, Dad, can I have that? Sure, you can have that. Can I have that? Yeah, I can have that. Can I have that? Sure, you can have that. You want that? Yeah. Can I have that? Throw that one away. Let's get rid of that one. I don't even remember that. But I thought as those boys looked at those things. That's this life. That's awards, I guess, in this life. I hope you won't be offended by me saying compared to what's in heaven, those don't mean anything to me. Effort, work, yeah. Yeah. Did you try it? Yeah. But compared to eternity? I sat my boys down and I said, listen, you can have all those things. But what I'm doing for God now is much more important. I'll not belittle in the military. Now the company you work for know what you're doing. But I told my boys, if you're going to be thankful for something with your dad, don't be thankful for so much for those things. Be thankful that your dad got to witness about a Christ last week. Be thankful that when your dad preached, something happened. Time. We can't stop it. But we can use it. And we better use it. Because time is running out. Chris. It's almost time. Does Dora slip in? Hey Dora. I see you up there. Oh turn around, Chris. It's almost time. But God's putting you together to exalt his name. That your time might be more effective on this earth. As two. Would you stand with me? Don't leave. Don't go the back way. Just stretch for a moment. You said, man, you sure preached a long time. You missed the whole message. Throw that watch away when you come to church. I think church is supposed to be a little bit like heaven. I think we'll incorporate a new rule. In heaven, there's no time, in church, there's no time. If you've never received Christ as your Savior, or if you're unsure whether you know him as a friend. If you don't know that if you died, if your time was over on this earth, if you don't know if you would face him as a friend or as a foe, you say, wait a minute, what do you mean as a foe? As an enemy? And those that are not with him, the Bible says, are against him. And if you don't know him yet personally, and have received him as savior and ask his forgiveness, then you should, through the interpretation of the Bible, look at yourself and say, wait a minute, I'm on the wrong side. I need to be forgiven. If you're already a Christian, all I'd like to do is this, not go out of here depressed, but go out of here and say, I need to look at the time that I have that God's given me and what I'm doing with it. Now you may go out of here in your mind and say, well, I didn't like that message because it's almost like he's saying you don't have time for anything else but God. Well, it's just that God is incorporated in anything and everything else. He's incorporated in our work, he's incorporated in our secular work, he's incorporated in our pleasure, he's incorporated in our entertainment, he's incorporated in our hobbies. It's just a way of life where we know he's there. Just like Jacob, he said, I'll walk with you wherever you walk. Wherever you go. Whatsoever things we do, we do it as into the Lord. So today, Christian, if the time is slipping by, it's not going to get any slower. It'll probably go by quicker and quicker and quicker. If you've been away for a while, last statement it's time to get back doing something for God. It's time.