Series Been There- Done That- Now What? #4- MORE VALUABLE THAN MONEY Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Series Been There- Done That- Now What? #4- MORE VALUABLE THAN MONEY Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

03-11-11 BRO BRIAN HANEY ANCHOR OF HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH I. LOOK UP! SEE THAT GOD ORDERS TIME A. GOD ORDERS THE SEASONS B. GOD ORDERS THE SCHEDULES II. LOOK WITHIN! SEE ETERNITY IS IN YOUR HEART A. MAN S LIFE IS A GIFT FROM GOD B. MAN S LIFE IS LINKED TO ETERNITY C. MAN S LIFE CAN BE ENJOYED NOW III. LOOK AHEAD! SEE DEATH IS COMING TO ALL A. JUDGMENT IS SCHEDULED B. DEATH IS SURE Intro- The first two chapters of the book of Ecclesiastes show Solomon s pursuit for happiness. He has experimented with Learning, Laughter, Labor, and he has tried Lust. All of which are like trying to catch the wind in his hands. None of those things bring true happiness. In chapter 3 Solomon comes face to face with something that is more valuable than money! Is there anything that could be more valuable than money? Ask the coach whose team is behind in the final seconds of a game. Ask the air traffic controller in charge of scheduling takeoffs and landings at a major airport. Ask the 911 operator who has just received a call that someone is injured. Ask the cancer patient who has recently learned they have only six months left to live. TIME is more valuable than money! Why? Because time is irreplaceable! ILL-Suppose your bank called and said An anonymous donor has agreed to put 86,400 pennies into your account each morning. That s $864.00/day. At the end of the day, whatever is left is cancelled out. Each day you start fresh with 86,400 pennies. And the Banker says, Is this okay with you? What would you do with it? That s some $6000/wk $315k/yr. How would you like to have an account like that? The fact is that we do have an account like that. It s called TIME! Every morning GOD credits us with 86,400 seconds, which represents 1,440 minutes, which equals 24 hours each day. The question is how are we spending it? TIME can be defined as The Amount of time God has allowed you to REPENT and Be Forgiven of your sins Carl Sandburg said, Time is the coin of your life. It s the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. The average life last only 683,280 hours or 2.4 billion seconds!

In his book, In an Average Lifetime, Richard Needham conducted several years of research to reveal how we spend our time. He showed that the average American spends: 3 years in business meetings;13 years watching TV; 6 months sitting at stoplights; 8 months opening junk mail; 1 year looking for misplaced objects; 2 years returning phone calls; 4 years doing housework; 5 years waiting in line; 6 years eating; 24 years sleeping; Makes 1811 trips to McDonald s [1] In this Chapter Solomon is calling us to do 3 things: Look UP! Look Within! & Look Ahead! I. LOOK UP! SEE THAT GOD ORDERS TIME. (ECC. 3:1-8) Ecclesiastes 3:1 1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A. GOD ORDERS THE SEASONS- (Vs. 1) Richard Needham said that the seven stages of man are, spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, and wills. Someone has described life in this manner. When as a child I laughed and wept time crept. When as a youth I dreamed and talked time walked. When I became a full grown man time ran. And later as I older grew time flew. Soon I shall find while traveling on time gone. John Maxwell said, We master our minutes, or we become slaves to them. We use time, or else, time uses us. (a. GOD HAS FIXED THE SEASONS) B. GOD ORDERS THE SCHEDULES There are 2 Days on the calendar of your Life that you cannot control. The day you were born and the day you are going to die! It s the dates on your tombstone that matters the most! (See Job 14:1-5) Vs. 2- Birth and death. A Time to be born and a time to die *The Son of God had an ordained time to be born! Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law *The Son of God had an ordained time to die! When Jesus hung on the cross, he cried with a loud voice It is finished and he bowed his head and died! (Jn 19:30) Birth and death are not human accidents; they are divine appointments of God. (See Psalms 139:15-16) Your Life was designed by God with a purpose! Have you discovered that PURPOSE? You will never reach joy and happiness without first identifying your purpose in life! Purpose enables us to do what God has willed us to do. In fact, I believe THE TWO GREATEST DAYS in a person s life are the day they are born and the day they discover why! (Do you know WHY you were born? To display the Grace and Glory of God! To be a trophy that reflects the Greatness of God!)

Vs. 2- Planting and plucking. Men may plow and sow, but only God can give the increase. (See Psalms 65:9-13) Vs. 3- Killing and healing. God permits some to die while others are healed. ILL- Being in the hospital with the Nelm s family why is it that some patients in intensive care get better while others get worse? Vs. 5a- Casting away stones and gathering stones. A farmer must clear the field before he can plow and plant. People also gathered stones for building walls and houses. Stones are neither good nor bad; it all depends on what you do with them. If you wanted to hurt an enemy, you filled up his field with stones (2 Kings 3:19, 25). If your enemy fills your land with rocks, don t throw them back. Build something out of them! Vs. 5b- Embracing and refraining from embracing. People in the Near East openly show their affections by kissing and hugging when they meet and when they part. So, you could paraphrase this, A time to say hello and a time to say good-bye. This might also refer to the relationship of a husband and wife (Lev. 15:19-31; and see 1 Cor. 7:5). Vs. 6- Getting and losing. Some say this shows us the biblical authority for garage sales: a time to keep and a time to clean house! Vs. 7- Tearing and mending. This probably refers to the Jewish practice of tearing one s garments during a time of grief or repentance (2 Sam. 13:31; Ezra 9:5). God expects us to sorrow during bereavement, but not like unbelievers (1 Thes. 4:13-18). Vs. 7b- a Time to keep Silence and a time to Speak. A wise man knows when to speak and when to remain silent! Our Lord demonstrated well a time to keep silent as he was falsely accused? Isaiah 53:7 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Silence is powerful) Is there a time to speak? ILL- Those attending the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994 witnessed a time for speaking. When Mother Teresa took the podium and pleaded for the lives of unborn children. Barely tall enough to be seen above the lectern, this tiny nun began her address by reading a portion of Scripture, then stunned the assembled dignitaries, including the President and the Vice-President of the United States, by saying, the Greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill each other? For Mother Teresa, she viewed the breakfast as a time to speak! After her speech, she approached the president and pointed her finger at him, and said, Stop killing babies. (4)

Is there a time to speak? Ezekiel 3:17-18 17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. (The time for Christians to speak is NOW!) Vs. 8- A time to Love, and a time to hate We are to love sinners and hate sin! A time of war, and a time of peace The children of Israel had to battle with the inhabitants of the promise land in order to claim it! Exodus 23:29-30 29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. (The Christian life is full of battles!) We need to LOOK UP! and see GOD is in Control! II. LOOK WITHIN! SEE ETERNITY IS IN YOUR HEART (ECC. 3:9-14) Solomon has adjusted his sights. He not only sees life under the sun, but eternity has begun to sound in his heart! He brought God into the picture and this gave him a new perspective. In verse 9, he seems to ask the questions What is the Profit? And What is the Purpose? Solomon gave three answers to the questions. A. MAN S LIFE IS A GIFT FROM GOD (v. 10). In view of the travail that we experience from day to day, life may seem like a strange gift, but it is God s gift just the same. Illustration: I remember as a child my mother had a picture on the wall in my bathroom that read- Life is a GIFT from God, what you do with it is your gift to HIM B. MAN S LIFE IS LINKED TO ETERNITY (v. 11). He has eternity [ the world, KJV] in his heart and is linked to heaven. This explains why nobody (including Solomon) can be satisfied with his or her endeavors and achievements, or is able to explain the enigmas of life (1:12-2:11). God accomplishes His purposes in His time, but it will not be until we enter eternity that we will begin to comprehend His total plan. C. MAN S LIFE CAN BE ENJOYED NOW (vv. 12-14). Instead of complaining about what we don t have, let s enjoy what we do have and thank God for it. Illustration- A well-known British Methodist preacher William Sangster learned that he had progressive muscular atrophy and could not get well, he made four resolutions and kept them to the end: (1) I will never complain;

(2) I will keep the home bright; (3) I will count my blessings; (4) I will try to turn it to gain. This is the approach to life that Solomon wants us to take. Solomon is not saying Don t Worry-be happy! But to have Faith in GOD. Puritan pastor Thomas Watson said, Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset; eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise. III. LOOK AHEAD! SEE DEATH IS COMING TO ALL (ECC. 3:15-22) Several years ago, there was a best-selling book entitled, Life s Little Instruction Book. The title said it all, and it continues to sell millions of copies every year. Ecclesiastes 3 could easily be considered the original Life s Little Instruction Book. To help us prepare for 2 things: A. JUDGMENT IS SCHEDULED- (vs.15-17) Vs. 15- and God requireth that which is past. Means God will call the past into judgment! Acts 17:31 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Vs 16-17 Solomon points out that though the evil are seemingly getting away with murder, their day too will come! B. DEATH IS SURE- (vs.18-22) Solomon saw that all go unto one place the place of DEATH! Vs 19-20 Solomon is not saying that there is no difference between men and animals. Solomon is pointing out that men and beasts have two things in common: they both die and their bodies return to the dust (Gen. 2:7; 3:19). Vs 21, Solomon indicates that men and animals do not have the same experience at death, even though they both turn to dust after death. Man s spirit goes to God (see 12:7), while the spirit of a beast simply ceases to exist. Vs 22,The Preacher closed this section by reminding us again to accept life from God s hand and enjoy it while we can. Nobody knows what the future holds; and even if we did know, we can t return to life after we have died and start to enjoy it again. (See 6:12, 7:14, 9:3.) Knowing that God is in sovereign control of life (3:1), we can submit to Him and be at peace. Conclusion- How then should we spend our TIME! Not Rushing through Life aimlessly and without Purpose! God created you for a purpose! His first purpose is to save you from your sins and make you a new person. He then has a plan a purpose for your life! And that is to live for and serve HIM Let me close by saying No one is prepared to live until they are prepared to die! The Bible says Prepare to meet thy God -Amos 4:12