Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, June 25, 2017 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister TOPIC: Life, Death, Christ's Return We Don't Have All The Time In The World James 4:13-15 NKJV Please turn with me in your Bibles to our scripture text this morning in the Book of James, chapter four. And let's read verses 13-15. James 4:13-15 (NKJV) 13 Come 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 ; 14 whereas 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. 15 Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. **************************************************** Introduction Our lives are measured in increments of time: seconds...minutes...hours...days...weeks...months...and years. -We wear watches on our wrists. -We hang clocks and calendars on our walls. -We have timers on our stoves and microwave ovens. -When we drive by a bank we look at the time and temperature. -When a baby is born we want to know the time of birth. -When someone we know dies, we want to know the time of their visitation and funeral service.
Time is one of those precious commodities that many of us take for granted. -Some people kill time. -Some people waste time. -Some people seem to have lots of spare time. while others never see to have enough time in a day. - Some people are always on time. -Some people are never on time. -And some people are totally clueless as to what time it is. It's one thing to be clueless as to man's time, but it is a very serious matter to be clueless as to God's time. (A) Take for example THE PEOPLE OF NOAH'S DAY. In Matthew 24:37-39 (NKJV) Jesus says... 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating, and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For 120 years Noah kept preaching to the people about their need to repent because God's judgment was coming. But they people just ignored Noah's warning. They thought they had all the time in the world! But on the day Noah entered the ark and the rains came and the flood waters rose the people realized they had run out of time. It was too late for them to do the one thing they could have and should have done to save their souls.
(B) In the Gospel of Luke, chapter twelve we find another example of someone who was clueless as to God's time. In that passage, Jesus tells us The Parable of The Rich Fool. This man was so consumed by his material greed that he gave absolutely no thought as to his eternal destiny. In Luke 12:18-20 (NKJV) Jesus gives us insight into this rich fool's thinking. Jesus tells us, So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store up all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; the whose will those things be which you have provided? You see, that rich fool thought he had all the time in the world, but it was much later than he thought~ He ran out of time without preparing for his eternity. As Christians, we must always be keenly aware of what time it is, not what time it is on our time clocks, but what time it is on God's time-clock.
For one thing, we must never forget... I. The Time of Our DEATH Is Always At Hand (James 4:13-15) 1. This is the truth that James is reminding us of in the scripture I read at the outset of the message. Please listen to it once again. James 4:13-15 (NKJV) 13 Come 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 ; 14 whereas 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. 15 Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. 2. The Bible is filled with warnings about the brevity and uncertainty of our time here on earth. Psalm 39:4-6 (NKJV) 4 Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. 5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah 6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them.
Psalm 90:9,10 (NKJV) 9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. 10 The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Proverbs 27:1 (NKJV) Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth. 3. You see, the scriptures consistently remind us that we don't have all the time in the world. The scriptures teach us that our time here on earth could run out suddenly...unexpectedly...and even instantly! Just as King David said, There is only one step between me and death. 4. Now granted, the Lord doesn't want us to have a morbid obsession with our death and to let our minds be pre-occupied with our own mortality. The Lord doesn't want you and me to live in constant fear and anxiety wondering how much time we have left. Instead the Lord desires for us to appreciate each and and every day and to live each day to the fullest with the constant awareness that each day is a precious gift from God Himself.
I L L U S T R A T I O N Years ago People Magazine printed an article entitled: Dead Ahead. The article told about this new clock that someone had invented which could scientifically calculate just how much time you have left to live. With a starting calculation point of 75 years for men and 80 years for women, you simply program in your sex, you current age, and the clock will then calculate how long you've got before you're pushing daisies. By the way, if you are interested in buying one of these clocks, they retail for $99.95. 5. Aren't you glad God didn't create us with a built-in timer that shows how much time we have left? Can you imagine what it would be like to have a built in alarm that goes off when our time is done like a Thanksgiving turkey in the oven 6. Yes, its true that none of us are going to live here forever. And yes, its true that our time here is growing shorter and shorter with each passing day. 7. Knowing these scripture truths, let us live focused lives. Let us spend our remaining days on earth focused on the things that matter most and not obsessing over meaningless things. Let us focus our priorities on seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness and not waste our days on the worthless things that won't matter when our time on earth is done.
But not only must we never forget THE TIME OF OUR DEATH IS AT HAND, we must also never forget... II. The Time of Our LORD'S RETURN Is At Hand Please turn with me to Matthew 24:36-44 (NKJV) 36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour ]your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 1. It is interesting that the LORD alternates back and forth between DAY and YEAR in this passage. No one knows the day. No one knows the hour. What Jesus is saying is no one knows any of the details regarding the timing of My coming.
2. The fact that Jesus has not come back yet does NOT matter. But the fact that Jesus could come back today or even come back this very hour matters tremendously! 3. I personally believe that a lot of people who profess to be Christians don't live their lives with any sense of expectation of the LORD coming today...tomorrow... or in the near or even distant future. The proof that many have no sense of expectancy or urgency about the coming of the LORD is seen in their lifestyles. Many professing Christians are living their lives just like that rich fool in Luke 12. They are living for the hear and now with no thought about their eternity. 4. Listen very carefully!!! If you are one of those who thinks of the Lord's return as some far off, distant event that likely won't happen in your lifetime you need to go back and study your scriptures. 5. The word of God teaches us... - Jesus will come back like a thief in the night. -Jesus will come back in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. -Jesus will come back like a flash of lightning coming out of the east to the west. -Jesus will come back on a day and at an hour which none of us knows.
6. Go ahead and make your plans. Go ahead and schedule your appointments. Go ahead and mark your calendars, but always be mindful that Jesus may come back at any moment, in which case all your plans and all your appointments will immediately become irrelevant! ********************************************************************** C O N C L U S I O N This morning we have been reminded that WE REALLY DON'T HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD. Each and every day we live with the imminent possibility that we could leave this world by death or leave this world by the coming of our Lord. This means we should live each day with a sense of diligence and urgency, especially when it comes to matters regarding our eternity. For those of you who are still dabbling in sin, now is the time time to put that sin to death once and for all and stop offering the parts of your body to sin, and as instruments of wickedness. (Romans 6:13 NIV) For those of you who are still in love with this world and are chasing after worldly treasures and pleasures, now is the time to stop storing up for yourself treasures here on earth and start storing up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:19,20 NIV) For those of you who were baptized years ago but you have never gotten serious about truly living for Christ, now is the time to wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. (Ephesians 5:14)
And for those of you who have never accepted Jesus Christ, now is the time for you to seek the Lord while He may be found (Isaiah 55:6 NIV) for now is the time of God's salvation. (II Corinthians 6:2b NIV) Lead into invitation hymn...