Time In Bottle-3 1-22.docx
Ecclesiastes 3:1-22
Just to let you know I will not sing Jim Croce—Time In A Bottle—" If I could save time in a bottle…The first thing that I'd like to do…Is to save every day…'Til eternity passes away…Just to spend them with you
Or I wont sing The Byrds song Turn! Turn! Turn!--- To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late
People hear those songs and think oh those are great. But little do they know that Solomon wrote those a long time ago.
You all have heard this before but let’s play pretend
So the bank calls you on Friday afternoon and tells you that someone is going to be giving you a deposit each day of 86,400 pennies each day starting on Monday morning. That is $864 a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year
But there is one stipulation… you have to spend all the money that same day. No balance will be carried over to the next day.
Each evening the bank must cancel whatever sum you failed to use
You start to think about that $864 times seven days is over $6000 a week and almost $315,000 that you could spend if you were diligent
But remember what you don’t spend is forfeited
Well so much for “pretend”
Now let’s play “let’s get serious”
Every morning someone who loves you very much deposits into your account of time 86,400 seconds of time—which is 1,440 minutes which of course is 24 hours each day
Now you’ve got to remember the same stipulation applies, because God gives you this amount of time for you to use each day
Nothing is carried over on credit to the next day
There is no such thing as a 26 hour day (though some of us wish there were)
From today’s dawn until tomorrow’s dawn you have precisely determined amount of time
As someone has put it “life is a coin. You can spend it any way you want to, but you spend it only once”
One of the most fascinating (and I might add frustrating) of all subjects is this four-letter word time
It’s amazing
We all have the same amount of time
Whether we are penniless or whether we are the richest person on earth
Whether we are old or young
Married or single
Think of how much “time” is woven into the fabric of our conversation every day
“what time does the meeting start”
“what time will the meeting end”
“I don’t have time for that”
“how much time will that take”
“don’t waste your time on that”
“its time to go”
“I need a time out”
“its time we had a long walk”
“what time is supper”
Time has been defined as a “stretch of duration in which things happen”
This reminds me of the fact that we will have all eternity to enjoy our victories, but only one life in which to win them
In our text, Solomon saw something above man, a God who was in control of time and who balanced life’s experiences (v. 1-8), then he saw something within man that linked him to God (eternity in his heart) vs. 9-14. Thirdly, Solomon saw something ahead of man—the certainty of death (v. 15-22). Finally, he saw something around man, the problems of burdens of life (4:1-5:9).
God seems to use four factors to keep our lives from becoming monotonous and meaningless
They are: time, eternity, death and suffering
When Michael Jordan retired from the NBA he said, “I have nothing left to prove.”
What was he most proud of?
That his father saw him play his last NBA game.
It is apparent that death got Michael Jordan’s attention
This passage serves as a reminder that the plan of God encompasses everything from our being born, to the day of our death
God appoints both our birthday and the day of our funeral
In v. 28 Solomon turns to 14 pairs of opposites using the word time as he presses home the point of God’s fore-ordination and man’s accountability
Let me make one more statement of introduction while giving a considerable conclusion of this text
God, Himself, wants to be known obeyed by man; accordingly, He has shut man up to the riddle of life, yet given him an unquenchable hunger to know how it all, from the simplest to the most profound, fits with everything else
Read Verses so that We can Know Him and Make Him Known
1) Life’s Comparisons—vs. 1-8
a) Vs. 1 Solomon tells us that not only are there times and seasons in this world, but there is also an over-ruling providence in our lives
b) From before our birth to the moment of our death, God is accomplishing His divine purposes, even though we may not always understand what He is doing
c) This defies the theory of fatalism and deism
d) The first being that all events are determined by fate and hence inevitable
e) Deism is the belief that God exists and created the world, but therefore did not control it
f) Let’s makes some comparisons
1) “born-die”
(1) The entirety of the human existence illustrates the comprehensiveness of God
(2) Ps. 139:16—”
(3) Depression has the tendency to make you ask “why was I born and why cant I die”
(4) It seems as though when life boils itself down to the basics we go back to birth and death
2) “plant-pluck up”
(1) Timing
(2) A successful farmer knowns that nature works for him only if he works with nature
(3) This is also the secret of successful life
(4) Learn God’s principles and cooperate with them
(5) There are many times when you feel you should move on, and you try to uproot yourself but you cant because things don’t fall into place
(6) And there are other times when you are convinced that you’ll never be there forever and lo and behold two months later you are 100 miles away
(7) God has a way of uprooting us and planting us and He does it in His time
3) “kill—heal”
(1) Refers, possibly, to sickness and plague
(2) God permits some to die while others are healed
(3) Read out papers and on one side there is an article on murder and on the other side medicine—a miracle drug
4) “Break-down—Build-up”
(1) Relationship with nations, old walls, relationships
5) “weep—laugh”
(1) C.S. Lewis—“pain is God’s megaphone”
(2) He whispers to us in our pleasure, but He shouts to us in our pain
(3) I love to laugh, but laughter does not teach me as much as tears
(4) Maybe that is why we can never remember a joke
(5) But we remember a broken heart
(6) We have to laugh
(7) I have to laugh
(8) ILL—I heard of a pastor who left the pastorate after 20 years to become a funeral director. Somebody asked, “why did you do that?” He said, “well, I spent about 12 years trying to straighten our John. He never did straighten out. I spent 14 months trying to straighten out the marriage of the Smith’s and it never got straightened out. I spent 3 years trying to straighten out Susan, and she never did get straightened out. Now when I straighten them out, they stay straight.
(9) I hope I am remembered as a fun-loving dad
6) “mourn—dance”
(1) Death, divorce, disappointment, wedding
(2) Jewish song: “sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the years. One season following another. Laden with happiness and tears”
7) “cast away stones—gather stones”
8) “Embrace—refrain from embracing”
(1) They go together
(2) Times of affirmation
(3) Times of confrontation
(4) For life to stay balanced, both affirmation and accountability are needed
9) “to get—to lose”
(1) A time to search and a time to give up to loss
10) “to keep—to cast away” (to throw away)
(1) Somethings we need to keep in our lives
(2) Somethings we need to throw away in our lives
11) “to tear—to sew”
(1) May refer to the Jewish practice of tearing one’s clothes during time of grief or repentance
12) “to keep silence—to speak”
(1) Someone said, “I never felt sorry for the things I did not say”
(2) There are times we need to say it and say it well
13) “to love—to hate”
14) “war—peace”
(1) Together, we are reminded of acts of injustice, acts of prejudice, and inequities
(2) These ought to be hated and ought to be withstood
2) Life’s considerations—vs. 9-14
a) What’s the profit—vs. 9a
b) What’s the purpose—vs. 9b
c) Vs. 10, 13
d) Man’s profit is that life is a gift from God
e) If we believingly accept life as a gift, and thank God for it, we will have a better attitude toward the burdens that come our way
f) Vs. 11
g) God has not only put things into perspective by having a timetable in which events run their course
h) He has put within every human being’s heart a curiosity about tomorrow, an eternal capacity that prompts me to probe, to be intrigued, to search
i) Meaning what?
j) Meaning you and I are not ready to handle life until we are ready to face death
k) When we get eternity securely in place, it’s remarkable what it will do to time
l) “eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset, eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise.”
m) Vs. 14
n) Man’s perspective is linked to reverence
o) “fear” not the cringing of a slave before a cruel master, but the submission of an obedient child to a loving parent
3) Life’s Certainties—vs. 15-22
a) God will call the past to account-vs. 15
b) How can God be in control when there is so much evil in our world, with the wicked prospering in their sin and the righteous suffering in their obedience?
c) 1. Let me tell you this God has a time for everything
d) 2. God is working out His eternal purposes
e) James Johnson, wrote about God’s Trombones
1) In that great day, people in that great day, God’s a-going to rain down fire.
2) God’s a-going to sit in the middle of the air to judge the quick and the dead
3) Early one of these mornings, God’s a-going to call for Gabriel, That tall, bright angel, Gabriel; and God’s a-going to say to him: “Gabriel, blow your silver trumpet, and wake the living nations
4) Oh-o-oh, sinner, where will you stand, in that Great day when God’s a-going to rain down fire?
5) Oh, you gambling man—where will you stand?
6) You whore-mongering man—where will you stand?
7) Liars and backsliders—where will you stand, in that great day when God’s a-going to rain down fire?
8) And God will divide the sheep from the goats, the one on the right, the other on the left
9) And to them on the right God’s a-going to say: “enter into my kingdom”
10) And those who’ve come through the great tribulations, and washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, They will enter in—clothed in spotless white
11) And to them on the left God’s a-going to say: “depart from me into everlasting darkness, down into the bottomless pit”
12) And the wicked like lumps of lead will start to fall, headlong for seven days and nights they’ll fall, plumb into the big, black and red-hot mouth of hell
13) To late sinner
14) Too late
15) Good-bye sinner
16) Good bye
17) In hell, sinner
18) In hell
19) Beyond the reach of the love of God
20) And I hear a voice crying, crying: “time shall be no more
21) Time shall be no more
22) Time shall be no more
23) And the sun will go out like a candle in the wind
24) The moon will turn to dripping blood
25) The stars will fall like cinders
26) And the sea will burn like tar
27) And the earth shall melt away and be dissolved and the sky will roll up like a scroll
28) With a wave of His hand God will blot out time and start the wheel of eternity
29) Sinner, oh, sinner, where will you stand?
30) In that great day when God’s a-going to rain down fire
f) Time has begun for you and me, but it hasn’t yet ended by His grace
