Confessions of a Church: There is a Time

The Psalm writer wrote:  Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God.  It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.  

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8  There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear 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 throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

My children and I were talking about black holes the other day. You know, those invisible points in space which are infinitesimally small, yet insanely powerful? Gravity wells from which nothing can escape once drawn into its clutches, not even light itself?

 Theories suggest that even time is distorted in the vicinity of one of these singularities and their crushing gravitational forces. I had a fascination with these objects when I was a kid, believing that one day I would build a spaceship, fly into one of these blackholes, and time travel all across history. There is something appealing to the notion of being able to go back in time, visit important events, right past wrongs, or search for the good ole days because things just aren't what they used to be.

But the reality is, time isn't this thing which we can manipulate to suit our needs. Time is a force which moves from the past, through the present, and into the future, relentlessly. Time devours everything in its path, whether earthly kingdoms, lives, cars, wealth, ideas, or flesh. Like the locust, time reduces all to rubble and chaff, blown away by the wind.

Scripture tells us:

I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all. Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them.

— Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

and

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

— Ephesians 5:15-16

In our passage of Ecclesiastes today we are told that "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven". This isn't the cold, purposeless passage of time which the atheists say is the mechanism used by physics and evolution to give rise to life as we know it. The time spoken of in our passage today is time which was created, ordered, and is reigned over by the Lord of years, the Potentate of Time: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Time, created by God Himself, has a definite starting point, and will terminate in the exact moment decreed by God.

In the meantime, as it marches on, every single event, happening, or circumstance which occurs, whether in the physical world or the darkest corner of your mind, has its appointed time as ordained by God. The writer of Ecclesiastes gives us a list of things which happen in their appointed time: birth, death, planting, uprooting, killing, healing, tearing down, building up, weeping, laughing, morning, dancing, throwing stones, gathering stones, embracing, shuning embracing, searching, giving up as lost, keeping, throwing away, tearing apart, sewing together, being silent, speaking, loving, hating, war, and peace. This list is not exhaustive, but rather, gives a broad sampling of the human experience.

I would like us to focus on one element we find here for the remainder of our brief time, and that is the fact that there is a time for death.

When you are tempted to look with lust upon images found on your computer, it is time to put your lusts to death and nurture natural affections for your wife. When you are tempted to selfishly guard your worldly possessions rather than be a blessing to the church, it is time to die to your greed and be a cheerful giver. When you are tempted to dominate your husband because you believe you can do a better job, rather than to let him lead and make mistakes, it is time to put to death your pride and submit to your husband. When you are tempted to neglect disciplining your children in accordance with God's Word for fear of driving them away, it is time to put your unbelief to death and trust God's promises. When you nitpick your wife, compare her to other wives, all the while taking a slothful, neglectful, heavy handed approach to leading your family, it is time to go to the ant you sluggard, and put to death your hypocrisy .

These are just a few ways in which we see clearly that once again God's Word proves true. There is a time for death. What better time than in the midst of temptations and trials?

Death in the life of a Christian is actually something which, though oftentimes viewed in the negative, is a positive thing which actually winds up enabling us to truly live.

In a movie that none of you have ever seen, a king on horseback was giving his horsemen a rousing speech just prior to leading them down a hill to make war against an enemy army, culminating with a rousing warcry exclaiming "Death!" He knew that for his cavalry to fight well, the fear of death had to be set aside.

In a like manner brothers and sisters, for you to live, you must embrace the reality that there is a time for death, to die to self.

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh⁠— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

— Romans 8:12-13

What better time to die to self, than today, for today is the day of salvation?

Now, this dying to self is not a self denial program where you attempt in a mechanical way to hold down all of your sinful wants and desires and attempt to apply Scripture in a cookie cutter fashion. No, but rather, it is placing your hopes, your trust, all your faith in the One Who has said "It is finished". It is you remembering that Christ has won the victory, and now we must follow after Him, walking not in the flesh but in the Spirit with God's Word lighting our path. It is an apprehension of the truths of scripture, a laying hold of them, and walking by them with faith in the One Who has sat down at the right hand of the Father. Dying to self is when you say with faith, and joy, "not my will be done Lord, but Your will be done".

"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven".

If you are able, please kneel at this time as we confess our sins.

THOU GREAT I AM,

Fill our minds with elevation and grandeur at the thought of a Being with whom one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day, A mighty God, who, amidst the lapse of worlds, and the revolutions of empires, feels no variableness, but is glorious in immortality.

May we rejoice that, while men die, the Lord lives; that, while all creatures are broken reeds, empty cisterns, fading flowers, withering grass, he is the Rock of Ages, the Fountain of living waters.

Turn our hearts from vanity, from dissatisfactions, from uncertainties of the present state, to an eternal interest in Christ. Let us remember that life is short and unforeseen, and is only an opportunity for usefulness;

Give us a holy avarice to redeem the time, to awake at every call to charity and piety, so that we may feed the hungry, clothe the naked, instruct the ignorant, reclaim the vicious, forgive the offender, diffuse the gospel, show neighbourly love to all.

Let us live a life of self-distrust, dependence on thyself, mortification, crucifixion, and prayer.

In Jesus's Name we pray, amen.

Prayer adapted from The Valley of Vision prayer title "The Infinite and the Finite".

Please stand and listen to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church:  

Psalm 37:18-22 The Lord knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever. They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, And in the days of famine they will have abundance. But the wicked will perish; And the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures, They vanish—like smoke they vanish away. The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives. For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, But those cursed by Him will be cut off.

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!

(From the 06/13/2020 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie.)