Understanding the Times

What time is it?

Now don't look at your watch.

I'm not talking about that kind of time.

What time is it in your life right now?

What season of life are you going through?

If we measured our life in terms of the four quarters of a football game,

here's a picture of it.

Here's what it might look like.

In the first quarter, that's from birth to 20 years old.

So that's when you grow up.

That's when a time of learning, of exploring.

It's also a time of joy and pain.

There's also good times, but bad times as well.

The second quarter is when you're 21 to 40 years old.

That's when you're trying to find your place, making your place in this world.

This is when you really should be looking for that mate, settling down, establishing roots, having children.

Really now, this is the time when if we're going to mature, we mature.

Truth is, we don't really and truly grow up in what you call be mature until the second quarter of life,

this 21 through 40 years of age.

Then there's the pains and sorrows, good times and bads in the second quarter of life as well.

Third quarter would be 41 to 60.

This is when you're established.

This is when you are most focused.

You know who you are.

You know where you are.

You know what you're doing.

This is when you launch your children.

When you launch your children out on their own and have the empty nest.

This is when you have grandchildren.

This is when you have joys and pains.

This is when sometimes you have to start looking after and caring for your aging parents.

The third quarter of life.

There's good times and there's bad.

Then the fourth quarter, 61 to 80 years old.

Generally speaking, this is when we're closing out our career.

And for a lot of people, they're launching a second career.

It's amazing how many people in their 60s and on up start new careers.

Do things that they want to do, haven't been able to do in the past.

Maybe do some things they don't have to get paid for like they had to during their working days.

But as you get on up into the fourth quarter, most people have to adjust to a slower paced lifestyle.

That's when you have recognized health issues.

That's when you start realizing your mortality.

It's in the fourth quarter of life that you really have to come to grips with the fact that everything doesn't work like it used to work.

There's more pain physically.

You realize you're wearing out.

You realize your mortality.

There's joy.

But there's pain.

There's good times and bad.

Not many people live beyond 80.

And I know we've got a lot of people in this room that are beyond 80 and doing well.

But if you live past 80, you're beyond the life expectancy.

And so if you're beyond 80, we're going to call that overtime.

Or we could say sudden death.

If you're 81 and up, and I hope I live to be that.

You're winding down.

You're winding down.

Not all the way, but you're winding down.

A lot of people this age are struggling to stay active that want to stay active.

Unfortunately, there's increasing loneliness because people you're close to die.

Unfortunately, there's decreasing independence because you just can't do what you used to do.

There's more health problems.

And you really do have to face death.

But even in overtime, there's joys as well as sorrows.

There's good times and there's bad times.

I want you to think about it.

All the emotions and experiences that we have as we go through these quarters of life.

The book of Ecclesiastes actually summarizes them in poetic form in chapter 3.

I want you to turn there with me this morning.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3 is the most well-known chapter in this book.

Ecclesiastes 3 · chapter mention

What we're going to read in verses 1 through 8 to start with is considered the world's most famous poem on the subject of time.

I want us to look at what we see here, this poem about time.

A time for everything.

A lot of Bibles will have at the top as a caption.

This morning I want us to think about how God intends for us to understand and experience the times or the seasons, if you want to call it that,

in which we live and make progress through in this world.

Let's read verses 1 through 8.

A time to weep 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 refrain from embracing.

A time to seek and a time to lose.

A time to keep and a time to cast away.

A time to tear and a time to sow.

A time to keep silent and a time to speak.

A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for peace.

He's telling us there's a time for everything.

Notice in verse 2, the preacher, as he refers to himself, the writer, he begins by stating the big picture of life and death.

There's a time to be born and a time to die.

And the rest of these verses, if you think about it, just look at them, glance through there.

They move through the different experiences of life.

All the varied human activities and emotions that we encounter personally or experience personally.

Or we observe it in people we know.

Verse 2.

A time to be born and a time to die.

And really the rest of those sort of explains, summarizes in poetic form all the things that happen.

All the kinds of things.

Everybody doesn't experience all of them.

But all the kinds of things that happen in people's lives from birth to death.

I want you to note how the poem expresses the complexity of life by pointing out the polar opposites in emotions and actions.

Time to born, time to die.

Some of the opposites can be grouped together into a basic pattern of bad times and good times.

It's obvious.

Look at verse 3.

A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war in verse 8 and a time for peace.

That's obvious.

Total polar opposites.

Bad times and good times.

But they're all not that way.

All the seasons of life, all the times of our lives are not necessarily good or bad.

Look at some of these.

Number 3.

Verse 3.

A time to break down and a time to build up.

Most of the sports fans in here, and even if you just watch the news,

we have seen how many NFL, Major League Baseball stadiums over the years being torn down,

being imploded in order to build a new facility.

We see it all the time.

Neither good nor bad.

It just is.

A time to break down.

A time to build up.

A time to embrace.

A time to refrain from embracing.

Everybody needs to understand that.

There's some people in your life,

top of the list,

your spouse,

your children.

Where it's just natural and spontaneous.

You see them,

maybe you haven't seen them for a while,

you embrace them.

We don't need to embrace everybody.

You don't need to even think in terms of,

I need to hug everybody.

Sometimes it's not appropriate.

Sometimes it's not appreciated.

There's a time to keep silent and a time to speak.

And we all could benefit from thinking about that more, couldn't we?

Each of these can be good when done at the right time and in the right way.

This poem shows the complexity of life as well as the variety.

Just glance through there.

It's telling us that life is full of good times,

hard times,

and then in between times.

If you read that,

it shows that life requires us to make many choices.

We have to make many decisions

that are difficult.

That are complex.

Some we just,

we don't know.

We just do the best that we can.

Now,

some of the things you see in that list,

we could think of,

they just happen to us.

Things like war and peace.

That's not an individual thing.

Some of these things that happens,

talking about happens maybe to a nation,

to groups of people,

as well as individuals.

But,

most of what we see in this takes place in relationships with other people.

just look at it.

Think about this.

If you danced

with your spouse

at your wedding,

one of you

is going to mourn

when they die.

that puts it in the context of a relationship,

a person.

We might laugh together with a friend,

but then weep later on

when the one we used to laugh with

betrays us.

without thinking,

we might reach out

and embrace

some people.

It's just spontaneous,

like I said a moment ago.

But we,

deep down,

we know,

we instinctively

don't embrace other people

because it's just not appropriate.

and think about this.

Let's just be real honest now.

Over time,

we grow to love

some people,

maybe a lot of people,

and we come to hate

some.

It happens.

He's not talking about

what's right or wrong,

good or bad.

The preacher here,

he's just talking about time.

He's talking about the seasons of life.

He's talking about how life really is,

and there's all kinds of emotions

and experiences

that we have

as we go through life.

You know,

how do you measure time?

How do you measure

the seasons of life?

Personally,

think about it for just a moment.

We don't really look

at the calendar that much

as far as measuring our life,

times of our life.

We certainly don't look at a watch.

We measure time

and seasons of life

more by our relationships

than anything else.

You look back over your life,

first quarter,

second quarter,

third quarter,

wherever you are.

You think about how you think

of yourself.

We identify more

along the lines of being a son

or a sister

or a mother

or a teacher

or a grandfather

or a something friend

or a widow.

We think in terms

of our life

mostly

in terms of relationships

with other people.

these are the times

or seasons

that God gives us

that matter most.

Time

with people.

Time that involves

people.

That involves

true relationships

with people.

Now look over the list

one more time.

Just glance at these things.

Look at them quickly.

there's one common

element

about

everybody's

times

or seasons.

We have no control

over most of these things.

We have no control

over most of what

he's talking about.

We don't determine

the day we'll be born.

We don't determine

the day that we will die.

Surely you don't choose

the days

that you will weep.

If it was up to us

we would not.

If it was up to us

we would

just make sure

that all our days

were filled with

laughter

joy

not

weeping

and pain.

You know we

we make decisions

every day.

I'm not talking about

we don't do anything.

We make decisions

we're supposed to make decisions

we're held responsible

for our decisions.

But the fact is

the kind of things

he's talking about

here in this poem

these things

in the seasons

of our life

are almost

completely

out of our hands.

we can't

control them

we can't

predict them.

There's a time

for everything

but we don't

get to decide

when those times

will be.

I want you to

understand that.

Young people

may need to

especially understand

this but

others as well.

There's a time

for everything.

There's a time

about planting

and plucking up

killing

healing

weeping

laughing

mourning

dancing

but

so often

we don't get

to decide

when we dance

when we weep

when we mourn.

that leads us

to the next

major point

in this whole

section.

We do not

control our

times

God does.

I want you to

look back

at verse 1

for everything

there is a season

and a time

for every matter

under heaven

under heaven

that is significant

so far

the preacher

has been

talking about

life under

the sun

and he's

been talking

about the

futility of

life under

the sun

a lot of

things about

life in this

world is

pointless

and he talks

about life

under the sun

he's talking

about life

where we

leave God

out

where he's

not involved

things we

do and so

forth

where we

don't even

bring God

into our

thinking

or into

how we

act

our relationship

we have no

relationship

with him

well this

phrase

under heaven

most likely

is calling us

to not think

of life under

the sun

like we've

been doing

but to change

our focus

now

life under

heaven

life under

the eye

of God

now it could

be let's be

honest

some people

believe that

under heaven

is just another

way of saying

under the sun

but

if you read

all that's left

in this chapter

and we're

going to read

verses 9

through 15

in a moment

it seems

that Solomon

is giving us

a different

perspective on

life now

he is

he's bringing

God into

the equation

he's talking

about what

God does

what God

knows

what we

can and

can't know

about him

ourselves

we don't

control our

time

God

does

and in

the context

of this

chapter

especially

verses 11

through 15

we're talking

about now

life before

God

life under

heaven

note in

verse 14

what God

does

look at the

phrase

endures

forever

and God

is the one

who

look at

verse 11

has made

everything

beautiful

or beautifully

fitting

it's not

beautiful in

terms of

the picture

of loveliness

but beautifully

fitting

or appropriate

appropriate

is the

translation

a lot of

times

besides

beautiful

God is

one who

has made

everything

fitting

appropriate

beautifully

fitting

in its

time

now think

about it

because God

lives forever

he works

in ways

big picture

ways

that will

accomplish

his purpose

and he's not

really working

just in the

little confines

of our

experiences

or even

our whole

life

we don't

see everything

God sees

we know

that but we

didn't let it

sort of sink

in we

don't and

can't see

everything

that God

sees

therefore some

of the things

that happen

in our lives

don't make

sense

I want you

to hear that

from Ecclesiastes

other places

in the Bible

some things

happen to us

in this world

some things

happen around

us in this

world that do

not make sense

to us but that

does not mean

that they are

not without

purpose

we can't

see as God

sees because

we're not

God

we don't

have that

eternal or

heavenly perspective

as he does

some of the

things not only

don't make

sense but they

just don't

seem right

they don't

seem good

this is where

faith comes

in

the Christian

I want to

use I'll use

the word

religion but I

don't like to

Christian religion

is a life

of faith

it's supernatural

it's not just

what we see

and can touch

and feel

we have to

know God

by faith

trust him

Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

11 tells us

in a big way

we have to

trust that our

sovereign and

good and wise

God is working

according to a

bigger picture

than we can see

and we need

to trust

we've got to

trust that his

picture of our

lives will turn

out the most

beautifully fitting

they could possibly

be

see think about

God has a

picture in mind

of your life

of what he

wants you to be

how he wants

your life to turn

out who he wants

you to influence

and all these

kind of things

and God is

working through

all circumstances

people

everything in your

life God's

working to bring

that about

good times

bad times

sad times

happy times

let's look at

some of the

very things

that disturb us

here for a

moment

number three

we will always

have unanswered

questions about

what God is

doing and why

he's doing it

now let's look

at verse nine

what gain has

the worker

from his toil

I have seen

the busyness

that God has

given to the

children of man

to be busy

with he has

made everything

beautiful in

its time

also he has

put eternity

into man's

heart yet so

that he cannot

find out what

God has done

from the

beginning to

the end

think about

what he's

saying there

part of being

wise in this

world is

learning to

accept

that we

have only

a limited

access

to the big

picture God

is working

on in this

world

God has

made us in

such a way

look at verse

11

God has

made us in

such a way

that we know

there is a

bigger picture

it says he

has put

eternity

into man's

heart

we know

there is more

to life than

what we just

see

we know

there is more

to life than

just our

existence

you know the

Bible tells us

in Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

that God

makes himself

known through

nature

but the

theologians

call natural

revelation

the idea is

God made

human beings

in such a

way that when

we look around

at the

complexity and

beauty and

order of

nature

there is just

something within

us that says

that didn't

just happen

there is a

God who

made it

and then in

Romans chapter

Romans 2 · chapter mention

2 Paul talks

about how

God has

put his

word in

our conscience

he has

written his

word in

our hearts

so that we

naturally not

understand all

things about

scripture but

that we

naturally

understand right

and wrong

we are born

into this world

with an innate

understanding that

some things are

right and some

things are wrong

that's because we

created the image

of God

that's what God

has done

and this goes

along with it

God has

created us

look at it

again

verse 11

he has put

eternity

into man's

heart

we know

there is

more

we know

life is more

complex

than what we

can understand

but then look

at the next

verse

or next part

of the verse

it says

we cannot

find out

what God

has done

from the

beginning

to the

end

you heard

that right

God has

created

eternity

within us

we know

there is

something else

but he

doesn't tell

us everything

about what

the else

is

there is a

lot of

mystery in

life

there is a

lot of

mystery about

the person

and work

of God

and that is

what this

passage is

talking about

nobody has

all the

answers

no one

even

understands

all the

questions

God is

not being

cruel

not a

joke

by not

telling us

everything

we just

can't

understand

everything

about God

because we're

not God

we can't

understand

his mind

his ways

his wisdom

his purpose

we'll

understand

some things

in heaven

but we'll

never understand

everything

that God

knows

because we'll

never be

God

David Gibson

provides us

with a good

perspective

on all

this

look at

what he

says

it is part

of living

well to

accept two

things

first

we are

enclosed

within

times

bounds

and second

God is

not

we live

in time

and space

it's all

we can

see

hear

understand

God

does not

what we

do

comes

and goes

but whatever

God does

endures

forever

we are

each

building

the

project

of

me

constructing

the

edifice

of our

lives

but as

we do

so

we are

neither

the

architect

nor

the

site

manager

we are

each

writing

the story

of our

lives

but we

are not

the main

author

now if you

have this

sense in

you of

just

you are

independent

you always

do it

my way

that's

very

frustrating

to you

but that's

the truth

that's

the reality

God is

sovereign

over this

world

he is

sovereign

over

our

lives

God

has

put us

in this

world

made us

as we

are

we have

certain

responsibilities

we do

make real

choices

that affect

the way

we live

but God

works

in and

through

and around

and in

spite of

our

choices

and decisions

that means

sometimes we

just cannot

understand

why everything

happens

as it does

in the world

and even

in our

lives

now sometimes

we suffer

pain and

hardship

because

of things

we willfully

intentionally

did

that's the

law of the

harvest

you reap

what you

sow

sometimes we

can do

just foolish

things

and it

comes back

to bite

us

we suffer

as consequences

but some

things happen

we had

nothing to

do with

it

we said

did

nothing

wrong

whatsoever

as you

just look

at life

as we

just live

life

sometimes

we or

other people

suffer for

no apparent

reason

nothing will

ever be

revealed in

this world

that will

make sense

of the

school

shooting

in Florida

last week

or any

school

shooting

and no

answers

will ever

comfort the

grieving parents

of those who

died

there just

are none

we're going to

see next week

that God

is just

and that

there's going

to be a day

of judgment

there's going

to be a day

of reckoning

for all

people

and there's

specifically

going to be

the day

of reckoning

for the

wicked

and we're

supposed to

count on

that

we're supposed

to depend

upon God

to settle

the score

to make

things right

one day

we'll talk

about that

a little bit

more next

week

but our

questions

remain

God may be

just but we

don't understand

some of them

will never

be answered

and we just

need to accept

that

here's the thing

God is not

accountable to us

God does not

have to explain

himself

he is God

he is holy

he is sovereign

he is good

he is all wise

all knowing

all powerful

he is God

and we are not

he is not

accountable

to explain

himself to us

he does not

explain everything

he does

he does not

explain everything

he allows

we just have

to accept

it

if that bothers

us we just

have to get

over it

if we're

going to really

have a relationship

with God

it's his

decision

what we know

what we don't

know

but God

can be trusted

to work

everything out

for ultimate

good

you know

the story

of Joseph

in a nutshell

Joseph

a privileged

son

hated by

his brothers

sold into

slavery

taken to a

foreign country

he knew

he didn't know

the culture

didn't know

the language

didn't know

anything

but he sought

to be faithful

to God

and faithful

to the man

who bought

him

and God

just

raised him

up in that

man Potiphar's

house

he became

the lead

servant

over everything

well Potiphar's

wife took a

liking to him

she tried to

seduce him

and one day

she got his

coat

he was so

committed to

not

sinning against

God that way

he said

he just ran

out

from his

coat

she accused

him of

assault

he wound up

in prison

he struggled

there

but finally

by the grace

of God

somebody

remembered

Joseph

in the prison

brought him

out to

Pharaoh

he interpreted

Pharaoh's

dreams

and Pharaoh

put him in

charge of all

of Egypt

prime minister

of Egypt

now that was

all over

13 years

Joseph's

brothers

who had

sold him

things were

bad at home

they had to

go down to

Egypt

and try to

buy food

and to make

a long story

short

when they

got to

Egypt

and they

found out

Joseph

was the

man they

were dealing

with

they were

scared to

death

they just

knew he

was going

to justly

exact revenge

for what they

had done to

him

here's what

Joseph said

to his

brothers

as for you

you meant

evil against

me

but God

meant it for

good

to bring

it about

that many

people should

be kept

alive

as they

are today

Joseph

understood

what his

brothers did

were wrong

it was

evil

he couldn't

understand why

they would

do that

but God

worked through

all that

their willful

mean

intentions

to save

his people

through Joseph

Paul assures us

that God's

working for our

ultimate good

in Romans 8

28

you know

that verse

Joseph's life

story just

plays it out

this passage

does not

end with

unanswered

questions

quickly

it concludes

with some

very positive

answers

look at it

we can

experience joy

and contentment

during our

times by

trusting God's

sovereign plan

look at verse

12

quickly here

I perceive

that there's

nothing better

for them

than to be

joyful

and to do

good as long

as they live

also that

everyone should

eat and drink

and take pleasure

in all

is toil

this is

God's

gift

to man

that's similar

to what we

looked at

at the end

last week

a lot of us

a lot of people

including us

as Christians

have perfected

the art

of worrying

a lot of people

the way they

react

respond to

uncertainty

is to worry

but as a result

we

when we do

that we miss

out on the

blessings

that God

provides

in the

present

God

wants us

to learn

to enjoy

his blessings

today

and do

good with

them

is what he

said in

verses 12

and 13

we just

read

what stands

out most

that we

ought to see

in these

verses

is how

what God

gives us

we need

to readily

acknowledge

they are

gifts

from God

he is not

advocating

this secular

mindset of

eat drink

and be merry

for tomorrow

you may die

this is an

expression of

faith

in the goodness

and grace

of God

he is telling

us

whatever God

gives us

the blessings

he gives us

enjoy them

but enjoy

them not

just in

and of

themselves

enjoy them

as coming

from God

remember the

giver

not just

the gift

is what

he is talking

about

we cannot

truly

understand

or control

the times

or the

seasons

of our

life

but God

can

and God

does

he holds

our times

in his

sovereign

hands

God

intends for us

to be like

children who

trust their

parents

to know

what's best

because

they can see

what their

children can't

they know

what their

children are not

capable of

what they're not

capable of doing

or knowing

such a

relationship of

trust in the

life of a

child is

built on the

character of

the parents

I know it

takes a while

for a child

to trust that

when a parent

says no

they mean it

for their

good

but boys and

girls

teenagers

there should

come a time

in your life

where you

reach the

maturity to

know

my parents

love me so

much

that they're

willing to

say no

about certain

things even

though it

causes conflict

in the

home

even though it

breaks my

heart I don't

get to do

what I want

to do

even though

it's just

anything but

good at the

time

when you reach

that point of

maturity when you

realize your

parents love you

so much they'll

do whatever's

necessary to

help you take

care of you look

out for you

then you won't

resent them so

much

then you'll be

able to hear

that no or

not now

as words of

love

words of

wisdom

that'll benefit

you

our God

is a God

of love

of wisdom

of kindness

we can trust

our times

we can trust

our lives

in his hands

if you ever

doubt that

remember he

sent his son

Jesus into

this world

to die

to pay the

penalty for

our sins

so that through

faith in Jesus

we can be

forgiven

made children

of God

for all

eternity

that's how

much God

loves us

trust him

with your

times

trust him

in the season

of life

that you're in

now

regardless of

what you

think

what you

know

what you

don't

know

God

is

trustworthy

let's pray

together

dear God

show us

now how we

should respond

to you

show us

father how we

are responding

are we

fighting you

are we just

griping and

complaining

or are we

trusting you

and just

seeking to be

responsible

learn what we

can but

accept what

we can't

so work

in us

dear God

that we

know what

we ought

to do

if there's

people in

here who

do not

know Christ

as their

Lord and

Savior

help them

to see

that is

their

greatest

need

right now

so work

in them

to enable

them to

call upon

Jesus

to save

them

and in an

attitude of

prayer you

just obey

the Lord

and do

what he's

calling you

to do

and if you'd

like to pray

here at the

front right

now I

will be here

at the front

and be happy

to do

that