WHAT TIME IS IT?
TEXT: COL 4:5
We live in a time conscious society. We have kitchen timers, Microwaves, Computer timers, Car timers, heart timers, time ups, time downs, snack times, eating times, sleep times, time to eat again, time to go to work, eating time again, doctors appointments, electric timers, battery timers, solar timers, alarm clocks, watches, cell phones, PDA, computers, break times, time warps, time travel and time outs.
Time travel: Throwing the alarm clock at the wall.
How many have a watch on today?
How many have a cell phone with the time?
90% of us depend on alarm clocks to wake us.
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato (428–348 BC) was said to possess a large water clock with an unspecified alarm signal similar to the sound of a water organ; he used it at night, possibly for signaling the beginning of his lectures at dawn
User-settable mechanical alarm clocks date back at least to 15th-century Europe. These early alarm clocks had a ring of holes in the clock dial and were set by placing a pin in the appropriate hole.
Another mechanical alarm clock was created by Levi Hutchins, of New Hampshire in the United States, in 1787. This device he made only for himself however, and it only rang at 4 AM, in order to wake him for his job. (clock for Bro. Sefiert) The French inventor Antoine Redier was the first to patent an adjustable mechanical alarm clock, in 1847
High Ranking executives of major corporations were asked for stories of unusual behavior by job applicants. Here is one of the responses: "During the interview, an alarm clock went off from the candidate's brief case. He took it out, shut it off, apologized, and said he had to leave for another interview."
I. STORMING TIME
Psalms 56:3 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee”
Job went through a storm, and God gave him more than he had in the beginning!
Noah went through a storm, but God landed him on the mountain top!
The disciples went through a storm, but Jesus came walking on the water1
Paul went through a storm, but God sent a piece of driftwood along and all were saved!
People go through storms….
Family—but who gave us our families in the first place?
Health—but who is the giver of life?
Finances—but who owns the cattle on a thousand hills?
Churches go through storms, BUT WHO CREATED THE STORMS?
Psalm 107:29 “He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.”
Definition online of how storms are created: Storms are created when a center of low pressure develops, with a system of high pressure surrounding it. This combination of opposing forces can create and result in the formation of storm clouds. Small, localized areas of low pressure winds can form from hot air rising off hot ground, resulting in smaller disturbances such as dust devils and whirlwinds.
1. Pressure
2. Clouds
3. Wind
4. Disturbances
Nahum 1:3 “…the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”
II. STIRRING TIME
Romans 13:11 “ And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
GET UP!
1. Realize the time
GET UP!
2. Remember your responsibilities
GET UP!
3. Reach for the Light!
GET UP!
III. SHINING TIME
Our Text: Col 4:5 “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” Eph 5:16 “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil”
1. Shining in our Walk Matthew 5:14-16
2. Shining to those Without
3. Shining in the midst of Wickedness I Cor 4:5
IV. SEEKING TIME
Hosea 10:12 “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”
1. WE NEED TO SOW RIGHTEOUSNESS! We will REAP—Mercy
2. WE NEED TO SEEK RIGHTEOUSNESS! He will RAIN-- Righeousness
If you are not saved, “it is time to seek Lord”!
Psalms 63:1 “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”
Proverbs 8:17 “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”
Lam 3:25 “The Lord is good unto them that waith for him, to the soul that seeketh him.”
Col 3:1 “If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above….”
Heb 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
V. SWRINKING TIME
Rev 1:3 “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”
Time gets away from us.
Hell is real.
The Rich man believes in Hell!
CLOSING:
I PETER 4:17 “For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”
