A Time for Everything

1. A Time for Everything Eccl 3:1-13

3. Time escapes us at an alarming rate.

4. Time escapes us at an alarming rate. • “We master our minutes, or we become slaves to them; we use time, or time uses us.”

5. Time escapes us at an alarming rate. • “We master our minutes, or we become slaves to them; we use time, or time uses us.” • In tonight’s text, Solomon wonders where the time has gone.

6. Time escapes us at an alarming rate. • “We master our minutes, or we become slaves to them; we use time, or time uses us.” • In tonight’s text, Solomon wonders where the time has gone. • Solomon has observed a generation of people.

7. Time escapes us at an alarming rate. • “We master our minutes, or we become slaves to them; we use time, or time uses us.” • In tonight’s text, Solomon wonders where the time has gone. • Solomon has observed a generation of people. • “A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever” (1:4, ESV).

8. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break 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 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

9. “time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business 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. I perceived that there is nothing better for them

10. “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 his toil—this is God’s gift to man” (Eccl 3:1-13, ESV).

11. These are beautiful, poetic words.

12. These are beautiful, poetic words. But, we can’t get so caught up in the poetry that we forget the truth God has inspired.

13. These are beautiful, poetic words. • But, we can’t get so caught up in the poetry that we forget the truth God has inspired. • GOD’S ADMINISTRATION. • MAN’S ABANDONMENT.

14. God’s Administration

15. These verses demonstrate God’s Administration of the universe.

16. These verses demonstrate God’s Administration of the universe. • Throughout this book, Solomon demonstrates God’s control of all things.

17. These verses demonstrate God’s Administration of the universe. • Throughout this book, Solomon demonstrates God’s control of all things. • “I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with” (1:13, ESV).

18. These verses demonstrate God’s Administration of the universe. • Throughout this book, Solomon demonstrates God’s control of all things. • “I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with” (1:13, ESV). • “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God” (2:24, ESV).

19. These verses demonstrate God’s Administration of the universe. • Throughout this book, Solomon demonstrates God’s control of all things. • “I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with” (1:13, ESV). • “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God” (2:24, ESV). • “To the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to the one who pleases God” (2:26, ESV).

20. Solomon now turns his attention to demonstrating God’s governance in every day life.

21. Solomon now turns his attention to demonstrating God’s governance in every day life. • This list of activities were quite common in the ancient world.

22. Solomon now turns his attention to demonstrating God’s governance in every day life. • This list of activities were quite common in the ancient world. • Planting & plucking; war & peace would have been life-and-death matters in antiquity.

23. These verses show God’s totalcontrol of the universe.

24. These verses show God’s totalcontrol of the universe. • Solomon gives a list of seven polar opposites.

25. These verses show God’s totalcontrol of the universe. • Solomon gives a list of seven polar opposites. • Seven signified completeness.

26. These verses show God’s totalcontrol of the universe. • Solomon gives a list of seven polar opposites. • Seven signified completeness. • The use of polar opposites indicated totality.

27. These verses show God’s totalcontrol of the universe. • Solomon gives a list of seven polar opposites. • Seven signified completeness. • The use of polar opposites indicated totality. • The point is that nothinghappens without the governance of God.

28. These verses show God’s totalcontrol of the universe. • Solomon gives a list of seven polar opposites. • Seven signified completeness. • The use of polar opposites indicated totality. • The point is that nothinghappens without the governance of God. • “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Mt 10:29, ESV).

29. These verses show God’s totalcontrol of the universe. • Solomon gives a list of seven polar opposites. • Seven signified completeness. • The use of polar opposites indicated totality. • The point is that nothinghappens without the governance of God. • Mt 10:29. • “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col 1:15-17, ESV).

30. We must not, however, think in terms of predestination.

31. Muslims teach total predestination.

32. Muslims teach total predestination. If a mudslide destroys a house, “allah” has willed it so.

33. Muslims teach total predestination. If a mudslide destroys a house, “allah” has willed it so. Ecclesiastes teaches quite differently.

34. Muslims teach total predestination. If a mudslide destroys a house, “allah” has willed it so. • Ecclesiastes teaches quite differently. • “I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all” (9:11, ESV).

35. Muslims teach total predestination. If a mudslide destroys a house, “allah” has willed it so. • Ecclesiastes teaches quite differently. • “I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all” (9:11, ESV). • “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13).

36. Muslims teach total predestination. If a mudslide destroys a house, “allah” has willed it so. • Ecclesiastes teaches quite differently. • “I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all” (9:11, ESV). • “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13). If I have no control over whether or not I fear God, why instruct me to do so?

37. If this text doesn’t teach predestination, what does it teach?

38. God has established an order for the universe.

39. God has established an order for the universe. • Solomon says that there is “a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted” (v 2, ESV).

40. God has established an order for the universe. • Solomon says that there is “a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted” (v 2, ESV). • “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Gn 8:22, ESV).

41. God has established an order for the universe. Even time & circumstances work toward the purposes of God.

42. God has established an order for the universe. • Even time & circumstances work toward the purposes of God. • “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, ESV).

43. God has established an order for the universe. • Even time & circumstances work toward the purposes of God. • “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, ESV). • God had a plan, but the Jews used “the hands of lawless men” to carry it out.

44. God has established an order for the universe. • Even time & circumstances work toward the purposes of God. • “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, ESV). • God had a plan, but the Jews used “the hands of lawless men” to carry it out. • God used the freewill of the Jews to accomplish his purpose.

45. God has established an order for the universe. • Even time & circumstances work toward the purposes of God. • “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, ESV). • “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rm 8:28-29, ESV).

46. In his governance, God has given time to man.

47. In his governance, God has given time to man. • At the Creation, God created time.

48. In his governance, God has given time to man. • At the Creation, God created time. • “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Gn 1:5, ESV).

49. In his governance, God has given time to man. • At the Creation, God created time. • “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Gn 1:5, ESV). • “God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years’” (Gn 1:14, ESV).

50. In his governance, God has given time to man. • At the Creation, God created time. • Because God created time, man needs to be careful how he uses time.