A Time for Everything

Introduction: And all God’s people said. Amen.

Please, turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Genesis.

We will be in Genesis 23 and Genesis 25.

We’ve been studying Genesis a while now, and we have been spent much time, since chapter 12, seeing the faith of a man and a woman.

The faith of Abraham and Sarah.

As I was preparing my message, in chapter 23, which tells us that Sarah dies, I felt led to tie in the passage in Genesis 25, of Abraham’s death.

Because, when I think of Abraham, i think of Sarah. And when I think of Sarah, I think of Abraham.

And we’ve spent so much time considering the circumstances of their life, now we will look at the circumstances of their death.

The message title is A TIME FOR EVERYTHING. As I did have ecclesiastes in mind.

As solomon wrote, in Ecclesiastes 3 “for everything there is a season, and 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.”

With that in mind, and with our shifting focus to our text, let’s pray as we begin.

Prayer: Father, we praise you. You the spaceless, timeless, God of all creation. You have created us in you own image. Unlike any other of your creation, you have set man as your image bearers and provided us with relationship with you. We thank you Lord. Thank you for your word. Thank you for life, for our breathe. Thank you for families, for our friends. Thank you for this Church. Oh, you love them so, and I do too. Lord, we get so busy and distracted. Remind us once again Lord, that LIFE IS A GIFT. Help us to live in a way that honors you. Bless now your word. Give me the words to preach. Father, I pray you will save the lost and sanctify the saved. In Jesus name, Amen.

Introduction: Amen.

In each day there are 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, and 86,400 seconds-and every one of them, every second is a precious gift from God.

Time is something we feel we never have enough of, yet we give it away so easily. Someone once said, “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”

Yes, times is a gift from God.

Now, if you’ve found your place in Genesis 23. Let’s read vs 1.

Now, let’s read Genesis 25 verses 1-7.

A time to live

Genesis 23:1 “Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.”

Genesis 25:1–7 “Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country. These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years.”

Talk about a time to live.

A long life. Sarah was 127 years old. Abraham lived 175 years.

People don’t live that long anymore.

I know a church member, from a precious church, Mrs Audrey Poland, this year she will be 105 years old.

she’s sharp in her mind. She’s pretty strong as far as a hand shake. But she tells you what’s on her mind. She doesn’t have a care in the world.

We’ve seen Sarah and Abraham’s lives. The good and the bad.

Their strenths and weaknesses.

They weren’t perfect. They had Ishmael. then Isaac.

Then Abraham had another wife and she bore him many more children, as we saw in chapter 25. and they gave him many grandchildren before he died.

We know this about Abraham, he had faith in God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

He had one life to live, and he made it count.

Life is a gift from God, time is a gift, shouldn’t we live it to the fullest.

Think once again, about our life and our time on earth.

We only have so long. How will we look at life?

Can I ask you how’s life going?

Is it good? Is it bad?

Often, it’s just a matter of perspective.

ILLUSTRATION: I loved this story. Charles Francis Adams was the son of President John Quincy Adams and grandson of President John Adams. Well charles kept a diary. One day he entered: “Went fishing with my son today—a day wasted.” His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: “Went fishing with my father—the most wonderful day of my life!” The father thought he was wasting time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time.

Time, is a prescious gift from God.

This is our time to live. Don’t waste it. Don’t waste it.

Do our best to enjoy life, but use our time to honor God.

SO A TIME TO LIVE, AND ALSO A TIME TO DIE.

A time to die

Genesis 23:2 “And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan”

Genesis 25:8 “Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.”

so Sarah and Abraham lived, and now they died.

Died in their old age. Maybe, that’s what took their life, old age.

Not much in the text about sickness or anything else of that matter.

ABRAHAM AND SARAH’S LIFE HAVE COME TO AN END.

Last Sunday, we were at the Sunrise service at New Friendship. It’s a somber thing to sit in a graveyard, much less at sunrise.

And to look at all of those graves. To think about the lives of those people.

Most of them, their gravestones, show their name, date of birth and date of death.

I’m sure some of those were great people. Some great people of faith, others maybe not.

But we know they lived and they died.

Solomon’s words were true. There’s nothing new under the sun.

Thjere’s a time to live and time to die.

We live, and we will die.

The statics for the death rate are quite accurate and certain.

10 out of every 10 people die. There is a 100% death rate.

And unless Jesus comes again, we will all die too.

So I wonder. When our life comes to an end.

WHAT KIND OF LIFE HAVE WE LIVED?

A LIFE OF FAITH OR FAITHLESSNESS

A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE OR DISOBEDIENCE

A LIFE that OBEYED GOD’S WORD OR NOT.

church, life is so short.

And death is certain. There is appointed a time for man to die.

So I ask you, are you ready?

If death comes today, would you have lived a life of faith like Abraham.

And if death comes today, where would you go. To heaven to be in the presence of the Lord. Or to hell, separated from God, for all eternity.

A time to live, a time to die, and a time to mourn.

A time to mourn

Genesis 23:2 “And Sarah died, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.”

Genesis 25:9–10 “Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife.”

So the text say, Abraham mourned for Sarah and wept over her. And I’m sure abraham’s family did the same.

So when we talk about life and death.

We not onlyh think of ourselves.

but of others too.

And especially, those close too us.

And when they pass, we mourn.

Mourning is not a bad thing.

Did not Jesus mourn over his friend Lazarus.

Was it not this context we have the shortest verse in the Bible, Jesus wept.

There is nothing wrong with shedding tears.

Weeping helps release pain, it helps heal our hearts, it shows our love.

We must mourn.

but we must not let sorrow overwhelm us.

We mourn because we have a hope, a hope of connected to the resurrection of Jesus.

A hope of eternity.

A time to bless

Genesis 23:3–10 “And Abraham rose from before his dead and said to the Hittites, “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

this is key to understanding Abraham’s life, he was a foreigner, from ur of chaldea, sent by God here. and he up to this point owned no property.

The Hittites answered Abraham, “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.” Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city,” Genesis 23:11–15 ““No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” Ephron answered Abraham, “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”” Genesis 23:16–20 “Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants. So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.”

So we have this interesting bargaining between Abraham and the hittites.

He’s looking for a tomb to bury Sarah. They say, take it for free, he says no i’ll pay for it.

They go back and forth, and then he eventually pays 400 sheckels, about 5000 in todays wages for the tomb.

One commentator said, This was an absorbantn price, paying over 20 times the value of the tomb.

Now, today, average funeral is about 10,000.

Friends, it’s good to care for our loved ones.

To bless them, even after they pass.

As we are may be task in this way, others will do so for us also.

It is worth it, to do this well.

Abraham is an example to us, there is a time for everything.

There is a time to bless our loved ones this way.

Genesis 25:5–6 “Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.”

This is another good lesson fro us from Abraham.

He didn’t leave his property and possessions for his kids to fight over.

Abraham blessed his family. He was responsible. He understood that all he had was from God.

And he wanted to use what God have given him, in a way that honored God. and he wanted to leave it all in a way that honored God.

So he made a will and testament, you could say.

Trust me, with out a will, it can get messy.

WE KNOW THE VERSE, FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL.

Even when it’s family, it can get messy.

Be responsible, be a blessing. Care for you family. Love others

A time to live, to die, to mourn, to bless - meaning to bless others.

A time for blessings

Genesis 23:20 “The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.”

how is this a blessing?

Well, although Abraham may have overpaid, Abraham owned his property.

Until this point, he didn’t own any property.

Although, it’s the promised land, he was passing through.

Although, Abimilech allowed him to settle in his land and they made a deal over a well.

It isn’t until here that Abraham finally owns some land, in the promised land.

Genesis 25:11–18 “After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi. These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes. (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.”

And so here we see Abraham’s blessings. In his life, and after his death.

He had Isaac, who had 12 sons. He had Ishmael, who had 12 sons.

Isaac the promised/ chosen son, would be the descendants of the Jews.

Ismael the unexpected promise, would become a great nation, the arabs.

This is what Abraham wanted.

This is what God promised.

And this is Abraham’s blessing.

Many descendants through Isaac and ishmael.

A time for everything. to live, to die, to mourn, to bless, to be blessed.

Someone once observed that a wasted life is really nothing more than a collection of wasted days. As God gives us life, each one of us starts the new year with the same number of opportunities—365—that we can choose to either use and invest in eternal things or allow to drift by without taking advantage of the gift we have been given. The difference between those who succeed and those who fail is not found primarily in talent but in diligence and effort.

So time. Life is short. Make it count.

Life is fleeting, why should we cling so tightly to our stuff. Our stuff, that will all pass away.

Because, life is short and fleeting.

I must ask you, are ye saved.

Have you, eternal life?

Of all the time we have, of all the decisions we make, of all we can do or not do.

I tell you, the most important decision the most important thing, is this. Trust in Jesus.

More important that our jobs, more important than who we will marry. more important than the house we buy or the cars we drive.

What’s most important than things in this life, is eternal life.

And Jesus says, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

During our invitation, I want all of us to examine our lives.

Is God honored by our lives? If so, praise the Lord. If not, let’ praise to God for strength.

But, maybe you can’t say you are a Christian, in this time, in this moment, don’t worry about what others will say or think, worry about what God thinks, and when the music begins, if you want to trust in Jesus for salvation, if you want to be saved, come forward and I would love to pray with you.

Prayer: Amen.