The Curtain Of Time
Beyond The Curtain Of Time • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 179 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Text
Text
“Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
“If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my change comes.
New Series:
Beyond The Curtain Of Time
Why this topic:
William Branham’s testimony
Many Christians are not aware of what’s beyond the grave
Bro. Branham’s Testimony
He was lying in bed, meditating on the shortness of life’s time on earth
He heard a voice: “You’re just starting, Press the battle. Just keep pressing.”
Just keep pressing. If you only knew what was at the end of the road!”
He remembered the song, “Past the Curtain of Time”
He heard a voice: “Would you like to see just beyond the curtain?”
Then he felt like he was transported to the heavenly realm and saw so many men and women crying out his name and embracing him.
An angel guided him and explained him the things that he saw.
What we want to explore in this series:
Death - what happens when a person dies
Heaven - what it’s like in heaven
Hell - what it’s like in hell; why was it created
Bodily Conditions in the spirit realm
The Judgment Seat of Christ
The Holy City, New Jerusalem
Biblical Concepts of Time
Biblical Concepts of Time
To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck 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; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw 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 of war, And a time of peace.
Time is always connected to an earthly event or occasion.
Time is always connected to an earthly event or occasion.
Note verse 1:
there is an appointed time for everything
there is a right time for every even under heaven
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
God has appointed a time for everything under heaven.
God has appointed a time for everything under heaven.
Note why God created the heavenly bodies:
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
to serve as “signs”
to indicate seasons, days and years
Time, for God, is about what He wants to see fulfilled on earth. It is about events and occasion that He has appointed in the life of His creation.
Example 1: the birth of Isaac
And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.)
And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’
Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
Example 2: the day Israel went out of Egypt
And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.
On this day you are going out, in the month Abib.
And it shall be, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month.
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord.
Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters.
And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt.’
It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.
You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
Example 3: Gospel preaching
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Example 4: the coming of Christ
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
God will make sure His plans are accomplished in His appointed time.
God will make sure His plans are accomplished in His appointed time.
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
The beauty of God’s work is that it is fulfilled in its time, thus serving its purpose.
The Curtain of Time
The Curtain of Time
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
“God has put eternity in their hearts...”
NLT - “He has planted eternity in the human heart”
NCV - “He has given them a desire to know the future...”
There is an innate hunger in the human heart to know what lies beyond the present time (of existence).
There is an innate hunger in the human heart to know what lies beyond the present time (of existence).
Where did I come from?
Where am I going?
Note how Job expressed his heart’s meditations:
he saw that man’s existence is short and full of turmoil
“Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.
“Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.
he saw that man cannot escape God’s judgment
“You also open Your eyes on him And bring him into judgment with Yourself.
“Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one!
he saw that God has appointed man’s existence
“Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.
“Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest, Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.
he compares the life of other living things to man’s existence
“For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And its shoots will not fail.
“Though its roots grow old in the ground And its stump dies in the dry soil,
At the scent of water it will flourish And put forth sprigs like a plant.
“But man dies and lies prostrate. Man expires, and where is he?
“As water evaporates from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dried up,
So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no longer, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.
he hoped for a life beyond the grave
“Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
“If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my change comes.
“…except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
man remains ignorant about God’s work and their purpose
There is the “curtain”!
Man, living and existing in his (God) appointed time, cannot, by himself, fully comprehend what God is doing.
Man, living and existing in his (God) appointed time, cannot, by himself, fully comprehend what God is doing.
Why?
His fallen nature has limited his understanding of the things of God
His short existence limits his view of God’s broad and expansive work.
His “time” has put a veil over his mind and heart so that he cannot see beyond his own existence!
I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;
isn’t that the principle of most men today?
Only God can pull back the curtain of time for us!
Only God can pull back the curtain of time for us!
God pulled back the curtain of time to Abraham.
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Abraham saw his destiny beyond his own time!
God pulled back the curtain of time to Moses.
Exodus 3.1-10
God pulled back the curtain of time to Job.
“Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
“That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever!
“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
“Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;
Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!
Job saw his Redeemer alive and standing in the last days, and he with Him!
God pulled back the curtain of time to Israel’s chosen few with the coming of Christ.
God showed them the coming kingdom
God pulled back the curtain of time to John the Beloved!
God showed him the end time
God pulled back the curtain of time to His end-time people!
God gave His Word - the Bible - so we can fully comprehend His work “from beginning to end”!
Lessons In Time
Lessons In Time
What lessons should we gain in connection with our appointed time?
Learn to number your days
Learn to number your days
So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.
Teach us how short our lives really are so that we may be wise.
recognize the shortness of your life
recognize that your short life will be accounted for before God
“Lord, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am.
“Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.
Seek God in your time, while you have the time
Seek God in your time, while you have the time
Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them”;
Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;
then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
Look beyond your time, prepare for eternity!
Look beyond your time, prepare for eternity!
Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.
The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;
and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess;
and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.
Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.
You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
Work while it’s day
Work while it’s day
“We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Curtain of Time is now pulled back!
We are no longer groping at the wall wondering wha lies beyond!
because we have the Word of God today! The Message of the hour!
We can see God’s purpose very clearly!
We can see God’s plan unfolding right before our eyes!