“Perfect Timing”

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An old man and his son once farmed a little piece of land. Several times each year they would load their vegetables into an ox-drawn cart and go to the nearest city to sell the produce. The trip was usually marked by disagreement because the son was always in a hurry and the old man couldn’t be rushed.  
One morning the two headed out on their trip. The son calculated that if they walked fast and pushed on through the night they’d be in the city early the next morning. To stay on schedule he kept hitting the ox with a stick, prodding the animal to hurry along. Finally, after a few rounds of that, the father said, “Take it easy, son. You’ll last longer.” The boy said, “But if we get to market ahead of the others, we’ll get the best prices.” To that the father just pulled his hat down over his eyes and fell asleep on the seat of the cart. The boy kept hitting the ox, but the ox had a pace all its own.
Four hours into the trip they came to a little house. The father roused from his sleep and said, “This is your uncle’s house. Let’s stop in and say hello.” The boy replied, “But we are already an hour behind schedule.” “Well, then, a few more minutes won’t matter,” said the father. “My brother and I don’t get to see each other much.” And so, for the next hour, the boy sat and stewed while the brothers laughed and talked.
When father and son finally got back onto the road, the father took his turn leading the ox. When they came to a fork in the road, he led the ox to the right. The boy piped up, “The left way is shorter.” The old man answered, “I know, but this way offers prettier scenery.” The boy bellowed, “Don’t you have any respect for time?” “Yes, said the father, “that’s why I want to use it to enjoy the beautiful scenery.”
The winding path led through picturesque meadows, wildflowers, and alongside a babbling brook. But the son missed it all. He was too busy moaning from impatience. He didn’t even notice how perfect the sunset was that afternoon. The father pulled the ox to a halt in a particularly gorgeous spot and said, “Let’s sleep here tonight.” Through his frustration, the boy raged, “I’m not going to take any more trips with you. You are more interested in watching sunsets and smelling flowers than in making money!” He meant for those words to hurt his father, but the old man just smiled and said, “Why, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” It wasn’t long before the father was snoring and the son was staring up at the stars, restless for the morning to come and the trip to begin again.
The sun wasn’t even fully up when the young man shook his father awake. They hitched up the ox and headed down the road. They had traveled about a mile when they came upon another farmer who was trying to pull his cart out of a ditch. The father said, “Let’s give him a hand.” “And lose more time?” the boy shot back. “Relax,” said the man, “you might be in a ditch yourself sometime.”
It was almost 8:00 a.m. by the time they got the other cart out of the ditch and back onto the road. Suddenly a great flash split the sky. What sounded like thunder followed and the sky grew dark beyond the hills. “Looks like a big rain in the city,” said the father. “Yes,” said the son, “and if we’d hurried we’d be almost sold out by now.” “Take it easy, you’ll last longer. And you’ll enjoy life so much more,” said the father.
It was late afternoon by the time father and son made it to the hill overlooking the city. They stood there and stared for a long, long time. Neither of them said a word. Finally, the son put his hand on his father’s shoulder and said, “Now I see what you mean.” Then they turned the oxcart around and began to slowly roll away from what had once been the city of Hiroshima.
Time and God’s Time is something we think and wrestle with on almost a daily basis. Keeping good time and keeping God’s time isn’t it something how this can be a time of real frustration, aggravation or a time of peace and enjoyment. Like the father and the son, like Justin Timberlake in the move clip today? Especially in our culture today, we are always in a hurry and we are always busy with the things of life and when God’s time does not line up with our schedule, it becomes more aggravating that He wont adjust His schedule to ours. Well young man, God’s time is not our time. Yes that is obvious. He needs a new personal assistant.
Do we struggle with the sovereignty of God today? Do we struggle with the meaning of life today? Are we struggling with the sense of eternity in our hearts and do not know how to make sense of it? Today we are going to see that God’s time is perfect.
Ecclesiastes 3:9–15 NLT
What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.
It is Beautiful
It is Joyful
It is Perfect
It is Good News
The first thing we will look at is the real beauty of the awesome and mysterious sovereignty of God and how we can find comfort in it. Second, in light of this, we will see how we can and should take joy in His sovereignty and do the good that He has created us for. Third, We will explore how we can find great comfort in His perfect timing and how we should wait and trust in His good, pleasing, and perfect will. Finally, we will see how perfect the timing of the coming of the Son of God was for the bringing of life and life more abundant. God is good all the time. All the time God is good.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to despair in the will and timing of the Lord to the point of frustration, it is the wonderful love and compassion of Christ that will, by the power of the Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to trust in the wonderful, good, pleasing and perfect will of the Father. Because God is good all the time. And all the time God is good.
I. It is Beautiful
- The Sovereignty of God is good and perfect, in other words, its Beautiful.
A. We had just completed the beautiful poem of Solomon regarding time. From the time of birth and the time of death there is a time and a season for everything under heaven.
B. Then here in v.9, Solomon asks a question that he had already asked, ahh but we need a reminder. The ongoing quest to find meaning in life, Qoheleth the preacher wants to know what kind of return he would get for the investment of all of his time and effort.
In his ongoing quest to find meaning in life, the Preacher always wanted to know what kind of return he would get for the investment of his time and effort.
C. Here we go… the answer is once again nothing under the sun. But now he shows us that there is a time and a season for everything and all is in God’s hands. Everything under the sun will not profit us anything, but the Lord is in control and responsible for it all. And it is all beautiful. Solomon here sees the beauty of God’s sovereignty. Not only is there a time for everything, but God always does things at just the right time. And it is beautiful.
Solomon here sees the beauty of God’s sovereignty. Not only is there a time for everything, but God always does things at just the right time. Therefore
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 90). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 90). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
D. Yah-fey - In the Hebrew is beautiful, first of all in the visual sense. Ordinarily use for things that we can see. Like.
Job 42:15 ESV
And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
The word also carries a wider meaning… Just like it is used in English. Something beautiful is something good, something right, pleasing, and appropriate, working well.
Something beautiful is something good; it is right, pleasing, and appropriate.
E. Using this sense we see here Solomon showing us that God’s timing is something beautiful. Whatever time he does anything, God is always right on time. He knows when it is time for breaking down and building up, for keeping and casting away, for war and for peace.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 90). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
At whatever time he does things, God is always right on time. He knows when it is time for breaking down and building up, for keeping and casting away, for war and for peace.
F. When the Preacher says that God “has made everything beautiful in its time” he is not just talking about the way that God made the world, but about the way that he has ruled it ever since.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (pp. 90–91). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
When the Preacher says that God “has made everything beautiful in its time” (), he is not just talking about the way that God made the world in the first place, but about the way that he has ruled it ever since. The seasons of nature and the patterns of human activity are under his sovereign superintendence and providential care. From beginning to end, God does everything decently and in order. Derek
G. All of the seasons of nature, nature itself, and the whole of human activity are under his sovereign superintendence and providential care. From beginning to end, God does everything decently and in order. God is in control and His control is something beautiful to behold
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 91). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
H. I wonder we see it, we know it… But do we trust that the Lord holds all things together and just the right timing for everything in our lives?
I. Over 25 years of ministry, I find that people often criticize God for being too late, or else in some sense too early. But many times when we look back, we discover that his timing was better all along. A door was closed when we wanted it open causing us to go a different direction, which turned out to be the right direction all along. We were not ready for the relationship we wanted when we wanted it, and we thank God later that we did not get involved. Something happened to change our schedule, and we ended up having an unexpected conversation that changed our whole direction in life, or maybe someone else’s direction.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 91). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
J. By way of example, a group of students from Wheaton College was frustrated one morning when their sightseeing in London was delayed by slow service at breakfast. They thought they were running late, but when they walked up to their subway station, they discovered that they had just missed an underground explosion.
By way of example, a group of students from Wheaton College was frustrated one morning when their sightseeing in London was delayed by slow service at breakfast. They thought they were running late, but when they walked up to their subway station, they discovered that they had just missed an underground explosion. To
K. It is all in the timing of our Lord. Rather than insisting on having everything run according to our own schedule, will we ever learn to trust God’s timetable.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 91). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
It is all in the timing. Rather than insisting on having everything run according to our own schedule, we need to learn to trust God’s timetable.
L. Even when the Lord had put eternity in our heart? What does Solomon means when he wrote this? Knowing that God is in control does not necessarily mean we always understand or appreciate his timing. So having affirmed the beauty of God’s sovereign authority over time, the Preacher pointed out one of the basic dilemmas of our earthly existence: God “has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 91). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Knowing that God is in control does not necessarily mean we always understand or appreciate his timing.
So having affirmed the beauty of God’s sovereign authority over time, the Preacher pointed out one of the basic dilemmas of our earthly existence: God “has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end”
M. Here the Preacher finds himself caught between time and eternity. We were made to live forever. We all know it. We feel it. Cultures all over the world understand the inner concept of eternal life. We were made to live forever. The trouble is that we are still living in a time-bound universe. There is a huge gap between our present mortality and our future destiny. The eternity in our hearts gives us a deep desire to know what God has done from beginning to end. But we can’t. But as finite creatures living in a fallen world, there are so many things we do not understand. So many things we cannot understand.
But as finite creatures living in a fallen world, there are so many things we do not understand.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 92). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 91). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 91). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Here the Preacher finds himself caught between time and eternity.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 92). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
The eternity in our hearts gives us a deep desire to know what God has done from beginning to end.
N. Whereas God has a complete view, all we have is a point of view. Our limited perspective is unable to span the mind of God. This has been part of the Preacher’s frustration from the beginning. He is looking for meaning in life but finds it hard or even impossible to understand.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 92). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 92). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Whereas God has a complete view, all we have is a point of view. Our limited perspective is unable to span the mind of God. This has been part of the Preacher’s frustration from the beginning. He is looking for meaning in life but finds it hard or even impossible to understand. “The human being has ‘eternity’ in his heart—his Creator has made him a thinking being, and he wants to pass beyond his fragmentary knowledge and discern the fuller meaning of the whole pattern—but the Creator will not let the creature be his equal.”
O. “The human being has ‘eternity’ in his heart—his Creator has made him a thinking being, and he wants to pass beyond his fragmentary knowledge and discern the fuller meaning of the whole pattern—but the Creator will not let the creature be his equal.” - John Jarick.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 92). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
P. No one has ever explained the implications of our longing for eternity better than C. S. Lewis, who said, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.” “The sweetest thing in all my life,” Lewis wrote in one of his novels, “has been the longing … to find the place where all the beauty came from.”9 Elsewhere he describes this longing as “the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”
Q. Have you caught the scent of God’s aroma or heard an echo from the song of his redemption? God has put the beauty of eternity into our hearts so that we will find our way to him. Our deepest longings will never be satisfied until we come to a personal knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 93). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
II. It is Joyful
- Nothing better than to be happy and to enjoy myself.
A. One day we will know what God has done from beginning to end—or at least as much of what he has done as he wants us to know. In his struggle to understand how to live as a man caught between time and eternity, the Preacher had gained two very important insights
One day we will know what God has done from beginning to end—or at least as much of what he has done as he wants us to know. In the meantime, the Preacher tells us two things that we should all be doing. Verse 12 and verse 14 both begin with the words “I perceived.” In his struggle to understand how to live as a man caught between time and eternity, the Preacher had gained two very important insights: one about doing God’s business and one about trusting God’s sovereignty.
B. Number 1. We should take whatever time we have been given and use it joyfully in the service of God. We should enjoy the gifts that the Lord has given us. The Preacher speaks of pleasure and enjoyment. He talks about eating and drinking—the good things of life. He encourages us “to do good.” Best of all, he reminds us that all of these things are “God’s gift to man.” So when he says that there is “nothing better” than doing God’s business, he is not settling for something second best but is telling us that there is meaning and joy in the regular things of everyday life.
C. The Preacher tells us to be joyful. We may not always be happy about the way things are going in life, but we can always find joy in the grace of our God and the work he has given us to do. No matter how bad our circumstances may be—whether through the natural hardships of life or the harm done to us by others or the painful consequences of our own rebellious sin—in every situation there is always a way for us to glorify God, and this should give us joy.
The Preacher tells us to be joyful. We may not always be happy about the way things are going in life, but we can always find joy in the grace of our God and the work he has given us to do. No matter how bad our circumstances may be—whether through the natural hardships of life or the harm done to us by others or the painful consequences of our own rebellious sin—in every situation there is always a way for us to glorify God, and this should give us joy.
D. Number 2. We should do good works. To “do good” is to do good works. This does not mean that we could ever earn our way to Heaven, of course, but it does mean that we should do the good work that God has given us to do, for as long as he gives us to do it. Indeed, this is the very reason for our existence: we are God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 94). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (pp. 94–95). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 93). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
we should take whatever time we have been given and use it joyfully in the service of God.
The Preacher speaks of pleasure and enjoyment. He talks about eating and drinking—the good things of life. He encourages us “to do good.” Best of all, he reminds us that all of these things are “God’s gift to man.” So when he says that there is “nothing better” than doing God’s business, he is not settling for something second best but is telling us that there is meaning and joy in the regular things of everyday life.
Indeed, this is the very reason for our existence: we are God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians
Ephesians 2:10 ESV
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 93). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 94). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 95). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
E. In his grace, God has given every one of us something good to do for him. We do not work because we have nothing better to do, but because God has called us to work for him. Every believer should do good work at home, loving the people with whom he or she lives. Every believer should do good work on the job, serving God in the ordinary duties of an earthly calling. Every believer should do good work in the church, using his or her spiritual gifts in at least one regular ministry. Every believer should do good work in society, showing the love of Jesus through practical deeds of mercy.
In his grace, God has given every one of us something good to do for him. We do not work because we have nothing better to do, but because God has called us to work for him. Every believer should do good work at home, loving the people with whom he or she lives. Every believer should do good work on the job, serving God in the ordinary duties of an earthly calling. Every believer should do good work in the church, using his or her spiritual gifts in at least one regular ministry. Every believer should do good work in society, showing the love of Jesus through practical deeds of mercy.
F. We should do all these things as long as we live, working right to the end of our lives. When the Preacher says “as long as they live,” he is remembering what he said back in verse 2, namely, that there is a time for us to die. Until that time comes, however, we must spend our time wisely, using it for Jesus. The Presbyterian pastor and theologian Thomas Boston once said to his congregation in rural Scotland:
We should do all these things as long as we live, working right to the end of our lives. When the Preacher says “as long as they live,” he is remembering what he said back in verse 2, namely, that there is a time for us to die. Until that time comes, however, we must spend our time wisely, using it for Jesus. The Presbyterian pastor and theologian Thomas Boston once said to his congregation in rural Scotland:

Each generation has its work assigned it by the sovereign Lord; and each person in the generation has his also. And now is our time. We could not be useful in the generation that went before us; for then we were not: nor can we [be useful] personally in that which shall come after us; for then we shall be off the stage. Now is our time; let us not neglect usefulness in our generation.

Each generation has its work assigned it by the sovereign Lord; and each person in the generation has his also. And now is our time. We could not be useful in the generation that went before us; for then we were not: nor can we [be useful] personally in that which shall come after us; for then we shall be off the stage. Now is our time; let us not neglect usefulness in our generation.
G. As we do good work in our generation, the Preacher gives us permission to celebrate the good things of life—eating and drinking and enjoying the pleasures that God has made for us to enjoy. Of course, it is always a temptation for us to live for earthly pleasure, serving our appetites instead of serving Jesus (see ). The good things in life so easily become our gods, which is absolute vanity, as the Preacher has already told us (see .). But the way to resist this temptation is not by avoiding everything. Rather, we avoid idolatry by gratefully receiving the good things of life as blessings from God. Do not be a user and a taker; be a receiver and a thanker. This is all part of offering back to God what he has given to us in joyful service, while we have the time.
As we do good work in our generation, the Preacher gives us permission to celebrate the good things of life—eating and drinking and enjoying the pleasures that God has made for us to enjoy. Of course, it is always a temptation for us to live for earthly pleasure, serving our appetites instead of serving Jesus (see ). The good things in life so easily become our gods, which is absolute vanity, as the Preacher has already told us (see .). But the way to resist this temptation is not by avoiding everything. Rather, we avoid idolatry by gratefully receiving the good things of life as blessings from God. Do not be a user and a taker; be a receiver and a thanker. This is all part of offering back to God what he has given to us in joyful service, while we have the time.
III. It is Perfect
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 95). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
- We should be resting and accepting of the Lords Sovereignty over time and space.
A. We have heard a-lot about time and God’s sovereignty… Are we able to accept… reverently accepting his sovereignty over time and eternity. “Whatever God does” includes everything that God does, at whatever time he does it. He is sovereign over the times and the seasons. Whatever he does will endure: no one can add to it or subtract from it—now until forever.
reverently accepting his sovereignty over time and eternity.
“Whatever God does” includes everything that God does, at whatever time he does it. He is sovereign over the times and the seasons. Whatever he does will endure: no one can add to it or subtract from it—now until forever.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 95). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 96). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 95). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
B. But Shane if God is Sovereign, then it is depressing and fatalistic. God does whatever he does, and there is nothing we can do about it. In the words of Michael Fox, “God’s works steamroller over man’s puny efforts, and nothing substantially new can interrupt the awesome course of events that God has ordained.” If we cannot add anything to what God has done or take anything away from it, then there is absolutely nothing that we can do about our situation in life.
[1] Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 95). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 96). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
C. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? In other words, is the absolute rule of God a source of hope or discouragement? Ecclesiastes tells us. So that we will fear Him.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? In other words, is the absolute rule of God a source of hope or discouragement?
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes 3:14 NLT
And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 96). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
D. Even at this point some scholars try to claim that God is trying “to frighten people into submission, not to arouse a sense of respectful awe of his power and might.” But according to the scripture the fear of God is one of the best things in the universe.
Psalm 111:10 NLT
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!
Even at this point some scholars try to claim that God is trying “to frighten people into submission, not to arouse a sense of respectful awe of his power and might.” The
Psalm 111:10
Proverbs 1:7 NLT
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
E. To fear God is not to give up on finding meaning in life, but to rest our lives on the only solid foundation for time and eternity. To fear God is to trust in his foreknowledge, believing that he knows all things, including our present joys and trials. Martin Luther said, “This is what it means to fear God: to have God in view, to know that He looks at all our works, and to acknowledge Him as the Author of all things.”
To fear God is not to give up on finding meaning in life, but to rest our lives on the only solid foundation for time and eternity. To fear God is to trust in his foreknowledge, believing that he knows all things, including our present joys and trials. Martin Luther said, “This is what it means to fear God: to have God in view, to know that He looks at all our works, and to acknowledge Him as the Author of all things.”
F. To fear God is also to believe that he is still in control, even when we cannot see (or do not understand) what he is doing. The early church father Didymus the Blind used a marvelous illustration to explain this. Didymus compares us to passengers on a large sailing vessel who have never met the captain, yet still know that he is steering the ship: “God himself manages the cosmos and looks after it.… When you see a ship which is piloted and holds its course, you perceive the idea of a helmsman even if he is not visible.… Likewise the Creator is known by his works and the order of his providence.”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 96). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
G. To fear God is also to believe that he is still in control, even when we cannot see (or do not understand) what he is doing. The early church father Didymus the Blind used a marvelous illustration to explain this. Didymus compares us to passengers on a large sailing vessel who have never met the captain, yet still know that he is steering the ship: “God himself manages the cosmos and looks after it.… When you see a ship which is piloted and holds its course, you perceive the idea of a helmsman even if he is not visible.… Likewise the Creator is known by his works and the order of his providence.”
To fear God is also to believe that he is still in control, even when we cannot see (or do not understand) what he is doing. The early church father Didymus the Blind used a marvelous illustration to explain this. Didymus compares us to passengers on a large sailing vessel who have never met the captain, yet still know that he is steering the ship: “God himself manages the cosmos and looks after it.… When you see a ship which is piloted and holds its course, you perceive the idea of a helmsman even if he is not visible.… Likewise the Creator is known by his works and the order of his providence.”
H. Do you believe in the doctrine of divine sovereignty? Can you accept that God is really God? Have you learned to fear your Maker? Far from discouraging us into giving up, knowing that God is in control of everything from here to eternity encourages us to keep pressing on. Right?
Do you believe in the doctrine of divine sovereignty? Can you accept that God is really God? Have you learned to fear your Maker? Far from discouraging us into giving up, knowing that God is in control of everything from here to eternity encourages us to keep pressing on. Michael
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 97). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 96). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
IV. It is Good News
- Christ came at the right and perfect time.
A. And here we are. Still struggling with the same ole same ole. Stuck trying to balance life. Not able to make sense of the sovereignty of God? Struggling with his time… His perfect timing. We say it… not our time, but God’s time.
B. We struggle with the Lord’s timing in life because we don’t believe. We don’t understand so now we don’t believe. Yet again we find ourselves weak when it comes to waiting on the Lord. We don’t have the kind of patience we need for things we need Him to do. Waiting for the Lord for many of us is not a time of peace and assurance, but a time of distress and anxiety. His time is not our time yes but do we believe that His time is better?
C. With eternity in our hearts, we worry about the day to day, but the reality is we should be worried about our eternity. Because of sin we are all by nature children of wrath. There is no one righteous no not one. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So what does this mean? Before a righteous God our eternal destiny... because of our sins… eternal condemnation, eternal darkness, eternal fire, eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hell family.
D. Because of sin we struggle with trusting God in His soverignty. We struggle following His commands. We struggle with fearing the Lord. We struggle with life under the sun. We find no meaning of life. Because of sin.
E. But because of God’s perfect timing something beautiful happened...
Galatians 4:4 NLT
But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
Romans 5:6 NLT
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
F. Talk about perfect timing. This is the gospel of Jesus. The perfect timing of the Lord came though in a big way. His timing brought us good news.
G. Sin and its effect on us has been defeated. Jesus died for our sins and he was buried and he was… Jesus came into this world to seek and save… The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in ...
H. There is life and life more abundant in Christ and in Christ alone. There is salvation for us today. The promises of God continues… All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved… if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart...
I. We can truly trust the Lord to do all that He does in His perfect time. Our Lord Jesus has perfect timing.
J. We can truly believe it and trust, we know we can. The father and son looking on the destroyed city of Hiroshima… recognized this truth. Solomon did. I hope we all will too. God is good all the time. All the time God is good.
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