Holiness in an unholy world... (5)
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The Brevity of Life...
The Brevity of Life...
Introduction
Introduction
When we buy houses or vehicles, dishes or pots and pans, we may spend more money if we hear a sales pitch about quality and because of the quality of the product, we can expect that it will last a lot longer than if we purchased a throw away. We call this”
Quality, Durability, or Longevity
Quality, Durability, or Longevity
When looking at a chainsaw, lawnmower, tiller, or even a weed-whacker, even if it costs me significantly more money, I will spend the extra money for a Stihl or a Husqvarna because I believe that it’s a quality product that will last.
Here’s a few slogans:
Slogans
Slogans
Nothing runs like a Deere.
Better by design Allis-Chambers
If it ain't red, leave it in the shed.
Guessing Massey Ferguson
Built Ford Tough!
Like a Rock
Grab life by the horns
These slogans can make us laugh, nod, smile, or even make us mad if we have had a bad experience with one make or another, but some of these slogans have made kept these companies in business for a long time.
Mortality
Mortality
Many of us don’t want to face our mortality until it’s staring at us right in the face, and even the, we can struggle with it.
Our Scripture today looks at two things:
The brevity of life
The brevity of life
God’s enduring word
God’s enduring word
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
During the course of his sermon
During the course of his sermon, a preacher wanted to emphasize the brevity of life. He took a long pause, then said, “Every member of this church is going to die.” But, to his surprise, a man in the back row responded to this statement with a big smile.
Repeat twice, louder…After the sermon he went back and found the man and asked, “Why in the world did you smile so big when I said ‘Every member of this church is going to die?’” The man erupted with a huge smile and said, “Because I’m not a member of this church.”
Peter starts by his verse 24 by saying, For all people...
All people
All people
All in this case means all, everybody. Throughout the Bible, there is a picture drawn about the brevity of life. I’m sure that for many of us, we can’t believe how fast life has gone. I’m told that it only gets quicker the older you get.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
It’s fall and we all know around Lanigan what happens after Fall...
I’m not sure about you, but i really like spring, summer, and fall. I’m not quite as excited about our longest season of the year, but because we live in Western Canada, winter is our longest season. Our growing season is short and depending on the heat units, crops will even come in more quickly. I started to pay attention to how long it takes for a crop to mature when I was selling seed: grass seed, garden seeds, and cereals. In Northwestern Ontario, we didn’t necessarily get the heat units to grow long season crops, so we had to be careful not to try to sell crops that wouldn’t mature. This would become more of an issue when the season was starting to get late.
As an example, and corn varieties change and keep changing, but many of you would know names like: Peaches and Cream, Golden Bantam, and Golden Beauty. There are other varieties like: Bodacious, Milk & Honey, Luscious, and the list can go on to #’s. Generally, we plant varieties in our gardens that can mature quickly enough so that we can eat them before we get our first killing frost.
All people are like grass...
All people are like grass...
Peter uses the example of grass and the flowers of the field. This year Dave Church planted grass where the ground had been ripped up for our old sewer line. We plant what is sold to us, but for lawns the most common mix would be some mixture of Kentucky Bluegrass, Creeping Red Fescue, and Perennial Ryegrass. Sometimes a little bit of White Dutch Clover might be thrown in just as a filler.
When the snow melts and the April showers come, we start to see our lawns green up and they become lush and green. We see life and enjoy the beauty of spring.
This year was a good test for our lawns. Did anyone notice how brown the lawns became this summer because of the excessive heat and lack of rainfall? Peter said, “The grass withers...
Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”
How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.
What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
Tomorrow
It is reported that Colonel Rahl, commander of the British troops in Trenton, New Jersey, was playing cards when a courier brought an urgent message stating that General George Washington was crossing the Delaware River. Rahl put the letter in his pocket and didn't bother to read it until his card game was finished. Then, realizing the seriousness of the situation, he hurriedly tried to rally his men to meet the coming attack, but it was too late. His procrastination caused many of his men to be killed, and the rest of the regimen to be captured. "Only a few minutes delay cost him his life, his honor, and the liberty of his soldiers. Earth's history is filled with the wrecks of half-finished plans and executed resolutions. ‘Tomorrow’ is the excuse of the lazy, and the refuge of the incompetent!"
Procrastination is my sin,
It brings me nothing but sorrow,
I know that I should stop it,
In fact, I will…..TOMORROW! (SC, Steve Kinnard)
The flowers of the field
The flowers of the field
For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
Don’t you just love the beauty of God’s creation. Isn’t there such beauty in the flowers. Do you have a favorite flower? The colours, the vivid colors of the flowers: The red rose, the yellow marigolds, the multicolored pansies, lady slippers, brown-eyed Susans, Geraniums, Begonias, Tiger Lilies, and the list could go on and on.
In 2003, I had the privilege to stop in at the International Peace Gardens when the flowers were in full bloom. It was amazing to see the colours, and the variety of every plant. Jesus said, in
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Looking back at 1 Peter 1:24, Peter compares all people’s glory to the flowers of the field. When God had created humans, this is what He said in Genesis 1:26-31
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
It pleased God to make you! He enjoys your company.
Yet God realizes that humans are frail. He knows that we are like flowers that when a wind comes, or the scorching heat or even the frost in the fall that the flowers fall and dry up.
What does say Psalm 103:14-16 say?
for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
Church, this isn’t where it ends.
The Word of God endures forever
The Word of God endures forever
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
You have been born again through the living and enduring word of God. Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
I think that we are starting to get the point that God’s word which is living and active and sharper than any double edged sword is enduring. It shall never pass away. Even though Heaven and earth will pass away, God word will endure forever.
Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
You have been born again, not with perishable seed, but with the precious blood of Jesus. You have been born again with the living and enduring word of God.
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
Physically, each of us has been born into a family. As long as we are here on earth, we are part of a family. I’m a Hepburn. Donna comes from the Fry family. This is only temporary while we are here on earth, but life is so brief. We don’t even know our next day, but when we come to faith in Jesus, we are promised eternal life. This birth is not temporary. It is not for only a short time, it is forever. This birth comes from God.
As believers in Jesus we have this hope that we will live forever. When you go to a funeral or to a graveyard, you can put a body or you can put ashes in the ground, but that’s only a shell.
We are convinced that even if these bodies we live in are folded up at death like tents, we will still have a God-built home that no human hands have built, which will last forever in the heavenly realm.
We inwardly sigh as we live in these physical “tents,” longing to put on a new body for our life in heaven,
in the belief that once we put on our new “clothing” we won’t find ourselves “naked.”
So, while living in this “tent,” we groan under its burden, not because we want to die but because we want these new bodies. We crave for all that is mortal to be swallowed up by eternal life.
And this is no empty hope, for God himself is the one who has prepared us for this wonderful destiny. And to confirm this promise, he has given us the Holy Spirit, like an engagement ring, as a guarantee.
That’s why we’re always full of courage. Even while we’re at home in the body, we’re homesick to be with the Master—
for we live by faith, not by what we see with our eyes.
We live with a joyful confidence, yet at the same time we take delight in the thought of leaving our bodies behind to be at home with the Lord.
So whether we live or die we make it our life’s passion to live our lives pleasing to him.
For one day we will all be openly revealed before Christ on his throne so that each of us will be duly recompensed for our actions done in life, whether good or worthless.
This is the word that was preached to you
This is the word that was preached to you
but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
Human words may have some value, but it is not human words that will endure forever, it is the word of God that will endure forever.
Everything that I preach to you must be compared to the word of God. It doesn’t matter how good it sounds, the question is, “Is it sound? Is it Biblical?”
You might have people come to your door, and they may come with flowery words that sound so good, but how do they line up with God’s word. We need to be in the word. We need to be diligent to study God’s word.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Church family, this is why it is imperative that we are diligent to study and apply God’s word to our hearts. We need to be thoroughly equipped for these days. It’s not FaceBook or YouTube that is going to equip us, it is God’s word.
Everybody comes with a slant on what they believe. This is why there are so many denominations. Test all things according to the lens of Scripture. God’s word is truth.
It is living and enduring. This is the word that you has been preached to you. This is the word that we preach to you.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
This morning, I’m not wanting to bring cynicism, I am just encouraging that before we take someone’s teaching, that we line it up with the Bible.
Let’s close with
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
Amen.
Let’s pray.