Life in the Balance

INTRODUCTION

In greek, there are multiple words for time. The two more frequent uses are chronos or Kairos. Chronos refers to the time measured in hours, minutes, and seconds. Here he uses Kairos, which is a fixed season or epoch. God has set boundaries to our lives, and our opportunity for service and worship exists only within those boundaries.

The word Kairos actually refers to the ancient greek God of opportunity. He was positioned in many great cities and this was a statue of a man with wings on his feet, a large lock of hair on the front of his head, and no hair at all on the back. Beneath was the description: “Who made thee? Lysippus made me. What is thy name? My name is Opportunity. Why has thou wings on thy feet? That I may fly away swiftly. Why has thou a great forelock? That men may seize me when I come. Why art thou bald in back? That when I am gone by, none can lay hold of me.”

The prideful foolish eize the day to lives for themselves.

The humble wise person seizes the day to live for the glory of God.

Our life hangs in the balance and how y ou reach for that great forelock determines where you spend the rest of eternity.

The proud think they have all the time in the world… they think they can beat “father time” >> Biohacking movement… Tom Brady.

[CONTEXT] Pride Continues… This young man had done nothing to be proud of which shows the Romans 1 degradation of sin and increase of judgment…

We find ourselves with the great grand relative of nebuchandezzar, having the time of his life.

The judgment on Belshazzar:

Daniel 5:25-28 ““Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘MENĒ, MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN.’ “This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENĒ’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. “ ‘TEKĒL’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. “ ‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.””

The pride run out the clock; the the humble makes the most of their life.

Don’t waste your life in pride, own your life in humility.

Is your life still hanging in the balance?

TODAY COUNTS FOREVER

1) Have you COUNTED your days?

[Turn to Ps.90] Possibly the first words of scripture ever penned… beginning with the eternally transcendent nature of God and towards our transient nature.

God

Psalm 90:1,“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

God never changes

Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world”

God is transcendant = He is greater than and independent of the creation.

Psalm 90:2b, “Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

God is not constrained by time but he is an everlasting God.

Deuteronomy33:27 ““The eternal God” and Isaiah 40:28

He is the first and the last at once (Rev. 1:8)

He existed before creation (Gen. 1:1; John 1:1)

He will endure forever (Psalm 102:26-27)

Eternity is his home

He lives forever (Deuteronomy 32:40).

He was, is, and is to come (Ex. 3:14; REv. 1:4, 8)

His purposes are eternal Ephesians 3:11

With creating the foundations of the earth, he created time and upholds its totality and each of its moments by his power. God is fully present with every moment of time, and he knows its entirety and its succession of moments. But God is never subject to time. Rather, he uses i t as his servant to reveal his perfections.

“What you think about God is the most important thing about you”… What you know about God, his eternally, and our transiency will determine how you make the most of your days.

The humble will have an eternal view of God… they will contemplate this. In light of their transiency.

it is only God who can teach us to number our days…

has numbered

Job 14:5 “Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.”

Psalm 144:4 “Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.”

James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

Psalm 90:10 “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.”

Psalm 39:5 ““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.”

we must number our days.

Psalm 39:5, 11 … after SELAH = contemplate. Stop. Consider.

Psalm 39:4 ““Lord, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am.”

Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

Ephesians 5:16 “making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”

Look at your calendar - are you prioritizing what matters most?

You can lose money and work hard to regain it. You can lose your home and eventually buy a new one. Bu ttime lost can Never be regained.

2) Have you MEASURED your life?

When the scriptures refer to balancing on scales they are referring to the estimation of value. In other words, Belshazzar’s life had been weighed And it was found deficient. He was found light and weighty> in other words, his life had been meaningless.

Psalm 62:9 “Men of low degree are only vanity and men of rank are a lie; In the balances they go up; They are together lighter than breath.”

Psalm 1:4 “The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.”

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” // God’s glory = infinite beauty and value manifested. There is none other. // To fall short = to lack/be without (deficient) >> Why? Romans 1:23 “and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

= IMBALANCED HEARTS. Think of your heart, as a leader, as an ancient scale with weights on either side. On one side is the Creator weight, and on the other side is the creature weight. In God’s design, the Creator weight is meant to be hugely heavier than anything on the creature side. Sadly, sin throws the scale out of balance, causing created things to have more control over your thoughts, desires, choices, words, and actions than God does. This means that as long as sin lives inside you, you will struggle to keep things in your life and ministry in proper balance” (Tripp)

= WE DON’T MEASURE UP BECAUSE WE value other things other than God.

The problem is we need new hearts… hearts that can WEIGH him accurately.

The great exchange

Romans 3:23-25 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;”

3) What’s your eternal FATE?

He had not humbled himself, therefore God has opposed him.

Jeremiah 6:30 god rejects all impurities that a re measured

The destiny of God’s Kingdom (can’t get into this because of future weeks)

The destiny of those outside his kingdom who are against his kingdom.

Belshazzar’s was going to be divided. Lose it all. He gained his life by losing his soul. Our fate for faith in CHrist is in Job 14:14 “If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my change comes.” ]

Destiny of those within his kingdom?

Eternal destination - you will love forever. Death is a portal that brings us into everlasting relationship with blessing or condemnation.

But just because your eternal fate is sealed.... Matthew 11:12 ““From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”

2 Cor. 5:10-11 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

>> So how do we ensure that we are able to approach this throne of Christ with full confidence? With energetic and expectant hearts? Redeem the time for the days are evil…

So then how do the humble respond?

How do you ensure you are balancing y our heart and life on God’s scales? So that your life hangs heavy on god’s scales?

EMBRACE THE GOSPEL 1 for 15:1

- the natural response is for us to want to do more. That’s not the answer. We should first seek to be all about one thing… When you look at a balanced life it is one that is God-centered… it does not swing it’s pendulum to one side or another…

Luke 10:40-42 “But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.””

One thing

Seek one thing: Psalm 27:4 “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.”

One kingdom: Matthew 6:33 ““But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

One love: Ecclesiastes 12:13 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.” // Matthew 22:37 “And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” // Revelation 2:4 “‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

One task: Great commission

What does this mean? Philippians 1:21-23 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;”

“fulfilling your ministry is more important than staying alive. This conviction is what makes the lives of radically devoted people so inspiring to watch. Most of them speak the way Paul did about his ministry (acts 20:24). Doing the ministry that God gives us to do is more important than life” (Piper, Future Grace: The Purifying Power of the Promises of God, p. 287). Fulfilling the ministry Paul was responsible for was his one thing.

KNOW

Know God & Scriptures

Know Self

Know Family

Know Season

IDENTIFY your callings - your SPHERES of influence

>>Where has God placed you? Your calling is not something you choose, but something you walk into that has been given to you by God. The roles you play now are your calling. Are you a mother, father, employee, student, ministry leader, grandparent, employer, writer, etc.?

>>Where has God positioned you? This refers to the place you occupy in the present here and now. Where do you live? What city? What school? Where is your place of employment? What church do you attend? Who are your neighbors? Who are the people you frequently come across at the gym and the coffee shop, etc.? This is where you live out your calling to make much of Christ and meet the needs of others.

Determine what must get done - what is bare minimum faithfulness? Vs. excellence Few areas will require your…

Serve in concentric circles

Budget your time

Free up your self with routines…

Focus on fruiftulness… my fahter is glorified by this that you bear much fruit.