Well, in Consale, we have been working our way through the book of Ecclesiastes, and so you're getting some of that today.
Okay, so as we look at this, we're going to be looking in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes,
and if you've ever read through the book, you'll know it is maybe not one of the more straightforward books.
First time when Craig said that we were going to be working our way through that, I got a hold of my son that has a...
I had to ask him a couple of questions and told him I was going to be speaking on this.
He has a master's degree in theology from this, and he told me, he said, well, way to go.
It's probably the toughest book in the whole Bible.
So anyway, we'll just work our way through and see what the Lord has for us.
But by way of introduction, I'm just going to play a video for you.
Maybe you've heard this, and to give us a little bit of intro as to what this chapter is about.
Again, it's Ecclesiastes chapter 3.
What's the day in turn, turn, turn, turn?
There is a season turn, turn, turn, turn.
And there's time to every purpose unto heaven.
A time to be born, a time to die, a time to plan, a time to reap, a time to kill, a time to heal,
a time to nerve, a time to have, a time to leave, a time to love, a time to ever dön.
And then a time to love your purpose unto heaven.
Thank you.
One time you may embrace, one time you may embrace, God has been praising.
So many of you have probably heard that before.
Whatever the mainstream media mix-up on something philosophical like this,
and quite an interesting term,
this is done by the birds along the back of the hill.
Almost right from Ecclesiastes chapter 3.
This is a camera.
You're probably wondering what that does to do with anything.
But if I were to take a photo of this camera right now, what would I get?
Any idea?
Nothing.
Exactly right, because there's no wind on it.
Okay, so I could take something like this
and put that on here.
And then what would I get?
Any idea?
What kind of lens is this?
This is a good side of the day.
Okay.
This is a cell phone lens.
And so if I were to put this lens on and make it a camera,
from this, this is a Disney movie for my life.
Okay, there's not much else.
Okay.
There's not much else.
All right.
And so this moves in.
So with this kind of lens on the camera,
it is very close.
So as you're trying to stick in each other.
If I were to take a photo of this one and put it on,
and take all the way down to what it's capable of doing,
I have to put more stuff in and I can even put them on all of them.
Okay?
That's a wide angle.
It takes a big picture.
It gives you a big idea of what it's looking at.
All right?
And so all of those require light.
If you're all sitting here just like you are now,
and I'm going to turn the light out,
and it's totally dark in here,
it doesn't matter what it's going to be.
Okay?
You're not going to get anything.
Okay?
So it requires light.
Now all of these lenses,
they have a ring on the other one that focuses.
All right?
So I can still put this at wide angle
and get everyone in here.
But if I don't turn this until the glass sections are the right distance apart,
you will be out of focus.
You may not be visible at all.
All right?
And so by turning the ring directly,
we bring it into focus so that we can see
what we're trying to see.
All right?
And so all of that is just an illustration, if you would,
of Ecclesiastes chapter 3.
It is a wide angle view of life.
It is a type of what's called pessimistic literature.
It's the only example of that in all of Scripture.
There's loads of it in the world.
Most of it ends up very, very poorly.
Either in some type of suicide or that type of situation.
But Ecclesiastes is much more of a wide angle.
And there are parts of it that give us the focus ring.
That turn things so that we can see it.
Chapter 3 in the book of Ecclesiastes
appears to me to be this focus.
There is a contrast between man's view of time
and God's view of time.
Between man's view of life
and God's view of life.
And there is significant difference.
So if we look at the first verse
in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, it says this,
There is a time for everything
and a season for every activity under the heavens,
a time to be born and a time to die.
There is a time for everything.
A season.
It isn't always time to plant, is it?
If you're a gardener or if you're a farmer,
it is not always the right time
to put the seed in the earth, is it?
And so there is a season to plant
and there's a different season to harvest.
There is a different time, if you would, to harvest.
So this passage starts at the beginning.
A time to be born.
All of us understand that we have no control
over our birth.
Alright?
I didn't somehow have a cosmic experience
that said, I didn't exist.
God brought that into an existence.
So He has the power to bring us
into existence by birth.
But there's also a time to die.
And God controls that as well.
And understanding this big picture
of who God is and His power
is important.
Sometimes we think the way that we live,
we forget that the first four words
of God's owner's manual,
when we get in the middle of all of these things
that go on in life,
we forget how God's word started.
The first four words.
In the beginning, God.
Okay?
It wasn't in the beginning me,
or in the beginning you.
It was in the beginning God.
Starting with life and death,
God controls both birth
and our last breath.
And everything in between.
We can rest in that knowledge, however,
regardless of life's ever-changing circumstances,
because our circumstances do change constantly.
God is never surprised by those changes.
God is never caught off guard
by those circumstances.
And so we can rest in that.
Seasons change.
Right?
Seasons change all the time.
They move on,
though we think maybe they never will.
Summer will give way to autumn.
Autumn will give way to winter,
and winter to spring.
Sometimes here it's eventually,
but it will eventually come.
And so when we turn,
it will then return to summer.
Summer.
Some seasons we think are better than others.
Some summers are better than others.
Right?
Some spring,
this has been a pretty good summer, I think.
The last couple of weeks
during our summer team
was 21, 22 degrees.
I don't think I saw that at all
the summer before.
So some are better than others.
Some are hot.
Some are cool.
Some are wet.
Maybe now.
Right?
So when we read through
these seasons of life,
which are not meant to be inclusive,
when we look at this passage,
this is representative,
think about time.
Think about the times
that you have experienced
in your lifetime.
Think about how the seasons
of your life have come and gone.
And may come again.
So as we read this together,
think through
where you have been.
And it starts,
there is a time for everything.
A season for every activity
under the heavens.
A time to be born.
A time to die.
A time to plant.
And a time to uproot.
A time to kill.
And a time to heal.
A time to tear down.
And a time to build.
A time to weep.
And a time to laugh.
A time to mourn.
And a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones.
And a time to gather them together.
A time to embrace.
And a time to refrain from embracing.
A time to search.
And a time to give up.
A time to keep.
And a time to throw away.
A time to tear.
And a time to mend.
A time to be silent.
And a time to speak.
A time to love.
And a time to hate.
A time for war.
And a time for peace.
So as we think through.
How do we bring this wide angle view of time.
Or times.
Or seasons.
Into focus.
How do we do that?
How do we understand what's going on?
If we look at verse 9.
It says this.
What do workers gain from their toil?
And the expectation there.
Is that there should be some kind of profit.
From work.
But what is it?
It says.
All.
All is meaningless.
Chapter.
Or verse 10.
I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.
The burden we make.
The burden to make sense of life.
To find meaning.
In direct contrast to other pessimistic literature that is found in the world.
That concludes that suicide is the only logical conclusion.
That's how most other pessimistic literature ends.
Whereas Ecclesiastes is in stark contrast.
Let's look at verse 11.
The first part of it.
It says this.
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
This time for everything is not the same time for everything.
Just as seasons change.
So times change.
Again, farmers cannot always harvest.
Nor can they always be planting.
They must do it in the right time.
There is a right time to plant.
There is a right time to harvest.
If you plant a crop in autumn.
It will not ripen before winter.
And you will have nothing.
Time.
His time.
Often means waiting.
Any experience of that?
If you think through the times of your life.
Times that you have had to wait.
His time.
Is very often different.
Than our time.
We often believe we need things now.
I need it now.
Just like our kids.
Those of you with young children.
Right?
What's their patience level?
What is our own patience level?
We often have little.
And stress out if answers are delayed and are unclear.
Other times things happen faster than we want.
Or faster than we think they should.
We have four children.
It was yesterday that they were toddlers.
In March we married off our youngest.
We now have eight grandchildren and a ninth on the way.
Things go really fast.
And the older I get.
It seems the faster they go.
So there are times where you think.
Is this never going to pass?
Is this never going to end?
And there are times.
When you want to slow it down.
Right?
Harvests are like that.
Seasons are like that.
I just cut the grass yesterday.
How in the world could it need it again today?
Right?
I sprayed those weeds.
How can they come back?
How does that happen?
When did I get old?
I was a kid a couple days ago.
I don't know what happened.
How can that electric bill be due again?
I just paid it.
So these seasons that we go through.
And Solomon as he writes this.
And he's thinking through life.
And he's thinking philosophically.
Holding on to the fact that God's time is better than our time.
And to him it is already done.
He has made, past tense,
he has made everything beautiful in its time.
We look at the second part of this.
He has set eternity in the human heart.
Eternity.
What is time to God compared to what it is again?
Once again we see here that God is in control.
He has set eternity in our heart.
God's human creation,
we innately know that there is more
than this this time on earth.
We may deny it.
We may try to fight it.
We may try not to think about it.
Yet our natural self thinks
as if this time of unearthly life
is all there is.
But somewhere in our subconscious
we know that that's not the case.
A couple of interesting facts.
Irishman.
Okay?
You're an Irishman.
You have a life expectancy of 78 years.
Right?
That means I don't have a lot left.
So I'm thinking about that.
An average Irish woman, however,
has another five years.
Your life expectancy is 83 years.
So if you're 84,
you're doing good.
Okay?
So on average,
an Irishman has about 28,470 days.
28,470 days from birth to death.
If you're 25 years old,
you've already used up 9,125 of them.
Okay?
At 40, you've lived 14,600 days.
And if you're my age,
you might have about 6,000 days left.
All right?
A woman has about 30,295 days
or 1,009 months.
Okay?
That's what you've got.
If you're a 25-year-old woman,
you've lived 304 months.
At 45, you have an average,
on average,
about 462 months left.
Okay?
Eternity, however,
is a lot longer.
Have you ever thought about that?
If we just take,
I don't know,
an introduction,
maybe 15,000 years or so.
Okay?
That's 5,475,000 days to say hello.
And by the way,
my name's Tim.
Okay?
15,000 years.
That's 182,500 months.
Okay?
So when we get confused
between life that we know on earth
and we start looking at eternity,
there's a big difference.
So this begs the question,
how should we then live?
What should our priorities look like
when we think about time?
And try to think about time
a little bit more like God thinks about time.
Colossians 3, 1,
one of my favorite chapters,
says this,
Since then you have been raised up with Christ.
Set your hearts on things above
where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above,
not on earthly things.
For you died,
past tense,
for you died,
and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life,
appears,
then you also will appear with Him
in glory.
Put to death, therefore,
whatever belongs to your earthly nature,
sexual immorality,
impurity,
lust,
evil desires,
and greed,
which is idolatry.
Anything above God.
Anything that we think of
higher than we think of God.
So in the second part,
the last part of this verse
in Ecclesiastes chapter 3,
He has made everything beautiful in His time.
He has also said,
Eternity in the human heart.
Yet no one can fathom
what He, God,
has done
from beginning to end.
None of us see the whole picture
from beginning to end.
None of us have this concept
that God has.
This perspective that He has.
Ecclesiastes is focusing
the focus ring on our lens
on our limitations.
It contrasts our limited knowledge
and understanding
with God's unlimited knowledge,
visibility,
and understanding.
Notice also that God,
that through God,
though God has put a desire
for eternity
and a desire for beauty
in our hearts,
our lives contain many mysteries
that we can't understand.
We see it every day
in the headlines,
don't we?
Why did a shooter
go into Orlando, Florida
and kill 49 people?
Why do babies die
in their cribs on occasion?
We are not in control
of those things.
We do not know
how God thinks
in every circumstance.
We don't know the end
from the beginning
as God does.
We are not part of that
ultimate, infinite timeline
that He is.
God has not shared
everything with us.
And it's time
we understand that.
That God,
just like you don't share
everything you know
with your two-year-old,
God does not share
every single thing with us.
We would like Him to,
or so we think.
But there are times
that that's just not the case.
Life is often like a puzzle.
If you could imagine
puzzle pieces
that go on for miles,
and we are on one of those
puzzle pieces.
If we had a puzzle
that lined this whole wall
and you could see
the entire thing,
you could see
where your puzzle piece
fits in
and makes a difference
in that wall mural
or that wall puzzle.
That's kind of how God is.
Is that God can see
the entire puzzle
from beginning to end
and every aspect.
all that has been
and all that will be.
And He knows
why our peace
is important.
Why what He has done
or allowed to have done
is worked in
to this mural
that makes sense.
We know that God
does all things
for His glory
as anything else
would be idolatrous.
If God were to do
anything else
that would be something
other than for His glory,
it would be idolatrous
just as it is for us
to put anything before Him.
But we can also rest
in what the preacher
as it's termed
in this book's
encouragement
to enjoy
what we have
in life now.
So if we look at this verse
in verse 12 to 13,
I know
that there is nothing
better for people
than to be happy
and to do good
while they live.
That each of them
may eat.
Let me get the rest of this.
And drink
and find satisfaction
in all their toil.
This is the gift
from God.
Ecclesiastes 3.22
So I saw
that there is
nothing better
for a person
than to enjoy
their work
because that
is their lot.
For who can bring them
to see
what will happen
after them?
If we move to this 16,
why don't you take a look
at this one?
When we talk about
these things,
about why their things
happen the way
that they do,
why do we have
injustice?
Look at this verse.
This is an incredibly
powerful verse
to use with
those that are
considering
who God is
and why these things
happen in the world.
Look what this observation is.
And I saw something else
under the sun.
In the place of judgment,
wickedness was there.
In the place of justice,
wickedness
was there.
Solomon could understand
that where there
should be judgment
and where there
should be justice
in this world,
there dwells wickedness.
Do we not see that?
time and time again.
Why do these things
happen?
Why do we see
courts
legislating
immorality?
Why do we see
judges on benches
around the world
making rulings
that make no sense
from a
purity standpoint?
The writer notes
that even in his kingdom,
and I'm presuming
this is written by Solomon,
there's not,
that may not be 100%,
but I think so.
The writer notes
that even in his kingdom,
there is not an honest
and fair court system.
In the place of judgment,
wickedness is there.
The justice system
is also wicked.
Handing out sentences
to innocents
and letting the guilty
go free,
no doubt.
Not in every case,
but in many.
Corruption was
clearly visible.
Yet then,
as now,
it continues.
There is no
political savior,
even in a kingdom
led by a king
of great wisdom
such as Solomon.
No Taoiseach
will put a perfect end
to Irish injustice.
No U.S. president
or Brexit
is going to fix
the world's issues
and lead us
into some type
of utopian
state of perfection.
corruption.
There is sickness
at every turn.
Only God
can bring an end
to government corruption,
unfairness,
and ever-changing
legislated immorality.
Only God.
So when we're focusing
our focus ring,
it's a good idea
to know
what we're focusing on.
Verse 17,
I said to myself,
notice also that
though God
has put a desire
for eternity
and a desire
for beauty
in our heart.
Wait a minute,
I got myself
mixed up here.
God will bring
into judgment
both the righteous
and the wicked
for there will be
a time
for every activity,
a time to judge
every deed.
a time to judge
every deed.
So when we think
about getting lost
in this world
of these injustices,
think about this.
God will bring
into judgment
both the righteous
and the wicked.
It doesn't just say
the wicked.
Both the righteous
and the wicked
for there will be
a time
for every activity,
a time to judge
every deed.
And once again,
we will see
that in God's time,
He will judge
every deed at last.
Perfect judgment.
Perfect justice.
Perfect fairness.
Perfect administration.
And no corruption.
Is that not what
all the world cries for?
Can we not have justice?
What an incredible passage
to share
with those
that are seeking.
So,
what do we conclude?
At least this.
God's blessing
is to be acknowledged
and enjoyed.
God's blessing
to be acknowledged
and enjoyed.
And God's judgment
to be prepared for.
Are you ready?
Am I ready?
Romans 8.1
says this,
Therefore,
there is now
no condemnation
for those
in Christ Jesus.
Boy,
is that not good news.
There is therefore
now no condemnation
for those
in Christ Jesus.
This implies
that there is
condemnation
for those
who are not.
No mention
of Protestant
or Catholic,
Jew or Muslim,
white,
black,
or brown,
only in Christ.
There is no
condemnation
for those
who are in Christ Jesus.
Are you in Christ?
Have you trusted Him?
Ephesians 2.8 and 9,
one of my
all-time favorite verses,
For it is by grace
you have been saved
through faith,
and this is not
from yourselves,
it is the gift
of God,
not by works
that anyone
should boast.
If you are trusting
in your works,
then you are not
in Christ.
If you are trusting
in His,
then you are.
Let's pray.
Father,
we praise you
and we thank you
for who you are.
We thank you
if you are trusting
and quick on
on the earth...
Can you guess
please?