Bro Gary Sunday Morning 3/18/12

Bro Gary Sunday Morning 3/18/12

My burden for the message this morning is time.  God designed time from eternity, yet in eternity there is no time.  For all of us that are here this morning, there is time.  Time is an important creation of God.  May God help us to see it as important as it is in the scripture this morning. 

The thought this morning is that you and I will have a conviction and understand about time.  The gospel is not designed to put people in bondage.  Time without the gospel will cause people to be in lots of bondages.  The Gospel will help us to be free.

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Gen 1:3  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Gen 1:4  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Gen 1:5  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The Bible starts with time.  We see in the scripture where God chose Christ to be slain from the foundation of the earth; it was the design that Jesus be born of a virgin, Mary.  May God help me and this audience to grasp the concept of time from the Word of God.

David had a certain identity with time; probably because God gave it to him.  We are happy for each one that is in this audience.  We see the children that are here and it is a challenging and convicting thought that they would find God’s purpose for them at an early age so that a lot of their life is not wasted.

There is not one here this morning that has the assurance of time more than anyone else.  The children have their whole life ahead of them and so do you and I.  None of us are assured tomorrow.

Some may view the Psalms as ‘night time’ stories.  That is not necessarily the case.

Psa 31:15  My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

In this Psalm, about the first 15 verses deal with the adversities of life.  Everyone in this audience needs to grasp the balance of time in not just dealing with the adversities but the blessings of God that we have in time.

Psa 31:7  I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;

Even children become acquainted with trouble and adversity.  Our lives as adults are made up of trouble and adversity.  It is important that we don’t become a paranoid people.  If we are not careful then we will fill our time and mind with only care and trouble and adversity.  If you feel that all your life is faced with people 

shooting at you and troubles.  Let the Gospel deal with you.

Psa 31:8  And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.

Having an enemy is a part of life.  We need to know how to handle our enemies.  If you could not raise your hand to the song this morning, “Consecrate me now to thy service Lord”, then you need to get yourself on the altar.  Unless we are fully consecrated to God, the enemy of our soul will choose an enemy in our life that will keep us in their hand all the days of our life.

Thou hast set my feet in a large room.  God is a big God and can take us from being little people in little places with little mindsets and set us in big places.  He grants to us good things to eat and wonderful things to worship God for.  He is a big God and has said to us, “Go into all the world.”  We are in a large place, we are blessed. 

We are blessed to be able to walk to the post-office when we are in this community.  For about 45 cents you can write to the sick or to the elderly that are on their own and may be lonely.  You will never find such a large place if you are willing to stay in the hand of the enemy.

Psa 31:9  Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.

Psa 31:10  For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

Psa 31:11  I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.

Psa 31:12  I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

You will be forgotten by people that you love and who claim that they love you.  It is a part of life.  I am sorry but if you let that put you into their hand then they control you and actually are your enemy.

You may feel like what you had hoped for in your life has not turned out and you are a broken vessel.  If you allow the events of life to work the work that, then we will find our self forgotten and useless. 

From the youngest that is saved to the eldest in this congregation.  If you will get into the Word of God…  I cannot give it to you.  I am not a motivational speaker that can wind you up until we meet again.  If we don’t get into this Word of God and seek God then we will be a forgotten, broken vessel.  Seek God, take the challenge.

Psa 31:13  For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.

Psa 31:14  But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.

Psa 31:15  My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

Everyone in this audience has time this morning.  You don’t realize how valuable that is until time is slipping away from you.  When God gives us time, we have how much ever of this day.  We don’t know that each of us will be here tonight. 

At this point we have time.  We must get our time into God’s hand.  You will be consumed with something other than God, His will, His truth, and His guiding if you don’t keep your time in God’s hands.

Paint life as it is except for realizing that you are not going to be consumed with adversity, with being forgotten, or because some of your plans didn’t work out like you hoped they would work out.

David was inspired by Almighty God and God gave him wonderful counsel that he wrote down for us:

Psa 31:15  My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

Psa 31:16  Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.

Every one of us is constantly making decisions.  Adversity and difficulty often come to our mind.  They came to David and God helped him through it.  Unless we let God help us through adversity we will become a captive of the enemy.

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant:  God is no respecter of persons.  Where ever you are at this morning, whatever your greatest joy or there would be some in this audience that have heavy burdens.  (There may be some that are not quite as excited about church getting out.  These children have plans that if they are good they will get to go out and play.)  Let God do what he wants to do with what you came here with.

Psa 31:17  Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.

Psa 31:18  Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

There are four words ‘Let’ in verses 17 and 18.  Let me not be ashamed.  It is vitally important that we have the attitude that, “God let me live so that I am pleasing God and not ashamed before you in my time.”

I believe every family ought to visit their family and loved ones; I am not trying to preach a message of bondage.  Yet there are some lets you have to give over to God.

Let the wicked be ashamed.  I ask the question to you, “How much of your time is made uncomfortable because of someone’s wickedness?”  Every one of us must come to the line of “A lot of my pain, waste of time and energy is because of someone else’s wickedness.”  We must come to the place where we say to God, “I am no longer going to be ashamed for them; I am going to let them be ashamed.” 

As Bro McConahae so well taught us: “When you walk with God you will be the target of the arrows of the wicked.”  Our lives can be so full of adversity, yet we will not let some things go.  We can read what the gospel teaches about forsaking, yet not let things go.  If this is the case then your times will be filled with trouble, adversity, heartache, and pain.  When you are taking this in all the time then you will be putting it out too. 

We have people that hate us in our life.  They hate me more than they hate my wife.  You can forgive people but when they won’t accept the forgiveness that God as for them, the Bible tells us that they are wicked.  If we allow our self to be in their hand, we will feel adversity, we will feel forgotten, and we will feel broken. 

We love and respect our elders.  I love and respect my mother and father that are in eternity.  I never got enough of them.  I was the last in the family.  Not every one of us was blessed to have a mother and father in eternity that we know loved God and loved us.  If you do not, then you need to let it go.  If you do not then you will have a life full of adversity.

If you love someone and reach out to them and they resist you, you need to be willing to let go or you are bringing into your bosom that which will cause adversity. 

Should you let that one that you love go?  You find an altar somewhere and let God lead you.  Should I let that prodigal, mother, father, or friend that each time I reach out to them they plant a bomb, go?  Let God lead you.  The line is wickedness.  David told us there are some things we need to let go.

Keep lying lips silent that lie about God and about His people.  God never allows something to be taken away that he doesn’t give a million times back.

Psa 31:19  Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

Psa 31:20  Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

The proud man is deceived.  He is puffed up.  I know this is tough because there are people that we would like to love but they are full of pride.  Don’t think that you will be the exception, the proud will target you.   The proud man brings contention.  How terrible it is for someone to work a work against two people that are saved and that love each other.  Only by pride comes contention.  We are not in competition with each other. 

This entire body of mine works to help me in every challenge that I have.  It is the same in the body of Christ. 

The proud man wants honor.  They think they are a step ahead of everyone else.  They want you to bow at his shrine.  We cannot, we are to bow only to God.  The proud man likes to think of himself as having prestige and wants an elevated position and title.  The proud individual oppresses others. 

I’ve never met a proud individual that doesn’t want to oppress someone.  One of the greatest enemies of time is pride.  How you deal with pride will affect how you deal with time.  If you allow the proud they will rob your time.  We are not desirous to be contentious with them, but we must say, “I love you but don’t try to work anything between me and my children, me and God, or me and anyone else.”

I think of the little time that we have.  The little time that you have is for the brothers and sisters that you love, how little time in the time world there is for your children, or grandchildren.

The proud elevates themselves and endeavors to shine above and outdo someone else.  There is only liberty if we allow God to hide us in the secret of His presence from the pride of man.  Our lives are an open book.  Anyone can come into our lives and see our testimony.  When we walk humbly before God, God can keep us from the tongue of the proud and the haughty.

God keeps a place in His pavilion that is safe from the strife of tongues.  If you can hear of strife without it hurting your soul then you have gained a grace that I don’t have.  When I hear of strifeful people hurting other people then it hurts me.  When I hear of them being unseemly and ugly to whomever it hurts.  May God help us to stay in the pavilion.

Psa 31:21  Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.

David often frequented worship.  He loved to worship God.  “When shall I appear before God?  I hunger and thirst for God.”

We have the privilege of coming to Mt Zion, a city where God dwells, a city of an innumerable company of angels. 

Psa 31:22  For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

Psa 31:23  O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Love God above everything else.  God preserves the faithful.  The only way to be preserved is to be faithful to God.

When people yield to pride they lose the identity that they will reap what they sow. 

Be of good courage.

Psa 31:24  Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Psa 34:1  A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

It is important that you keep your life in order so that you can always be praising God.  When you destroy your praise then you destroy your strength.

Psa 119:20  My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.

11 words are used in the 119^th Psalm to describe the Word of God.

The law, the statutes, the precepts, the way, the truth, the righteousness…

Judgment:  In our world people often say, as Jesus told the hypocrites, “Judge not lest you be judged.” 

David said that he longed to be judged.  The judgments of God are His Word showing by His Word and works what is right and what is wrong giving instruction and discernment to make a decision.  David cried out for God’s judgments.  He wanted to have His Word guide him in what he should do.

You may have it in your power to help someone.  You ask God if you should help them.  “Show me by thy word.”  We have limited time.

Jas 1:25  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

The only liberty in your life is what comes from the Word of God.  If God has pinpointed needs in your life then look right into His Word for the answer. 

Time, time, I’ve noticed that there a lot of songs that speak of time.

“We have this moment to hold in our hand, and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand.”

When my wife visits her aged aunt, her aunt may be ninety, when those two look at each other they look with such intensity that it seems they are trying to photograph the other on their mind. 

Time leaves us and if we are not careful our time will be filled with the negative things that I preached about or things of the world.  Be consecrated to God.  My times, every season, are in thy hands.