[Ecclesiastes] The Tapestry Of Time | Benny Ho

uh i'm gonna take you now to we are continuing our series in the interesting book of ecclesiastes and i bring you now to chapter three where we left off last week so go with me to ecclesiastes chapter three i'm gonna start reading from verse one onwards and today we're gonna be talking about times and seasons okay very interesting um part of the book go to ecclesiastes chapter three i start reading from verse one mine is the niv translation nearly infallible version no just kidding new international version it's just the version i like to preach from okay here we go 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 a time to plan and a time to uproot a time to kill and a time to heal and you notice they are all contrasts okay and a time to tear down a time to build a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to moan and a time to dance the time to scatter stones a time to gather them 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 what do workers gain from the toil i have seen the burden that god has laid on the human race he has made everything beautiful in his time he has also set eternity in the hearts of man or the human heart yet no one can fathom or understand what god has done from the beginning to the end i know that there's nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live then each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all they are tall this is the gift of god and i know that everything god does will endure forever nothing will be added to it and nothing taken from it god does it so that people will fear him whatever is has already been and what has what will be has been before and because and god will call the past to account lord i pray this morning that you will allow your word to minister to our hearts i know that lord jesus even within our congregation or those that are watching there are many that may be going through difficult times and i pray that this word will be a source of encouragement to them that even though we don't know the end from the beginning we can trust in this god who is sovereign a god who's in control even though we are not and so we commit this time to you speak as your servants heareth in jesus name amen amen you know as the wise man pursues the meaning of life he inevitably has to come to the subject of time why because time is the stuff that life is made of how many of you agree time is the stuff that life is made of you see because time is life see when your time is gone your life is gone see time is life you show me a man who knows how to manage his time and i'll show you a man who knows how to manage his life because anybody who cannot manage his time cannot manage his life because time is the stuff that life is made of and what's interesting to me is that time is the most equitable commodity on the face of this earth regardless of whether you are rich or poor whether you are simple you are wise or you're simple whether you're educated or you're illiterate whether you're cultured or you are crude whether you're young or you're old it doesn't matter we all have equally 24 hours a day 60 minutes to an hour 60 seconds to a minute no more no less fair and square how many of you agree this is one commodity you know i know for sure pastor chinglain has got more money than me but that's okay but we have equal amount of time you know it's the most equal commodity on the face of this world of this earth and we all have equal amount of it and the truth is this brothers and sisters you and i cannot buy time save time gain time or kill time although we use these phrases a lot right we are buying time chilling time gaining time and all of that actually the only thing we can really do with time is to use it wisely that's the only thing we can do with our time so i want to encourage all of us join solomon as he leads us in this conversation about time this morning now the niv study bible talking about this chapter in chapter three oh something wrong i thought you would say aircon no okay sorry those of you okay those of you watching online you know i just want you to know we are real man we are real life now so you see all the mistakes as well all right never mind i may make a mistake medium and make a mistake but the word of god remains accurate so i'm gonna bring you the word this morning okay now so where are we the niv study bible actually talking about ecclesiastes chapter 3 make these comments and i love this here's what it says here in chapter 3 the teacher shows that we are subject to times and changes over which we have little or no control then he contrasts this state with men's or god's eternity and sovereignty and god in his sovereignty pre-determines all of life's activities and i think he summarized solomon's conclusion about time and life no we are not going to examine this in the light of biblical revelation okay so here's the thing i believe that there are three general approaches in which we view time the first is a humanistic approach and in the humanistic approach to time we think that man is the master of time okay that man determines the times and the seasons of his life that man is the one who determines the least of 28 activities that the the wise man outlines for us in ecclesiastes chapter 3 a time to live time to die etc but the question really is this do we really do we really determine the times and the season for example can you decide today that you'll be happy next week ken no not really can we know for certain that we'll be dancing and laughing tomorrow we don't know and the truth is this that's the problem with the humanistic approach to time the problem is that man is not in control of all the situations of life how many of you agree we are not in control we live in an uncertain world and that's why the book of james in chapter 4 verse 13 to 15 says this now listen you who say today or tomorrow we'll go to this or that city spend a year there carry on business and make money while you do not even know what will happen tomorrow how many of you agree that's the truth you don't even know what will happen tomorrow what is your life you're like a miss that appears for a little while and boom and then you vanish now we like to think that we are in control but the reality is this brothers and sisters we are not and then you listen to what james says in verse 15 he says instead you ought to say if it is the lord's will then we will live and do this or that so what what is he saying he's saying to us that it is ultimately not our will it is god's will that prevails so i got news for you brothers and sisters we are not the captains of our own soul we are not the captains we are not the masters of our own faith we are not man does not control the circumstances of his own life in other words man is not a totally sovereign being we are subject to the uncertainties of life and that's the reason why we all buy insurance isn't it if you are so certain we don't need insurance it's because we are subject to the uncertainties of life that the humanistic approach to time really cannot hold water now there's another extreme which is the second way which is a fatalistic approach and i think this is kind of like the view that solomon basically takes he's saying here that life is all fated we really have no choice at all and solomon listed 28 activities as examples and what he's saying to us is this god is the sovereign one okay up there above the sun all right and he's the one that's pulling the strings he sets the time he calls the shot everything has been mapped out but where we are heading and that's where he struggled listen carefully where he struggles is this he acknowledges that there is a sovereign god up there who sets the times in the season he pulls the strings and all of that he he sets the time he calls the shots but the thing he struggle with is this but what where we are hating and what is the purpose god is not telling us god didn't tell us and that's what he struggles with you look at verse 11 of ecclesiastes 3 he says he referring to god god has made everything beautiful in his time he has also set eternity in the hearts of man yet they cannot fathom they cannot understand what god has done from beginning to end so what is the wise man saying he recognized that god has put eternity a sense of eternity into the hearts of man and that's why man always has a sense of eternal destiny and god is the one who put it there but he did not tell us what it is and that's what he struggles with so the best thing he can come up with in terms of being a wise man advising the next generation all he can said was this i think eat drink and try and enjoy yourself but whatever happened we are not at fault we are not responsible blame it on faith that's the fatalistic approach to time are you getting this picture you have the humanistic approach and then you have the fatalistic approach and then that's why the muslims will say allah harim he has splendid all something we can do about it god is playing it all the hindus will say accept your karma that's your karma that's why it's like that and i think to bring out this point the good news bible actually translates ecclesiastes chapter 3 a little bit differently from niv niv used a time for this a time for that the good news bible used the the word d time for this d time for that to highlight the point that god is the one who sets the specific time for everything and man seems to have no part in it everything is fated predestined so so you have two extremes you can imagine a pendulum okay so one end of the pendulum is the humanistic approach and the other end of the pendulum is the fatalistic approach humanistic approach says man is in full control god is out of the picture and then the fatalistic approach says god is the one that sovereignly decides everything men can't help it apart from men so what is the christian view i think the christian view is somewhere in the middle and i call it the realistic approach okay what is the christian view to time i think it's this it's not humanistic it's also not fatalistic it's realistic because it is not men in total control independent of god it is also not god setting everything apart from man but it is this listen carefully it is man's response to god's timing it is man's response to god's timing it is god's sovereignty balance with man's responsibility so solomon is partly right he said god in his sovereignty sets the time it's true he determines the moments of destiny in all of our lives but we have the responsibility to respond to them correctly are you with me it's man's response to god's sovereignty for example now is the time that god has set for us to worship him right sunday morning it's meant for us to worship him but how many of you know you can choose not to you can choose to watch netflix right now right but then what's happening it's god setting his time and then we have to respond to it see that there is a time for us to keep quiet but how many of you know we can choose you to speak we can so god allows certain things to happen in our life but we choose how we respond to them so if we respond without new men if we respond in the spirit we become better you respond wrongly in the flesh it becomes better i think solomon got halfway there in his search for the truth because of his limited perspective remember what is his limited perspective in this book under the sun as long as i live he's viewing life from under the sun earthly as long as i live temporal perspective and that's all he could see he can tell us that god seems to be the one setting the time but that's as far as he can go man seems to have no choice but to hope for the best and in desperation he confessed he don't know what god is up to no one can fathom it he said and he laments the fact that god however has put eternity into man's heart but did not tell man what is the future what is ahead what's the purpose what's the destination so he concluded in verse 9 to 11. listen to this now what does the worker gain from his tall i have seen the burden that god has laid on man he has made everything beautiful in his time he has also set eternity in the hearts of man but yet they cannot fathom they cannot figure out what god has done from beginning to end can you sense his frustration that's what he's struggling with and so his best advice at the end of the day is verse 12 when he say to us i know there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live that's as far as he can take us but here's the thing listen listen to this there is one thing solomon did solomon did allude to something that points us to a deeper truth and that is found in verse 11 when he said this god has set eternity in the hearts of man god has set eternity in the hearts of man you know this word eternity is a hebrew word olam o l m olam which is the same word used to describe the eternal god el olam the eternal god and theologically we need to understand this it is only an eternal god that can put eternity into the hearts of men only el alam the eternal god can set alarm eternity into the hearts of men and this is so crucial my friends because we now have this security if we know that our god is not only good our god is not only faithful but he is also eternal it has a lot of implication it means this you know that our our god is good not only good he's eternally good our god is faithful not only faithful but eternally grateful eternally faithful that means what you know we serve a god that is so that has eternity and he he never changed he's that unchanging eternal god you know that's why i don't have to worry if my salvation is still there because you know he does not say to us today no benny i love you i forgive you and i'm going to save you and then tomorrow morning he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed he changed his mind and said no now i hate you and i want you to fry in hell that's not going to happen he's not just good but he's eternally good he's not just faithful he's eternally faithful and in this is my security i serve an eternal unchanging god and he has put eternity into my heart as well are you with me and that is so important god has set eternity into the hearts of men and that is also why every man that i know when they mature when they grow up they all have this they are searching you know for this sense of eternal destiny and purpose how many of you know that everyone's looking for a sense of purpose and that's also the reason why only man talks about life and eternity you don't find chickens doing that right you never get it it's only men that will ask one another you know hey me how what's your purpose in life and then he can tell me something my purpose is to transform our city you know by doing what i do great and what's my purpose in life i believe god called me to be a preacher of god's word and i'm going to do that to the end do i die i have that this sense of eternal destiny you understand and and we only people have that chickens don't have that i've never come across two chicken talking to each other so what do you foresee you'll be doing 10 years from now and then one chicken will say to the other you know i sense i'm destined to be kentucky fried chicken another one will say i think i'm hainanese chicken rice and one more will say i think you know i'm destined to be that roast chicken in in nando's chicken but with men it's totally different we talk about the future we talk about eternity why because god has set eternity in the hearts of men and for that reason animals have life cycle only humans have history we have history and it is this sense of eternity however can be muted can be muted by sin see and when man's sin our spirits become dull and we no longer live by the spirit we live by the soul we get dragged down to earth we become under the sun as long as i live instead of above the sun and beyond the grave and this sense of eternal significance is awakened at different moments in our life we ever experienced that there are there are moments when we suddenly think about all these things that is god seeking to draw us into his plans ecclesiastes 3 verse one says there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven and this word season in the hebrew is the word simon which actually means this appointed time there is an appointed time and then on top of that episode 63 verse 11 don't miss this one he has made everything beautiful in his time and that word beautiful is better translated as appropriate god will make everything appropriate in his time and here's the principle listen carefully there is an appointed time where god actually says certain things he allows certain things to happen in our life but then there is also an appropriate time when he brings everything together so that it all makes sense are you with me it becomes beautiful it becomes appropriate so between the appointed time until the appropriate time we have the time in between and that's where the big question mark is for the for ecclesia for the wise man he said i can't fathom what god is doing between disappointed time and the appropriate time okay so that's the whole point see and this is where solomon looking at life from under the sun as long as i live perspective ended up in this dilemma and then he's looking at god the things that god has appointed but he also know in his mind because he's a believer in god that god will somehow work everything together it will all be appropriate in the end but in between is where he struggles in between he's asking then why do bad things happen to good people and why do good things happen to bad people he couldn't figure it out he said why why do things happen like that and and that's where he struggled why did the good suffer why did the wicked prosper and so only thing he can say is he set eternity in the hearts of man but yet they cannot fathom what why is like that they cannot understand what god has done from beginning to the end are you with me that's his struggle and i think that's our struggle too how many of you agree i also don't understand a lot of things and we all face this dilemma of history you know when we cannot reconcile between what we see in history what's happening and who our god is that's why in the end all solomon could say is this verse 12 to verse 15 i know that there's nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live that everyone may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all is tall this is the gift of god i know that everything god does will endure forever nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it god does it so that men will revere him fear him whatever is has already been and what has what will be has been before and god will call the past to account so here's the big picture don't miss this huh he recognized that there is a god who sets the appointed time he allows certain things to happen and he give us 14 activities as example okay there is an appointed time and then because he know that there is god he is sovereign therefore he recognizes that it will be an appropriate time when god make everything beautiful in his time in between his struggles and he said i cannot fathom everything i cannot understand everything why things are the way it is but he said let's try to be happy eat drink and be merry try to do good along the way that's all he can come up with now how do we understand it then how do we make sense of all this and i know we all agree that there's truth there that's reality but how do we see all this so i want to give you a mental pic paint a picture for you now here's what i think is happening between god's appointed time until god's appropriate time what's happening now picture if you can there's a giant tapestry in the sky you know what the tapestry is it's uh you know where women like to sew right so they they sold patterns in a tapestry they strung a cloth over a net a cloth over a frame and then they sew and they make beautiful pictures out of it now imagine there's a giant tapestry in the sky okay and there's a neat thing going on and here we are we are all under the sun so solomon's under the sun he's trying to figure out what's going on here so he's looking up at this tapestry but how many of you know he's at the bottom of the tapestry got that okay he's looking at it and he's trying to figure out what's going on so there's this giant tapestry and then imagine there are strings coming through sometimes the strings are white that is when things are just neutral everything is just normal sometimes it's black thread it's black thread that comes through those are times when stuff happens when things unhappy happens something tragic happens other times you have great threats coming through well that means it's days of uncertainty this one i don't know what's going to happen tomorrow and some of us are going through that right now days of uncertainty we don't know what will happen and then there are other times when you have delightful colors red blue green yellow coming through and those are happy moments when we got an approval when we just launched a campus you know it's just your son just gave birth you know something like that and those are happy moments and we all celebrate that but imagine if you are under the tapestry and you're watching all these strings come true and then what happened after that they crisscross here and there right they go over each other they go here they go there they go and you see all these colors coming through and how many of you know if you are watching this whole thing from under the tapestry you can't make sense of it in fact sometimes it looks like a mess and that's how we feel about life sometimes why did this happen what did that happen and we can't make sense of it but all this foreign and you know what some people have actually reached this point where they gave up then they stopped trying to figure this out they just say i cannot understand i can't fathom it but there are others who are trying so hard to make sense of it and still struggling with it but all this wow you know what god is doing god is challenging us and he's inviting us to soar up with wings of faith and go beyond that and don't don't stay under the tapestry trying to figure this out but break above the tapestry and when you break above the tapestry you discover something that god is the one who is pushing the threads he is the master weaver and when he when he puts those threats in we don't understand from under but when we go up and see it from god's point of view you suddenly realize it's a beautiful pattern that he's sewing up there are you with me and then when we begin to see it that is when we say he has made everything beautiful in his time and every single thread whether it's black or white red blue green yellow they all are necessary for the pattern that he is weaving and when we begin to see it from there then it all makes sense and that's what the wise men couldn't fully see at that point but we can we need to sort up with wings of faith go above the tapestry burst beyond the sun to gods to his side and then we see from god's perspective and then we discover that he is weaving something beautiful in his time you see and colossians 1 i want to read something for you what is he weaving i i take you to colossians chapter one i want to read for you verse 16 to 19. listen to this the sun is the image of the invisible god the first born over all creation for in him all things were created things in heaven on earth visible and invisible where the thrones or powers or rulers or authorities all things have been created through him and for him he is before all things and in him all things hold together and he is the head of the body the church he's the beginning and the first born from amongst the dead so that in everything he might have the supremacy for god was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in jesus and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether things on earth or things in heaven by making peace to his blood and on that cross brothers and sisters i want you to know that in christ all things contain i think jesus is the tapestry in which all of our lives are woven into the good times and the bad the happy and the sad you know the peaceful and the traumatic they are all parts of the necessary strokes to complete god's picture for mankind solomon was partially right again he knew that god sets the time god is sovereign however we must always remember ultimately man has a responsibility to respond correctly to god's times and seasons in the old testament they may not know god's purpose and complete design but now in the new testament we know solomon didn't know that god would one day send jesus to reveal to us his ultimate purpose galatians 4 verse 4 but when the time has fully come god sent his son born of a woman born under law that we might receive the full rights of sons see solomon did not know that christ would one day come and declare himself to be the beginning and the end the alpha and the omega and in him everything makes sense and then in one tremendous incarnation god revealed to us the ultimate picture that he is weaving on his tapestry in heaven and that picture i think is summed up in romans 8 28 to 30 and we know that in all things god works for the good of those who loved him called according to his purpose those whom god foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son that he might be the firstborn of many brethrens and those he predestined he also called those who called he also justified those who justified he also glorified i want you to know brothers and sisters that god will make everything beautiful in his time he will make everything appropriate in his time and god has planned things in such a way that in the end they will bring out his best purpose and they become appropriate in his time everything begins in christ and the end will be christ personified in every one of us that's why sometimes in our life there are great threats that there are black threads even and it's because there can be times that are tough it's because god's purpose is not to pamper us god's purpose is to purify us you know his purpose is not just to make us happy his purpose is to make us holy he's just not just out to pacify us but he's out to conform us to the image of his son jesus christ and sometimes like solomon you know we cannot fully comprehend what god is doing but we also need to be like him know that god will make everything beautiful in his time he make everything appropriate in his time so can i leave you with this in the light of all that we learn from the wise men here are three things that we must do every one of us number one is this can i challenge you to recognize god's appointed time recognize that there are times and seasons in our life there are some seasons when we feel like everything is so happening for us am i right everything seems to be flowing along you see growth you see progress in your career in your relationships in your ministry in your finances etc etc but there can also be seasons when there are more problems and possibilities there's some seasons we see more mess than miracles we see more scars than stars you know we have more heartaches than hallelujahs and there are seasons like that that we all go through and when those valley time comes when those moments come we must remember god is still the master weaver we've got to sow up with faith and burst beyond the sun and begin to see it from his perspective like for example we are going through a pandemic right now none of us can say that this is good but it is what it is what should our response be we must believe that god is still on his throne he is still in control he is still in charge he is still sovereign and whatever the season may be in our life it does not change the fact god is god does not change the fact that he is sovereign he is lord that's the core of the moment that's the appointed season god allowed it to happen and we recognize god's appointed time okay then what number two we wait for god's appropriate time we depend on this appropriate time see god's appointed time is here we are going through it right now but we are waiting for his appropriate time even though the world is right now facing this unprecedented health crisis yes our economy can be in turmoil and that's true there are many people who are losing their jobs their businesses they are shutting down one thing remains we trust the master weaver you know that he will make everything beautiful in his appropriate time we have to trust him for this he is the one still pushing the threads of our life and we trust that he's weaving the most beautiful picture of our life utilizing every thread the black the whites and the delightful colors and when he is finally finished all of us will look back and we will say he has done great things bless his holy name and this is what it means to rely on god's appropriate time so we recognize god's appointed time we are waiting for its appropriate time but in between what do you do this is what we do we don't just love men and say i cannot fathom you know what we do we redeem all the available time in between redeem all available time as we go through this difficult time we resolve in our hearts not not just to recognize god's appointed time not just to wait for his appropriate time to come but we also seek to redeem all available time and through this season for example now in this season all of our travels are curtailed right we are all locked down in perth hey don't just lament that we cannot go here we cannot go there make the best use of this time what do you think make the best use of this time redeem this available time maybe we slow down this season we slow down today so that we can gear up for tomorrow so don't waste this crisis but let's redeem the time and let's use it for god's glory and for men's good make the best use of this time let's renew our relationships with those around us like our families know our connect group members our friends because everybody is available now good news for you no one's going anywhere we've got plenty of time to to revive our relationship with one another now if you've always thought about maybe i should join a connect group somewhere this is the time go do it because every group is running oh now holidays but once holiday is over every group is running okay this is the best time to do it let's revive our personal walk with god redeem this available time revive our personal work with god let's revitalize our word life let's revitalize our own prayer life if you have always thought about maybe i should volunteer somewhere this is the best time because nobody's going anywhere so why don't we volunteer ourselves at fake community services a volunteer platform why don't we re-establish connection with our neighbors it's the best time this is the best time to reach out to people because everybody's available it's the best time you ever want to mentor someone this is the best time to volunteer yourself do it because we have the available time now and here's another idea let's revisit places right here in our own backyard in perth i haven't even been to the pinnacles you know maybe we should redeem all available time and support our local businesses let's go visit our own backyard redeem the available time ephesians chapter 5 verse 15 says this be very careful then paul says how you live not as unwise but as wise making the best making the most of every opportunity king james version said redeeming the time because the days are evil therefore do not be foolish but understand what the lord's will is and in the light of eternity we live our lives purposefully we live our life we live our life proactively making use of every moment to know god and to glorify him so don't wait anymore brothers and sisters we recognize this appointed time yes we are in a season here we trust and he wait for his appropriate time he will make everything beautiful in his time but in between while we are going through this what do we do redeem all available time so don't don't procrastinate anymore if you are going to serve do it now if you are going to reach out do it now if you are going to join arrows college do it now you plan like as if this is the first day of your life you live like as if this is the last day of your life and then we can declare with the psalmist david my times are in your hands my times is in your hands so i'm challenging you brothers and sisters whether you're watching online in city campus or right here in this auditorium i'm challenging every one of us to do this recognize god's appointed time [Music] he is sovereign he's in control the master weaver is still pushing the threads and then we trust him for his appropriate time he will make everything beautiful you may not understand it now but everything will come together in the end because god is sovereign and he is good not only good eternally good and his will will come to pass in between what do we do let's redeem our available time make the best use of this season amen do what you god has always unwanted you to do this is the time to do it make use of this time do the best and use it to build your families use it to build your own personal work with god use it to serve others use it to reach out make the best use of this available time redeeming the time while the days are evil amen would you stand with me please whether here on city campus why don't we all stand together and like us to sing this old song as we close this morning and we declare together and make this our prayer in his time he will make everything beautiful hallelujah let's worship him together

Channel: Faith Community Church Perth

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Length: 40min 57sec (2457 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 01 2020