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Brethren, The Time Is Short

September 10, 2006

1 Corinthians 7:29 “But this I say, brethren, the time is short…”

Psalm 89:47-48 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? 48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah

Our days in this world are fleeting

Psalm 103:15-16 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

Our days are as a shadow

1 Chronicles 29:15 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding.

All flesh is as grass

1 Peter 1:24-25 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth [or abides] for ever [or unto the age]. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Our life is a vapour

James 4:14 “…For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

A meaningful and sober prayer

Psalm 39:4-5 LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. 5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth [or the width of my hand]; and mine age [or “duration of life”], is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah

Our days are determined

Job 14:5 Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed (NIV).

After death is the judgment

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die (in this age), but after this the judgment:

Pass the time of your sojourning in fear

1 Peter 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

Exceeding joy at Christ’s return

Jude 1:24 Now unto him [our Lord Jesus Christ v.21] that is able [He has the power] to keep you from falling [into a life of sin], and to present you faultless [without rebuke] before the presence of his glory [in the regeneration, Mt.19:28; at His coming, Mt.25:31] with exceeding joy.

Ashamed at Christ’s return

Mark 8:38 Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation (in this age); of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels (at the end of this age).”

1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Not every servant uses his time the same way

Luke 19:12-20 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds (same amount was given to all), and said unto them, Occupy till I come (use your time wisely). 15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: (not all servants returned the same amount)

The third servant is the unprofitable servant

Matthew 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

A workman that needs not to be ashamed

2 Timothy 2:15Study [give all your energy - active imperative] to showthyself [to present yourself NKJ]approvedunto God (not mans approval), a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Learn to number your days

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

All of us have wasted enough time

Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Redeem the time by walking circumspectly

Ephesians 5:14-17 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil (temptations to waste our time). 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

1 Peter 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but [in contrast] to the will of God.