Sermon Tone Analysis

An old man and his son once farmed a little piece of land.

Several times each year they would load their vegetables into an ox-drawn cart and go to the nearest city to sell the produce.

The trip was usually marked by disagreement because the son was always in a hurry and the old man couldn’t be rushed.

One morning the two headed out on their trip.

The son calculated that if they walked fast and pushed on through the night they’d be in the city early the next morning.

To stay on schedule he kept hitting the ox with a stick, prodding the animal to hurry along.

Finally, after a few rounds of that, the father said, “Take it easy, son.

You’ll last longer.”

The boy said, “But if we get to market ahead of the others, we’ll get the best prices.”

To that the father just pulled his hat down over his eyes and fell asleep on the seat of the cart.

The boy kept hitting the ox, but the ox had a pace all its own.

Four hours into the trip they came to a little house.

The father roused from his sleep and said, “This is your uncle’s house.

Let’s stop in and say hello.”

The boy replied, “But we are already an hour behind schedule.”

“Well, then, a few more minutes won’t matter,” said the father.

“My brother and I don’t get to see each other much.”

And so, for the next hour, the boy sat and stewed while the brothers laughed and talked.

When father and son finally got back onto the road, the father took his turn leading the ox.

When they came to a fork in the road, he led the ox to the right.

The boy piped up, “The left way is shorter.”

The old man answered, “I know, but this way offers prettier scenery.”

The boy bellowed, “Don’t you have any respect for time?” “Yes, said the father, “that’s why I want to use it to enjoy the beautiful scenery.”

The winding path led through picturesque meadows, wildflowers, and alongside a babbling brook.

But the son missed it all.

He was too busy moaning from impatience.

He didn’t even notice how perfect the sunset was that afternoon.

The father pulled the ox to a halt in a particularly gorgeous spot and said, “Let’s sleep here tonight.”

Through his frustration, the boy raged, “I’m not going to take any more trips with you.

You are more interested in watching sunsets and smelling flowers than in making money!”

He meant for those words to hurt his father, but the old man just smiled and said, “Why, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

It wasn’t long before the father was snoring and the son was staring up at the stars, restless for the morning to come and the trip to begin again.

The sun wasn’t even fully up when the young man shook his father awake.

They hitched up the ox and headed down the road.

They had traveled about a mile when they came upon another farmer who was trying to pull his cart out of a ditch.

The father said, “Let’s give him a hand.”

“And lose more time?” the boy shot back.

“Relax,” said the man, “you might be in a ditch yourself sometime.”

It was almost 8:00 a.m. by the time they got the other cart out of the ditch and back onto the road.

Suddenly a great flash split the sky.

What sounded like thunder followed and the sky grew dark beyond the hills.

“Looks like a big rain in the city,” said the father.

“Yes,” said the son, “and if we’d hurried we’d be almost sold out by now.” “Take it easy, you’ll last longer.

And you’ll enjoy life so much more,” said the father.

It was late afternoon by the time father and son made it to the hill overlooking the city.

They stood there and stared for a long, long time.

Neither of them said a word.

Finally, the son put his hand on his father’s shoulder and said, “Now I see what you mean.”

Then they turned the oxcart around and began to slowly roll away from what had once been the city of Hiroshima.

Time and God’s Time is something we think and wrestle with on almost a daily basis.

Keeping good time and keeping God’s time isn’t it something how this can be a time of real frustration, aggravation or a time of peace and enjoyment.

Like the father and the son, like Justin Timberlake in the move clip today?

Especially in our culture today, we are always in a hurry and we are always busy with the things of life and when God’s time does not line up with our schedule, it becomes more aggravating that He wont adjust His schedule to ours.

Well young man, God’s time is not our time.

Yes that is obvious.

He needs a new personal assistant.

Do we struggle with the sovereignty of God today?

Do we struggle with the meaning of life today?

Are we struggling with the sense of eternity in our hearts and do not know how to make sense of it?

Today we are going to see that God’s time is perfect.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

It is Beautiful

It is Joyful

It is Perfect

It is Good News

The first thing we will look at is the real beauty of the awesome and mysterious sovereignty of God and how we can find comfort in it.

Second, in light of this, we will see how we can and should take joy in His sovereignty and do the good that He has created us for.

Third, We will explore how we can find great comfort in His perfect timing and how we should wait and trust in His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Finally, we will see how perfect the timing of the coming of the Son of God was for the bringing of life and life more abundant.

God is good all the time.

All the time God is good.

Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to despair in the will and timing of the Lord to the point of frustration, it is the wonderful love and compassion of Christ that will, by the power of the Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to trust in the wonderful, good, pleasing and perfect will of the Father.

Because God is good all the time.

And all the time God is good.

I.

It is Beautiful

- The Sovereignty of God is good and perfect, in other words, its Beautiful.

A. We had just completed the beautiful poem of Solomon regarding time.

From the time of birth and the time of death there is a time and a season for everything under heaven.

B. Then here in v.9, Solomon asks a question that he had already asked, ahh but we need a reminder.

The ongoing quest to find meaning in life, Qoheleth the preacher wants to know what kind of return he would get for the investment of all of his time and effort.

In his ongoing quest to find meaning in life, the Preacher always wanted to know what kind of return he would get for the investment of his time and effort.

C.

Here we go… the answer is once again nothing under the sun.

But now he shows us that there is a time and a season for everything and all is in God’s hands.

Everything under the sun will not profit us anything, but the Lord is in control and responsible for it all.

And it is all beautiful.

Solomon here sees the beauty of God’s sovereignty.

Not only is there a time for everything, but God always does things at just the right time.

And it is beautiful.

Solomon here sees the beauty of God’s sovereignty.

Not only is there a time for everything, but God always does things at just the right time.

Therefore

Ryken, P. G. (2010).

Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p.

90).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Ryken, P. G. (2010).

Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p.

90).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

D. Yah-fey - In the Hebrew is beautiful, first of all in the visual sense.