The Number of our Days

Sermon Oct 24 2021 - Our Days are Numbered For many of us the years are crawling up and up fast. Some of us don't want to even mention our age. Some of us want to make the years to stand still so that we can remain where we are now. Sadly, some of us say: "Lord take my life now, life is not worth living anymore" What is the purpose of life then? Only you can expand on your situation. Does God take our number of years in consideration? Psl 39:4 Teach me, O Lord, about the number of days I have left so that I may know how temporary my life is. How do we measure our life at the moment? Is it worth it? How does God view our lives at this very moment? Psl 39:5 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath. We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. It's all in vain and I have numerous challenges, Oh, God. What do you want me to do with the time you are giving me? Melanie, our daughter was 10 years old, we danced together. I can remember when Melanie said to our son Justin who was in his mid-teens then, she said "Justin, you're getting old" All this made me think: when a little child knows their age, they are so eager to tell everyone how old they are. "I'm TWO or I'm three years old. After that; I'm big now, I'm 6 They can't wait to turn 10. Kids can't wait to turn 16 to get a driver's license, they can't wait to turn 18 to have a drink (legally) They act as if there is not going to be an end to life, They think they are immortal. By the time we got to 40, we do not want to mention our age anymore. When you ask: "How old are you now "well I'm only young - - bla-bla-bla" but the actual number does not come out as loud as when they were 5 or 6, especially the ladies. It's embarrassing to mention your age when you're over the 40 mark right up to the upper 70s. When you get to the 80s, things begin to change again. Ask an older person: How old are you now? I'm going to be 81 in 10 months' time. When you reach 100, you become front-page-news. The announcement is loud and clear. I wonder how vocal Adam would have announced his age: Adam how old are you now? Can you hear him say; I'm 929 years and soon I'll be 930 Gen 5:5 Adam lived 930 years, and then he died. Methuselah lived a total of 969 years. I'm sure he would have said: I'm heading for a 1000 years. God mentioned my days are numbered, it's not for me to know when it will end. Why are human beings so shy to mention their actual age? Is it because we will get accused of being "you're old" Let's read in the Bible again if God really count the number of our years? When Moses was asked to send out 12 spies to the land of milk and honey God expected those spies to trust Him and see the positive things in the "Promised Land" The spies returned and 10 of them reported all negative things they have seen. Only TWO (Joshua and Caleb) saw what God has promised them: a wonderful country. Josh 14:7-8 Joshua said: I was forty years old at the time Moses sent me into Canaan as a spy. I completely trusted the Lord God. When I came back, Moses told me, "Since you were faithful to the Lord God, I promise that the places where you went as a spy will belong to you and to your descendants forever. The Scripture says that a 1000 years is like a day in God's eyes and God knows our days and years, every one of them. Num. 14:34 The Lord said to Israel: According to the number of the days in which they spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure. God knows the days and years, even when we wander away from Him. Psl 56: 8 You have kept record of my days of wandering. You have stored my tears in Your bottle and counted each of them. . . . . Picture . . . . It's very clear that God keeps a count of every day of our lives. I realize none of us get to choose the number of our days to live, we only get to choose what to do with each day. The Western world are moving further away from God, but God tells us: . . . Eph 5:15-16 Act like people with good sense and not like fools. These are evil times, so make every minute count. That was 2000 yrs ago. We're all anxiously waiting for Jesus' return, but we can't choose that time. Time is overwhelmingly precious and anything that is so precious is worth keeping. I'd like to give three reasons why time is precious? 1. Because it's a scares commodity, yes, I said scares. You lost the hours since you got up until now, you cannot go back and relive it or use it again. . . . . Picture . . . I remember when I was young, I thought that time would never end and will continue forever. Now that I'm older, time is moving more quickly than I expected. I see my clock runs faster and faster than ever before. Sometimes I feel trapped as if time is an illusion. Our children grew up fast, our house was full of children with friends, yet soon Juliet and I will be in an empty nest. Sometimes it's hard to go through challenging moments. How did Job describe how he lost time during his days? Job 9:25-28 My life is speeding by, without a hope of happiness. Each day passes swifter than a sailing ship or an eagle swooping down. Sometimes I try to be cheerful and to stop complaining, but my sufferings frighten me, because I know that God still considers me guilty. (Job new time is a scares commodity and he feels scared) Let's read what Job says in: Job 16:22 Because in only a few years, I will be dead and gone. Each one of us should also look into the future and see that death is approaching like an "oncoming train" Time is so scares and we should be aware of it every hour and live for the moment. Jesus said: Luke 12:25 Jesus said: Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 2 . Time is not only scares, it is very precious, it's valuable. Business people often say: my time is valuable, I can only deal with this issue later. Time is valuable. Who wants to buy from me an extra FIVE years of my precious time in Africa - it was so wonderful? I'll sell it to you for a 5k Dollars a year = $5000. . . . . . Picture . . . Scares & Valuable . . . My time is valuable, but I'm willing to negotiate a better price. Any offers, how about $1? No, I cannot sell it. We all have 24 hrs in a day and it cannot be sold at any price. We can't choose the time of our lives, even though there are many products on the market that promise us longevity. Only God assigns time for each one of us and it's precious. . . . . . Picture . . . unrecoverable . . . 3 . Time is "Unrecoverable". Time is not just a scares commodity, or just precious, because "yesterday's time" is gone and it can never be recovered. There is no bank or an institution where you can go to deposit precious time for later use. You cannot SAVE time, you can only SPEND time. It's gone, yes, gone forever. Yes, time is: . . . . . (Scares, Valuable and Unrecoverable) Many people say: I walk this journey only once, I will not go through this day again. Jesus said: "Come and follow Me" The road is narrow. Eccl describes it very well . . . . Eccl 12:1-4,7 Remember your Creator while you are young, before the bad times come, before the years come when you say, "I have wasted my life", before the time comes when the sun and the moon and the stars become dark to you, before problems come again and again like one storm after another. Eccl described it so well, he went on to say: Eccl 12:7 Your arms will lose their strength. Your legs will become weak and bent. Your teeth will fall out, and you will not be able to chew your food. Your eyes will not see clearly. You will become hard of hearing. What is the purpose of life then? Eccl says: Remember your Creator We read in Gen 5 Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and he was taken up into heaven - no death. (Faithfully for 300 yrs) How is our walk with Jesus today? How precious is our time? Is it scares, is it valuable? Is time passing us by? Let me ask? Have you shared a Word of Truth with somebody this week or this month, have you prayed or served just one person? On average about 70 people attend services every week. We as facilitators offer a weekly Zoom "Prayer-Meeting" and only 12 people come and pray together for the sick and needy. Don't wait until you need prayers, then ask the church to bring the matter to before Jesus. Come and join us and share the concerns before God-1 hour. Ask, am I making use of every day that our loving Father has allotted me or is it all a waste-of-time? If it's a waste-of-time, than it is a waste-of-life? James 4:14 You do not know about what may happen in your life tomorrow. You are merely a vapor [like a puff of smoke] that is visible for a little while and then vanishes into thin air. "My life is a vapor and in a little while it will vanish". God will call us back to Him, God knows that day, and we don't. Yes, time can never be recovered. So come and join us Tuesdays for the HOUR of PRAYER. What will you do if you knew that this is your final day of life? 2 Peter 1:13 The Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that my days here on earth are numbered, and I am soon to die. They found some documents in Rome from the Historian "Jerome" that indicates that the Apostle Peter asked to be crucified upside down, because he was not worth to hang on the cross the same way as Jesus died. It touched me. That is such a humble request from the one who betrayed Jesus and yet Jesus said to Peter; "On you Simon Peter, I will build my church". What a testimony from the Apostle Peter. What words will Jesus announce to you & me on our last day? Who have you prayed for or served this week? How should we use our precious time then? 2 Pet 1:4-6 God made great and marvelous promises, so that His nature would become part of us. Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God. "Improve your faith" How do you measure time? We measure time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years with clocks and calendars. Time is a calculation. It's calculated when we measure the duration of the earth going around the son. From morning to morning=24 hrs Scripture is very clear that we must live our lives wisely while here on earth - NOW. Not tomorrow, but today. Today is the day of Salvation. Time is VERY precious. In Eccl we read: There is a time for everything, a time for this and a time for that . . . Let's make valuable use of our time. Eighty to ninety percent of people I talk to says that they can see the world is getting worse and worse and cannot continue like this, they think the Tribulation is around the corner, then the return of Jesus. I'm sure many feel the same way. The question is: are we ready for it? In Prov 4 we read that the way of the wicket is like deep darkness, but for the believer we must be WISE with our time. The best thing about Wisdom is Wisdom itself; a good sense of Wisdom is more important than health or possessions. Prov says: "In all your seeking, seek Wisdom" Therefore time is now more precious regardless of the predictions and conditions. Thanks-Giving to our loving God should be our new way of life, my days of dissatisfaction has been replaced by Gratefulness to a God who loves us and who gave us His Son to cleanse us from our sins and our "human-way-of-wasting-our-precious-time" to set us FREE forever. "Lord Teach Me to Count the Number of My Days, starting today with a mind of Thankfulness and Joy" Back to Eph: Eph 5:16 These are evil times, so make every minute count. My days are numbered. Each one of us have been given a talent during an allotted period of time, we cannot go and bury that talent that was given to us. We have to make use of our time - starting today. We cannot save time, we can only spend it and spend it WISELY. It's Scares, precious, and a valuable commodity. ASK . . . God is there a purpose for this life that You've given me? God what do you want me to realize during this life of mine? Here is a quote from our Devotion book "Jesus says, because I'm infinite, I'm able to love you as if you and Me were the only TWO in the entire universe. Walk with Me all the time, but do not lose sight of My majesty. I desire to be your closest friend, yet I'm also your Sovereign Lord. You can count time every day when I communicate with you continually through My Spirit, through My Word and through My creation. You are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made. We must use our time wisely. Our Days are Numbered. It's clear in Rev that the time as we know it today will not be measured in the new heavens and the new world. Rev. 21:22-23 The city of God did not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. The glory of God gave the city light. The Lamb was the city's light. No more sun or moon to calculate time, the numbering of the days of our lives will stop-we will not age anymore. Life will be so wonderful and beautiful that we won't even think of birthdays or how old we are, but only to worship and serve our Redeemer that is allowing us to use our time wisely today. This physical body is ageing fast now, but we will get a glorified body in future that will never age. So, what's the purpose of life then? Jesus said: I give you a NEW command - - Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. We read in Eccle: All good things come from God, our possessions, our family, friends, abilities and our TIME, let's respond to them with our time with GRATITUDE. Come and join us every week to pray for others: And ask: Help me Lord to be a servant for others and not to waste the time you allowing me to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and to grow in the Spirit as You admonish us in Your Word. Let me hear it: Yes, Lord, I want to join and pray for those in need. Let's read again: Psl 39 Remind me that my days are numbered how fleeting my life is. (I'm just a puff in the air). . . . . . Amen, let us pray . . . . 1