Day or Night
Notes
Transcript
Importance of Time
Importance of Time
Jesus waited until Lazarus died before he went to visit the family. He went to comfort them and resurrect Lazarus from the dead. However, in order for Him to do this he would have to travel into a dangerous region.
Just a couple of days ago the Jews tried to kill Him by stoning. John 10:31-32
The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.
Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”
Jesus had a mission and that was to bring glory to the Father by redeeming sinful man to the Father by offering His life as a sacrifice for the atonement of our sins.
His miracles played a large part in people believing that He is the Son of God. He had to use the short time He had to establish in the hearts of the believers that He is the Son of God.
He was about to perform the greatest miracle in His life up to this point. He was going to raise a man that had been in the tomb 4 days back to life. Essentially, if you could not believe that Jesus was is the Son of God from this miracle, then you probably will not believe. But we see in John 11:45
Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.
that many people believed in Him.
Jesus knew that time was important and danger was secondary. The mission took precedence over the risk.
Time is important to us
Time is important to us
God has called every person to a purpose and mission. This purpose and mission will not always be convenient, safe, or easy. It will require faith in a God that will enable you to accomplish your calling.
The first thing Jesus requires of us is to follow His lead. He gives us instructions on how to do this. Luke 9:23
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Denying yourself requires replacing the one who has rule over your heart daily.(Deny Yourself) Our natural tendency is for the flesh to rule. We must crucify the flesh daily ( taking up your Cross) . We must put away the old thinking and way of doing things. We must allow Christ to reign supreme in our lives by living according to His Spirit. (Following Him)
The next purpose for all people is to make disciples. This does not mean that you teach a weekly bible class. What this means is that you intentionally invest your lives into others for the purpose of leading them to Christ and maturing in Christ.
This has to begin in the home. It begins in the marriage relationship. God brought you together for the purpose of disciple-making. For example, I find very few couples that are alike. There are differences between most couples and we are to learn from our spouse . For example, I tend to lack compassion when people do things that they know they shouldn’t do and suffer as a result. She always reminds me that there is reasons unknown to me that they make the decisions they make and that I would be wise to give compassion rather than judgement.
Our children must be discipled. The home is the best environment for this to happen. Parents must be intentional in teaching the Bible and biblical principals to their children. The success of parenting happens between the ages of 18-25. These are the rebellious years. Kids will make mistakes, but how they handle those mistakes are a reflection of your parenting. If they fall back on biblical principles then you did a pretty good job. If they don’t because they have not been taught, then it is much more difficult to teach them when they are older. Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Our sphere of influence is another divinely appointed area that we are to make disciples. This includes friends, colleagues, and neighbors. We are to live our lives before them to demonstrate christ-likeness. We are also to engage in gospel conversations.
The point is that the time God gives us is important for accomplishing the mission for which He has called us.
Urgency of Time
Urgency of Time
The disciples didn’t want Jesus to go because of the danger that he was going to face. I am sure they would rather him let things settle down before he went back to Judea. This way the danger may be a little less.
What they did not understand is that in just a few weeks Jesus was going to be crucified and would not have the opportunity. This is why Jesus said in John 11:9-10
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
“But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
Here Jesus is referring to the time he has left on earth to fulfill his mission. This is the day time. There was about to come a time when He would not be walking on the earth and thus it would be night.
Jesus knew that if he did not walk in accordance to the day (God’s plan) then He would not be able to accomplish the mission. If Jesus would have catered to the disciples request he would have been walking in darkness.
Our time is urgent
Our time is urgent
I love what John MacArthur says in his commentary on this passage scripture
John, Volumes 1 & 2 The Time of Life
The same can be said when it comes to God’s calling on our lives. Many Christians have a real sense of what God is calling them to do. They see a need and they can meet it. They see an opportunity for the gospel and they can fill it. Yet how many do not! They have their own plans, their own dreams, their own path. But when they follow them they stumble, because the path of blessing for a Christian is always the path of obedience to God’s Word and of faithfulness to God’s clear calling.
Jesus said, “If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.” On a spiritual level, the truest meaning is found in our need to see, believe, and follow him. Do we have reasons to fear in this life? We certainly do, just as the disciples feared to return to Judea. They would have been foolish not to recognize the real threat to Jesus and themselves, just as only fools ignore the real threats to their well-being in this life. The only true answer is to walk in faith with Jesus Christ.
We too must recognize the urgency of our mission. We do not know how many more days we have to accomplish it. Let us do so with such fervor and urgency as if our time is drawing near!
Use of Time
Use of Time
Jesus went to Judea because he was going to use that time to bring glory to God and glorify Himself.
But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
The disciples didn’t know Lazarus was dead. They presumed he was still alive and getting better. This is why they were puzzled when Jesus said He was going to wake him up. They discouraged him because they thought the sleep would help him get better.
Jesus plainly told them that Lazarus was dead and that he was glad he wasn’t there. Notice what he also says in John 11:15
and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.”
He says that what he is about to do will cause them to believe that He is the Son of God. This would be a miracle that they had not seen and would leave no reason for doubt about who Jesus is.
Our use of time.
Our use of time.
You may have heard me talk about gravestones. On each gravestone their is typically a date of birth and a date of death, but there is also a dash between the two. The dash represents how you used your time. Does that time represent following Jesus and receiving eternal life or does it represent a life lived in darkness that will continue for all eternity?
We don’t know how much time we have. The Lord is the only one who knows because He is the one who has ordained our days. Psalms 139:16
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
Time is the most precious commodity that we have. Let us invest it well by living intentionally in the calling God has given us. Simply follow Him and make disciples!