The Dwindling Hour (2)
We are in a series entitled “The Dwindling Hour”. This past week we laid the groundwork for the urgency that we as believers must carry in every single step that we take.
We talked about the fact that today matters: every second matters and perhaps there comes a point in our lives even through suffering that God brings us to fo a purpose, to carry out what he intends for us to do.
15 So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Ephesians 5:15-16
The word of God says don't act thoughtlessly, ensure every step you take, every breath you breathe is intentional. But it also says to “understand what the Lord wants you to do”.
This is incredibly important because I believe everyone in this room understands what they desire, and what they want to see from this life. We all have our own goals, dreams, aspirations. Many of those things may be very good things to aspire to do. But are these things what the Lord wants us to do?
And you may be thinking to yourself how am I to “understand” what the Lord wants me to do?
As the year began the Lord put on my heart this deep hunger and desire to grow in knowledge about what wisdom was. And because that is another sermon for another time, I won't go too deep into everything the Lord showed me. But what I learned was that wisdom is always connected to understanding.
Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Proverbs 2:2
For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6
Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. Proverbs 3:13
So I believe it is safe to say that when God says “ 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.” he's asking us to seek his wisdom. He desires us to have the wisdom of his purposes for our life, the wisdom of his promise and the wisdom of his goodness. So you think well Pastor Juan, first you're talking about time, then you're talking about understanding and now you're talking about wisdom, which one is it? Well, it's all of them.
Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. Psalm 90:12
Somehow, someway, his word is saying that our understanding that the hour is dwindling is connected to the wisdom he desires us to have. If you have ever desired to be wise, if you've ever desired to have an understanding of God's purpose for us- then you must understand the shortness of our time. For those of you who may still not understand, let me continue to share the wisdom of his word.
11 This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. 13 Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires. Romans 13:11-14
I found it amazing how this passage parallels the night, the darkness with the life we live when we do not acknowledge the brevity of life. These verses say “wakeup”, the night is almost gone, remove your dark deeds, don't participate in the darkness. You know why this struck me? It seems to say live in the light not the darkness.
9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9
We can't be royal priests and live unrepented lives. We can't be a holy nation and walk around living in disobedience and carrying backpacks of unforgiveness and hurts. We cannot give ourselves to God as his very own possession and believe that we are worthless. This is what God desires us to understand.
God desires to awaken his church today to the shortness of our life so that we will act in urgency, understandinding what he wants us to do which is walk in the light and do the things that are pleasing to him.
So God gave me two examples of understanding this holiness we are talking about. When it comes to Moses and the burning bush most of the time when we hear about this story the emphasis is put on the burning bush. But what I want us to see here are moses sandals.
4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied. 5 “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 6 I am the God of your father[c]—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. Exodus 3:4-6
Why did God require Moses to remove his sandals? Physically Moses was to approach God with reverence. Often Times we can become so casual about Gods holiness and of his presence that we just rush right in with little to no reverence for who he is.
But it was also symbolic, actually symbolic of what we have been looking at today. Now that moses was standing in the presence of God, now that he was to walk in the holiness of God, he couldn't stand there with the dirtiness and filthiness that his sandals carried. Moses had to strip away what was dirty to trade it for what was holy.
12 So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.
It wasn't until Moses stripped his sandals off that God could reveal his purpose to moses. “7 Then the Lord told him”. As a holy nation we must strip off the dirtiness of our old lives, we must throw to the side everything that is holding us back from walking in the holiness of God and of his purposes.
11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting. 12 One day Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’ “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” 13 If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.” 14 The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.” 15 Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. 16 How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.” 17 The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.” Exodus 33:12-17
God desires to awaken his church today to the shortness of our life so that we will act in urgency, understandinding what he wants us to do which is walk in the light of his holiness and do the things that are pleasing to him.
We talked about the fact that today matters: every second matters and perhaps there comes a point in our lives even through suffering that God brings us to fo a purpose, to carry out what he intends for us to do.
15 So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Ephesians 5:15-16
The word of God says don't act thoughtlessly, ensure every step you take, every breath you breathe is intentional. But it also says to “understand what the Lord wants you to do”.
This is incredibly important because I believe everyone in this room understands what they desire, and what they want to see from this life. We all have our own goals, dreams, aspirations. Many of those things may be very good things to aspire to do. But are these things what the Lord wants us to do?
And you may be thinking to yourself how am I to “understand” what the Lord wants me to do?
As the year began the Lord put on my heart this deep hunger and desire to grow in knowledge about what wisdom was. And because that is another sermon for another time, I won't go too deep into everything the Lord showed me. But what I learned was that wisdom is always connected to understanding.
Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Proverbs 2:2
For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6
Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. Proverbs 3:13
So I believe it is safe to say that when God says “ 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.” he's asking us to seek his wisdom. He desires us to have the wisdom of his purposes for our life, the wisdom of his promise and the wisdom of his goodness. So you think well Pastor Juan, first you're talking about time, then you're talking about understanding and now you're talking about wisdom, which one is it? Well, it's all of them.
Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. Psalm 90:12
Somehow, someway, his word is saying that our understanding that the hour is dwindling is connected to the wisdom he desires us to have. If you have ever desired to be wise, if you've ever desired to have an understanding of God's purpose for us- then you must understand the shortness of our time. For those of you who may still not understand, let me continue to share the wisdom of his word.
11 This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. 13 Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires. Romans 13:11-14
I found it amazing how this passage parallels the night, the darkness with the life we live when we do not acknowledge the brevity of life. These verses say “wakeup”, the night is almost gone, remove your dark deeds, don't participate in the darkness. You know why this struck me? It seems to say live in the light not the darkness.
9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9
We can't be royal priests and live unrepented lives. We can't be a holy nation and walk around living in disobedience and carrying backpacks of unforgiveness and hurts. We cannot give ourselves to God as his very own possession and believe that we are worthless. This is what God desires us to understand.
God desires to awaken his church today to the shortness of our life so that we will act in urgency, understandinding what he wants us to do which is walk in the light and do the things that are pleasing to him.
So God gave me two examples of understanding this holiness we are talking about. When it comes to Moses and the burning bush most of the time when we hear about this story the emphasis is put on the burning bush. But what I want us to see here are moses sandals.
4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied. 5 “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 6 I am the God of your father[c]—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. Exodus 3:4-6
Why did God require Moses to remove his sandals? Physically Moses was to approach God with reverence. Often Times we can become so casual about Gods holiness and of his presence that we just rush right in with little to no reverence for who he is.
But it was also symbolic, actually symbolic of what we have been looking at today. Now that moses was standing in the presence of God, now that he was to walk in the holiness of God, he couldn't stand there with the dirtiness and filthiness that his sandals carried. Moses had to strip away what was dirty to trade it for what was holy.
12 So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.
It wasn't until Moses stripped his sandals off that God could reveal his purpose to moses. “7 Then the Lord told him”. As a holy nation we must strip off the dirtiness of our old lives, we must throw to the side everything that is holding us back from walking in the holiness of God and of his purposes.
11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting. 12 One day Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’ “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” 13 If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.” 14 The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.” 15 Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. 16 How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.” 17 The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.” Exodus 33:12-17
God desires to awaken his church today to the shortness of our life so that we will act in urgency, understandinding what he wants us to do which is walk in the light of his holiness and do the things that are pleasing to him.
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