Jesus gives of His time.

Trent Cornwell

Vision Baptist Church

Come & See • Sermon • Submitted 8 months ago • Presented 8 months ago

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Service Notes

Jason Rishel will be in the evening service.

Renew starts on Friday

1.5 weeks from Missions Conference

Series Review

Last week in this series.

Been in Titus for several weeks and look forward to you join me after the missions conference. We expect 13 weeks.

Jesus seeks and saves the lost.

Shared with your story of when I came to see evangelism an invitation extended by God to lost humanity to meet Jesus. [India]

From the earliest pages of Scriptures, we witness God's relentless pursuit of lost humanity. This pursuit is beautifully exemplified in the New Testament, where we discover that Jesus' purpose was to "seek and save that which was lost."

Jesus is the One for who we have been searching.

On this day two brothers walked away knowing Jesus. [James and Juan hugging]

Andrew goes and finds his brother.

Emphasis Romans 1:16 “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth..”

Jesus listens to your questions.

Last week Greg brought the sermon from this passage.

We saw Jesus’s gentle and compassionate response to those who doubted or questioned Him.

Jesus give of His time.

Rather than being preoccupied or too busy for Andrew Jesus gave of his time.

He was always moving forward on His journey but He was never rushed.

Spent time with children.

Spent the day with these men.

Allowed Nicodemus to interrupt His evening plans. John 3

Decided to stay stop on his journey and spend two days because people had questions. John 4.

When hearing about the passing of His friend Lazarus, He does not come for 2 days. John 11

Certainly does not mean that Jesus was unconcerned about time.

Admonishes disciples that it is the time of the harvest. John 4.

We often see the phrase “the time has now come” in the Gospels

Three truths from God’s Word about time today.

Our time is precious.

Our time must be redeemed

Our time belongs to Jesus.

John 1:35-42 “35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? 39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.”

Our Time is Precious

SON: “Daddy, may I ask you a question?” DAD: “Yeah sure, what is it?” SON: “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” DAD: “That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?” SON: “I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” DAD: “If you must know, I make $100 an hour.” SON: “Oh!” (With his head down). SON: “Daddy, may I please borrow $50?”

The father was furious.

DAD: “If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior.”

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $ 50 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

DAD: “Are you asleep, son?”

SON: “No daddy, I’m awake.” DAD: “I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $50 you asked for.”

The little boy sat straight up, smiling.

SON: “Oh, thank you daddy!”

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

DAD: “Why do you want more money if you already have some?”

SON: “Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do.”

“Daddy, I have $100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life.

We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us – those close to our hearts.

God’s Word tells us time is precious

1. Time is precious because eternity depends on It

Hebrews 9:27 “27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”

We put the highest value on the things which are most concerning to their interests.

Productivity has a lot to do with time—saving time, using time wisely, and not wasting time—but secular productivity gurus cannot answer the ultimate question of what you should give time to and why.

Time is more than money - the decision you make during this time will determine your eternity

2. Time is precious because it is very short

James 4:14 “14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

Facing death will make you aware of this, as it did for Job. Job 16:22 “22 When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.”

Have you ever come to the realization that life is short and eternity long?

3. Time is precious because we do not know how much we have

Parable in Luke: Luke 12:16-20 “16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”

We know that it is very short, but we know not how short.

This is why the advice to live every day as if it were your last has stood the test of time.

4. Time is precious because once it’s gone it’s gone

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

Time is precious because it is a one-time-use commodity,

Jonathan Edwards emphasizes this sobering reality by calling us to look back on the years wasted. “If we have lived fifty, or sixty, or seventy years, and have not improved our time, now it cannot be helped. It is eternally gone from us. All that we can do, is to improve the little that remains.”

Time must be redeemed

How should we spend the time that we have been given? Asking this question is a good start.

To know how to live, we must know when we live.

Ephesians 5:15-16 “15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

See then— watch closely, take inventory, consider;

Walk circumspectly, how you live, where you place your feet, where your steps lead;

Not as fools but as wise — listening to, obeying, and navigating life heeding God’s voice;

Redeeming the time — buying it back from idleness, purposelessness, sin, Satan;

Because the days are evil.

Redeeming the time requires wise, intentional planning of our lives.

Matthew 6:33 “33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Illustration: Remember the story at the beginning. Many of you haven’t left from it yet. For many of us it was reminder of yet another area of life we have not done a good job juggling.

Extreme, prolonged business is often the fruit of not planning

A lack of preparation is often just a subtle, more frenzied form of laziness. Some laziness lies on the couch all day, refusing to work at all. Other forms of laziness may keep busy, even frantic, but refuse to do the harder, earlier work of preparation.

Dangers:

Busyness causes us to live reactionary as opposed to led by the Spirit.

Busyness provides a convenient way to opt-out of wrestling through difficult decisions.

Planning is necessary to being a good steward of life

1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 (KJV 1900)

11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

Three irrefutable truths about planning

I must set priorities because I can’t do it all.

I must set priorities if I am to serve others most effectively.

I must allow others to set their own priorities.

Knowing it is wise to plan ahead and prepare for tomorrow, we need to anchor all our plans in a purpose.

Consider Him in every area of your life

Proverbs 3:5–6 (KJV 1900)

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.

Plans that leave us with less time for God will prove themselves to be ineffective

Proverbs 15:16 (KJV 1900)

16 Better is little with the fear of the Lord Than great treasure and trouble therewith.

Every considered the time in planning could lead to worship

Reflecting upon the priority of your day

Considering who and what should be included

Asking God for wisdom

Recognizing we are unable to move the most important parts of this world

I am not recommending we replace our Bibles in our time of devotion with Day Planners. But I do believe it would be appropriate to lay it before God when you pray.

Our time belongs to Jesus

Story of Martha and Mary we saw in Luke 10

Shatters the myth that busyness is faithfulness.

Confronts fear. Mary’s busyness was driven by fear. Fear it wasn’t going to get done; fear that people would think badly of her.

Provides way forward. Jesus calls “Martha, Martha”. Isn’t it better to listen to His call. Sit down, let Him be God and all sufficient, and trust Him for what should be the priority of our day.

To those who have not committed to following Jesus.

If you are not a Christian, I urge you to hasten and not delay a moment longer.

Run to Jesus Christ. Repent of your sin, repent of how you have spent God’s time in seeking self-pleasure and worthless pursuits of sinful disobedience to him.

Every moment of your life and every breath you have taken was a precious gift from God.

He created you for a purpose; to glorify Him.

Believers in recognizing time is precious, and that I must be intentional with how I redeem it, let us commit our time to Jesus.

Take seriously the prayer request given by Jesus. Matthew 9:38 “38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”

Talk about what matters. Minimize conversation about temporary things and maximize conversation about eternal things.

Friday Night Light - Pray, if you and your family could give a Friday night a month to inviting others into your home to build relationships to share Jesus.

Organized to Care - Commit to having a conversation for the purpose of decluttering your life of temporary things for the eternal.

Take Responsibility - God has given your the dignity of real responsibility. To whom has God given you to share the Gospel.

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