It's an appropriate song for
the message I'm going to attempt to preach tonight. I've entitled
this message, The Time is Short. Paul says, in verse 29, but this
I say, brethren, that the time is short. And notice he doesn't
say time is short. Although compared with eternity,
time is extremely short. A blip in the screen, as it were,
that takes place so fast we don't even see it. From the first day
of Adam's existence until the time of the Lord's return. When time, am I doing that? Okay. From the first day of Adam's
existence until the time of the Lord's return and time shall
be no more between those two events. Time is short. The angels. I think of them. If they do look upon us and look
upon me and these angels who have never died during the existence
of Adam's fallen race and have beheld everything that goes on
here in time, they would testify your time is short. Very, very
brief, roll up every event to ever happen in the history of
time and time is still short, but that is not what Paul means
when he speaks of time in a broad sense, but the time, the time
you have, the time allotted to you. Your birth was determined. The day of our death has already
been determined. And that time is short. The time allotted to us of which
David said, thou has made my days as a handbreadth. He measured his life in terms
of days. You made my days a hand breath. He said in another place, my
times are in thy hand. This is the life of which James
said, what is your life? It's hard for a young person
to grasp this. It's easier for an older person to grasp this.
I mean, time seemed to stretch out pretty long when I was a
kid. It doesn't anymore. What is your life? It's even
a vapor. When you go out on a cold day
and that breath that comes out of your mouth and immediately
disappears, what is your life? It's even a vapor that appeareth
for a little while and passeth away. It remaineth that both they that
have wives be as though they had none. And they that weep, as though they wept not. And
they that rejoice, as though they rejoice not. And they that
buy, as though they possess not. And they that use this world
as not abusing it for the fashion of this world. passes away. The present state of things will
not continue. This is the end of all of us
if the Lord doesn't first return. And he died. And he died. In verse 25 of our text, now concerning virgins. Now, what that is a reference
to is unmarried people. Now concerning unmarried people. I have no commandment of the
Lord, yet I give my judgment as one that has obtained mercy
to be faithful. Mercy of the Lord to be faithful. Now he says, I have no commandment
concerning you with regard to whether or not you ought to get
married or whether or not you ought to stay single. I don't
have a specific commandment. If you get married, it's okay.
If you don't get married, it's okay. Marriage is honorable and
all. I don't have a specific commandment. Now what if his
commandment was none of you get married? What are the implications
of that? Well, Eventually it could lead
to the extinction of our race. He's not saying don't get married.
He's not saying everybody get married. Paul wasn't married
and he had a very good reason for not being married. Now he's
not saying this is not inspired, he's not saying this is just
my opinion, there's no inspiration of the Lord, but they're just
different situations where a command is right, and there are other
situations where there should be no command because every situation
is different. And you can't give a commandment
that's gonna regard everything except believe the gospel. There's
so many gray areas, there's so many different situations, and
he's saying I'm not telling you whether you need to get married
or whether you do not need to get married, but I will give
my advice as one who's obtained mercy to be faithful. Verse 26, I suppose, therefore,
that it is good for the present time, or the present distress,
I say that it's good for a man so to be. Whatever state you're
in, if you're married, stay that way. If you're not married, don't
get married. Now, what's he talking about?
Most people think that this reference to this present distress is the
present distress they were going through at that time. There were people being fed to
lions. There were soldiers coming into
homes and confiscating all your goods. There were people being
burned at the stake or burned to make fun of people who were
followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a distress. It was a distressful
time. Now, if you're married during
this time, this present distress, that's what I think he's talking
about. Some think he's talking about the distress of The trials
and tribulations of being married. And listen, being married is
not easy. It's not easy. It's joyful. You're thankful
for it. But it's not easy because you've
got two sinners together. And he may have been talking
about the distress. He'd be better off not being
married. But I don't think that's what he's saying. He's saying
at this present time, this time of distress, this time of pressure,
when men are breaking into homes and taking all your goods and
killing people and all the different things that were, I tell you,
for one thing, you'd be better off being unmarried. If you're
unmarried, stay unmarried. How would you like to have to
try to protect your family from all this? and try to hide and
go from this place and that place in order to worship, it would
be very difficult, wouldn't it? If you're not married, stay that
way. If you're married, stay that
way. You don't want to leave your spouse at any time in a
time of distress like this. It's good at the present time,
whatever your state is, stay that way. That was his advice. He says, I'm not giving you a
sure rule. If you go ahead and get married,
that's fine. Even though you're not taking
my advice, you're not sinning in doing that. That's fine. I
can't give you a hard, fast rule, but whatever state you're in,
stay that way. Verse 27, art thou bound unto
a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou
loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife. Stay in the
place you're at. But, verse 28, and if thou marry,
thou hast not sinned. And if a virgin marry, she has
not sinned. Nevertheless, such shall have
trouble in the flesh. He could be speaking of the present
distress He could be speaking of the trouble that can go along
with being married. And like I said, being married
is not easy. It's a glorious thing. You're thankful for it.
It pictures the relationship between Christ and the church.
Any marriage is hard though, because you've got two sinners
involved. And that always brings with it a certain complication,
as we all know. Nevertheless, such shall have
trouble in the flesh if you do go ahead and get married, but
I spare you. But this I say, brethren," now
here's the point, this I say, brethren, the time is short. The time you have left, the time
allotted to you. Young people, people who are
graduating from high school that think you have your whole life
ahead of you, you do. Time is short. It remains that both they that
have wives be as though they had none. Now the time is coming
when these relationships of man and woman, husband and wife,
children, you think of how important your kids are to you now. You
know, there's a time when all those relationships are going
to be dissolved, and it'll be just like they never happened. If me and Lynn both are saved
on Judgment Day, I won't look at her and say, she's my wife.
That relationship will be dissolved. Everybody is one in Christ. All those relationships are gone. They won't even be important
at that time. Verse 30, and they that weep
as though they wept not. Now there are many things in
life that causes weeping, distress, painful situations that you're
gonna weep over and you're gonna mourn over, weeping. Do you know the time is gonna,
and I'm not talking about the reality of those things, it's
good to weep. There's a time to weep, there's
a time to cry. But do you know one of these,
that's all gonna pass and you're not even gonna remember it. It's
not even going to be an issue. As big as an issue as it is right
now, the time is coming when it will not be an issue. It'll be forgotten. It will not
even be important. And they that rejoice, as though
they rejoice not. I mean, there may be things that
are making you happy right now, and you're rejoicing in it, and
everything's great. You know, it's not gonna be very
long to where that is all gonna be meaningless. Even the things
that made you happy, the things you thought you were getting
satisfaction from, all of those things will be utterly meaningless. And they that buy as though they
possess not, Our possessions, our stuff. Everybody's stuff's
important to them. My stuff, my possessions, the
things that I own. Do you know the time is coming?
And this is one of my famous Google things. I Googled, what
is the largest bill ever be produced in the United States as far as
the denominator, $10, $20? They made a $100,000 bill at
one time. That's the biggest one ever.
The biggest ones now are only $100,000. But at one time, $100,000.
Now you think about $100,000, the time is coming where if you
saw a $100,000 bill at your foot, it wouldn't be worth your time
to bend over and pick it up. all that stuff will be over. Not important. What you buy,
what you sell, what you possess, and think of how much of our
living is involved in that. It will be meaningless. Verse 31, and they that use this world
as not abusing it, for the fashion of this world passeth away. God gave us this world that we're
living in. He's given us all things richly
to enjoy. It's good to enjoy this world.
It's the gift of God, the things of this world, his creation. Don't look at, you know, somebody
talks about asceticism, you know, just not enjoying anything. No. but don't abuse this world. They that use this world is not
abusing it. Now that would probably typify and define most people's
life, the abuse of this world. Things, stuff, it's just not
important. For the fashion of this world
passeth away. And I like this word fashion. What's in today is out tomorrow,
fashion. You think of how ridiculous fashion
is. What's in today is out tomorrow. And that's really what that word
means. The fashion of this world, it's going to be no more. It's
going to be meaningless. No importance whatsoever. Now this is the stuff that we
live in every day, our families, what we weep in, what we rejoice
in, our stuff. It's all going to pass away and
be useless. REM, a group back in the eighties
and nineties, probably most of you are familiar with them. They
had a song entitled the end of the world as we know it. You
might remember that song. They got the title right. There
is an end of this world as we know it. And that's what Paul
is saying. Humanity, all that can be said
at the end of a man's life is he died. His honors, his accolades,
his accomplishments, his legacy, his achievements are passed away. Nobody's going to remember you.
Nobody's going to remember me. Anybody know the name of the
Gregory grandfather? Some of you might, the weird
people. Things are so temporary. All of the governments and the
kingdoms of this world will be nothing. I think of all the strife
going on. I read about it. I think of Russia
and Ukraine and Israel, what's going on in the Palestine and
Gaza, all these governments, the power of the world. We are, and we are. I think we
were in the most powerful country in the world. There was a time
when we weren't. Somebody else was. All governments,
they're going to pass away. They're nothing. All of Cain's
descendants who went out to east to build a city and make this
world a better place. Where's that city now? It's passed
away. The religion of this world, all
works religion, men who practice works religion at that time will
all be in hell. It's all gone. It's passed away. I think of the people who on
judgment day are amazed. Lord, Lord, you know us. We're the ones who preached in
your names, in your name, in your name. We cast out demons
in your name. Have we not done many wonderful
works? That was their opinion of their
wonderful works. Then will I say unto them, depart
from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you." Everything is passing away. Now, if this is all I was saying,
you could think, what a negative message. I mean, you haven't
given us anything to feel good about. Well, What should a profit a man if
he gained the whole world and lose a soul? What should a man
give in exchange for a soul? Married, single, family, weeping,
rejoicing, possessions, hold them loosely. Thank God for them,
but hold them loosely. They're all passing away and
they will be no more. And it's not very long until
that will be the case. Time is short. Now, since all of these things
will pass away, what is it that will not pass away? That's the important part of
this message. What is it that will not pass away? Old people, young people, I want
you to turn to this passage of scripture with me in Ecclesiastes
chapter three. Ecclesiastes chapter three. Verse one. To everything, there's a season.
and to tie to every purpose under the heaven. Life's not meaningless. There's
a purpose for everything ordained by God. Now, these words, I think, first
are to be understood as referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, but
they're also as it says, a time to be born, a time to die, a
time to plant, a time to pluck up that which is planted, a time
to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down, a time to build
up, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and
a time to dance, a time to cast away stones, a time to gather
stones together, a time to embrace A time to refrain from embracing. A time to get, and a time to
lose. A time to keep, and a time to
cast away. I wish I'd learned that one.
I wish I'd learned all of them. But a time to cast away. Let
it go. Forget it. Treat it as if it
never happened. A time to rend. A time to sow. A time to keep silence. I'd like to learn that one too,
wouldn't you? I bet you wish I'd learned that one too. A time
to rend, a time to sow, a time to keep silence, a time to speak,
a time to love, and a time to hate, a time of war, and a time
of peace. What profit hath he that worketh
in that wherein he laboreth? I've seen the travail which God
hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made everything beautiful
in His time. Now that is the end of everything. He always brings good out of
evil. And you're going to look back
at your life, if you're a believer, and you're going to be able to
say, He has made everything beautiful. in his time. Also, he has set
the world in their heart so that man, that no man can find out
the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. You
know what that means? We're never going to understand anything
he does. Now you can just write that down. I don't know what
he's doing. He does. Nobody else does. And we're fine
with that, aren't we? Verse 12, I know that there's
no good in them but for a man to rejoice and to do good in
his life and also that every man should eat and drink and
enjoy the good of all of his labor. It's the gift of God.
And here's the verse I wanted to get to. All these things are gonna no
longer be. They're gonna pass away. They're gonna be as though
they never took place. The bad things, the good things,
The painful things, the joyous things. I know while everything
else is going to pass away, there's going to be a time when time
is no more. I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it, nothing
can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. And God doeth
it that men should fear before him. That which hath been is
now, and that which is to be hath already been. And God requires
that which is passed. What God does. This is what will
not pass away. This is what will stand eternity. This is what will pass through
judgment and be accepted. What God does. Not what you do. what God does. The time he says are short but
what lasts forever what God does and the work he does is so complete
that you can't add anything to it. You can't add one thing to it
and you can't take anything from it. That is what lasts forever. You see what he does is eternal. I love Revelation 13 8. Christ Jesus is called the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. The whole Bible is
understood in light of that one verse. Christ the Lamb having
been slain from the foundation of the world. And every aspect
of his salvation is what he does. And every aspect of his salvation
is eternal. It's not going to pass away.
Election is what God does. Election is eternal. Redemption is what God does. in whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, when he by himself with
no contribution from me or you, when he by himself, I love to
say that, when he by himself purged our sins and made them
not to be, redemption. It's what he does. And it's what
the writer to the Hebrews calls eternal redemption. Of course it is if it's the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Justification is what
God does. Now, if God justifies me, that
means he has made it to where I have never sinned. Where I have nothing to feel
guilty about. where I stand perfectly accepted before God, having never
sinned, having kept every commandment of God perfectly. That's what
he does. And that's eternal. I love to
speak of eternal justification. I've heard of people say, well,
that, I don't know whether I understand that, but I can't understand
anything else. If God ever views me as guilty, I'm toast. And
that's it, because he said, I'll by no means clear the guilty. God's elect in the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world were justified before the foundation
of the world. 2 Timothy 1.9 says, he saved
us and he called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which were
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies.
It's what he does. And what he does is eternal. Remember Hebrews 4, 3 says all
the works were finished from the foundation of the world. The new birth is what God does. Just as much as you didn't participate
in your first conception, You didn't participate in your second
conception, in your second birth. This is what God does. Being born of the spirit. Preservation. The fact that I'm
continuing right now, looking to Christ. Right now, while I'm
talking to you, I'm looking to Christ only. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm
looking to Christ only. While I'm preaching to you, the
only righteousness I have is the righteousness and merits
of Jesus Christ. I'm looking to him only. That's
what preservation is. Preservation isn't staying religious.
Preservation is continuing to look to Christ only. You know, I've touched on this.
When people talk about this thing of following Christ, somebody
wrote a book about where the Lord said, follow
me. And they were, it had something
to do with. If you can't show evidence in
your life that you're a follower of Christ by the things you do,
you give no evidence of being saved. Now, you need to walk
in the imitation of Christ. He said, follow me. Now, I want
to walk in the imitation of Christ, don't you? I really do. I want
to be like Him. But that's not what that's saying.
When you follow somebody, that means you look to them. And you
only look to them and you don't look anywhere else. You don't
look down. You don't look to the left or to the right. You
look to Christ only. That's what perseverance is.
And that's eternal. You know, when I'm in heaven,
I'm still going to be looking only to Christ as my righteousness.
I'm never going to be independent of him. Glorification. That's what God does. When I'm
made perfectly conformed to the image of Christ, I'll know very
clearly at that time, more so even than I do now. I'll know
more clearly then. That's what God does. Whom he
justified, them he also glorified. God doesn't pass away. I am that I am. Always. The word of God does not pass
away. The word of the Lord endureth
forever. The purpose of God shall not
fail. He said, I purposed it, I also
will do it. The great work of Christ in behalf
of his people shall never pass away. That's why I can have boldness
with regard to the day of judgment, the work of Christ. I can't add
anything to it. I can't take anything from it.
It's perfect. It has to be perfect to be accepted. It is perfect. Nothing can be
added. Nothing can be taken away. It is finished. Too late. Nothing can be added. Nothing can be taken. Listen
to this, the work in the inner man never dies. What you have now, if you're
a believer, the holiness you possess right now is the same
holiness that you'll possess in heaven. And that's a hard
one to get hold of because we look at ourselves, well, if you
look at yourself, I can understand his thinking that way. The difference
between heaven is not you'll have a holiness then that you
don't have now, You won't have flesh then. And we just don't
have any idea. I don't think how much the flesh
really does drag us down. But we won't have that anymore.
This new man, it's not going to pass away. Now while the fashion of this
world passes away, Everything we touch and see and
feel and experience will pass away in light of that. Now listen to this real carefully.
In light of that. Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Don't look to something you felt
or did or experienced in the past. Don't look to something that
you intend to do in the future. You might not have it. Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Do not wait for anything. Do not wait to get better. Do
not wait till you give up some kind of supposed sin that you
feel like it's keeping you from believing the gospel. The time
to believe is right now. Sirs, What must I do to be saved? I love the simplicity of this
answer. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Let's pray. Lord, you said in your word,
behold, I come quickly. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Lord, deliver us from pushing away the thought that
the time is short. Deliver us from hiding in the
false refuges of the past and what we're going to do in the
future. Deliver us from trying to hold
on to the things of this world. Lord, cause us to know that all
things shall pass. And enable us even now to trust
thy blessed son as our all in salvation. In His name we pray.