20250817Bailey Time

Time Alton Bailey August 17, 2025 Follow Link To Listen https://audio.com/tmvic/audio/20250817bailey-time Follow Link to Read with hyperlinks to scriptures. https://docs.google.com/document/d/11v0ehoRW-qpucBR9UtKYoQeSaxAj59l9VGLA1UvdYnY/edit?usp=sharing I'd like to speak to you for a few moments concerning the subject of time. You know, it mentions to us in Psalms 90:2 concerning God. It's a psalm that is attributed to Moses, who wrote this, what, about 3,400 or 3,500 years ago. But notice what this psalm indicates or says to us in Psalms 90:2. It says, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." So God is the only one who is eternal. What he's saying there, Moses, is we have time, we call it earth time, and time is a period between the creation, Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning," the beginning of the creation, but also the beginning of time. Because we just read in Psalms 90:2 that God is from everlasting to everlasting. So God has no origin as far as time is concerned. Time will end. God started time, and God will end time. It's mentioned to us in John 6:44, Jesus is speaking. He said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." So God started time in the beginning, Genesis 1:1. God will end time after the judgment, which will be the last day. Only God is everlasting. Moses, notice in Psalms 148, this is not a psalm of Moses, but let's look at the angels. Angels have an origin, just like we as mankind, but angels do not have an ending, just like we will always be. We will cease from life on this earth, but that doesn't mean that our existence will cease. Because in Psalms 148, notice that it begins in verse 1: "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!" "Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, and you waters above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded, God commanded, and they were created." In that creation, notice verse 2, angels are involved in the creation that God mentions here in Psalms 148:2. If you're in your 70s or older, you probably remember, I think it was recorded in 1965 by the Byrds, B-Y-R-D-S, it was a singing group. And the title of the song was "Turn! Turn! Turn!" You remember, and a lot of the lyrics came from Ecclesiastes chapter 3. And let's look, beginning in verse 1. In Ecclesiastes 3:1, there's a point, a time for everything. "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die." Just listen to that song. "A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to break down, and 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, and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to gain, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to throw away. A time to tear, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak." "A time to love, and a time to hate. A time of war, and a time of peace." Verse 11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God does from beginning to end." Time has a beginning, and time has an ending. This earth will cease to exist in His time when God chooses for that to take place. For each one of us, time is the period between our conception and the last day, which is the day of judgment; then time will cease when we enter into eternity. There's no record that there's any measurement of time in eternity. We won't need a day, or a week, or a month, or a year. Those things will have ceased. Jesus said in John 5:28-29 in the New King James Version, He said, "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice." "There'll be a time, see, an hour is 60 minutes. There'll be a time when everyone in the graves will hear the voice of the Lord," 1 Thessalonians 4:16, "with a shout, with the voice of an archangel." And what will happen at the resurrection? Judgment. They will come forth, man will, Jesus said in verse 29 of John 5. "Those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." Time is remarkable because it has value. How does time have value? Supply and demand. 1 Timothy 4:16, Paul told Timothy, "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you." Time has value. I thank God that I've been given the opportunity to hear this gospel, and that I had an opportunity to obey it. John 9:4, Jesus said, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day." "The night is coming when no one can work." What is He saying? When we die, when we, Hebrews 9:27, "It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment." So the night is coming when we know you can't work in the grave as far as work here concerned on the earth. It's over. Once death envelops us, the work that we do here in this world is over. And so Jesus said, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day, because the night is coming when no one can work." Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:9, "Be diligent to come to me quickly." The word "quickly" involves time. When time is short, it has more value, doesn't it? Paul knew his life was short. And he knew the supply was limited. And he wanted Timothy to come to him quickly. In Ecclesiastes 9:10, I believe Solomon wrote this, and he said, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going." So when you go to the grave, all this knowledge that you have here on the earth, it stops. It stops. Now, you'll take your mind to eternity with you. We know from the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man in Luke 16:19-31, when he went to, you remember, Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom, and they went to the Hadean world, and the rich man was in torment. He knew he had five brothers back here. But it says knowledge stops. As far as learning new knowledge of what's going on back here, it's over when you die. Time is remarkable because it cannot be replaced. One second can never be retrieved. One's character, you may suffer someone attacking your character, and you can restore your character, but you cannot restore time. You may lose your money, but you can gain it back. But you can't gain back time. You may lose your health, and you may gain that back, but you cannot gain back time. However, once time has passed, it's gone. We're closer to eternity today than we were last Sunday. We can't go back and undo that. We can't go back and call back that time. We make statements like, we talk about finding time, and that was lost. We talk about making time. You know, you might be an engineer, and you may be a great scientist, but you cannot make one second. That's God. We talk about saving time. You can't put it in a vault and save it. Saving time. We can't deposit time. Then God mentions present time. Have you ever thought about the word "present"? It's a gift. It's a gift. We'll never have this opportunity of this date on our calendar of the year 2025 ever again after this day is gone. It's a present. It's a gift. The Bible teaches about the preciousness of time in Colossians 3:23. Paul said that "whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men." We're to work the works of the Lord. Death will soon envelop us, and then once we go to the grave, we can never come back and undo all this wrong that we did here. In John 4:35, Jesus says, "Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest." In Ephesians 5:15-16, Paul said, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Time is remarkable because it is elusive. We've often made these statements, "If I could just have the time to do this or that." With our modern inventions and our conveniences, do you study the Bible more because we have more time, or do we study less? You know, statistics show that man studies less. Do you search the internet more than you study God's Word? We need to save ourselves. One of the things that we need to do is to make sure we use three basic ways about time. One is save yourself. No one can save yourself but you. We have time, but don't let it be elusive. Don't let it go. What would it profit if anyone, if we gained the whole world and we lost our soul? What would you give in exchange for your soul? We will not take this world to eternity with us. God is going to destroy it. The works that you take to eternity are Revelation 14:13. Those are the works that are so valuable that you will take with you to eternity. It won't be material things, but it will be those. Notice what it says in Revelation 14:13. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.’" Those are the spiritual deeds that follow. It takes time to develop, and it takes time to serve God. Yes, statistics show that we study less than maybe we have done in the past. And Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" See, this world's not going to eternity with us. It's going to be destroyed. In Luke 12:13 and following, someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But Jesus said, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" Jesus didn't come to divide earthly stuff and who got what. And Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." It can be over in the snap of a finger. We need to save ourselves. If you don't save yourself, no one else can do it for you. The rich young ruler went away sorrowful, didn't he? In Mark 10:17-22, because he had great possessions. And Jesus said, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." But he went away sorrowful, didn't he? Because he had great possessions. You know, Jesus gave up heaven, didn't He? He was rich in heaven, John 17:5. He said to the Father, "Glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." And Jesus gave that up, being rich. And He became poor, didn't He? He didn't even have a place to lay His head. And He was the Creator of all things. That teaches us that stuff doesn't have the value that we might think it does have. Secondly, teach others. Save yourself and teach others. Teach others about Jesus. Teach others about the gospel. Just like Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2 in the New American Standard. He said, "The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." It's a never-ending story, the gospel of Jesus. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9. And Jesus told His apostles in Matthew 28:19-20. Notice what He said. He said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Then notice verse 20: "Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Thirdly, live righteously. Save yourself, teach others, and while you're teaching others, make sure you live righteously yourself, because God is going to judge us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Life is a vapor. It's not very much time compared to eternity. In Job 14:1-2 in the New American Standard Version, it said, "Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble." That means time. "He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue." It's elusive. Why are we in this world? To please God, not self. Why didn't God just create more angels instead of us? He wanted us to obey Him, walking by faith. See, angels in Luke 1:19, Gabriel said he stood in the presence of God. They do not walk by faith. God wanted us to walk by faith. No man has seen God, John 1:18. And people think we're foolish at what we're doing here this morning. Have you ever seen God? No, we've never seen God. But we know He is, and we know He's a rewarder of those of us who diligently seek Him. We're to please God and not self. Notice in Daniel 4:30-33 in the New American Standard, here was this ruler named Nebuchadnezzar, world power ruler. Notice how he's bragging on himself. Notice how he's self-full instead of selfless. Jesus, He was in the glories of heaven, but He became selfless, didn't He? Notice what Nebuchadnezzar said in Daniel 4:30 in the New American Standard. "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?" Notice the "me" and "I" in his eyes. It's verse 31: "While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!’" "And you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle. Seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High, speaking of God, is ruler over the realm of mankind and God, He bestows it on whomever He wishes." Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws. Seven periods of time. It was a long time, enough to have hair grow out like it was, like your fingernails grow out, your toenails like birds’ claws. Were you to please God, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, said at the end of that period, in Daniel 4:34, "I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation." God got his attention, didn't He? God has no hands or feet but ours to take this gospel to a lost and dying generation. It's just like God uses other men. Notice in Acts 8:31. Here God knew that the Ethiopian eunuch, he was reading Isaiah 53, but he couldn't understand it. And so what did God do? He sent Philip to teach him. To teach him. Save yourself, teach others, live righteously while you're doing this. In Acts 8:31, the eunuch who was very spiritually minded, what was it, 800, 1,000 miles from Ethiopia up to Jerusalem. He was seemingly a proselyte. He went a great distance to worship. So we can conclude he was a very spiritually minded person, and he wouldn't have gone that distance. And so he wasn't arrogant when Philip approached the chariot. He didn't say, "Stay away from my chariot. I'm the secretary to the Queen of Sheba in Ethiopia." He didn't say that, did he? He wanted someone to teach him. Either we as Christians teach others God's Word, or the world will teach them. You see, the god of this age in 2 Corinthians 4:4 will blind the minds of those of the world. And if we do not teach them the gospel, the devil will teach them the devil's gospel. He will teach them about himself. We're to open our minds to the truth, and we have time to do that. Now, we're not guaranteed tomorrow. The gospel of Jesus is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, Romans 1:16. Are you afraid to teach others the truth? Sometimes family will turn on you, won't they? You try to teach them the truth, but we're to do that. You know, Peter and John were told by the council, Sanhedrin, in Acts 4. You remember we talked about this this morning in Bible class, we're in Acts 3, this man who was lame from his mother's womb. He was healed by God through Peter and John. But when the Sanhedrin called Peter and John before them, a powerful Jewish council, did they tell them to stop performing miracles? No, they told them to stop teaching in the name of Jesus, to stop teaching the gospel, because that's the power of God unto salvation. Is secular education more important to you for your children and your grandchildren than the gospel education? Do you know, if you think about yourself, between the ages of 12 and 28, most of us obeyed the gospel. I'm not saying all of us, but you think about yourself. How old were you when you obeyed the gospel? If you live to be 80 years old, from the years 12 to 28 is only 20% of your life, if you live to be 80. If you live to be 80. We must take advantage of the time that is given to us concerning God's Word. In Deuteronomy 6:7-9, it talks about, you shall teach them, fathers. "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Live righteously, live faithful. We want God to approve of us. In Revelation 2:10, Jesus said to the church at Smyrna, "Be faithful until death." What if we live faithfully for many years and then fall away? It's happened to some. I've known people. You know, in Ezekiel 3:20-21, God will not even remember all the good that we've done if you fall away before the end. Life is a marathon. Know what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:24 and following: "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it." "And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." All of us know someone who started and didn't finish the race. In conclusion, God has given us a way to save ourselves, and it's through obedience to the gospel of Christ. We've all had the time that you're in the audience this morning to obey the gospel. God has given that. He's given His Son to shed His blood that we can render obedience to this gospel and know that our sins are washed away or forgiven. If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, we beseech you to become one. If you are and you've fallen back into the ways of the world, you need to turn from that. In 2 Peter 2:20-22, you need to turn and come back to the Lord. If there's any way we can help you in any way, we bid you to come.