Knowing the Time

Starting out in Ecclesiastes 3. For everything, there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up 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 for every purpose under heaven.

We see that Jesus was never in a hurry. Never got nervous, and upset, and anxious about how he was going to get it all done. And yet, he was extremely conscious of time.

There was a time to remain hidden. And so for 30 years, no miracles, no sermons, nothing. And there was a time to come out in the open.

And he came out in the open with these words in Mark 1. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel.

There was a time for his disciples to finally be shown who he was, the Messiah. And that was the same time when they also had to be shown this man, a cross. And so it says, from that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

There came a time for him to be transfigured. And again comes a time reference. After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them.

Something awesome had to be accomplished. I came to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already kindled. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am constrained until it is accomplished.

Every step along the way to that baptism of fire had its time, and he recognized it, knew when it was. Now when you and I enter into the kingdom of God, time has a totally different meaning for us than what it had before. It's no longer, now I'm 20, I should be this far.

Now I'm 35, I should have had this income. Now I'm 45, and what have I accomplished? Now I'm 60. Five years from now I retire, do I have enough money? No.

If you're in the kingdom of God, then you're in God's time. All of this time is God's, and it's significant in terms of God, and your need and my need is to fit in whether we're 35 or 95. If we're in the kingdom of God, and are in fact fitting into God's program time-wise, this means that we must be able to know the meaning of each hour as it comes to us, so that if this hour calls from God for a change in our living, signals that now the road begins to veer up toward Jerusalem and Calvary for us.

We ought to be able to know that and fit in. Jesus expects his followers to know the hour, to recognize its meaning directly for themselves, not what Brother So-and-so said in his latest book in Bible prophecy, not what Sister So-and-so said on her last appearance in the 700 Club, but to know for ourselves what this hour means. He also said to the multitudes, when you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once a shower is coming, and so it happens.

When you see the south wind blowing, you say there will be scorching heat, and it happens. You hypocrites, you know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? God the Son in human flesh stands right in front of their noses and they see nothing. The same God the Son is in our midst right now in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus leads us into all truth, shows us things which are to come, manifests Himself to us in the breaking of bread, and by means of this continuous imparting of light to our inmost being, it now becomes possible for us to look at the world around us and observe what's going on in Detroit, Afghanistan, Iran, Cambodia, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, to see what's taking place in the body of Christ, to discern the thirst for God in the multitudes all over the place, in the midst of all the corruption, to take all this that we see, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, interpret its meaning, and to know exactly what God is calling for from us. Many of us are forever prone to jump ahead of what the present hour calls for. We get itchy.

We want to make things happen. Like the man who wants to get off the train before it stops. Now, if the train happens to be going 50 miles an hour, he breaks his neck.

And this is what happens to us when we get caught up in our Bible prophecy fantasies or our ambitions and try to make things happen. Or when we sit on the sidelines and complain that everybody, including God, is behind us. What's the matter with them dummies? Can't they see? John the Baptist sitting in prison, sending his messengers to Jesus.

Are you the one who is to come, or do we look for another? When are you going to start doing something significant? Satan loves to get behind us and push us into the most ridiculous forms of impatience. Thinking it all hinges on our ingenuity or our vision. And next thing you know, we're trying to make the kingdom of God come on our schedule.

And the result is that we become destroyed, along with other people. Others of us are at the other extreme. We sleep through our time.

The moment of redemptive opportunity comes. The Lord says, wake up and act. And all he can get out of us are a couple grunts as we roll over and continue snoring.

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace. And I believe King James goes more like this. Would that thou hadst known, even at least in this thy day, your day of invitation, the things that belong to your peace.

But now they are hid from your eyes. For the day shall come upon you when your enemies will cast a bank around you, and surround you, and hang you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.

You slept through it. The leaders of Jerusalem were so busy criticizing, and condemning, and analyzing, and dissecting everything about Jesus, who had been sent to bring them life, with a message that would have saved that city, that they missed it. And exactly the same thing happens to us if we don't stay awake.

Besides this, you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone. The day is at hand.

Let us then cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling in drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.

A time to be born, a time to die. A time to plant, a time to pluck up what is planted. Surely it's possible for us to observe that there are at least four things taking place in the world around us right now which ought to be seen by the body of Christ on earth as four time signals.

We ought to be able to read them and figure them out and apply them to our own lives and to our corporate life. First, the world around us is boiling right now with more confusion and more danger. Things are more out of control than at any moment in any of our lifetimes, including two world wars.

Never have things been more out of control on this planet than they are right now. So what do we do? You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed.

Look at the fig tree and all the trees. As soon as they come out and leaf, you see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare.

Obviously, the message is that the more confusing, dangerous, out of control things become on the outside of our lives, the more imperative it is that we make sure that inside our lives things are clear and simple and clean. That we put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no proficient for the flesh. That what is called for right now, as things are flying out of control all over the place, is that we make sure that inside, even while everything goes haywire on the outside, we get rid of the clutter, so that we can see clearly and think clearly.

Even if it means changing our daily routines so that we have more time directly with God. Even if it means cutting out some of our pastimes which are making our minds flabby and our bodies lazy. And even if it means repenting of the self-pampering and self-indulgence which have dulled us.

Surely the first signal of the world around us right now to believers is, wake up! We can't get that. Another signal. People all around the place now are pressing in on us, trying to find God.

If somebody had told me 15 years ago that I would ever see a day when almost every day I hear people crying out to see God. But that's what's happening in all our lives right now. More and more.

In one form or another, that's what's going on. They may be troubled in conscience, their minds may be disturbed, they may be half crazy with the emptiness of life, but they're coming to us crying out for some evidence of the person of Jesus. Some sign of God's love.

Some sign of God. So what does that mean? Among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, full of Greeks, and said to him, Sir, we would see Jesus.

We wish to see Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew. Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus.

And Jesus answered, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Not on Channel 7, but on Calvary. He saw the coming of those Greeks as a time signal.

And we should too. The hour has come for me to go to my cross. And so when people start pressing in on us, crying out for some evidence of the reality of Jesus Christ, this is not a sign for us to convert their God thirst into some kind of religious success story for ourselves.

This is a signal for us to draw near to the cross, Jesus' cross and ours. This is the hour for us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust. This is the hour for us to reckon ourselves crucified with Jesus, to lay ourselves afresh on God's altar, to start spending ourselves in intercession and every form of service to other people that we can dream up.

Another signal is that the blind are coming to us for sight. In other words, people are coming wanting answers. What does all this mean? Is this the end of the world? We're already tasting this.

But I dare say that in the coming months we're going to see more of this than we've ever seen in our lives. Old friends that we haven't seen for years will call us up in the middle of the night. People at work, people in our neighborhoods, some enemy from our past will be sitting in a bar drinking and call us, as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth and his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind? How many angels can get on the head of a pin? Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him.

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day, night time, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I will come and make clay of the spittle and only the man's eyes and send him off. Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent.

The man went, washed, and came back seeing. When we find ourselves sent to the blind or when the blind, especially the inly blind, come to us looking for answers, this is a signal from God to us that their darkness is moving in and that our time, our hours of daylight is coming. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.

The night is coming when no one can work. And the works of him who sent Jesus are obviously the proclaiming of his gospel. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations.

Then will the end come. Night when no one can work. Night for this world.

Daylight for the kingdom. Never has the pressure, the urgency of the call to proclaim the gospel been more heavily upon the body of Christ on earth than it is right now. Open your mouth and speak and the spirit of God will anoint your tongue.

People will hear and many will turn. Finally, the final sign, signal, time signal from God is persecution. The disciples were tickled, undoubtedly delighted and look at that, he has international importance now.

But to Jesus, this was simply a sign that his baptism of fire had arrived. And the hungering and thirsting of people for God that expresses itself as they draw near to us crying out for some evidence will be followed not by thank you notes and bouquets and more success, but by experiences. And it will be more than people laughing behind our backs at the drinking fountain.

Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.

But all this they will do to you on my account because they do not know him who sent me. If there have ever been believers since the days of the apostles who could consider themselves privileged, it is we. We are privileged to be living at this hour.

And if there has ever been an hour when circumstances interpreted by God's spirit have been calling for believers to turn their backs on the world of anxiety and lust and war and enter into the reality of God's kingdom, not off in a monastery someplace, not in some community where we are all driving our cars, going to work, taking care of business and our families, yet living utterly and completely in the kingdom, that hour is now. May God give us eyes that can read the signs and hearts. Besides this, you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us conduct ourselves honestly as in the day, not in reveling in drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy, quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. Let's wait on the spirit and let's give the spirit some time.