Please turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5 this morning. And no, I'm not going to be preaching another message in our series on Ephesians this morning. If that were the case, I'd be skipping over chapters 3 and 4. But I do want us to look at a text from Ephesians 5 this morning, one that we'll get to eventually in our consecutive series on that epistle. Not for a while yet. But it seems to me that being the last Sunday of the year, being only two days away from a new year where we enter not just the new month of January but a new year, it seems right and fitting Especially the way our minds work, the way we think, we tend to think of all the things we'd like to do better this next year. And we reflect back on the past year and we think of the Lord's goodness to us. We also use the time to evaluate ourselves and our lives and to look back not only on God's works, but our own works. I wonder how many of you realize that the month of January is called that because it's named after the Roman god the fake God, the mythological God, Janus. And Janus, if you've ever seen a picture of Janus, and of course it's just simply a figment of man's imagination, but if you've ever seen a picture of Janus, there is two faces, one looking in that direction, one looking in that direction. And the whole reason why January is January, this God, supposedly, Roman God with two faces, He's the God of gates and doorways. It was with the idea that January, the beginning of the new year, we're looking back on the past year. We're looking forward for the year to come. And so there's something very natural about that in terms of how we think, and God has given us times and seasons for those very purposes. And for that reason, I would like for us to consider the subject of time. Now, not too long ago, we had Pastor Tom Lyon with us, and he gave us a series of messages on God in relation to time, space, and so on. God in relation to time? Well, this message is ourselves in relation to time. Namely, the duty that we find before us, both in Ephesians 5, verse 16, and also in Colossians 4, we find the duty to redeem the time. And so this is our subject and our text this morning, redeeming the time. I'd like to read the first 17 verses of chapter five of Ephesians, just so that we can see this in its proper context. Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you as is fitting for saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore he says, Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise. but understand what the will of the Lord is. And we'll stop our reading there at that place. I want to begin just by way of introduction to convince you if you need convincing, which you probably do not, that it is our duty to redeem the time. It's our duty, not just because we find it given to us by an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we need to emphasize the fact that it is our duty and not just a mere pep talk. that Paul is giving to us by looking at the context, you'll notice that all the way through this passage, Paul is exhorting the saints to realize who they are. They are the children of God. They are children of the heavenly father, and therefore they are to live their lives accordingly, as is fitting of those who name the name of God as their father. They are to walk in love, verse 1. They are to put away fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, and so on in verses 3 through 6. They are to be characterized as those who give thanks, verse 4. They're not to be partakers with the children of disobedience walking in darkness, but walk as children of light. They're to shine forth as glowing examples of God's grace in the world, verses 7-9. They're to demonstrate that which is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord, verse 10. They're not to have any fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather to expose them or reprove them, verses 11-14. And then we come to the immediate context. In verses 15 through 17, we are, as Paul says, to walk circumspectly, that is to walk carefully. We spoke of the Roman god Janus, who had two faces looking in opposite directions. To walk circumspectly is to actually be facing in every direction, be like an owl who's able to move his head like this. And we are to walk looking around every which way, walk carefully. as if we're on a tightrope itself. We are not to walk foolishly. We're not to live as fools, but we're to be wise. And part of what it means to be wise, the opposite of being foolish, is redeeming the time and knowing what the will of the Lord is. As he says, There in verses 16 and 17, see that you walk carefully, circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And so if it is our duty to be wise, which it is, what does wisdom look like? Well, it includes redeeming the time. Well, how can we redeem the time? If we don't know what we're supposed to do with that time, well, we need to know what the will of the Lord is in order that we might redeem the time, in order that we might live circumspectly and wisely and not as fools. And so I don't think I need to press the issue any further that this is a duty. This is not merely a suggestion. Paul is not saying that this is something that would enhance your life, although it certainly would. He's not merely inspiring his pupils by saying carpe diem. As we'll see today, carpe diem means seize the day. Redeem the time goes much further than just the idea of seizing the day. And so we'll look at that today. And I have a three point outline that I'd like to use. Number one, what is meant by the word time? When Paul says redeeming the time, what does he mean by that word? You realize there's two Greek words for time. Which one does he use here? And what is the connotation of that? Secondly, what does it mean to redeem the time? Why did he choose that word, redeem? Now, I realize that some of you may have a translation that doesn't even have the word redeem there. I think it's the NIV that translates it to make the most of your opportunities or every opportunity. Is that correct? Does anybody want to admit to having an NIV? That's actually not a bad translation in that particular case. And we will spend some time looking at that and the connotation of that word. And then thirdly, what does this duty of redeeming the time imply? What does it imply? You know, words have connotations. Words have shades of meaning. And just by using the word redeem, there are certain things that are being suggested by Paul that we need to think about and meditate upon and apply to ourselves. And then I want to conclude with just a word of exhortation at the end. So those three questions. And we'll begin with number one, what is meant by the word time? As I already mentioned, there are two Greek words for time that are at least translated time in the New Testament. The one word that's not used here is the word chronos. We get the word chronometer or chronology from or chronicles from that particular word chronos. Chronos is emphasizing the quantity or the duration of time. It's really dealing with the passage of time. And so it would be the word that you would use if you were a Greek, at least in the days of Paul the Apostle, you would ask somebody, so how much time did you use to do such and such a thing? How much time has elapsed? from the time you were converted till now. It would be just pure time in a durative sense, in a chronological sense, of the passage of time. That would be chronos. Well, that's not the word Paul uses here. The word that he uses is the word kairos. Kairos doesn't emphasize the quantity or duration of time as much as it does the quality of time. Time not just seen as something that passes, But time seen as an opportunity for improvement. In other words, he's telling us something that goes against really how we've always thought our whole lives, and that is that we're to view time not as something to be spent. Now, I've had to catch myself even this week using that terminology. How did I spend my time? No, no, time is not something to be spent. Time is something to be bought. And you might think, well, that's splitting hairs. Well, no, it's not. It's really a whole different way of looking at time. And that's what Paul is saying here. Some of you may have read the book by Paul David Tripp called Age of Opportunity. Have you read that book, some of you? It's helpful. And he begins the book by saying what the typical situation is in many people's homes with regard to the teenage years. You've got parents who are so afraid to go through that stormy time. that has so typically been difficult for other families. And so their children begin to gradually get close to being teenagers. And then they're just over the edge. They're into 13, 14. And he says that a lot of parents just kind of want to hold on and get through the time. As if this is a stage it will pass. They're looking at it as a chronos period of time. something to get through and hopefully we can make it through without too much damage being done. And so he warns against that because he says, no, don't look at it like Kronos. Look at it like Kairos. It's an age of opportunity. It's not just the time to endure. It's a time to seize and to improve upon. Some of you may have long commutes to work. And you may think of that long commute as just time wasted. I hope it's not. You think that it's time to endure. But I would suggest to you that what Paul is saying here is not that you're to look at it as merely the duration of a certain amount of time, but as an opportunity to improve upon. And so we're to view all time that way. All time is to be viewed as an opportunity, not just something we waste. We don't kill time. We don't spend time. We're to buy up time for opportunity's sake. That's the point that he's making, and that is a very important word, then, that he chose to use. So that is the meaning of the word time in this context. Now we come to the second question. What does it mean to redeem the time? Because he not only uses the word kairos, but he uses the word redeem. Now, redeem is a redemptive term. It's a salvific term. It's one that is used with reference to Jesus's work on the cross. In fact, the same exact word is used in Galatians three, where Paul says Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. Now, not to make things confusing, but there are a couple of words in the Greek that are translated redeem. The most common word is loutrao, and that's not the word here. But there is another word, the word that's used here, that's translated redeem, which means out of the marketplace, to buy out, to purchase, to buy back, ex agorazo. Remember when Pastor Jim Adams was with us, he talked about the agora, the marketplace, right? The marketplace of life. Paul is using the same connotation here. In the marketplace of life, we are to be redeeming, buying something back, buying the opportunities that are there. Agora to buy out of the Agora. And that's the word that's being used here. It's not being used in a salvific way with relation to Christ's work for us, but here it's being used in a way that we are involved. We are engaged in this work of buying back, purchasing, rescuing from a loss that which would otherwise be lost. And so he's saying life is like the marketplace. And as a Christian, there are certain things you ought to value more than anything else. And one of those things is time. It's a precious commodity. Don't let it pass you by unimproved, unbought. Buy it back. Redeem it. Don't waste it. Certainly don't misuse it on vain and worthless things. Use it as an opportunity for doing what the will of the Lord is. because we need to know what the will of the Lord is before we can redeem the time because why redeem the time? Why carpe diem? Why seize the day if you don't even know what the purpose is for why you're seizing the day? You see, carpe diem is a good piece of advice to people who are going to seize it for the right reason. But redeem has the idea of redeeming it for a purpose that is worthy and noble and fitting for Christians as children of their Heavenly Father and doing the will of the Lord. So we come now to the third question, and this is, of course, the one that we're going to spend the most chronos on this morning. What does redeeming the time imply? What does it imply? The word redeem is very suggestive, more so than what we've already considered, and we need to consider all the things that flow out of that particular thought. Six things I want to point out about the word redeem. Why this duty to redeem the time is so suggestive. First of all, number one, this duty to redeem the time implies that our time on earth is precious. It's valuable. It's precious. Time is precious and it is to be cherished. You wouldn't want to buy something. You wouldn't want to redeem something. You wouldn't want to go in the marketplace and buy anything really that was valueless or worthless. It has to have some value for you to even want to buy it or to be morally right in buying it. It has to have something valuable about it. Well, Paul is saying, out of all the things that you can buy in the marketplace of life, make sure you redeem this time, those opportunities that God has given you in your life. Why is it so precious, this thing called time? It's precious for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is because our time here on earth is where our eternal welfare is sealed. As far as we're concerned, God knows the end from the beginning, but we don't. And as far as we're concerned, humanly speaking, this is the only time that we have to prepare for eternity. Once we've gone into eternity, once our time on earth is done, it's done. There's no coming back. There's no retakes or redos. Time is precious for that reason alone. It's also precious because it's so short. And the Bible over and over again tells us Precisely because we're so quick to forget it. Especially those who are in their youth. That time is a fleeting thing. Our lives are a vapor that appear for a little time and then vanish away. Time is short. Most of us have lived half or maybe more than half of our lives. Humanly speaking. So it's even shorter for us. It's also precious because we're so uncertain of its continuance. None of us have a guarantee on tomorrow. None of us really know whether we'll live to see another day. We really don't know. Boast not yourself of tomorrow, for you don't know what a day may bring forth. The days are evil, Paul says. He says, redeem the time for the days are evil. Now, why do you think he said that? I have my own personal opinion. I think I'm right. There's other opinions out there that are not bad, it's just that I think that in the context, he's writing this from prison. The days are evil. As far as he was concerned, this is a time of persecution for Christians. How much more should you value the opportunities you have now because you don't know tomorrow somebody could bust into your house, take you off to the Colosseum, and you'll be eaten by lions. The days are evil. And one of those outbreaks of evil is this persecution and oppression upon God's people. And though we in America don't sense that danger, we're not certain it couldn't change overnight. But it's certainly a fact for many believers in the world today. But the days are evil no matter how you look at it. The days are evil. There's calamity. There's consequences of sin. A plane could fly over and drop a door on your house and you're dead. And that could happen tonight. You could go home from church today and choke on a piece of gum and die. I'm not saying this to make you morbid, but at the same time, remember, you're not guaranteed. You have nothing in writing from God saying how long you're going to live. And so for that reason alone, what opportunities you have, you should consider precious. If you knew that you only had one more day to live, what would you do with the next day? If you knew that 2008 would be your last year on the earth, how would you spend 2008? you would view each and every moment quite differently than you do now, wouldn't you? You'd be much more careful and you'd see time as much more precious. When time is gone, it's gone for good. We can never get it back. There was a statement put in a newspaper one day, it said, there is a story, it's a quote, There is a story of an advertisement that goes like this, lost yesterday somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with 60 diamond minutes, no reward offered for they are gone forever. It's obviously written by someone who had maybe more time on his hands than he thought because To write something like that is dubious as to its effect, but nevertheless, it illustrates the point. The point is, once time is gone, it's gone. You can't get it back. Now, we move on in considering the implications of this particular word, redeem. The duty of redeeming the time implies that our time on earth is precious, but secondly, it implies that a great deal of our time has already been misused. The word redeem has the connotation of buying something back that has already been stolen, lost, or sold. When you go, if you've ever gone to a pawn shop to get something that you pawned or put in hock, you are going to buy something back that was already sold. Now, I've just got done saying that once time is gone, it can't be retrieved. And so there's a certain there's a certain illogic about this. And yet it does make sense in a spiritual way, because what Paul is saying is not so much that we can get back time that has already passed, but he is saying in the words of Manton, the Puritan, by our future diligence, we can recover our former neglect. See what he's saying there. by making the most of our opportunities now, we can somehow, someway, make up for, we would hope, to some degree, by the blessing of the Lord, the wasted time of the past. We can't literally get it back, but perhaps we can double or triple the use of the time we have now to recover our former neglect. It says in the Scriptures that God promises to make up for all those years that the grasshoppers have devoured. Well, God, through us and through our own diligence and by the promptings of the Holy Spirit, enables us to do something of that, buying back that which we've wasted and squandered in the past. Thirdly, This duty of redeeming the time implies active vigilance and constant readiness. Active vigilance and constant readiness. Some of you have probably, and I'm largely speaking to men here, you've probably gone shopping with your spouse from time to time at the mall. And I don't do that as much as I used to, especially if what they're shopping for is clothing. And if they do shop for clothing, then I'm going to have to come up with another reason for going, because too much time has been spent in the past wandering through the mall purposelessly, and then sitting on the bench and waiting for a long time before anything gets done. And then, of course, after everything has been purchased, we get home, then they try it on again, and somehow it has to all be returned. And the whole process is exceedingly tedious. For me, and if you're a man, you're probably the same way. But have you ever been in a mall where you're just kind of there aimlessly waiting around, and you don't have a purpose for being there? You're just wandering, looking at different things, and maybe something will reach out and grab you and catch your eye, and you want to buy it, but you're really not there to buy anything in particular. Well, I'm not saying that that use of your time is always wrong. Sometimes there's unavoidable circumstances, but I'm using it as an illustration. What Paul is saying here when he uses the word redeem, and he likens this life as the marketplace, we are to live this life not aimlessly wandering around, waiting for opportunities to hit us over the head. We are to be actively ready to seize opportunities, to look for them, to seize them when they're there. We're not to just be passive and wait for them to come to us. We are to always be viewing every circumstance as an opportunity, an opportunity to promote the glory of God, the truth of God, the grace of God, an opportunity to praise God, an opportunity to witness of God, to help our neighbor, to love our neighbor, to love God. This is why we're here. And we're to always be looking for opportunities to do that because they're there. Every waking hour of our day really theoretically can be devoted to the glory of God. Theoretically can be life can be lived that way. Not perfectly in this life, but we know that that is our goal. That is that is how we redeem the time. We need to, however, be actively looking for those opportunities and not be blinded by them, not to allow our busy schedules to make us forget that we have a bigger purpose for being here. We're to be seeking first the kingdom of God. So even while we're doing our shopping at the mall, it's not just about what will I eat? What will I clothe myself with? It's also seeking the kingdom of God. This is a kingdom opportunity in some way. I need to be thinking in terms of glorifying God in this moment. And of course, we have many other moments. We don't have time to explain every single circumstance. But we move on now to the fourth thing that this implies. This duty of redeeming the time implies that our time is to be used properly. It's to be used properly. Paul is not saying that we're to redeem our time in order to waste it again. In order to sin against God and use his good gifts against him. Obviously, he's not meaning that. In fact, we have the word redeem. We use the word redeem in another way. When we say about somebody, he's got this problem, that problem, but you know what? He has a redeeming quality about him. He has something redeeming about him. What do we mean by that? We usually mean, well, there's something really, really good in his life that makes up for all the other things. And probably a lot of people have said that about me, and I hope so. There's a lot of things wrong with that guy, but he's got some redeeming qualities. Well, by God's grace, we all have redeeming qualities being worked in us. But Paul is saying here in terms of time and buying time where to buy it in order to give to that time a redeeming quality about it. To use it to do the will of the Lord. Whatever the will of the Lord is in that given context, we are to Use it properly. The will of the Lord needs to be known and done. You see, when we're studying the law of God, as we've been doing, and all the way in which it's supposed to be applied to our lives, when we study about the conscience and the role of the conscience in the believer's life, taking the general principles and commands of Scripture and applying them to particular things in our lives, all of that works together, you see, to help us redeem the time. because we can't redeem the time and use it properly if we're not well instructed in what is the will of the Lord and how it is to be applied. The Bible sums up our duty in a couple of ways. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strengthen your neighbor as yourself. Paul says the same thing, but in a little bit of a different way. Whether we eat or drink, he says, or whatever we do, do all to the glory of God. It's another way of summarizing our major reason for being here. Our chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him. And in glorifying him, we love him. We keep his commandments. We love our neighbor. We look out for our neighbor's welfare. We look out for the welfare of our own soul because we too are made in the image of God. We too are a creature of God. And all of these things fall under the heading of doing everything to God's glory. You might think to yourself, well, I don't really have a whole lot of time to do this wonderful outreach thing for my neighbor or my neighbors. And I don't have a whole lot of time to devote in service to the church and what the church needs done. And I don't really have a whole lot of time even to study the Word of God like I'd like to do throughout the week. I read, I pray, but I don't have time to do the extra credit things, you know, the spiritual things. But you know, we've got to get out of that mindset. Because everything in a believer's life is to be spiritual. Everything. Don't think that just because you're shopping at the grocery store, you're not seeking the kingdom of God. You may not be, but it is possible to be seeking first the kingdom of God and doing things to his glory, even while you're shopping at the grocery store. You know that, don't you? When you're sitting down at a meal and you're eating and drinking, that is to be done to the glory of God. When you're on vacation and enjoying God's creation, that is to be done to the glory of God. I think too many times we have this idea that the Christian life is all of the things that we associate with reading scripture, studying scripture, listening to preaching, coming to church, helping our neighbor. But we don't think of the Christian life in terms of all the other things that we do that take up the majority of our day. Commuting to and from work, at the workplace, going shopping, and all the things that we do. It's all supposed to be one huge offering to God of praise, thanksgiving, adoration, usefulness in his kingdom. All of it can be. Well, you're probably saying, well, give me some examples, give me some practical application. Do it yourself. Get get Henry Scudder's book, The Christian's Daily Walk, that's a good book. It's very instructive. It's not something that you would follow by the letter. It's something that is very suggestive of ways in which you can do the simplest of things to the glory of God. When you go to the grocery store, how are you going to redeem your time? Well, it's no small part of the fact that you're providing for your family while you're there. That is partly loving your neighbor. Love can't begin at home. Where does it begin? But also, Go in the grocery store. Thank God that you're in a country of such abundance. What a blessing. Wow. I've got 50 choices of toothpaste here. This is amazing. Thank God for the abundance. And when you see someone in the aisle, smile. Open doors for people. Let people by. Don't be irritable. Be kind. See somebody drop something. That's your opportunity. Seize it. Pick it up. Thank you. Yes, you look familiar. Sometimes that happens. Well, I'm Pastor Hodgins. Oh, Pastor Hodgins. What church? You know, these kinds of things, their opportunities are there and we need to be ready to seize them instead of it just falling in our laps. We need to be always looking for ways to be useful. Even when you're paying your bills, how can you do that to the glory of God when you're paying your taxes? Thank you, Lord, that I have money to pay these bills with. Thank you, Lord, that I have the benefit of employment and I have some measure of strength and health and that I'm able to provide. When you're on vacation and you're admiring God's creation, it's, I would think, easy to glorify God as you adore his handiwork and his wisdom and enjoy the time spent in refreshment. And on and on the list goes. There's nothing really that can't be done by the Christian to the glory of God with a kingdom mindset, with loving God in mind, loving your neighbor, being useful, not just in a menial way, but in a spiritual way. And all of these ways work together then in redeeming the time. Now this duty also implies that all unredeemed time is eternally lost to us. It implies that if we don't redeem it. Well, then it's it's gone, it's lost opportunities, lost. There's a couple of analogies that can be used at this point from the scripture, and I'm just going to hint at them because you can look at them, look them up on your own. But in First Corinthians three, Paul speaks of building upon a foundation and he speaks of gold, silver and precious stones, things that when the fire comes, they won't go away. Then he talks about wood, hay and stubble, those kinds of things. If you're building with those, the fire comes, they all burn away. Now, whether it's his intention to speak of the church or of individual lives in that text, I'm not going to venture to say at this point. But it presents to us a picture of what it's going to be like when we give account before the Lord in the day of judgment, even those of us who are Christians. A lot of what we've done in our lives is like wood, hay, and stubble. It's just going to be burned up in a moment. Nothing eternal about it qualitatively. Jesus uses a similar analogy. Laying up treasures in heaven. Don't lay up treasures on earth where moth and rust corrupt. Lay them up in heaven where moth and rust don't corrupt and where thieves and robbers don't break in and steal. And there he is saying that there are things that we can do that in the ultimate analysis have no eternal value. They won't last. They won't go on. They won't be building on that foundation, which will survive the scrutiny and judgment of God. There are other things, however, what things Jesus goes on to say, what things the things that have to do with seeking first the kingdom of God. And as I've already said, there's no such situation or scenario in our lives where we cannot redeem what we're doing, as long as it's a lawful thing that we're doing. Redeem what we're doing so that it is directed Godward to His glory. When you're on the job, you work as unto the Lord, do the best you can with what God has given you. And in doing so, you do that unto the Lord as an act of service and devotion to Him. And Jesus is saying that is what it means to lay up treasure in heaven. Whatever your hand is set to do, you do it with all your might as unto the Lord. That is building with gold, silver and precious stones, not wood hand stubble. At the end of the day. Only that which was done for his glory. Will be of any eternal value. Not to the saving of our soul. Christ merits save us. But in terms of eternal value, that well done of good and faithful servant and whatever else God is pleased to do to reward his people, and of course, reward is all grace. But whatever it amounts to, it's only going to be those things that were done to his glory. You realize that I have preached a lot of messages in my life, and some of those messages, I can tell you right now, will be burnt up as wood, hay and stubble. Because they did not preach them unto the glory of God. And someone might on the outward say, wow, if anything, if anything's going to last, it's going to be that because that's so spiritual. Well, God looks on the heart, doesn't he? By the same token, there's things that you think are so menial and so unspiritual, at least the way they look on the outside. How can changing a baby's diaper and mopping this floor, how can any of this amount to anything of eternal value? It can if it's done to the glory of God. God looks on the heart, and that's what it means to build with gold, silver, and precious stones. Now, lastly, this duty of redeeming the time implies that there is a personal cost involved. It's going to cost you something. When you go shopping to buy things, it costs you something. And in your living life, in the marketplace of life, you're redeeming opportunities. to redeem implies that you're purchasing something. So therefore, it's going to cost you something. It's not going to be easy all the time. Why? Well, it'll cost you your sin, because is it ever redeeming the time to be sinning? Of course not. It will cost you sometimes your worldly comforts and pleasures because sometimes in order to really truly redeem the opportunity, you have to say no even to lawful things in order that you might give emphasis to kingdom things, things that are of eternal value and worth. It will cost you your own selfishness at times because you'll have to deny yourself sometimes in order to love your brother or your neighbor. In order to do things that are valuable and worthwhile for your soul will sometimes impinge upon that which you want to do for your flesh. And even lawful things require self-denial. It requires prioritization. And this all costs us things. It costs your ignorance. Are you ignorant of what the will of the Lord is? Well, we all are to some extent. We need to always be reminding ourselves, always instructing ourselves, always going over these things. It will cost us our ignorance in order to redeem the time because we will have no time to be ignorant. Redeeming the time, therefore, implies that there is a personal cost involved. The Christian life involves, from the very outset, counting the cost. Jesus reminded all those who would be his disciples need to deny self, take up their cross and follow him. And he said, count the cost before you become my disciple. Think about the hardships. I'm telling you it's going to cost you because it will. And if you're one of those Christians who wasn't told that at the outset. I'm telling you now. You mean I have to submit to that husband of mine? Do you mean I have to? Be a pleasant and cheerful and diligent worker under those conditions and with that boss. You're you mean to tell me that I have to do this and do that. Yeah, yeah, this is that's the Christian life. I've had many people incredulously ask me these kinds of questions in counseling sessions and so on, and I just sit back and I smile and I say, welcome to the Christian life. I don't know what you were told when you signed the dotted line. Jesus said, in this world you will have tribulation, self-denial, the cross. Those things don't sound very pleasant. But he says that this is what is true of your life now. But there is a crown and glory to follow, and that's the promise. And God also eases our burdens in this life and gives us a taste of the glories to come, compensates for all the things that do cost us and we consider hard. Our burden is truly light under the rule of Christ. But there is personal cost to redeem the time. Now, having considered then those things about this particular word, time, and the word redeem, I want to conclude with a word of exhortation. Don't squander your time in idleness. You may be able to look back on 2007, as I am, and see that there has been squandered time. If not squandered, if that's too harsh of a word, mismanaged. Opportunities lost. Opportunities even that fell in your lap and you refused to take them. Well, by your future diligence, make up for your former neglect. Let 2008 be a year of great progress and profit, redeeming the time. Don't squander it in idleness, doing nothing or doing worthless things. Prioritize your schedule. Get the kingdom of God up there at the very top and everything else falling under it. Have everything in your life be a spoke that goes to the main hub of God and his glory. Christians, don't spend your time abusing God's gifts. He's given us many things richly to enjoy, but to abuse them, to overuse them, to wallow in them, is not to use his gifts wisely, but foolishly. It is to make ourselves almost take God's gifts and use them against him. And what is he going to do when we do that? He takes away those gifts. Now, the very things you enjoy so much are the very things you are fit to lose if you don't use them in subjugation to his glory and his honor. Don't make worldly pleasures your pursuit. The kingdom of God, number one. And all those worldly things that God has deemed that are good for you and best for you, he will add them unto you. Christians make it a matter of conscience to live each day to the glory of God. Don't shut God out of your everyday affairs. Live Coram Dale before the face of God. Live with an acknowledgment that everything you are doing is not only being seen by God, but it's an opportunity for you to worship him in a private, individual way and to show your devotion to him. It's an art. It's a divinely learned art. It's an art that only can be learned by doing it and asking the Lord's help in doing. And lastly, I want to exhort those of you who have spent far too many years in unrepentance. It's amazing the Lord allows you to continue living on his earth, enjoying his gifts. How many presents did you open up just the other day? It's amazing that you're getting anything at all. Really, it's amazing. You're taking all of these blessings for granted. Who knows how many sermons the gospel you how many times you've heard the gospel? What are you what's going through your mind right now? God doesn't owe you anything but one thing and that one thing he has patiently and graciously spared you from. But you don't know how long his patience is going to last with you. Don't squander your time. Don't squander this time. This time is a time of opportunity. Today is the day of salvation. The Bible always makes that an urgent call. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he's near, implying that there will be a day when he will not be near and he will not be found. I believe that one of the greatest miseries in hell for a person will be his memories. And I truly believe that one of the worst memories, one of the most burning, torturous memories that a person is going to have in hell are all of the gospel sermons he or she heard in their lifetime and did not take heed. Redeem the time. That's the most important way to redeem the time. is to respond and repent when you hear the gospel preached. Well, brethren, I hope that will be motivational to us, if nothing more, to begin to think of time in a different way. Not as something to be spent, but as something to be bought. Not something merely to endure, but as something to be improved and redeemed. Let's close in prayer.