Eventually, we're going to be coming to Job chapter 14. That's just one of many verses that we'll be looking at this morning, but if you want a head start, I would ask you to open your Bibles now to Job in the 14th chapter. Now, as you're turning there, what would you think of a fellow who habitually didn't turn on the lights in his house after the sun went down. Here it is, it's dark, and though he might have believed the old fable of eat carrots and you can see better in the dark, but I don't care how many carrots he eats, it's still dark, and he's still having a hard time seeing, and he could turn on a light, or if that mattered, he could carry a flashlight, but he doesn't seem to think in terms of the obvious. You know, I can turn on a light and I can see where I'm going here. Instead, he just sort of stumbles around, trips over things in the dark. Now, would you think this fellow quite brilliant? Or what would you think of one who, from time to time, just happened to choose to drive on the wrong side of the road? You know, here in the US, of course, we drive on the right. It's usually fairly obvious that you're to drive on the right. But even so, this person ignores that. Drives on the left, kind of like in the UK. In fact, maybe he traces his roots back to the British Isles and think, well, you know, it's my heritage, and it makes perfectly good sense to me to drive on the left, but not all the time, just at times. So he ignores the traffic laws, he ignores the obvious, this is not the way things are done in this country, drives on the wrong side of the road. Does that sound safe to you? Do you envy that person's independent spirit and logic? Would you want to get in the car with that person? Well, what is the problem in both of these rather ridiculous illustrations? Well the problem is obvious because in both cases the individual is ignoring the obvious. It's dark, light is available, why not turn it on? It's no less clear that we don't normally drive on the left side of the road in this country, and that's not particularly safe to do so. But for whatever reason, both of these cases, there's that failure to recognize the obvious, just not thinking in those terms, and therefore not acting accordingly, quite honestly, acting quite foolishly, in a way that's very apt to cause problems to suffer harm and the like. Well, are you ever guilty of anything akin to that? Maybe not walking around in the dark, though I must confess, when I go downstairs in the morning and don't turn the light on as I get down there, I've tripped over things, but nonetheless. Or driving on the left side of the road in this country. Maybe you've not done that. But are there other ways that you ignore what is obvious? even in a way that you're likely to experience problems because of it. You know, sometimes when somebody will let out some blatantly clear statement, I mean, everybody knows this, you know, those who are cheeky might say, oh, you've got such an astounding grasp of the obvious. You ever heard that or said that perhaps? Well, the fact is, we don't always have such an astounding grasp of the obvious. That and many matters, but there's one matter in particular, and that's my present concern, as we've launched in now to a new year. Isn't it obvious that life is, after all, relatively short and time seems to pass quickly? Isn't that obvious? I mean, come on, we've entered into a new year. Do you regard 2016 as having passed rather quickly? And for that matter, how about the last decade for those who have plenty of miles on the odometer? As we get older... Doesn't time seem to fly? The analogy I like to use is that of a roll of toilet paper. Now, the fewer the squares on it, the quicker it goes. Well, kind of so with us. The fewer squares by way of days left in this world, well, the faster that roll seems to go. And we all have fewer days now than we had this time last year. In fact, we all have fewer days now than we had this time yesterday, right? So time is rolling on. James 4.13 addresses this. What is your life? It's even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. You know, even in the wintertime, when there's been a little bit of a rain, and then the sun comes out, maybe you've seen it on the pavement, on the driveway, kids, you've seen that, right? Rain, and then suddenly you've got the evaporation taking place right before your very eyes. That vapor is ascending, right? You know what I'm talking about? That evaporation coming right up. Well, does it hang around for a long time? It makes this huge permanent pillar on the road here? Well, no. It's a vapor. It comes up. and suddenly it's gone. It doesn't last very long. And James says, that's the way of our life. It's a vapor. It appears just for a little while, vanishes. It's gone. And James actually says that in connection with the rebuke for not thinking this way, for ignoring that obvious fact. Well, the brevity of life and the seeming speed with which it passes is emphasized repeatedly by Job himself. Notice now Job chapter 14, the first verse. Man who is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. The idea here of full of trouble, we immediately think of what Job himself was experiencing, the loss of everything and the great pain that was his, but he's not speaking simply of his own problems. He's saying, no, all who are born of woman, all people, this is it. They're born for trouble. Jesus said much the same. In this world, you will have tribulation, pains, difficulties, heartaches, failures, soured relationships, the joys of the aging process, et cetera, et cetera. Isn't it so? You found it so, right? Well no less is it so, that which Job stated here, in a few days, relatively. We all have an expiration date, may not be stamped on us, but we all have an expiration date. We don't know how old Job was when he penned these words, but he found it to be so. Now we know from chapter 42 that he went on to live another 140 years after all of these trials here and recorded in this book were done. Job at least had to live over 200 years, not uncommon in those days, but he could still say it's relatively Few. Jacob used that same kind of language over in Genesis chapter 47. He only lived 130 years, so he was just a young pup compared to Job. But he said the same thing. It's a few days. Now maybe when I'm talking about 130 years, 200 years, how in the world is that a few days? Well, it's few compared to eternity. In fact, it's even few compared to known history. But more than that, there are few because of the speed with which they pass. And Job goes on in the next verse to speak of that. He uses two figures here. Notice verse two. He, man, comes forth like a flower and fades away. He flees like a shadow and does not continue. some flowers out in the desert in places like Arizona. They say that they just all of a sudden just boom, they burst out. But boy, certainly they're in the heat. Once the sun comes up, they don't last very long. They're in the desert, beautiful for a few moments. And that's it. Well, this is actually a common description. found repeatedly, found in James, found in Psalm 90, Psalm 102, Psalm 103, also in Isaiah. A number of times this is found, where man's compared to this grass or flower that comes on strong, but then quickly fades, wilts, it dies. And no matter how beautiful that flower may be, in fact James says in James 1.11, its beautiful appearance perishes, and he's not simply talking about flowers, he's talking about men. And even though some flowers or some lives may last longer than others, yet this still happens. We fade, we die. Well, Job followed with that other figure. He flees like a shadow and does not continue. And especially when the sun goes down, you might have this long shadow as the sun is setting. But immediately when that sun goes down over that hillside, where's that long shadow go? Zap! It's immediately gone. Didn't last very long at all. And Job is not speaking here simply of his own subjective experience. Remember, man born of woman. He is this way. Now, you can see this was very much in his thinking. But even before these words in chapter 14, interestingly enough, we find Job already speaking in these very terms. For instance, back in chapter 7, in verse 6, my days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. You know what a weaver shuttle is? Kids, you ever seen a loom and how the loom, it goes back and forth as they step on, I'm not sure exactly how the looms were in Job's day, but the point is a weaver shuttle is that thing that takes the fabric or the thread, the rope, whatever it is you're weaving in there between the strings as they're going up and down. And you take a good weaver, even in Job's day, they could do this very quickly, right? Well, what Job is saying, Because our lives are like that shuttle, goes back and forth, each day weaving out our life story, if you please. Oh, but here's the difference. Our lives, our days are passing quicker than that weaver's shuttle. Now, mind you, you see some of these in the mills now, looms, where they zip back and forth, you know. Well, faster than a weaver's shuttle. But then he follows in the next verse, and he says, my life is a breath. How long does your breath hang around? Old King James has a wind, and again, how long does a passing breeze last? But whether it's breath or wind, the idea is, it's very transitory. When it's gone, it's gone, it's off the scene. Well, when we come to chapter 9, and I ask you to turn there, Job chapter 9, he actually sounds this note again using different word pictures chapter 9 verse 25 now my days are swifter than a runner they flee away They see no good. Swifter than a runner. Now, whether it's a runner in a race who's really digging in and moving out, or whether it's a courier who's taking a message from one place to another, or whether he's talking about somebody's pursuing and you're running. Either way, it doesn't matter. You get the idea here. Here's something that's moving, swift, and he says, but my days are swifter than that runner. They flee away. Well, he continues in the next verse. They pass like swift ships. The idea of a ship, perhaps you've watched a ship going over the horizon or disappearing on the horizon, and it's moving along and you can see it for a while, but then suddenly it's out of sight. Well, he says that might be like a swift ship, not just any ship, one that's zipping to get out of there. And then he follows with yet another word picture, the end of verse 26, like an eagle swooping On its prey, you might have that eagle kind of hovering a bit, but he sees it for that incredible eyesight and comes down and swoops, even a fish, plucking a fish right out of the water as it were, right? Just very fast, very quick. So that's my days. Gone that quick. The peer in Thomas Manton observed from these verses here in Job 9, how Job makes his case from land, from sea, and from air. On the land, you got this runner. Sea, you got that swift ship. Air, you got this swooping eagle. He's driving the point home from every angle, as it were. My days are this fast. No, no, they're even faster than that. They're this fast. No, they're even faster than that. And that's stated by a man who's experiencing intense suffering. Quite honestly, in intense suffering, days can seem longer than normal, right? It doesn't time fly when you're having fun. Well, when you're suffering, it's not flying. And yet, even in that case, well, we find the same abundant use of word pictures in the Psalms. Even great lengths gone to make impression upon the shortness of life. We're going to turn there to Psalm 102 verse 11, like withering grass again or like a declining shadow. Psalm 144 verse 4, again like a breath and also a passing shadow. Psalm 39 verse 5, so my days are as handbreadths. That's kind of the smallest measurement that they use. You know what a handbreadth is, we can understand that. My days are just really short little things here. They're gone very quick. You can measure them by handbreadths. That's how quick they pass. Please come to Psalm 90. This is obviously a major theme. of that psalm. You're familiar, I know, with verse 12, where we're told there, the psalmist says, verse 12, and actually the psalmist is Moses. So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. And especially because they're so few, and because they are so few, they're easily counted. You don't have to wait long between successive numbers here. Well he says in verse 5 and 6, picking up the latter part or middle of verse 5, that grass analogy again. In the morning they are like grass which grows up. In the morning it flourishes and grows up. In the evening it is cut down and withers. It's interesting he's saying teach me the number of my days. But here he's saying, but life is really just like one day. You go up in the morning and evening, cut down. Earlier in verse 5, he says this, you carry them away like a flood. Now, it could be asked, who is the, who or what is the them? Is he talking about the years being carried, my days being carried, or is it all humanity? It seems that's the case, because he talks about verse 3, how you turn men to destruction and say, return, O children of men, and then to follow up with saying, you carry them. away like a flood but the point is as a flood just comes and swiftly sweeps everything away that can be moved well so it is everything swept away in and by time that hymn that we just sang time like an ever rolling stream bears all its sons away and it happens quickly you think of a flash flood certain slot canyons out in Utah Arizona It's a relatively narrow canyon of a thing. It can be very dangerous to hike in these because they are awash. They're an area where water would come down and so you might have a thunderstorm even a long ways away, but then there's this huge wall of water that comes and narrows the canyon. What's ever in the way is quickly. swept out of the way, or you think of the tsunami a few years back and how whatever was there, it just came and suddenly it swept everything away. That's something of the picture here. Just like a flood, it comes, it sweeps everything away, all humanity, ever rolling stream, burying all of its sons away. And that, even quite against someone's will, you know, the tsunami that hit there in Asia a few years back, it wasn't, well, it's against my will that this, it doesn't matter what your will is, this is what happens. And even though people might try clinging to their youth like some flimsy tree, it's going to be uprooted and irresistibly swept away. Forceful enough statement, here's what's going to happen. Time's going to bear its sons away. But he follows with another. Notice, verse 5 again. They're like a sleep. And again, whether he's talking about years or humanity, the point is it seems as nothing. You know what that is. You nod off. You wake up. You don't realize how much time has passed. Maybe he's laid down at night and you're one of those who can sleep through the night. You wake up, lo and behold, next thing you know, it's morning. Seems like absolutely nothing. Hard to believe that much time has passed. We're saying that's what life is like. Again, that hymn that we just sang. They fly forgotten as a dream, dies at the opening day. Here it is. Asleep. It's all gone. Well, he's not done yet. Come to verse 9. For all our days have passed away in your wrath, and we finish our years like a sigh. Now, it could be simply translated like a thought, like a passing. Our years, when they're all done, looking back, it's just like a passing thought. For those of us who have accumulated a number of miles on our odometer, even perhaps some who aren't, but I can look back and it seems like, well, that's just like a passing thought, all those years. When he says we finish our years, like a sigh, if that's a better translation, it could mean we finish it just exasperated sigh. You can't bring those years back. They're all gone. We can't add to them. They've passed quickly and they've disappeared. Well then you got this statement in verse 10. The days of our lives are 70 years and if by reason of strength they are 80 years. Maybe 80 years, not to some young pup. That might sound like a long time for those who are already 70 and living in their bonus time. 70 is not very long, right? But he then follows within that very strain. If by reason of strength we have 80 years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away. A sigh, a thought, a day, a sleep swept quickly away. Relatively, comparatively few. After all, what are 70 or 80 years compared to eternity? What are 70 or 80 years compared to God? The one described in verse 2, who from everlasting to everlasting is God. And if you're not convinced of the brevity of life. You're not seeing things in a right perspective. See eternity and see your life in light of God. The brevity of life is obvious. So much so, I mean do we really have to be told this? Do we really have to be reminded? It's universally recognized. And yet God knows that we do need to be told this and therefore I've not exhausted the metaphors, I've not looked at all the statements, but I've looked at enough to just try and impress upon you statement after statement, powerful statements, powerful reasoning, graphic word pictures, again and again. All of this, because in this connection especially, we tend to ignore the obvious. And we may do so to our own hurt. In fact, this truth is to govern our thinking, is to direct our lives in a host of ways. And that's one reason the Bible so emphasizes the certainty of death and the brevity of life. Not just FYI, you know, just for your information, just some final way. No, not simply to state the obvious, but rather God has told us this so often and so powerfully in His Word, in order to aid us to live as we ought, in light of the obvious. For instance, here in Psalm 90, that prayer that we see Moses praying, verse 12, "...teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." And here, number our days, doesn't mean, after they pass, to then, oh, there went another one, oh, oh, there went another one. But as Albert Barnes rightly said, it's to estimate our days are right, their number the rapidity with which they pass, the certainty that they must soon come to an end, and their bearing on our future state. To number, to recognize how few, how fleeting, how precious, and he says to recognize them that we may gain a heart of wisdom. That we might be wise and act wisely all our days. That in so numbering we will gain that consistent wisdom in the very core of our being. Or some translate it that I may bring a heart of wisdom. The idea of here is life and all that's before me. I need to bring a heart of wisdom to it to know how to conduct myself. Pardon me. Either way. He's saying, recognizing death's certainty, life's brevity, it should make us wise. And we greatly need that wisdom, especially since the days are so few, passed so quickly. But we need wisdom to use them wisely. If I might use the analogy of money. You've only got so much money. You've got all these things you need to buy. more month than there is paycheck, and you have to buy all these different things. Well, you need to be wise in what you do with that money. I mean, you got so little, you better be very careful not squandering what little you have. And you must even kind of prioritize investing only in what do I really need? I mean, we really need toilet paper this month. I'm sorry. Some of these other things can let go. You know, napkins, I can wipe my nose on my sleeve, but you get the point. Well, so with our use of our few and quickly passing days, very few, we need wisdom to know how to make the best of each day. even mind you the hours that constitute those days. At least with money you've got hope of getting more, right? But not so with time, when it passes. It's gone. So rightly, Lord, teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. And you can see how this will help us being mindful of life's brevity, will help us to keep things in perspective. Especially as to what really matters. You know, what really matters? The relative importance of all things in life and in this world. For instance, relationships. Relationships, especially with our loved ones. These relationships, you agree, that's important, right? And yet can't we lose sight of that? Fighting, bickering, being estranged, or just being too busy? We've only so much time in this world with these loved ones. Why waste it on such things as these? In fact, that's something of an argument that wise woman over in 2 Samuel, David's son Absalom estranged, if you're familiar with that narrative, and Joab had hired this lady and she came with an argument to try and persuade David to bring back Absalom to be reconciled to him and so forth. And her argument in 2 Samuel 14 runs like this, you know, we all die. We're like water spilled on the ground. I don't think her point is we're just a bunch of mud. The idea is once you've spilled that water on the ground, it's gone. You're not going to get that back, right? It's gone. We all die. It can't be gathered again. And she's saying this to David, saying time's a wasting, man. And things are going to soon be gone and there's nothing you can do about it. Well, that applies to us. If we're scrapping, if we're at odds, if we're neglecting relationships, if we're disaffected, remember this. We die. We're like water poured on the ground. It can't be gathered again. You're wasting time. It should make us value our relationships in the times that we have, right? Right? You see how that works. Well, James chapter 1, I'd ask you to turn there, it shows another way in which death, certainty, life's brevity should help us keep perspective. In verse 9, he's addressing the poor. This poor man, he might feel like some kind of second class citizen, ought not. And so it is that James first addresses him, James chapter 1 verse 9. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, his exaltation rather, that God has chosen, he goes on to say in chapter 2, the poor to be rich in his kingdom. God has exalted you, nothing to be ashamed of that you're poor, glory in that. But then he also addresses the rich man, verse 10, but the rich in his humiliation, Because as a flower the field he will pass away, for no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass, its flower falls, its flower fails, and its beautiful appearance perishes, so the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits." So here he is, he's addressing even perhaps wealthy Christians. Death has been described as the great leveler. Whether you're rich, poor, it doesn't matter. It all evens us out here, right? That wealth doesn't matter a thing when it comes to death, that great leveler. We're all passing away, and even the rich man, oh, he's got his glory, he's got his busyness, I can't die right now, I've got too many important things to do, I'm sorry. No, he's saying recognize, recognize this, you're just a fading flower, even the rich, in order to be humbled by it, what really matters? Come on, what really matters? More, he goes on to say, notice he's been saying, the poor man, don't be ashamed of your poverty. You glory that you've been exalted. You've been made rich in God's kingdom by God's choice and grace. But he says to the rich man, you glory in this humiliation. You know what? I'm just a fading flower. Here I'm thinking I'm so important, and I'm so busy, and I've got so much going on. Well, wait a minute. I see what's... I'm just like a fading flower. Why am I wasting my life, my time, for things that ultimately won't matter why I would even think of boasting as if somehow my self-worth is contained right here? What matters is God's view of things, of knowing God, of being exalted by His grace in Jesus Christ. And as such, the fading nature, even of the rich man's life, it helps to keep things in perspective. You got that? Well, another way, shouldn't the brevity of life then keep us from living for things that ultimately just pass away? From investing ourselves. Go to the beach. Kid builds a sandcastle. Kids, you ever build a sandcastle down on the beach? Huh? Would you rest all your joy on that sandcastle? You God, you made, maybe it's quite an elaborate sandcastle, right? Whenever I did them, they looked just like a bunch of mud, but made of sand. But this, nice sandcastle. Would you rest all your hope right there? Or hey, we live in the mountains. We've got snow instead of sand. And so we go out, we build this snowman. Wasn't enough from yesterday's snow, but you go out and you build a snowman. Are you going to commit yourself to Frosty there, that snowman? Right? I want to marry this guy. Well, don't be ridiculous. That sandcastle and that snowman are soon gone. Right? What of your life here? What are the things for which you live? Are you living only for that which passes away? Sandcastles and snowmen? Things that will have no meaning when you pass away? Please come to 1 John chapter 2. You'll recall his reasoning there. 1 John chapter 2, verse 15. Do not love the world or the things in the world, If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That's inconsistent with the true work of grace. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. Loving the world, obviously it means living for it. in contrast to doing the will of God, living to glorify Him, living by His word, etc. And verse 16 shows us something of what that looks like when he refers to the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. It's what I can feel, it's those lusts and pleasures, living for those things, it's what I can have, living to get or to have things, or it's what I can be, the opinion of others and self-promotion, just the desire to be somebody. I mean, that's pretty well what the world lives for, those three things, right? Various categories, but there you have it. They're all earthbound desires and pursuits. And those who love the world, well, they're given to these things. They're not concerned about God's will, obeying God. No. In fact, they prefer these things, lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, pride of life, what I can feel, what I can have, what I can be. That means more to them than God. Who cares about God? This is what matters to me. Well, that's that forbidden love for the world, and John shows us how foolish. The world and all of its lusts, it all passes away. That sandcastle washed away by the changing tide, that snowman, he's melted, he's gone. The world and its lusts pass away, and then what? Well, it's appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the judgment. Now Christ's people, we're told here, those saved by His grace, they abide forever. They are those who do the will of God, embracing Christ, and then by His grace, living for Him. They live, they abide forever. But what of those who are world lovers? Obviously, it's the opposite. Don't live for things that pass away. See how quickly they pass. See how quickly life passes, and keep things in perspective. You think of that parable the Lord Jesus told. Please come to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. The parable of the rich fool. Jesus was giving instruction and a question quite unrelated to the instruction that the Lord Jesus was giving on that occasion. Verse 13. Jesus has been talking about the Holy Spirit and things in relation to His people. Then this person, verse 13, speaks out, one from the crowd, Teacher, tell my brother to invite the inheritance with me. I'm not all that fussed about what you said. Persecution, hypocrisy, Holy Spirit. I've got an inheritance from my brother. He won't divide it. But he said to him, man, who made me a judge or arbiter over you? And he said to them, okay, he's answered the one guy, look, I'm not your judge, that's not my job here. But then he says to all of them, verse 15, take heed and beware of covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. Then he spoke a parable to them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do since I have no room to store my crops? Everything's just far beyond. This old barn's not going to hold it. So he said, I'll do this. I will pull down my barns and build greater. And there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, You fool, this night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be which you have provided?" His plentiful crops didn't pass away as quickly as he did. But who gets them? And what good do they do this man when his very soul is required of him and he dies that night? He put all of his hopes in this world, and he was a fool for so doing. Now please understand, it's not because barns are somehow sinful. You got a barn, bigger barn, that's sin. No, barns, crops, no, that's not sinful. The Lord Jesus shows the man's problem is his wrong priorities. Notice what he goes on to say, here's why he was a fool, verse 21. So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. This rich man had ignored the obvious that, wait a minute, life in this world is passing away and life does not consist in the abundance of things that you've managed to obtain or maintain. When he talks about being rich toward God, that's the spiritual equivalent to a plentiful crop, true blessedness, every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. Life doesn't consist in the abundance of things that you've accumulated. But life does consist in this, being rich toward God, actually knowing God. You can be penniless and delight in God and in knowing Him. We see this man, he had no desire to know God and to be right with God, to delight in God. His whole focus is life in this world. I'll build bigger barns, I'll stroll out, eat, drink, be merry. Again, he ignored the obvious. How long do you have, man? Life is short and death is sure. And therefore, he wasn't seeking to be rich toward God. And it's bad enough that he simply died and left everything to whoever would inherit them. That's bad enough. But far worse than that, the man died in his sins and would be damned forever. I admit it's a parable, but that's exactly what would happen. And therefore, Jesus said, the Father, God says, you fool, you fool. Do you agree with that assessment? A person who's all about this life, not thinking about death, not thinking about God, not rich toward God, but rather just about having more of this world. Would you say that person's a fool? Especially because neglecting so great salvation is held out to sinners. The question is asked in Matthew 16, you know it well. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? If I might put it this way, kids, I want your careful attention here. Would you sell your eternal soul for the whole world? Here it is, the whole world. You own it all. If you just sell your soul and end up in everlasting punishment. Would you say, that's a bargain, I'll take it. I'll sell my eternal soul, I'll give myself over to never ending punishment for a few years of having everything, the whole world. You think that's a bargain? Would you do that? Would you? Would you? I hope that you wouldn't. I hope you're wise enough to realize that's not a bargain. But what about this? Are you right now selling your soul for less than the whole world? For just little bitty pieces of the whole world? Not rich toward God, not even concerned about God. Don't be a fool. You can right now be rich toward God, forgiven, right with God, a changed heart, life that is life eternal begun right now, life that is life indeed, because Christ suffered the just in place of the unjust, that he might bring us to God, bore the penalty in his own person, to freely forgive sinners and make them right with God and now he lives being raised from the dead and he lives to save to the uttermost all who come to God by him. He commands sinners to repent and believe the good news that he saves sinners and whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. You can be rich toward God. If you're spiritual pauper, you've been the fool. Even so, repent, believe this good news. Christ saves sinners. And how should we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Well, now my brother, my sister, we're not that man here at Luke 12. We're not those who neglect God and our souls and sell our souls for nothing. We do believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been saved by Him. But surely we also have to be reminded not to live for the here and now. And Paul writes to the Colossians. And Paul's speaking well of the Colossians. He's not, oh, you bunch of carnal goats. No, he's speaking encouragingly of the Colossians. And yet he does write to them and say, look, don't set your minds on things of the earth. Don't seek those things that are below, but things that are above and eternal. Set your affections there. Why do you have to say that to them? Because we as Christians can be a bit distracted from what really matters. Think of things at last, or when Peter's writing, you know, suffering Christians, and it's gonna be very distracting, but he says, he reminds us, we're pilgrims and soldiers, we're just passing through here. Okay, so they're doing you ill. Wait a minute, see the big picture. Live like it, pilgrims and strangers, or Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 7, I'd thought to maybe spend more time there, but I think it's wise that we not. He says, the time is short, so that from now on, And he goes on to speak of marriage, of sorrow, of joy, possessions. From now on, time is short. Those who are married, as if they're not married. Those with sorrow, as if they don't have sorrow. Those with joy, as if they don't have joy. Those possessions, as if they don't own them. Certainly not abusing them. Now, he's not literally saying, well, you know, you're married, but time is short, so now go ahead and act like you're single. That's not his point there. Well, your time is short, be a stoic. No joy, no sorrow. Keep a straight face. Live an abject part, that's not his point. But what he is saying is by way of your priorities, by way of your great focus, recognize time is short. Don't live for this world. Don't have that as your, time is passing away and we are just passing through. Therefore, live like it, that reality to govern your life. Now when he says there in 1 Corinthians 7, time is short, he could actually be referring to Christ's coming, the imminence of Christ's coming. But if that time is short, then certainly our own personal time in this world until that time is very short. You recognize it? Do you have a good grasp of the obvious? And are you living like it? In light of death certainty and life's brevity, that little, I don't know, what do you call it, sonnet or adage, only when life will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Or as Paul put it in Colossians chapter 3 and verse 17, all you do in word and deed, all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is by his enabling under his authority for his glory, giving thanks to God. Brother, that doesn't mean, well, look, time's short and we don't have time here to enjoy our few days in this world. No, God has given us those few days. The writer of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, he emphasizes this repeatedly. He's the one who looks at this life and says, look, we're all going to die. That's going to happen to us all. What should you do then? Well, he does talk about the importance of recognizing God. But then for those who do, he says, look, eat and drink and enjoy these days that God has given you, your labor. It's a gift of God. Ecclesiastes 9 talks about enjoying your life with the wife of your youth, your spouse, your marriage. That's a gift from God. Enjoy that. Even young people are addressed over in Ecclesiastes chapter 11 about your youth. That's a good thing. Enjoy that youth. But remember, this is not the full story here. Judgment Day comes. Live in light. of that, even in the enjoyment of these good gifts. Don't simply live for the here and now, pilgrim and sojourners, affections set on things above, mindful of death certainty, of life's brevity, and therefore doing, as we're told there in Psalm 90, numbering our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom, even or The language in Ephesians chapter 5 of redeeming the time, that language is used in Colossians of our personal witness for Christ. Ephesians 5 seems to broaden it out a little bit in where we're to be different from the world, being wise and redeeming our time, that in such a way as to be distinct from the world, to counteract the world's evil and to glorify God in this life. And quite honestly, brethren, we're not just looking at, well, I've only so many days and I'm going to die. We're looking beyond that, right? Scripture teaches us looking beyond. Pointing to the man who wants to die after the judgment. Oh, but we're looking beyond when he says, we eagerly look for Christ to come and complete that glorious work of salvation in our glorification. And we're taught to see eternal life as a whole. Even dying is gaining because the intermediate state, we go to be with Christ. Far better. But ultimately, we're looking for that new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells. And how short is everything here in the meantime? Are you ignoring the obvious? Death, certainty, and life's brevity? Are you mindful of these things? Enough so that you're actually governed? That you're able to keep things in perspective? Not living for the short term, but the long term? Even living that eternal life that you've already begun by grace in Jesus Christ? Or maybe I should ask this. Do you need help? Do you need help to think and to live biblically in this regard? Well, brother, help is at hand. Let me encourage you firstly to use the reminders. that God has given. We're taught this by Solomon in Ecclesiastes, when he says, better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting, because this is the end of all men. What he's talking about is the equivalent to a visitation, a funeral. It's good to be reminded by these things. You know what? Death is coming. Every time you go by a cemetery. That's, if the Lord tarries, my end. Right? All these reminders, you see a funeral procession, there goes another hearse, it's a reminder. We're all just passing through. Better to go to the house of mourning. Use these reminders that God has given that we're just here for a short time. And then for that matter, even using things like New Year's Day, the passing of time, birthdays, anniversaries even, right? As I pointed out in the Sunday School time, the Jews actually, in Exodus, we see they had two New Year's Days, one in the spring, one in the fall, right? One was more the civil New Year, one was more the religious New Year, but the point is, markings in time are to be for our good. And certainly to use these many verses and there are others that we see in God's Word that drive this point home. Your life is a vapor. It's withering grass. Those powerful pictures should make impression upon us. Use the reminders God has given. Think this way. But there's something else. Those words I've already referred to that I read in Psalm 90 verse 12, what are those words? Teach me, O Lord, teach us, O Lord, to number our days, that we might gain a heart of wisdom. What is that? That's a prayer. That's a prayer. Teach us this. I'll give you another one. Psalm 39, verse 4, you needn't turn there. Lord, make me to know my end. What is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I A prayer, make me very aware, make me to know that I might know how frail, how this life has an expiration date. Though it's so obvious, what does it say about us that we're here instructed to ask God's help to recognize the obvious? Because the fact is, brethren, we got this remaining corruption that when we do good, evil is present with us, we're easily distracted, we're forgetful, we squander our days, we can actually be guilty of unbelief. Therefore, this kind of praying is very biblical. Not just mouthing the words, but sincerely asking God, teach me to number my days. Make me to know my end and what is the measure of my days. You need help to live with right perspectives? Well, then pray. And if we so pray, what will God do? Answer prayer. Well, then expect it, brethren, and expect the blessed fruits, that wisdom of numbering our days, that we might be good stewards in redeeming the time with all wisdom, keeping things in perspective, and even having joy now in eternal life already begun in Christ. Pray it. And the one who spared not his son, but delivered him up for us all, how we not also with him freely give us all things. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we would pray even now that you would teach us to number our days, especially that we might gain that heart of wisdom that we might know how frail we are, that you would make us to know our end in the number of our days. Father, grant we would be good stewards. Grant we would enjoy the many mercies that you give us day by day. Grant we would recognize the very temporal nature of things here, so that we might hold them with a loose hand, but also with grateful hearts, that we would receive your good gifts. Our Father, grant that we should keep our sights set on things above, not on things on the earth. That even as we fulfill our responsibilities and enjoy days of peace and the good gifts that you give, Lord that we would not live for these things but for you and we would do your will even in this connection to glorify you in the earth and our light so shining before men that they see our good works and glorify you our father in heaven please give us grace again make these your words effectual in us it's in Jesus name we pray amen