HIGH TIME

HIGH TIME!

Matt 16:3

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

Luke 12:54-56

54 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.

55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.

56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?

1. THIS TIME!

           Both Matthew and Luke write about Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees’ ignorance. Here in North Central Texas the weather patterns can be read easily. A red sun in the morning means to take warning while a red sun at night is “a sailor’s delight.” The preaching and the miracles performed by Jesus along with the writing of the prophets foretold this perfect storm. They should have been aware that Messiah was coming!

           While “no man knows the day or the hour” (Matthew 25:13), we can discern the signs of Christ’s coming. As it was in the days of Noah so it is again in our time. We see political unrest, economic collapse and religious confusion. Our hearts faint and our minds struggle to grasp the significance of it all. Like the words of the old gospel song, it is time to “secure whatever ill be tied.”

2. THE TIME!

Eph 5:14-17

14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

           The time, our time, is the tiny period we call life. The past yields its clues and the future presents its mysteries but THE TIME fast slips away. The time, our time, is opportunity and responsibility. Like the five wise virgins, we need to be sure there is oil in our lamps. Redeeming the time means that we should be buying up those moments which others seem to throw away! It is time for concentrated effort at living the Christian life and understanding His will.

           I have reached the time of life when I should be slowing down but instead I find myself still and again enrolled in school. I am driven to learn, to know and to do, as if there were few tomorrows left to me. I am covered with a blanket of seriousness and I struggle not to become morose in my musing.

           Friend, your life slowly slips away and time seems so very unimportant until it is almost gone. Do you sense the urgency of knowing and fulfilling your purpose? This is THE TIME.

III.    HIGH TIME!

Rom 13:11-12

11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Adam Clarke, in his commentary, puts it this way: “We have now many advantages which we did not formerly possess. Salvation is nearer-the whole Christian system is more fully explained, and the knowledge of it more easily to be acquired than formerly; on which account a greater progress in religious knowledge and in practical piety is required of us. And we have for a long time been too remiss in these respects.”

Dear Lord, without being gloomy, let me be serious regarding my time. Help me to buy up precious moments today. AMEN