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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Norman McNulty

Discerning the Time

Nearly 10 years of my life, and we moved away almost 6 years ago now, so time goes by fast.

My wife couldn't come this weekend, but she sends her greetings, And we have 2 daughters, Sarah Lynn and Annika, and they're growing very fast as well.

I got into Loma Linda around 2 in the morning this morning.

And I'm flying out of Los Angeles tomorrow night around midnight, so a quick trip.

When you have children, you try to minimize the time away from family.

I've had a nice day in Loma Linda and I've seen friends and I'm looking forward to talking to more of you and I'm looking forward to what God has in store for us this weekend.

This weekend I'm going to be placing an emphasis in my messages on understanding the time that we're living in and of preparation for the soon coming of Jesus and tonight's message is entitled discerning the time.

So I'd invite you to bow your heads with me for a word of prayer and we will start our message.

Father in heaven, I thank you for the Holy Sabbath hours that we have entered into.

I thank you for each person that is here this evening.

I pray that you would pour out your spirit upon us and that we would be filled with your spirit, that we would hear the message that you would have for us this evening, and give me just the words to share, I pray.

So the message for this evening is entitled Discerning the Time, and I wanna start off with a familiar statement from Testimonies, Volume 9, page 11.

And this is a statement that we have often heard, and I believe it is more relevant today than ever before.

The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand.

The days in which we live are solemn and important.

The spirit of God is gradually, but surely being withdrawn from the earth.

Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God.

The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war are pretentious.

They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.

The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating.

They are strengthening for the last great crisis.

Great changes are soon to take place in our world and the final movements will be rapid ones.

You know, 1 of the things that jumps out at me in this statement is that the agencies of evil are strengthening for the last great crisis.

Are we as God's people strengthening for the last great crisis?

Because a crisis is coming and now is the time for us to be preparing.

And I want to turn now to a passage of Scripture as we think about the reality that the final movements will be rapid ones, we think about how things could change so quickly in this world.

I wanna turn to the words of Jesus in Luke chapter 12.

And this is the basis for the message this evening.

And this is Jesus speaking to the Jewish nation.

And he said also to the people, when you see a cloud rise out of the West straightway you say there cometh a shower and so it is and when you see the south wind blow you say there will be heat and it cometh to pass.

You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that you do not discern this time?

Notice what Jesus is saying to the Jewish people.

Jesus is saying, you know what, for your limited human intellect, I've got to give it to you.

You've used your intellect to be able to figure out the patterns of the weather.

Now mind you, the Jewish people did not have radar and meteorologists and they couldn't just flip on the TV to see what the weather was going to be like, they couldn't get a 10-day forecast.

But they were sophisticated enough, even 2, 000 years ago, that they knew that the Mediterranean Sea was to the west.

And if clouds started coming in from the west, they knew that rain was coming in from the western sky, from the sea.

They also knew that the desert was to the south.

And if hot wind started blowing from the desert, they knew that they were going to have a heat wave.

And so Jesus says to the Jewish people, I've got to give it to you, you're very smart on some things.

You know how to look at the sky, and based on the pattern of the clouds and what the wind feels like, you know what the weather is going to be like.

How is it, based on the fact that, as Paul says in Romans chapter 3 that under the Jews were committed the oracles of God.

These were the people who had the knowledge of truth in the scriptures above all the people of the earth.

And Jesus said to the Jews, how is it that you who have the oracles of God do not discern the time that you are living in?

Here Jesus, the Messiah is in their midst and they did not discern.

They did not have understanding for the time that they were living in.

Because this is the end of Luke chapter 12.

What has Jesus said in the previous verses that gets him to the point where he says, you hypocrites, you know how to read the weather, but you don't know the time that you're living in.

Jesus actually lays out a pattern in Luke chapter 12, and I'm going to pick it up in the parable that he tells starting in verse 16.

And Each parable or story that he tells builds on itself to get to verses 54 to 56.

And in Luke chapter 12, starting in verse 16, Jesus says, He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do?

Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits.

I will pull down my barns and build greater.

And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods, and I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said unto him, thou fool this night, thy soul shall be required of thee, then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

In other words, Jesus starts off by telling this parable in which a rich man is so rich that his big house and barn is not enough for all the stuff that he has.

He didn't get all that he had through a get-rich-quick scheme.

This is someone who's worked hard, he's put the time in, he's been a good citizen, he's done all the right things, and Now he has the fruit of his labor to show for all the effort that he has put in to where he is in life.

And he gets to a point in life where he has so much stuff that he says, you know what, I need to tear down this modest house and barn that I have and build even greater barns so that I can fill up my barns with all the stuff that I've acquired.

And so here Jesus is giving an illustration of someone who was living for this present life.

Jesus is saying, so is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

And Jesus continues on in the next verses, basically 22 through 34.

He goes on and in a variety of different ways, he says, you know what, you shouldn't be worried about where your food is coming from and where your clothes are coming from.

Or in other words, in our modern day vernacular, he would say you shouldn't be so worried about your personal finances in respect of like, where is my next paycheck coming from?

Now he's not saying just go out and live by faith and somehow even if you don't work the money's going to come in.

He's not saying that but he's saying you shouldn't be so worried about day-to-day finances and the cares of this life that you lose sight of the bigger picture.

He talks about the animals and the birds of the air who don't worry about where they get their things from.

And in verse 29 he says, seek not ye what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.

For all these things do the nations of the world seek after.

And your Father knoweth that you have need of these things, but rather seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." Jesus is saying, look, you may not be rich, you may not be so rich that you would feel like you would need to build new barns and tear down the barns that you have, or you may not feel like, boy, this house that I have right now isn't big enough, let me get 1 3 times the size." You may not get to that point in life where you feel like you have so much, but if you're seeking the kingdom of God, you will have what you need to get by with respect to food and clothing in this life, if you're seeking after God.

But if you're not seeking after God, you're going to be worried about those things.

You're gonna be worried about where your next paycheck is coming from.

And if you start to do better, you're gonna start to worry about, well, how far can I get ahead?

And how much can I build up my retirement portfolio?

And how far am I ahead in planning for my kid's college?

And so you start to make that such a big deal, and by the way, it's not a bad thing to plan for your kid's college, but those things become such a consuming mindset that you start to not seek first the kingdom of God, And if you're not seeking first the kingdom of God, you may find yourself someday having worked so hard for the here and the now, for this life, and all that it offers, that you'll say in your heart, you know what, my middle class house isn't good enough.

And God will say, this night your soul is required of you.

Because you're not living for seeking first the kingdom of God, you're living to be successful in this life, which is what happened to a certain rich man that we see in Luke 12, 16 through 21.

So then he says, if you wanna know how not to be like that certain rich man, seek first the kingdom of God.

And then all of those things will be added to you.

In verse 34, he says, for where your treasure is, There will your heart be also.

Now, so far, Jesus is talking about how we live in this present life, and of the temptation it is to live for the here and now.

Now listen, I say this as someone who has been on, or I have an, you know, I personally have an understanding of what this temptation is like.

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Discerning the Time

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