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HopeLives365

Chris Holland

The Appointed Time

It is the commandments of God written upon our mind, written upon our heart.

You know, dear friends, as I speak to you here this morning, All of you are well aware the course of the last several weeks, we have experienced unprecedented events throughout the world which have caused thousands of deaths related to the COVID-19 virus.

It has left many people asking the question, what in the world is going on?

And governments around the world have been left moving frantically, trying to mediate the effects of this virus.

And through a variety of plans, the principles have come out that are quite simple.

Wash your hands often, keep distance, stay home if you're sick, and clean and disinfect.

Overwhelmingly, most people have followed this counsel by understanding the danger and heeded the warning and prepared for the time.

However, there have been some who have decided a very different path.

Some who have said, well, we'll just go to the beaches and droves.

Others who have ignored it and some just to be seemingly carelessly oblivious to the realities that we are now dealing.

And I must wonder today, I must wonder aloud.

Could it be that this coronavirus pandemic may teach us something, may teach us something of a critical message about our own spiritual journey and the times in which we live.

Today we will see that the scriptures clearly teach.

An appointed time for the return of His Son, Jesus.

When Jesus will break forth through the clouds in glory, and at that time, the appointed time, He will bring an end to all sin, suffering, and pain, and disease.

And the reality is he has appointed you to be an instrument to share that story that Jesus desires when He comes at the appointed time to take us to our appointed home.

But the question that we will wrestle with this morning, and the question remains, will we accept what Jesus has done, all that He is doing, and all that he will do, or will we reject the warnings?

Will we ignore the warnings, or will we just seemingly be carelessly oblivious to the warnings that he has given?

As we study God's Word today, I think it's important that we pray again and ask God to reveal to us the importance of what he is trying to say.

Heavenly Father, as we spend the next few moments in your word, we want to understand what you are doing.

We want to understand what you're trying to teach us.

And I pray, Lord, that as I speak, I don't speak my own opinions and my own philosophical ideologies, but rather Lord, I would speak in accordance with what you have spoken to me.

And Lord, help us as we study to take heed to the counsel that you give.

So what is this appointed time that I've referred to and is the title of my message?

Over 35 times in the New King James version of the Bible, the phrase, the appointed time appears.

In the Old Testament, it is based on the Hebrew word, moed.

In the New Testament, it's based on the Greek word, kairos.

Literally, it could be translated a set time, a determined time, a fixed time, an appointed sign, or a decisive moment.

But most importantly, the key meaning behind this phrase, the appointed time is this, an appointed time in the purpose of God.

A time that God uses to accomplish his purpose and throughout the Bible we read about God's appointed times, his decisive moments where he was determined to bring about his purpose.

You can read about them on your own, but when you read the Bible stories, the Bible refers to the appointed times when the angels would return and Sarah would be with child.

It refers to the appointed time in which the children of Israel would leave Egypt.

It also refers to the appointed time in which God called upon the children of Israel to wait upon the Lord.

There was an appointed time for the exile out of Babylon.

There was an appointed time for the baptism of Jesus Christ, an appointed time for the death of Jesus Christ.

And what we will look at today, there is an appointed time in which Jesus is coming and he's coming soon and his call today is for each of us to be in tune and aware of that coming that we might not be caught unprepared.

Throughout the Scriptures God has appointed times to bring about his purpose.

The more imminent, the more close that appointed time is coming, The more important it is to understand that appointed time and respond to it.

You see, too often mankind finds himself or herself in a position where we put off God's appointed times.

The Bible speaks of this and it's most classically seen in the book of Acts 24 and verse 25.

Felix, as he was having the gospel preached and explained to him by the Apostle.

Paul said these words to Paul, Go away from me now.

When I have a convenient time, I will call upon you.

You see, I want you to notice the difference.

God's appointed times do not always come or work at our time of convenience.

But they work at his appointed time in the master plan of saving the universe and more importantly, they work at times in which God is trying to save you as an individual.

I want you to think back over the course of your own life.

Think back over the course of your own story.

What has been God's appointed times in your own life?

For me, it is frankly overwhelming as I consider my own story.

Appointed times where had I not been open to those appointed times and God's leading, I fear for what my life would have been.

In fact, I am quite certain that had I not been open to God's appointed times in my life as a young man, I wouldn't really have much to consider.

There wouldn't be much to consider about my life because I am convinced had I not responded to those appointed times I wouldn't have a life.

You see we must understand in these appointed times, The Bible never uses the phrase the appointed comfortable times.

Sometimes, maybe often, the appointed time comes at an inconvenient or an uncomfortable time in our lives.

We might ask the children of Israel about this.

You see, Jeremiah predicted there was trouble coming from the north, and at an appointed time, the Babylonians would come.

I wonder if you would have asked the children of Israel How comfortable and convenient it was to be taken captive by Babylon.

He utilized the captivity in Babylon to draw his people back to him.

But what we must understand, my dear friends, and don't miss out on this, even in the most uncomfortable of moments, of appointed times, don't miss this.

There may be appointed times where you don't feel like God is for you because that appointed time has brought up a great deal of discomfort in your life.

It's brought about a great deal of inconvenience in your life.

And even you might feel that in this appointed time that God is against you.

But what we need to know is the promise of the Bible.

You see, the promise of the Bible is clear.

It is clear in both the Old and New Testament.

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Roman church in Romans chapter 8 and verse 31, said, if God is for us, who can be against us?

And then the psalmist in Psalm 118, in Psalm 118 and verse 6, The psalmist wrote these words, the Lord is on my side and I will not fear.

And to make this relevant, in the 21st century, in 2020, in the midst of coronavirus, the Bible says, the Lord is on my side.

Don't take that to a logical and rather an illogical conclusion.

That's not to say that we disregard the science and we aren't careful.

That is to say that even if you contracted COVID-19, even if you followed all the practices and you contracted COVID-19, even if you became so sick that, God forbid, this would happen, that you might die or a loved 1 died, what is it that this virus has done to you?

The Bible is quite clear that God is in heaven preparing a place, an appointed place where he will send his son at the appointed time to come and take you to that appointed place in time.

You see, God is for us even in an appointed time when things are happening in our life and things aren't going our way and things aren't going like we want it to go.

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The Appointed Time

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