A Time to Throw Away

Ecclesiastes 3 6. a time to gain and a time to lose the time to keep and a time to throw away I'd like to speak to you today on the last phrase of that verse a time to throw away God bless you please be seated well in case you didn't know today is the first day of the rest of your life amen now you didn't need to wait until January 1st 2023 to become a new and improved you we've all been waiting for that by the way you've been waiting on that I'm always amazed at God in the calendar of Old Testament Israel that the lord gave them multiple opportunities to begin again a new year a new moon or new month a new week the Bible speaks of the first day of the week preceded by a Sabbath a day of rest and reflection and then there's the new day of the Sun that rises for us and we know that his mercies are new every morning God created us he knows our frame and he knew that we would need a lot of opportunities to begin again to start fresh to make changes in our lives and in the same way that the cellular structure of our bodies renew itself on a regular basis we need continual renewal in our lives spiritually emotionally and physically but to grow the new we must discard the old through the years that New Year's Seasons I've taught and preached on various themes related to renewal I was listening to my Bible a while back in the Book of Ecclesiastes this verse caught my attention I stopped immediately made a note to go back and study again Ecclesiastes three a time to gain a time to lose a time to keep and a time to throw away new King James if you read a King James Bible time to Cast Away and the Bible says it to everything there is a season Ecclesiastes 3 develops that theme to everything there is a season a time to every purpose under heaven in Ecclesiastes three two through eight Solomon parallels 14 positive and negative times or seasons in our life and taken together they really developed a sum of The Human Experience to give context I wanted to just read through these verses together so you would see it in context Ecclesiastes 3-1 to everything there is a season a time to every purpose under Heaven a time to be born and a time to Die the time to plant and a time to pluck or pick what is planted A Time to Kill and a time to heal a time to break down and a time to build up a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance time to Cast Away stones and a time to gather Stones a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing a time to gain and a time to lose a time to keep and a time to throw away a time to tear and a time to sow a time to keep silence that would be a new resolution for 2023. a time to keep silence and a time to speak time to love and a time to hate a time of war and a time of peace and Solomon said in verse 11 that God made everything beautiful in its time in its proper place in life each season of Life each time of life can have its own sense of beauty now we did not have a choice and when we were born and if we live for God and by the Bible we will not choose when we die our departure into Eternity for the Bible does say that there is a time to be born and a time to die we should prepare for the time to die we should live with integrity and die with dignity in a right relationship with God wisdom will guide you to do the right thing at the right time in your life so I want to ask you today what time is it in the clock of your life what season is it in the calendar of your life how should you be thinking and what should you be doing at this time and in this season of your life to know the time is to discern the season and with wisdom to know where you are in a journey or the calendar of life the Bible said that not only is it important to know where you are it's important to do the right thing that is appropriate to that season you should know and do what is right the Bible speaks of the sons of issachar that were commended in first Chronicles 12 because they had understanding of the times but then not only did they have understanding of the times the Bible says to know what Israel ought to do they knew where they were in the season of history and they knew what should be done in that season and the Bible said that all their brothers were at their commandment they had Authority because they discerned the times and knew what they should do and the wise writings of Proverbs Solomon writes about a son that brings shame he said that a son who sleeps in Harvest brings shame there's a time to sleep and there's a time to be awake but if you're sleeping when you should be harvesting it is a foolish way to spend your life it is not Discerning the time and the season of your life what time is it for you where are you in the calendar of Life sleep is beautiful and it's time the Gathering the crops in Harvest is also beautiful as a church we need to know the seasons that we are in and when God is giving Revival and people are coming to the Lord it is not time to be asleep at the wheel or spiritually complacent it is a time to plug in and and be 100 percent it is our pattern as a church from Thanksgiving till now we don't really put the pedal to the metal we give you time to regroup but now it is time to say God is at work and we are ready to Rally ourselves to the cause of Jesus Christ it is a time of Revival for our church Ecclesiastes 3 6. time to gain and a time to lose time to keep and a time to throw away I chose the new King James version the ideas are the same regardless of the translation a time to keep and a time to throw away now this first two these first two phrases the positive and negative there is a time to gain and a time to lose now I don't want you to feel too guilty right now but a time to gain reminds me of the feasting of the holidays followed by the fasting of January the time to gain and a time to lose potentially or not the holiday season has become a time to gain we don't know exactly what Solomon had in mind when he wrote this and I'm having just a little bit of fun I read a study was published this year in November you know last year rather in November it said the fourth annual writing off the year in the end of the year survey and explore the eating habits of 2 000 Americans who celebrate a winter holiday now I know you're shocked by this but very few people said that they could resist over indulging during the festive season even if they broke a diet that they were on Americans admit to this over-indulgence it goes to wreck their waistlines and uh the average American in this survey 2 000 people said they expect to gain to gain about eight pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas now I've read various surveys I like to cross-reference other surveys say only about one or two but regardless of how you fared in the feasting of the holidays I just want to tell you that a new day is gone it's a time to lose [Applause] down dread it embrace it it's a time to lose what has been gained we have to resolve to do it weight loss companies may not know the Bible but they understand human nature full well and you know that you've been inundated the last few days and you will be in the next few days about every weight loss and and workout program imaginable they want you to get started and I've learned study that most of that will go away before February comes around but we need to lose more than a few extra pounds accumulated over the holidays this past year there are some other things we need to lose as well there's a time to gain and there's a time to lose amen time to keep and there is a time to throw away now the second two statements of Ecclesiastes 3 6 there is a time to keep and a time to throw away let's talk about this time to keep and time to throw away at this time of the year what should you be keeping and in your life what should you resolve to retain that you have gained in the last season of your life now I know that there's a lot of minimalists among us and that's kind of a trend these days I will tell you that I am not one of them I am a gear guy I'm a wannabe Boy Scout a retired Boy Scout my theme for life is be prepared anytime anywhere for anything not just for myself but everybody with me time to keep and Americans are very good at keeping we are as a nation Hoarders spiritually there are some things that we should keep right keep the faith keep our hope amen 22 is history you have to think about what you should keep from the past keep Lessons Learned keep good habits that you've cultivated in the last year maintain and keep your healthy relationships if you're married their marriage and children and family your church your friends your co-workers keep your deep into walk with God keep your fasting and prayer and your relationship with the word and and worship and even more intense and engaged in worship keep your place of ministry to serve God and people there's a time to keep and hold on to what you've gained over your life you don't throw everything away and when Paul said I forget the things that are behind that does not mean he discarded every good thing that he gained in his life there's a time to keep and there's a time to throw away now January is not only a time of weight loss but it's really a preliminary like spring cleaning and home organizers are advising you and me to make a plan to throw away the junk that is accumulated in your home I read a compelling ad that made me smile it was called the household organization diet I didn't know your home could go on a diet but that's what it's called the household organization diet officially kicks off January 1. with this lady's January decluttering challenge she calls it the 31 day home detox diet home detox diet now she says whether you have just a few trouble spots in your home or if you're feeling completely overwhelmed with the Clutter this challenge is for you don't you feel it right now and there's a lot of virtue signalers right now that can't wait to jump all over this I I was interested in this and I read that the average American Home has 300 000 items on the premises that's shocking I don't know that that's true but that's what it said one in five Americans ran a storage unit for the stuff they cannot store in their home I know a family that has a storage unit that doesn't have a home right now Theory between homes what in five Americans do that they rent a storage unit one in five Americans with a two-car garage cannot park their cars in their garage 50 percent of Americans surveyed say they feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff in their homes but Solomon said there is a time to throw away foreign Bible gives some examples about things that have been accumulated that need to throw away I want to just refer to them for the sake of application and thought the first is one of my favorite acts Stories the book of Acts 27 Paul is a prisoner on a ship 276 men they're they're in a hurricane a year Rockland and and it is really a bad storm there's sailors and soldiers and prisoners and gear and and all kinds of stuff on this ship that Goods that are being transported and the storm hits and several days into the storm the Bible said in Acts 27 18 the next day is gale force winds continue to batter the ship the crew began throwing the cargo overboard now before the storm you thought you needed the cargo that's how you're making your money that's the stuff you're transport rewarding to make the business profit but now in a storm stuff you thought you needed you realize you don't need as much as you thought you did they threw it overboard the next verse verse 19 the following day they even took some of the ship's gear and threw it overboard that would probably be me the gear that I had that I thought I needed and when I looked around and did an inventory in a storm I thought you know I don't really need that or that or that or that let's toss it overboard there's a time to throw it away and then later several days later in Acts 27 38 after eating the crew lighting the ship further by throwing the cargo of wheat overboard evidently they didn't throw the weed overboard at first but now they decided let's even throw the wheat overboard in the end the ship was broken up in the violence of the waves but God protected all the men and they made it to shore you know it's not really important what you accumulate in this life it's important that at the end of the storm of life that you are saved and make it to the shore of Heaven that you've kept what you must keep and you have thrown away what doesn't belong in your life there may be some things on board the ship of your life that until now you thought were indispensable but maybe the spirit of the Lord and his word is talking to you today and you realize you don't really need that in your life what is that going to matter in eternity you cannot take it to heaven and you cannot take it to hell Maryland so today prayerfully Ponder your values your relationships your behaviors the way you live your life your dress your lifestyle evaluating the ship of your life how you spend your time how you spend your money evaluate the place that god holds in your life is the first preeminent or is he second which means that there's an idol ahead of him in your life it's time to throw away our possessions should not possess us recognizing that there's a time to keep and a time to throw away really means living with an eternal perspective we may acquire possessions while on this Earth but we should hold Loosely onto stuff that we must let go of when we breathe our last breath the Apostle Paul said in first Timothy 6 and 7 for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can take nothing out there's an Old Testament story about the family of Jacob over the period of time process of time they had accumulated things that did not belong in their lives he may remember that when uh Jacob's wife Rachel the Beloved wife left her home in haran her father laban's house that she stole his images and she hid them in the furniture of the camel she tricked her dad and those that searched but in Genesis 35 God called Jacob back to Bethel back to a place of consecration that house of God where Jacob first encountered God God said to Jacob arise and go to Bethel and dwell there and make an altar there to God who appeared to you when you fled from the face of ye saw your brother and Jacob said to his household and to all who are with him put away the foreign or strange gods that are among you purify yourselves change your garments then let us arise and go up to Bethel and I will make an altar there to God who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me in the way which I have gone and Jacob's family responded obediently to the direction of their patriarch their father and husband Genesis 35 4 so they gave Jacob all the foreign Gods which are in their hands in all the earrings which were in their ears and Jacob hid them under the terabits or the oak tree which was by shechem and when they they threw away all the things that did not belong in the life of a Godly family that next verse Genesis 35 5 says that as they Journey the terror of the Lord was upon the cities that were all around them and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob there are some things that are after you to destroy your soul and your family and you may fear what can come against you and it is more powerful than you there are some forces that were stronger than Jacob and his family and only God could protect him but there was a trigger that God was waiting on it was a trigger of Consecration and with Jacob and his family obeyed then God supernaturally protected them you cannot do the supernatural but you can throw away what does not belong in your life you can consecrate you can repent you can discard what has no place in the life of a Christian [Applause] you may be waiting on God but in this regard God is waiting on you and God will honor your consecration and I can say that confidently based on the Promises of the word of God but I'm going to say something that is I rarely say and only if I really feel this but I felt as I was studying like a prophetic word from the Lord that some of you really need something to happen in your life and family and you're waiting on God to act well really God is waiting on you to act and if you will do what God is speaking to you through his word and by his Spirit if you will do what God is calling you to do you will release the power of God in your life there will be provision and protection and deliverance and everything you need is ready God is ready but he's waiting on you [Applause] cleanse yourself cleanse your family Hallelujah take a moment to lift our hands to the Lord and respond right now to what the spirit of the Lord is saying and doing I'm not finished preaching but I want us to open our hearts to God in a in a very special way right now Hallelujah thank you Jesus it is time to throw away to throw overboard to bury everything that is Unholy in your life and I repeat that when you cleanse your heart you release God's power I've observed this hundreds and hundreds of times and people that were Bound by sin came to an altar or a place of repentance wherever it was and they knew that they cannot break the power of addictions in their life habits that they could not break but as soon as they repented as soon as they changed their mind towards sin and ask God to forgive them when they repented then it opened their heart up to God it is not that God cannot do it but God is waiting on us to change our minds to repent of our sins to change our ways and when we do our will changes and God's power comes flooding into our lives so today January 1 2020. no excuses please no rationalizing no comparing yourself to others and I would if they would or I need to but they need two more I will if they will well why don't you start it [Applause] you can't change anybody else anyway you can only change yourself no judging just obedience to God in the imagery of a race a writer of Hebrews gave us some incredible advice Hebrews 12 and 1 wherefore seeing we are compassed about was so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight you're running a race from here to heaven you're trying to cross the finish line nothing else matters ultimately but being saved the writer of Hebrews says lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience endures the race that is set before us today is the best day you will ever have to consecrate yourself to the Lord it is the first day of the rest of your life and you cannot change yesterday that you can change today in the beginning of a new year is a wonderful time to make resolutions and starts it's the way we're wired amen don't be discouraged over past failures to form new habits don't become critical of yourself or other people who make consecrations or resolutions to do better I know the end of a thing is better than the beginning the Bible says but it is better to begin than to never try and you will never continue until you start and cynicism and negativity towards yourself and other people never help anyone be better cynicism is a killer and we all need all the encouragement that that we can get you will never overdose on encouragement we all need all the help and encouragement that we can get to be better do better to be saved so today is the day of repentance and renewal repentance should be a regular practice in our lives it's time to throw away the magnifying glass today and quit scrutinizing everyone else and grab the mirror and look into the mirror of the word of God and see ourselves as God really sees us repentance should be a regular practice in our lives a time to throw away sinful behavior and attitude says immediately after the thought or act of sin I read many years ago did not allow sin to build up in your life don't allow the Clutter of ungodliness to choke the spirit of God out of you repentance is not something we save up for a New Year's resolution amen we need a daily spiritual house cleaning we need to keep our hearts decluttered of debilitating attitudes however the Bible speaks of times of consecration and self-examination today we're going to receive the Lord's Supper communion and in this service in the Bible we are taught to examine ourselves something we should do every day but when we receive the Lord's Supper we are called to a special time of examination I want to read through this passage First Corinthians 11 27 New Living Translation speaking of the Lord's supper or communion or if you come from some church background as the Eucharist so anyone who eats this bread or drinks his cup of the Lord unworthily with the flippant attitude without examination okay without repentance anyone who drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily pardon me is guilty of sinning against a body and blood of the Lord that is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup for if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ you are eating and drinking God's judgment on yourself that is why Paul wrote many are weak and sick and some have even died but if we would examine ourselves we would not be judged by God in this way yet when we are judged by the Lord we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world right now is a time of self-examination judge yourselves judge the sin in your life judge the changes that need to be made so that you can avoid the Judgment of God at the end of time when it's too late to change today we're going to receive the symbols of the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ but before we do I want us to pray there is a time to keep there is a time to throw away and the time to throw away is right now in the city of Jerusalem there were numerous Gates but one of the gates was called the dung gate in the King James or the garbage cane it was a place to take out the trash preached about it many years ago here every one of us need a place and time in our lives when we take out the trash and we throw away what might have accumulated in our lives does not belong I don't know what that means to you but let's examine our attitudes and our actions let's ask God to cleanse us would you pray with me right now and let's ask the Lord to forgive us and to cleanse us before we receive the Lord's Supper lift your voice please and let's pray together [Music] foreign [Music] amen we're remaining in a prayerful mode but I wanted to give you some imagery from the Bible about how God describes the Forgiveness of sins we recognize that it was the blood of Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins Isaiah 38 the Lord said I've he's cast all my sins behind his back in Psalm 85 he said he's covered my sin in Psalm 183 or 103 he said as far as the East is from the West so far has he removed our transgressions from us in Hebrews 8 and 12 he remembers our sins and iniquities no more in Micah chapter 7 the bible says that he has cast all of our sins in the depths of the sea I was reading this passage in Micah I wanted us to read it together you'll see it Micah 7 18 who is a God Like You pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his Heritage he does not retain his anger forever because he Delights in Mercy he will again have compassion on us and we'll subdue our iniquities that's an intriguing phrase you will cast our sins into the depths of the sea Micah is recalling by the spirit of God the anointing on him when the Lord delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage the Lord destroyed the enemies the armies of pharaoh he subdued those iniquities or those armies and then he buried that Army in the depths of the sea and Micah is calling on that imagery to talk about what God does with our sins he actually subdues or conquers those sins and he buries our sins in a place where they cannot be brought up against us again in the Old Testament there is a sacrificial lamb and there was a scapegoat and the priest would lay his hands on the scapegoat and then a strong man a fit man would take that scapegoat and he would take that goat outside of Israel and that goat would bear the iniquities of Israel into a land not inhabited in other words the Lord takes our sins away from us there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus he has taken our sins away I grew up on an old hymn I came to Jesus weary worn and sad he took my sins away he took my sins away and now his love has made my heart so glad he took my sins away if you're glad that your sins are under the blood buried in the depths of the sea removed as far as the East is from the West passed behind his back never to be remembered against you you should thank him that you are free from the condemnation of sin we've emptied our garages of our souls we've thrown away what is not like Jesus Christ