OUR DAYS ARE AS A SHADOW

I CHRONICLES 29:1

A. "FOR WE ARE STRANGERS BEFORE THEE, AND SOJOURNERS AS WERE ALL OUR FATHERS; OUR DAYS ON EARTH ARE AS A SHADOW, AND THERE IS NONE ABIDING"
  1. Here we have King David's prayer:
    1. Offered in his closing days of his service as King of Israel
    2. They reveal the great wisdom he had gained in the school of life as a shepherd, a fugitive, a king, a prophet, and the servant of the Lord
  2. They are an inspired index:
    1. Of his knowledge of the privity of human existence
    2. Of his conclusion that life apart from God is vanity and fool-hearty B. OUR DAYS ARE AS A SHADOW
  3. That word "shadow" as used in our text:
    1. Indicates how fleeting this present life is - note a number of other expressions that indicate uncertainty of human life -
  4. a tale - Ps. 90:9
  5. a vapor - James 4:14
  6. few and evil - Gen. 47:9
  7. a weaver's shuttle - Job 7:6
    1. Job and David use the word shadow to express the uncertainty of life - compare Job 14:2 with Ps. 90:9; 102:11; 144:4; Eccl. 6:12
    2. Says the prophet Isaiah, "All flesh is grass and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field" - Is. 40:6-8
  8. In view of these facts:
    1. We ought to heed the admonition of the man of God, and pray, "Lord teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" - Ps. 90:12
    2. Then shall we use the time allotted to us wisely and not waste it in frivolity; Examples: This was one of the sins that brought the flood to the antediluvians - Matt. 24:26-27; upon Sodom and Gomorrah - Gen. 19:1-19
    3. And this is the sin that will doom the sinners in the last days - James 5:1-9; I Thes. 1-6
    4. For when they say peace and safety then sudden destruction shall come upon them Luke 21:34-35; I Thes. 5:1-9 C. A TIMELY LESSON FOR US THIS AFTERNOON
  9. We are witnessing the affirmation of our opening text:
    1. The brother, well known to us for many years has fallen asleep
    2. My years of association with him in Christian fellowship seem like a shadow - a dream, which becomes more unreal as I think
  10. But what is true of the brother:
    1. May be true of any of us regardless of age or condition of health - Prov. 27:1; James 4:13-14
    2. A step out of the house into the auto may be a step out of this life - I have seen it
    3. And yet, how careless and indifferent so many of us are about the uncertainty of life
  11. How best to use our time:
    1. Prepare to meet thy God - Amos 4:12
    2. Set our house in order - Is. 38:1; there may be things in the family to be made right; family finances straightened out; a will made
    3. Humble ourselves before God, confessing our sins and rededicating ourselves to the Lord, as Hezekiah also did
    4. Let our light so shine that men may see our good works and glorify our heavenly Father - Matt. 5:16
    5. Witness for the Lord in the home, in the church and in the community - Acts 1:8; Is. 43:10
  12. In closing this message, I can do no better than to call your attention to the solemn admonition of the apostle Paul in Romans 13:11-13:
    1. "And, that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep"
    2. "For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed"
    3. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand
    4. "Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light"
    5. "Let us walk honestly as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying
    6. "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof"


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