7/10/94
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?"
or
"ON NOT BEING POLITICALLY CORRECT"
Pastor Paul Fedena

TEXT: Eccl.3:4-8
 
THESIS: To reveal what is really important as opposed to what is considered important by the "Media" and the world.
 
INTRO:
       A. We have fallen for the "Media's" evaluation of what is or is not important. There is a basic rule beleiver's should follow: if the Media stresses it, it probably has little genuine, spiritual or eternal significance: e.g. Super Bowl scores, Olympic gold medal winners, wars and rumors of wars (at least 3 more World Wars are on God's agenda, 2 of them could be as close as 7 years from today!), motion picture "Box Office Hits", new "democracies" or Govts., race riots, etc., etc.
 
ILLUS: Trust the Media for distortion of facts and figures and concern for the wrong values, morals or events. More people are killed every year in the U.S. by drunk drivers (20,000/yr. since 1960), than were killed during 14 years of prohibition (1919-33). More people die of auto accidents in general than die by assault weapons or guns of any description every year.  More people died in Ted Kennedy's car in 1 day at Chappiquidik than died in any nuclear "leak" or "disaster" at 3 Mile Island or any other nuclear facility America in the last 50 years!!!
 
       B. It is the news media's job to keep you occupied with trivia and events over which you have no control and cannot alter.  This keeps you from meditating on the things which are really important in your life as it relates to living for the Lord  in the light of eternity.  It is God's job to inform you about the really important and basic issues of the here and hereafter and Solomon deals with 28 of those items in our text...
 
TRANS: We have already dealt with 10 of these truly important issues; let's continue to examine Solomon's inspired list...
 
I.  A TIME FOR MOURNING and DANCING: v.4b
 
       A. "A Time To Mourn":
 
          1. Biblical examples of legitimate mourning are Jeremiah weeping over the destruction of Jerusalem in the Book of Mourning (Lamentations), and Jesus weeping over the same matter.
          2. We should mourn over our lack of love and service to the Savior, our lack of love for the Bible, our backslidings, our lost loved ones, and our dirty rotten sins!
 
ILLUS: Our whole nation went into mourning a few years back when J.F. Kennedy, - our most immoral, liberal President until Bill Clinton - but no-one here today thought two minutes about him! Our nation still mourns the death of
             Rock Idol, Elvis Presley, a man responsible for introducing us to more immorality, dedadence and filth and the "King of Rock N' Roll" - but you didn't spend one minute today thinking about him, nor being concerned about the legacy of thousands of ruined homes and lives left behind.
 
       B. "A Time To Dance":
 
ILLUS: Our nation is more concerned about dancing, mirth, frivolity, entertainment and laughter than about mourning or even thinking about anything important.  Example: The Almanac for a recent past year (1982) lists *2 pages of famous past Americans, 3 pages of famous political leaders,
*1 pg. for military leaders,
*3 for famous writers,
*2 for artists,
*2 for philosophers and educators,
*1 1/2 pages for noted scientists,
*5 pages for composers, industrialists, historians and economists and
*13 PAGES for ENTERTAINERS!!!!
 
          1. Bible "dancing" is "uni-sex" and the BODIES NEVER TOUCH and there is nothing "sensual" or "sexual" about it!
 
Ex.15:20 
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
 
II Sam.6:14 
And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
 
          2. Modern dancing is sexual and emulates or imitates copulation, fornication or adultery.
          3. The term "Rock N' Roll" is a euphemism for fornication!!!  It is truly "Dirty Dancing"!!!
 
II. A TIME OF CASTING and GATHERING:  v.5a
 
       A. "A Time To Cast Away Stones":
 
          1. Biblically this speaks of the destruction of walls and fortresses.
 
II Ki.3:19 
And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
 
          2. It also speaks of removing boundary stones.
 
ILLUS: When God sent Israel into the Promised Land he told His people to
   take over the property and possess it.  Only God can set boundaries.  For
   the sea shore resorts to arbitrarily charge fees for "beach tags" on God's
   beaches and to swim in God's ocean is sick!  Who deeded the ocean to anyone?
 
       B. "A Time To Gather Stones":
 
          1. Biblically this speaks of building altars, setting up memorials, etc.
 
Josh.4:9 
And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.
 
III. A TIME FOR EMBRACING and REFRAINING:
 
       A. "A Time To Embrace":
 
          1. God approves of embracing newborn babies, parents, siblings and your spouse.
          2. God disapproves of embracing other members of the opposite sex!
          3. God says we should embrace righteousness.
 
ILLUS: Of course, to be Politically Correct today, you should embrace everyone, regardless of gender, race, political ideology, or theology!  In our area one "Church" has an organization called "Lesbian Sober Sisters" for Queer Drunks or Sodomite Sots!!!
        *You can pass out condoms in the public schools, but you can't read the Bible or speak out for abstinence! 
        *You can spend millions of tax dollars to install weapon detectors in schools and video cameras on school
buses, but not one dime to teach biblical morality or the 10 Commandments to eliminate some of the violence!
 
       B. "A Time To Refrain From Embracing":
 
          1. As, for example, embracing a whore or another man's wife or a member of the same sex.
          2. Or a false religion, false doctrine or false teacher.
 
IV. A TIME FOR GETTING and LOSING: v.6a
 
       A. "A Time To Get":
 
          1. There is a time to get a spanking, to get fed, get a wife, place to live, and education, food and clothing for your family.
          2. There is a time to get saved ("accepted time"), get sanctified, get sound doctrine and finally to get rewards at the J.S. of Christ.
 
       B. "A Time To Lose":
 
          1. There is a time to lose weight (!), your health, your land, your home, your friends, even one of your children, wife or husband.
 
Mt.19:29 
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or  father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
 
          2. A believer cannot lose his or her salvation, but he or she can lose testimony, joy, rewards, reputation, character, ministry, inheritance, his mind or even his life.
 
II Jn.8  Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
 
V.  A TIME FOR KEEPING and CASTING:  V.6b
 
       A. "A Time For Keeping":
 
          1. Believers are to "Keep the faith..."  to hold sound doctrine.
          2. They are to "Keep themselves pure..." to be able to be used.
          3. They must "Keep (His) Commandments..." to demonstrate their love.
          4. They are to "Keep...unspotted from the world..." to earn His approval.
          5. There is also a time to keep your mouth shut, keep loaded guns in your house, keep alert so you never become "politically correct"!!
 
ILLUS: Avoid cliches, euphemisms and new "softer" terminology.  Sodomites are queers, not "gay"; drunkards are still sots, not "alcoholics"; adulterers are still whoremongers, not "having an affair"; fornicators are still sex perverts, not just "swingers" or "playboys"; harlots are still whores not "call girls"; the new "Bibles" are still perversions and versions not translations or God's Word; Liberals are liberals, not "new Democrats" or "progressives" or "moderates"; Conservatives are still "right" not "extremists" or "right-wingers" or "hawks"; Fundamentalists are still Bible-believers, not weirdos, kooks, funnymentalists or heretics; Separatists are not Pharisees and standards are biblical principles not nit-picking or legalism!
 
       B. "A Time To Cast Away":
 
          1. Scorners should be cast out of the local assembly.
 
Prov. 22:10 
Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.
 
          2. The immoral, the lazy, the heretic, the sower of discord, and the unrepentant should also be cast out of the church.
          3. We are to "Cast our bread (God's Word) upon the waters..." so we can see the return.
 
ILLUS: We need to "cast away" any concept, idea, ideology, or "Politically Correct" philosophy which will hinder God's Word, will or work or cause us to become spiritually neutral or neutralized.
 
CONCL: What is really important?  What the Media says or what God says?!
💨Stay with the old Book and the old look and continue to walk in the old paths.
💨Beware the mind-changers or brain-washers!
​It is better to be Biblically correct than Politically correct!