A Little Time
Key Passage: James 4:13-17
Date: June 7, 2024
Had knee surgery. Turn your Bible to James chapter four. James chapter four. James chapter four in God’s word. We are going to read several verses, and we will stop and pause to comment here or there.
We want to cover a little bit of the context in the reading, and then we are going to narrow it down really to two words. Isn’t it amazing, just two words, but the preacher preaches on it for three hours? What is going on with that? But we will start off a little broad, narrow it down to just two words.
James chapter four. I like for you to see it in God’s word, if you are able. We are so honored to have God’s word. We would be lost and have no hope of figuring out what God wanted and did not want if we did not have His word, and I am glad we have His word. James chapter four, if you would, we are going to start at verse 13.
If you are able, let’s stand. Would you please stand for the reading of God’s word, just to show it respect? James 4, verse 13. We are going to start verse 13 of God’s Word. The Bible says, “Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain.”
Let’s pause for just a moment. There are two things about that verse. First of all, I want you to notice that God is speaking of material things, monetary things. Notice He says there in the last part, “buy and sell and get gain.” So it is talking about money, monetary, material things. That is what we are talking about. Many who studied it out tend to think—of course, the book of James was written to the twelve tribes scattered abroad and so on—that this is speaking of Jewish people who would travel to cities. Notice He said, “we will go into such a city,” trade cities, sometimes Alexandria or other large cities, and they would go there and plan on living there for a year or so, buying, selling, trading, and getting gain. They would go there as well. “I am going to get my nest egg built up a little bit. I am going to go over there and make it. I am going to make some bucks.” I mean, that was their mentality. “I am going to go to such and such city and I am going to make some money.” All right. So, just kind of the truth of that verse.
Verse 14: “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow: for what is your life? It is even as a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away.”
Can we go back and read that verse one more time, would you please? Just think about it. “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even as a vapor.” Kind of like a boiling pot of water, and the steam comes off, and you see the steam for a moment, and poof, it is gone. Even a vapor that appears for a little time. Just a little time, and then vanishes away.
Look at the next verse, verse 15: “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that.” But now ye rejoice in your boastings. That is interesting. “But now ye rejoice in your boastings.” All such rejoicing is evil. Wow. That is a pretty powerful statement. What was He saying there in that verse? “Now ye rejoice in your boastings.” The boasting—what is that? Well, it refers back to that first verse we read: “Well, I am going to go and I am going to hit it big. I am going to work hard and I am going to bank it up. I have a plan. I mean, I have a good work ethic. I am going to get a career.” Did you notice all that? “I, I.” That is the main thing He is talking about. What all I am going to do to get this money, this gain. Look, if God wanted to, just boom, we are gone. God gives us the air to breathe and the lungs to breathe it with. It is all from God. Even if I were to get some material gain, well, “These hands earned it.” Who gave you the hands, buddy?
He said all that boasting. By the way, He says you are rejoicing, you are boasting. Did it not make us feel good? “I am going to do this and that other,” and you rejoice. We rejoice in our boasting, what all we are going to do and what all we are going to have. And He says you are rejoicing in this boasting; that is evil. If any good thing does happen, it is from the Lord. He has allowed it, and He blesses hard work, but He allows us. He lets us. By the way, some people work mighty hard, probably a whole lot harder than you and me, and they live in a little cardboard shack in a third-world country. Oh, God has been good to us, we see it in that viewpoint.
Then that last verse there, He says, “Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Now, the key word in my opinion here in this verse is “knoweth”—to him that knoweth. Sometimes we get stuck on things we really do not know about. God does not show you ten miles down the road. Sometimes He does not even show you two feet down the road, but He always guides to the next step. And He is saying to him that knoweth—you know, by the way, we know what we ought to do right now. One thing we know you ought to do: you ought to be in church. Congratulations, you are in church on a Sunday morning. Amen. And that knoweth to do—you know I ought to read my Bible. I know that. It is for daily bread. I know I ought to be praying. He said, “Pray without ceasing.” I know that. I know I ought to share the light of the gospel with other people. I know that. Now, these things you know.
Who was it? Mark Twain used to say, “It is not the things of the Bible that I do not understand that bother me; it is the things in the Bible that I do understand that bother me.” There is nothing in there we understand. It takes care of itself for a good while if we just do those things. Therefore, to him that knoweth—there are some things I know I ought not do. Therefore, to him that knoweth these things, and we do not do it, to him it is sin. The things you do not know, do not get too shook up about them. You just keep doing what you know you ought to do. “Him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
Let us go back. We are going to focus on that verse, verse 14. I want to kind of get the context in there. And then that verse 14: “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow: for what is your life? It is even as a vapor that appeareth for a…” What are the next two words? “Little time.” Just those two words: little time. Would you say those two words out loud with me, please? Here we go: Little time.
There is a story told of a man that owned a fairly large factory business. It was in a country town. The town pretty much centered around that little factory—or not little, it was a larger factory. In fact, it was a multi-million dollar business. It was a pretty good-sized business, and this man did a good job. He had been the owner of it and just did a good job of it, and he got a little bit older.
He went out at the edge of town one time, and there was a little peanut stand, the story goes. He stopped to get some peanuts. While he was out there, he was enjoying a little break from the pressures and everything going on. He went out there and started talking to the guy. The guy recognized him: “Wow, he is the owner of the factory.” The guy who owned the peanut stand was a lot older and was tired. He thought, “Oh boy, this guy has some money.” He said, “Hey, sir, would you be interested in buying my peanut stand?” The guy who owned the factory, it did not matter; he had money. It was not that much. He said, “Sure.” He kind of did it out of being generous and kind to the man. He kind of liked getting away; it was a relief to him, so he bought it.
The story goes that the man began to spend more and more time at the peanut stand. He was just like getting away. There was not a lot of pressure, not a big, busy schedule. He could just go out there and talk with people as they came in and out of the peanut stand. The more time he spent at the peanut stand, the more the factory began to go downhill.
He just enjoyed it, though, and he could not get his wits about him. He spent more and more time away from the pressure of the factory. Pretty soon, they say the factory went belly up. Every business needs someone where the buck stops at their desk, and he was not at the desk. It just fell apart. Someone went to him and said, “Sir, I do not understand. You had this multi-million dollar business, and it was going so good years ago when you devoted your time, your energy to it. For the last couple of years, you have just been out there at that little stand on the outside of town. It really does not amount to that much; it is just peanuts.” Now, friend, our lifetime down here—however long you live down here in comparison—look up, look up, look up. However long you live in comparison, this lifetime down here to eternity, it is just peanuts.
That is why God says right there, He says, “What is your life?” Now let us just talk about your life. Maybe you do live to be three score and ten, seventy years old. Maybe, by luck—or not by luck, but by God’s goodness and grace—you add ten to it. Maybe you live to 80. I was thinking about it. I am not sure who is the wisest one in here. I think it is Brother Elmas back there. Ms. Sandra, how old is your dad? Ninety-six. I think he has it, amen. Let us give him a hand. He is a World War II vet back there. Whether you are 96 or whether you are just maybe 12 years old, 13—whatever your life is. Maybe you live to be 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. Of course, I am on the low end there. I am in church. I am lying too. But whatever your life is, even if it is up into the 90s, I have met several people who say, “I am going to live to be 100.” I do not think anyone did it. But if you could live to be 100, God says your lifetime, whatever it is, your lifetime is just a little time.
I will be honest, when I was a teenager, about 18 or 20 years old, this verse really caught my attention. I thought, “Wait a second, man. I have lived 18 years. I have been around for a while.” This was not boasting, but this is kind of what I went through in my mind at that age. I have been to elementary school, high school; I think I was maybe in college a year or two. And it seemed like a long time to me. That was the only reference I had, and it really did. I was not trying to be braggadocious; it just seemed like a long time. For me, it was a long time; that is all I knew. But then it began to account in: this is God’s word. From God’s viewpoint, God sees all eternity. Amen. Now, Isaiah 57 says He inhabits eternity. From God’s viewpoint, even if I live 100 years, when God sees all eternity, He says, “Look, your lifetime down there is just…” God, of course, He cannot live. God says it is just a little time. He sees it all. From God’s perspective, His view on our life and your life, God says, “Friend, let me just be honest with you: I can see it all. I see the end from the beginning.” God says your life is just little.
Brother Frank, praise the Lord for him. He is 80, I believe, and he still works and does a little bit of everything. I mean, I will ask, “How is your day going?” He says, “Well, I got four yards in the day, cut four yards.” Actually, Miss Wanda cut it for him, but he takes credit for it. I am joking about it. But Brother Frank sometimes will say, “Well, you know, I have a T-shirt as old as you are.” I would not want to smell that T-shirt. I get it. He is, of course, right. But look, even if you live 80, God says just little. It is a little.
There are a couple of simple thoughts about that, and we are going to be done. I do not think we will be real long. Notice I said I do not think we will be real long. Do not plan on it being long. Friend, this lifetime of trials and troubles and burdens, this lifetime of sorrows and sickness and problems that happens in this world—some of you have continual pain in your back or your knee, whatever, your heart is broken—friend, all these burdens of this lifetime, can I just tell you, friend, in comparison to eternity, they just last for a little time. You say, “Preacher, man, I am so weary. I am so worn out. I am so broken-hearted, maybe. I feel like I go to bed trying to hold back tears, and I wake up not wanting to get up because when I get up, I am going to start crying. I am just hurting.” Maybe you lost a loved one. Maybe you are trying to overcome a trial in your life, and the battles over the long haul can just make you wearisome and beat you down. Sometimes you are just quiet because you are just worn out. Can I just encourage you for a moment? Friend, I understand, and I am not trying to make light of those trials and burdens. They are real, and I am not making light of them at all. But, friend, if you could see eternity, you would realize those problems last just for a little time. “Preacher, you do not know the pain I am in and the adversity I have, and so many people going against me. I do not know what I am going to do about it all.” I am not trying to minimize that or make light of that. What you are going through is real, and I get that. I am not saying it is wrong to hurt; it is human to hurt. But, friend, can I just say it will last for a little time? I understand. You say it feels like it has lasted forever, just never going to end. I understand that, and you are right in the middle of it, but, friend, can I encourage you? God said it is just a little time.
Last week we read over Luke 16. Remember the rich man and then Lazarus? Lazarus was the beggar. Can you imagine what it would be to be like a beggar? Can you imagine the humiliation? He had to beg, and he begged for crumbs. “Would you just give me some crumbs?” That would be equivalent to, “Would you give me a couple of your corn flakes?” He was a beggar. The Bible says he was laid at that gate. In other words, he could not walk. I do not know if he was lame from birth or maybe a horse and wagon ran him over—I do not know what happened to him. But he was laid there; he could not walk. Can you imagine not being able to move, and people had to carry you? I like to listen sometimes to Joni Erickson Tada. I was listening to one of her books recently, and she was saying how she worries that she is going to wear her husband and others out having to carry her everywhere—wheelchair, and then they pick her up and put her in her bed. But in this guy’s case, they had to lay him at the gate. He would beg all day long. Then the Bible says he was full of sores. I do not know what that was; some might think leprosy, maybe elephantiasis. But he was so full of sores. Can you imagine having sores all over you? This is an interesting thing. Some of you ladies might want to hold your ears on this one, but the Bible does say the dogs came and licked his sores. That is interesting. How many—be honest with me—have ever heard people say that dogs have healing and antibacterial properties and that it is healthy for them? Yes, I have heard that. It looks like about half of you heard that. Actually, that has been around for years. They actually think it was around during Bible times. If you look online, it is like everything else; you can find both sides. It looks like the overtone online is that there is some healing power there, but then there is also the fact that you do not know where that dog’s tongue has been just a minute before. No, we are not going to keep going on that. We are going to leave it there, brother. Online it is like, yes, there are some good things, but there can be some potential bad things too. You take your chances. I am not sure about everything, but the Bible does say the dogs came and licked his sores. Maybe he just said, “You know what? I do not have $300 for that tube of ointment every time I need it for all my sores. I am a beggar; I ain’t got much money, so I will just take my chance.” Dogs come and lick the sores. But that is what the Bible says: a dog licked his sores.
Now, think about this man Lazarus. Would it not be a pretty miserable life for you to have to beg, and people carry you everywhere you go, and you have to be laid outside this rich man’s gate? And, “Hey, would you put the window in your limousine down and just toss some cornflakes out to me? Give me some crumbs.” And you have sores all over, and the dogs are the only relief you get—dogs licking your sores. Yet, think about it. I do not know how old that man became in that condition; he probably did not live real long. But just say that man lived to be 50 years old. I do not know—maybe 30, maybe 40, maybe older, maybe 60 or 70. I do not know; I kind of doubt it in that condition. But just say he lived 50 years old. Now wait a second. So, 50 years he had a rough life. Do you agree with me? Yes, probably rough for any of us. But wait a second: for 2,000 plus years—not a hundred, double what he lived there, not quadruple—I do not know. Jesus told the story; it was not a parable, as we mentioned last week. He actually used names. It was a story. I am not sure how old that story was when Jesus told it, but Jesus was approximately 2,000 years ago. So for thousands of years, Lazarus has been comforted. He has good legs. He can run around heaven. He does not have to beg anymore. Jesus Christ takes care of his food. Pretty good deal. He does not have to be laid anywhere. This man is comforted. What I am saying, friend, wait a second: this lifetime—yes, it is full of troubles and trials and heartbreaks, and you do not understand everything. You say, “Well, justice—justice does not even happen in our country.” Wherever you feel about all those things, friend, hey, listen: this lifetime is just for a little time, what God says. Just a little time.
Can I read for you a couple of verses? Romans 8:18: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” I will review another passage, 2 Corinthians 4:17: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment.” It is amazing. God says what you are going through now is just for a moment. We are like, “Man, it is a lifetime.” I get that from our viewpoint, but I am trying to get you to see it from God’s viewpoint. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Would you try this with me? If you are having—sometimes, you know, you cannot see the forest because of a tree in front of you. Now listen, everybody, look up. Everybody, if your neighbor is sleeping, poke him in the eyeball, all right? There you go. You are stuck, and I am stuck right here today; we cannot change. Maybe you have a lot of issues right now: health issues, problems, hurt, relationships, just burdens. Maybe your loved ones passed. Maybe people told lies about you, and you are stuck in it. I understand it hurts. I am not trying to deny that. But would you just for a moment try to lift yourself up out of that valley? Would you see it from God’s viewpoint for just a moment, from His word, and realize it is just a little time? I understand you are hurting so bad, and I get that. It just seems like it dominates your life, but, friend, God says it is just a little, little time.
It is just gone. Friend, Satan calls so many people when they are just in this brief moment, and they are going through a time. So many people just throw in the towel and say, “I am not going to serve God,” and they give up and drop out of the race. Friend, can I just—just for a moment—would you just realize and look down? It is just a little time. Do not listen to the liar, the smutty-faced devil. Keep serving God. Yes, I understand there is pain and there are tears and heartaches, and we do not understand it all, but, friend, God says it is just a little time. Stay in there; keep serving God. Do not drop out. I wonder how many people in this little drop of the bucket have dropped out because of a problem, and then eternity? Man, I wish I would not have dropped out. We should have hung in there. It hurts so bad at that moment, but I did not realize then that now it is just a little time. Just a little time. Friend, would you keep serving Him?
Just three points. That was number one. We are going to go home. I am not going to say we are going to go home early; I am not sure. We are going to try it. Simple points you will know. Number one: Your problems and burdens of life are so real, but they are for a little time. Number two: Do not—and listen to me—we are all limited on our resources. We spoke in Sunday school about gifts, going to the Book of Acts, and there are a lot of gifts in there. Look, no matter how gifted you are, you are limited in your gifts, your resources. You are limited in your finances. You are limited in your health. It does not matter how much you work out or how healthy you eat. You can eat salad for breakfast, lunch, and supper. You can work out 24 hours a day and never drink a Coke in all your life. Okay, you probably cannot do that. We are all going to die, though. It does not matter; you are going to die. I am not against eating right. I try to do it once every year or two for me, as long as fried chicken is considered healthy eating, I am good. No, I work at it, not like I should, but I work at it.
We are all limited. You are limited in the amount of years you have. You are limited in your resources. You are limited in your gifts. You are just limited. Here is what I am getting at: If I use my resources, I spend my resources on the little time. If I just dump everything I have—all my resources, all my energy—and I just dump it all, you are going to have to spend some time on this little time. But if I just dump it all into the little time, friend, do you realize how foolish that is? This is just a little time. If I use all my resources and all my abilities and all my gifts just in this little time, wow, I missed the big picture.
Look over, if you will, in Matthew chapter 6. Just real quickly, Matthew chapter 6, look and see what Jesus says over here. Matthew chapter 6 of God’s word. Matthew chapter 6, look at verse 19, if you would, please. Matthew 6:19. God knows this lifetime down here is just a little time. That is what He said. Look what He says here in Matthew 6:19: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” Let moths come in and eat your clothes up. How many of your grandparents—you can smell mothballs in their house? Yes, I understand. Where moth and rust doth corrupt. Man, that beautiful sports car has a real good chance pretty soon of being in the junkyard, rusty one day. Okay, a lot of them are plastic nowadays, so part of it is rust. He said, “Where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” I remember the last recession. I was at Stonecrest Hospital, and a man—he had, I think, around $100,000 in the stock market, and he lost it all. This was his retirement; it is gone. He said, “Be careful about just hoarding these treasures down here.” Look at verse 20: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” He is not talking about not preparing for retirement; I think it is a wise thing to do. But treasure—lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves do not break through nor steal. Jesus said, look, realizing that this lifetime is just a little time, make sure you take out of your pool of resources—your lifetime, your ability—and you are investing in eternity. You do not have to worry about the stock market if you are invested in eternity. You do not have to worry about moths coming and eating your name-brand clothes up; they are stored up in heaven. No moths there. You do not have to worry about everything rusting because it is laid up in eternity. I say again, I think it is wise to plan for retirement, and Proverbs 6 talks about those things. I am for those things. But your treasures for Him—it is not everything wrapped up down here. If I am using everything for this time, it is foolish because this is just little, little time. So many who are born-again Christians, if they are saying they are, yet they do not live for the Lord, they are going to go to heaven one day and say, “Man, I missed it. I never laid up anything on the other side.”
You heard about the farmer. The preacher went and visited him, and his wife went to church. She had been praying for her husband. “Preacher, would you go visit my husband?” He did, and he went out to the back of his house. The farmer owned a lot of land. He said, “Preacher, I want you to look as far as you can. East, I own all that; it is mine. Look as far as you want to, west; I own all that is mine. Look as far as you want to, south. I own north.” He said, “What do you think about that, preacher? I do not go to church. I am not a born-again Christian. Look what all I have.” The preacher said, “You show me what you own in the east and west and south and north, but what about up?” Amen. Friend, eternity—this is just little. It is little time.
Luke chapter 12. The title over the paragraph is “A Rich Fool.” There is this man; he has a good harvest coming, he has a good year, and he takes all his crops that he harvested and does not have enough room in his barn. So he says, “Well, I will tell you, I am going to tear my barn down and build a bigger one. Then, when I fill that barn up, I am going to enjoy life.” By the way, it is interesting how the Bible words it. Is that not the way we are always? “I will enjoy it one day out in the future.” God says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Stop and enjoy what you have. Live for God. But God says to that rich fool, He says, “Sir, sir, you are always planning to have a little bit bigger, a little bit better one day.” And God says, “Tonight, your soul shall be required of thee.” God calls him a fool because they never thought about beyond the little—the little time.
I went to Calvary Baptist Church, Lakeland, Florida, as a teenager. Our pastor was Dr. B. Buffington, a great preacher. He was a World War II pilot, by the way. We had a man who went to church, Tommy Douglas. Tommy Douglas, when I was a teenager, was an older man. He always had his baseball cap on. It was just instinct: when he walked inside the doors of the church, he always took his hat off. That is a good practice for a man to do, and I like it, but he always did. He had this big old hearing aid, you know, back in the day. How many remember talking about the big old hearing aids? You are like, “How can they hear?” They have the big old thing in the ear. He always had them in. He was retired, he and his wife, but they would spend their weeks, their days literally, of retirement working the bus routes—not bus route, bus routes. Typically, he had three bus routes. In the larger church, I think we had 10 or 12 routes. Tommy Douglas, Dr. Buffington, our pastor, would try to get him to take some weeks off, and he would not do it. He wanted to spend his last days of his life working. They would usually take one day out of the week for doctor’s visits, and then they would spend the rest of the week just visiting kids all week long. Sunday came; they would have bus drivers lined up. The church would have buses lined up, and they would have lists for those bus drivers. Sometimes bus workers—usually at least one bus worker—would try to survive on that bus. They had lists, and they would go around Lakeland, Florida, picking up kids they had lined up. They would spend their week lining them up, not just Saturday. Typically, he had three bus routes. I was a bus captain, and I did not always like it because of the competition. I was like, “Nobody can beat Tommy Douglas in the bus ministry.” There is no way. When I went off to Bible college, he was still there. When I was in Bible college, he passed. My pastor, Dr. Buffington, would tell the story. Tommy Douglas was in the hospital. I am not sure—pretty much what I understand, he was pretty much brain dead and had not moved in days. When it came time they were going to pull the life support, people were there, Dr. Buffington and my pastor were there. They say he had not moved in days, had not moved anything. They went ahead and pulled the plug, if you will. As he was taking his last breath, lying in the hospital bed, Dr. Buffington said his arm just went straight up. The nurses and everybody thought, “Wow, we have never seen this.” He had not moved in days. Old Dr. Buffington did not say anything, but I believe he was walking into heaven, and the Lord was coming to greet him, raising his old arms. The Lord said, “Good job. You did a good job serving.” All those years, he had invested not just in the little time, but in the big time.
Number three, it kind of leads up to that point. Number three: Would you live your life—would you live, even young people—would you live your life with eternity in view? It ought to always be in the picture. Live with eternity in view. This time is just the little time. Little time. Small. Would you look over in Second Corinthians chapter four real quickly here? We will read a couple of verses and give an illustration, and then we will be done, but I want you to see this one. I quoted the first one already for you. Let us look at both of these. Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 17: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. So I have to look through the eyes—not physical eyes, because if you are looking through those all the time, you are going to want what all this world has to offer—but I have to look through the eyes of faith and see eternal, not just temporal, but eternal things. Isn’t it amazing how just a second of time can change your whole life?
I was talking to Larry Hayes right before service back there by the PA booth. Years ago, he was in boot camp and whatnot. He had jumped off a jump that was much higher than it was supposed to be when they had him jump off. He jumped off, and I am not sure everything—it messed his ankles, his heels, his back up, and today he has many problems from that. Just a moment. Just boom, it changes your whole life. I had an accident on my hand 20-something years ago, and boom, my whole life changed. It is amazing how it just changes everything. This little time—what you are doing in this little time—changes eternity. Forever. A thousand years down the road, a million years down the road, what you do in this little time changes that. That beggar we talked about earlier, Lazarus, somewhere in that lifetime—having lived 50 years, I do not know—there was a time that he realized, “Hey, I cannot get myself to heaven. I have flaws.” During that lifetime, he had put his faith in Jesus, the Messiah. He had put his faith in Him to get him to heaven. He had been saved. So for all eternity, he will be comforted. Just boom. The Bible talks about it, John 5:24. He says you have passed from death unto life. Before that, you were going to eternal hell for all eternity, and then boom, you pass from death into life in just a moment. It is amazing how just split seconds can change your life forever. Incredible. And this lifetime is just little time. Just little time, and it changes all eternity.
I have used this illustration before. I debate about using it again, but I cannot really think of anything more effective. I want to briefly use it again; I do not think it will take very long, but maybe it will help us remember a little bit. I have this tape measure, and I have taped off one inch with electrical tape—that one inch. That is going to illustrate your life. However old you are—if you are 20 years old, if you are 13, 15, 17 years old—however long, that one inch is your life. If you are 96 years old right there, brother, that one inch still covers 96 years—your whole lifetime. All right, you got me? Now, one day when I die, it is going to go beyond the one inch. I am going to go out a foot on this thing here. That one inch right there represents your lifetime, however long you live, and here is eternity right here. What you do during that little bit of time right there is going to determine how all eternity is, based on what you do in that one inch. What you do is going to determine it. Friend, I can take it out much longer. I am going to take it out to three feet—that is a yardstick, 36 inches right there. That one inch over there represents your lifetime. What you are doing in that one inch determines what all happens right here for all eternity. Brother Josh, would you stand up and grab that over there? Would you hold it here? Would you kind of let them see that one inch of you? There you go. Hold it up there. Let us go out wherever we are. We are seven feet right there. Can you see that one inch over there? He is plenty tall; he is taller than me. Let us get on this chair right here. That is your lifetime. If you are 96, that is still your lifetime. 80 is still your lifetime. All this is eternity, and what you are doing in that one inch determines what happened for all the rest. We have seven feet. Let us go on out, Brother Josh, let us go out to ten feet here. Let us see where we are. Oh, we are just a little bit past your lifetime right there. All the rest of that—that one inch determines what happens for the rest of it. Let us go on down. I think it is 25 or 30 feet, I do not know what the tape is. We are going to find out here because it is going to stop in just a moment. Oh, here we go right here: 25-foot tape. That one inch is your lifetime. What you do with that one inch determines eternity.
That is why God says little, little time. That is why it says, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” It is just little—a drop in the bucket—but what I do in the one inch determines eternity. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed. You say, “Preacher, I am not going to ask a lot of questions today, but you say, ‘Preacher, I want to live my life with eternity in view. I want to live my life realizing how I live for the Lord determines my rewards. I want to live my life with eternity in view.’” Maybe young people, older people, whatever you have. I realize this lifetime is just a little time. God spoke to my heart. I want to live my life with eternity in view. If that is you this morning, you slip your hand up: “Preacher, God spoke to my heart. I want to live my lifetime with eternity in view.” Oh, me too. Me too. Man, it makes me want to live every moment I can for the Lord, doing what I can for you. If He shows me what I know to do good, I do it. Thank you so very much. You can put your hands down. Thank you so very much.
Original File: For A Little Time - Sunday AM Pastor Paul Chisgar 52321