A Time for Everything

Mike KirkpatrickEcclesiastes 3:1–15

Ecclesiastes 3:1–15 confronts the tyranny and perplexity of time by showing that God has ordered every season of life — from birth to death, weeping to laughter, war to peace — according to his sovereign decree. The preacher of Ecclesiastes does not resolve the tension between life's absurdities and God's purposes, but holds them in juxtaposition: God has put eternity in the heart of man, yet man cannot find out the work God does from beginning to end. The sermon draws two obligations from this: enjoy the good gifts God gives in time, and fear the God who governs all of time — including the appointed moment of Christ's incarnation, the moment of each sinner's effectual calling, and the appointed day of final judgment.