a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
3 sermons cite this verse
… There's a time for death. There's a time to laugh and a time to weep. There's a time to build up and a time to tear down. All told, in these eight verses, Solomon is gonna give us 14 of these dualistic pairs or two sets of seven, which is a Hebrew way of signaling perfection, completion. In other words, the very shape of the poem is declaring to you, this is the totality of life. the seasons, the cycles. This is life. And just like the actual seasons, none of us can change or predict or control them. Listen, I love the fall here in North Carolina. It literally cannot get here soon enough for me. The temperature is perfect. The leaves start to change and there is no pollen. Spring is okay. Okay. It's okay. The pollen just about ruins it for me. These muggy, humid summer months are something I could forever leave behind. Now, my wife is almost the exact opposite. But of course, our preferences don't change anything in regards to when the seasons come or how long they last. In the same way, all the money in the world cannot stop life's biggest changes. Your body aging, your kids growing up, things in your life changing, friends moving away, relationships falling apart, economies crashing, prostates developing, cancer, a loved one dying. …
… And yes, that is a book in the Bible. Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verses 1 through 15 is where we're going to be studying tonight with a message entitled, All in Good Time. All in good time. Now for many of us, we have both heard these words spoken and probably repeated them ourselves. To the little kid who wants it to be Christmas already, to the teenager who wants to drive so badly to the engaged couple anticipating their long-awaited wedding day, we would say, well, all in good time. But is it true, all in good time? Will you and I get everything we desire in good time? Do good things come to those who wait? Well, possibly, but certainly not always. I would suppose it's really dependent on one major factor, and it would be how you and I would define the word good. And rather, who would define what is good? If God, who is the source of all goodness, as the Bible tells us, is the one to define what is good, then the answer to the statement, all in good time, is absolutely yes. …
"A time to love." Ecclesiastes 3:8. IF you will look at our text, dear Friends, you will see that it is very ominously followed by the words, "and a time to hate." We are changeable creatures and we live in an ever-changing world—and this Chapter gives an accurate summary of how most of our lives are spent! "A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which 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; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." Ours is a checkered life. We are not long in any one state and we quickly change from one condition to another—which is sometimes better, but sometimes worse. …