In our study of Esther and the providence of God, we are presently discussing the doctrine of the timing of God.
When we stopped last time we were discussing the principle of faithlessness as a cause of bad timing. We saw that Israel was destroyed by their persistent unbelief that resulted in their consistently bad timing because of their lack of trust in God. Heb 3:7-19;
Eccles 7:17; states that It's even possible to die before your time under conditions other than suicide. "Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool otherwise you might die before your time."
"Excessive wickedness" relates to the arrogance and emotional sins. This implies that since God is responsible for the time, manner, and place of our death, He may choose to take a fool out early because of their arrogance and emotional sinning.
This means that in addition to suicide a person can die before God's time by being excessively arrogant and becoming a fool because of their negative volition to his word. This is probably why some young people die in accidents "before their time."
Another form of bad timing is judging or maligning other believers. 1Cor 4:5; Therefore, do not judge anything before the appointed time of judgment, but wait until the Lord comes (at the exit resurrection), He will bring to light the things hidden in darkness and He will expose the motives of men's thinking. At that time, each believer will receive his praise from God.
Remember that the Corinthian believers had rejected Paul as their right pastor. He gives all the reasons for their rejection of him, and shows them that because of their arrogance their timing was bad. Wrong motivation always leads to bad timing.
When you are oriented to God's timing you understand that there is no point in judging, gossiping, maligning, or being critical of other believers. God will deal with them in His time. He may choose to do it in the Supreme Court of Heaven now or He may wait till the Judgment Seat of Christ after the exit resurrection, when our Lord will evaluate every believer.
This means that any time that you malign or judge or run down some other believer, you are functioning under your own timing rather than God's timing.
When you are wronged, if you retaliate and seek revenge, you cut off any function from the Supreme Court of Heaven. But if you put it in the Lord's hands and do not retaliate, then the Supreme Court of Heaven functions, in God's time.
God's timing is perfect. Therefore, God will handle the case perfectly. God knows all the facts and God knows how to discipline the guilty party in the most effective way. This means that God executes judgment with far better results than we can.
In the execution of the protocol plan of God, the believer is commanded to purchase time. Eph 5:16; KJV "Redeeming the time because the days are evil."
To redeem means to purchase or to "buy back". In this case, you purchase or redeem time by taking advantage of the opportunity for the perception and metabolization of doctrine that is applied to one's circumstances as wisdom.
You purchase time by learning the mechanics of the protocol plan of God, by understanding and utilizing the portfolio of invisible assets, by knowing and using the problem solving devices, and by being faithful in the little things.
Col 4:5;KJV "Walk with wisdom toward outsiders (unbelievers), redeeming (purchasing) the time."
To walk with wisdom means to apply doctrine to experience. Epignosis doctrine that is applied to our experience is wisdom. Walking in wisdom therefore refers to time spent in spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity.
To walk with wisdom toward unbelievers means to not be influenced by the ambitions, the desires, or the sins of unbelievers. Unbelievers get pushy and demanding because they want things in a hurry.
They want shortcuts to "success" that bypass virtue. They want what they want right now, and there is no tomorrow. When believers do not understand the grace function of the protocol plan of God they will function in the same pushy and demanding way.
Believers also function in bad timing when they reject the grace norms and standards of Bible doctrine and accept false teaching from false teachers.
2Tim 4:3;(NASB), "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but desiring to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves false teachers on the basis of their own lusts." Net note 7
Believers have to learn to tolerate sound Bible teaching. It may make you react, or feel terrible or inadequate, but these are things that it is designed to do so that you will learn to rely on the Lord and His word instead of on your own resources.
Today we are in a negative generation when believers will not tolerate sound doctrinal teaching because they want immediate gratification. This negative volition toward doctrine will result in the destruction of the nation just as it did for Israel.
The "tickling of the ears" a synonym for emotional stimulation from false doctrine. When this occurs in the local assembly, emotional stimulation replaces the teaching of Bible doctrine.
This results in believers "feeling good" for a short while after they attend the church service but they have no doctrine which means that they have no capacity to consistently handle the adversities of life on their own from a position of strength by the recall and application of God's word to their situation.
Heb 4:16; NASB states that good timing is also related to our prayer life. "Therefore, let us with confidence come to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Net note 15
"Timely help" is bringing yourself back under God's timing rather than living in your own timing. Coming confidently to the throne of grace requires understanding of God's integrity from persistent PMA of God's word.
When the time of need comes, there is the necessity for prayer. But the prayer must be directed toward the grace policy of God that is based on God's integrity and made possible by Christ's work on our behalf. Rom 5:8;
In Heb 5:12; we see bad timing from the failure to persist in learning Bible doctrine that has resulted in the rate of forgetting exceeding the rate of learning.
"For though by this time (the elapsed time after salvation), you ought to be teachers, but you have need again for someone teach you the elementary categories of doctrine from God. You have become believers who need milk and not solid food."
In other words, you have been saved long enough so that you should know enough doctrine to teach others. But because you have failed to persist in learning doctrine so the rate of forgetting has exceeded the rate of learning you must relearn the basics.
The issue was the elapse of time that had occurred since they had become believers. Because of their lack of doctrinal awareness, these believers have reverted to their former way of life and their own timing. As a result, everything has gone wrong. They have eternal life, but they're in a total state of confusion regarding how they are to live in God's plan while on this earth.
When believers have been saved for a long time and still need basic information, they are functioning in bad timing because of their wrong priorities. Matt 6:33;
Having the right priorities that results in having good timing after salvation is important. James 4:14; "You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow, for you are just like a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."
Believers on their own timing are a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. They have eternal life, but nothing to show for the assets that God provided them as members of His Royal Family.
In view of eternity, our time on earth is very short. When compared to eternity time is just a drop in the ocean. For the brief time that we are here, we have the opportunity to operate under good timing that comes from the PMA of Bible doctrine to the glory of God.
As a believer, your life only has significance as it is related to the mystery doctrine of the Church Age and the problem solving devices. Your life is only a vapor trail, a cloud that disappears quickly, and it only has any significance if it is related to God's word that abides forever. Matt 24:35;