diff --git a/gcloud/pubsub/message.py b/gcloud/pubsub/message.py
index 38b907e62b69..1a04c3ee6fa7 100644
--- a/gcloud/pubsub/message.py
+++ b/gcloud/pubsub/message.py
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@
 """Define API Topics."""
 
 import base64
+import datetime
+
+import pytz
+
+_RFC3339_MICROS = '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%fZ'
 
 
 class Message(object):
@@ -44,6 +49,24 @@ def attributes(self):
             self._attributes = {}
         return self._attributes
 
+    @property
+    def timestamp(self):
+        """Return sortable timestamp from attributes, if passed.
+
+        Allows sorting messages in publication order (assuming consistent
+        clocks across all publishers).
+
+        :rtype: datetime
+        :returns: timestamp (in UTC timezone) parsed from RFC 3339 timestamp
+        :raises: ValueError if timestamp not in ``attributes``, or if it does
+                 not match the RFC 3339 format.
+        """
+        stamp = self.attributes.get('timestamp')
+        if stamp is None:
+            raise ValueError('No timestamp')
+        return datetime.datetime.strptime(stamp, _RFC3339_MICROS).replace(
+            tzinfo=pytz.UTC)
+
     @classmethod
     def from_api_repr(cls, api_repr):
         """Factory:  construct message from API representation.
diff --git a/gcloud/pubsub/test_message.py b/gcloud/pubsub/test_message.py
index 32b2854a4eaa..6cf97f677ec2 100644
--- a/gcloud/pubsub/test_message.py
+++ b/gcloud/pubsub/test_message.py
@@ -66,3 +66,39 @@ def test_from_api_repr_w_attributes(self):
         self.assertEqual(message.data, DATA)
         self.assertEqual(message.message_id, MESSAGE_ID)
         self.assertEqual(message.attributes, ATTRS)
+
+    def test_timestamp_no_attributes(self):
+        DATA = b'DEADBEEF'
+        MESSAGE_ID = b'12345'
+        message = self._makeOne(data=DATA, message_id=MESSAGE_ID)
+
+        def _to_fail():
+            return message.timestamp
+
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, _to_fail)
+
+    def test_timestamp_wo_timestamp_in_attributes(self):
+        DATA = b'DEADBEEF'
+        MESSAGE_ID = b'12345'
+        ATTRS = {'a': 'b'}
+        message = self._makeOne(data=DATA, message_id=MESSAGE_ID,
+                                attributes=ATTRS)
+
+        def _to_fail():
+            return message.timestamp
+
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, _to_fail)
+
+    def test_timestamp_w_timestamp_in_attributes(self):
+        from datetime import datetime
+        from pytz import utc
+        from gcloud.pubsub.message import _RFC3339_MICROS
+        DATA = b'DEADBEEF'
+        MESSAGE_ID = b'12345'
+        TIMESTAMP = '2015-04-10T18:42:27.131956Z'
+        naive = datetime.strptime(TIMESTAMP, _RFC3339_MICROS)
+        timestamp = naive.replace(tzinfo=utc)
+        ATTRS = {'timestamp': TIMESTAMP}
+        message = self._makeOne(data=DATA, message_id=MESSAGE_ID,
+                                attributes=ATTRS)
+        self.assertEqual(message.timestamp, timestamp)
diff --git a/regression/pubsub.py b/regression/pubsub.py
index 208f10f6d0fa..7c0db3cffc6e 100644
--- a/regression/pubsub.py
+++ b/regression/pubsub.py
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ def test_list_subscriptions(self):
 
     def test_message_pull_mode_e2e(self):
         TOPIC_NAME = 'subscribe-me'
-        topic = Topic(TOPIC_NAME)
+        topic = Topic(TOPIC_NAME, timestamp_messages=True)
         self.assertFalse(topic.exists())
         topic.create()
         self.to_delete.append(topic)
@@ -113,14 +113,23 @@ def test_message_pull_mode_e2e(self):
         subscription.create()
         self.to_delete.append(subscription)
 
-        MESSAGE = b'MESSAGE'
-        EXTRA = 'EXTRA'
-        topic.publish(MESSAGE, extra=EXTRA)
+        MESSAGE_1 = b'MESSAGE ONE'
+        MESSAGE_2 = b'MESSAGE ONE'
+        EXTRA_1 = 'EXTRA 1'
+        EXTRA_2 = 'EXTRA 2'
+        topic.publish(MESSAGE_1, extra=EXTRA_1)
+        topic.publish(MESSAGE_2, extra=EXTRA_2)
 
-        received = subscription.pull()
+        received = subscription.pull(max_messages=2)
         ack_ids = [recv[0] for recv in received]
         subscription.acknowledge(ack_ids)
         messages = [recv[1] for recv in received]
-        message, = messages
-        self.assertEqual(message.data, MESSAGE)
-        self.assertEqual(message.attributes, {'extra': EXTRA})
+
+        def _by_timestamp(message):
+            return message.timestamp
+
+        message1, message2 = sorted(messages, key=_by_timestamp)
+        self.assertEqual(message1.data, MESSAGE_1)
+        self.assertEqual(message1.attributes['extra'], EXTRA_1)
+        self.assertEqual(message2.data, MESSAGE_2)
+        self.assertEqual(message2.attributes['extra'], EXTRA_2)