Daniel 3:16

Daniel 3:16

To do what is right or to do what is smart. 

Have you ever been faced with a situation where those seem to be your only two options? 

You know what’s right, you know what God requires of you and yet that doesn’t seem to be the wisest course of action.  Maybe it’s a matter of doing the right thing, or not doing the wrong thing.

And while you know what you should do, at the same time you are doing a quick cost analyst in your head.  If I do this, what will it cost me in terms of friends, or money or job security?  Should I speak up or remain silent on an issue?  If you are like me I’m sure that’s you’ve discovered that sometimes silence is golden, sometimes it’s just plain yellow.

And that question to do what was right or to do what was smart was the question at the heart of today’s 3:16.

For those of you who haven’t been with us this summer we have been preaching from a variety of Chapter 3 verse 16s since June.  We of course started with the obligatory John 3:16 and then we moved to the oft quoted 2 Timothy 3:16, and we’ve been in the book of Acts, Joshua and Ephesians.  

Because this is a family Sunday and we have many of our children with us in the service I rummaged around in the tickle trunk and discovered that we actually had a flannel graph set for one of our 3:16, which also happens to be one of my favourite Old Testament stories.

This morning we are looking at Daniel 3:16  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.  And we are going to start by telling you the story:

Three young men who were only doing what they thought was right and now they were to pay the ultimate price. Because they had disobeyed a royal decree they were to be put to death, and not just any death they were to suffer a nasty death. 

To many, they had made the right choice, but I’m not sure anyone thought they picked the smart choice.

I mean if you had to be sentenced to death this wasn’t the one you’d want to pick.  They were to be thrown into an immense furnace used for firing pottery and apparently the occasional execution. Not a situation that anyone would want to be presented with, but here they were.  And I’m sure at that point they thought of those great words of Yogi Berra’s “The Future ain't what it used to be.”

Our story this morning happened after Babylon had conquered Israel and the Babylonian King a man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar had ordered that a the most promising young captives from Jerusalem were to be brought to the palace as his personal slaves. 

And the story is about three of those young men whose names were, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  I know of one person who used to call them Your Shack, My Shack and Little bungalow and I had a professor at Bible College who was in the habit of referring to them as Shake the Bed, Make the Bed and in the Bed you Go.  But their names, at least the names you would know them by were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Those however were not the names they were born with.  Those names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

But part of the slavery process was to erase who they had been, so their birth names were taken away and they were given Babylonian names, so that’s when they became Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  That of course wasn’t confined to customs 3000 years ago, how many of you remember the scene from the Roots mini Series when Kunta Kinta was told that his name was Toby?

For three years they were taught and trained in the court of the king and at the end of that period Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were the honour students and were appointed as advisers in the King’s Court.

But that was then and this was now.  If we fast forward ahead three years we discover that King Nebuchadnezzar has come down with a bad case of deity envy, that is he wanted to be God. And if’n you’re God then you should be worshipped and that’s where we come into the story. 

So, Nebuchadnezzar had a huge idol created and erected.  When the royal musicians played everyone was to bow down and worship the statue, everyone, even exiled Jews. If we had background music here it would change to a minor key signifying that something bad was about to happen.

Now if you grew up in church and Sunday School then you probably already know the story. 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego may have been favourites of the king but right now they weren’t making him very happy. 

You see when everyone else bowed, they didn’t.  Must have had something to do with the entire Deuteronomy 5:7-9 You know where it says, Deuteronomy 5:7-9 Do not worship any other gods besides me.  Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. You must never worship or bow down to them.

However Nebuchadnezzar considered himself a fair King and thinking that perhaps his star pupils had misunderstood the command, perhaps it was the entire second language thing, he gave them another chance.  If Nebuchadnezzar had of been an English speaker trying to convey his message to someone who spoke another language he probably would have simply repeated the initial command, only slower and louder. You know what they say to be multilingual means you speak many languages, to be bilingual means you speak two languages and to be monolingual means you speak English.

Where were we?  Oh yeah, bow down or be tossed in the furnace.  And maybe you know the story, and maybe you don't. 

This morning I want to look at the response of  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to the challenge they faced.  Obey God or do what seemed like the smart and practical thing. So where were we?  Oh yeah, King Nebuchadnezzar had this huge stature built and commanded everyone to bow down and worship it when the music played. 

But instead of doing that we read the story in Daniel 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

A common theme through this series seems to be that as Christ followers we are required to believe. In John 3:16 We talked about how we need to believe that God sent his Son, In 2 Timothy 3:16 it was how we need to believe the scriptures came from God.  In Acts 3:16 the crippled man had to believe that he had been healed.  In Joshua 3:16 the priest had to believe that the Jordan River would dry up when they stepped into it carrying the Ark of the Covenant.   And last week’s message from Ephesians 3:16 talked about prayer, which of course is wrapped up in our belief.

So what was it that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were called to believe?  

They absolutely believed that they were doing the right thing and that because of that they were committed to their course of action.  And this wasn’t a mamby pamby “Yes I believe I’m doing the right thing” type of faith, they were willing to put everything on the line. 

Talk is cheap, it’s easy to say that you’ll always do the right thing.  But what happens when doing the right thing cost you something?  What happens when taking a stand cost you acceptance with your friends or your family. 

We talk about someday having a bigger worship centre, but what happens when your commitment to seeing a new church built cost you money and time.  What happens when your commitment to truth and integrity cost you advancement in your career.  What happens when you are standing in front of the blazing furnace and you are told “Bow or Burn”?

We discover where there belief began when we read today’s 3:16, Daniel 3:16 O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.   So we begin by discovering that They Believed in God’s Purpose They knew they were doing what they had to do and because of that they didn’t need to say anything.  They didn’t have to convince themselves and they knew they couldn’t convince the king so why waste their breath. What were they supposed to say?  It wasn’t that they weren’t guilty of what they were being accused of, they were.  I remember getting pulled over for speeding in Australia, a very isolated incident let me assure you. And when the officer approached me he asked if I had a reason for speeding.  A reason for speeding, the only thing I could think of was that it was a beautiful evening, I had the roof down and it seemed appropriate to be driving that fast. So I looked him in the eyes and said “no sir.”  Sometimes there’s no need to say anything.

They weren’t the only ones in the bible who took that approach,  Matthew 27:12-14 But when the leading priests and other leaders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. “Don’t you hear their many charges against you?” Pilate demanded. But Jesus said nothing, much to the governor’s great surprise.

Jesus didn’t have to convince himself and he knew that he wouldn’t convince Pilate or the leaders. 

There are times in your life that you have said what you’ve had to say, you’ve taken your stand and now all you can do is see how it shakes down.  When Martin Luther took a stand against the Catholic Church 500 years ago he was called in front of the powers that be and was offered the chance to recant, which means to change his mind.  Much like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were given a second chance, and Luther said “Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me.”

Let’s keep reading, Daniel 3:17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. Their faith in their action was grounded in the fact that They Believed in God’s Protection.   Maybe they were thinking back to the stories of how God had delivered his people time after time when they were faithful.  Of Noah and Moses, of Abraham and David and a host of others.  Perhaps they remember the words of the Psalms where David wrote Psalm 55:16-18 But I will call on God, and the Lord will rescue me. Morning, noon, and night I plead aloud in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice.

He rescues me and keeps me safe from the battle waged against me, even though many still oppose me.

When Peter was in prison and the Roman authorities were going to separate his head from his shoulders God stepped in.  When Paul was aboard a ship that was threatening to sink, God intervened.   We all have experienced or know someone who has experienced the direct intervention of God.  God will protect and keep us.  Jesus told the apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane,  Matthew 26:53 Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?

Sigmund Freud said “I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.”  And I can’t think of any need in our relationship with Christ as the need for our heavenly father’s protection.  We need to realize that God cares about us and we need to be able to say with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego the God whom we serve is able to save us.

And as powerful as their faith was in what they were doing and as strong as their faith was in God’s protecting hand I think that the most incredible and powerful statement is yet to come.  We can stand and say “I believe that I’m doing what is right and I believe that God will take care of me.”  But how many of us have the faith to echo those words with these, Daniel 3:18 But even if he doesn’t, Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”  You see ultimately They Believed in God’s Plan  God will save us, but if he doesn’t then we will still obey him.  God does protect his people, but we all know even if we don’t understand it, that sometimes that doesn’t save us physically, if that was the case there’d be no martyrs. 

Listen to what Peter had to say in 1 Peter 3:12-14 “The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers.

But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”

Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good?

We like hearing that but Peter’s not through because he says But even there it is again But even  if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t be afraid and don’t worry.

One of my favourite sections of the bible is found in Hebrews 11, it is the faith hall of fame. We read about heroes of the Old Testament, people like Noah and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Joshua.  Listen to what the bible says about these servants of God, Hebrews 11:32-35 Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death.

That’s the list I want to be in.  The list of the winners, the victors they trusted God and God came through.  God is good.  But let’s keep reading the same author, the same book, the same chapter, carrying on from the same verse  Hebrews 11:35-39  But others trusted God and were tortured, preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free. They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life. Some were mocked, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in dungeons. Some died by stoning, and some were sawed in half; others were killed with the sword. Some went about in skins of sheep and goats, hungry and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world. They wandered over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

All of these people we have mentioned received God’s approval because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.

If I had my druthers I’d druther be in the first group.  But we don’t always get our druthers, do we?  And the people in the second group were serving the same God as the people in the first group.  And we are told by those in the know that there have been more Martyrs in the last hundred years then there were in the nineteen hundred years before that.  And God hasn’t tumbled off his throne, he’s still a good God and a merciful God and we have to believe that ultimately he knows exactly what he’s doing. 

 Over fifty years ago five young missionaries flew to South America to reach a tribe that had never heard the name of Jesus.  One of those missionaries, a young man by the name of Jim Elliot made this statement “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”  It wasn’t very long after he made that statement that he and his companions were killed by the very people he went to reach.  People around the world reacted in shock to the news of the slaughter.  How could God allow that? And yet Jim Elliot’s wife Elizabeth eventually saw that entire tribe come to know Jesus.  Elliot couldn’t have kept his life even if he had of lived to be a hundred.  And yet how many people will live for eternity because of Jim Elliot’s sacrifice?

And as the guys stood staring into the flames of the furnace they said "God will deliver us, but if he doesn’t, tough we still won’t bow."  Can you believe in the goodness of God no matter what?

Let’s go back to the story.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s response was not what the king was expecting to hear and he was furious.  He commanded that the three be tossed into the furnace and they were. 

From the description given of the furnace it would appear that it was commonly used for executions, that is was constructed in such a way that the accused were tossed in through an opening in the top.  In this case the fire was burning so hot and so furious that it actually killed the soldiers who were escorting the three men.  And so the story ends.  They took a stand for God and they lost.  Good was defeated and evil was victorious, but was it?

Keep listening to the words of Daniel,    Daniel 3:24-26 But suddenly, as he was watching, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?”

“Yes,” they said, “we did indeed, Your Majesty.”

“Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire. They aren’t even hurt by the flames! And the fourth looks like a divine being!”

Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire.

And finally Their Belief was Proven  God was there, he had a plan and it entailed keeping those three young men alive.  They were to go on and play an integral part of the Government of Babylon during the time the people of Israel were in exile and a measly little thing like a blazing furnace wasn’t going to stand in God’s way.  Who was the fourth man?  There have been different theories, some have said it was an angel, others Jesus.  The truth is we don’t know, but we do know that he was there for a purpose. Imagine being thrown into an execution furnace, what would your first reaction be?  Mine would be to scream.  “Ahhh I’m burning” and then you realize against all odds that you were fine, what would your reaction be?  Mine would be to scream.  “Ahhh I’m not burning.” Whoever or whatever the fourth person was I think he was there to bring comfort and reassuring to the guys.  

Because whether we burn in the trials or whether we don’t burn in the trials God’s promise is that he will be there for us.  Hebrews 13:5 God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.”   That’s the promise folks.  God will never fail you or forsake you.  Do you believe that this morning?  Perhaps you are standing at the door of your own furnace, my prayer for you today is that you have the faith to not only believe that God will do what is good but also to believe that whatever God chooses to do will be good.  I hope and pray that the prayer of your heart will be, “But even if”

Ephesians 3:16

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Ephesians 3:16

Have you ever had someone say “I’ll be praying for you?”  Or maybe you are the person who said it.  You ever say it and then not pray for the person?   Have you ever heard it and wondered if they were really going to be praying for you?

Now to be totally honest, I have told people that I would pray for them and didn’t follow through.  Maybe I got distracted or maybe I just forgot, but somewhere along the line I dropped the ball.  Here is a helpful hint . . . if you want me to do something, remember something or pray for something don’t just tell me at the door on Sunday Morning, because I have at least one more service to get ready for and everything else just falls through the cracks.  If you tell me at the door, follow up with an email or phone call. 

But what I do is now when I’m tempted to say “I’ll be praying for you” I try very hard to say “Can I pray for you right now?”  and then I take the time to pray for the person right there. 

First it means that I do pray for them but it also acts as a reinforcement to remind me to pray for them later.  And if in response to a Facebook post, email or tweet I commit to pray for someone, I do it then.

There are times I will type out a prayer and email or text it to the person.  I want them to know that they are being prayed for and I’m not just saying it as a social courtesy.   

Paul was one of those folks who would say, “I’m praying for you.”  At least 18 different times in the letters he wrote he tells the early church that he was praying for them.  And not just a little bit, we read in Romans 1:9  God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son.    And he writes in Ephesians 1:16  I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,

And he prays that God will give them strength and wisdom.  That they will be able to resist temptation and to do what is right, that their love will overflow and that they will be encouraged.  And over and over again in his prayers he thanks God for the early Christians.

And when he’s not telling the early church that he’s praying for them, he’s asking that they pray for him.

And that bring us to this week’s 3:16.  If you haven’t been with us for a while, this summer our series is entitled 3:16 and we are looking at various Chapter 3 Verse 16s throughout the bible. 

We started with the most obvious John 3:16 but that was only the beginning. 

This week we have landed in Ephesians 3:16 where we read Ephesians 3:16  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.

This is the beginning of a prayer that Adam Clarke refers to as “. . . one of the most grand and sublime in the whole oracles of God.” 

We’ve mentioned before that this section of the bible is referred to broadly as the Epistles, and more specifically as the Pauline Epistles.  Now understand the epistles were not the wives of the apostles, it means letters.  Or in this case the letters of Paul.  And so the book of Ephesians was a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus.  We are reading someone else’s mail here, it’s like we pried open our neighbour’s mailbox and read the letters we found there. 

Or to bring it up to date, like we hacked into somebody’s email account.  But because this is one of the letters that was preserved for us as a part of the New Testament the assumption is that there is a message for each of us here.

So the prayer that Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus is also the prayer that he prayed for us 2000 years ago.

When I started looking at the words of this prayer I discovered that it isn’t just a “bless Denn” prayer, but it is multi layered and each layer leads to the next one and depends on the one before.  And while it might be “Paul’s” prayer he is simply praying that God’s purpose will be fulfilled in our lives.  He’s praying that Christians will be all they should be and all they could be.

So let’s dive in and see where it takes us.  Paul begins this section of his letters with these words,   Ephesians 3:14  When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,

So let’s begin with  The Posture of the Prayer  It’s easy to jump to the assumption with a statement such as;  “Well, it’s obvious that the only proper way to pray is to kneel down.”

But that is a little simplistic here.  Paul isn’t saying that he always kneels to pray, although that might have been in the case, but here he says that he falls to his knees for a reason.  So what was the reason?  Well, the verse starts by saying “When I think of all of this”, so another question what was he thinking about? 

It is the theme of the book, Paul has used this phrase in Chapter 3 vs. 1 and then goes off on a bit of a tangent, but now he’s back.  The world at that time was a mess, the Roman Empire was dissolving into political and moral decay.   William Barclay writes this about the world of the Ephesians “This world is a disintegrated chaos; there is division everywhere, between nation and nation, between man and man, within a man's inner life.”    

And Paul sees the solution to the problems of the world as being in Christ.  And there are those today who see the same problem and the same solution, but they seek to politicize the message and try to legislate the behaviour. 

But Paul’s prayer wasn’t that the culture would become Christianized, his prayer was that the church would reflect the true nature of Christ and that through that, that the world would be transformed.  And that passion drove him to his knees.  Scholars tell us that the normal posture for prayer 2000 years ago for the Jews was to stand with their arms outstretched and their palms open to heaven.  But the burden was so great that Paul finds himself not just kneeling but prostrate in prayer. 

But there is nothing in the bible that would give us direction as to the posture of our prayers. 

In Matthew 6 when Jesus taught the disciples to pray, he said nothing about the posture they were to assume but there are times in the bible, both in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament that people were driven to their knees in a sense of desperation and urgency.  And there has been times in my life that praying standing or sitting just doesn’t seem enough and I find myself on my knees. 

So let’s keep going,  Ephesians 3:14-15  When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,  the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.

So the next thing we discover is The Person of the Prayer  Paul is directing his prayers to the Father and throughout the book of Ephesians Paul speaks of the Father and he almost develops a complete theology of Father God. 

There is no doubt to whom Paul is praying. 

In Ephesians 1:17  asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. We are told he is the Father of Jesus, but more than that we are told he is the Father of all in  Ephesians 4:5-6  There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,  and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. 

And we discover that he is the creator of things in Ephesians 3:14-15  When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,  the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.

And We discover in Ephesian 3:12 that we have access to the Father Ephesians 3:12  Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.  And that through that access the Father wants to give us the wisdom needed to grow in our Christian walk.  Ephesians 1:17  asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

And through of all this we are told that  Ephesians 5:20  And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

There might be a Father’s Day message here. 

Moving along we read in this week’s 3:16  Ephesians 3:16  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.  It’s here we discover the The Progress of the Prayer    As I mentioned earlier while this is one prayer, it has a number of layers or levels, and they don’t stand alone. 

You can’t take number 3, without first having number 1 and 2 and an expectation that you will move to number 4. 

Paul is praying for the Ephesians to become more mature in Christ, a theme that occurs in all of the letters that Paul writes.   

There is never an expectation that the Christian will be born again as a mature Christian.  But neither is the expectation there that the Christian will never move beyond the point of their salvation. 

So let’s begin where Paul begins Ephesians 3:16  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 

So the first thing that Paul asks for the people of this church is that the Father God would empower them with an Inner Strength. 

The first thing that Paul acknowledges is that we don’t have what it takes on our own to be the follower that Christ wants us to be.  

Notice that he doesn’t begin by asking that God will empower us with the things on our list.  You know, the things that we believe will give us power, Extraordinary human strength or human beauty, political clout, or financial resources.

Instead he asks that God will give us inner strength, a fortitude, and specifically a fortitude that comes through the Holy Spirit. 

Sometimes I think our philosophy of Christian growth and character comes from a book, and not the book.   Too often we take our cues from “The Little Engine That Could”  and our mantra is “I think I can, I think I can.” 

As an aside, it was Les Brown who said  “You’ll never be like The Little Engine That Could if you sit around on your caboose.” And while that might be a great philosophy for life, and career and education, and I believe that we can do so much more then we think we can and are told we can, and I’m a big proponent of positive self-talk.  I don’t think that we can be all that God intends for us to be as Christians simply because we think we can.

When Jesus told the Apostles that he would be leaving them they went into panic mode, but then he tells them that in his place he is sending the comforter.  And from then on in the Bible we are told that the Spirit will empower us and strengthen us, and give us the words  we need to speak,  and teach us, and guide us.  It’s from the Spirit that we receive our spiritual gifts and the spirit who produces, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control in our lives.

It’s interesting, as pastor I’m often asked to pray for people, and the majority of those prayers are for outward strength, physical healing.  And not to take away from that the scriptures tell us we ought to ask for prayer for healing, but very, very seldom am I asked to pray for someone’s inner strength or character. 

And so this inner strength that comes from the Spirit is where Paul prays we will start.  But that’s just the beginning.   Ephesians 3:17-19  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.  The next thing that Paul prays for in our lives is Christ’s Presence  Sometimes we think this is a give-me.  That when we become a Christian that Christ’s presence is with us all time.  And it is.

This verse is talking about a control issue, a commitment issue.  The heart was seen as the central part of a person’s life. You know the entire “I love you with all of my heart, to the moon and back thing.”

When we invite Christ to be a part of our lives do we mean every part of our lives? Not just the Sunday morning part.  The what we do for a living part?  And the how we do the what we do for a living part?  The what we do for entertainment part? The what we watch on TV and our Computer part?   The how we treat our spouse and our kids part?  The what we do with our money part? 

This is more about Christ controlling our lives then it is about Christ simply being a part of our lives.    Have you ever heard of a remora?  Sometimes it’s called a shark sucker fish, and they attach themselves to a shark and they go along for the ride. 

Here is a picture of one, but they really are just on the outside of the shark’s existence, they co-exist.  Sharks don’t eat them and they get rid of parasites on the shark’s skin. 

Sometimes I think there are some folks who are quite happy to have Jesus as a Spiritual Remora.  He offers us some benefits and isn’t real annoying so we allow him to come along for the ride.

This isn’t what is meant by Christ making his home in your heart.  This is more than Jesus as Saviour, this is Jesus as Lord.  This is Jesus having control.  And that can’t happen without the Spirit providing you with the inner strength that you need.

Ephesians 3:17  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.   The next thing that Paul prays for in the life of the believers was Deep Roots

This was something that Jesus talked about in the parable of the seeds and the soils.  You might remember that in that parable he spoke of how seeds grew in different soils, and then he compared them to how people respond to the word of God.  Sounding familiar?  A little bit maybe?  Here’s a refresher.  That part of the parable was told in Mark 4:5-6  Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.  But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died.

Then later in the story he gave the application for responding to God’s invitation in our lives.  Mark 4:16-17  The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy.  But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.  

And so Paul prays that the roots of the believer will grow deep and strong.  We do that by talking to God, that’s called prayer and by hearing from God.  That’s reading his word.

Ephesians 3:18  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. The next step that Paul prays for is that people would Understand God’s Love and that goes along with the next step which is  Ephesians 3:19  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Not only is Paul praying that people will understand God’s love but also that they would  Experience Christ’s Love 

This goes back to the first 3:16  John 3:16  “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” 

And maybe you are thinking that this should be the first on the list.  It is usually only after we’ve been serving God for a time that we begin to understand the depth of God’s love. 

How much it cost God for you to have eternal life and what that means for you that you begin to grasp the enormity of his Grace.  And then you need to accept it, to experience it,  to believe that it is for us. And this is the reality that the love of God is better experienced than explained.  And you can experience it even if you can’t understand it.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8  God saved you by his grace when you believed.  God saved you by his grace, when?  When you believed.  It’s not enough to understand the love of God until you experience the love of Christ.

And it’s only when we truly begin to understand and experience God’s grace in our lives that we can a) forgive ourselves and b) forgive others.  And I’m not sure which is tougher, but they both need to be done if we are going to mature in our Christian faith.

Forgiveness depends on repentance, which of course depends on remorse for our sinful behaviour.  But once we have been forgiven we don’t have to continue to be remorseful, otherwise that diminishes the entire concept of forgiveness. 

Here is the secret to understanding God’s love, God loves you so much that through the sacrifice of his Son he is able to forgive you.  And that means that when he forgives you then you have been, ready for this?  Forgiven.  It’s gone. 

Now if you continue to sin, that’s a different story.  You can’t ask forgiveness for the things you haven’t yet done.  As you contemplate the sins that you are considering committing you don’t need forgiveness you need obedience.

Let’s continue with Paul’s prayer,  Ephesians 3:19  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.   Which leads us to what Paul has been praying for all along, Fullness of Life  This is what Jesus promised the Apostles, when he said he had come to not just give them life but to give them abundant life, a life overflowing, a fullness of life.

Without God, life isn’t complete. 

Oh, I’m not saying that life can’t be good without God, or that life can’t be enjoyed without God but life isn’t complete without God. 

Without a relationship with our creator, life is never complete, there is always a piece missing, because we were created to have a relationship with the creator.  I’ve said before, it’s like we were all born with a God shaped hole in our lives that needs to be filled.

And people try to fill it with all kinds of things, sometimes things like religion and morality and good deeds.

And sometimes people try to fill it with harmful things, toxic relationships, casual sex, addictions and hate.

But the piece never fits, it’s like having a missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle and trying to force or trim the wrong piece to fit into the spot.

But Paul’s prayer was that we would discover a fullness of life, and that only comes from the life giver himself.

So where you at? 

Let me pray for you,

Father, I pray that from your glorious, unlimited resources you will empower these people with inner strength through your Spirit.  

Christ we ask that you will make your home in their hearts as they trust in You.

May their roots grow down into your love and keep them strong.  And may they have the power to understand, as all your people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep your love is.  

May their experience Christ’s love, though it is too great to understand fully.

Lord, may they be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from you.  

Now all glory to you, Lord, who is able, through your mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  

Glory to the Father and to Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Joshua 3:16

Joshua 3:16

He was the first of the twelve. Slowly he walked along; his pace governed by the other eleven. The load on his shoulder was a burden but wasn’t nearly as heavy as his thoughts. His feet moved as if they were on auto pilot and his eyes remained fixed on the river in the distance. The dark brown waters swirled angrily as they raced toward the waiting sea. The harvest floods had caused the river to overflow it’s banks and the water had a cold and dangerous look about it.

And still he walked. His eyes never leaving the raging torrents ahead. He would never question his commander verbally but his mind was filled with whys and how’s.

He wished that he could just stop and think it over but it was apparent that was no longer an option. And besides if he did stop what would the other eleven think? What would his family think after all everybody knew what an honour it had been to be chosen as one of the twelve. Actually it seemed like a pretty dubious honour to him.

And still he walked.   Maybe it was all a joke, after all the boss couldn’t seriously expect the twelve of them to just walk into the river, he didn’t even know how to swim. That was it, at any time his commander would holler “hey guys come back it was just a test” but the only sound to break the still air was the tramp of the twenty-four feet closing in on the river. All he could think was “nobody even told us where the rocks are.”

And still he walked, and then they were on the edge of the racing maelstrom, the dark cold water just inches from their feet. The time was gone to hesitate even if he wanted to. The choice was no longer his because as the eleven others plunged ahead his foot began its descent into the racing River Jordan and his mind went back to the events that had led them here.

Here we are in week four of our 3:16 series, though the summer we are looking at some of the various Chapter 3 verse 16s that are found in the bible.  So far we’ve been in the book of John, Acts and the 2^nd letter that Paul wrote to Timothy.  This week we are moving back to the Old Testament to a story told as the people of Israel prepare to claim the promise given to them by God over forty years before.  They are preparing to enter the promised Land. 

I would suspect that most of us know the broad strokes of the story, if only from Hollywood. Most recently of course was “Exodus: Gods and Kings”, before that Disney gave us “The Prince of Egypt”, In 1995 Ben Kingsley starred in the made for TV movie “Moses” and the most famous one of all would be “The Ten Commandments.”

And well none of them really get it right they do lay the foundation for the story of the Exodus.  400 years after Joseph and his extended family settle in Egypt at the invitation of the Pharaoh the tide of popular opinion has turned against their descendants and the people of Israel are now slaves. 

God calls a man named Moses, who confronts the Pharaoh and says “Let my people go”. You’ve seen the movie so you know the story, plagues, release, Red Sea, Pillar of Fire by Night, Column of Smoke by Day, Mount Sanai, Golden Calf, Ten Commandments Mana and quail to eat, water from rocks and lots of grumbling. 

And after they arrive at the Promised Land the naysayers have their way and the people spend another 40 years wandering in the desert before they finally prepare to enter into the land that was promised them.

And now a new leader, a man named Joshua, is about to lead them across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. And the only barrier that now stands in their way is the river and we read in   Joshua 3:16  the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

But like all the 3:16s Joshua 3:16 doesn’t and can’t stand by itself, it’s only a part of the story.

In this case the story had begun forty years before, but realistically we only need to go back to the previous day where we read.

Joshua 3:5 Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”

This must have been the highlight of Joshua’s career. When he and Caleb had brought back the report of Canaan forty years before he had felt the surge of victory, had felt the excitement course though his veins only to have it shattered by the disbelief of his people.

Forty years previous, the people of Israel had stood ready to enter the Promised Land and when Joshua and Caleb cast the vision for what God had for them on the other side of the Jordan the people braced their feet and refused to go, that might have been a bit of an understatement, we read their response in Numbers 14:10  But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb.    Not necessarily a resounding endorsement of their leadership.

This time it was Joshua and not Moses who sent out the spies and when they brought back a favourable report he gathers all of his people around him for a gigantic pep rally and he tells them to purify themselves, which simply meant that they were to surrender their wills to God, and with that commandment comes the promise.  

“Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.” Maybe in hindsight Joshua might have realized that it might have been more aptly phrased “God will do great wonders through you”

And now, four long decades after their initial refusal God has finally given Joshua and Israel the green light, and this time as the vision is cast we read Joshua 1:16  They answered Joshua, “We will do whatever you command us, and we will go wherever you send us.

This was a defining moment in the life of Israel.  God is not only promising the Israelites “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.” the reverse is there as well if not stated at least implied, “do not purify yourselves and the Lord will not do great wonders among you.” 

We need only to read the Old Testament to realize that God kept his promise because there is no other people in the world who have seen the hand of God in their history like the Jews.

Probably if you had of talked to the average Israelite at this point they would have told you it was time for a rest, time to kick back and enjoy life for a while.  After all they had spent 40 years wandering through the wilderness, 40 years of eating quail and manna, and they were so tired of mana.  It was manna this and manna that.  Manna loaf and manna burgers, roast, boiled, poached manna and then for dessert it was manana cream pie. 

And nobody wanted them for neighbours, they were “Those people” so it was forty years of desert skirmishes.

And now the Jordan River stands between them and the promise.  And it wouldn’t be the only barrier they would face.   In the next three thousand years the Israelites would have their work cut out for them, claiming a homeland, keeping a homeland and finally reclaiming a homeland and each step was a step of faith.

In Hebrews 11:1 we are told that Hebrews 11:1  Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

And it was that type of faith that led the children of Israel into the promised land. A land only seen in its possibilities by Joshua and Caleb. And it was the vision of these two men that kept the promise alive year after year. And it was faith that allowed the children of Israel to claim Canaan.

And as long as their faith was alive they were blessed and when their faith became little so did their blessings. After all it is spelled out fairly plainly in Hebrews 11:6  And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Paul didn’t write, “It is hard to please God Without faith” he wrote “It is impossible to please God without faith”

The Israelites’ very ticket into the Promised Land was the ticket of faith. In Joshua chapter three we read the account of the instructions that God gave to Joshua. How the twelve priest had to carry the Ark of the Covenant down to the river Jordan which was overflowing it’s banks with the freshet. In verse thirteen we read   Joshua 3:13  The priests will carry the Ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.”

Now I can just imagine the conversation that Joshua must have had with his commanders “Hey Joshua have you got a plan for tomorrow?” “I sure do, twelve men are going to take the ark and they are going to carry it down to the water and then they are going to step into the water and the Jordan’s gonna dry up, got it?” “uh Joshua have you got another plan?”

God could have led the Israelites to a shallow spot in the river, or he could have instructed the Israelites to build a raft. God could have divided the Jordan before the Israelites actually got there and nobody would have had to get their feet wet. But the fact of the matter was that this incident had to happen for two reasons.

The first was to test their faith, they had to answer the question:  do we really believe that this is the direction that God wants us to go and do we really believe that he can provide the way?

It was Martin Luther King, Jr. who said  “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”   In this case faith was taking the first step, even while the river was still raging. 

And the second reason was even more important. When the twelve tribes of Israel followed the priests and the Ark of the Covenant to the edge of the Jordan, and when they stood there with their hearts in their throats waiting for the priests to step into the muddy swirling water they were proving their willingness to obey God, no matter what.

Had the Israelites stopped at that point, if they had of devised some other scheme to cross the Jordan I am convinced that today we would view Israel as just another ancient, dead civilization.

Once again we see that God never entrusts us with a lot until he tests us with a little.

And it worked, let’s go back to this week’s 3:16. 

 Joshua 3:16  the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

Sometimes we are led to believe that all we need is a vision and faith and everything will be all right, but in the case of the people of Israel there was a raging river standing between them and what God had for them, and then there was the city of Jericho and then. . .

And really it all came down to the faith of that one guy,  the guy in the lead, if he had of stopped everybody would have had to stop as well.  The destiny of a nation rested in the hands of one man. 

So the question is, What did he know?  Why was he willing to step into a raging river?  And maybe you are wondering, “So what?  What does crossing a river 3000 years ago have to do with me today?”  Well the reality is that  if we are following God there will be times as individuals and as a church that we will find rivers of doubt, controversy and conflict that will need to be crossed.

I think that first of all He Knew the Provisions of the Past.  For forty years the people of Israel had wandered in the wilderness.  Never settling, never establishing a country, always at odds with their environment and their neighbours.  And yet during that 40 years they saw God’s hand at work over and over again.

God provided them with food in a desert where they had no land to farm and if they had land the wilderness was so inhospitable no crops would grow.  And for forty years they ate.  They wandered in a land without rivers and lakes and yet for forty years they didn’t go without water. 

And the man in the lead had seen it all, he had tasted the manna, had feasted on quail, had drank water that miraculously sprang from rocks, I guess that would make it a spring.

He had seen God’s hand as the Israelites defending their families against hostile forces.  And as a child he had witnessed the entire countries escape from Egypt, he had walked on the floor of the Red Sea and had followed the pillar of fire at night and the column of smoke during the day. 

And so he believed that if God was faithful then, then God would be faithful now. 

As a church, when we face obstacles we only have to look to the past and how God provided over and over again.  When people shook their heads and said Cornerstone would never survive, God had other plans.

When a group averaging fifty, which included the kids, felt that God was calling them to purchase land and build a permanent facility to call their church home, people shook their heads and said it would never happen, but God had other plans. 

And each of you has seen God at work in your lives and the lives of your families,    

And we have to believe that if God was faithful then, then God will be faithful now.

But he didn’t just know about the past, He Knew the Promise of the Future  For forty years he had heard Joshua and Caleb talk about what was on the other side of the river.  For forty years he dreamed of the day that he would have land of his own, for forty years he dreamed of a land that flowed with milk and honey.

He knew that their destiny wasn’t the wilderness but was the promised land.  There were those who would have settled for a life in the desert, but he knew that God’s promises were much greater than the wilderness. 

There were those who would claim that the vision was Joshua’s vision but this man knew that it was God’s vision and that Joshua was simply the messenger.  He knew that Joshua had seen the promised land, that Joshua had tasted the fruit of the promised land, and that nobody had sacrificed more for the vision then Joshua had.

There are times in our lives that we can get distracted from the vision.  What is it that God wants you to do with your life?  What is your vision for your career? For your children?   For your education?  For your spiritual life?  Are you being true to the vision? 

Sometimes it’s easy to settle for less than what God wants for us, to settle into complacency in the wilderness and to miss the Promised Land that God has for us.  But that is to settle for less than God’s very best.  And God’s very best might just be across the river.

As a church the temptation is there to stray from the vision that we were founded on.  And sometimes it seems it’s for honourable reasons, someone has a great idea, it doesn’t necessarily match the initial vision but the person is pretty pervasive.  And they convince us that it seems the right thing to do and we make a course correction here and a course correction there and pretty soon we aren’t heading in the direction that God pointed us when we began. 

But ultimately we need to ask is this what God wants us to do?  How does it fit in with the vision?

Because those carrying the Ark believed in Joshua and believe in the vision they weren’t going to let a river stand in their way.

The vision for Cornerstone has always been that we would be a church that would reach the pre-churched, the de-churched and the un-churched.  And that has coloured the programs we offer and what our Sunday morning worship experience looks like.  

And that means that we won’t always look like other churches and we won’t always do things like other churches.  And sometimes it means we have to cross rivers to get to where God is leading us.

And ultimately He Knew His Faith Would be Honoured  I’ve said before that all faith requires is that you believe.    You can’t demonstrate faith without belief and you can’t demonstrate belief without action.

It wasn’t enough for the first man in the group to proclaim “I believe that God can stop the river so we can cross”, unless he was willing to take that first step and actually step into the river.

There were those who believed in the vision of Cornerstone 22 years ago when there was no Cornerstone, and they showed up and there are some who are in this service today.  There were others who said they believed but they never showed up for the first  service.

There were those who said they believed we could have a building of our own and when the time came they committed their time and their money to make it a reality.  There were others who said they believed that we could have a building of our own but when the time came to step into the river and make the sacrifices necessary, they turned and walked away.

Any time God calls you to do something he first calls you to believe, and then he calls you to step out in faith.

What is it that God is whispering in your ear today, what vision does he have for you for tomorrow, what river is he calling you to cross?  Only you can answer that and only you can take the first step.