Romans - Part 15

Mercy & Justice - Romans 9:1-33

SERMON TRANSCRIPT

We reentered our series in Romans and I am personally excited to know that by the end end of 2023, we'll have covered the entirety of the letter of Romans. That is a lot. It has been, at times, like drinking from a fire hose, or trying to. Yeah, there's so much to dive into, many more conversations to be had, there's so much more study that we all need to do on our own. We've just kind of, hopefully, loosened the soil, so to speak. And now, we'll have covered, by the end of the series, all of Romans, but there's still so much more to dive into and dig and just wrestle with. But I wanted to remind us again, 'cause some of you are newer here and didn't know that we started in Romans at the beginning of this year. And so, kinda put some things before us again that we've covered long ago.

And that is that this letter of Romans was written by the apostle Paul to the early church in Rome to believers. And they are dealing with all sorts of questions and issues and trying to figure out what does faith look like, what does being a church look like. And there's some reoccurring issues that Paul is trying to address and sort out, and one of them is that, is an issue that revolves around who gets to be saved, and this issue of Israel, and Israel's relationship to Jesus and their eternal destination. Last week, Pastor Chris talked about it being all good. You guys don't have to say it this week. No, there we go, it's all good. And it's all good because of Jesus and God's love for us, the salvation that only comes through Christ. And because of that salvation, the eternal perspective that we get to have, knowing that we'll be with God in heaven one day, is really a good message. If you haven't listened, you should go listen to it. A good message from a very encouraging passage in Romans. And now following that, Paul is anticipating questions from the readers. I don't know if you remember this, but this is kind of what he does. He'll say something and because he's not there in person, because they didn't have a phone call or Zoom to set up, like, "Hey, I'm going to tell you a bunch of stuff, and then if you have questions come," he's like, "I've got to do it all at once. So I'm just going to assume that you're going to ask these questions." And so he's set a bunch of things in chapter 8, and now he's just anticipating certain questions, and he's going to answer those questions. So he's saying, "Well, if it's all good, then what about Israel? Is Israel all good too, since they are God's people? if they are God's people, then why do they have to face judgment? And if this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because Paul has addressed this before in this letter, and therefore we have addressed this in our series before, but each time it's from a slightly different angle.

And today, in chapter 9, the tone of these questions is, "Is God good if Israel gets punished?" Is God a good God if Israel also faces the wrath of God? Just a heads up, scholars say that chapter eight, the one we just finished last week, if that's the most important chapter in Romans, chapter nine is the most difficult chapter because it deals with God's sovereignty and goodness and his mercy and justice. I just want to remind us that Paul didn't write any of this to be divisive, but to encourage believers about who God is and what he does. Often people pit God's mercy and justice against each other, or don't feel like they can coexist at the same time. But let's remember that all of who God is, and all of his character is good. He is a good God, all of him. We are finite creatures trying to understand our infinite creator. So that can be hard for us to comprehend sometimes. How does mercy and justice work? But let's assume, let's start at the place that God is a good God. So we're going to dive into our chapter this morning. Like I said, he's asking some questions. And the first question that he's going to ask is, "Did God fail?" Did God fail Israel? I want to read our first couple of verses here.

We're going to be in Romans 9, starting in verse 1. "I speak the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption of the sonship. Theirs is the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God overall, forever praised. Amen. It is not as though God's word had failed, for not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Lord, because they are his descendants, are they all Abraham's children? On the contrary, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. For this was how the promise was stated, at the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son. Not only that, but Rebekah's children were conceived at the same time by her father Isaac. Yet before the twins were born, or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose and election might stand, not by works, but by him who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger, just as it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hated. All right, there's a lot, chapter nine, difficult chapter. In the first five verses, Paul is in anguish over why more Jewish people do not believe in Jesus. He's anticipating the church in Rome asking the question, "If it's all good, if we are more than conquerors," going back to the last chapter, "then why aren't more Jews saved? If the Jews were God's chosen people, the Israelites, why did so many of them fail to believe in Jesus?”

And to probe even deeper in that question, he's really getting at the thought that we we humans love to ask, which is, whose fault is it? Whose fault is it that more Israelites don't believe? Is it the Jews' fault, or is it God's fault? Did God fail the Israelites? In those first five verses, he's explaining that God is not at fault. He's reminding the church that the Jews had everything on their side. They had the adoption into the family of God available to them by heritage, which means They grew up in the culture hearing about God, God as their God. They had all the stories of how God had worked and all those Old Testament stories. They had all those available to them. They had the covenants between them and God. They received the law of God. They had the temple, they had the promises of God, and they are the family from which Jesus came. So they had every opportunity to know Jesus, to receive Jesus, but they did not. And this deeply pains Paul. He shows this Christ-like mindset by saying, "If I could, if I could be cut off, "if I could be the sacrifice, and if I was cut off, "but it meant that every other Israelite, every other Jew, "be a part of God's family, I'd do it." But it sadly doesn't work like that. And he knows that, he's in anguish over it. But he's saying that Israel had so much opportunity, and that makes the reality of their situation, some of them being separated from the family of God that much more painful. So again, who's at fault? Is it the Jews or is it God? And he says in verse six, "It is not as though God's word had failed, "for not all who are descended from Israel are Israel." Paul's making it clear, it's not God's fault. Let's answer the question right now. It's not God's fault. He did not fail Israel. He's reminding the people that, this goes all the way back to the Old Testament. There's a distinguishing factor being made between those part of the lineage of Abraham, of those who embraced faith and those who didn't. It says in verse eight, in other words, it's not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.

And Paul points to Abraham's promised son Isaac as an example and the two sons that Isaac had. Both Jacob and Esau were natural descendants of Isaac, promised to Abraham. but only Jacob bore the promise of nationhood. See, Jacob was one who embraced faith in God, and Esau sold his inheritance and embraced sinful impulse rather than faith. So Paul's making the distinction that not all of Israel has their faith in God. Some have embraced sin, and that's sinful impulse. To say that God is at fault for more Israelites not believing is to question the power and sovereignty and goodness of God. And Paul wants to be clear that God did not lose Israel, that somehow God was not powerful enough to keep them, but instead Paul is saying that they chose sin and rejection of Christ. Paul's relaying the truth that God has never had a peaceful relationship with the Esau's of this world, those who routinely choose sin over God. But God has a peaceful relationship with the Jacobs, those who are embracing their faith in God. So first question, did God fail and who's at fault? God did not fail, but Israel, the Jewish people, are at fault. Second question that Paul anticipates the church asking is, is God unjust? Let's continue reading in verse 14 when it says, "What then shall I say? Is God unjust? Not at all. For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh, "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden. Alrighty. Remember, God is good.

Paul's asking the question, "Is God unfair in how He dispenses His mercy?" Is God unjust? Let's just pick apart that question and what's at stake here. By definition, mercy is something that is undeserved. You don't deserve mercy, it's a gift from people, or in this case, from God. So God is completely fair in whom He gives mercy to. He is all wise, He is good, and He is completely fair in who receives His mercy. Paul then quotes Exodus in this quote of Moses, and the scene here really quickly is when God is introducing Himself to Moses for the first time. In fact, it's the first time He's introducing Himself to anyone. Before this moment in Exodus, people just refer to God as the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob. He doesn't yet have a name. They just know that Abraham and all of his of his descendants worship this God. Well, when Moses has taken the Israelites out into the desert, and then Moses is up on the mountain, and he says, "God, I wanna know you. "Can we meet face to face?" And God says, "No, we can't do the face to face thing. "You can't handle that. "But I will tell you my name, and I'll tell you who I am." It's a very powerful, it's a whole 'nother sermon. I can't get into it all, but this is the moment that Paul is quoting. And God says to Moses, "My name is Yahweh, first time." And he says right after that, so that's my name, and this is who I am. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It's the first time that we hear who God is and what he does. And so we know in this conversation that Paul is referencing now about Israel and who receives salvation, this is exactly in God's character. This is who he's been always. He doesn't say it's only gonna be Israel that receives salvation. He implies that some will not experience His mercy. Paul then follows that question with, is God unjust in holding Israel or anyone accountable in rejecting His offer of salvation? And he answers this with the example of Pharaoh from Egypt, in this time that Moses had appealing to Pharaoh to let God's people go. Do you remember that scene? It's going back to Exodus in the Old Testament. Israelites are enslaved, and God sends Moses an heir and says, "Hey, I want you to go ask Pharaoh "to let my people go." And there's an interesting play here throughout Exodus of what happens to Pharaoh. The scene is about who is rejecting who. Who rejected who first? Did Pharaoh reject God first, or did God reject Pharaoh first, hardening Pharaoh's heart. So to answer this question, it's kind of like a case study that Paul brings into the middle of his argument here. He says, if we wanna talk about a little bit about how God works, we gotta go back to Pharaoh 'cause this is gonna make it clear. Who rejects who? Does God reject people or do people reject God? And so let's really investigate, and I just wanna, we don't have to turn there. But in Exodus, this is what happens. Moses goes to Pharaoh, and this is kind of the order. Yeah, this is so good. There's so much to cover. This is what happens. Moses has this conversation multiple times about on behalf of God, going to Pharaoh and saying, God wants you to let his people go. In the first five times, Pharaoh hardens his own heart. It says in chapter seven of Exodus when Moses and Aaron go, and they show that they are messengers of God. There's this whole scene with a staff and it turns into a snake and then Pharaoh's like, he experiences this and it says after that, "Pharaoh hardened his heart." And then the first plague comes, or the plague of frogs comes, and after that plague comes, it says that "Pharaoh hardened his heart." His own heart. Then the plague of gnats, chapter 8, "Pharaoh hardened his heart." Then the plague of flies comes, "And hardened his own heart. Now, the next plague happens. It's the plague of dead livestock, but all of Israel's livestock lives. All of the Egyptian livestock dies. This is, again, just God reaching out to Pharaoh saying, "Hey, I'm being serious. You better let my people go." And this time, Pharaoh did not harden his own heart, but it says that his heart was unyielding, which means he wasn't going to stop. He wasn't going to let go of his position of being against God. And then we see what God does.

The next time is the plague of boils, nasty things all over the bodies, and God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Then right after that, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. It says in Exodus 9, 34, "When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again, and he and his officials hardened their hearts. Then we go back, I'm just gonna lay it out, the whole case study. The next part is that God hardened his own heart, or yeah, hardened Pharaoh's heart. And by this time, Pharaoh has developed a pattern of ignoring God, hardening his heart, facing another plague, and still not yielding to God, not changing his mind. And he even says that he has sinned. He knows that he is against God, and yet he is entrenched in his ways. And then, after the plague of locusts, he is crying out for Aaron and Moses to ask God for forgiveness. He says, "I can't handle this anymore. Please ask your God to stop these plagues." He recognizes that he has sinned. And so God takes the plague away. But God hardens Pharaoh's heart. And then there's the plague of darkness and the plague of the firstborn, and after all those, God hardens Pharaoh's heart. Let me fast forward a little bit, and Israel is let go. Pharaoh says, "Yes, go. I can't handle any more of this." And so the Israelites have left the Exodus. They have left Egypt. And in chapter 14 of Exodus verses 5 through 6, we hear this. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. pattern of sin comes back. They changed their minds. They had been in line with God's will. Yes, let the people go. But then Pharaoh changed his mind, and he gathered up his army and his chariots. And then a couple of verses later it says that the Lord hardened his heart so that Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, would pursue the Israelites. So I say all that. Here's the tally. Five times Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Four times before God even did anything. and then five times that God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

Why do I share all this? Why is this important? Why does Paul bring it up? It's to help us see that Pharaoh's own choices and God's justice are in line. God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart comes only after Pharaoh has done it first. So God doesn't reject anybody who doesn't reject him first. Their own choices of rejecting God are in line with God's punishment, justice, and wrath. Hopefully we understand this helps us see a picture of God's mercy and justice at work, and how God operates, and when He does harden someone's heart, or spare someone, like it says in this chapter in Romans that God spared Pharaoh for this very purpose that his glory might be seen, when he does that, God is still good. Even if he doesn't save or redeem that person, God is still just and he is still merciful. God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy. So is God just and holding people accountable to their decision. Yes, yes He is. This also shows that salvation is grace from beginning to end. It's Jesus who first reaches out to us and it's only by His grace that we are saved. Jesus reaches out and then we have a choice to respond to the reaching out of of God in a positive way, moving towards Jesus, or in a negative way, moving farther away from Jesus, like Pharaoh did. God first came to him through Moses saying, "Hey, I want you to do this." And Pharaoh took the step away saying, "No, I don't wanna do that. "I'm going farther away from you, God." All right, let's come up for some air for a second. How we doing? That was a lot. Even me right now, I'm like, did that make sense? I hope it made sense. I hope that that provided some clarity as to the conversation that Paul is having in Romans and clarity to how God operates. We know that God is perfectly just and we know that people harden their hearts towards him first, and then God can harden their hearts after that. We also know that God didn't fail.

So, our last question, is God good? And this comes from verses 19 through 24, which read, "One of you will say to me, "then why does God still blame us? "For who is able to resist his will?" And Paul says, "But who are you, a human being, "to talk back to God? "Shall what his form say to the one who formed it? "Why did you make me like this? "Does not the potter have the right to make out "of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use. What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath, prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory? Even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles." So this last question is, you know, again, a bunch of questions that Paul's gonna answer. says, "Is God's decision to only save some inconsistent with His goodness? Is God still good even though some will face His wrath?" And again, I want to pause just as Paul does here and remind ourselves, do we think we are wiser and smarter than God? Paul says in verse 20, "Who are you to talk back to God?" We have to approach the situation trying to understand God rather than already assuming that who He is and what He does is faulty. We also have to remember that God's ultimate end is His glory. God's glory is the most important thing in the universe, and it's what He cares about most. Yes, He loves us, He cares about us a lot, but in a way that only God can, He is all about His own glory. I'm giving all these reminders because the truth is, this is such a tough conversation.

Paul knows it and acknowledges it. And the answer to this question is this, and if you only hear one thing today, let it be this. God is glorified when his mercy is at work, and God is also glorified when his justice is at work. There's usually two reactions to that. Some of us are comforted knowing that God is glorified in both. We appreciate his mercy and we appreciate his justice. We like his justice both equally. Yes, God is glorified in both. For others, it's uncomfortable to hear about God being glorified in His justice and when He exercises His wrath. But it's necessary for us to wrestle with this, these truths of who God is and what He does, and to recognize that He is still glorified even when He is being just and exercising judgment. In verses 23 through 24, Paul is getting at the point that God is God, He is perfect. And even if He did, kind of this hypothetical, if He did, in choosing to show His wrath upon someone like Pharaoh, did all that just to make His glory known, wouldn't He still be good? Is God still allowed to do that? Yeah, He is. Now, the early church wasn't necessarily questioning what happened in Exodus, but are wondering again about Israel and why more of them are not believers. They are wondering, did God predestine Israel to fail? Did God raise up his people just so that they could not accept him? And if so, if that's the case, then is God good in that? Why would God do that? Why would God purposely just raise up a bunch of Israelites to have them not accept Jesus?

And so Paul wraps up this chapter by countering that thought, by reminding the people that Israel rejected Jesus because they refused to humble themselves before God. They refused to receive salvation by faith. They thought they could do it themselves. They thought they could earn it. They thought they didn't need God, which is the age-old, going back to the garden, the original sin, when Adam and Eve took the fruit. "I don't need God. I can be a God. I don't need Him." That's what Israel struggled with, too. Think of all the rejection and sin that Israel did since leaving Egypt, in the desert, having to wander for 40 years because they were not submitting themselves to God, all the problems with the judges and kings and being captured by foreign nations and being in exile. Israel had developed a pattern, just like Pharaoh, of saying one thing but sooner or later sinning against God and rejecting God, hardening their hearts. Their mindset was we can do it on our own. And if we think of the time of Jesus, think of the Pharisees with all their rules and regulations trying to earn their way to heaven, when the whole time all they needed to do was entrust their lives to God. God did not predestine Israel to fail. Rather, chose to reject God and then Jesus over and over and over again. Paul presents this evidence from Scripture that this is always how God has operated, and there's even evidence that God knew this was going to happen, and He foretells about it. So he, in verses 24 through 26, he's referencing Hosea. He says, "I will call My people who are not My people, and I will call her My loved one who is not My loved one." And in the very place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," they will be called children of the living God. So he's saying that God will have compassion on whoever he wants to have compassion on, and that person doesn't have to be an Israelite. That can be a Gentile. That can be someone not of the chosen people.

And then Paul quotes Isaiah referencing that even back then, God was letting people know that only some of Israel will It says in Isaiah, or in our chapter, "Though the number of Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved, for the Lord will carry out His sentence on earth with speed and finality. It is just as Isaiah said previously, unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah." So Paul is relaying to the church in Rome, this is nothing new. The salvation that Jesus brings, it's been talked about for hundreds of years, and the The reactions of the Israelites and the Gentiles was already known by God. And God told us through the prophets that this is how it was going to be. Only some of Israel would believe, and God would then start to welcome Gentiles and other people into his family. He's again emphasizing that becoming a part of God's family has nothing to do with heritage. Just being an Israelite does not mean that you are a part of God's family, but it's all about to do with if you're embracing faith in God. The truth is that while some may be questioning if God predestined Israel to fail, in reality, even though it was Israel who failed and hardened their own hearts, and yet God continued to intervene in his people's lives, continued to have mercy. And if he hadn't, if God had just left Israel alone, it would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. And any reference in the Bible to Sodom and Gomorrah is a reference to the most evil town and cities ever, towns and cities so evil that they needed immediate destruction. God wiped them off the face of the earth. So he's saying God knew that Israel, not all of Israel was going to believe, but that didn't stop God from still having mercy and continuing to reach out. And if God had just let Israel go, if He had just taken His hands off and said, "You know what? I'm done completely," they would have ended up like Sodom and Gomorrah. That was the route that Israel was headed. They were headed to such evil. But God is so good to continue to reach out to Israel again and again and again. Salvation is only obtained through Jesus, not what Israel thought in trying to earn their way. Israel pursued the law instead of pursuing Jesus. And Paul explains all this to say that God is good, God did not fail and God is just.

So Paul has answered his questions. And what about us today? What should our response be to Paul's words in the letter of Romans? Well, very quickly, there's three things that I think we should have because of this truth right here. And the first is a spirit of humility, a humble heart. Let's not make the same mistake that Israel made, thinking that they could do it on their own, and in so doing, rejecting Jesus. Let's admit our need for God every single day, and live dependent on His Spirit. Let's not harden our own hearts, but remain open and desiring of God's influence and guidance in our lives. We need to have a humble heart. Recognize who is God and who isn't, all of us. Remember our place. Remember that even in seeking to understand God and his ways, we start from a place of knowing that God is good. Be a Jacob, like from this passage right here. Someone who embraces faith in God. Don't be an Esau, someone who gives into sin routinely over and over again. So church, do you have a humble heart? Do you recognize God's goodness and his justice and mercy? Even if you don't fully understand how that works, do you still worship Him and worship the God who is perfectly just and is perfectly merciful? Secondly, be comforted. Know that the work that God has begun in you is one that He will finish. He won't give up on you. Even when you have moments of hardening your heart, we all do it. We have moments where we turn away from God and say, "Oh, I want to do it my way. I'm hardening my heart. I'm entrenched in this moment of sin. Know that He still extends grace and mercy and love to you. God desires and strives to have relationship with you. He wants to bring you closer to Him. So if you're sitting here wanting to know God more, continue to step towards Him, move towards God. When He's reaching out to you, have a positive reaction. Don't turn away. And be comforted in knowing that when we serve and worship God, we are bringing such joy to Him. We worship the One who has defeated sin through His Son, Jesus Christ. So are you comforted in knowing that Jesus is at work in your life? Are you comforted in knowing that He won't give up on you?

Even when you have moments of hardening your heart, he still wants you and he's still pursuing you. And then lastly, our response should be of sharing our faith with other people. When you are a part of God's family, you begin to take on the heart of God. And the heart of God is one who wants people to know him. So we should want other people to know God. That means that you need to share with others what God is doing in your life. It doesn't mean that you're sharing as a perfected work. None of us are perfect. We still are struggling. Life is still messy. We're all works in progress. But we know that God will never give up on us, and we can share that with others. Say, "Hey, God's not giving up on me. "He's still working on me." And I think God wants to work in you too. You just share that God has reached you, and He wants to reach others. You share what you know of God. You don't have to worry about having all the answers. You just share what you know. You testify to what God has done in your life, as little or a lot as that may be. Today's passage is a heavy one, and it's dense, and maybe you're walking away with more questions than answers. But share what you know. Share what you've learned. And be okay with saying, "I don't know." Someone has a question like, "I'm not sure. I'm figuring that out myself." the very beginning of this chapter, Paul says he was in anguish for more people not knowing Jesus. I'll be honest, I struggle with this. I want to have the heart that Paul has, being in such pain and anguish and despair over people not knowing Jesus. Sometimes I feel like my attitude is a little too, I'm just too, it seems like I'm okay with it. I'm like, "Okay, well, if they come to know Jesus, if Jesus is at work, I want to be like Paul. I want to say, "No, I'm upset. I want people to know Jesus. I want to be motivated to reach them, to act out in love and have a desire that they would come to know Him, and I want to be a part of that. I want God to use me and other people coming to know Him." So our prayer as the leadership and pastors of this church is that you are transformed. You continue your transformation in being more like Christ. That God would use all of us for this church and for this surrounding community, that His glory would be known, that God would be glorified and His glory would be saturated here. We are those instruments to reach this community, to reach people in our lives. Don't think it's not you. It's you. God wants to use you.

So let's do that. Let's do this together. Let's do this in faith. But to reach the people in our lives and our community for Jesus with confidence and humility, those things can be done together, recognizing that it is so important that people know who God is. Let's pray. God, thank you for your word and for tough passages like Romans chapter 9 that make us think, that make us pause, and make us try to figure out who you are, God, and how you work. And I pray that in our hearts, in everyone's hearts here who's wondering that, I pray that would still give us peace. That would not be unsettling or upsetting, that we can't really figure out how you're perfectly merciful and perfectly just at the same time, but that you would give us peace in that. Knowing that you are infinite, we're finite. We're not going to fully understand all of who you are, but that doesn't keep us from wanting to pursue you more, to know you more, knowing that it won't be until heaven that we fully, fully understand you. God give comfort to those who are unsettled right now, who need your peace. I pray that your spirit would come to them and comfort them, Lord, that they would know that you are at work in their lives. God, we also pray that you would give us humble hearts, that we would continue to live our lives knowing that You are God, we are not. Help us to keep that perspective. And God, we also pray that You would give us confidence and motivation to share our faith. So often we can just be content with our faith being just, "It's just about me and You, God. I'm just going to go about my day to day, just worried about me." But God, You've put people in our lives. put people in our lives that need to be reached and we can't keep thinking that someone else will do it. So God, stir in us a desire to be a part of the work of your kingdom. We love you God. We come before you humbly and with joy and expectation that you are going to be working in us and through us. We pray this in your son's name. Amen. Thanks for listening. And if you would please take a moment to subscribe and leave an encouraging review to help others find our podcasts on whatever platform you are listening on. We hope you have a wonderful day. We'll catch you next week.

Romans - Part 14

Blessed Assurance: It's All Good! - Romans 8:31-39

SERMON TRANSCRIPT

Well, I'm excited this morning to jump back into our Roman series. We, I think we kicked off the first year with this and we went all the way until I think it was the end of May. And then we took a break in our impossible moments series for the summer. And now we're gonna jump back in and we're gonna finish out the rest of the book of Romans and finish just before Thanksgiving. So I'm excited about this. It's gonna be a great time. Maybe some of us have been around this. You're familiar with Romans. Maybe this is first time you're hearing of our series in this, but I just wanna say welcome. So glad that you are here. And so we left off just before the end of chapter eight. And Paul up to this point had been writing to the church in Rome, this letter. So this is a standalone letter that would have been written in its entirety to the church in Rome. And we kind of have a disservice in that and that we only see bits and pieces of it week in and week out. And so we, as a whole, the book of Romans is all about the power of the gospel. And Paul here in his very much lawyer analytical mind has broken down each and every piece of the power of the gospel. Some to a point where you think he's arguing with someone where he just keeps coming back. And then what about this? And then what about this? And what about that? We're gonna have a little bit of that today in our chapter, the end of chapter eight. but Paul here is making the most solid concrete with absolutely lock down power of the argument, of the power of gospel, where it comes from, what it's about and how it changes our lives. And so this has been our heart in this series to really dive into this letter and try to take it chunk by chunk and try to piece together what Paul here is saying. 'Cause sometimes you just, you get lost. you're just feel like you're either lost because he's saying all this stuff, or you feel like you've just been handed, you just been a dump truck of information on you that you're just in information overload. And you try to be, where do we even begin with this? And so we are here coming to a point, some scholars would say that is like the pinnacle of the book of Romans.

Paul here has been since verse one in chapter one, building this entire argument about the power of the gospel, and Paul's gonna cap it here, and then we're gonna hit this downward slide on the other side, and basically what this means to our lives. And so this is kind of a turning point in this series, a perfect time to jump back in in this book, but we're gonna be in Romans chapter eight, starting in verse 31. And so just a quick recap on chapter eight itself, so you can get some context and background. Paul here has been talking about this idea of how amazing this Christ is. He says in verse one in chapter eight, "Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." This is this beautiful picture in this passage of all about the gospel of Jesus. And then in verse 15, he says, "The Spirit that you received," the Holy Spirit that comes on us when we accept Christ, "The Spirit that you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again." because we were slaves to our sin before we came under Jesus. He doesn't make us slaves again, rather the spirit you see brought you to a place of adoption to sonship in Christ Jesus. And by him that we can cry out to God, Abba Father. When we come into this relationship with Jesus and we accept his salvation, his love and his grace and his mercy, it changes us. It changes our last name. It changes our inheritance. It changes who we are, and we are given a completely new identity, which is under the umbrella of Jesus Christ. And this is amazing here that Paul Key continues on in verse 18, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Paul here is saying that when we are adopted, we were brought into this new family, that our present sufferings aren't important. Our present sufferings don't matter. We're gonna dig in a little bit more on this this morning, but compared to the glory, our inheritors that we receive, what is that glory? That's salvation, that's eternal life in heaven with Jesus for then and forevermore. And then Paul, just before this, in verses 28 to 30, it says, "And we know that all things God works for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he called. And those he called, he also justified. And those he justified, he also glorified." Paul takes us through the steps of when we accept this salvation piece from Jesus, this happens, and then this happens, and this happens, and this happens. And today we're gonna dig into Paul talking about this incredible assurance that we have been given in our gift of Jesus that he gave to us. And so before we dive in, I'd like to pray real quick. And then we're gonna take this little section by section and learn about God's assurance today.

Heavenly Father Jesus, thank you for this morning, God. Thank you for our worship through singing, God, as we worship through your word now, Jesus, I pray that you would use this moment to transform us. Maybe in this moment, we could be given a little more of a boldness, maybe God, that we can live out our life knowing that it's all taken care of. And then we don't have to worry about what might be around this corner or that corner, or think of the stressors that may try to derail us off of the focus that you want for our lives. And so Jesus, I pray that your servant Paul and his words would transform our hearts this morning through the power of the Holy Spirit. We thank you, Jesus. Amen.

Well, Paul here is gonna jump right in and basically just throw out this argument. He starts here, verse 31. He says, "So what then shall we say in response to these things?" What shall we say to all this argument that Paul has started from verse one, all the way to this point, eight chapters later. So what do we say then? If God is for us, who can be against us? If God is for us, who can be against us? Did he not spare his own son, but gave him up for all of us? How will we heed not also along with Him graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one, Jesus Christ who died. Not more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. These verses here, Paul says, so now that we have this basis understanding of this power of the gospel in Jesus Christ, but from God the father through Jesus Christ into the Holy spirit, into our lives, what do we say then? So Paul's basically saying, so what now? Where do we go from here? What do we do with all this information that we have now? And Paul here in these is gonna out lie this idea of these promises and these good and wonderful blessings that when we belong to Jesus, we are given ourselves. In these blessings, I'm not talking about the perfect paycheck. I'm not talking about the perfect house, the car, the shoes, the phone, the health. I'm not talking about any of that stuff. I'm not talking about the newest gadget, the newest gizmo, whatever that you have been lately chasing or focused on or thinking about. I'm not talking about those blessings. Paul here is talking about this new life, this new affections, this new home in the heaven that we have been given that has prepared for us by Jesus. God himself, and Paul wrote this, God himself gave the gift of his son so that each of us might be able to experience this great depth of love for us. This is a good blessing. But let's just think about that. He gave Jesus, God gave Jesus And Paul here is making an argument of, if he is gonna give us Jesus, which is the greatest thing that we need, won't he also give us the things that he has promised? Wouldn't he also give that to, if he was able to figure out and solve our biggest problem of death, don't you think he can take care of all the little things too? Don't you think he has a power to be able to take care of that? Don't you think that he is faithful, that he is loving, that he is full of good blessings for us? Paul here is saying, what's more about this is that we don't have to worry about what others might say about us or do to us because we know that God is for us. That God is doing everything that he possibly can, more than what enough that we need to be able to solve all the problems, all the things that we're struggling with, we're walking through, we're dealing with, we're facing every single day, every single moment. And he says right there, "And if God is for us, who can be against us?”

Church, I wanna tell you today that it's all good. I want you to say that with me. We're gonna, I'm gonna start this and we're throughout this sermon, I'm gonna kind of point out and I'm gonna say, church, what does this mean? And you're gonna respond back to me and you say, it's all good. All right? So I wanna practice saying that together. Ready, ready? On the count of three, one, two, three. Oh yes, I love it. That's it, okay? I'm not doing like quiet church today, okay? We're gonna have a little talk back here with this, all right? So it's all good. And then what is in this is the idea of God's justification in Christ, that we are justified. A simple way to break this word down is just if I had never sinned. That is how Christ or God views us because of Christ's gift for us. Is that we not only, it's not like just like Jesus did a repair job on us. Like, you know, you got the phone and you like break the screen and you gotta take it somewhere to get it fixed And you don't go to Apple because, or any name brand, 'cause it's like $500. You find some guy on Yelp or a friend of a friend, you order a screen off eBay and have it shipped from China, and then you follow the YouTube video and try to fix yourself, right? Anybody else? No, that's just me, I'm the weirdo, okay. But when you get that screen back on, your phone just never the same, right? The button never clicks just right, the camera, the front facing camera just has a weird color to it. Like your phone is never the same as it was when you opened that box that first day and pulled it out and set it up. I love tech, I'm a nerd, okay? So this is, just stick with me on this one, all right? Jesus doesn't just fix our broken screen. Jesus takes us and gives us a brand new life. Just if I, it's like getting that phone repaired and just if you had never cracked the screen, just if you had never used it, just if it was a brand new life. That's what Paul here is talking about. And because of that church. Yeah, okay, I know some of you are slow with that, but we'll get there, okay? By the end of this room, be on it. But Paul here is saying, so if that is truly the case, who can condemn us? Who can put us down? Who can push us to the side? Who can say you're not good enough? Who can say you don't have it all together? Anybody? Nobody.

Nobody can say that God has already justified us and he is now moving on to the next piece, which is a sanctification piece and ultimately glorification with the face of Jesus in heaven is where we're headed. And so when we have this thing, Jesus, God has made us holy. He is making us holy and he will one day make us fully holy. So when life hits you, remind yourself that God is for you. When people say that you're not good enough, remind you that Jesus says you're good enough. When someone decides that you're no longer worth loving, you can remind yourself that God loves you. When you're hurt by someone who's supposed to be your friend you remind yourself that God is for you. And when Satan tries to tempt you or throw you off your tracks or remind you that you can't do this, you're not good enough, you're not worthy, you're not even worth an ounce of anything that God is for you. And so again, who can be against you? There is no commendation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Jesus took all of that, took it to the grave on the cross, and then now is taking care of that for you. And because of that, we can live a celebrated life, right? It's all good, I love it. That you know what I'm saying here, church, right? Yes, there we go. That Jesus, when he died, he was raised again, and he's sitting at the right hand of God, interceding for us saying, "Hey, that's my kid right there. That's my son, that's my daughter. They're mine. That adoption piece, they're mine. They have my last name. They're part of my family. That's who they are. And now we can see these great blessings, good blessings. And we can remind ourselves. Yes, I'm gonna keep doing this. So either you can be a part of it or you can just be there and not be a part of it.

Paul continues on. He says in verse 35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness, or danger or sword? For it is written for your sake, we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." Paul reminds us, who can separate us from the love of God? Nothing. Paul here, he's talking about these amazing blessings and time and time again, He's saying why life matters now. 'Cause before, if we think about life before, it didn't always matter, right? Life didn't always matter before Christ, but life because of Christ matters to each and every one of us. But what if somehow we could lose these blessings? I don't know about you, I might be a little skeptical. And I might think, how can we know for sure? We might lose it. 'Cause the reality is there's other blessings that we can lose, right? There's other things in life that we can lose. One day you can have great health and the next day you wake up and you can get news that you got your terminal illness, you got cancer, you got something that is going to change your life forever. Life's fragile. You can have the nice retirement plan set up, the 401k, the investments, the Roth IRA, You can have everything set. And one day you wake up and the market does that. Just like that. And it's gone. I'll pay you later, dad, for that. That was perfect timing. But that's true, right? You can wake up one day and the person who's supposed to be the lover of your life will tell you, I don't love you anymore. You can have your church betray you. It happens. You can have your pastor betray you. That new car you got that still got that new shiny car smell on the inside could get hit on the way home this afternoon, it'd be over, it's gone. Blessings in life disappear. And so I think for us, it's hard to wrestle with this, to go like, God, how do you say that this is for sure, for sure? How can we know that we know that we know? And Paul here, he's breaking this down and reminding us that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus. The greatest thing that nobody could ever overcome death, Jesus overcame it and he gave that to us. And so we may die here on earth, real possibility, everybody faces it, but our biggest problem of eternal death has been flipped upside down because the power of Christ that we can live in eternity with Jesus in heaven. And nothing can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Why? (congregation murmurs) Yes, Joseph was early, I love it. He's locked in. Notice though that Paul doesn't say here that we won't encounter things that will try to hurt us, will try to destroy us or try to separate us from the love of God. See the most of them time we have, we can't go a single day without the enemy trying to come at us, right? We can't go sometimes in even an hour without something trying to come at us to knock us off our groove and to try to pull us into despair and darkness.

Paul here, he's actually quoting Psalm 44:22 and says, "Yet for your sake, we face death all day long. "We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." It's kind of a bit aggressive language here, right? But this verse was written all the way back in the early days of Israel. And Paul here, I think is doing two things. One, he's reminding us that even ever since that verse was written, every single day something has happened. The enemy knows they're gonna lose. And so they will do every single thing that they can to knock us off our game, to mess up our focus, to pull our thoughts away from where they need to be on the cross. Paul is reminding us that long time ago has always been a point of struggle. But not only that, that there's this promise to point us to Jesus, even in the midst of that, that nothing can separate us from God, nothing. Because that verse, year after year after year had been worshiped, prayed over, repeated, And yet God still brought victory. God still took and held the promises that he had given us of life eternal in heaven. That even though that verse, it may be true, that Jesus still wins. The other promise in this is our focus on a good future. That if all of this is true, even a tiny bit, that in the good blessing, the good security and the good future that we have in eternity, Paul finishes out this section in a few verses, he says, no, in all of these things, We are more than conquerors. I love that. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are conquerors. It's all good. Where we're not only just barely surviving, we're not just barely scraping by. We're not just a little bit of life left in us. We are conquerors. We are victorious in Christ Jesus. We come through on top by the power of the cross.

And those who are in God, the final outcome will always be good. Whether good on this side of eternity or on there. Last week, we wrapped up our impossible moments series and we had talked through a lot of this stuff. And we spent the summer going story after story after story after story of how God showed up in so many people's lives. And we gave out the bubble gum, you guys remember? Chew. And the idea of the E there is an eternal perspective. Paul here is saying that because of the gift of Jesus that we have in His grace, we're able to have an eternal perspective. Because before that we couldn't, right? Before that we didn't have the ability to fix it ourselves. Every greatest attempt that from any greatest person ever still fell short. But it's in Jesus that we were given the power for Him to transform us, to justify us just if I had never sinned. That gives us the eternal perspective. We know how the story ends, right? We've been singing a song this summer that we know how the story ends. we will be with you again. That's our eternal perspective. We know that these sufferings of this world do not compare with the glory that will be revealed to us. We know that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. We know that there is no condemnation for us. We know that all things work together for us. We know that the final outcome for the children of God will always be good. and that no affliction, no distress, no persecution, no famine, no nakedness, no danger, no sword, no death, no life, no angels, no rulers, not things present, not things to come, not powers, not height, not death, not COVID-19, not politics, not racism, not school violence, not high fuel prices, not inflation, not hypocrisy by other Christians, not negativity in the church, not nothing ever created will be able to separate us from the love of Christ Jesus that is our Lord. There's nothing. Rest in that promise today. If you're to take away anything today, take away this. I want you to be encouraged. Be encouraged today. Why? It's all good. It's all good.

Paul here is reminding us in the church and in Rome of this very same truth, that no matter what we face, God still has the final word. Even when we think all hope is lost, even when we think everything is falling apart around us, even when we think I don't even know how I'm gonna wake up tomorrow, Jesus is right there. He's still got something to say about it. Even if you and I are done talking about it, Jesus still has a word. It's because of this power, the resurrection of Christ Jesus, we too share in the same blessed assurance that many of us have experienced. Each of you has a story. And I know a lot of some of your stories that you guys have been at the end of your rope. You guys have been there and you thought, I don't know what tomorrow's gonna hold. I don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring. I know some of you and others that have gotten to such the dark place that you thought about taking your lives. And if I was to ever try to tell something to you in those places, in those moments, it's all good. It's all good because we have a blessed assurance in Christ Jesus. So I got a couple of questions for us to take away this morning when we close out. The first question is to think about how God has been good to you. Maybe it was a green light this morning. I took my daughter to some testing this week, just some placement testing for school. And we got a green light and I just in the car, I was like, thank you Jesus. And Addie turned to me, she's like, for what? I was like, that green light, baby. We don't always get those anymore. How has God been good to you? I hope it's something bigger than a green light. Maybe it's just a green light and that's okay. Let's start there. How has God been good to you? Do you remember when maybe you were still a sinner before Jesus? You remember how Jesus reached out to you? Remember when you were walking in death and slavery and God's love still shine through the darkness. How has God given you new life and new freedom? Has God promised you this new home in heaven? How has God given you victory in this life? And then the second one, which I think is even more important, is who needs to know of this goodness of God in your life? Who needs to hear about this blessed assurance because, (congregation murmurs) It's all good.

See, the reality is the world around us is hurting. Our world is hurting and Jesus brings healing. The world is confused, but Jesus brings clarity. The world is dying and Jesus brings life. The world is in darkness and Jesus brings his light. So who in this world needs to know about Jesus? I love Cheryl even starting this thought this morning of us of different people in our lives that need this assurance, that are struggling through so many things. The exact same thing I'm talking about here. So you already have names on your mind. I'm just here to remind you that it's all good. And people in this world need to know why it's all good and how it's all good. I had three names that came to my mind. My friend, Mike, my barber, Ian, and another buddy of mine, Daniel. And they're all going through stuff right now. Who in your life needs to know the goodness of God? The world needs to know that God offers them love from which nothing in creation can separate them from. 100% guarantee. You don't get those in life anymore. A 100% guarantee. The question for us is, will we tell them? Will we tell them? Or will we just continue to live our lives with God's goodness in us? Show up on Sunday and praise Jesus and get in our car, go have lunch, spend the rest of our Sunday and start our work week over again. Will we tell them, will you share God's goodness with others this week, even now? It doesn't mean you gotta bash them over the head with Jesus immediately. For me right now, God has asked me just to tell these three dudes in my life that I'm praying for them and that the life that they're walking through right now, some hard stuff, is that somebody is in their corner, thinking about them and praying for them. It's where it starts. Somebody did that for your life, right? Somebody did that for your life at some point, and it changed you. Challenge yourself to do that this week, seriously. We got these Oikos cards in the back of the seats, and those cards are there just for you to write names down and to carry with you to be intentional about praying for them, intentional about remembering them, intentional about showing up in their life. That's what those cards are about. So maybe you need to take one, maybe you need a fresh one. We haven't talked about it in a while, but challenge yourself this week to put names before you to start praying over them for you to have an opportunity maybe to invite them to an event, to church, to coffee. It doesn't have to be a church thing you always bring them to. He could just be hanging out and praying the whole time, Jesus, open up a door, Jesus, open up a door, Jesus, open up a door. And it might not happen, but you're there. You're showing up, it's half the battle. So why do we do this? We have blessed assurance. We have great blessings. We have a wonderful, great future. - It's all good.

Pray with me. Jesus, we thank you for this morning. God, we're so grateful for your son, Paul, who took time to write this letter for this church in Rome, that even thousands of years later, we would dig into, we would be reminded of your goodness. So Jesus, I pray that today, as we go from this place, that you would peep those names of those people on our hearts and on our minds, that we would continue to pray for them, we would continue to lift them up to you, we would continue to show up with the presence of Jesus on who we are in their lives, not for us, not for our glory, not for the say, "Hey, look how many more people I saved," but to go, "There are so many hurting people in this world that need you, and this is where I start." So Jesus, I pray that you would put those names heavy on our hearts today and this week and the next week and the next week and the next week to continue to share your goodness with those in our lives. Jesus, we thank you, we love you, we praise you today. Amen. - Thanks for listening. And if you would, please take a moment to subscribe and leave an encouraging review to help others find our podcasts on whatever platform you are listening on. We hope you have a wonderful day. We'll catch you next week.

Impossible Moments - Part 13

Series Recap

SERMON TRANSCRIPT

We have come to the end of our summer series. This is the last Sunday of Impossible Moments. We hope that you've enjoyed this series, that each week we've gone about studying a different impossible moment in the Old Testament. And we're hoping and praying that this could be a resource for all of us as we go through life and face difficult situations and your own impossible moments. We're hoping that you'll be able to have God's word on your heart. And that no matter what you face, you could even use this series. You could rewatch or re-listen to it and it can be just a source of comfort and joy to you. So today's gonna be a little bit different. We're not gonna introduce a new impossible moment. We are going to together, Pastor Chris and I, gonna look back on these last 12 weeks and kind of draw from all those various texts some important themes that we feel like have surfaced to the top and are reoccurring. Now there are many, there are many things from all these different texts, but we're just gonna focus on a few of them.

Yeah, absolutely. When we look at this and Pastor Andre and myself, we took time this week and kind of started compiling all the different amazing stories that we went through this past summer together and we were just floored. I mean, it's time after time after time again, these incredible, amazing moments when God shows up in the life of people, shows up where when all seemed to be lost, when people were at the end of the rope where there was no hope, there was nothing, their back was against the wall, were stuck between a rock and a hard place and yet God showed up. And yet. That was kind of the theme that we had in this and and there are so many ways that God intervened in the life of so many of these people and we just covered a snippet it feels like of the Old Testament there's so many more stories We could have gone into But God intervenes in so many incredible ways to benefit his glory to benefit who God is and There's there there's times where overcoming these impossible odds brought joy and life and his Righteousness into the world and whatever each scenario was there was only one explanation and that was God The only answer to how could this have happened? How could these people be saved? How could these people be redeemed? How could these people be rescued? It was simply God.

And when we look at that we see this character of God and he is a God who redeems And if you're jotting some notes down you can write that down that God is a God who redeems and we started even week one Where we kicked it off pastor Andre talking about baby Moses and This time in the Israelite history was a scary one They were stuck in slavery in Egypt to Pharaoh but basically be free labor to build whatever Pharaoh does hide to build and The Israelite population kept growing and growing and growing and so Pharaoh actually got fearful that he was actually going to be just outnumbered By all of these Israelite people in his own nation And so to put an end to this he said every baby boy and I believe it was like two and younger or something that Had been born killed He's like I'm gonna cut off the population. I'm gonna slow this down I'm not gonna allow this to happen anymore, and I can't even even begin to imagine Being a father or a mother in that time in Egypt Life is already horrible. All you have is your family to hold on to and then all of a sudden babies and children being ripped out of homes. Why? Because of the fear that Noah had, or no, no, the fear that Pharaoh had and his scared mindset and really being a coward in the way that he was trying to lead by fear. So Moses' mom has no other option but to take a chance. Puts baby Moses into a basket, takes him down to the river and lets him go. I can't even imagine being mom right there in that moment to set your baby into the river and just hope and pray that God would do something. And what I love about that story is the most, the last person you would think, Moses is rescued by Pharaoh's own daughter. And through a series of events, Moses' mom actually gets to raise the child as a surrogate mother and a nanny. And then God in this moment is redeeming Moses for an incredible plan that he has for his life. Later on, we read and we know that the story is that Moses is the one who eventually leads the Israeli people free out of Egypt. And it all started that day on the banks of the Nile River. God in his redemption makes a way even when there seems to be absolutely no way. Another story we talked about was Noah, which is one of the greatest stories of redemption in the Old Testament. And the fact that Noah in his faithfulness is leading and being an example to what is going to happen. God's had it with the human race. They're wicked, they're horrible. There's only one honorable man, one righteous man, and that's Noah. And God says, "I gotta hit the reset button." And so he sets Noah to build this boat, which has never been built before, there were boats then, to rescue people from rain, which had also never happened before. And Noah in his faithfulness sets out as a witness and is God's redemptive plan for humanity. I think in that moment, if anybody had come to Noah in humility and just said, "What's going on?" And heard the story of Noah and repented, I think Noah would have led him on the ark. I really think, but what we know about that day and age, only Noah was righteous. God had a plan for redemption. And even though there was so much more room for people on the ark, it was only eight people, Noah and his family that were saved in that time. Redemption was offered to all who were willing to repent and believe, how only few accepted. When we look at these different characters in these historical accounts through these stories, we see a really main common theme in them and that is godly character. There's a level of godly character that is with each and every one of these people that is awe-inspiring.

That we see and hear that their obedience did not necessarily equal their success. And that can be true for us today as well. That even though that we may be stepping in this way and follow God and be obedient in what he wants, that may not equal our success. We may have some success, but it doesn't automatically guarantee our success. We can go back to Noah. We know that some might look at his life and say, "Really, dude? All those years building the boat, you could only save your family?" But I love the way that God looks at it. God looks at it and he sees a faithful father who led his children, who led his spouse, who cared for those that were closest to him, that knew him. I love that part there. That if we're gonna lead anybody in our life to Christ, it's gonna be the people that know us the most that will see our true selves. I guarantee Noah didn't have perfect days. I bet Noah came home, maybe frequently, threw down his tools, Mrs. Noah's there. What's going on? Oh, it was another day, but he didn't give up. He stayed faithful, and his family and his children saw that in Noah and saw this godly character. Genesis 6:9 says, "Noah was a righteous man." And then in Hebrews 11:7, "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen in holy fear, built an ark to save his family." That is the first time in the history of the scriptures that that word righteous and person was ever put together. There were none before that, to that time, that had ever even deserved that recognition of their character. I think when we see the story of Noah and his godly character, the fact that Noah's family were his only converts, I think is success.

And God sees that as a success as well. Another incredible story was Gideon. Pastor Lauren shared on this one, and Gideon sets out as an army of 30,000 facing 135,000 Midianites. The odds are against him. And then God in this series says, "Hey, Gideon, tell your army if anybody is afraid to just leave." And I can't, again, imagine Gideon going, "Wait, excuse me? We're already down and you want me just to let those who are scared leave?" And God says, "Yeah." So Gideon goes before the army and says, "Anybody who's scared left." His number goes from 30,000 to 10,000. And Gideon goes back to God and said, "Okay, God, what's the plan for a battle?" And God goes, "I got one more thing for you, buddy." He's like, "What?" He goes, "Take your whole army down to the lake, and I want them to tell them to drink water from the lake." So they go down, they drink water, and he tells them, he goes, "Anybody who just put their face down in the water and sucked it up and drank," he says, "send them home." He goes, "Only those who took a knee and squatted down and sipped water like this looking around." He goes, "That's your army. Those are the ones who are keeping an eye out. Those are the ones who understand what is going on around. Those are the ones who are keeping aware of their surroundings." And in the end, 300 men were left. And Gideon goes into battle, trusting God with a four to one ratio against him. And yet God brings victory. God brought victory to them. And it reminds us that we can trust who God says he is and who he says we are. So that when we face our impossible moments, we can know that he will equip us in whatever we need to do that he's called us to. 'cause sometimes this godly character is a moment for us in an impossible moment to grow, to change, to deepen our faith and relationship with God, knowing that he is going to do what he's going to do and we are called to this obedience, even if it doesn't necessarily equal our success. I bet Gideon thought he was gonna die on that battlefield that day. And yet he charged in a battle, knowing that Yahweh, that God was behind him. See, God's more focused on and concerned with our character, with our Godly character than any talent, human ability, human strength when we face these impossible moments together.

Yeah, part of that Godly character that develops in us is a spirit of humility. Humility is this virtue of submitting to God and really having an accurate view of where God is and where we are in light of where He is. It's about recognizing God as the one who reigns sovereign over all, and recognizing that we are made in His image. We are below Him, we serve Him, and we worship Him. These impossible moments in Scripture teach us that He is the one who works the miracles and performs the wonders. It's not the human heroes in the story that get the glory, but it's God. So humility in our series was a theme of our characters giving God the glory and not seeking any personal gain or fame, though that may have happened. Think of Daniel rising to power after he obeyed God, or think of David becoming king, or Solomon and the fame that he gained, all because of their godly character, but also because they were first humble before God.

In our series, we had a few different examples, and two that I'll point out are Solomon, recognizing that he could not reign over Israel better than God. He needed God. First Kings 3, 9 says, give your service, this is Solomon speaking, give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people God, that I made a sermon between good and evil for who is able to govern this, your great people. Solomon had a humility in knowing his limits. God, he knew that God had put him in that place, but he knew that God was the perfect King, the perfect ruler. And so he's humbling himself saying, God, I need you. Help me. There's also David who was characterized for a spirit of humility. Confidence in God, but he himself being humble. David knew who the miracle worker was. Where any victory truly came from, he knew that God was behind it. First Samuel 17, David says this, the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion "the paw of the bear will deliver me "from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, this is in the David Goliath battle, "Go and the Lord be with you." And so there, as David is trying to say to King Saul, "Hey, I can do this." He's really not saying, "Look at me and what I did." He's saying, "Look what God did through me." He's having humility in that moment, giving God the credit, giving God the glory, saying, "I'm his servant. "He's used me before, he's worked through me. "I think he'll do it again." but he's pointing to God.

The second way in which we saw humility in our series was people who were for the first time exposed to God in his power and then turning to him, humbling themselves before God. And often it was people who were faced with God's power or miracle who then humbled themselves. So think of Nebuchadnezzar, when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fire, fiery furnace, and then they were saved. In that moment Nebuchadnezzar recognizes God as the true God, seeing that no one else could have done this. And in that moment, this is a king of Babylon who is at the peak of his power and he is humbling himself before Yahweh. Daniel 4, 3 says, this is Nebuchadnezzar speaking, "How great are God's signs, how mighty are his wonders. God's kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his dominion endures from generation to generation. So this is a foreign king humbling himself, recognizing the true power of Yahweh. And then later in that book, in the book of Daniel, King Darius, a different king, is interacting with Daniel. And Daniel is unjustly thrown into the lion's den. But he's saved by God without a scratch. He emerges the next day alive. And King Darius says this in response to seeing Daniel alive and seeing God work. He says, "I make a decree that in all my royal dominion, people are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed. His dominion shall be to the very end. He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

And so the takeaway for us in this series, And this theme of humility is that we too should be desiring that God gets the glory, not us. So I just wanna ask, are we striving for that today and in our lives this week, are you striving that God's name be praised? Were we too self-focused right now that we're looking for something more about us, a little bit more fame, a little bit more glory, some more recognition. Instead, we should be striving that God receive glory and worship and are we eager to give him what he deserves? Now these Old Testament, these moments were in a good example of humility, but they also point to the one who was perfectly humble throughout his entire life and that is Jesus Christ, the ultimate example of humility. Philippians 2, five through eight says this, "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God, something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing. By taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. In our lives today, when facing impossible moments, impossible situations, think of Christ and his example. humble yourselves before God, remain humble through all your circumstances. And when you endure and God provides a way for you to be on the other end of that impossible situation, continue to praise Him in your spirit of humility.

We have humility, our focus is different, right? We have a different perspective maybe on things when we have this humble heart and our perspective moves our focus to God, that it's more about God than it is about us, that it's more about God's faithfulness than it is about anything else. You talked about Daniel and the fiery furnace, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego took this stand against Nebuchadnezzar that said, "No, we're not gonna worship this statue idol thing that you built. We know the one true God, we know Yahweh, and we're only going to worship Him. And even though that in that it was gonna jeopardize their lives, they knew what the punishment was before they had to make that choice. King Neb made it absolutely clear that you going in the furnace was a result of not bowing down in worship. And yet they still obeyed because they had this eternal perspective that God's faithfulness might happen on this side of eternity, but God's faithfulness also might happen on the other side of eternity, but God's faithfulness will happen. They didn't step into that furnace knowing God is gonna save our physical bodies without harm right now in this moment. No, they were probably walking in going, "Okay, God, see you in a couple minutes. I'm headed your way." But God saved them in that. And their eternal perspective changed. God showed up and made a miracle happen before the eyes of not only them, but everyone else, including King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel in the lion's den is another great example of this. Again, decree given out by some hoodlums trying to control King Darius to say, "Hey, King Darius, we're gonna trip up Daniel and we're gonna say that for the next however many times, you can only pray to King Darius." And Daniel goes, "I'm too old for this." By this point in the book of Daniel, if you study that he had been through time and time and time again, of people trying to control Yahweh and he knew who was boss. And so without fear, he opened his windows and for not just once hiding, but publicly for everybody to know, prayed, and continue to pray his three times a day for everybody to see. And Daniel knew what the consequences were. He knew that he was gonna be thrown into the pit with these ferocious lions that were gonna tear him from limb to limb, but it didn't matter 'cause he had his focus on heaven. He had his focus on God and eternity, knowing that here and now is just so short compared to eternity.

See, when we have this eternal perspective, no matter what we're facing, no matter what we find ourselves going through, there is this peace and there is God's presence, even in the midst of chaos. And when we went through this series time and time again, we saw just these small glimpses of these amazing God moments that when faced against overwhelming odds, stacked against them, God brought his peace and his presence even in the midst of all of that. Moses in the Red Sea, seeing what he thought was gonna be drowned or being killed by the Egyptians. Joshua and his battle against the Amorites, that they were losing the battle, knowing that the sun was gonna go down and they were gonna be killed off in the dark. He prayed a bold prayer for God, stop the sun in the sky and God did. God went against physics and science. You know what that tells me? It tells me he's even in control of that. He is greater, he is even beyond that, which we know and celebrate and think about being regular time and time again. God can stop that, he can do what he wants. He is God. Having an eternal perspective changes our focus on what's important. Joshua knew it, Moses knew it, David, Daniel, Elijah, Gideon, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they all knew this. And when we have, and we see the faithfulness of God, our life is different. I love what it says in Philippians 4, seven, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your higher hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ. That's our perspective we have to have. And that's perspective we saw time and time again from these people.

Last of our themes this morning, again, there's so many more and we're just focusing on these four, is how in these impossible moments, obedience to God by his people, equated to a witness occurring and people knowing who God is. So when David obeyed God and fought the Philistine, the enemy heard about who Yahweh was and saw the power of God. As Noah obeyed the instructions to build this ark, as crazy as it sounded during that time, he was a witness to his own family about who God is and what he does. When Israel obeyed God's direction through Moses to walk through the water and then saw that water close in on the Egyptians, it was a witness to Israel, to Egypt, and to the rest of the world about how God takes care of his people, that this was the God of the universe. When Jericho was destroyed and Rahab obeyed the order to tie a red rope so that when the city fell, she and her family would be saved, that was a witness. So what God is capable of and the fact that he redeems, even people outside the nation of Israel. It was a witness to the rest of the world of who God was. And when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego obeyed God, which meant not bowing down to the king to worship him, they were a witness to all of Babylon, about God being the true God above any other gods. And the same with Daniel, when he was obedient to continue worship, to continue praying in his spiritual practice, instead of stopping regular communication with God, he was a witness to how God is deserving of our everything, even if that equates to our physical death. He's a witness to God being the creator over his creation, and to a witness to God who rules with true justice. So today, church, Spring Valley, as we are talking about our obedience, know that your obedience to God, And whatever situation you find yourself in is a witness to those around you. Your obedience to Christ is a witness to your family, to your kids, to the grandkids that you watch. Your obedience to Christ is a witness to your coworkers, to those above you, your managers, or to those below you working. Your obedience to Christ is a witness to your spouse, to your immediate family, to your girlfriend, boyfriend, to your close friends, those who need to see most how you are obedient to God and how you, as you do that, you are pointing them to Christ. Your obedience to Christ not only anchors you in this world that is trying to pull you away from God, constantly vying for your attention, seeking your loyalty and allegiance, but it also encourages and points people to the truth. Your obedience is like a beam of light in the darkness of this world. It can be a road marker for someone else in their own spiritual journey. And as you are obedient, they're looking to you and being encouraged to say, wow, okay, I need to do that. I need to be like them. Thank you for reminding me of what it looks like to follow God. Your obedience can be the loudest way to spread the gospel without even saying a word. And so here at Spring Valley, our prayer is that we are all together striving to be obedient followers of Jesus, conscious and intentional about how our obedience can be used by God for His glory as a witness for His kingdom.

So where does this leave us? Where do we go from here? Well, I got some people who are gonna pass out something this morning for you. I want you to take this home as a reminder of the series with us this past summer. And it's bubble gum. Yes, I'm, yes, we are handing out bubble gum today. Pastor Andre and I, we were working through this series and we came up with an acronym for us to remember this

And the first of which is "see." We see the character. We see these godly character matters. There's this core piece to each of these accounts of these people when they faced impossible moments that when they this unwavering character that is grounded in God as they walk through these impossible moments depending on God it changed who they are it grew their character it it made them put roots down deeper into their faith of Jesus and I think for us maybe the question to ask when we step into these impossible moments, maybe big, maybe small, maybe somewhere in between, is to ask ourselves the question in this, what might God be trying to teach me in this moment? What does God want me and my character to grow here and now? Again, this focus isn't for us to build up our success, But it's to give God the praise, the glory, and the honor that He is so deserving each and every time. God could be trying to mold something in each and every one of us as we walk through these impossible moments.

The next letter is H for humility. Time and time again, as Pastor Andre shared this morning of this idea at the center of the godly character, was humility and the remembering it's about God's glory. It's not about ours. For some of us, we want to step in and just grab life by the horns and say, I'm gonna take care of this. And sometimes we need to step in with the boldness and the faith that God's got our back like Gideon and make that happen. But at the center of Gideon was a humility to trust in God, that even if it didn't turn out the way they hoped, that God was still God. So when we walk into these moments of impossible situation, ask ourselves the question, how can God get the glory in this moment? How can we point people to Jesus in this time to give him the glory?

The next letter is E for eternity. to have an internal perspective. Trusting and knowing that this in our lives is in God's hands. Eternity, salvation is gonna happen for all who believe and accepted in Jesus Christ and believe on his name. So we may be rescued in our impossible situation on this side of eternity, but it may not be until we reach the other side that we have our focus and our rescue of God. I met a, ran into a friend yesterday I hadn't seen since pre-COVID. And we were talking and COVID came up and we were talking about how one of the greatest things that I think each of us realize is how fragile life is. That we run around thinking we have control of this life and That all that'll never happen I don't know how many times I said that and it kept happening and happening and happening and happening life's fragile Life's just a snippet here eternity is forever Let's focus on the forever Even while in the here and now now it doesn't mean that poof all of our problems are gonna disappear We're still gonna have our stress and our worries and their anxiety and our angst and everything we have to wrestle with every single day while here on earth. But when our perspective is a heavenly perspective, it changes the focus of how we deal with the here and now. And we all can do this to put our trust in the name of Jesus. That is our eternal perspective.

And then the last letter is W, is our witness. Our witness in focusing on Jesus. See some of you, you figured out the acronym before that, I'm proud of you. But you have an opportunity that as we walk through life, as Pastor Andre, I love what he said, he said there, he said, "Our obedience is like a beam of light "into the darkness of this world. "It can be a road marker for someone "who is on a faith journey. "It can be the loudest way to spread the gospel, "even without saying a word." That's what it's about. not forgetting what God has done for us before, time and time again. Pastor Lauren last week talked about the story of Rahab and how Jericho was scared when they heard the Israelites were coming for them. Why? Because they had heard the stories of God's victory. And we are here, how many years later, talking about these stories again and again. Why? Not just for the fun of it, not just to have a fun summer series, but to remember who God was so that we know we can depend on who He is and His nature and His character for now until forevermore.

So what does this mean for us here in 2023? Well, I think for us is when we face impossible moments, I want us to take a second and chew on it. To think about how our character might grow, how our humility might be more grounded in Jesus, how our perspective would be changed from here now to then and forever more in heaven, and then how our witness for those around us to then help direct and pull more people and push them to the cross of Jesus Christ. That's what we want you to do.

Impossible Moments - Part 12

Rehab’s Faith - Joshua 2 & 6

SERMON TRANSCRIPT

Welcome, we are so glad you are here today. I am honored to be back again and get to share with you another impossible moment. Today we are talking about Rahab. So it's, I feel like it could be a popular story but maybe a lesser known story. The cool thing about Rahab's story is that it's a smaller version, or a smaller part I guess I should say, of a larger story. So most of us, I think, if you've been in the church for any length of time, know the story of the Battle of Jericho. And that is the larger story. So if this is like a movie, and the movie was about the Battle of Jericho and walking around the city of Jericho and the walls come tumbling down, Rahab's story is like the setup. Or it's like the flashback to give some context, okay? So we're gonna dive into Rahab's story. Jericho, great story, another impossible moment, Completely different sermon, all right? So we're gonna focus on Rahab's story today. The other cool thing I love about her story is that Rahab has some really impossible moments herself, but then God uses her to bring about other people's impossible moments. And we're gonna look at all of that. We're gonna even like peek into the New Testament a little bit, even though this is an Old Testament story. We're gonna be in Joshua two, mostly today. So if you wanna go ahead and turn there, I'm gonna give us a little bit of background here. So we have the Israelites. They've been wandering the desert for 40 years. They came out of Egypt. They were disobedient. They had to be in the desert for 40 years, wandering around in circles. And Moses had led them this whole time. But Moses had died, and now Joshua was his successor and had taken over. So Joshua was kind of gearing up and getting ready to lead them into the promised land. The Promised Land was this area of land that God had promised the Israelites for like hundreds of years before that they were gonna have this land. And so they've been waiting a very long time for this land, but they had to take on some cities. They had to have all these battle plans. They had an army. They had to conquer some places in order to take this land. So that's where we are.

We are in Joshua 2. We're gonna start in verse one, And we're just gonna read through most of it. And we're gonna see what Joshua is doing here and how Rahab plays into this story. So Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent two spies from Shittim. He said, "Go over the land, especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, "Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab. Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly, you may catch up with them. But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof. So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan. And as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. Before the spies laid down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone's courage failed because of you. For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death. Our lives for your lives, the men assured her. If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”

So as you can see, Rahab was like a major player here in this overarching story of the Israelites taking over the land. We don't actually know a ton about Rahab. We know she was a prostitute or had been at some time. We know she was a citizen of Jericho and that she had a family. And we know that she knew who God was. She had some frame of reference for him. The people of Jericho knew the stories of the Israelites. Some of these stories like the Red Sea crossing and coming out of Egypt, that was 40 plus years ago. They were still had this sense of fear and trembling because of what God did with the Israelites. She literally said their hearts melted in fear because of them. So there was already this sense of awe and fear towards Yahweh. Maybe they didn't necessarily worship him, but they knew who he was. Now there's some uncertainty of if Rahab was still a practicing prostitute, or if that was her past, but she was literally referred to as Rahab the prostitute. There was no question of what her profession was or had been, there was no question of the sins that she had committed, but that didn't stop God from using her in really big ways. Rahab declared a faith in God, and that in and of itself is an impossible moment. If we just like pause right there, like that and of itself between her profession, her citizenship, the fact that she was a woman helping two men from an enemy nation, All of these things create in this impossible moment for her to even declare a faith in Jesus.

But as it says in the second part of verse 11, "For the Lord your God is God in heaven above "and on earth below." She knew that Yahweh was Yahweh. And she knew who God was to the point that she was willing to stake her life on it. She lied to the king's representatives who came and asked her about the spies. She hid two enemy spies in her home. And then she trusted those enemy spies enough that they would keep their word and protect her family. But she could do that because she trusted in God. She knew that he would come through, despite the danger she was in. Rahab didn't grow up an Israelite. She didn't grow up knowing the law. She had no frame of reference or relationship with God like the people of Israel did. I mean, we already know the Israelites struggled to be obedient to God and have faith in Him and trust Him when things got tough. And yet Rahab's over here just living in this faith that is incredible. But she didn't have that history. And yet she still chose to trust in who God is. But here's what I find so interesting is that she learned about God through the stories and the testimonies of the Israelites. She placed her faith in Him because of what she had heard from other people who didn't know Him, who did have a relationship with Him. Your story, your faith journey is not just for you. It's for other people too. It's for their faith journey. It's to encourage others. Rahab would have no idea who Yahweh was had it not been for the stories of the Israelites and what God had done in and through them. So don't discredit your story. Don't keep it to yourself. It could be an encouragement to other people.

All right, we're gonna pick back up with Rahab and the spies in verse 15 here. "So she let them down by a rope through the window for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. She said to them, "Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return and then go on your way." Now the men had said to her, "This oath you made us swear, sorry, this oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless when we enter the land, you have tied the scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down. And unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads. We will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear." Agreed, she replied, "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed, and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, afforded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, the Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands. All the people are melting in fear because of us.

This recon mission that these spies went on wasn't, didn't end up actually being super profitable as far as military intel went. They didn't get a lot of information about this city. But as we know the story of Jericho, they didn't need a whole battle plan. They just walked around in blue trumpets. They didn't need a major military battle plan. But what they did need was a confidence boost. They needed to hear that God had gone before them and was gonna give them the land. And that's what Rahab's testimony did for them. It encouraged the spies, and they were able to take that back to Joshua and to the people and say, God has given us this land. This encounter with Rahab, this impossible moment in and of itself, the fact that God led these two spies to a prostitute's house who was going to protect them, grew the confidence and the faith of the Israelites. Secondly, this recon mission, it was for the purpose of Rahab. David Guzik, who's a commentator, he said, "There was another purpose at work in sending the spies, to save Rahab. In this, we see the extent God goes to in bringing one woman in her father's house to salvation, someone seemingly impossible to save.” God went to huge lengths to save one family out of Jericho. Without this encounter between Rahab and the spies, Rahab's family would have died. He went to great lengths to save her. And he is willing and wants to go and has gone to great lengths to save us. For those of us that have come to know Him or will come to know Him, He has done incredible things to bring us to salvation.

Real quick, we're gonna jump ahead to chapter six. We'll have it on the screens, but if you wanna turn there, we're gonna be in six, starting in verse 20, or chapter six, starting in verse 20. And this is right at the end of the battle of Jericho. So we're just kinda like dropping in here into the back end of the story. So they've marched around the city for seven days. And when the trumpet sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed. So everyone charged straight in and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it. Men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys. Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out "and all who belong to her "in accordance with your oath to her." So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel. Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord's house. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute with her family and all who belonged to her because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day.

The walls just came crashing down. But did you catch what we read about Rahab's house earlier in chapter two? Her house was literally built into the wall. We don't know for sure, but I imagine when all the walls come down, her house would have been destroyed along with it, or should have been. I imagine like you had like a bird's eye view or a panoramic shot of the city that I just see just all this rubble and the walls down, but then just her house just perfectly untouched. I don't know that there's a lot of theological significance with this except to show us how cool God is. He's so powerful, He's so big that He can destroy an entire city and keep one house that's built into the wall still standing. Truly impossible things are impossible with God. He can do them. He is so powerful. He is so big. The entire city was set for destruction. The Israelites were only supposed to take the silver, the gold, the bronze and the iron pieces and take them to the house of the Lord. Everything else was to be burned and destroyed. This type of destruction was actually really common with the Israelites when the Lord would have them conquer a city. And the main reason for that was because you had this baby nation trying to learn to be set apart. trying to learn this law and follow God and do what was right. And so God wanted to destroy completely anything that would infiltrate that, anything that would negatively influence that. So he often commanded them to devote everything to destruction so that they would not be influenced to worship other gods or to have pagan practices. So this was actually very common. But God spared Rahab. Her life had been so transformed that God wasn't worried about her negatively influencing the Israelites. He allowed her family to live among them. It just, it wasn't gonna be an issue. Rahab's faith was so evident and so strong that it was actually referenced twice in the New Testament. First we see it in Hebrews 11 verse 31, says, "By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient." And then in James 2, 25 through 26, "In the same way was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

That's an impossible moment to me. Rahab's faith to that degree shows that God can use anybody. I mean, the New Testament writers still refer to her as Rahab the prostitute. That kind of, that identity had kind of been attached to her, but it didn't matter. God still used her for his glory and to accomplish his plans. Not only that, not only was her faith so big that it was acknowledged thousands of years later, but she actually became part of the lineage of Jesus. We see it in Matthew 1:5, Rahab was the great-grandmother of a man named Boaz that you might be familiar with, who was the grandfather of Jesse, who was the father of King David. And then we see that lineage continue from David to Jesus. She became a part of the impossible moment of Jesus coming to earth. Because she trusted in God. Because she was willing to stake her life on it and believe that he was who he said he was. There's a lot we can take out of this story from Rahab, but there's a few key things that I wanna focus on as we finish our time together that I really feel like point us to Jesus and boost and impact our faith a little bit. The first one is that our sin doesn't disqualify our salvation. Rahab didn't let her past or her present or her sin or her struggles or her citizenship or anything like that stop her from seeking God and putting her faith in Him. She didn't even discredit herself. She was bold enough to say, I believe in God. Will you spies, will you go into this agreement with me to protect my family? She didn't believe the lie that because she had the odds stacked against her, because she wasn't part of the Israelite nation, that she couldn't be saved. She didn't believe the lie that her sin would prevent her from receiving salvation from God. She knew and had confidence in the Lord and in His saving grace, despite her past. Maybe you felt that way about yourself. Maybe you think, I have this sin issue, this struggle. Maybe it feels like a monkey on your back that won't go away. Maybe you feel like that way about someone else. Maybe there's a family member or a friend that you just maybe feel like it's too far gone and isn't possible to save. But we can see from Rahab's story that no one is beyond the hand of God. No one is beyond his reach. There's hope for us all. Now, that doesn't mean we just choose to live in our sin. We still have to take that and lay it at the feet of the cross and give it over to God probably multiple times. and continue to trust that he has died for us and that he has forgiven us and ask him to keep working in our hearts and our lives, especially around that sin issue. But just because we struggle with that sin, it doesn't disqualify us from being saved.

Number two, God desires to adopt you into his family. He doesn't wanna just save you for the sake of saving you. He wants to transform you and bring you in, adopt you into his family. This is how much he loved Rahab. He didn't just save her and her family and say, "Okay, be on your way. Good luck." He literally brought her into the Israelite and she lived among the Israelites to the point that she married into the family and became in the lineage of Jesus. She wasn't an Israelite, but she was the far off grandmother of Jesus. She was adopted into this family of God. That's how much he loved her. That's how much he loves us. That's how much he loves the person you're praying for right now, that you want to come to know God. That's how much he loves the parent or the child or the spouse or the best friend or or the neighbor who you know doesn't walk with Jesus. He wants to transform their heart. He wants to bring them into the family. If you don't know Jesus yet like that, if you don't have a relationship with Him, this point is for you because I want you to know that He wants to transform your heart. He wants to adopt you into the family. And if you already have a relationship with Jesus, this point's also for you. just in case you missed it. This point is for you too, to not keep your mouth shut about what God has done in your life. Rahab knew the stories of God because of the testimonies of the people. How are your people gonna know what God has done in your life if you don't tell them? This is supposed to be an encouragement for you to continue to invite them to church or events, to invite them into your home, maybe for game night, you're just hanging out, to coffee, just being yourself and being a light, or, and I might step on some toes, to actually tell them about what God has done in your life, to boldly share with them the transformation that you've experienced. Us pastors, we love being here. We love this job, most of the time. We love sharing these things with you, but we're not just here to give you facts and information. We're not here to entertain or make you feel good with lots of fluff. Y'all can go read your Bibles and commentaries and all that stuff for yourself. We're here to equip you and to encourage you to go into your places and to be with your people and to tell them about Jesus. We want you to feel confident to go out, whether it's in your home or your neighborhood or your workplace, wherever you are, wherever you spend time to be that light. The Bible doesn't say you pastors are the light of the world. You super Christians are the light of the world. You theology students and Bible scholars are the light of the world. That you was plural, like y'all, y'all are the light of the world, all of us. We're all called to be disciples and go make more disciples. We don't know like anything about Rahab's family. We don't know if they believed in Yahweh. We don't know if they had a professing faith in him or if they were just kind of along for the ride. but her faith literally saved their lives. Now, hear me out. Your faith cannot save someone else's. Your faith will not save your children or your spouse or your parents. That's an individual thing with them and God, but your faith will create an opportunity for them to get to know who he is. So it's hard. It can be awkward. It can be weird. It can feel intimidating, but we are all called to be disciples, to share our story, to go saturate our communities. Because we never know what our story will do for someone else, to encourage them, to get to know Jesus and to be transformed and adopted into his family.

And finally, God is the God of redemption. And this feels so basic. You probably have heard it in a million other sermons, but God is the God of redemption. Not only did he save Rahab because of her faith, but he redeemed her. To redeem means to buy back or to pay the debt for. Her life was redeemed, as we've said, to the point that her faith was acknowledged multiple times in the New Testament. and she ends up being the far off grandmother of Jesus and being put in the lineage of Jesus, it doesn't get much more redemptive than that, my friends. Jesus has redeemed all of us, all sinners who claim Him, who proclaim Him and put their faith in Him and receive His gift of salvation have been redeemed. Rahab put this scarlet cord in her window as a sign, as a symbol of the salvation that was coming. It's reminiscent of the Israelites when they were still in Egypt and they had the plagues and they had to, for the 10th plague, they had to brush the lamb's blood over the doorposts of their home so that when the angel of death came, it would pass over their home and spare them. and it hearkens forward to Jesus. The blood of the lamb that was shed for us. He redeemed us. We deserve death. We're all sinners. We all deserve to pay the price of death, but not anymore. We have been redeemed. The debt has been paid. So we know from her story that our sins don't disqualify us, our bad decisions don't count us out. Our past doesn't define our future because we are bought with the blood of the lamb. Our lives and our stories are redeemed because of the God of redemption.

Pray with me. Jesus, we thank you. We thank you for these impossible moments that we've been studying that just point us to how good you are, how big and powerful and mighty and awesome you are. God, may we be encouraged in our faith because of the big and small moments that you have shown us through these Old Testament stories. May you encourage us to go out and to tell other people about what you have done, both in the Bible and in our own lives. Help us to live boldly. Help us to invite, to talk to people, to have spiritual conversations. Help us to remember that we are a redeemed people who live on this side of the resurrection and we get to celebrate that. Thank you for your redemption. Thank you for adopting us into your family, for loving us that much, and for caring for us to the point of bringing us in. We love you, Jesus. We thank you for this day. Pray over our people as they go out into their worlds, into their spaces, with their people, God. Be with them, bless them, protect them, give them opportunities to share your love. We love you, Jesus. We thank you and praise you in your name. Amen.

Impossible Moments - Part 11

Lion’s Den - Daniel 6

SERMON TRANSCRIPT

Good morning everybody, good to see your faces. How are we doing We're doing good. We're doing well. See a thumbs up in the back. That was good. That's all I needed. Someone's doing well. It's okay if you aren't. It is? We're at church. Man, I'll be honest. I am feeling the season. The season for us is back to school. Everyone getting back in the groove. So you parents out there know what this is like. Getting school supplies and meeting teachers and all that stuff. It's good, it's busy, so I'm thankful for a Sunday where we get together and a little bit of a break, a little bit of a Sabbath. Excited to continue in our series. We're almost done, just a few more weeks. Today we're going to continue in our book, if you were with us last week or watching online we were in the book of Daniel. We're going to be there again.

Now if you grew up in church, and you were in Sunday school as a kid, we pretend that we had this big flannel graph, you know, you guys remember what those are? You have to be old enough, I think, to know what that is. And this was one of the most popular flannel graph Sundays in Sunday school, and that would be Daniel and the Lion's Den. They had the little flannel lions, you put them on there. And they were peaceful, if you know the story. But we're going to dive right in, Daniel and the Lion's Den, in the book of Daniel. Today's message is another impossible moment, but it's not just an impossible moment, it's also full of biblical hyperlinks. And you're like, "Andre, what in the world are those?" That's a fancy word. Hyperlinks is a fancy name for references in a certain biblical passage that hyperlink us to another biblical passage. And it helps us understand the trajectory and the tone for the story at hand. Basically, it's scripture helping us understand scripture, which is awesome. God has given us and provided us a way to better understand His Word. So throughout our passage I'm going to be referencing some of those today. The setting is the same as last week where Israel is in captivity to Babylon, except there's a new ruler in charge. And while last week we looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, today we'll look at the prophet Daniel himself. And how will Daniel respond to an impossible moment? Daniel is an advisor to the king. Remember the process for Israel being taken captive was that he took the brightest and the smartest, the strongest young people of whatever country they overtook, and they took him back to Babylon to use him for their own. So Daniel was one of those people. And his time in Babylon is one of success. He's got a track record, so far, of being very valuable to the kingdom and to the leaders.

By chapter 6, our point today, he's already had a few distinguishing moments. Upon his arrival, remember being taken captive, upon his arrival, the process for those captives was to be treated really well. They were given really great food, they went and were taught so that they could grow up to be influential leaders. But Daniel decides to make the process a little different. Instead of eating the king's food, he decides, he says, "Hey, we're only going to eat vegetables. No other of the nice, great, rich, awesome food that you have, we're just going to eat vegetables." And the king's like, "Well, why? I'm going to provide you all this stuff." And he says, "Watch God work. When we eat vegetables for a certain time, watch us be in better health than all the other people who are eating all your food." And sure enough, at the end of the time, on just a diet of vegetables, they are stronger, they look better, they are smarter. And it right away signals to the king in Babylon that this god, whoever the god of Daniel is, is he's got power, he's got influence, he can do things. Another moment for Daniel is that he interpreted dreams for the king. When no one else was able to provide answers for the king who had this dream, Daniel comes and by God, God giving him understanding and clarity to what's going on, Daniel's able to tell the king, "Hey, this is what your dream means." And then there's the incident, which you may also recall, which is the writing on the wall where God's hand appears before the king and writes some mysterious thing, and the king is freaking out. He's like, "What just happened? What is going on?" And no one is able to tell him what that means except for Daniel. Daniel comes and says, "This is by God, "and this is what God is talking about." So we know that Daniel's very important, and Babylon knows that Daniel is pretty important. He's a man of God, serving to the best of his ability in captivity, while still following and worshiping Yahweh. So we're gonna be in chapter six today, and before we get into our verses, I just wanna summarize the first part, it's kinda long. But we see that a new ruler has come into power, and he has appointed Daniel, along with two others, and 120 governors underneath them, to rule the entire kingdom. So there's three, Daniel's one of the three, and there's 120 governors underneath them. And Daniel's doing so well in this position that the king wants to make him in charge of all of it. He's like, "Wow, you are thriving. "My kingdom is great because of you. "Let's just put you in charge of the whole thing."

All right, pause here for our first hyperlink, all right? Gonna be using that word a lot, hyperlink. This is, if you're familiar with the Old Testament and its people and its stories, this whole plot might sound familiar because there was a man named Joseph, a different time, a descendant of Abraham, who was also taken captive, and found himself in a foreign land and started interpreting dreams for leaders, including Pharaoh, and rose to prominence, and was placed in charge of all of Egypt. And Joseph, way back in Genesis, is an example of someone who, coming from lowly places like Daniel, a captive, who by God's favor arises into a power of position and prominence to not only bless the foreign kingdom, but to bless God's people. And so this comparison, this hyperlink, is very present throughout the whole book of Daniel. We follow Daniel's story, you just keep them like, man, this sounds so familiar, this is just like Joseph. And it helps us to understand that God is the one really pulling the strings here. Even though Daniel is the vessel, he's the one chosen, the servant of God, it's God, just like we saw with Joseph, it's God doing the work. And as long as Daniel, like Joseph, remains faithful to God, there is blessing in his situation. Despite being a captive, God will favor him and use him for his purposes. And if you know the story of Joseph, it ends well. It's a good story, it's a happy story. He's a good guy doing great things, the leaders like him, and so we know, as we're reading the tone of this story, we're like, hey, this is gonna be a happy story, right? Even though it's gonna get a little hairy, it's gonna get a little scary, this is good. This is a good, something good is gonna happen. But before we get to the happy ending, we gotta go through our story. So Daniel is dealing with a lot of success in his position, and it's making the other leaders jealous. They don't like it. They don't like that Daniel is doing so well, to the point where they're gonna take some action. They just, they can't deal with it anymore, and so they are gonna do something about it. They know how much the king favors Daniel, and appreciates all that Daniel's done for Babylon. So they have to kind of get crafty. They gotta be creative in how to get rid of Daniel. Time for hyperlink number two. All right, the governors, these leaders who are jealous of Daniel, they hearken back to the snake in the Garden of Eden. They know that the straightforward approach will not be as effective as something conniving and crafty and sneaky, twisting words and truths to trap someone, just like the snake did in the Garden of Eden. They are going to try and bring the downfall of someone while presenting it as the best option. So that hyperlink tells us that these guys are bad. If it wasn't obvious, these are bad guys, and bad things are going to happen because of them. But also, they're going to get in trouble. So we kind of know where the story's going before the story even starts. A little more set up before we dive into our passage. These governors convinced the king with flattery and massed admiration, to pass a law that no other God or being can be worshiped besides the king for 30 days. It's not good. It's not a good law. The king signs off on it, but they know that Daniel, this is all for Daniel, they know that Daniel lives a life of integrity.

And there wasn't anything that they could catch him on. There was no dirt on Daniel. They tried, they looked, they said, if we could just get him on something, we can get rid of this guy. But there was nothing. nothing to blackmail him over, there was no leverage to be found to use against him, they had to create the situation for him to fail in. This is so evil and manipulative. This is like some of those political movies or TV shows, I don't know if you watch some of those, but it seems like every person in that show is out for themselves and everything they do is a chess move and everyone's got ulterior motives. I don't know if you've watched any of those. You just, you expect like in this show like something's gonna go wrong, someone's not telling the truth, I see a nod of head, yes. There are those shows out there. This is what's happening here. It's very, it's very bad. So King Darius, unaware of the ulterior motives, agrees to this plan. He's like, sure, yeah, that sounds great. Me, you wanna worship me for 30 days? Me only? Good with that. And this law is put into place.

And now if you would turn in your Bibles to Daniel 6, it'll be on the screen too. We're gonna start in chapter 6, verse 10. It says, "Now when Daniel learned that the decree "had been published, he went home to his upstairs room "where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. "Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, "giving thanks to his God just as he had done before. "And then these men went as a group and found Daniel "praying and asking God for help. "So they went to the king and spoke to him "about his royal decree. "Did you not publish a decree that during the next 30 days "anyone who prays to any God or human being "except to you, your majesty, "will be thrown into the lion's den?" The king answered, "The decree stands "in accordance with the law of the Medes and the Persians, "which cannot be repealed." Then they said to the king, "Daniel, who is one of the exiles "from Judah, pays no attention to you, your majesty, "or to the decree you put in writing. "He still prays three times a day." When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed. He was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him. This first section shows us Daniel's response to what just happened, and his response to this impossible situation of a law that tells him that he cannot worship Yahweh, his God, the God of Israel, is going directly to God. He just says, "I hear that, and no. I'm not going to obey that. I'm still going to pray. I'm still going to worship God." And Daniel is seeking God's counsel, his guidance, his direction, wisdom, discernment. He's even facing Jerusalem, which I love this note in here, which symbolizes that he is giving all of his focus and attention on God. Because think of this, he's a captive, right? From Israel, away from home, and he's looking back toward his land, where Jerusalem held the temple of God, where God was known to dwell. So he's looking at God's house and he's saying, "God, I'm surrounded right now by foreign people who are out to get me. You are the only focus I have. I'm looking out my window directly to you." It tells us that Daniel continued to do what he always did, which was pray. Daniel was consistent in his communication with God. so he could recognize and hear God's voice, because they talked all the time, three times a day, formally, probably more than that, informally. And it exemplifies the importance of remaining in close relationship with God.

So I want to ask us today, what is our relationship and communication with God like? Is he only hearing from us in times of need, when we are in crisis? Is he only hearing from us we have no one else to turn to? Are we treating God like a last resort? Or, is God hearing from us immediately as something comes up? Is God hearing from us when things are also going well? Is he a part of our regular rhythm in life? Does he hear appreciation for the good times and the bad? Does he hear from us often? Daniel had a healthy habit of communication, and it's something that we should strive for too. Well, like last week, it's Daniel's obedience to God that gets him in trouble. These men knew that Daniel wouldn't stop his spiritual practices, living faithfully to God, worshiping God, and so they knew that they could catch him praying, and they do. They go over, they see him, he's praying to God. So they go and confront the king about Daniel and how he's broken the law. And the king is distressed, he doesn't like it, which I find interesting. Usually our biblical characters are under attack even from the rulers, but this time the ruler's like, oh man, Daniel, I like Daniel, he's one of my guys. And he does not like that now Daniel's caught up in all of this and Daniel has to face punishment. And it even tells us that he tried everything until sundown to help Daniel get out of this situation. In verses 12 and 14, it shows that the king is limited in his power. Even though he put the law into place, he doesn't like what it's causing him to do, and he has no way to get out of it. He is bound by his own law. He can't operate outside the law. He can't change the law to do something that is right. The group of men who schemed all this make it very clear to him. They remind him, like, "Didn't you say this?" And he's like, "Yeah, I did." And as we see the limitations of a human ruler, We're reminded of who isn't limited. It's the God that Daniel serves. It's the God that we serve. Because God and His law, God and His word, are perfectly in sync. There are no moments where God is trapped into a situation by something He said, into regretting something that He enacted or that He is forced to do. Psalm 19, seven says, "The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. As we see King Darius's limitations, we can be reminded of how powerful and perfect Yahweh is. God's law is not out to get people. It's there to help us grow closer to Him. The law of the Lord isn't a trap to get people into trouble. It's there that we would grow and and thrive in loving, perfect relationship with God, just as he intended.

So, Daniel's facing all this, let's see what he does. Verse 16 says, "So the king gave the order, "and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lion's den. "The king said to Daniel, 'May your God, "'whom you serve continually, rescue you.'" I love that. "A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, "and the king sealed it with his own signet ring "and the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating, without any entertainment being brought to him, and he could not sleep. At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lion's den. And when he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguish voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?" And Daniel answered, "May the king live forever. "My God sent his angel and shut the mouths of the lions. "They have not heard me, "because I was found innocent in his sight. "Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, your majesty." Stop right there. In this scene, it just shows Daniel's steadfast faith and trust in God. The king who is bound by law gives the order and throws Daniel in. But in this moment, the king is hoping that the God of Daniel will save him. Did you guys notice this? There's an unbeliever who is placing their hope in God. He doesn't necessarily know who Yahweh is, who the God of Daniel is, but he wants that God to save Daniel. I love it. I think there's something innate in humanity that recognizes its creator to some extent, and maybe in certain situations, there is something in us that when life is at its darkest, we look up and we cry out to God. And for us who believe, we know who that God is. We know who we're talking to. But for those who don't, we see that they too will look up and cry out to the God that they don't know, but asking for help and putting their hope in someone bigger than who they are. Obviously people don't, or maybe the thought of recognizing creator had never come to the forefront of their minds before they get into that impossible situation but when people are in their darkest moment and are so desperate, people are often brought closer to God's presence and that's the king here. The king, being in a dark and desperate moment, is being brought closer to God. Daniel's impossible situation continues as he's lowered into the den of the lions. And the stone is brought over and the kings and guards seal it. And the king is so anxious that he can't sleep. He's restless over Daniel's wellbeing, again, showing his care and concern for Daniel. In 19 through 22 is a beautiful picture of this unique friendship. As the morning rises, the king, first thing he does, runs over to the lion pit to see if Daniel is alive. And this picture that we get of the king running is not a very kingly picture. Kings are very noble, they're very articulated in what they do. They don't run to go see someone that serves them. This is not the scene. So it shows that he is so invested in Daniel that he does not care if he looks like a fool, running to where someone should have died. And the king is giving credit to Yahweh. He's just crying out in hope. He's like, I don't know if there's a voice that's gonna come from this pit. Has your God saved you? Because he knows that if Daniel is alive, the only way that he could be living is from Daniel's God. There's no other explanation. And to his joy, Daniel responds. He says, "I'm here, I'm still alive, King." And he explains, I imagine this like still in the pit, like Daniel's still in the pit, he's like, "I'm here, and here's how it happened. "The angel shut the mouths of the lions around me right now." Maybe he's like, "Can you get me out, "and I'll tell you all about it, "but can you get me out of this pit?" But he said, "The angel shut the mouths of the lions "and kept them from hurting Daniel "because he was found innocent." And I love that he puts that in there, just God saw me innocent, and by the way, King, I never really did anything against you either.

Now, time for a major hyperlink. All right, we're going to nerd out here for a little bit. And if you could just follow and track with me, I think it'll pay off. But come down this rabbit hole with me. What we see from Daniel here in this moment, in this scene, is also similar to someone else, not Joseph. We already did that hyperlink, different hyperlink. They also faced certain deaths. So if I had the big flannel graph-- I know Pastor Chris has talked about getting a flannel for Sundays because it's so exciting. But if I had one here, I'd like to be holding the next character and I'd be putting him out. Any guesses on who we're talking about here? Okay, yeah, I know a little call and response in church, you can speak up if you have any answer, if you're feeling confident. Okay, I'll just slap on the biggest, most used character in flannel graph. Jesus, if you had the Sunday school answer, that would be correct. Look at these similarities between Daniel and Jesus. Daniel faced leaders conspiring against him. Jesus also faced leaders at that time conspiring against him. Daniel, his first response is to pray to God. He goes up to his house and he prays. Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane and prays to God. Daniel submits and is faced with the decision of a ruler over him. Jesus also submits and faces the decision of the rulers that decide his fate. Daniel is found guilty of the law and Jesus too is also found guilty of the law. Now the law for me would be like in quotes because the law was something just to trap these people. It was used not for the law's intention, but to trap Daniel and to trap Jesus. Daniel was found innocent in God's eyes and Jesus as we know was perfect and innocent in God's eyes. Daniel was put to death, put in the lion's den. Jesus was put on a cross. Daniel, saved by God, came out of the lion's den alive. Jesus defeated death, rose again, and there was an empty tomb. And Daniel had the king in the morning running to him to see if he was alive, and Jesus has Mary and the disciples running to the grave to see if Jesus is alive. I'm being a little, I think this is so cool. The mirrors here, the parallels between the two stories. I love it, these comparisons show us, again, a trajectory and a tone for the passage, and it is one of a miracle. The God of Daniel, the God we serve, is the only God who can do what he does, the only one who has power over death, who can make the impossible possible. Our minds being drawn to Jesus here remind us of this is how salvation works. By putting your trust in God, our faith in God, you will be saved. Daniel put his trust and faith in God and was saved. When we put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ, we too are saved. I love how the Old Testament points us to Jesus. And this story is like neon lights flashing. It's pointing us to Christ. Pointing us to the wondrous work that God would do in sending his son to earth. But, okay, hyperlink over, back to our story, we gotta finish.

Let's finish our chapter, verse 23. It says, "The king was overjoyed and gave orders "to lift Daniel out of the den, "and when Daniel was lifted from the den, "no wound was found on him, "because he had trusted in his God. "At the king's command, the men who had falsely accused "Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lion's den, "along with their wives and children. "Before they reached the floor of the den, and the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. Yikes. Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language and all the earth. May you prosper greatly. I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom, people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever. His kingdom will not be destroyed. His dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves. performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions. So that Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian. This is all about King Darius' response to seeing God work. And King Darius invoked justice immediately. He orders the men who plotted this whole scheme be thrown into the lion's den And before the men even reached the floor, the lions devoured them, which show us, it's not just to show us that that's a crazy scene, but it's to show us that this wasn't like the lions were full or anything before Daniel was thrown in. There was no natural explanation as to how Daniel could be saved. These lions were ready to eat. They were ferocious. This was a whole thing that the Babylonians had set up. We keep these lions starving so that when we throw anything in there, they will kill anything in there. And so it's to show that this was indeed a miracle. The king continues in this joyous response. He sends to all the earth a command to worship God. See how this has changed from the very beginning of our chapter where the king enacts this rule of you cannot worship Yahweh, to now he's saying to all the earth, you must worship Yahweh. Oh, how the turntables. It's so cool to see a Gentile king using his power and authority to spread the name of God and to tell people to worship him. God used this entire situation, meant for the harm of one of his own people, to actually have the entire world hear who he is and what he can do. This is amazing. I get why this was a flannel graph story.

Everyone should know about what happened. King Darius has a response of seeing the Lord work and his response is worship. But what about us today? When we face impossible situations, what will our response be? We saw Daniel's, we've seen King Darius's, what about us? Well, we may not face the exact situation. I'm praying that none of us get thrown into a pit of lions. Yikes, would not be good. But we do, like we say every week. we all face our own impossible situations in our lives. What are we going to do? Well, number one, be like Daniel and go to God immediately. Just as Daniel went to his room and faced Jerusalem, his first thought, the first move, is to look to the heavens and pray. Get your attention focused upward on God. Start talking to him. Pray that God would give you direction. Pray that God would intervene. Share your feelings with him, whether it's frustration, or you're scared, you're hurt, maybe you're happy. Whatever it is, ask God for help, share, just start talking. Go to God immediately. Our first responsibility is something I call get eye contact with God. Do you know, okay, when you're in a situation, you're with maybe a spouse, a sibling, your best friend, and something happens, and your first reaction is to make eye contact with that person. Be like, did you just see that? Are we on the same page here? Did we both just register what just happened and acknowledge that? Do that with God. When something happens, be like, "Look at God." Be like, "Okay, God, we both just saw that? Okay, we want to get on the same page here." Make eye contact with God. Figuratively. Okay. Number two, live with integrity. This is all about remaining innocent in the eyes of God. Sometimes our impossible situations will tempt us to compromise, to look the other way, to live in a way that betrays God, betrays our belief in Him. It will tempt us to sin. Daniel could have stopped praying. He could have been like, "God, look, for 30 days I've got to not talk to you. Sorry, I'll talk to you later." Whatever. There could have been many things, many options where God turned His back on God. Our impossible situations will tempt us to turn our backs on God.

But like Daniel told King Darius in verse 22, he said that he was saved because he was found innocent in God's sight. We too wanna be saved by being innocent in God's sight. Live with integrity. All the time. When it's easy, yes, but also when it's hard. The that we had to Jesus is helpful here, right? Jesus, who was unjustly beaten, who was unjustly accused, unjustly put to death the entire time, He remained faithful, obedient, without sin in all of it. We too, that's gotta be our aim. We wanna be like Jesus. And to live with integrity, we need Jesus. We can't do that on our own. As hard as we may try, we will fail. We need Jesus. So part of living with integrity is depending on Christ. And number three, trust God at all times. Whether the impossible situation for you has just begun, or you're deep into a season of despair and chaos, remember that God works at any time, any time that he chooses. I mean, look at Daniel here. God was present with him through it all, but he also allowed Daniel to get to the worst part, which was being thrown into the lion's den. He could have changed King Darius' mind. He could have wiped out the men who plotted against Daniel. He could have done anything before Daniel had to go in the lines then, but he didn't. But it's at Daniel's moment when he's about to face death that God then intervenes. Pastor Lauren brought this up a few weeks ago with the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Sometimes deliverance means still going through the entirety of the difficult situation. But it's the fact that you make it through. That's God's working in your life. So trust God at all times in your impossible situation. Trust Him at the beginning, when you're entering a dark season, and continue to trust Him when it's getting worse and worse and worse. Keep your faith in Him. Just because your impossible situation may be leading to your demise in the way you view it, it doesn't mean that God isn't gonna intervene at some point in some amazing way. And, just like last week with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, even if He doesn't intervene, He is still worthy of our praise. He is still good. This week, as we all go about our lives, our encouragement and prayer for you is that your first reaction to whatever is going on in your life is to pray, is to go to God, is to look heavenward and say, "God, that was something I need you right now." Get that conversation going. And then strive to live with integrity. Ask yourself this week, how can I live more like Jesus in my day to day? Are you asking God for strength and the provision through His Spirit to live like Christ in every moment? And let's grow in our trust and faith in Him, holding on when life is throwing us all over the place, on our knees in prayer, with our hearts looking heavenward, trusting God in every moment.

Let's pray. God, thank you for this story of Daniel in the lion's den, which is famous. We know that Daniel lives through this impossible situation, and I pray that it would bring us courage, it would bring us hope, God, for whatever we are facing. And if we're not facing anything, God, I just pray that it would strengthen our relationship with you. It would deepen our roots of faith and belief so that when we do face impossible situations, we are anchored to you, knowing that you can work out anything for your good, for your purposes. God, we pray for a deepening of our relationship with you. We pray for hope and despair. We pray for strength and weakness. We pray for joy and chaos. You know where everyone is at in this room and what they need. And I pray that right now, through the teaching of your word, through the worship, we do in singing that you would fill us up, that our hearts would be a little bit lighter leaving today. God, we know who you are and what you can do and we praise you for it. May we feel empowered and encouraged and equipped to give you our everything. Be with us this week. Draw us closer to you. We pray this in your name. Amen. - Thanks for listening. And if you would, please take a moment to subscribe and leave an encouraging review to help others find our podcasts on whatever platform you are listening on. We hope you have a wonderful day. We'll catch you next week.

Impossible Moments - Part 10

Fiery Furnace - Daniel 3

SERMON TRANSCRIPT

We've been bouncing around in our series in the Old Testament looking at impossible moments. where by human perspective there was no way forward, no option, no way to succeed. And by now we're in week 10 of our series, there's little to no surprise about how these sermons go, right? We know how it ends. We know that there's an impossible and probable situation, we know that at this point God intervenes in some way, whether through providing physical resources and answers or by providing supernatural answers. God is the one making the impossible possible. And so there are no surprises, and yet, each Sunday, a story can hit us differently. Each week we come here having experienced a different week than the week before, being in a different place, our hearts and our minds may be ready to pick up on a different aspect of God, of who He is and what He does. And so while we are week to week maybe repeating some similar themes in these stories, it only does our heart good to hear how amazing God is over and over and over again. All that to say, don't tune out. Don't tune out today, don't tune out, we still have a few more weeks in the series. Each week God may want to speak to you about something different.

So last week we were in Exodus, Pastor Lauren talked about Moses and the Israelites and as they were being led out by God away from Egypt, through the Red Sea, as a part of God's plan of deliverance. And today we're jumping ahead, far beyond Israel in the desert, far beyond Israel in the Promised Land, beyond King David and Solomon, so we're actually, sadly, the Kingdom of Israel is falling apart. We're going to be in Daniel today, and Israel's kingdom at this time, by this point, has been divided into two. We have the Northern Kingdom and the southern kingdom. And this foreign nation of Babylon has captured the northern kingdom of Israel. Part of the process of Babylon taking over nation after nation is that they would take the brightest and strongest young people of whatever nation they took captive. So they took the brightest and strongest of Israel back to their own so that way they contribute to the power in the kingdom of Babylon. And some of those taken from Israel were Daniel, and also three names that you may be familiar with, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Those who were taken faced a new challenge of being immersed into a new culture surrounded with religious beliefs and practices that they did not hold and might even go against what they believed. And so they had to discern and navigate through that every day. They had to ask the questions to themselves, "How do I live out my faith in God? How do I believe and worship Him while being surrounded by false gods, false practices, and a view of this world that doesn't align with how God taught me to view this world?" So just imagine the daily struggle they faced in choosing God, it was a choice every day. And in that setting, following God was riskier, even more counter-cultural than what we experience today. While we at times may get a glimpse of having to choose Jesus every day in our settings, be it at school or at work or some social setting where we feel the waves of the world pressing in, We feel sin and darkness all around us. I still believe that Daniel's situation and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's, theirs was all that and more. Because their punishment for not following the religion of Babylon, not worshiping their gods, including their king, was death. We're gonna be in Daniel three, and I'm gonna summarize the beginning of this chapter. We won't read it at this point, but at the beginning of Daniel three, we learned that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had made a statue of himself, as you do, I guess, when you're king, you just start making statues of yourself.

By the way, in the Old Testament, if you just see someone making a statue out of gold, it never leaves, that's a down, that's a bad, bad thing. Don't do it, it always ends up bad, but he does it, it's gonna end up bad for him. But it was declared after the statue was made that all nations and peoples of every language are to fall down and worship the image of the king, and whoever doesn't will be burned up in a fiery furnace. And so the setting here in the eyes of the people, specifically the Jewish people who are now in Babylon, is that there are two gods. There's a false god, King Nebuchadnezzar, and the true god, Yahweh. Which god will the Jewish people worship and which god will they obey?

Daniel 3 continues that after this statue is made and the instructions are given to the people. If you were to worship it, you're to bow down to it. Some of the leadership of King Nebuchadnezzar comes to him and says, "Hey, some of your officials," reminder, this is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They're not just brought to Babylon, but they hold important positions. They are officials in the king's cabinet. And so some others rat them out and say, "Hey, some of your officials are not bowing down to your statue, specifically Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." And Nebuchadnezzar is furious. He feels betrayed to an extent. He's like, "I brought you people here, you're mine. "I gave you positions of leadership." And so he goes up to these guys and he confronts them. He says, "Is it true, you guys? "You're not worshiping my statue? "You're gonna be thrown into the fire. "And if you're thrown into the fire, "I mean, if you don't start bowing down to the statue, "who's gonna save you?" And remember, throughout this passage, there's a comparison being made here between Yahweh and Nebuchadnezzar. Who is the real God? And Nebuchadnezzar is coming to the three Jewish men, obviously mad, but also, in his mind, as a God who can save them. He's doing them a favor. He's mad, but in his mind he's exercising his godly, kingly authority.

In verse 15 of chapter 3 it says, "Then what God will be able to rescue you from My hand?" Basically saying, "I'm coming to help you out, you three. I'm giving you a chance." Technically, you should already be thrown in because you haven't been bowing down, so that means you should be thrown into the fire, but I'm not gonna do that yet, bow down, just do it from this point forward. And because if you don't, then what God can save you? If I can't, as a God, as a king, then no one can. That's what Nebuchadnezzar is communicating to the three. Who can save them? Well we know, it's week 10 in our series, right? We know, we know what's gonna happen. So let's start reading in verse 16 their response, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to him, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." We'll pause right there. What an amazing example of a God-honoring stance in an impossible situation. An amazing response by these three gentlemen, God-fearing, Yahweh-worshipping men who are less about defying the king and more about obeying their God. Now, their obedience to Yahweh does mean that they are defying the king's orders, but that's not their reason for their actions.

They are seeking to obey and worship God. And really that's the point of their response here, is we are taking a God-honoring stance in this impossible situation. These men fully know what they face being thrown into the fire, which is a sure death. There is no, by human means, there is no way to escape that, no way to survive that. And in their response we see incredible trust and faith in their God. They say, "God will save us and deliver us from your hand, and if He does not, we will still not worship these gods and these statues." The trust and faith in God comes from who they know God to be. They don't even know for sure what God will do, but they know what He can do. They believe that God will deliver them, and they share at the same time. They understand that He may not, and yet we're going to continue worshiping God and honoring Him and obeying Him no matter what. See, church, so often it's easy for our faith to become transactional. "God, if you do this, then I will give more of myself to you. God, because you did this for me, now I will offer more of myself to you. Now I will give more of my time or my finances." But that's not the case for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Before anything has happened, they proclaim their loyalty, their allegiance, and their obedience and their hearts and actions for God. whatever happens, whether they are saved from being burned to death or not, their hearts are clear. And that's what we need. Despite whatever happens in our lives, we need to be clear internally and know that our worship is for God. It's not contingent on how well or poorly life is going. It is consistent, it is always, and it is all of us worshipping Him."

Let's continue to read in verse 19 and see what happens next. "Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual, and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king's command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisors, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" They replied, "Certainly, majesty. He said, "Look, I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego come out of the fire, and the state traps, prefects, governors, and royal advisors crowded around them. They they saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their head singed, their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants. They trusted in him and defied the king's command, and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own god. Therefore, I decree that the people of any nation or language, who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, be cut into pieces, and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other God can save in this way." Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

How amazing is this story right here? This is such an incredible example of obedience in an impossible situation. In verse 19, we see that the king ensured this impossible situation having the three men tied even tighter and the fire made even hotter. This is showing the full effort and capability of the king, his strongest men and the hottest fire, to the point where the fire even consumes the guards that were in charge of throwing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in. This is everything that King Nebuchadnezzar could muster. This is all of his power. And is it enough? No. Not for God. Because for God, anything is possible. And so these three men are thrown into the furnace, bound with all their clothes, their turbans and robes and all this, again communicated in Scripture to express that if the guards died just from being near the furnace, surely the three of them, with everything that they have on would be consumed in fire. But what happens next? There's four people in the fire. And I just, I love this moment. You want to talk about God meeting people where they're at, in their hardest situations, in the midst of whatever they're going through. This is a prime example. God sends an angel to be with them in the fire, to rescue them, to comfort them, to assure them that their obedience to God brought him joy. Can you imagine this scene, just being in the fire? This is all my thoughts on it, so this is not necessarily Scripture, but I just imagine this scene where maybe they're feeling terrified, confident that they made the right decision, but you can still be terrified about being thrown into a fire. And then you open your eyes after falling in, and you realize you're alive. And you look around and you see your friends also alive, and you see someone new. A divine being, an angel of the Lord there. And I just imagine that angel smiling, being like, "Yeah, this is happening. You're alive." And just, you can even hear the roaring fire. Fires are loud, just a furnace roaring. And I just imagine this calm joy swelling up inside of them as they realized that they didn't die, that God showed up. We knew He could. We said that He would, and He did. And maybe the angel is there saying, "Yes, you are alive. God loves you." They're just chilling in a fire, just walking around, just talking. This is amazing. One of the coolest moments in the Bible. They're just hanging out until Nebuchadnezzar calls them out referring to them as servants of the Most High God. From that moment, people know who they serve. The king sees now who they worship and sees the power of Yahweh. I think he recognizes how inferior he is. Everyone can see how the fire did not damage them at all. Their hair, their clothing, something that was impossible was made possible.

And then in verse 28 we see the kings praising Yahweh, looking back at the actions of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and seeing that this whole time they were just being obedient to God. The defiance to Him was all about them being obedient to Yahweh. and he even makes this decree that no others from any nation that Babylon is in control of can say anything against Yahweh. This is just an amazing account of God working in an impossible situation. And so now I want to finish our time this morning with focusing on how to have this obedience to God in the midst of our impossible situations. I know many of you have We are faced, or are facing, and I'm sure we all will face at some point in the future, more situations and moments that seem impossible. Maybe it's making it through a difficult, broken relationship, where the way forward with that person seems bleak, improbable, hopeless. Maybe there's someone that you're in a relationship with that just seems to be going in the wrong direction. And it's heartbreaking. Maybe it's navigating a difficult work situation, where coworkers or management or even the work you do is just soul-sucking, bringing you close to compromise, and there is little to no joy and what you spend so much of your day doing. Maybe it's processing the loss of someone close to you. Whether they have passed or maybe you're processing them being in the end of life stage. But maybe it's overwhelming, it's lonely, and it's terrifying to think of life without that person. Church, we face impossible situations in our lives, and what God desires of us, wants of us as we go through each of these, is our obedience to Him.

Obedience to God in impossible situations is of the utmost importance. Obedience to God in an impossible situation may mean not knowing the outcome of what will happen next. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they proclaimed their faith and trust in God without knowing for sure what would happen to them. Will you do the same? Will you have a faith that is untethered to what happens in the future, but anchored in the character of God? Obedience to God in impossible situations may mean trusting God more than you ever have. Talking about steps of faith here. When we face new situations, harder situations than we faced before, it requires a deep trust in faith. And will you trust God and have faith in Him when those moments come? Obedience to God in impossible situations may mean infuriating the people around you. Just like Nebuchadnezzar was enraged by the three men's obedience to God and therefore the defiance to Him, we may face similar reactions from people in our impossible situation. They may not understand. They may be confused. They may even be offended and upset by our obedience to Christ. But will you stand firm? Will you remain obedient to God? Obedience to God in impossible situations may mean the end of life as we know it. But Now I'm not talking necessarily about life or death situations. I think here in Rocklin, Roseville, Sacramento area, we're not facing a lot of those circumstances. But sometimes obedience to God still means a change to our lifestyle or our comfort. The reality is that we serve a God and belong to a kingdom that is not of this world. The things that people pursue and value in the world are different than what we as people of God what we value and what we pursue. So whether coming to faith in God and it's new for you or you've been following God for years, know that obeying Him may at some point mean a change, a drastic, life-altering change. And will you obey in that moment?

Obedience to God in impossible situations may mean entering or remaining in what seems like an impossible situation. Sometimes we're in the midst of difficult life circumstances, and sometimes they get even worse. Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were facing death, the king then stoked the fire even hotter, tied the bonds even tighter. Sometimes our impossible situations are long, they call for endurance, they get worse. And when that will we continue to obey? Will we continue to follow Him? Now also, obedience to God in impossible situations also may mean the blessed experience of getting to feel God's overwhelming presence. Like the angel that came to comfort the three of them, when we are obedient to God, we can know that God will meet us where we're at. Who doesn't want to have the comfort and peace in his overwhelming presence in the midst of our chaos and darkness. Whether that's an angel of the Lord or you just know you feel in that moment, God is with you. You can know that God will be with you through it all. And lastly, obedience to God in impossible situations may mean people come to know and and learn who God is. At the end of our passage, even Nebuchadnezzar recognizes God as the most high God.

Your obedience in your impossible situation is a witness to people. God can use you in your experience to draw people closer to Him. So will you be God's witnesses in this world through your steadfast obedience to Him in all situations? That's a choice that you can make every day. Church, your impossible situations are not impossible for God. Take courage in whatever situation you are in. If you're in an impossible situation right now, take comfort in God. Know that you are loved and supported right here. And I don't want to just say that from the pulpit. You hear that week after week, like I hear that God loves me. We want to live that out. We wanna be there for each other as a church and family of believers here. I mean, you are loved and supported. Look around this room and we love and support you. We don't wanna just say it, we wanna live it out. And so I'll say this, if you are in that moment right now, you are feeling like you are in an impossible situation, we wanna pray for you. After this last song that we're about to sing and the service were dismissed, Come find myself, Pastor Chris, or elders, or just turn to someone next to you. If you trust them and are able to open up, be prayed for this morning. Do not leave this morning. If you are feeling like you need love and support, don't leave without being prayed for. And if you are not in an impossible situation, and that's okay, you're in a blessed moment of life, that's great, be there for someone else. Be a brother and sister in Christ today. Don't leave this Sunday only to check in next Sunday and say, "Hey, how was your last week? Was it good? Cool, I'll talk to you in a week.” Be there for each other now, throughout the week. Let us be the church, holding up those who are feeling down, supporting those who are in need of love. The best thing we can do to love someone is to pray and to pray with them. We can pray for them, we can say, "Hey, I'll be praying for you this week," but if you can, take a moment, pray for someone today. This is what being a part of God's family is all about. This week, let's remember this. In whatever situation you're in, family situation, relationship situation, work situation, and the others, in all situations, let's be obedient to God, faithful, and steadfast in everything, all the time with everything we have.

Let's pray. God, we are thankful for your example and account that you have shared with us through your word of what it looks like to be obedient in the most impossible of situations. God, to see how you empowered the three men in our passage and how you sent your angel to comfort. Lord, we want that in our lives. We want to feel your presence. If we are in the midst of something challenging right now, God, I pray that your presence will be felt by those who are feeling down, who are feeling hopeless, who are feeling lonely. God, this is our heart, that we would be obedient to you in all things. And we need your help to do that. God, through your Spirit, empower us, equip us, encourage us daily to be obedient to you. We want to give you all the glory. We want to give you everything we have. We want to live our lives for you. Help us, Lord, to do that. God, I pray that we as a church would grow in loving and supporting each other. For those who are feeling that they're in an impossible situation, give them the courage to speak out, to reach out, to say, "Because I need help. I need prayer. I believe that God is going to do something, but I just... Please be with me." And God, for those who are in a good place, help those to have courage to reach out and offer that support. We want to stand together united as a church, as a family, pursuing you together. So God we pray that you would empower us, equip us, and encourage us this morning. And that we would leave closer to your presence throughout this week, for you to continue to speak to us, continue to draw us closer to you. I pray this in your name. Amen.

Impossible Moments - Part 9

Miracle Through The Sea - Exodus 14

SERMON TRANSCRIPT

Well, I'm Pastor Lauren if I haven't met you and I'm just honored to be with you guys today. We've been in our Impossible Moments series this summer, and we're just gonna continue on that. We are looking at Old Testament stories specifically, where there was just an impossible situation, and God shows up in really cool ways, in really big ways, and just does the impossible. So throughout this series, we've actually talked about Moses and the Israelites, and when Moses was a baby, and we talked about the manna in the desert. So we today are actually gonna talk about the Red Sea Crossing, which I feel like is a pretty popular story. I mean, Prince of Egypt, anybody like, is that a thing still? Like, I looked it up, it's like 1998 that that movie came out. Oh my gosh, that's a really long time ago. It doesn't feel, the 90s doesn't feel like that long, but it was. So Prince of Egypt, great movie, but it's a popular story. And I wasn't really sure, like, should we do this? People know it. But the more I dug into it and studied it, I realized there's just so much of God's power. It was truly an impossible situation. And I just, I think there's a lot for us in this story.

So we are gonna be in Exodus 14 today. So if you wanna turn there in your Bibles or your phones or on the screen, we are gonna look at Exodus 14. And we're gonna read most of the chapter today in smaller chunks, and we'll talk about it as we go. So I have some thoughts for us. as we go, so if you're a note taker, awesome, love it. If not, that's cool too, you can just follow along with us. But before we get started, let me pray. Jesus, I just thank you for who you are. I thank you for these impossible moments that we get to study and learn and remember to learn more about who you are and to grow our own faith, God. I just pray that you will be with us in this moment today, that you will speak to us and that you will be glorified. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so we're just gonna dive in. We're gonna just take it section by section here, but we're gonna start with Exodus 14, verse one. It says, "Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites to turn back "and encamp near Pihiroth between Migdal and the sea. "They are to encamp by the sea "directly opposite Baal-zaphon. "Pharaoh will think the Israelites "are wandering around the land in confusion, "hemmed in by the desert. "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue them. "But I," the Lord, "I will gain glory for myself "through Pharaoh and all his army, "and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”

So the Israelites did this. Okay, so a little bit of background for us. The Israelites just experienced the 10 plagues in Egypt. So God exhibited his power and showed the Egyptians and the Israelites, through these 10 plagues, Pharaoh finally let them go, let the slaves be free. So they gathered up what little they had and all their people and they left Egypt. And they went out into the desert. And now here they are camping in the desert, facing the sea. God also said in this first part that he was gonna harden Pharaoh's heart. And that's a hard concept, I think, for a lot of people to reconcile. A lot of the time in scripture, that phrase is used a lot in the plague narrative and also in this sea crossing narrative. And it's often translated as God giving Pharaoh over to his own desires. He allowed him to make that decision. But in this case, it actually means to strengthen, which I found very interesting. It means to, it seems like Pharaoh needed to be strengthened. He had just lost his firstborn and he allowed thousands of slaves to leave his country. He was probably a little down and distraught, but God actually strengthened his heart, kind of revived him a little bit. And Pharaoh kind of woke up and realized, oh no, what did I do? But God says up front right here in these first four chapters, regardless of what Pharaoh does, regardless of his heart and heart, I'm gonna get the glory. He just tells them, the Israelites right up front, what's gonna happen. And as we'll see, everything that the Lord says is gonna be fulfilled. He says, "I am Yahweh, and everyone, including the Egyptians, will know it.”

So we're gonna keep going. We're gonna go down to verse five and read through 14. "When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, 'What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services. So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with them. He took 600 of the best chariots along with all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And just as a side note, chariots were like top of the line technology at this time. So like, you had the Israelites with like nothing and then you had the Egyptians with the best of the best. So they're like rallying the troops ready to go. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth opposite Baal Zephon. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? This is a little tongue in cheek here because Egypt was actually known for the sheer amount of land they allotted for graves. So they were like, what, there weren't enough there? We gotta come out here to die? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, leave us alone, let us serve the Egyptians. It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert. how soon they forget what God has already done for them. They had barely even left Egypt and they already forgot that God had provided for them, that he did these powerful plagues and helped them escape slavery and now they're asking to go back. Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. "Stand firm and you will see the deliverance "the Lord will bring you today. "The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. "The Lord will fight for you. "You need only to be still.”

Verses 13 and 14 are basically a sermon in and of themselves so I'm gonna read that part again. "Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. "'Stand firm and you will see the deliverance "'the Lord will bring you today. "'The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. "The Lord will fight for you. "You need only to be still." So that's our first part, our first notes, if you will, today. Don't be afraid, stand firm, and be still. Sorry, going fast. Don't be afraid, stand firm, and be still. The Israelis were terrified. This is they were terrified and they cried out to the Lord. They had a reason to be. They were literally in the middle of the desert in an unknown place coming out of slavery. And they were between the sea and a very powerful army. Anybody would be afraid in this situation. But Moses says, "Don't be afraid. "You don't have to be afraid because God is with us. "Yahweh is here. "He told us what he's going to do. "He's going to help us. "We don't have to be afraid." And then he tells them to stand firm. Stand firm in the faith of who God is and of His word. Now, I don't know how great their faith was. They'd been in slavery for over 400 years. Their faith might've been a little questionable. But Moses was affirming to them that God is trustworthy. He is worthy of putting our faith in. So he says, stand firm in that. And then he says, be still. And this doesn't mean to do nothing, like freeze up, don't do anything, don't move. Here, be still actually translates more to peace and silence. It's this idea of keeping your peace and closing your mouth and letting God do what only He can do. God didn't need the Israelites to give Him ideas of how to fix the problem. He needed them to be silent and to keep the peace He was giving them. Something else just to note here is this idea of deliverance. Moses says, "You will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today." I recently read another theologian talking about how the idea of deliverance often we think about, it feels like we're getting plucked out of a situation. Well, if the Lord will deliver me, he will take me out of this terrible situation. But sometimes like giving birth, You have to go through it. You don't get to be out of it. He takes us through it. He delivers us by walking through it with us, not just plucking us out of the situation. And that's, as we'll see, the literally had to walk through the Red Sea. They had to be delivered by going through it.

So after this, the Lord tells Moses to raise his staff and stretch out his hand, and the seed was gonna divide. And then he says, "The Egyptians are gonna come in after you, "but I'm gonna take care of it, "and I will receive the glory." So he's giving them step-by-step directions, which wouldn't that be lovely when we're facing a tough situation, when we're stuck in an impossible moment, I would love step-by-step directions. But here, God is actually giving that to them. So we're gonna skip down to verse 19. And this is kind of where the miracle happens. Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night, the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side. So neither went near the other all night long. So if you're not familiar, there was a cloud that literally led the Israelites through the desert. They knew if the cloud moved, we follow. But in this case, the cloud actually went behind them. They didn't need the cloud to direct, there was one way to go through the sea. They didn't need someone leading them, they need protection in the rear. They needed a wall behind them. But something I never noticed before was this idea of the light and the darkness. I had never seen this. How God, with this cloud, shone light on the Israelite side and darkness on the Egyptian side. Like the dividing of the water is like really cool. I think that's the miracle. But how cool is it that he gave this super practical gift of light and then the darkness to blind the Egyptians essentially. It was the middle of the night. They needed light to see where they were going. And he gave that to them. And he blocked the Egyptians. The reality is they were powerful, they were faster.

The Egyptians would have overtaken the Israelites had God not intervened. So he provided this very practical miracle for them by giving them the light and the protection. And while this light and darkness, it was very practical, it also is a vivid picture of spiritual light and darkness. One commentary I read said, "This is how it is for believers and non-believers. God's word and work are like light to those who believe, but are like darkness for those who do not. For sinners or those who choose not to believe in God, The gospel is offensive and like darkness. But for those of us who believe, who claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, it is light. God's word and work are our light. Proverbs 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path." He doesn't promise to light the whole way, but he gives us enough light for the next step. We need His Word, we need the Bible, we need the work He does in our lives through our relationships with other believers. We need all of that to light our path. And He's good to do that. He's gracious in that. He wants to give us that. So He is our light. His Word and work are our light.

All right, I'm just gonna go ahead and finish out this story so we're gonna jump back into verse 21. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. Not muddy, not a little bit of water, dry land. The waters were divided and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued them and all pharaohs, horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night, the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites. The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and there are chariots and horsemen." Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and at daybreak, the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen. The entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea, not one of them survived, like God said. But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day, the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses, his servant." All right, there was a lot packed into that. So Moses chose to be obedient. He said, "Okay, God, I don't know what you're gonna do, but I'm gonna stretch out my hand and raise my staff. So he did that as an act of obedience. It really was a sign of a prayer. And the waters parted. I picture it like walking through one of those aquariums where it's just like the wall of glass and you see all the fish come up to you, but there's no glass this time. It's just water. That's gotta be trippy. So he lifted up his hands, And this action wasn't the miracle. God used Moses, but it wasn't even, it wasn't Moses' power. It was a sign that the miracle was an answer to prayer. The east wind that came was from God. The east wind is what actually divided the waters. And that was a sign that it was by God's power. The miracle came from God. Matthew Henry commentary says, "God can bring his people through the greatest difficulties and force away where he does not find it. The God of nature has not tied himself to its laws, but when he pleases, dispenses with them. And then the fire does not burn nor the water flow." God is the creator. He made it all. So he's not limited by it. The width and the depth of the sea was not a problem for him. It did not thwart his plans. He made the sea, so why couldn't he divide it? He caused a natural thing like wind to come through and do this unnatural miracle in this impossible moment. After the Israelites crossed over, the Egyptians went into the sea, and God caused more confusion, jammed their chariot wheels. Technology's great until it's not, right? He used what their strength was against them. And then he told Moses, once again, "Raise your hand in your staff, and I will have the waters come back to their original place." And the Egyptians were drowned and washed up on shore.

But did you notice, before that happened, did you notice what was said in verse 25? He jammed the wheels, so he jammed the wheels. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites. The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt." The word the Lord there is not just another word for a God. They use the word Yahweh here. The Egyptians called him Yahweh, the one true God. Back in verse four, he said, "The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, "that I am Yahweh." And they did. They could see that God was fighting the Israelites battle. And they were terrified because of it. God used this not only to protect the Israelites, but to show the Egyptians who he was. (silence) Because of all of this, because of everything that happened, the being stuck in a tough place, this impossible moment, the parting of the Red Sea, the Egyptians coming in after them, all of it, this whole experience grew the faith of the Israelites. Verse 31 says, "And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses, his servant. God revealed more of himself to them through this in order to build their trust. He showed his power, his provision, his sovereignty, his all knowingness. He knew it was gonna happen. He told him it was gonna happen and it happened. See the Israelites, they knew about God. They knew about Yahweh because they had a family history of it. They had Adam and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and just, they had this history. They knew about God. But they had been in slavery for 400 years. So they still feared him, but I have to wonder if their relationship was a little unstable and their faith was maybe a little shaky. They needed to see God's power in order to grow their faith. So here's what I know is true for us too. We must truly know God, not just know about Him. The Israelites knew about God, but this experience helped them to get to know who He was. This week, a rabbit showed up on our porch. Literally looked like Peter Rabbit, hopped on our porch. It had a vest, like a harness, like it literally looked like Peter Rabbit. And so we've been fostering this rabbit all week long. And actually I had rabbits growing up, and so I know about rabbits. I've been Googling a lot this week. Learned a lot about rabbits. But I don't know this rabbit. I don't know its actual name. I don't know what kind it is. I don't know what it likes and doesn't like. But Chris and I actually had a dog for nine years. He was our baby before we even had kids. His name was Ace. We knew Ace. We knew about him. We knew facts. But we also knew him. We knew what he liked, what he didn't like. We knew that after a certain TV show, there was this jingle that played and if we didn't mute it fast enough, he'd howl. We knew this dog. I knew about the rabbit. I knew my dog. Now if the pet analogy is lost on you, what about humans? I was thinking how we know a lot about like celebrities, maybe what they've been in or who they're married to, how many kids they have, but we don't know them. I can't call them up and say, "Hey, wanna go grab some coffee?" But I know my husband. I know who he is, what he values. I know his character. I know facts about him too, but I know him.

We can know the Bible. We can know facts about God. We can know things that are true. We can memorize scripture and still not know who God is. Still not have a relationship with Him. But I do know that God wants a relationship with us. He wants to be known by us. That's why he reveals himself through scripture. Sometimes it's in a really ordinary things or simple conversations or silly things like a rabbit showing up on our porch. But it's also in the big moments too, in the impossible situations, in the hard things and the celebratory things, he reveals more of his character because he wants us to know him. He wants us to be in relationship with Him. So if you don't know God, you don't really know Him and you want to, or you wanna learn more about that, please come talk to me, or Pastor Chris or Pastor Andrei, we wanna talk to you about that, what that looks like. But if you do know Him, if you proclaim Him as your Lord and Savior, and you know Him and you have a relationship with Him, will you consider today the fact that it's really easy to slide back into just knowing about him. We can rely on facts and information and make it seem like we know him, that we're intimate with him without actually being in a relationship with him. We must choose to not be afraid, even when the circumstances feel impossible. We get to choose to stand firm in our faith, even when it's a little bit shaky. We get to be still, to hold onto the peace that only comes from God. We get to allow Him to be the light on our path, to light our way when things are really questionable. And we get to invest in this relationship that He has offered to us so that we can know Him.

I'm gonna pray for us, and we're just gonna go ahead and head out into food. We're so glad you're here today. I pray that you will know him today, that you will get to know him more and more today. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you for revealing your character to us, for telling us more about you, for meeting us in the impossible moments. God, I pray that you will strengthen our faith, that you will grow us, that you will deepen it. God, maybe we haven't had a Red Sea moment, but there have been moments in our lives that have been tough, that felt impossible, that felt like we were between a rock and a hard place. And God, help us to trust you in those moments. Help us to believe who you say you are. And help us not to just rely on facts and information and things we can rattle off about you, but help us to get to know you. We love you. We thank you for this Spring Valley family. We pray over our lunch. God, may it be nourishing to our bodies as your word is nourishing to our souls. We love you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Impossible Moments - Part 8

Divine Wisdom - 1 Kings 3:16-28

SERMON TRANSCRIPT

Well it's good to be back with you. If you don't know, we were gone last week driving back home from San Diego. It's good to be back, enjoyed seeing some of you guys midweek this week at the Conversations event. I love, I just love that time. More time with church family, right? We see each other every Sunday, but glad we get to see some of each other in the midweek too. And this week we pondered and processed the pastor's approach and the congregation's approach to church and asked the question, who is at the center of our hearts and minds when we go to church? Is it us or is it God? So I just really enjoy that conversation. We're looking forward to the next one next month. But this morning, we're continuing in our Impossible Moments series. Last week, Pastor Lauren had a great message about Gideon from Judges. We watched it on our drive. We had our phone up there safely. It was totally fine. And I love this question that she asked, talking about being available for God. But then, are we willing to follow up that availability with obedience? That question just kept popping up in my head this week. And so, if you haven't listened to it, I would encourage you to do so. Go back and watch.

Today, we're gonna be in a different scene in the Bible. I love the format of this series, this little vignettes of the Old Testament that we're just kind of hopping around and seeing God work. And so, today we're gonna be talking about King Solomon in a career-defining moment that he had early on in his reign. Solomon, as many of you know, is considered Israel's wisest king, maybe the greatest king. And he was known for his wisdom. Even people who are not raised up in the church still have heard of Solomon in some way, whether they believe he was true or a fictional figure. But Solomon is a character known for his wisdom. And toward the beginning of his reign, the Bible tells us that Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given to him by David. In other words, he was walking with God. And I love what the Bible uses this imagery of, this illustration of walking with God multiple times to show when someone is living in righteousness, is living according to God's will and purpose. And so even from the very beginning, we have this image of Adam walking in the garden with God. That's a beautiful moment right there. We have Noah, who at that time was the only one walking with God. Or Abraham and Moses and even the Israelites when they were being good, 'cause they weren't always good, but they were walking with God at times. And so we see here Solomon is walking with God. Well as he's doing so, at the beginning of his reign, there's a moment where he's offering sacrifices to God, and God appears before him saying, Solomon, whatever you want, ask me for it, and I'll give it to you. Now that is a pretty sweet blank check from God, just like, hey, Solomon, whatever you want, ask and I will give. I'm hoping that God says that to me someday.

But how many of us in this moment, if asked by God, would our minds go directly to something that's maybe right in front of us, right? We just had a prayer time this morning and maybe that would be what we ask God. Hey God, I'm having relationship issues. Please bring restoration to that. Or God, finances are a huge hurt right now and more money would be really helpful. If you could give me that, that would be great. Or God, my health, or someone else that's close to me. Those are all good things, not wrong with asking, there's nothing wrong with asking for that. But Solomon asks for something else. And in chapter three of 1 Kings, Solomon responds, now Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child, and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant here is among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern these great people of yours? Now, a couple things. Solomon isn't actually a boy at this time. He's actually a father at this point. But it's an idiom in the Hebrew language to show the inexperience that he has, to recognize with humility that, hey, I don't know how to do perfectly what you've called me to do. And so God, you do. And so in comparison to you, I'm just a little boy when it comes to this matter of ruling over Israel. And if we can bring that verse back up actually, verse eight and nine in that passage is just so rich. Solomon here has the purest heart. There's moments of his reign that are up and down. And this is one of the highest moments of his reign. This is so good. We can, this could be a whole other sermon for another time but it's not, it's not, so we're just gonna breeze through this really quick, but the phrasing here, people too numerous to count, and the phrase, who is able to govern this great people of yours? There's a couple things, one is that it touches the covenant that God made back in time with Abraham, with Moses and Israel, too numerous to count, right? That's the covenant of I will give you a people that is greater than the sand. And so it communicates that Solomon is in touch to some degree with God's plan and direction, looking back over Israel's history, and also that other phrase of who is able to govern this great people of yours. God was meant to be king over Israel. And it wasn't until the people demanded that they have an earthly king, a human king, that God gave that to them, and then Saul became king. But this line acknowledges, Solomon acknowledging with humility that, "Hey, you've appointed me to this position, "but God, you are the one who can truly govern your people, perfectly. Even me, who you've called to this position, God, you are the true king. So it's just an amazing response to God's offer. And God is so pleased with Solomon in this moment. God is saying, yes, a ruler who gets it, right? Someone who knows their boundaries and their limits. Someone who wants to depend on me, Yahweh, depend on my qualities and my character. And so God responds to Solomon by giving him what he asked for.

In verse 12 of chapter 3, God gives him a wise discerning heart. And he also gives him what Solomon did not ask for, wealth and honor. And God says, "If you continue to walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you long life." I don't know if there could be a better start to a reign for a king. You get God's favor, you're receiving God's promise and giftings, securing God's partnership and blessing over your reign. This is pretty amazing, right? You get wisdom, you're getting wealth and honor as a bonus here, and if you follow God's commandments, you will also have long life. That's amazing. Now, while Solomon's reign gets off to a great start, his entire life is, again, an interesting case study. And it seems that he may have started at the top and and kind of slowly went downhill. But he was the wisest king, and he brought Israel into its most flourishing season, amounting wealth for the nation, prosperity for the kingdom, and world-renowned reputation for God and for the people. And so you may be wondering, well, Andre, where's the impossible situation? Sounds like everything's perfect. Sounds like he's got everything he needs. Well, right after this incredible moment with God, we are given a unique scene where Solomon gets to demonstrate the wisdom given to him by God.

So if you would turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Kings 3, we're gonna start at verse 16. You guys can follow along as I read aloud. It says, "Now two prostitutes came to the king "and stood before him. "One of them said, 'Pardon me, my lord, "'this woman and I live in the same house, "'and I had a baby while she was there with me. "'The third day after my child was born, "'this woman also had a baby. "'We were alone. "There's no one in the house but the two of us. "During the night, this woman's son died "because she lay on him. "So she got up in the middle of the night "and took my son from my side "while I, your servant, was asleep. "She put him by her breast "and put her dead son by my breast. "The next morning, I got up to nurse my son and he was dead. "But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, "I saw that it wasn't the son that I had born. "The other woman said, 'No, no, no, no, "'the living son is my son. "'The dead one is yours.' "But the first one insisted, 'No, the dead one is yours. "'The living one is mine.' And so they argued before the king. And the king said, "This one says my son is alive "and your son is dead. "Well, that one says, no, your son is dead "and mine is alive." So, maybe you have heard of this scene before. And if you haven't, it's a startling scene. Yeah, this is in the Bible. Two women have babies and one sadly dies in the night and the mother takes the living baby to try and pass it off as her own, swap the dead child for the living. And in this situation, this is just a terrible, awful scenario full of sorrow and distress. In the morning, that mother recognized that it wasn't her child that was dead and put together what had happened. And today, if this were to happen, we have ways of figuring this out. There's DNA testing. This is not an impossible situation for us today. But back in that time, this is an impossible scenario. It is simply one woman's word against another woman. this story or that story? Which one will Solomon believe? How will he know who is telling the truth?

So our predicament also reveals a couple other things. Just for some context here, as king, king gets to hear a lot of the big cases that are happening in his kingdom. There are judges for lesser cases. Not every single issue came before the king, but ones that were more difficult or ones having to deal with human life did get the attention of the king. And so we see Solomon's care here. From the social positions of these women, they're prostitutes, the simple fact that this case, given its nature, came to him shows that Solomon believes injustice and sound judgment be applied to all cases and made available to all subjects regardless of gender or social status. It's a very God-like quality that Solomon is exercising here. But the impossible situation remains, right? Who is the real mother? Now, of course, as the readers, we know, we get to read this, and we're reading it knowing who is who. But Solomon has to distinguish this harlot or that harlot. And so let's read what happens next in verse 24. "Then the king said, 'Bring me a sword.' So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order. cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other. The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, 'Please, my lord, give her the living baby. Don't kill him.' But the other said, 'Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two.' And then the king gave his ruling, 'Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him. She is the mother.’"

So here we have our ruling, right? This is Solomon giving his answer. He asks for a sword to be brought out to cut the baby in two, to give a half to each mother, which is very extreme. Each woman has a different reaction to Solomon's order. The first, the one we know to be the true mother, she's overwhelmed with compassion and love for her child. The Hebrew here in this phrase literally means that her bowels or her womb grew hot, which in ancient times is what they thought the emotions came from, from this the gut. And so she is feeling the verdict of Solomon's order. She's feeling the outcome in every fiber of her being. She is so moved out of love that she would rather surrender her child than have that baby die. It's another moment of someone in this story having godly character, an act of sacrifice, an act of love. The second woman sadly has a very different reaction. She's okay with this second baby dying, which is, again, a very extreme response, but we have to remember that she's already lost her child. Her state of mind is dealing with all sorts of emotions, anger, hurt, loss, pain, jealousy, and even a false sense of justice. In her mind, it's fair that the other mother also lose her child. Now, you may say, "How does that make sense?" Well, let's take this into a different scenario that maybe we can all relate to. Okay, we're going into a figurative story here. Let's say there are two little siblings. I didn't come up with names. So there's a little boy and a little girl, and their brother and sister. And on a summer day, they both get a popsicle, right? And one of them accidentally drops the popsicle. It's melting on the ground. And they're like, well, what do I do now? Well, my sibling has a popsicle. Let me ask if they'll share. Can I have some of yours? The other's like, no, this is mine. You lost yours. I get to keep mine. Well, now that first sibling who lost the popsicle is feeling, well, this is not fair. They're enjoying something, and I can't have it. So what do they do? They knock that one out of their hand. They knock it to the ground. And that one's like, what are you doing? He's like, "Well, if I can't have it, you can't have it." And in their minds, that is justice. That is fair. And I think... Now, given this context much more serious, but I think that's what is happening here. This mother is saying, "If I can't live the life as a mother, you can't either." It's a false sense of justice, but it's what makes sense to her in that moment. That's held in contrast. Her thinking is held in contrast to real justice and fairness and wisdom.

Solomon's verdict represented God's justice and wisdom. He was able to discern both of these women's hearts. Their reaction to this scenario was a glimpse into their hearts. The heart is typically something, the Bible tells us, that only God can know, only God can discern and understand what is going inside of a person's heart. But in this moment, Solomon, through God's wisdom and discernment, can see into their hearts. Maybe you too have had moments where you've been able to see into someone's heart, you've seen their motivations, their reasons for what they're doing. And sometimes it reveals the good. You see that that person was trying to love, that person was trying to care or be kind, compassionate. And other times you see in that person's heart the sin, the evilness, where there's jealousy or pride, selfishness. story is an illustration of Solomon's wisdom. He's a man who can see beneath the surface and discern people's motives and character. This impossible moment, impossible for everyone else except this man bestowed with the wisdom of God, who's able to see what usually only God can see, beneath the surface. And by God's wisdom, Solomon is able to discern who the the real mother is and give the baby back to her. Let's look at the aftermath of this ruling. Verse 28 says, "When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice." So the aftermath of this decision is that Solomon's reputation grows, and therefore so does God's because people know that God is the one who gave Solomon the ability to be able to do that. It was thought at that time that kings had a supernatural ability and wisdom. They had a connection to the divine. And this reinforces that their king, Solomon, truly did have a connection with God. Divine wisdom is more than just knowledge, which Solomon possessed in abundance, but it includes the ability to render difficult judgments. Solomon presented that he, as a king, had that ability. True wisdom is from God, and Israel knew this, and soon the whole world began to know this too. God, wisdom to help govern God's people is used perfectly here by Solomon.

This is a great scene, impossible scene at the beginning, undone by God's wisdom and a great picture of what God's kingdom could have looked like. Israel now sees this and says, "All right, this is our king. This is our king, that if he follows God, look at what can happen. We can have true justice. We can have an amazing era in Israel's history." Solomon navigated an impossible situation at the time in a cunning way finding the solution to determine the true mother and His wisdom and relationship with God are an example for us today. How do we like Solomon walk in wisdom? Well, we may not be Rulers over Israel. We're not I know all of you. We're here We're not over there and but you guys still have you in a sense you rule over your life and you have a responsibility to people in your lives, maybe your families, friends, maybe your kids. And so wisdom is still an essential part of living for God, something that we should all be striving for. Proverbs 9 10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." So it starts, walking in wisdom starts with fearing and believing God. Now, wisdom is a term with... It's a big term. It's got a large scope. And so from the Bible, we kind of see these different sides of wisdom. We see that there's perceiving wisdom, which is along the lines of what we read today, being able to discern situations around us through the lens of God. There's also action-related wisdom, which focuses on the right behavior. In everyday life, how are we gonna apply God's word and live like Jesus in every moment? There's also a communicating wisdom, which is focused on teaching and learning wisdom, like the book of Proverbs. So just as Solomon said in the book of Proverbs, we wanna live according to the wisdom of God, which is all those types of wisdom. So how do we do that? Well, here's a couple things. First, pray and ask God for wisdom. Simple step. Pray and ask God for wisdom. This goes back to early in the chapter, that example that Solomon gave us when he asked God for discernment. We are inexperienced, right, just like Solomon. And only God knows how to live this life in the best way. So let's ask God on how to do it. Let's ask Him for that wisdom. Pray every morning, "God, give me the wisdom to get through the day in a way that honors You. Give me wisdom to love and have compassion on those around me. Give me wisdom to be like Jesus in every situation I find myself in. Solomon writes in Proverbs 3.5, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." In order to not lean on our own understanding, we need to have God's understanding, right? We have to ask for that. If we believe that God is perfect in every way, that He is all-wise and all-knowing and and perfect in love, then why would we lean on our own understanding when we can fully depend on Him? He is the source of true wisdom. It comes from God. It's something that God gives, just like He gave to Solomon. And oftentimes when someone is able to give something, what they want is for someone to ask. So God is waiting for us to ask for wisdom. I love this quote about the connection between wisdom and God. It says, "In the Bible, intimacy with wisdom is not distinguished from intimacy with God. Divine wisdom is a communication of God showing the path to life.”

It starts with knowing God, having a relationship with Jesus. with God will lead to wisdom from God. We know that we cannot live righteously without Him. We need Jesus in our lives. We need the guiding work of the Holy Spirit and we need God's wisdom. So let's ask for it. Secondly, exercise wisdom in your life. After we've asked for that wisdom that we are assuming and we trust that God will give us that wisdom to help us honor Him and help us obey Him. Now we've got to live that out. Proverbs 8.20 says, "I walk in the way of righteousness along the paths of justice." Ephesians 5, 15-16 says, "Be careful then how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." When approaching situations in life, it's easy to go through them quickly, relying on our own knowledge and our own wisdom. But what would it look like to pause and pray and discern what God might want us to do in that situation, to understand what the Lord's will is in that moment? There was a question back when I was growing up that kind of became gimmicky, but I think it still applies. WWJD, anyone know? Yeah? Do you anyone have a bracelet? Or like 10 on your wrist? What would Jesus do? Honestly, still a great question to ask. When trying to exercise wisdom in life, when trying to discern what God's will is, how to honor Him and live like Jesus, what would Jesus do?

At the board meeting we had this past week, the elders were talking about how as one gets older, the decision time becomes longer. At a younger age, we're so quick to just pull the trigger and keep going, almost like out of reflex, like just go, go, go, life is happening at a fast pace. But as one gets older, they realize in most cases that there is no need for a rush, and it's okay to sit and ponder and think about what might be the best way forward. I think that's what God wants us to do. Maybe we still do that quickly, but he wants us to take a moment to pause, breathe, and pray as we exercise wisdom in life. Exercising wisdom also means a submission to God's plan, realizing that I don't have it all figured out, but I do have the desire to apply God's truth, His word, to this situation. If we don't submit to God's plan, if we lean on our own understanding, then we are falling deeper into sin. Our own way, what we naturally think is best, is actually selfish and sinful. And thankfully, Jesus came to save us, "and He is the truth, the way, and the life." When I think of the wisest people that I've ever known, one of them being my father, it's not that he knew a lot, well, he does know a lot, but it's that he took the time, it was his approach. He did his best to apply God's word to every situation. That's still an example to me today. As frustrated as I was as a little kid as to why we haven't done this, and he's talking about it and thinking about it, I see now that he was just trying to best honor God in those situations. I also want to say this though, wisdom is often associated with age, right? The older someone is, the wiser they are, and generally that is true. But there are also younger people who apply God's truth and commands and decrees to life and are considered wise beyond their years. I think of the young people in this room who I think are personally very wise for just graduated and still in high school. 'Cause I know that you guys are trying to apply God's word to your life, and that is wisdom. Keep doing that. In our lives, how can we exercise more wisdom? How can we live more according to God's truth and will every moment?

Lastly, witness with your wisdom. Solomon's decision, his use of wisdom, became a witness and a testimony to God's role in his life in the nation of Israel. And the same can be true for us today. When we live a life that honors God, we exercise wisdom, sometimes through impossible situations that we face, people will notice. Whether we ever know about it or not, when we apply God's word to decisions we make, we are pointing people to God. It could just be one decision that someone witnesses and they see it and they turn towards him, or it may be a lifetime of decisions that exercise wisdom that finally make an impact on someone. But be aware and conscious that your wise decisions can be a way for the gospel to be spread. You know whose life was a great example of this? Someone who lived according to God's wisdom and pointed people to God? is Jesus. Sunday school answer, Jesus. One thing about Solomon is that he points to the need for Jesus. You see, even though Solomon was a great king, the wisest the world has ever seen, he could not, for the entirety of his life, walk perfectly with God. As wise as he was, he was unable to walk with God and live in the path of righteousness perfectly. And so Israel's wondering, well, if Solomon can't do it, Who can? Who is gonna be our perfect leader? And it points to the coming of Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of perfect wisdom. Throughout his ministry, he is known as the wise teacher. He is the truth incarnate, and he communicates God's perfect will to humanity. What a blessing that we get to know Jesus, that we have his teachings through his word, and that we can seek to live like him. So, as we strive to live like Jesus, with God's wisdom, we can be a witness. Now, let me be clear. While sometimes our decisions that are wise decisions will point people to God, other times our wise decisions may be baffling to people. Know that what God considers wise, the world may consider foolish. It's still witnessing. It still points people to God, but it may not make a lot of sense to them. Ruth Haley Barton is an author and she has this to say about wisdom. She says, "Our ability to think things through and apply reason to our decision-making is a gift from God. However, the Scriptures are clear that human wisdom and the wisdom of God are not the same thing. Part of becoming more discerning is the ability to distinguish between the two." Paul says in 1 Corinthians, "Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God." He also says, "Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were influential. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”

I love what both of those, the quote from Ruth Haley Barton and what Paul is saying here, reassure us that following God may not make sense to the world. We may be getting weird looks, puzzled answers of, "Why are you doing what you're doing?" That does not, that's not what you should be doing. But as you live your life for Jesus, walking in wisdom, you are living in His perfect will, and God could not be more happy or pleased. Follow Jesus. It may not make a lot of sense to people, but it is the wisest thing you can do. So in whatever impossible situation you find yourself in, or just in your day-to-day life, how will you walk in the wisdom of God? Are you asking God for wisdom daily? First thing when you wake up, a simple prayer, "God, give me the wisdom I need to honor you today." Are you exercising wisdom in your life? Not just in the biggest moments where it's maybe obvious to stop and pray, but even in the small mundane moments? Are we exercising God's wisdom? And are you aware that when you walk in true wisdom given by God, you are a witness to the people around you? Our prayer is that God would give us wisdom here at Spring Valley Church and use us for His glory and for His kingdom.

You guys pray with me. God, thank you for the example of Solomon. It is so encouraging to see how you want us to walk with you. You desire that for us. You will give us what we need that we don't have on our own to be able to do that. You will give us wisdom, God. We pray today, the days to come and the weeks to come, that you would pour out on us your wisdom. Our desire is to walk in your paths of righteousness. We need your help to do it. We just prayed earlier in our service, God, about all these situations that are going on in our lives. And in every one of those situations, we need wisdom. God, we don't want to lean on our own understanding. We don't want to be selfish and prideful and go down the path that leads to sin. We want to walk in Your righteous paths. So God, from the mundane and the small stuff of life to the biggest decisions that we have in front of us, we pray for Your discernment, We pray for your guidance. We pray that we'd be able to see with clarity what you are calling us to do, where you are calling us to go. Pray that we would have patience to wait until you give us that wisdom. God, encourage each and every person in this room as we seek to live a life that exercises wisdom. And may we be conscious of how we are a witness to others as we do so. Give us strength. It is hard sometimes to go against the current of the world, to do what does not make sense in the world's eyes. But I pray that you would give us courage. Help us be steadfast in our decision to follow you every day. We love you, Lord. We pray this in your name. Amen.