Sermon Fire and Rain

 Our text today comes from Romans 8:35-39: 

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What a powerful promise that is for the Christian. This text alone can be our invincible shield of faith with which we will extinguish all the flaming arrows of doubt hurled by Satan. We cannot take time today to speak in detail about this text. We will come back to it though next week.

But for today, I want to take us in another direction as we look at two other passages of Scripture which will dovetail into the meat of my message today.

The first of those two other texts is from Mark’s gospel. Jesus and His disciples are in the boat headed across the sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee was well known then, as it is to this very day, as a place where storms can spring up quite suddenly. Even seasoned sailors were cautious about sailing too far out into the middle of the water. And so, Mark tells us:

And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:37-41)

Let’s hold our finger on that text a moment and look at one more story, this one from the book of Daniel. Daniel and his three friends, known best as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, had been taken into captivity and exile years earlier when the Babylonian army ravaged through Jerusalem and Israel. They were probably among a VERY FEW exiled Jews who did not compromise their faith and obedience to God while in exile – even at the threat of death.

Most, I suspect, just went along to get along. Isn’t that human nature? Don’t get too radical in your faith. Don’t draw attention to yourself. What’s a little compromise of faith and principle here and there if it means staying below the proverbial radar of the anti-Christ crowd?

Anyway, when the three young men would not kowtow to their culture – in this case, the idol set up by the king – Nebuchadnezzar increased the heat of the furnace seven time hotter than usual and had them tossed into it.

Most of you know what happened next. The astonished king came close to the furnace when He watched the three men standing unharmed amid the fire, and a fourth standing with them who looked to the king “like a son of the gods.” (Daniel 3:25)

Now to the point of my message.

No Christian – that means you and me – no obedient and faithful follower of Christ should be surprised at the fiery trial that comes upon any of us for our testing. That’s what St Peter tells us in his second epistle (1 Peter 4:12) “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.” Likewise, St. Paul warns us, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 4:12)

From one end of the New Testament to the other, God warns those who choose to follow Jesus of what to expect when we stand for Christ against the prevailing anti-Christ culture such as the one in which we now live.

Now, it is true, not every Christian goes through fire. Some do, but not everyone. And the fire is not to the same intensity for every person in those flames. And likewise, not every Christian goes through fierce storms. Some certainly do, but not everyone. And the ferocity of the storms is not of the same intensity for every person in those storms.

But here is the point: whether in the furnace of fire, or in the boat filling up with waves, God is with us – not will be with us, God IS with us as He was with them the three Jews in the furnace and with the 12 Jews in the boat on the water.

Listen!  This is very important. We have God’s unalterable promise that He who CREATED us also knows very well our mettle. He knows to the most exquisite detail what we can endure and what we cannot.  No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13, NET)

For those whom God permits the fire, He is there in the midst. For those whom God permits the storm, He is there in the boat.

The issue for us here today is not whether the fire or the storm will come. It will – to one degree or another, it will. Christians in America should not be so dangerously naïve to think any of us will escape what our Christian brothers and sisters in virtually EVERY part of the globe today – TODAY – faces for their persistent faith.  

So the issue for us today is not whether the fire or the storm will come. Our issue must be HOW can we prepare for what storms or fires may come?

First, foremost, and above all: Ask the Holy Spirit to SUPERNATUALLY impassion your trust in God’s promise when He tells us He loves you. Ask the Holy Spirit to embolden your trust in God’s impeccable honesty when He tells you there is nothing that can separate you from His love.

So, seek God’s supernatural strength that we will forever keep forefront in our hearts that promise of Romans 8 I read earlier: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

As I said at the beginning of this message, I will speak in more detail about this particular text next week, but for now let the simple words of this promise dwell long in your spirits. Doing so will feed your faith.

Second, in preparation for the storms and fires that WILL come to us to one degree or another, practice REMEMBERING God’s daily interventions in your life. Many of you remember the song, Count Your Blessings. Here are some of the more relevant lyrics:

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed/When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost/Count your many blessings, name them one by one/And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small/Do not be disheartened, God is over all/Count your many blessings, angels will attend/Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Count your blessings, name them one by one/Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

 

Those lyrics are not merely positive self-talk. The principle behind those lyrics are quite Biblical. For example, God tells us through the psalmist “Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth.” (Psalm 105:5)

 

The context of this text is the psalmist’s encouragement to the people to REMEMBER how often God intervened in the lives of their forefathers. Why remember? Because remembering what God did in their past will encourage them to trust God for their present distresses. And their future ones.

 

Or what about Psalm 77? “I am so troubled that I cannot speak. . . . Has His loving kindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious, or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?”

                                

Christian, have YOU ever been in that place – in that fire or in that storm – wondering if God has forgotten to be gracious to you, if His lovingkindness has ceased? But now listen to this psalmist’s remedy:

 

“I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; Surely, I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work and muse on Your deeds.
(Psalm 77)

 

Did you catch that? This remedy the psalmist prescribes is to REMEMBER what God has done for them in the past. Is it therefore any wonder why the Lord Jesus picks up this same didactic principle when He told the disciples at the last supper to remember Him: His passion, His death, His resurrection and ascension – BECAUSE in remembering what He did – and WHY He did it – their confidence – as well as OUR confidence – will be bolstered. It is always true, as St Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, “in [Christ] every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through Him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:20, NRSVCE)

 

How do we prepare ourselves to practice REMEMBERING God’s DAILY work in our lives? Write them down.

 

Here is a question I have often asked, and I ask it again to make the point: What did you have for dinner three nights ago? Eight days ago? Last month on the second Tuesday of the month?

 

See? Unless any of those dinners were significant because of some celebration, who would remember such things? Likewise, it is easy for our memories to be clouded when we think of the things God routinely does for us. That is why I suggest keeping a journal of the ways God intervenes EVERY DAY in our lives.

 

Get a notebook for that express purpose. I started my own journal last week because I need this message of encouragement as much as the next person. I call the journal: See What God Has Done.

 

When storms threaten to swamp our boat, or when the furnace gets very hot, we can turn to our daily journal and remind ourselves how God has ALREADY intervened in our personal lives in so many ways in the past. That written record will serve to bolster our confidence, being reminded that HHHe did not leave us alone then, neither will He leave us alone now.

 

What should you write in your diary? Record the big things, of course. But ALSO the little ones, such as: Did you remember to make that important call, or mail that important letter? Did you remember to pick up the orange juice and carton of eggs at the store? Don’t credit YOURSELF for being so smart. Give credit where every humble servant of Christ knows such credit belongs – that being with the Holy Spirit who reminded you to do whatever it was you needed to do.

 

You see, even in the so-called little things, if we train ourselves to recognize His hand in every minute detail of our life – especially in things we have always believe originated from our own selves, our own insight, our own experiences, our own intelligence – if we train ourselves to recognize the TRUE source of our insight and recall, then it will be much easier to trust that He is actively involved in the big things of life – like the storms and the fire.

 

Storms and fires will come – again and again. But . . .

 

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed/When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost/Count your many blessings, name them one by one – Remember God’s many interventions in your life – name them one by one – and it will surprise you what the Lord hath already done in your life.