VN520521 7-23-17 Doyle

Daniel chapter 6 verses 26-27. Again, it was so good I thought I’d read it one more time. Darius made a decree. He’s the emperor or the king. “I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” This king recognized the power of the living God of Daniel. When he said to tremble it’s not that he was trying to make those people Quakers and Shakers as a denomination, but the word itself meant to take heed. He said I want you to tremble. I want you to take heed of the awesomeness of this God, this God of Daniel. He said I want you to take heed of his awesomeness and because he is so awesome and because you’ve become aware of that awesomeness it will or could cause you to actually tremble like.

You read the prophets and sometimes you’re swept up into the presence of God in a vision and different ones of them said I’m not worthy, or I’m a people of unclean lips, or they thought they were going to die because they had been brought up into the presence of God and His awesomeness is so great it caused them to tremble. Actually some of them, it said, knocked them down and the angels had to keep picking them up. I can show that to you. One of the best places that reflects that is where Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane and He says who are you looking for when the Romans came up and Judas Iscariot came up to arrest Him. He said who are you looking for, and they said Jesus, and He said I am. I am He meaning He is God. I am that guy that you’re looking for and it said they were knocked down. Those people who came to arrest him beheld or experienced the awesomeness of God and they trembled. They took heed that there was a power around Him and when it said to fear, it was a fear as in oh my gosh!

It was to say I so respect this great power of God and the reason, here we have this great emperor, this great king who has what we would call the super power of the day. He has all this power. He looks and understands that Daniel’s God is truly awesome while all the other people out there be they Medes, Persians, just name a tribe or a group at that time, their gods never came through like Daniel’s God did. Daniel’s God had already delivered the children from the fiery furnace. Daniel had such respect of the awesomeness of his God and His great power that whenever it was put to him; you’ve got a choice between pray or not praying and honoring the emperor and declaring him god, or recognizing him as a power above all others, Daniel out of respect for the awesomeness and the power of the God that he knew that He existed, he had such a great awesome respect for this God and he recognized it and he took heed to it and he said I will not. He opened the windows and he prayed towards Jerusalem, to the temple area of that God and he was arrested.

He did not as they say in the fiery furnace song, he didn’t bow, he didn’t bend, and then he didn’t burn, but this guy wasn’t in for burning. He didn’t get chewed on. He recognized God for who He is, and I use the word is because it’s the same God that Daniel respected so much, is the same God that we respect and that God is still alive, that God is still aware, that God is still able to do exceedingly great above all which we are asked or which we are able to ask or even think. That God who is, who was, who always will be he’s saying because You are so great and awesome I recognize you. He had no idea whether that line was going to make kitty chow out of him or not. Just like the children in the fiery furnace. When you read about them it says you can throw us in. We don’t know whether our God will deliver us or whether He will not. Either way we’re not going to bow down before that idol. We’re going to stay here because our God is truly awesome. God came through this time and He did deliver them. That is the awesomeness of our God.

Now listen to what 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 19 says, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” Peter recognizes what Daniel did. Peter recognizes what the children in the fiery furnace did, what Isaiah and what the other people that are mentioned in the chapter of faith did, and there are a lot of people who aren’t mentioned in the chapter of faith. You should invest in a book. We might have it in the library over here. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. It tells you about people who stood by the awesomeness of their God and it cost them their life, and even though they suffered they chose to follow after God and that’s what Peter is talking about. It’s not God choosing to cause us to suffer, but we suffer according to the will of God. We are doing what God wants. We are standing firm and in faith trusting in our God and we’re saying this is what He said. Not Simon says, but rather this is what God says and we’re going to do what He says and not what you think we should say, and because we’re doing the will of God we are suffering for it.

He says if you find yourself in that situation then go ahead but commit your souls to Him. But when you’re doing that, commit your souls to Him in well doing. He’s saying just because you’re suffering because you realize you’re going to run into a wall that is unpleasant, continue in that way and commit yourself to Him and continue to do well regardless, saying I am aware of the God of Daniel. I am aware of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I am aware of God. Even though Jesus suffered, bled and died He raised Him from the dead. That is the God that I worship. He can deliver me now or He can deliver me later but God I trust. He will come through and I will continue doing good. Doing good. Now, this doing good, it’s a doing. It’s not a passive quiet activity. It is something that we choose to do. We are continuing to do good. A lot of people think that Christianity is reduced down to sitting quietly. I talked about resting in Christ. There’s a difference between resting and doing absolutely nothing. The resting in Christ is that I trust in Him that He will come through, that He will back me up, He will carry me.

It is not this passive sitting, literally sitting down, and saying I’m not going to do a thing. He is going to have to do it all. Nope. If you want your car washed don’t depend on God to send a rainstorm and soap to get your car washed. Get out there and wash your car. You need to go on doing the things. You need to go on being kind to people. You need to go on praying for other people. You need to show this kindness, to share the blessings that God has given you like the children are doing by giving money towards buying water for the children of Peru. Continue to do that which is good. We need to continue to promote no matter what’s going on, no matter how we are suffering because of our goodness, because of our good deeds we’re trying to do. It’s not bringing us salvation but we are following that will of God because He’s awesome and great. We are to continue to promote Jesus Christ and tell people that He is greater than sliced bread. He is greater than pizza. He is greater than the fastest cars and the fastest planes. He is greater than all the wealth of the world, that you would rather have Him on your side and in your life than to have all of that.

I’m not saying you have to cut out all that. I’m just saying to give preference to Him over everything. Daniel was a doer. What did Daniel pray? Daniel did it this way. He walked up, opened those windows towards Jerusalem right where he knew everybody knew that he always prayed. He was doing. I’m going to do this. I’m going to boldly open those windows. He didn’t keep them shuttered. He boldly opened the windows and then went about his prayer just like always praying with the idea of let the chips fall where they may. I’m doing good. I am seeking for the deliverance of my people. Because Daniel was in that empire, that empire was blessed also because Daniel was there and he would have been praying for the emperor, the king and all this. Just like I said, do you guys realize if you people were in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah it would have been spared because you were trusting in God. He said if 10 righteous be there I will spare the whole city. This church is what causes the blessings to come down in this area. This church as it stands and it continues to do that which is right, God will continue to bless, not only us, but all the people around us.

Hebrews chapter 11. It goes on and it says that we are to do this. Sometimes we are to stand even by ourself. We are to continue even if we are the only ones taking that particular stand. There are times we feel that way. Elijah, he came down and he said I’m the only one and God nudges him and says no, Elijah, you’re not the only one. There’s 5000 others out there that I can count right now that I know have never bent their knees to the idols, have never caused or participated in false worship. He’s saying I know this. We are never alone but one of the attacks that the devil, Satan, always tries to bring against Christians as we’re suffering, is you are alone. Nobody else cares, nobody else knows your suffering, you are alone, but there are hundreds of people out there. That’s one of the blessings that God comes through for me when I get really bummed and I’m going huh. I’m doing that whole I’m out here by myself and I’m alone God. I’m just suffering and things are really horrible, awful, terrible and yet within a week to 10 days I will have people call me up and say Doyle, what in the world is going on with you and I’ll say what are you talking about? God has told me to pray for you. What’s going on that He is nudging me to pray for you?

How do they know? I didn’t call them up. I haven’t talked to anybody else, but I have been saying God, I’m out here by myself. I feel like I’m left alone and God is telling people Doyle is feeling miserable. Doyle is in that situation. Let me read to you a portion of John, the Gospel of John. John chapter 5 and we’re just going to read 5 through 9. I don’t know. Let’s just start in with verse 5 and I’ll quit eventually. John chapter 5 starting at verse 5. They’re at the Pool of Bethsaida. “A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, ‘Do you wish to get well?’ The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.’ Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.” You know, I really like that translation but let me read to you the King James Version, because it conveys it better to us than what the NASV does.

“And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” The reason I wanted to switch, wanted to change the version is because there’s that word impotent man. The idea is, and the translation, both translations are accurate, but if you go back to the Hebrew it says that this man was feeble. He was feeble. He couldn’t get to the water fast enough. Jesus comes to him and he’s at the Pool of Bethsaida. Bethsaida, Beth, means house. That’s Bethlehem. Lechem means bread. Beth means house. The house of bread. Bethsaida means the house of kindness. So, this man is laying at the side of this pool, at the house of kindness, and yet every time the water is troubled because according to the understanding of that day when the water was troubled the first one in would be completely healed and he was thinking I’ve just got to get there.

For 38 years he had been laying beside that feeble, too feeble he said, to get there. Now listen to this. Jesus asked him this question point blank, do you want to be well? Do you want to get healed? Do you want to get on with your life? Do you want your situation improved, and I notice this about people. You ask a direct question yes or no and most often the answer they give you is not the answer to your question. Jesus, do you want to get healed yes or no but instead the guy starts explaining things. He says I am feeble. I can’t make it. There’s no one there to put me in the water when it’s troubled. This is the place of kindness and nobody is showing me kindness. Jesus says that He has mercy on the guy and He says alright, I’m going to make you well and He does it, but you’ll notice that the feeble person actually starts blaming other people. No one is here to put me into the water.

Where we’re going with this is quite simple. Sometimes we feel so feeble that we can’t do anything ourselves. You start looking to another person or another source to accomplish what you could do yourself with Jesus. The feebleness, this guy had been beat down so long for 38 years, oh you’re feeble. Let’s haul you out there. He didn’t do his therapy. He didn’t follow the doctor’s orders but we’ll lay you out there and they take him there and dump him knowing full well that if the water was troubled that the guy would be healed but these people weren’t showing kindness by staying there with him. Jesus basically walked up and said do you want to be healed or don’t you and the guy said well, nobody is here. It’s everybody else’s fault. It’s not my fault. Jesus said okay, I’m going to heal you. Get your bed up and get up and walk and that’s where a lot of us find our situation. We are blaming others because of the situation that we are living in. It’s not my fault. I have this problem but other people aren’t giving me the support that I need. Other people aren’t driving me to Olney.

I have somebody who is always trying to bum rides. You know, a trip here, a trip there, and I’m looking at this one guy, two guys I know and they both hold jobs, they both don’t have their driver’s license, for whatever reason, it doesn’t matter to me. They do not have them and I’m looking at both of them and one of them rode his bike every day to go to work at Clay City. Every day and he did it for years. Another one when he wants to go someplace he’ll jump on his bike and take off. He came into the store and he said guess where I went this weekend? I said I don’t know. Bicycle, how far? I spent the day in Mt. Vernon and I said how did you get there? He goes I got up at 3 in the morning. I rode my bike to Mt. Vernon. I said what did you do? I walked around the mall and looked at stuff, ate out. After I got tired of being in Mt. Vernon I got on my bicycle and I rode back. And this guy comes in and I’m looking at him going you got a bike? If these other people can ride to Mt. Vernon you can make it to Olney and back. It’s not like you have to do it every day and every day and I know people that do, but instead it’s nobody will help me. Nobody gives me a handout.

If Jesus walked into that guy’s life He would say do you want to do something? Then get up and go. What we’re getting at here is we depend on Jesus Christ and that’s who we have to depend on. Don’t let other people’s opinions of us telling us we’re feeble and we can’t do it without them. That’s putting us at their mercy. Go to Jesus and say I’m at Your mercy and You tell me to get up and go and I will do it. I will get up and I will go. This was on a Sabbath and it was against the rules of that day that that man should get up and carry that mattress but Jesus said get up, get your mattress and get down the road. The guy gets up and gets his mattress and he gets down the road. Don’t listen to what people are telling you, men’s rules, and saying this or that can’t be done. If it’s the will of God for you to get up and take your mattress and go down the road then you pick your mattress up and go down the road. The guy had an option. You want to get healed yes or no? Yes. He didn’t say yes. He blamed everybody else. He says get up. He could have stayed there and said no, I don’t have anybody to throw me in the water. I’ve got to wait until this water is being stirred up. I can’t do this because this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be done. This is the tradition of our area. This is the tradition of my people.

That’s not the way it’s to be done. This is the way it’s to be done. I’ll go it alone if I have to Daniel said. I’ll go it alone with my buddies Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I’ll stand with them because I have an awesome God and I will do what He tells me to do, and I will do it whether you like it or whether you don’t like it. I’m going to take that stand, and a lot of people fall for this whole you’ve got to do things the way we tell you, when we tell you, and how we tell you. You can’t get healed any other way than getting into that water. The house of mercy. Jesus is the house of mercy. He came along and said you can get up, get down the road and the guy did. Romans chapter 12 verse 2, and this is just the first of it. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” I read the whole thing. Why not? Do not be conformed to the ways of this world but be transformed. Show what the will of God is.

There are things that we do because we’re told we can’t do them and I know people honestly will say well, you can’t do that. Why not? Well, what would people say and I’m like you’re in Eugene, Washington. What do you care? Are you going to see any of these people again? Are they going to come and arrest you and haul you off and beat you? Why do you care? If God says this is what you’re to do what do you care what this world thinks, and it’s not always a negative. Sometimes the world isn’t saying no you can’t do that. A lot of times the world is saying, we’re back to Simon Says, come with us and we’ll tell you what to do. You’ve got to have a good time. We’ll show you how to have a good time and they will lead people astray. It sounds good and everybody is doing it; therefore, I am going to go with the crowd and He said don’t be conformed to this world. Whether it’s good or whether it’s bad do not be conformed to their ways but prove to them what the acceptable will of the Lord is because it is good and it is perfect even if you have to go it alone. Be prepared to lose everything as you’re standing there doing the will of God.

Do not back down. Don’t blame others. Don’t hide behind them but stand there and be the city on the hill, holding forth the teaching of Jesus Christ because it will eventually come around, and people will say hmm, they knew what they were talking about. They knew what they were talking about. I have friends that have been involved in drugs and all sorts of stuff and now they’re saying hmm, those church people knew what they were talking about. Had I known I wouldn’t have done this, but they chose to do it anyway and to tell the truth most of these people you back them in a corner and they will tell you this, I knew right then I shouldn’t be doing this but I did it anyway, and it is I chose to do it anyway. There’s times we make our mistakes and we stumble, we fall and we choose, but we are to be doing just like Daniel. It’s coming around full circle. We are to take that stand, do the will of God and actively do it in front of everybody else. It doesn’t matter what they think. We are to be an active church actively doing good deeds, actively helping the kids in Peru, actively doing the Vacation Bible School stuff, actively reaching out and showing forth to the world what our God tells us to do.

Sometimes we have to deny it. No, we don’t do that. And sometimes we have to proclaim it. Yes, we do that. We will stand with Jesus Christ and His teaching. That is what God wants us to hear today folks. All week long He has been telling me tell this congregation to get up, get out and do something according to My will. Get up, get moving. It’s your choice. You get going and God will get to blessing you because even a pagan emperor or king recognized this, Daniel’s God is awesome. He is powerful, and He is great, and He can do mighty deeds, and we’re to be the people who are standing there saying our God is awesome and great. He can do mighty deeds but without regard we’re going to do what He says because eventually it will be proven that we were right to walk in His ways even though you kill me. That grave will not hold me down. Some day I will rise up and you will stand there in awe before me, before God, before me because I will be reigning and ruling with Him if nothing else and you will come up to a judgment seat if you do not ask Christ to forgive you of your sins and you’ll see me up there and you’ll say you were right.

Shall we pray? Father, in the name of Jesus I ask that you continue to lead us, guide us, give us strength, give us wisdom, give us encouragement. Father, help us to go out there and do what is according to Your will, to make that proclamation, to take a stand against the things the world calls good whenever we know it’s not according to your will, and take a stand against the thing that the world calls bad and stand against that and do that which is good according to Your will. Make us very aware of the teachings of Jesus through Your scripture, through Your pronouncements, through Your prophecies that is contained in this book, the B I B L E. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the great things. In Jesus name, amen. Shall we stand and sing.