We are in Ezekiel chapter 4. If you will turn to Ezekiel chapter 4. Hold that chapter.
Now I know what you're thinking, not another sermon in Ezekiel, but here we are. Another sermon in Ezekiel.
So Ezekiel chapter 4, we're going to read the whole thing.
I laughed more yesterday at that opening line than you guys did.
I had a good time with that one.
Anyway.
Ezekiel chapter 4.
And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem,
and put siege works against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it,
set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.
And you take an iron griddle and place it as an iron wall between you and the city,
and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it.
This is a sign for the house of Israel.
Then, lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it.
For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment.
For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment.
So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel.
And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time,
but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah.
Forty days I assign you, a day for each year.
And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared,
and you shall prophesy against the city.
And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other,
till you have completed the days of your siege.
And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,
and put them into a single vessel, and make your bread from them.
During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it.
And your food that you eat shall be by weight, 20 shekels a day.
From day to day you shall eat it.
And water you shall drink by measure.
The sixth part of a hen, from day to day you shall drink.
And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dumb.
And the Lord said, Thus the people of Israel eat their bread unclean,
among the nations where I will drive them.
Then I said, this is Ezekiel saying this,
Then I said, Ah, Lord God, behold, I have never defiled myself.
From my youth up till now, I have never eaten what died of itself,
or was torn by beast, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth.
Then he said to me, See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung,
on which you may prepare your bread.
Moreover, he said to me, Son of man, behold,
I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem.
They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety,
and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.
I will do this, that they may lack bread and water,
look at one another in dismay,
and rot away because of their punishment.
This is a visual representation of what God was going to do to Jerusalem.
He was to act this out.
It was an impending punishment.
Matter of fact, this prophecy, he wrote this down in about 592, 593, somewhere in there.
Jerusalem was destroyed in 587.
So five years later is when this happened.
It was a visual for Jerusalem to see what was going to happen,
and be a sign for their punishment.
Not only for the people to see,
but as they walked by Ezekiel laying there,
they felt it.
They felt God's punishment impending.
Ezekiel was used by God to physically demonstrate this impending punishment
that God was going to give to them.
Well, there's three parts of this prophecy that did come to fruition in 587,
and I want to talk about each of the parts.
So kind of keep your Bible there,
but the first part is verses 1 through 3,
and that first part is to build a replica of Jerusalem.
And he was to use a little brick
and sort of somehow design Jerusalem on that little tile or brick,
the little clay,
and that sort of went into the center,
and then he built up mounds next to it and towers
and sort of designed the city there,
but also what the siege looked like.
So mounds next to it,
and the way when they had walls around the city,
and so when another nation came in to try to take over a city,
they would build mounds,
and then they would put camps on the top of those mounds
and look down into the city,
and then they would cut off all supplies in through the gates.
They would stop all the supplies from coming into the city
or siege it in that way.
And he was to depict this,
depict it all on the ground there
in this little sort of diorama of Jerusalem.
He was also to put an iron pan or griddle.
I like the word griddle.
He was to put this iron griddle,
probably not a black stone.
That's kind of what we're used to, right?
A big pan in between.
So his face and Jerusalem is where this pan would sit.
So we know from the next verses
that he's actually laying down when he's doing this.
And so as he's laying there,
the pan is in front of his face,
and his diorama of Jerusalem is on the other side, right?
There's a couple of ideas of what that pan
and him on the other side might represent.
One of those ideas is the strength of Babylonian.
That's in 587 who comes in is the Babylonians.
They come in and lay siege and wipe them out.
So maybe it's the Babylonians
and their strong siege and iron will of that nation coming in.
There's another idea,
and I think I resonate a little bit more with this idea,
is that that pan, as Ezekiel laid there,
the pan was in the way.
He could not see Jerusalem.
And it's like a separation from God.
They were being punished for years,
centuries, centuries of disobedience.
And that pan was a separation between God and them.
He would not even be able to hear their cries,
which you know they would.
There's a truth here I want to remember.
The truth is what God has ordained will happen.
What he has ordained will happen.
I am the Lord.
The second part, verses 4 through 8,
is Ezekiel.
It describes how he's to lay on his side
and what that looks like.
Notice the use of the word punishment
in verses 4 through 8.
It happens five times.
He describes over and over this punishment that's coming.
God will punish sin, won't he?
This is not something that's going to go without.
He's holy.
He will not exist with sin forever.
A second truth from this account is
sinners will be punished.
God says, I am the Lord.
390 days representing years.
390 days you lay on your side
and with this pan in your face
with the diorama on the other side.
And then another 40.
But 390 days representing the house of Israel.
Israel at this time,
so there was David, then Solomon.
And after Solomon, the nation split into two.
The northern group was called Israel.
The southern group was Judah.
And Israel at this time
had already been gone for a long time.
They were already wiped out and destroyed.
Jerusalem was left.
Judah was left at this time
until 587, about five years later.
That's when they were taken into captivity.
So as we look at 390 days
from Ezekiel's prophecy,
or 390 years from Ezekiel's prophecy,
what time span was that?
If you go back 390 from that moment,
it would have been in the reign of Solomon.
1 Kings 11, 11 through 12.
Therefore the Lord said to Solomon,
since this has been your practice
and you have not kept my covenant
and my statutes that I've commanded you,
I will surely tear the kingdom from you
and will give it to your servant.
Yet for the sake of David, your father,
I will not do it in your days,
but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
390 years prior to Ezekiel prophesying
and doing this in the middle of Jerusalem,
God told Solomon he was going to take it away.
From that time, from Solomon's reign
until this, until 587,
they sinned.
And if you're familiar with all the accounts
of one king after another,
after another, they were sinful.
They didn't care.
They even lost at one point
the scriptures for years
and they were uncovered
and no one even knew what was in.
They sinned against God in all that time.
The 40 years, there's a lot of discussion.
You can look at different things.
There's a lot of ideas of what these years
or these days that Ezekiel is laying down
actually represent.
But the 40 years, one idea is that
maybe that was the time from Jesus's death
to AD 70 would have been about 40 years.
And then Jerusalem again was destroyed
and taken completely apart
and they were dispersed.
That's a possibility.
They're not exactly sure.
Not exactly sure.
430 years is the total.
That is also a very important number
because that's what they spent
from the time in Egypt
until the time of coming into the promised land.
So these numbers are a little bit unknown.
Exactly what it is.
But there's a couple of key things within that.
There's further specifications
to the prophetic picture.
leg on his side.
But then he is to prophesy with his arm bared.
And that is the symbol of God's arm.
God's arm of punishment, of strength.
And that's represented through his bared arm there.
God also places cords on him.
So not just does he lay there on his side,
but God straps him down so he doesn't move.
Doesn't move at all.
Jerusalem is not moving
or getting out of their punishment.
It will happen.
I, in the study of this there,
the question comes up to me,
was he there that whole time?
How many months is it?
That's, you know, so 430 days.
We're talking, what, 15 months?
What's the number on that?
Well over a year.
Was he there that entire time?
Well, when I read that the cords are there
and he doesn't move,
I kind of think, yes, he was.
There's other things that say,
well, he was there much of the day
that maybe he, you know,
packed things up and went home
in the evening or something like that.
I don't know.
But what I do know is that
he spent a lot of time laying there.
I tend to think he was somehow
supernaturally there the whole time.
Because the cords held him there.
So, even hours a day, though,
would be tough.
The third part of this picture
is in the eating and drinking,
verses 9 through 17,
the last part of it.
Here's the third truth from it.
Sinners will suffer.
Sinners will suffer, won't they?
We know this.
That's what was being depicted.
The food that he had
was this grain, bean, millet mix
that was rationed out
in a very, very small portion.
Depending on what you read,
it was basically a portion.
The size of ESV kind of leads us
to see a size of 11 grams,
which 11 grams is about the size
of a AAA battery.
That's pretty small.
The most I saw,
there's some discrepancy
on the exact size of this,
but less than a cup.
So, from a AAA battery
to less than a cup
is kind of what he had
per day to live on.
Also, this bread was not
like the Ezekiel bread.
You know, when we go to the store
and we get this nice pack
of Ezekiel bread,
it's somewhat yummy,
we can toast it
or whatever we want to do.
That's not what this was.
One thing that I read
said that this was
so yucky,
the dog would not eat it.
It was basically
basic nutrition
to keep the dude alive.
That's all it was.
And then he had water as well.
What this,
less than one quart
is what it comes out to
for the water.
While he laid there
with straps,
looking at a pan
with a diorama
on the other side.
It represents the rationing
that's going to happen.
When they lay seeds
to Jerusalem,
they shut off the gates.
What happens
is the food
goes down,
down,
down.
Then God
first instructs him
to cook his little
bit of
bread
over his own food.
Right?
And he says,
hey,
that will defile me.
And God
respects that
in what he says.
Okay,
let's use cow dung
instead.
But the truth
of the matter,
and you see
in verse 12,
it was
in their sight.
This was all done
in their sight.
And what will happen
five years from then
when everything
gets shut down?
All the animals
will die
because they will
use them
because there's
nothing to eat
and nothing to get.
Which means
they will be
reduced.
Any cooking
will be
on human dung.
That's
just the beginning
of the ugly
paradigm.
What often
it does get
reduced to
is cannibalism.
That's in their future.
The visual
was so they know
I am
the Lord,
God says.
He repeats
that same phrase
60 times
in the book
of Ezekiel.
I am
the Lord.
So a couple
of notes
on this
that I want
to share.
One
is God's
character.
I want to talk
about God's
character from this
because he's
the same,
isn't he?
He's the same
in how he deals
with Ezekiel.
He's the same
with us today.
So his character
is what
perseveres
across all
of this.
So let's look
at a couple
of character
things.
Number one,
he's jealous
for his name.
He is to be
glorified and
honored.
They didn't do
that.
They didn't do
that.
In their hearts,
they didn't do
that.
They didn't
glorify him
in any way,
shape,
or form.
For you shall
worship no
other God,
for the Lord
whose name is
jealous
is a jealous
God.
Exodus 34,
14.
God will not
share a throne
with any
other small
g God
that we may
want to serve.
He will not
share it.
That's not
how we
glorify him.
That's not
how that
works
as a believer.
That's his
throne
and his
alone.
The second
thing is
in his
character
is long
suffering.
430
years.
And as
you read
through those
kings and
the things
that they
did and
the ways
that they
just
completely
took in
anything and
everything
other than
God,
he was
very long
suffering,
very long
suffering.
He showed
them his
kindness.
He sent
prophet after
prophet.
We know
from the
New Testament
that they
were killed
and they
were sawn
in half
and they
were treated
miserably.
But that
was God's
kindness to
have them
repent.
Now,
remember,
what Ezekiel
is doing
here is
not a
repentance
message.
It is a
you're going
to die
message.
It's
repentance,
that time
has passed.
Now,
it's
punishment.
That's
Ezekiel's
message.
It's
different.
But he
sent
many,
replete
with
turn,
turn from
your wicked
ways.
How many
times did
he do
that?
His
kindness,
his
patience.
Numbers 14,
18,
the Lord
is slow
to anger
and abounding
in steadfast
love,
forgiving
iniquity
and
transgression,
but he
will by
no means
clear the
guilty,
visiting the
iniquity of
the fathers
and the
children to
the third
and the
fourth
generation.
The third
character
trait is
God is
purposeful.
He's
purposeful.
He has
purpose in
his
prophetic
word.
This
punishment
is going
to happen.
That's
his
purpose.
Proverbs
19,
21 says,
many are
the plans
in the
mind of
man,
but it
is the
purpose
of the
Lord
that will
stand.
His
purposes
in
punishment,
his
purposes
in dealing
with his
people,
these
things
will come
to fruition.
Sin
will be
dealt
with by
a holy
God.
He has
a plan
for the
Jews as
his chosen
race.
He's
their
God,
and he
continues
to have
a purpose
with them
as well
as all
of us,
mankind.
So I
want to
apply some
of these
character
traits to
us today.
God
doesn't
change.
We have
established
that.
He is
to be
glorified
and we
are to
bring
glory
to
his
name.
We
act in
his
will
when we
serve,
love,
and sacrifice
in a way
that brings
glory to
God.
And as
we take
that
principle
of glorifying
him,
that's
we as
a body,
we bring
him glory
in the
things that
we do,
in the
things that
he calls
us to
do,
in the
things that
his will
mandates
that we
do.
He is
patient
and kind
with us
that we
may come
to repentance.
The great
patience that
God has
with his
children.
You ever
think about
that?
The patience
that he
has with
you
personally.
It's
tremendous
in my
life.
Stephen
Charnock,
a Puritan.
Let me
read this
quote.
I want
to dissect
it a little
bit because
he talks
in old
words.
Let's
think about
it.
We'll
think about
it again.
This will
be great.
He says,
God's
slowness to
anger is
a branch
from his
mercy.
The Lord
is full
of compassion
and slow
to anger.
Psalm 145.
It differs
from mercy
in the
formal
consideration
of the
object.
Mercy
respects
the
creature
as
miserable.
Patience
respects
the
creature
as
criminal.
Mercy
pities
him
in his
misery
and
patience
bears
with the
sin
which
engendered
the
misery
and is
giving
birth
to
more.
The
antithesis
of
judgment
compassion
and
patience.
Now
here's
I think
the best
way to
illustrate
what he's
saying
there.
Think
of the
person
that
as we
get to
the
corner
and
even
going
out
generally
there's
two or
three as
I'm
heading
to
back
to
435
on the
way
home.
There's
usually
somebody
on the
corner
in there.
There's
someone
with a
sign.
There's
someone
asking
for
money
or food
or whatever
it is
they're
asking.
I look
at them
and in
mercy
I look
at them
and I
say
they're
struggling.
Whatever
this
moment
I can
look at
them,
I look
at the
way
they're
dressed,
I look
at what
they're
asking
for
and
my
mercy
would
say
they're
struggling
right now.
They're
having a
hard time
in life
right now.
Patience
says
I don't
care why
they're
suffering.
I don't
care why
they're
struggling
because if
you're like
me,
I see
that person
and I
can get
the mercy
there.
I can feel
the mercy
and I feel
sorry for
them or
I have
pity on
them.
But then
going to
the second
part,
I think
there's
things they
could do.
They probably
just want to
buy this
or that.
Probably
it's a
series of
decisions
that put
them into
this
place.
Patience
says
they sin
but I
overlook
it.
Patience
says I
don't care
why
they got
there.
as God
looks at
us
full of
compassion
and slow
to anger
he knows
we're sinful.
He looks
at us
with pity.
He looks
at us
as people
who fall
and struggle
and lose
it.
But his
patience
bears
with us
in our
sin.
God
has
purposes.
He has
specific
purposes
with
Christ
church.
God
is a
plan
for our
existence
as a
church
and
Jesus
is our
head.
He has
purposes
we have
yet to
see.
We don't
even know.
We don't
even know
yet the
things that
he wants
to do.
We're to
proclaim the
good news
and bring
glory to
God.
Similarities
between our
work and
Ezekiel's
work.
There's a
few things
that are
somewhat
similar.
So just
to illustrate
that I
want us
all to
get down
and lay
on our
sides.
But there
are some
similarities
between the
two.
Number one
is there
are people
heading to
a certain
death.
There are
people all
around us
that are
heading to
a certain
death.
It's not
a matter
of is it
going to
happen.
It's not
a matter
of well
maybe they'll
somehow get
off that
road or
whatever.
They are
heading that
way.
And we
have a
message.
We have a
message that
says the
same thing.
If you are
apart from
God you're
heading to
certain
death.
If you
don't know
Jesus you're
heading to
certain
death.
we must
be obedient
to God's
plan no
matter what
that looks
like.
Doesn't
matter.
Doesn't
matter what
it looks
like.
Big,
small,
this way,
that way,
doesn't
matter.
Our
message is
literally of
life and
death.
So,
what about
Ezekiel's
experience?
That is what I
want to talk
about.
What about
Ezekiel's
experience with
his message?
It was
boring.
It was
boring.
He laid
there.
He did
nothing.
It was
boring.
Wouldn't
you agree?
There was
just, he
just laid
there for
months doing
nothing.
God
chose to
use him
in this
seemingly
mundane
visual
prophecy.
That's how
God chose
to use
Ezekiel.
Was in
this mundane
day after
day,
looking at
a pan,
trying to
cook,
maybe,
with
cowpoo.
God's
economy is
different.
God's
economy is
different than
ours.
Maybe we
wouldn't have
put Ezekiel
in that
spot.
Maybe we
wouldn't have
said,
do something
so,
what seems
so weird.
We may not
have done
that, but
God's ways
are higher
than our
ways.
Here's a
truth that I
came to
on this
study,
and I
think it's
very important.
God chooses
to use
our lives
in any
way he
sees fit.
It's not
always
comfortable.
It's not
what we
think.
It's not
what we
would envision,
but it's
his way.
And I
think it's
far too
easy to
get our
own
thinking
in that
mix and
forget that
God uses
our lives
in any
way he
sees fit.
Even if
it's mundane,
even if
it's boring,
even if it
doesn't make
sense,
it's his
plan.
Ezekiel
understood that
his life
belonged to
God.
He was
truly a
living
sacrifice,
this guy.
Truly was.
Romans 12
1,
I appeal
you,
therefore,
brothers,
by the
mercies of
God,
to present
your bodies
as a
living
sacrifice,
holy and
acceptable to
God,
which is
your spiritual
worship.
Did Ezekiel
do that?
100%
he did
that.
No matter
what God
wanted to
do,
he was
presenting
himself
soul and
body.
Ezekiel
presented
himself
soul and
body to
what God
had in
mind.
He was
obedient to
whatever God
wanted to
do.
He obeyed
all parts
of this
plan.
No quitting
or establishing
a great start
and then
falling off.
He stuck
with this.
430 days
laid there,
did what
God had
him do
and
didn't
stop.
He submitted
to the
parts
of God's
will that
weren't all
that great.
Lying in the
dirt,
not moving,
people walking
by,
looking at
him,
teasing,
snide comments,
maybe kicking
dust on
him.
He was,
after all,
giving them
a message
of impending
death and
doom.
You think
they liked
that?
I don't
think they
did.
And they
probably took
it out on
him.
Long days,
horrible
treatment,
difficult
circumstances,
great pain.
If you
continue to
read on
in Ezekiel,
you'll see
some of
the pain
that God
put Ezekiel
through,
just to
get his
message out.
One of
which,
his wife
died.
And he
wasn't even
to grieve.
This was
to get
his message,
God's
message,
out.
And Ezekiel
followed and
participated.
And Ezekiel
was effective.
He was
effective.
His work
and message
was shocking.
It had
impact.
You don't
see a person
do this
very much.
Personally,
I've never
seen a person
do that.
I don't know
if you guys
have,
maybe.
It was
shocking.
The message
was given.
It was
successful,
regardless of
what the Jews
did.
It was
successful
because God
said,
I want
this message
to go
out.
The message
went out.
It was
successful.
He was
obedient.
He did
his best
to be
thorough
and complete
in the
demonstration,
putting
everything
together
the right
way,
and then
submitting
himself
to what
God's
plan
was
in the
message.
That was
Ezekiel's
experience.
Now let's
talk about
our experience.
First thing
I want to
talk about
is the
idea of
mundane,
this
concept
mundane.
So mundane
basically,
I looked
up some
synonyms
in the
thesaurus.
So mundane,
ordinary,
boring,
everyday,
humdrum,
normal,
routine,
common.
These are
all kind
of the
same ideas
of what
we might
call
mundane.
I'm
often asked
what was,
I was on
nuclear submarine,
and I'm
often asked
what was
the longest
time you
ever went
out without
coming back
up.
And the
longest time,
so going
down and
then the
span of
time and
coming up
was 60
days for
me.
Now that
was in
the midst
of a
180-day
deployment
where we
spent 140
of those
days
underwater.
140
days in
six months
underwater.
It's not
430,
but we'll
get to
Ezekiel
numbers maybe
someday.
So when
I'm asked
that,
people think,
oh,
you know,
that's,
I don't
think I
could do
because it's
like claustrophobia
and things
like that,
but there's
also this
element of
boredom.
Lots
of boredom.
What do
you do
underwater
for two
months
straight?
What do
you do?
You know,
we would
play games.
We actually
worked,
we worked
18-hour
days is
what it
turned
into.
Because you
can change
the 24-hour
cycle because
there's no
sun,
it doesn't
matter anymore.
So we
would work
for six
hours and
you would
be off
for 12.
And so
some people
they would
sleep for
every bit
of that 12
that they
could sleep.
Others,
you know,
would ink
or we
would play
cards or
we would
watch movies.
Back in the
day we had
a cabinet
of VHS
tapes.
We would
kind of
fight and
discuss until
we could
pick a VHS
tape that we
all agreed on
for that
movie,
you know.
But you
know what?
It was
boring.
It was
very boring.
The only
time I got
to see out,
we were
coming close
to an
island and
I looked
through the
periscope and
I saw land
with palm
trees for
about five
seconds.
It was
awesome.
In 60
days.
Well,
we've all
lived parts
of life
that are
ordinary and
what we
might call
boring or
common or
things like
that.
We've all
experienced
this in
one way
or another.
Does anyone
remember the
commercial
time to
make the
donuts?
Any of you
guys remember
that?
It might have
been Duncan.
This probably
was early
80s,
late 70s.
But this
guy, he
was like
dredging in
early in the
morning.
It's still
dark and
everything.
He's like
going in
time.
It's like
how boring.
He seems
bored.
That was
the first
thing I
thought about.
That's
because I'm
a child
of the
80s.
But anyway,
every moment
of every
day is
not a
ball of
firecrackers
and excitement.
That's not
how we
live.
I think
we would
go crazy
if every
day was
just full
of excitement
nonstop
all the
time.
But there
are important
realities to
the work
that God
has given
us specifically.
There's
important
realities here
that God
has given
us specifically.
And Ezekiel's
work was
truly mundane.
I think
maybe you
would agree
with me on
that.
It was
truly
mundane.
So is
there anything
that we
would have
to complain
about?
Whatever God
gives us,
we're not
laying down
strapped to
the ground
and eating
the way he
ate.
We're not
doing that.
He may
call us
to the
earth,
but thus
far he
has not.
All work
given to
us by God
is significant
work.
Every bit
Christ
church is
work that
God has
given to
us.
Us.
This is
our
work.
I
thought of
this
illustration
that I
want to
share.
Picture a
gold bar
like a,
you know how
you see
the, like a
gold bar,
you know,
it's all
put together
and everything.
And it's
nice, it's
complete, it's
big, you
know, that
kind of
thing.
Imagine
slicing off
just a
little bit
of that
or breaking
off just
a small
piece of
that gold
bar.
And now
on the
table I've
got the
main piece
and I've
got just
a little
piece over
here.
When I
take that
gold, that
small piece,
when I take
that gold off
of the
big bar,
does it
change in
property?
It's still
gold, isn't
it?
It doesn't
become
something else.
It's not
like gold
plated
something.
It's still
gold.
That's the
property.
Is it
worth the
same amount?
If I were
to measure
it out and
get worth
in ounces,
I would
measure that
and I
can weigh
and it
would be
worth not
the same as
the big
one, but
proportionally
it would
be worth
the same
because there's
a number
per ounce.
Make sense?
I think
that sometimes
we can
look at
a church
plant
that comes
off of
a large
church
not as
another
piece of
gold
but as
something
less,
as something
that doesn't
have the
same value,
as something
that isn't
quite as
important,
as something
that's not
quite as
significant,
but it's
still gold.
Spiritually,
it's still
gold.
this is
his
church,
isn't it?
This is
no different.
Jesus is
the head,
we are
the body.
The work
that he
gives
is spiritual
gold
because it's
of him.
It's not
a gold-plated
something,
it's not
someday
this gold
will be
worth
what this
gold,
it's now
worth
the same
thing.
It's not
different,
it's not
less,
it's not
a facsimile
or something
that is
going to
one day
it will be
good like
this,
no,
now,
it is
good like
that.
We are
his bride.
Christ's
church is
his bride.
We must
serve with
excellence
because this
is gold.
gold.
His church
is gold.
We must
serve with
excellence.
Don't cut
corners.
Put in
the effort.
Whatever
your task
is,
whatever God
has you
doing,
obviously
we have
little
tasks that
if we're
not careful
it will
slip into
the mundane.
It will
slip into
a category
it does
not belong.
Everything
that God
gives us
is gold
and worth
because
he is
significant
and what
he gives
us
is significant.
It's his
work.
Don't skimp.
Serve as
serving the
Lord.
Don't look
short-sightedly
at what you
see.
Look with
spiritual
eyes.
Yes,
there may
be a
small
crowd
and it
might be
smaller on
other days
when everyone's
on vacation.
Yes,
that might
happen.
But what
we do
is still
significant.
What we
do is
still
significant.
There may
be five
people out
there,
but that's
five lives
that God
cares about.
That's five
lives that
need the
ministry of
the body.
That's five
lives that
have the
gifts of
the Spirit
that are
there for
a purpose
because God
put them
there.
We must
give ourselves
completely.
What does
he want to
do with
you?
What does
he want to
do with
you?
If it
seems
small,
it's not.
If it
seems mundane,
it's not.
Are you
standing in
the way or
are you
submitted?
I wrestle
with this
at times.
I've
come up
with this
sort of
thought,
and I
think I've
maybe shared
it with a
couple of
you guys,
of giving
coins away.
Have I
shared that
before?
Did I
say it?
The idea
of when
you come
together,
you give.
And it's
just like
if you
had a
pocket full
of coins,
you give
them away.
You know?
The picture
is bigger
than
ourselves.
If we
relegate our
thinking only
to what
we see,
only to
what we
see here,
then there's
no faith
in our
walk.
There's
no faith.
When there's
no faith,
we'll be
disappointed
if things
don't go
our way.
And you
know what?
We'll
get bored.
And things
will become
mundane.
And they
will become
just common.
Things that
are not
common
will become
common.
Some causes
of the
mundane,
and here's
where I
would encourage
you just
to kind
of think
about where's
your heart
on these
things,
some causes
of it.
number
one is
discontentment
and envy.
Things can
become
mundane or
common or
ordinary when
we are
discontent.
I'd rather
be over
there.
I'd rather
have this.
I wish I
had something
else.
I'm discontent
with things,
and so then
I end up
sort of
minimizing
everything
because I'm
not happy.
second thing
is a lack
of proper
perspective
or value.
How do
you consider
or talk
about Christ
Church?
Have you
ever thought
about the
word just?
Stacey and
I were talking
about this,
and she has
great thoughts
on this.
The word
just,
it's a
diminishing
word.
Here's an
example.
Oh,
we're just
a small
group.
So I'm
diminishing
our group.
Oh,
we're just
a small
group.
Oh,
we just
have two
MCs.
I'm
diminishing
what we're
doing.
I'm
diminishing
the work.
I'm
diminishing
the goal.
I'm
trying to
steal
somehow
that I
can't
do.
The
value
from
what this
is.
The word
just,
you have
to listen
for it.
It creeps
in.
This
illustrates
a small
picture
of what
we are
and who
we are
in Christ.
proper
perspective
and value
is not
present in
diminishing
thoughts.
Lack of
proper value,
always
diminishing
thoughts,
if that's
going on,
that also
diminishes
our actions
as well.
Another
area is
lack of
faith.
Another
area that
mundane will
creep in
is through
lack of
faith.
is there
a deep,
dark
secret
in your
heart?
I'm
asking this.
Is there
this deep,
dark secret
in your
heart?
And here's
the secret
or some
form of
this.
I don't
really believe
this is
going to
work.
I don't
really believe
this church
is going
to succeed
somehow.
I don't
really believe
this is the
right group.
I don't
really believe
fill in the
blank.
The Lord
instituted
his church.
Jesus
himself
instituted
his church.
Christ's
church was
sent out
in prayer.
Sent
out.
And Jesus
himself leads
us in his
purposes.
If there's
any form
of I
don't
really
believe
this is
going to
work,
that creeps
in or
tries to
get a
foothold,
we've got
to put
that to
death.
We've got
to put
that thought
to death.
This is
who he
sent and
others,
others to
come.
This is
who he
sent to
do this
work.
Anything
in our
thinking that
doesn't measure
up to
these truths
is a lack
of faith.
It's a
lack of
faith.
A fourth
way that
mundane
creeps
in is
just plain
lazy.
Just plain
lazy.
Not doing
what you
know that
you need
to do.
Not doing
what the
thing, and
we know
that to
be sin,
don't we?
When you
don't do
what you
know you're
supposed to,
it's sin.
Laziness,
we can get
lazy.
And then we
fall into
mundane, we
fall into
common, we
fall into
not rightly
seeing what
the church
is and
its
importance.
There's
plenty of
work, but
mundane
creeps in,
and work
gets ignored
in laziness.
So what's the
antidote?
This sermon, I
thought about a
few different
titles for the
sermon.
So there's a
couple, let me
see if I can
remember them all.
The first one
was I want a
diorama for
Christmas.
There's one.
The other one
was ring
around the
poosie.
The other
one has to
do with, it's
kind of a
throwback to
Paris Reed
had 10
shekels in a
shirt.
I thought
about 10
beans in
the dirt.
Is that
one good?
Actually, the
title of the
sermon, so
that was the
intro.
The title of
the sermon
is Joy in
the Mundane.
Joy in the
Mundane.
And what's
the antidote
for mundane?
It's to find
our joy.
Well, how do
we find our
joy?
Number one,
joy in
Jesus.
1 Peter 1,
8-9.
Though you
have not
seen him,
you love
him.
And even
though you
do not
see him
now, you
believe in
him and
are filled
with an
inexpressible
and glorious
joy.
For you
are receiving
the end
result of
your faith,
the salvation
of your
souls.
Can this
inexpressible
joy coexist
with boredom
in the
church?
No.
It's his
church.
He's the
head.
Jesus is
who we
follow.
Jesus is
where our
salvation is.
Can these
two things
coexist?
Bored at
sweeping the
floor, bored
at making a
meal, bored
at going
out, bored
at listening
to a
brother or
sister ministering
to them.
Can these
two things,
joy in
Christ and
boredom,
exist
simultaneously?
They can't.
Second thing
is joy in
submission and
suffering.
James 1,
verse 2,
counted all
joy, my
brothers,
when you
meet trials
of various
kinds.
Ezekiel
could find
joy in
his prophetic
activities.
grace.
We don't
know what
he thought
or how
he acted.
What we
do know
is he
was obedient.
And the
Bible doesn't
say that he
walked or
that he
fought back
or that he
was upset
at what was
going on.
I'm assuming
that he
found joy
in what
he did.
Not just
laying there,
but as I
mentioned earlier,
even later,
losing his
wife.
So God
could demonstrate
a principle
in suffering.
If the
mundane edges
towards suffering,
we can still
find comfort
in knowing
God is at
work.
And that's
the rest of
that James
chapter 1.
We can
find,
we count it
all joy
because in
these trials,
because we
know that
he's working
us toward
maturity.
Even if
it's Monday,
we jump
in and
it's good.
The third
thing is joy
and salvation.
Going back
to 1 Peter
1, 8,
and 9,
he ends
9 there
with the
inexpressible
and glorious
joy,
for you are
receiving the
end result of
your faith,
salvation of
your souls.
Also,
Psalm 51,
12,
restore to
me the
joy of
your
salvation
and
uphold
me
with a
willing
spirit.
If we
are
lacking
excitement
for the
work,
if we
are bored
at the
perceived
monotony,
it is not
monotonous.
Please hear
me.
It is not
boring.
It is not
monotonous,
the work that
God gives
us.
It is
perceived on
your part
if it is
monotonous.
If you
find yourself
in that
space,
we are
spiritually
dry.
Pray that
verse.
Restore to
me the
joy of
your salvation
and uphold
me with
a willing
spirit.
God,
restore to
me the
joy of
your salvation.
Let's
pray.