Untitled Sermon (8)

Good morning. i am glad that we can be here together this morning. It is always a good day when we can gather in the Lord’s House. Let’s begin by hearing from the word of God.

Ezekiel 17:22–24 NIV

22 “ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. “ ‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’ ”

Let’s Pray

Two Eagles and a Vine

This small passage of scripture is preceded by a allegory to help the Israelites to understand what is happening. It is a passage that is predictive and sets the stage for part of the time of exile to Babylon.

Without getting too deep into trying to understand this imagery of this parable let me give you the extreme cliff notes version of it.

The King of Babylon took all the leaders and royals from Jerusalem and took them back to Babylon. There the King made a treaty with the King of Babylon.

The King Decided to rebel against Babylon and took matters into his own hands.

The Problem is when he made a treaty, that treaty also represented God.

When the King rebeled he was not only rebelling against the King of Babylon he was rebelling against God. This is what leads to the Lord saying this.

Ezekiel 17:19 NIV

19 “ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant.

Plans

The King of Jerusalem had his plans. He thought he knew the best way to make things happen. Through deceit and rebellion he devised his plans to break the covenant he made with Babylon’s King.

He had his own goals and motivations and wanted to achieve his own selfish goals.

Ezekiel is sharing with Israel a prophecy of what is going to happen. This King was going to do what he could to prevent what he thought was wrong. Instead of trusting in God’s plan for his kingdom and people.

This is the challenge we face when we try to remove God from the motivations of our plans.

This is not a passage discouraging planning. In fact in the context of the entire Bible there are multiple times that God tells us to plan and prepare.

He provided planning for leaving Egypt when they were slaves

He provided planning for the building of the Tabernacle

He provided planning for the guidance through the wilderness

Jesus continues this idea with a parable on the cost of being a disciple

Luke 14:28–30 NIV

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

Plans

We are to plan accordingly to know and understand the cost and be prepared to answer for what we are doing. It might be argued that this is what the King did by trying to rebel against the Babylonian king. I mean they were in captivity and exiled from the promised land.

Not only were they exiled they made commitments and that is to be honored. Their yes was to be their yes. This promise under the authority of God.

There lies the problem. The problem with our plans is when we take them into our hands instead of God’s.

Our Plans

It is easy for us to want to pursue plans that we want. We want to know the path or what is happening in our lives. We want control. This is a difficult thing for people to get past is that a part of our faith is trusting that God has a bigger plan for you than you can imagine.

The disciples had to go through this at times. They had to learn to trust.

Luke 9:1–6 NIV

1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

The first time Jesus sent out the disciples he sent them with Nothing. They had to Trust.

Trusting in God’s Plans

They disciples were called to trust that God would take care of them and that they would not need anything. It was God that they were going to rely on completely.

Some might tell you that they just didn’t have a plan but the truth is that there was a plan. it was God’s Plan and God was in control.

Jesus did this to the disciples to teach and train them to see that the only path forward was relying on God and his work in them to know the right way forward.

Later on Jesus gave them different instructions that while they are supposed to trust God they still were Required to plan ad be prepared.

Luke 22:35–36 NIV

35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered. 36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.

God’s Plans vs Our Plans

The challenge with the ideas that we face is we have to determine what is God’s Plans vs what our plans our.

There are no clear 100% full proof ways to know. Yet, we can know that there are things that we can do to help us determine if it is from God.

Prayer

We must begin by centering ourselves on God and seeking him. Asking him to reveal to us what his will is. We must begin by humbling ourselves to seek his will and to open our hearts and minds to listening to what his spirit is guiding us to. Seeking God’s Guidance needs to start with Prayer.

Scripture

God’s instruction should always line up with God’s Word. This is an essential safe guard for us to prevent the abuse of personal feelings. To not allow what we want as humans to get in the way of the standing instructions of God.

It isn’t uncommon to hear this from some people’s thoughts and mouths.

God told me that we…Fill in the blank.

They then proceed to say something that is contrary to the word of God. If it is malicious actions or words towards others or actions that don’t line up with the actions that are expected of us as believers.

If you words and actions don’t line up with the word of God I think it is a safe bet to say you aren’t in step with God’s Spirit.

Other Tools

Other tools that we can use are things like our church history and the teachings of those who have come before us. Many of the issues that have been faced over the years have come back around or just changed slightly and we can learn a lot from history. We also need to be reminded that there is a tremendous value in the heritage of things like our denomination that guides and directs us.

God also blessed us with both Reason—the ability to think, and experiences to help us inform our actions. We have to be reminded of that. We can use these things to help us engage and process through the guidance of what God has for us in this world.

Now I know we have gone so far from the original scripture you might have even forgot what I read. Let’s draw back to it.

Ezekiel 17:22–24 NIV

22 “ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. “ ‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’ ”

The Great Redeemer

The amazing part of this passage is it is a reminder that when we trust in God’s plans and we lean on him we can know that he will do it.

Hear that again.

GOD WILL DO IT.

God is able to lead us through pits and valleys if we are willing to just trust in him. This means we have to put aside what we want and we have to lean into his arms and his instruction. Nothing else matters.

If we don’t start with God at the center of our lives and our church we are going to fail. This is not an easy task because we know that we are human and we make mistakes. We fall short. We don’t live up to what God expects of us.

Yet, the power lies in the fact that through God the branch will be planted. The branch will grow and it will bear fruit and it will grow in all its splendor and it will be a place of shelter and shade.

The Lord is the one who makes this happen. Not the plans of humans but the plans of God.

It was through his plans that he sent Jesus to die on the cross for us.

It was through his plans that he sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost

It was through his plans that revivals, and restoration is possible.

Are you ready to submit to his plans?

Let’s Pray.