Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
May 26, 2002 P.M.
Becoming A Memorial For God
Reading - Joshua 4.1-9, 20-24 & 5.13-15
Memorial Day is about remembering...
How is your memory?... You see... What we remember is no trivial matter. Because... To a large extent, what we remember determines:
- Who we are
- And what we become.
Can I say that again? What we remember determines who we are... and what we will become.
You see, what we remember is critical.
- Skeletons in our closet haunt us.
- Guilt burdens us.
- Remembering past failures depresses us.
I believe this is why childhood is so carefree and refreshing...
- There are few if any bad memories.
- There are no regrets.
Parents... Grandparents... If you want your children to have a joyous childhood... Give them good things to remember... And protect them from bad memories. Question... Do we feel good about ourselves... Or do we always dwell on the negative? You see... What we remember has a lot to do with determining who we are... and what we will become.
The Bible is replete with instructions and encouragement... It even commands to remember the right things. Listen to these Memorial Day admonitions:
- Numbers 15.40...
Remember all My commandments and be Holy.
- Deuteronomy 5.15...
Remember you were slaves in Egypt... and the Lord brought you out.
- Ecclesiastes 12.1...
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.
- Isaiah 40.8-9...
Remember I am God... There is no other before Me... My ways will not be throated.
You see church... How we live our life daily depends upon how we deal with God and His
commandments. Paul told Timothy... Remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead.
How we deal with death and dying, to a large extent, depends upon whether we believe Jesus is risen from the dead and that we will also.
Jesus tells us that memory plays a part in our worship... This do in remembrance of Me.
Yes... Who we are... How we live our lives... What we will become tomorrow... to a large extent is dependent upon what we remember.. What we focus our mind on. The secret to victorious living is remembering the right things.
OK – Let's examine this historical narrative from our text.
The Israelite people were ready to cross the Jordan. It was spring... And the Jordan was flooded... Every waddie was full. The river was out of its banks... That's verse 18 of chapter 4. As the priest stepped into the waters... They parted. And all the people marched across safely.
As a memorial of this great event... Made possible by the hand of God, Joshua was instructed to carry TWELVE stones... One for each tribe... From the middle of the Jordan... And to place Them in Gilgal as a monument. Our text says... Let this be a sign... A monument... A memorial to your children.
Now... Move forward with me... Some fifteen hundred years... This time we will be reading from First Peter chapter two... Listen carefully... You are like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood... Offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ... You are a chosen people... A royal priesthood... A holy nation... A people belonging to God... That you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light... So... I urge you to live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God.
Church... When we put our text in Joshua... alongside these verses in First Peter... We find that we can become Living Memorials... for God.
Well... Let's see what stones we may need in order to be such a living memorial to God. You see... I want... my children, my grandchildren, you in this church, to remember me as a living memorial... a walking... talking remembrance of God. I want others to see what God can do with... to... for... and through a sinner unclean, who is willing to become a living sacrifice... a living memorial.
So... Let us spiritualize this test and see what stones we need in order to become a living memorial for God...
Stone number one is this... We must become involved in a Godly project. Read verse one through six. God commanded... Joshua obeyed. Joshua involved himself in God's project of building a monument of remembrance.
The challenge to us tonight is this...
- Do something spiritual.
- Take time to work for Jesus.
- Be willing to be about the Father's business.
Isn't it time we took on some responsibility for Christ's sake.
You see... It's time we stopped making all our efforts selfish ones. We do that so much, don't we?... It's...
- My work...
- My hobbies...
- My entertainment...
- My spare time...
- My house...
- My money...
- My career...
- My education...
- My golf game...
- My friends.
Seldom a week goes by that someone in the church... this church, that does not give me an excuse for not being involved in the Lord's work... in a Kingdom project.
Do we not understand that none of these things we just listed are important enough to place before our Kingdom responsibilities? Can any one of us here Jesus say... My work... My hobbies... My career, kept Me from the Father's business?
Too many of us are doing little in the Kingdom of God... except coming to services... warming a pew.
What are we doing for Christ's sake... What are we doing for Jesus? What project have I taken on for Him?
- Speaking to others in His name?
- Teaching a class?
- Supporting a mission trip or campaign?
- Calling on the sick?
- Giving aid and comfort to the poor?
- Cooking a special dish for a shut-in?
- Working one day a week in the church office?
- Volunteering at the hospital?
- Sitting with Bill Montgomery... So Mary... Marilyn... Denise can rest.
- Raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?
There are so many potential, Godly projects available... Surely we can find one or more.
Now... I know what you're thinking... Isn't this the same sermon you preached another Sunday? It sure is... and I make no apologizes until we find our place... our project in this church, and begin to work on it. Folk, when life is done... What will you and your preacher be remembered for? Will we be remembered for a Godly project... Or for some worldly project?
Jesus said... I came to do the will of the Father. You see... Jesus came to work on a GODLY PROJECT! Jesus' life is remembered for His burning passion to do the will of the Father.
Question!... Would we be here tonight enjoying the spiritual blessings we have if Jesus had not taken on this project?... Or if He had been OVERLY concerned with...
- His education...
- A career in carpentry...
- His spare time...
- His investments...
- His golf game... etc.?
Church... It's not so much that we don't know the will of God. We just don't have that burning passion to do it!
Living memorials begin with...
- Finding our place in the Kingdom.
- Doing God's will.
- By being involved in God's Kingdom project.
Stone Number two... We must finish the work... Be patient... Persevere. Once saved always saved is not a Bible concept.
- We must keep-on-keeping on...
- Paul said... We must continue to work out our own salvation.
- John said... We must continue to walk in the light...
- Jesus said... We must be faithful unto... and until death.
Look, if you will, at verse ten... The priest stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything was finished. I'll bet that wasn't easy... Standing in the middle of a flood ravaged river with a wall of turbulent water boiling around until 2 million people were safely across the Jordan... This took courage. Courage is most often displayed in our life by patience. I don't know what your struggles are, but you can be a living memorial by your patience.
Think about it...
- Abraham waiting for God to fulfill His promise of a Son.
- Joseph waiting for God to work things out in Egypt.
- Israel waiting for the Promise Land of milk and honey.
God never gets in a hurry... He is never late... He is never premature... His timing is always perfect... So be patient.
Church... Life is a seventy to eighty year project. I used to think... When I reach thirty... I will know enough. And in my teen years... I knew that must be true, because I was so smart then. But now that I'm sixty-one... I understand that God is not through with me yet. He still has things He wants to teach me. He still has things He wants me to experience, and learn from.
James said something about this in his writings... Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops... (WHAT?)... Perseverance. (Listen now!!!)... And Perseverance must finish its work... (WHY??)... So that you may be mature and complete... Not lacking anything.
You see... Life is a seventy to eighty year project.
By the way... Do you know what the reward is for Patience and Perseverance? Hebrews 10.36 tells us... You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. That you might receive the reward.
Becoming a living memorial means that we must be willing...
- To stand in the flood...
- Be patient in the difficult times...
- Persevere in God's project..
We must let God finish the work He began in us so that we can claim the reward.
Stone number three... We must be willing to follow the Biblical pattern.
Look at verse five... verse eight... nine... and twenty. Joshua built this memorial as God instructed. The key word here is INSTRUCTED... Living memorials must be built according to the pattern.
There is a big argument today about whether or not the New Testament contains a pattern for right, correct living.... Of course it does. And when we follow the pattern, we are blessed by God, when we do not we fall under His curse.
Listen to His warning:
Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book. My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Does this sound to you like God has given us a pattern to be followed?
- Paul admonishes us to... follow him... even as he had followed Christ.
- We are predestined to conform to the pattern... To the image of God's Son.
- We are to have the heart... the mind... the attitude... the disposition of Jesus.
He is to be our pattern. Those who say... Christianity has no pattern for us to follow are only showing their ignorance of the Book. To become a living memorial, we must follow the pattern... And that is Jesus, and him crucified.
Listen to this admonition from Romans chapter six:
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase?... By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?... Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?... We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life... For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Question...
- Does this sound to you like we have Jesus as a pattern to follow?...
- To die to sin...
- To be buried in baptism...
- To be raised to walk in a different life...
- To crucify the old man...
- To follow Jesus...
I believe it does... How can we deny such plain text scriptures?
Number four... Understand that we are building two memorials.
When we read this text closely, we realize that there were actually two monuments. Did you notice that?
- One was at Gilgal... Read verse twenty with me... And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.
- Then there was another constructed in the middle of the Jordan river... Note verse nine... And
Joshua set up twelve stones in the mist of Jordan. In the place where the feet of the priest
stood with the Ark of the Covenant.
So... We have one memorial that is seen... And one that is not seen. One in Gilgal... And one in the middle of the flooded Jordan river.
Follow me now... If we are going to be a living memorial, some of our greatest work, some of our greatest service to God will be...
- Covered...
- Unseen...
- Known only to Him and to us.
Georgia used to have a devotional calendar with this thought printed on it...
Perhaps at the Last Day, all that will remain worth recalling of a life full of activity will be those things done solely beneath the eyes of God.
Folk... The bottom line is this... Living Memorials are being constructed when we follow the Biblical pattern... Both publicly and privately.
Stone number five... We must always give reverence to God.
Look at verses 13 through 15 of chapter five.
As Joshua looks over the city of Jericho... He sees a Man with a drawn sword in His hand. This is one of the thiophenes of the Bible... The appearance of the pre-incarnate Jesus in the Old Testament... Joshua sees Jesus.
- Like Abraham on the plains of Mamre.
- Hagar in the wilderness.
- Moses in the burning bush on Sinai.
- And the Son of God in the fiery furnace of Shadrach... Meshach... and Abednego.
Now Joshua does what any right thinking individual would do when He sees God... Falls on His face in reverence. Listen to me church... Some of us here tonight need to fall on our face before God in TOTAL... TOTAL... TOTAL... Absolute... Submission to Him.
The voice echoes from Sinai... No other god's before me. What do we need to do tonight to TOTALLY SUBMIT TO GOD in every facet of our lives?
QUESTION??...
What is standing in our way of becoming a living memorial?
What is standing in your way of becoming a child of God tonight?
What are we placing before God that keeps us from total submission to Him?
On his face on the Damascus road... Paul heard this same Jesus say:..
- Why are you kicking against the pricks.
- Why are you kicking against the goads?
- Paul... Why are you resisting me.
We must know folk... That Jesus is here tonight... Goading us... Encouraging us... Asking us WHY?
- Why are we not placing Him first and foremost in our lives.
- Why are we not obeying what we know to be right?
- Why are we resisting becoming living stones in his kingdom?
The invitation is for each of us to become a living memorial.
- If you need to become a child of God... Do so by faith... repentance... and baptism today.
- If you need to find your place to work in the church... Do it today.
- If you need to make some things right with God and others... Don't put it off.
- If you need the prayers of the church... Ask for them.
- If you need to confess some faults... This is your opportunity.
- If you are a baptized believer and are looking for a church home... You are welcome here.
Come to Jesus...
Become a living memorial... As we stand and sing this invitation song. Will you come?
