STAND UP FOR THE LORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

This past Sunday was the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Monday was the National Holiday for his celebration and, in honor of that and the upcoming Black History Month in February, I’d just like to say a few a words about him.

I’m not going to rehash all the things that this great man did for African Africans or America, herself. All of that has been talked about repetitively on Sunday and Monday. But instead, I want to dwell on why he did what did. Why he stood up for the Lord of righteousness! Dr. King was a law abiding citizen who one day decided that laws of our nation were unjust and so, Dr. King listened to that higher authority; that higher calling in Christ Jesus. He didn’t do what he did because He was ordered to or because He was being paid or was going to accept a reward; he did because he wanted to do it. He did what was right simply because it was the right thing to do. He did it for righteousness sake. He didn’t fear any reprisals because he knew that God was with him. He knew Christ would never leave him nor forsake him; and he trusted in God for that assurance.

As a young man, I began to wonder what made him so confident that Christ would not leave him high and dry; hanging out there all by himself. How does one obtain such strong faith that in the face of all that danger with threats to his family and himself; why would a man or anyone go through all that public ridicule when he had seemly nothing to gain and everything to lose? He was a Nobel Prize winner; he could have quit at anytime, and yet, he continued to stand up for the Lord of Righteousness. Why? Why? Years later, this question still puzzled me.

I have since learned to turn to Christ when I am seeking answers. If the answer can’t be found in Christ, then it can’t be found at all. God led me to Malachi for the answer. In the 3^rd Chapter, verse 2, it reads as follows: “but who can endure the day of His coming; Who can stand when He appears. For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launder’s soap; He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.” To understand this I had to research exactly what a silversmith or a goldsmith does. Silver and gold are full of impurities and is of no use in its impure state. In order to burn away the impurities, a smith will take hold of the metal with iron or steel tongs and place it in the center of a very, very hot fire. Because the metal is soft and fragile, he must sit there and keep a close watch on it while guiding it through the fire; for if he were to leave or take his eyes off of it, the silver or gold could easily be destroyed.

Thinking about this refining process reminded of cooking; a process that I am not very good at. I have been known to burn pots while simply boiling eggs. Nevertheless, I do occasionally try. However, I have problem determining when it the food is actually done. I either overcook it or undercook it. Many times I have asked others (mostly females) how to tell when something is done. Some advice was to stick a thermometer in the center of the meat and if it was a certain temperature, the meat was done. Some said to cut the meat and see if it was pink on the inside and, if so, the meat was not done. Still others said check the color, if was brown on the edges or if the meat was a reddish orange, then the meat was done. I still got confused and many times I have eaten either undercooked or overcooked food; but I was hungry, so it still tasted good to me.

 

But now I am interested in how the smith knows that the refining process is done. The answer to this is both remarkable and intriguing. The smith only knows that the refining process is done and the metal is pure when he is able to see his own reflection in the metal.

Well, I took this knowledge back to my scripture and found that the same thing holds true with this Word of God. He purifies us through our fiery trials and tribulations; He sits there, watches over us, guides us through our burning trials and tribulations, and He never leaves us. He knows when we are done and purified because He is able to see Himself in us. Then we can be of use to Him and be able to stand up for the Lord of Righteousness. Through this passage, God revealed to me that those of us who are called are to be purified through of fire of trials and hardships so that we will be able to stand up for righteousness in days of our temptations.

The Lord of Righteousness, Himself, was also tried through the fire. The scriptures tell us that though He was fully God, He was also fully human. The 4^th Chapter of Matthew tells us that after He was baptized, He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights and He was hungry and I imagine that He was also very tired.

Now remember, that our Lord was also fully human so what He was going through, by today’s standard, would be considered some trying and hard times. He was pure already, so the process wasn’t as long or tedious as the process would be for you and I. Nevertheless, He had to be prepared for the mission ahead of Him.

Prior to this, He was just a normal citizen with human attributes. Matthew tells us that He left the wilderness and chose His disciples. The 2^nd chapter of John picks up the story and tells us of where Christ went to a wedding and turned the water into wine. This was the story of His first miracle. Christ went to this wedding because He, His mother, Mary, and His disciples had been invited. Did you ever wonder why He was invited?  

It wasn’t because He was a celebrity; as of yet, He had not performed any miracles. It could be only because of the same human reasons that we invite people to our parties and gatherings: because they liked Him; they liked His human qualities. God has revealed to me just how significant it is that the common folk in a little town enjoyed being with Jesus.

Saints, we should all take note that our Almighty Lord did not act high and mighty, even though He was. Our Holy One didn’t have a holier-than-thou attitude. The One who knew it all didn’t act like a know-it-all. The One who made the stars didn’t keep his head in them. The One, who owns all of the earth and everything in it, never boasted and bragged about it. Jesus could have been all of these, but he wasn’t.

His purpose was not to SHOW OFF but to SHOW UP. He went to great pains to be as human as you and me. He DID NOT NEED TO STUDY God’s word, but STILL WENT TO THE SYNAGOGUE. He had NO NEED FOR MONEY or INCOME, but He STILL WORKED as a carpenter in Joseph’s workshop.

He HAD KNOWN the fellowship of angels and heard the harps of heaven, yet He wasn’t stand offish, or a snob. He WENT TO PARTIES and associated with others who were considered low class or no class. He was never called UNAPPROACHABLE. His FAITH made him LIKEABLE, not DETESTABLE and, as a result, people liked him; but that would soon change!

A short time later, Jesus began to publically stand up for the Lord of Righteousness; to publically stand up for Himself. He cleared the temple of the money changers and, almost instantly, the people who had liked Him began to hate Him. The money changers were legal and righteous under the law of the land, but Christ was adhering to a higher law.

   

Like Dr. King and Christ, we also must stand up for righteousness; not necessarily as radical social reformers, but as servants of a righteous God.

Our main text  will come out of the book of Daniel, the 3^rd chapter and we will begin with verse 16. This is a story that many of you are already familiar with. The prelude to this story is that Israel is under bondage in Babylon. There was a King named Nebuchadnezzar, who was a ruthless ruler.

He made the laws, enforced the laws, and interpreted the laws. In our society, he would be the president, the congress, and the Supreme Court all rolled into one man. He was a law unto himself and, because of that, He felt that he was so powerful that anything he decreed had to be obeyed.

People obeyed him because they feared him and wanted his love and favor. It is a sham when you obey someone simply because you want them to like you, love you, or favor you. It is as bad as loving someone because you fear them.

There are Christians today, as Rev. Calhune would say, not in St. John’s, but at your cousin’s church, who obey God only because they want God to love them and favor them. They feel that if they obey God, God will in turn love them. Well, I got news for them. God loves them anyway; He just doesn’t love the things they and the way they act. God loved them before they obeyed Him.

He loved them so much that He gave His only begotten son so that they might have a right to the tree of life. Christ loved them so much that He went all the way to Calvary for them; and they still must be favored, because He woke them up this morning and, in the words of my sister Rosie, THEY’RE STILL HERE!!! SAINTS, DON’T JUST OBEY GOD SO THAT HE WILL LOVE YOU, OBEY GOD BECAUSE YOU LOVE HIM!!! Well, that’s a sermon for another day!

Anyway King Nebuchadnezzar commissioned a golden image to be built and, when it was completed, he issued a decree that a dedication ceremony was to be held and everyone was to bow down before this golden image. THIS WAS THE LAW OF THE LAND.

Well, as many you already know, there were three Hebrew boys who refused to obey. The King was furious and had them brought before his court. Noticing their age, he tried to intimidate and threaten them with fear of his great power and authority. The bible doesn’t tell us the ages of these three boys, but sticking with Hebrew tradition and the Hebrew rites of passage for a male to go from boy to manhood, I would surmise that they were 13 years old or younger. But they had been raised in captivity and, therefore, they had been through the fire of trials and tribulation; they now answered to a greater power and higher authority. They were now ready to stand up for the Lord of Righteousness. One was named Shadrach; one was named Meshach; and the third was named Abednego.

Let’s take a look at what they said to the King in Verses 16 and 17 of Daniel Chapter 3.

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.”

Their faith was so great that, in essence, they told this great King to do whatever he had to do because they served a God who can do and will do. SAINTS, is there anybody in here who knows that we serve a CAN DO, WILL DO God? If you have that kind of faith in God, you ought to turn to your neighbor and say, I serve a CAN DO, WILL DO God.

The faith of these three Hebrew boys was not just superficial faith. Their faith was not an “ify” faith or just words. Their faith was not a comprising or deal making faith; it was not a bargain basement faith or dollar general faith. Jacob started out with the bargain basement faith. In Genesis 28:20-21, He makes a vow to God, saying, IF the Lord will be with him, watch over him, give him food, give him clothing, shelter, and protect him, THEN (and only then) will the Lord be his God.

Many of today’s Christians have started out with that kind of faith. There is nothing wrong with starting out with type of faith. The bible says that if you have faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, you can move mountains. The problem is you have to build on that faith. You have to be purified through the fire so that one day you can stand up for the Lord of Righteousness.

The faith of three Hebrew boys is top shelf faith. They have that “feel like going on” faith; the type of faith that compels you to keep on keeping on, no matter what happens; the kind of faith that Job had. Can’t nobody or nothing change how you believe; the kind of faith that is rooted and grounded in the Hope that is beyond all Hope; Hope that is beyond the grave. The kind of Hope is that found in Christ who is the author and finisher of our Hope; the kind of Faith that makes you stand up for the Lord of Righteousness. Help me Holy Ghost!!!

Let’s read verse 18.

“But if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up”

The faith and obedience of these three boys was not dependent on God rescuing them. It didn’t change a thing with them whether God delivered them or not. They were committed to doing what was right for no other reason than that it was the right thing to do; they were doing what is right for only righteous sake. They were standing up for Lord and King of Righteousness.

Saints, if you are doing what is right just so you can stay out of hell and go to heaven, then you doing it for the wrong reason. Going to heaven and not to hell is just the “BENEFIT” of being obedient and doing what is right. It should not be the reason for you doing it. David said is Psalms 103, “Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul, and let me forget not all His benefits!” Salvation and going to heaven and avoiding the punishment of hell is a benefit; a gift from God. It should not be your sole reason for doing what is right. You should do what is right, simply because it is the right thing to do.

Many people are afraid to stand up for righteousness and rightly so. They afraid of losing friends; alienating their family; losing their job; losing their spouse; making their children mad; being ignored and left alone. Standing up for the Lord of Righteousness WILL NOT make you popular with everybody. There will be those who will, not only dislike you, but they will hate you; BUT SO WHAT!!! There are already people who hate you right now without you standing up for anything. If you stand up for the LORD of Righteousness and His commandments, you are standing up for someone greater than those in the world. SAINTS, Christ is your Friend, and He will never leave you nor forsake you.

SAINTS, I’m not trying to tell you to become a radical, I just saying that if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. There was time when people didn’t talk or act just any old way around Christians. Christian’s of yesterday, stood up for righteousness; you didn’t cuss and swear around Christians: you didn’t tell Christians dirty jokes or make lewd and obscene remarks; you didn’t gossip or talk bad about others with them.

You weren’t drunk and disorderly around them because if you did, you knew you would hear about it. They would be repelled and stand up for the Lord of Righteousness. Christians were different from everyone else. People thought they could be trusted because they didn’t steal and they didn’t lie. They had certain respect and high regard for Christians. There was a certain mystic about Christians and it was an honor to be a Christian. Even though we were often gathered together, they was still a type of invisible separation between the Christian and the non Christian, and each group knew where the other stood.

However, today, people will talk, act, and do anything they please around Christians. Some Christians, say that it is just the signs of the time and age we live in. They say people just don’t care that we are Christians. But I’m here today to tell you that it is NOT that they don’t care; it’s that we no longer care. If we would start acting like Christians, then people would treat us like Christians. Saints, we are God’s people called by His name.

We must be Christians in church and out of church; in season and out of season; when we feel like it and when we do not feel like it!!! People must see Christ in us to know who we are and what we stand for. God knows who you are; the devil knows who you are; but do you know who you are and, more importantly, why you are who you are. Stand up for the Lord of Righteousness and boldly claim that you are a Christian and will NOT allow unrighteousness to fester around you.

I thank God, because today, I know who I am!!! I am a CHRISTIAN, BUT WHEN I say that I AM A CHRISTIAN, I am NOT whispering that I am SANTIMONIOUSLY LIVING. I'm just SHOUTING WITH JOY THAT I WAS LOST, BUT NOW FOUND AND FORGIVEN!

WHEN I say that I AM A CHRISTIAN, I am NOT speaking of this with SINFUL PRIDE, I AM MERELY CONFESSING THAT I OFTEN STUMBLE AND NEED CHRIST TO BE MY GUIDE!

WHEN I say that I AM A CHRISTIAN, I am NOT trying to be STRONG, I’M JUST PROFESSING THAT I AM WEAK AND NEED HIS STRENGTH TO CARRY ON!

WHEN I say that I AM A CHRISTIAN, I am NOT bragging of SUCCESS, I’M JUST ADMITTING TO HAVE FAILED AND NEED GOD’S HELP TO CLEAN UP MY MESS!

WHEN I say that I AM A CHRISTIAN, I am NOT claiming to be PERFECT. MY FLAWS ARE TO VISIBLE, BUT I THANK GOD BECAUSE HE STILL THINKS I’M WORTH IT!

WHEN I say that I AM A CHRISTIAN, it does not mean that I do not suffer or feel no PAIN. I STILL HAVE MY SHARE OF HEADACHES AND HEARTACHES, BUT INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING, I CALL ON HIS NAME.

WHEN I say that I AM A CHRISTIAN, I no longer have an attitude of being HOLIER-THAN-THOU, I AM JUST THANKING GOD FOR THE HERE AND NOW!

WHEN I say that I AM A CHRISTIAN, I am NOT trying to get on your CASE, BECAUSE I'M JUST A SIMPLE SINNER WHO IS THANKFUL FOR GOD’S MERCY AND BEING SAVED BY HIS GRACE!

And when I say, I saying that I’m STANDING UP FOR THE LORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS it is because the Lord of Righteousness is Christ; He is the King of Kings and to Him only will I serve. He stood up for righteousness, for me and for you on Calvary; and He is still standing up for us. He stands up for us before the father; constantly defending us against the accusations of the devil. Somebody in here should be standing up right now for Him

We should stand for up for the Lord of Righteousness not just in St. Johns; we should stand up for Him in our homes; stand up for Him in the streets; stand up for Him in the stores; stand up for Him on our jobs. Stand up for Christ everywhere we go and with everyone we meet.

The bible says that King Nebuchadnezzar was so angry with these Hebrew boys that He ordered the furnace to be turned up seven times hotter than it normally would be. Faced with a horrible fiery death, these boys still refused to bow down to “A” KING, because they were standing up for “THE” KING. SAINTS, stand for up the King of Righteousness. The fire was so hot that the Guards, who bound the boys and threw them in furnace, burned to death; and all the while, these three boys walked around in that fiery furnace as though they were in an air-conditioned living room; and they weren’t in there alone.

The scripture says that there was a Fourth person in there with them. They were not forsaken. So, don’t be afraid of losing your friends, family, or job; you are not alone; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Even if the Fire gets seven times hotter, still STAND UP FOR CHRIST; STAND UP FOR THE KING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND WALK OUT THE FURNACE WITH HIM!!!

God Bless you all!!!