The year was 1777. A British army of 13,000 men marched on Philadelphia, and the American Congress had fled the city. The Continental army fought valiantly to hold back their enemy, but they were outflanked and outfought and eventually the English took the city. But before the Philadelphia was abandoned, Congress ordered every bell in the city to be removed and hidden to prevent the English from melting them down to make more cannons.
In all, eleven bells were moved, one of which was the Liberty Bell. Not only did they have to get the bells down from some very high steeples, but they also had to move them to safety under the cover of night. And then they had to hide them, but where could they hide that many massive bells? Well, believe it or not, The Liberty Bell and most of the other bells were hidden in the basement of a church building in nearby Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Now think about that - the Liberty Bell found shelter in a house dedicated to God. And you could literally say the symbol of our liberty was sheltered with God. (http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/the-mystery-of-americas-liberty-bell)
Our text today is a prophecy from Isaiah that talks about God’s people finding their shelter in something called “the branch of the LORD”: “In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem…The LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day; and the shining of a flaming fire by night; For over all the glory there will be a canopy. There will be a booth for shade from the heat of the day, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.” Isaiah 4:2-3 & 5-6
Everything in that prophecy foretold of the BRANCH of the LORD who would be OUR refuge thru from the heat of the day and who would be a shelter in the time of storms.
Now, the first question is WHO is this branch that God promises? Well, that would be the MESSIAH (pause) that would be JESUS. Later in the book of Isaiah we’re told that “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots A BRANCH will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.” Isaiah 11:1,2
Every commentary tells us that’s the Messiah, that’s Jesus.
Now, the prophet JEREMIAH ALSO wrote almost the exactly the same thing about that Branch. He described the branch as being the coming King - the promised Messiah. “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up to David a RIGHTEOUS BRANCH, A KING WHO WILL REIGN WISELY and do what is just and right in the land.” Jeremiah 23:5
Did you catch that? Jesus is our Messiah. He is our King. Jesus reigns NOW – with wisdom/ understanding/ counsel/ and might, and He IS your REFUGE… Jesus IS your SHELTER.
Now, the theme of our sermon series (this month) is “Camping With Jesus”. Now I love camping… I love spending time in “the great outdoors.” (PAUSE) But as much as I love spending time in the great outdoors, I really don’t enjoy it that much when I’m caught in a storm. When lightning and thunder fill the sky, and when rain comes down in torrents - I really don’t want to be in the great outdoors - I want to be great indoors – I want to be in a shelter! A tent might work; A picnic shelter would be even better because tents tend to leak. But even more than that (in a storm) I’d much prefer to be inside a cozy trailer or cabin. I want a shelter in a time of storm. And so God promises us that “(The BRANCH - Jesus) will be our “shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.” Isaiah 4:6
JESUS IS OUR REFUGE AND OUR SHELTER
(PAUSE) Someone once said: Life is hard. But life without Jesus is harder. (James Nichols)
Someone else put it this way “Life is hard. But life without Jesus isn’t just hard. It’s empty… it’s exhausting… it’s almost unbearable.”
Now WHY is life without Jesus empty, exhausting and unbearable? Because (without Jesus) folks choose a refuge that is poorly built. They choose a shelter that will collapse when they face… storms.
Jesus talked about that: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, AND IT FELL, and great was the fall of it." Matthew 7:26-27
Why did their house fall? It fell because it was poorly built. Their shelter was built on the bad foundation.
ILLUS: Someone once told me about the problems a friend of theirs was having. This friend was nice guy, easy to get along with, extremely talented worker - but his life was falling apart. And so I asked: “Does this young man know Jesus?” And the answer was – “No!” Well, there’s his problem.
Without Jesus, life is hard – empty, exhausting and almost unbearable. And Jesus said “Don’t do that! Don’t do it YOUR way… do it mine! “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29
(PAUSE) Well – THAT’S GREAT! Now that I’m a Christian everything will be wonderful. Now that I’m a Christian I won’t face storms anymore! Well, no. That’s not what Jesus said: Jesus said: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the RAIN FELL, and THE FLOODS CAME, and THE WINDS BLEW AND BEAT on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. Matthew 11:26-27
Did you catch that? Jesus said… even for those of us who HEAR His words and DO what He tells us - the rain is still going to fall; and the Floods are still going to come; and the Winds will still blow and beat against our lives. But the difference is this we won’t be destroyed. And we’re not going to be destroyed because we’ve built our lives on the Rock… on Jesus. He is our shelter. He is our refuge.
ILLUS: Our passage in Isaiah uses an interesting Old Testament story to illustrate what the Promised Messiah was going to accomplish in our lives. Isaiah 4:5 said that “the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night…”
That was a reminder of the day that God led Israel out of slavery in Egypt. And from the day they left Egypt, until they came to the Promised Land, Israel was led by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. Those pillars of cloud and of fire led Israel into uncomfortable situations.
(PAUSE) One of the most dramatic was when God led Israel to the Red Sea. Following the cloud Israel found themselves trapped by the sea in front of them and the chariots of Egypt behind them. The Israelites were so frustrated they complained to Moses “Was it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the wilderness?” Exodus 14:11
And Moses’ response was classic: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will seethe deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.” Exodus 14:13
The waters parted, and Israel crossed as if on dry ground, But the Egyptians didn’t quite make it and the Egyptians that the Israelites saw following them - they never saw them again.
MY POINT IS - the Israelites faced danger and even death. But God led them through the storms they faced. And we’re told that “The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.” Exodus 13:22
The people of God were never abandoned… never forsaken. And that’s our promise from Jesus - He’ll never leave us. He’ll never forsake us. Or as the 23rd Psalm puts it: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil FOR THOU ART WITH ME!”
Jesus is our shelter, He is our refuge. He’s the one who will guide us the valley of the shadow of death. He will never abandon us through any persecution or trial, and He will never forsake … even when we face death. “Come to me” – said Jesus – “all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”
But now… here’s the deal. In order to be sheltered by Jesus… in order to have his peace and rest we need to stay close beside Him. We need stay inside the shelter Jesus supplies us.
ILLUS: Years ago I did a funeral for an old farmer, and at the Funeral home there were flowers and pictures and other mementoes. But there was one odd item on one of the tables all by itself. It was a pair of old blue jeans. They were ragged and torn, but all the visitors stopped at that table; and they all looked at old pants for a few moments as they entered. You see, this was the pair of pants the man had worn the day he’d been struck by lightning.
Now I’m NOT sure where he was when this happened, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t inside a house or barn at the time. He wasn’t in a shelter. He was probably out - standing in the field. And he was struck by lightning because he wasn’t inside a shelter.
In the same way, we need to constantly seek to be with Jesus. He is our shelter… He is our refuge. He is the one who gives us peace/ rest/ protection.
CLOSE: I want to close with a story about our youth older youth. Last week, Scott told you about the lesson he gave to the older youth about Jesus walking on the water as He went out to the disciples who were on the Sea of Galilee. It was a rough night to be out on the sea - the wind was howling, the waves were choppy - but there was Jesus just walking calmly on the water.
Now, what Scott didn’t tell you (because I’m pretty sure he was leaving it for me) was what happened when I took four of the boys home that night on the bus. The night was a bit ominous, wind was blowing and the sky was dark… REALLY dark.
And a couple of the boys were getting concerned. They’d either thought they’d heard there was a tornado warning, or they just looked at the stormy clouds and decided a tornado was a very real possibility. This wasn’t a casual conversation… they were dead serious. And the more they talked about it, the more worried they got.
And then one of the boys said “Maybe we should pray about it.” And they did. I could hear their young voices praying - and it was obvious they TRULY believed that God could protect them from the storm.
“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, FOR THOU ART WITH ME. Jesus is our shelter… and our refuge.
