"The Journal of God"
Dan. 7:10, Rev. 20:12
Dan. 7:10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.
Mal. 3:16. Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A (book) scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. 17. "They will be mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
Rev.20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Intro:
Historians have discovered interesting entries in the journals of men. For instance, Christopher Columbus faced the very real threat of mutiny almost every day of his journey to the new world. Yet every night when things settled down, he went into his cabin and wrote at least one line in his log; "Today we sailed West." It is said that on July 4th, 1776 King George wrote in his diary, "Nothing happened today." (Oh - if he had a fax machine! Or e-mail.) Fifty years later, to the day, Thomas Jefferson lay dying and said, "It feels like the fourth of July."
God also keeps a journal. Each day entries are made which He will one day disclose. Meanwhile, there are entries available to us which indicate the sort of thing we can expect. As we familiarize ourselves with His word we sometimes get the sense He is journaling rather than legislating. I mean some of the things you read give you the feeling God wanted them written in His word not just for their historical value, nor just for their doctrinal content, but because they struck Him as significant. You sense that there are feelings attached to those entries. As if they are events worthy of mention. They bear all the features you would expect of things written in a diary; significance, sentiment and substance.
The verses we’ve read, and many we haven’t, make it abundantly clear that God is keeping record. He makes daily entries.
Let’s look at a few examples and consider the implications.
"THEN BEGAN MEN" Gen. 4:26c
There was a day early in the history of man that God made note of. Adam had lived 235 years when his grandson Enosh, Seth’s son, was born. By this time several births have taken place, uneventfully no doubt. But God wrote something special about the day Enosh was born. "At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD." -NIV
(KJV - "...then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.")
Man! Can you feel it? All those elements that I said make a good diary notation are here; significance, sentiment and substance. It was an important note. It is obvious God felt something in putting it down on paper. And it would be worth reading in the future. There is something about that line in God’s writing which causes the reader to pause.
The name Enosh means "mortal" or "man." One Bible dictionary says, "Attached to his birth is an implication of godly fear."
I won’t get into all the speculations of what this means. I’ll offer just two ideas. Some have suggested it means men began to call themselves by the name of the LORD by way of identifying themselves with Him as opposed to the idol worshipers around them who must have called themselves by the names of their gods (ie, Baalites). But I believe it simply means on that day, for whatever reason, men turned to the Lord and began to call on Him. It does seem they were already practicing idolatry at this time. Maybe their idol failed. Maybe Enosh’s birth was a sign to them, or an answer to prayer. Whatever the case, it seems a revival of calling on God began on the day he was born - and God took note.
(Many times we read of men turning to idols and calling out to things their own hands have made as though they were God.)We may not be idolaters as such, but too many times we lean on our own inventions and contraptions and abilities and understanding when we could call out to God instead. Don’t you suppose God would make note of it if we too would learn to call on Him as we know we should?
It would mark a turning point in our lives. ("August 29, 1999, They finally got it today. They called on Me first.")
"NEVER A DAY" Josh. 10:12-14
We read another entry in the journal of God entered years later in the days after Joshua began to lead Israel. It was a day that stood out in the Lord’s mind. He highlighted this page for easy reference. You’ll find it in Joshua 10; just two paragraphs long.
Josh. 10:12. On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:
"O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon,
over the Valley of Aijalon."
13. So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,
as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!
Verse 14 says, "there has never been a day like it before or since."
Wow! What a day! What a story!
Israel is at war. Joshua is in command. The battle is intense. And Joshua is certain Israel will win if they can hold the pressure and not let up until it’s finished. But it was noon and the sun would be going down. There was not enough daylight left to get the job done. (Sound familiar?)
The Bible says Joshua spoke to the Lord in front of all of Israel. It was one of those requests where urgency overran formality. This prayer doesn’t start with the customary "Dear God," or even the hurried "Oh Lord!" Instead Joshua speaks to the Lord by speaking to the need. "O sun, stand still...O moon (stand still)..." And they did as God honored Joshua’s command until the victory was won. Time froze for "about a full day."
I have a tract taken from the Longview Newspaper, related by Mr. Harold Hill, president of Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore, MD. He said that astronauts and space scientists in Greenbelt, MD for the purpose of sending up satellites, were checking the position of the sun, moon and planets - where they would be 100 years and 1000 years from now.
After feeding all the data into the computer and measuring the centuries back and forth, the computer stopped, a red light came on signifying a problem or misinformation. The service department was called. Nothing was wrong. The head of IBM operations asked what, "What is wrong?" The answer was ,"There is a missing day in space time elapsed." One of them remembered this lesson from Sunday School. They checked their information about the time of Joshua’s day and found they were missing 23 hours and 20 minutes. Not enough. After a time he also remembered II Kings 20 says the Lord brought the shadow on the sun dial back 10 degrees - the other 40 minutes. (-The Missing Day, in file marked "Bible.")
I have run across that article enough times to make me think it could be credible. But I know the Bible’s accounts are true.
There were other possible ways of winning this war. He could have asked God to strike the enemy like He did for Hezekiah. (II Ki. 19:35-36) But He didn’t ask for God to do it all. He just asked for a little help along the way. He wasn’t asking for a shortcut. He was willing to put in a long day (36 hrs!). Are you willing to fight that long? Would you contend with the enemy for 36 hours, like Joshua? Are you willing to wrestle with the Lord until daybreak, like Jacob?
The record of this event concludes, "Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!"
It was "a day when the Lord listened to a man." That’s one for the record books. (Not that He doesn’t get His share of advice from us!)
He always hears His people when they pray. But it’s like the sign in front of Hope Lutheran at the corner of 79 and 37 said, "God hears prayers - not advice." This day was an exception, and as such it was an exceptional day. "There has never been a day like it before or since."
(In II Sam. 23:11-12 where it tells of Shammah’s pea patch persuasion, we read the others fled.)
"ON THE FIRST DAY" Lk. 24:1
The next entry we’ll look at is found in all four Gospels with only slight variances in wording. It’s near the end of the Gospels. It was a day marked with bold letters in God’s journal. It’s "that great gettin’ up Sunday." I have leaned on Luke 24:1 for the gist of it.
"On the first day of the week ...they came to the tomb." -Lk. 24:1 (GB, paraphrased)
Every Gospel mentions the early morning adventure of these ladies. Their effort was noteworthy to God! Their courage impressed the Lord. God appreciates hard work and bravery. He likes to find faithfulness in His children. He wants to find us doing what we ought to be doing.
Of course that also means He doesn’t like slothfulness, nor cowardice.
(Others would have hidden behind locked doors. Others did hide behind locked doors.)
This one scores high for a number of reasons but I want to mention just two to make the point. First of all the Son of God was coming out of the grave. You know that was cause for special mention in the annals of the King. The plan of the ages was about to be fulfilled. Man’s salvation would now be possible through Jesus!
It also gets high marks because even though their faith may not have been full blown, their love was in full bloom. What they did they did out of love for Jesus. It may have been unnecessary to bring all those spices to finish dressing the body. Maybe they should have believed Jesus would literally rise from the dead just as He said. But their heart was in this task, unpleasant as it was. Dread of soldiers wouldn’t prevent them fulfilling their commitments. Rejection, the censorship of their peers, nor a stone too big to move could sway their determination.
God wrote it down.
And they were rewarded by being the very first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection.
"AND JESUS STANDING" Acts 7:55-56
The final entry we’ll look at this evening was made probably within two years of the resurrection of Christ. It’s another "no guts, no glory" entry. The persecution and stoning of Stephen, the Church’s first of many martyrs. Acts chapter 7. Stephen had already learned what was worth living for was also worth dying for.
Acts 7:54. When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.
55. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
In his death, as well as in his life, Stephen imitated Christ. He held no malice for his tormentors. He didn’t pray, "Father, unleash Your fury on them!" But "Lay not this sin to their charge." (NIV "Do not hold this sin against them.")
Not only what he did but also something he saw before he died was worth its inclusion in the journal of God. The Bible says when he looked up to heaven, as they began to stone him, he "saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God," and told them so.
No believer dies alone. The Lord is always there. He has promised to never leave or forsake us. That holds as true in death as it does in life. And certainly no martyr ever dies without Jesus drawing near. I don’t think it is stretching too much to believe that the posture of Jesus is typical in these situations. I don’t think it too far fetched to imagine He stands at every martyrdom. I think it shows His great love and empathy for those who love Him. He stands aghast. He stands in protest. He stands in military honor. He stands in welcome reception.
God made note of it all. Nothing went unnoticed.
(Some cower when the cross is inconvenient.)
Not Cassey Bernall, Rachel Scott nor a few other Columbine students. By the way, it doesn’t take a prophet to see that Christian persecution in this country is only going to escalate in the days ahead. We’ll need to remember the words of Jesus to the saints in Revelation.
-You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
. . . Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. Rev. 2:3, 10c
Close:
If God kept a diary what would He write about you? If you could choose, what would the entries read in the journal of God concerning you? (After all, we do have a choice in how it reads.)
To bring this a bit closer to home, let me ask you, how does it read so far? What did He write today? Will it read any different tomorrow? Will anything take place yet tonight that would be worthy of mention?
We’ve seen the significance of prayer in the mind of God. We’ve noted His response to bold faith. We see His admiration of courage and duty. And we have seen Him rise to honor those faithful unto death.
We don’t have to be reckless. We don’t have to be heroes. But we know we live far below our privileges, and far beneath our potential with His help so readily available.
Let’s you and I pledge to at least give Him more opportunities of finding things worth writing about in our lives.
One day He will have all those books opened and they will be read aloud before millions of hearers. May it be worthwhile stuff.
