"DON'T JUST DO SOMETHING,
STAND THERE"
MF Blume
December 19, 1999 am
Exod 14:10-13 And when Pharaoh
drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the
Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children
of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because [there
were] no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?
wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
[Is] not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone,
that we may serve the Egyptians? For [it had been] better for us to serve
the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said
unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation
of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye
have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
Numb 9:6-8 And there were certain men, who
were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover
on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day: And
those men said unto him, We [are] defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore
are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his
appointed season among the children of Israel? And Moses said unto them,
Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning
you.
Josh 3:7-8 And the LORD said unto Joshua,
This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that
they may know that, as I was with Moses, [so] I will be with thee. And
thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying,
When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand
still in Jordan.
Job 37:14 Hearken unto this, O Job:
stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
Many, many people have heard about Jesus Christ and have chosen to
serve Him to a degree.
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Yet, not enough people have truly contemplated about Him and realized all
that they should realize before making a decision to serve Him and obey
Him.
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As a result, many have slipped away after time.
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The proper preparation never occurred in their lives.
They went ahead and did something, set out to serve Him, but perhaps went
too soon.
Don’t just do something, stand there.
I want us all to stand still and consider the wondrous works of God
this morning.
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All over the world, people are thinking about Jesus’ birth today.
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I want to help you understand “what child is this.”
Israel was ready to act in haste and foolishly attempt to solve their own
problems.
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God told Moses to tell them to stand still and see God’s glory.
Later on, Israel was ready to enter the Promised land.
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They were told to LOOK before they entered.
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And they sent in spies to look at the blessed land.
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But they did not concentrate on what God wanted to give them when they
looked.
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They concentrated upon some things they felt they could not deal with,
and they were not able to enter.
Even Jesus said look and then enter.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said
unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
You have to LOOK before you enter.
Ephe 1:3-4 Blessed [be] the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ: According as he hath chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love:
The foundation of the world is what you read about in the first chapters
of Genesis.
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Before God said “Let there be light,” God planned to have all humanity
in Christ, holy to God.
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And so everything done in the foundation of the earth would speak to us
of this plan.
Each day of Genesis chapter 1, when God said, “Let there be,” afterward
“He called.”
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He said “Let there be light.” And then when light was made, He called
the Light day.
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He said, “Let there be a firmament,” and then He called the firmament Heaven.
God “said” and then “called.”
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But on the third day, He “said” twice.
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He said “Let the waters be gathered together and let the dry land appear.”
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And he called the land Earth, he called the waters Seas.
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But then God “said” again.
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He did not do this beforehand.
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And what He said on the third day is very important.
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“Let the earth bring forth grass.”
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And, “The herb yielding seed.”
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And, “The fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself.”
And after He spoke about fruit and seeds, we read the story of Adam and
Eve, and how they sinned and disobeyed God.
And God said something that made mention of seeds.
Gene 3:14-15 And the LORD God said
unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above
all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou
go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
From a long lineage of fallen humanity, every one of them born in sin because
of what their great ancestor Adam did, would come a seed.
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The woman would have a seed come from her that would crush the head of
the serpent that deceived her.
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One man said that God planted a seed in humanity to one day come forth.
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Man was made from the dust of the ground.
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And a seed would come forth out of this earth, called mankind, and would
be a tree of life to humanity.
Wise men would come to Him.
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And wise men still come to Him.
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Only a fool would reject Jesus Christ, after realizing who He was.
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Shepherds would come to Him.
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All who realized who He really was, who are burdened and heavy laden, would
come to Him to find rest.
The all-important key is to realize who he is.
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When you hear or read about Jesus, don’t just do something, STAND THERE.
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You’ll never come across a more important man.
In Genesis we see Him referred to as a Seed.
In Revelation we see Him standing in the midst of a seven-branched candlestick,
like a tree.
It was the third day when God declared that the fruit would contain
its seed within itself.
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And we know the purpose of a seed.
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We know how a seed propagates itself.
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It needs to be planted so it can grow.
John 12:23-25 And Jesus answered them,
saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He
that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Sounds like eternal life.
And it was on a third day that this third day principle was fulfilled.
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God was not thinking so much of plants and seeds when He spoke the principle
that fruit had seeds in themselves.
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He was thinking of a Seed that would be planted in the earth, and on a
third day would resurrect in God’s glory and be the beginning of a brand
new human race.
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Out from within a human race that was totally tainted and corrupted, came
a Seed.
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He came out of humanity
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And God desired that all of that old human race to, in turn, go into Him,
and be swallowed up of Him, and made brand new in the eyes of God.
No wonder God spoke about seeds on the first third day.
Like Jesus, a Seed is born and its whole purpose is to be buried and
come forth again with more of itself.
One seed is buried and when it comes out of the ground as a plant, there
are perhaps thousands of seeds that are in that plant.
This is a perfect picture of Jesus resurrection, because everyone who
is baptized into Jesus Christ’s death are united to Him and God declares
that they have resurrected with Jesus Christ into a newness of life.
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Satan’s whole scheme was to destroy mankind, and would have gotten away
with it, had not God planted a seed.
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And when that seed was planted, it resurrected three days later and it
was then that He crushed the head of the serpent!
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He thwarted the entire plan of Satan.
When you hear about Jesus, don’t just do something... STAND THERE.
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Soak it up.
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Look at Him carefully.
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Think about what is being said about Him.
Some think that He is nothing as great as what is said about Him.
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How long has it been since He has been on this earth?
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2000 years.
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Their very efforts to disqualify Him, 2,000 years after he lived here,
proves the very thing they are trying to deny.
Billions of dollars are spent in producing songs and music that blasphemes
and denies Jesus Christ.
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And that many more billions of dollars are spent in purchasing that music
and listening to its message.
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Let the heavy rock music and its lyrics degrade Jesus.
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Let the movies of Hollywood attack Him.
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They’re all just proving to us that after 2,000 years – 2 millennia – His
influence is still so strong that they cannot get Him off their minds!!
Among all religions and all so-called holy people, they will curse the
name of Jesus more than any other.
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Christianity is ridiculed by more people than any other movement.
God said there would be enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed
of the serpent.
The world’s lack of silence about Him, and their abundance of criticism
about Him only proves that He is the most profound individual who ever
lived on the face of the earth.
And He never walked more than 100 miles away from the place of His birth!
I’d like to make a bumper sticker:
* JESUS CHRIST *
IF HE’S NOT SO GREAT, WHY CAN’T THE WORLD STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM?
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Don’t take Him lightly.
Don’t just do something when you hear of Him, STAND STILL AND SEE HIS
FULL GLORY.
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Let it sink into your hearts.
Here is the good news for all those who stand still and appreciate Him.
Ephe 1:15-21 Wherefore I also,
after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes
of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope
of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in
the saints, And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to
us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which
he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at
his own right hand in the heavenly [places], Far above all principality,
and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only
in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Ephe 2:4-7 But God, who is rich
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead
in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace
ye are saved;) And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit
together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus: That in the ages
to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus.
Hear what this said.
God raised Jesus up to sit at the very place of POWER.
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Far above every name that will ever be named.
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1:21 says, “not only in this world,”
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That prophecy has come to pass.
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In this world, so far, what other name has been so widely spoken?
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What other name has stood so high?
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But then it says, “not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come:”
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There is a new world coming.
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This world is going to be gone one day.
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And in the world to come, Jesus name will still be highest above all names.
And then we read that God took all of us who truly stood still and saw
Jesus’ glory, and raised us up with Him.
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Why?
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Ephe 2:7 That in
the ages to come he might shew the exceeding
riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
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Verse 7 is the reason.
An AGE is a period distinguished from other periods by unique characteristics
and events.
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There was the iron age of humanity, when man was only so far along in science.
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Then there was an age beyond that – the iron age.
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People talk about the stone age.
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Each of these ages had unique characteristics.
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But the Bible speaks of all the ages to come.
After this world is gone and a new world comes, and time is over and nothing
but eternity shoots on into the future, what ages will there be?
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What unique things will occur in the eternity future, long after this world
is gone, that will be enough to call periods in which they occur “ages”?
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Be sure of this, in all future ages, whatever unique events will occur
that distinguish one age from another, the greatness of his grace, in every
one of those ages, glorifying Him, WILL BE SHOWN IN THE CHURCH.
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God will receive glory in the church by Jesus throughout all ages.
Ephe 3:21 Unto him [be] glory in
the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world
without end. Amen.
Don’t just do something hasty.
Stand still and see His glory.
Eternity never ends.
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And there will never be an end to its ages.
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Ages will roll one after the other forever and ever.
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And in every one of them, God’s great grace and glory will be shown
in the church.
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All angels and other creatures destined to be with God for all eternity,
will focus their attention on the church in order to see God’s great and
exceeding rich grace, because God shows that in HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US.
God set Jesus up higher than any other.
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And He set us up with Him, because He is going to display His great grace
in us.
Matt 25:31-36
Hebrews 2:5,8
John 5:25-29
Don’t just do something hastily.
Stand there and look carefully. AND THEN ENTER.