Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity
Sermons. In one survey where participants were
asked to quote any verse in the Bible, the majority
of them said, God helps those who help themselves.
But did you know that that's not actually in
the Bible? Well, this week we're beginning a
new teaching series called The Bible Doesn't
Say That, where we look at some of those nice
sounding phrases that are often attributed to
the Bible, but aren't really in there. So listen
in as Rob uncovers the real origin story of this
phrase, its biblical connections, and the deeper
biblical truth. Today's reading is from Exodus
chapter 17, verses 8 through 13. The Amalekites
came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
Moses said to Joshua, choose some of our men
and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow
I will stand on top of the hill with the staff
of God in my hands. So Joshua fought the Amalekites
as Moses had ordered, and Joshua, Aaron, and
Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses
held up his hands, the Israelites were winning.
But whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites
were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, They
took a stone and put it under him, and he sat
on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on
one side, one on the other, so that his hands
remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame
the Amalekite army with the sword. The word of
the Lord. If you were to ask the average person,
what was the fruit that Eve ate in the Garden
of Eden? Most of you would say it was an... But
the Bible doesn't say that. If I were to ask
you, you know, how many wise men visited the
baby Jesus? Most of you would say there were...
Right, but the Bible doesn't say that. Cleanliness
is next to godliness. Sounds good. But the Bible...
doesn't say that. In fact, there was a bit of
a survey that was done a little while ago by
Barna, and they found that a remarkable number
of people thought that the epistles were the
wives of the apostles. And they thought that
Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. So it's funny, yes,
but it's also a bit of a reminder that just because
we think that something is written in the Bible
doesn't necessarily mean that it is in fact in
the Bible. The Bible may not say that. And so
what we decided to do was to devote a whole teaching
series for a number of weeks. where we can take
a look at some of those things that we attribute
to God, and some of those things that we assume
are in the Bible, but are in fact not in the
Bible, and take a good look at that. Now, this
may seem like a bit of a silly topic, and you
might be thinking, oh, I know why Rob's doing
this. It's because we just spent like seven weeks
looking at the seven deadly sins, and now he
wants to lighten things up a little bit and make
it a little fluffier, but we are not. Turning
this into fluff. There's actually, this is no
laughing matter, right? And we're not going to
be just spending the next few weeks looking at
different Bible trivia. Oh, did you know this
was in the Bible? Oh, did you know that wasn't
in the Bible? No, no, no. This is more serious
than that. And here is why. Because when we believe
things about God and God's character and how
God works, and those things are actually not
true of who God is, and they're not actually
in the Bible, then that actually changes. our
view of God. It changes our perception of God.
And that can actually, in turn, cause us to come
to some kind of crisis of faith at some point
in our life because the God we made up in our
head is not the God that we actually need in
a moment when we need God the most. So perhaps
a better way of putting this would be to say
that when we blur the word of God, then what
ends up happening is we bend our image of God.
And that can cause us to break our faith in God.
Right? Let me give you a little example of this.
This past week, I was on the telephone with somebody
whose mother had just gone into hospital for
what was supposed to be a very routine surgery.
But things took a turn, and as a result, she
may never walk again. It was horrid. However,
what he said to me on the phone was, and I'm
quoting, he said, I thought God... was never
supposed to give us more than we can handle.
You probably heard that one too, right? But that
is not in the Bible. And so what has happened
is that the word of God, what the Bible says
about God, has been blurred. That has now bent
his image of God. And maybe this isn't a God
that he can trust. And now he's at risk of maybe
breaking his faith in that God. But the Bible,
of course, never said that to begin with. Now,
misunderstanding God's word is not a new problem,
actually. In fact, it was the very first problem.
In one of the first conversations ever held in
the Bible, it's Eve and Adam and they are in
the garden and they are having a conversation
with Satan, the serpent, right? And the very
first recorded words of Satan were these words.
Did God really say, Eve, did God really say you
can't eat of any of the fruit of the garden?
Did God really say that? Did God really mean
that? And actually, Eve kind of, she says, well,
no, he didn't exactly say that. He didn't say
we couldn't eat of any of the fruit in the garden.
He just said there's this one tree in the garden
that if we were to eat of that or even touch
that, then we would die. And so Satan says, oh,
come on, you will not surely die. Now, I just
want to say this is Satan's very first strategy.
And this is Satan's strategy even to this day,
to blur what God actually said so that it bends
our image of who God is and causes us to break
our faith in God. Now, if you fast forward to
the days of Jesus, Jesus had an encounter with
Satan as well, a temptation with Satan. But Jesus
responded in a very positive way and a helpful
way. Every time Satan came at Jesus with some
kind of statement, then Jesus would answer by
saying, well, actually, no, that's not what the
Bible says. It is written in the Bible, such
and such. And actually, at one point, Satan gets
smart to this. And so Satan says. He starts quoting
scripture to Jesus and Jesus actually realizes
he's twisting that and he's taking it out of
context. And so Jesus kind of relied on knowing
what the Bible really said so that he could respond.
when the time came so yes we're going to have
a little fun with this series but but i don't
want you to see it as like a laughable matter
we need to know what the bible really says because
we need to know who god really is so that we
can develop a faith that really endures and the
phrase that we're going to be looking at today
the one that bill crawford read from the book
of fabrications is God helps those who help themselves.
You've heard this one before. You've probably
said this one before. God helps those who help
themselves. Actually, most people say it. The
Bible says God helps those who help themselves.
There was apparently a survey, again, I think
done by Barna Research, that over 75 % of Americans
believe that God helps those who help themselves
is found in the Bible. Canadians, I think, are
at least a little bit smarter than Americans.
So if we were to do the survey here, it might
come out to be something like 70%. But they actually,
there was another little poll they did where
they literally went up to people on the street
and they said, hey, just tell us one verse that's
in the Bible, any verse, give us any Bible verse.
And the verse that was most commonly cited was
in fact this verse. that isn't actually in the
Bible at all. I mean, this sounds like it should
be in the Bible, right? It's the kind of, you
know, it really makes sense to us. In fact, I
was just thinking the other day when our daughter
Sophia went off to a university, we kind of worked
this deal with her. We said, listen, we will
help with residents and we'll help, you know,
with your food plan and getting some books and
stuff like that. But we want you. To do your
part. And we want you to get a summer job so
that you can help pay your tuition. So you do
your part and we'll do our part. Right? God helps
those who help themselves. It's the kind of thing
that we would do. And so we assume that that
must be kind of how God is as well. But today,
let's ask three questions. The three questions
I want to ask, and these are all in your notes,
by the way. The three questions are, where did
this saying come from? If it's not in the Bible,
where did it come from? Secondly, is there any
truth to it? And then thirdly and lastly, what
does the Bible really say? Okay, let's start
with this first question. Where did it come from?
Well, you do a little digging. And you discover
that this phrase is traced back, not to the Bible,
but 500 years before Jesus, there was this guy,
Aesop. You guys have heard of Aesop's fables?
Yeah, yeah. So Aesop wrote a fable, and this
particular fable was called Hercules and the
Wagoner. And in the fable, what essentially happens
is there's this guy, he's driving a wagon through
a field. The wagon gets mired and stuck in some
mud. And so... The guy, he gets out of his wagon,
gets off his horse or whatever, and he gets down
and he cries out to Hercules for help. He says,
oh, Hercules, help me in my hour of distress.
And sure enough, Hercules shows up. But when
Hercules appears, this is what Hercules says.
He says, man, don't sprawl there. Get up and
put your shoulder to the wheel. The gods help
those who help. The moral of the story, according
to Aesop, is you don't sit around and wait for
divine help to come, right? You've got to be
willing to do your part. The gods reward those
who make a little effort, and they're not idle.
So, a short while later, there was this other
guy named Euripides. He was a Greek... playwright.
And he picked up on this phrase as well. And
it's slightly different wording, but in one of
his plays, he put something like this, try first
thyself and then call on God. So for the worker,
for what? For the worker, God helps. God helps
the worker. In other words, you got to work at
it and then God will help you. And that fit really
well with Greek. philosophical worldview that
said that the gods are especially partial to
those who are willing to put in a little bit
of effort and take some initiative. But really,
it became popular in the English language because
of Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin in the
1700s, some book he wrote full of pithy little
sayings called Poor Richard's Almanac. And in
that book, he writes, God helps those who help
themselves. And that aligned really well with
American values at the time, which was all about
determination and hard work. And so that's how
it came to us. That's how it came to us. Search
the Bible, you will not find it. But Aesop and
Euripides and Benjamin Franklin and probably
hundreds of other instances of how this idea
trickled down to us and now we assume that somehow
it came from the Bible. But I think an even more
interesting question is this, not just how it
got to us, but is there any truth to it, right?
And I think, and maybe you'd agree with me, that
yes. There's got to be some truth to this because
that's why it's so catchy and why we latch onto
it. You know, a few years ago when we moved here
to Mississauga, we had this ginormous bench.
It was almost like a pew. It was huge. And we
had to get it up our stairs to the top floor.
And there was no way I could do it. So I needed
some help. And so Hercules wasn't available.
And so I called on the next best person I knew,
Jordan Goddard. So Jordan, he came over. If you
know Jordan, he's a pretty strong fella. And
we got this thing up the stairs. Now, what if
when Jordan had come over, I had just sat there
in the corner, and Jordan was like, well, Rob,
aren't you going to help me with this? And I
said, no, no, I just thought you'd do it. He'd
say, well, listen, Rob, if you're not going to
do your part, there's no way I'm going to do
my part. And I think there's some truth to that
with God. Isn't there some truth? If you need
a job, yes, you should pray for a job. But you
should also get out there and apply for jobs.
You should create a resume. You should network.
You should go around and knock on a few doors.
God is not going to cause all the employers to
just call you. right? Or Jesus, you know, Jesus
said this once. He said, look at the birds of
the air, right? They're not sowing or reaping
or storing away in barn. It's your heavenly Father
feeds them. And that is true. I've never seen
a bird that looked particularly worried. And
yet, at the same time, they don't just stand
there with their mouths open waiting for God
to miraculously feed them. No, birds are actually
pretty busy. They're always doing something.
I don't know what they're doing, but they're
busy out there. They're working hard. They're
building nests. They're getting worms, whatever.
And the point is, is that they're working somehow
in cooperation with God's help. Now, the same
goes for human beings. In fact, Paul has this
great line in 2 Thessalonians. He says, those
who are unwilling to work will not get to eat.
In other words, God does, in a way, help those
who are diligent and those who are busy. God
does not want us to be passive and just sitting
around. One author I was reading this week kind
of put it this way. He said, generally speaking,
God will not generally do for you. what he enables
you to do for yourself. So if you have a test
coming up this week, high schoolers, it doesn't
mean you don't have to study for your test. No,
you've got to study for your test. You better
study for your test. You know, if you feel like
you don't want to go to work, well, no, you better
go to work. You got to go to work and you better
show up with a good attitude. Why is that? Because
God has enabled you to do some things on your
own. And there's some expectation that you're
going to do what you've been enabled and gifted
to do. So God gave you a mind, right? God gave
you a body. He gave you a will. So use it, right?
God does help us in a way. God does help us when
we help ourselves. So that being said, that being
said, It is also very important to say that that
is not the moral of the story when it comes to
the Bible. You actually, if you were to read
the Bible, you would never come away with the
idea that this book is about how God helps those
who help themselves. No, really what the Bible
really says is definitely something like this.
God helps those who can't. help themselves. Now,
you won't find this in the Bible either. This
line is also not in the Bible, so don't go look
for it. That's not a verse, but this is what
the Bible is about, right? This is what the Bible
is about. The story, in fact, of God's people.
begins with a cry for help. The Israelites groaned
in their slavery. Remember, they were slaves
in Egypt. And they cried out and their cry for
help because of their slavery went up to God.
God heard their groaning and he remembered his
covenant. God didn't hear their cry for help
and say, put your shoulder to the wheel and push
a little harder. Or I only help those who've
helped themselves. I want to see you take some
initiative first. No, no, no. God just helps.
God's heart. and God wants to help his people.
You know, throughout the Bible, God is constantly
helping people who can't help themselves. What
kind of people? People who are like needy people.
God helps weak people. God helps sad people.
God helps sick people. God helps lonely people.
God helps people who are like up to their eyeballs
in troubles. God helps people who ask. God helps
people who can't help themselves. In fact, sometimes
you could even accuse God of going a little too
far in his help. You know, there's one time Jesus
said that one of the characteristics of God is
that God causes the sun to rise on evil people
and good people. And God sends rain on righteous
people and unrighteous people. He's helping everyone
out, even people we think maybe don't deserve
God's help. This is, as you start reading through
the Bible, you see it again and again. God is
someone who helps. I lift up my eyes to the hills,
the psalmist says. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and
earth. Elsewhere, the psalmist says, God is our
refuge and our strength. A very present help
in trouble. Or another, this is also in the book
of Hebrews. The Lord is my helper. I will not
fear. What can man do to me? I don't know if
you, I mean, some of you guys will know this.
This is a classic old hymn. We haven't sang this,
at least in the four years I've been here, but
some of you guys will know this. Isaac Watts,
sing it with me, would you? Sing it with me.
Oh God, our help in ages past, our hope for years
to come. Our shelter from the stormy blast and
our eternal home. That was beautiful. I like
your, you got a good job. Yeah, yeah. God is
a helper. God's a helper. He's not a coach. He's
not cheering you on from the sides. He's not
a critic, pointing out all the things you've
done wrong. He's not a consultant who's there,
you know, if you can afford his fee, right? God
helps those who can't help themselves. And thank
goodness, because we all need help, right? I
need help. And I'll tell you a secret about you.
You need help. In fact, turn to the person beside
you and say, you need help. Yeah. Yeah. There
are many areas in life where you need help, right?
And here's the problem. The bigger the problem
is, actually, the more help that we need. But
sometimes if we don't get help, then little problems
become into great big problems, right? A little
bit of overspending turns into like full -blown
debt. A little bit of unresolved conflict becomes
a broken marriage. A little bit of flirting becomes
a devastating divorce. A bad habit becomes an
addiction. Why? Because we didn't get help. We
need help. Without help, little things grow into
big things. Now, our pride says, don't ask for
help. You don't need help, right? You know, you
can fix this yourself. Pride says that actually,
pride makes us think that asking for help is
a sign of failure. But what I want to say to
you today is asking for help is actually a sign
of faith. Because what you're doing is you're
admitting your need for God and coming to God
to ask for help. is really the beginning of faith.
If you've ever had that moment where you're like,
I'm at the end of my rope. I don't know what
to do. I've got no more options. I'm stuck. Then
finally, you know, you've let go of your pride
and you're in the perfect position to seek help
from God. And you might now say, well, how do
we get help from God? Well, even Aesop knew how,
right? It's through prayer. Again and again and
again, the Bible shows us that those who, that
God helps those who pray. those who ask for help.
So the Bible doesn't say, you know, we should
be people of self -help. It says we should be
people who look for help in prayer. Now, I just
want to say right away, some of you will not
like this whole conversation about prayer because
you're disappointed with prayer because you prayed
for things before and it has not happened. Or
you feel guilty when it comes to prayer because
you're like, oh, I ought to pray more and I don't
pray enough. Or some of you, you know, you are
confused by prayer because other people around
you seem to have these wonderful experiences
of prayer, but that's not been your experience.
And some of you, obviously, lots of us, skeptical
about prayer, not really sure if praying actually
does anything at all. Or maybe you're on the
other side, and you're like that story we just
read from Exodus. where prayer has been a lifesaver
for you. Guys, let's just take a look at this
story. This is like a crazy, crazy story. So
here's the situation. Israel was on their way
to go to the promised land. And on their way
to the promised land, they get attacked by this
group of people called the Amalekites. And so
Moses needs a plan. He's got to figure out what
to do. And so he calls his general, Joshua, together.
He says, Joshua, we've got to have a strategy
session. What are we going to do with these Amalekites?
And they talk and talk. And finally, Moses comes
up with the weirdest plan. He says, here's the
plan. You, Joshua, you choose some of your men
and you go fight the Amalekites. And I will stand
on top of that hill with the staff of God in
my hand. That's the plan. That's the plan. Yes,
that's the plan. And then, of course, the next
morning, that's exactly what happens. Joshua
goes out to the battlefield and him and his men,
you know, start fighting. And Moses climbs the
hill along with his brother Aaron and another
fellow called Hur. And Moses lifts his arms toward
God. This is a posture of prayer. This is a posture
of asking God for help. Now, the text actually
doesn't tell us what Moses... We don't know,
and maybe it wasn't much of a prayer at all.
But that's okay, because actually... Prayer isn't
about our impressive words, right? It's not so
much how you pray, but to whom you are praying.
And so there's Moses. There he is with his arms
lifted up. And this is the weird thing. Help
comes. Power from heaven seems to come and help
the fighting down in the valley. Whenever, you
know, Moses has got his arms up in the air asking
for help, it seems like the Israelites are winning.
The battle is going in their favor. But of course,
over time, his arms get weak. gets tired. And
when his staff comes down, the fighters seem
to lose heart. Something changes. The power shifts.
And now they are, in fact, being defeated. And
so he has to lift his hands up again. The point
is this. There is a lot more to this fight going
on than just soldiers and swords and all that.
There is a help coming from God. And when Moses
lifts his hands in prayer, help comes. Guys,
that is a perfect picture for us, actually, that
we all need help. And the way we ask for that
help is to lift our hands to God in prayer. And
we're all fighting battles, right? I'm not sure
what battle you're fighting, whether it's something
at work or at home or something with your finances
or even health. You have a health battle that
you're facing. At any time, you can raise your
hands and you can pray and you can ask for help.
Because what this story shows us is that God
is able to help. God is able to create the universe,
to speak the universe into existence. God is
able to part the waters of the Red Sea. God was
able to feed 5 ,000 people with a few bread.
God was able to open the eyes of blind people.
He was able to help lame people walk. He was
able to help deaf people hear again. God was
able to raise dead people. back to life, right?
I could actually talk to some people in this
room, and you would be able to tell me, let me
tell you how God showed me at a time of need
that he was able. There are lots of those stories
out there, 100%. But of course God is able. God
wouldn't be God if God didn't have power, if
God wasn't able. But that's just the thing. We
don't just need a God who's able. We need a God
who is willing, and we'll get to that in a second.
But check this out. God is able. To do immeasurably
more than all we can ask and imagine. Let's look
at how this sentence builds. God is able. Okay,
good. God is able to do more than we ask. God
is actually able to do immeasurably more than
all we ask. Or God is able to do immeasurably
more than all we ask. Or imagine, just keeps
on going and going and going. But you see, the
thing is, we don't just need a God who is able
to help. We also have to have a God who is willing
to help. Who cares if God is powerful if he doesn't
care about us enough to come and help us? Strength
wouldn't matter at that point. But he is willing.
He's willing to hear your cry. He is willing
to come to your aid. He is willing to carry your
burdens. God is not just mighty. He is merciful.
God is not just able, but he's available. He's
available, right? In fact, he is so willing that
in order to help us, he became like us. He took
on flesh. He came right down to our level to
care for us. Now, get this, though. Even more
than this, Jesus was so willing to help us that
as a human, He became a person who needed help
himself. Jesus would have had to say, Mommy,
feed me. Mommy, help me walk. Mommy, Daddy, help
me tie my sandals. I need help. Jesus knows what
it is like to need help. Even at the end of Jesus'
life, do you remember this story? Jesus needed
help. When he was carrying his cross, to his
moment of crucifixion and death, he couldn't
carry it alone. He needed help. So they grabbed
this guy from the crowd, Simon of Cyrene, and
they made him carry the cross for Jesus. And
on that cross, Jesus gives us the greatest help
we could ever need for the greatest problem we
ever faced. Because when we were utterly helpless,
Christ came at just the right time and died for
us sinners. So whether you look at the birth
of Jesus, the life of Jesus, or the death of
Jesus, God knows what it's like to be weak, to
be small, and to need help. But he was also able
to, also willing to give up everything to experience
what it was like to need help. That God is not
distant. That is not a disinterested God. That
is a God who is both able and willing. And, by
the way, waiting, waiting. to help you right
now. Just before I end, I think it is worth noting
that once you come to grasp how God is willing
and able to help you, it should change our hearts
and make us the kind of people that are willing
and able to help. Don't you find it interesting
that when Moses' hands were getting weak up there
and his strength started to give out, it was
his friends who came along and helped lift up
his hands for him. They were his helpers, right?
And somehow in all that mess of help and weakness,
God's power was unleashed. And when you see people
in your daily life who are in need, you may be
tempted to say, ah, God helps those who help
themselves. We may be like Hercules. We may have
the strength to help someone, but we figure they
should figure it out on their own. Maybe one
thing you can do this week when you leave here
is to look around you a little more carefully
and see whose arms are getting weak and who needs
help. Will you be like her or will you be like
Hercules? Will you help or will you refuse to
help in the time? comes. So there you go. The
Bible doesn't say that. You know, when we were
babies, we needed help eating and walking and
dressing. And guess what? If you live long enough,
you're going to need help again, eating and walking
and dressing, right? We are born needing help.
And we die needing help. But in the middle of
our life, we sometimes convince ourselves that
we don't need help. But we do. And all it takes
is a phone call from the doctor. All it takes
is a pink slip from work. And we realize we need
help. The good news is not that God helps those
who help themselves. The good news is that God
hears your prayer for help, is able and willing
to give help. May even use a church like this
to supply the help that you need when your arms
are growing weak. And why is that? Because God
helps those who can't help themselves. People
like you and people like me. Thanks be to God.
Amen. Thank you for listening to this week's
episode of Trinity Sermons. This sermon was recorded
at Trinity Church Streetsville on April 27, 2025.