WEBVTT 00:00:04.379 --> 00:00:06.820 Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity 00:00:06.820 --> 00:00:09.939 Sermons. In one survey where participants were 00:00:09.939 --> 00:00:12.619 asked to quote any verse in the Bible, the majority 00:00:12.619 --> 00:00:15.439 of them said, God helps those who help themselves. 00:00:16.100 --> 00:00:18.500 But did you know that that's not actually in 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:20.879 the Bible? Well, this week we're beginning a 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:23.059 new teaching series called The Bible Doesn't 00:00:23.059 --> 00:00:25.379 Say That, where we look at some of those nice 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:27.980 sounding phrases that are often attributed to 00:00:27.980 --> 00:00:30.989 the Bible, but aren't really in there. So listen 00:00:30.989 --> 00:00:33.789 in as Rob uncovers the real origin story of this 00:00:33.789 --> 00:00:36.750 phrase, its biblical connections, and the deeper 00:00:36.750 --> 00:00:44.609 biblical truth. Today's reading is from Exodus 00:00:44.609 --> 00:00:49.450 chapter 17, verses 8 through 13. The Amalekites 00:00:49.450 --> 00:00:52.329 came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 00:00:52.829 --> 00:00:56.289 Moses said to Joshua, choose some of our men 00:00:56.289 --> 00:01:00.060 and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:02.859 I will stand on top of the hill with the staff 00:01:02.859 --> 00:01:07.060 of God in my hands. So Joshua fought the Amalekites 00:01:07.060 --> 00:01:10.939 as Moses had ordered, and Joshua, Aaron, and 00:01:10.939 --> 00:01:15.219 Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses 00:01:15.219 --> 00:01:18.439 held up his hands, the Israelites were winning. 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:22.739 But whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites 00:01:22.739 --> 00:01:27.000 were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, They 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:29.519 took a stone and put it under him, and he sat 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:34.200 on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:37.939 one side, one on the other, so that his hands 00:01:37.939 --> 00:01:42.439 remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:45.879 the Amalekite army with the sword. The word of 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:50.859 the Lord. If you were to ask the average person, 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:55.299 what was the fruit that Eve ate in the Garden 00:01:55.299 --> 00:01:59.719 of Eden? Most of you would say it was an... But 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:03.980 the Bible doesn't say that. If I were to ask 00:02:03.980 --> 00:02:07.280 you, you know, how many wise men visited the 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:10.280 baby Jesus? Most of you would say there were... 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:13.659 Right, but the Bible doesn't say that. Cleanliness 00:02:13.659 --> 00:02:17.740 is next to godliness. Sounds good. But the Bible... 00:02:18.090 --> 00:02:22.389 doesn't say that. In fact, there was a bit of 00:02:22.389 --> 00:02:24.930 a survey that was done a little while ago by 00:02:24.930 --> 00:02:28.349 Barna, and they found that a remarkable number 00:02:28.349 --> 00:02:32.430 of people thought that the epistles were the 00:02:32.430 --> 00:02:38.550 wives of the apostles. And they thought that 00:02:38.550 --> 00:02:45.139 Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. So it's funny, yes, 00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:47.840 but it's also a bit of a reminder that just because 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:50.460 we think that something is written in the Bible 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:53.120 doesn't necessarily mean that it is in fact in 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:55.740 the Bible. The Bible may not say that. And so 00:02:55.740 --> 00:02:57.879 what we decided to do was to devote a whole teaching 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:00.520 series for a number of weeks. where we can take 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:02.340 a look at some of those things that we attribute 00:03:02.340 --> 00:03:04.919 to God, and some of those things that we assume 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:07.659 are in the Bible, but are in fact not in the 00:03:07.659 --> 00:03:10.740 Bible, and take a good look at that. Now, this 00:03:10.740 --> 00:03:14.120 may seem like a bit of a silly topic, and you 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:16.280 might be thinking, oh, I know why Rob's doing 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:18.099 this. It's because we just spent like seven weeks 00:03:18.099 --> 00:03:21.979 looking at the seven deadly sins, and now he 00:03:21.979 --> 00:03:24.120 wants to lighten things up a little bit and make 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:27.370 it a little fluffier, but we are not. Turning 00:03:27.370 --> 00:03:30.129 this into fluff. There's actually, this is no 00:03:30.129 --> 00:03:32.550 laughing matter, right? And we're not going to 00:03:32.550 --> 00:03:34.090 be just spending the next few weeks looking at 00:03:34.090 --> 00:03:36.330 different Bible trivia. Oh, did you know this 00:03:36.330 --> 00:03:38.469 was in the Bible? Oh, did you know that wasn't 00:03:38.469 --> 00:03:40.710 in the Bible? No, no, no. This is more serious 00:03:40.710 --> 00:03:44.229 than that. And here is why. Because when we believe 00:03:44.229 --> 00:03:48.569 things about God and God's character and how 00:03:48.569 --> 00:03:52.669 God works, and those things are actually not 00:03:52.669 --> 00:03:55.129 true of who God is, and they're not actually 00:03:55.129 --> 00:03:58.240 in the Bible, then that actually changes. our 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:01.659 view of God. It changes our perception of God. 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:06.419 And that can actually, in turn, cause us to come 00:04:06.419 --> 00:04:08.680 to some kind of crisis of faith at some point 00:04:08.680 --> 00:04:10.800 in our life because the God we made up in our 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:13.060 head is not the God that we actually need in 00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:16.300 a moment when we need God the most. So perhaps 00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:19.519 a better way of putting this would be to say 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:23.959 that when we blur the word of God, then what 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:27.279 ends up happening is we bend our image of God. 00:04:27.769 --> 00:04:32.750 And that can cause us to break our faith in God. 00:04:33.329 --> 00:04:35.410 Right? Let me give you a little example of this. 00:04:35.490 --> 00:04:37.829 This past week, I was on the telephone with somebody 00:04:37.829 --> 00:04:40.709 whose mother had just gone into hospital for 00:04:40.709 --> 00:04:42.490 what was supposed to be a very routine surgery. 00:04:43.149 --> 00:04:46.490 But things took a turn, and as a result, she 00:04:46.490 --> 00:04:51.410 may never walk again. It was horrid. However, 00:04:51.610 --> 00:04:53.790 what he said to me on the phone was, and I'm 00:04:53.790 --> 00:04:56.399 quoting, he said, I thought God... was never 00:04:56.399 --> 00:04:58.939 supposed to give us more than we can handle. 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:02.259 You probably heard that one too, right? But that 00:05:02.259 --> 00:05:06.550 is not in the Bible. And so what has happened 00:05:06.550 --> 00:05:10.029 is that the word of God, what the Bible says 00:05:10.029 --> 00:05:12.949 about God, has been blurred. That has now bent 00:05:12.949 --> 00:05:15.110 his image of God. And maybe this isn't a God 00:05:15.110 --> 00:05:19.129 that he can trust. And now he's at risk of maybe 00:05:19.129 --> 00:05:22.329 breaking his faith in that God. But the Bible, 00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:26.370 of course, never said that to begin with. Now, 00:05:26.370 --> 00:05:30.870 misunderstanding God's word is not a new problem, 00:05:31.050 --> 00:05:34.290 actually. In fact, it was the very first problem. 00:05:34.620 --> 00:05:37.839 In one of the first conversations ever held in 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:41.959 the Bible, it's Eve and Adam and they are in 00:05:41.959 --> 00:05:43.959 the garden and they are having a conversation 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:47.399 with Satan, the serpent, right? And the very 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:51.639 first recorded words of Satan were these words. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:57.180 Did God really say, Eve, did God really say you 00:05:57.180 --> 00:05:59.519 can't eat of any of the fruit of the garden? 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:01.740 Did God really say that? Did God really mean 00:06:01.740 --> 00:06:06.319 that? And actually, Eve kind of, she says, well, 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:10.060 no, he didn't exactly say that. He didn't say 00:06:10.060 --> 00:06:11.639 we couldn't eat of any of the fruit in the garden. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:13.300 He just said there's this one tree in the garden 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:15.620 that if we were to eat of that or even touch 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:19.660 that, then we would die. And so Satan says, oh, 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:23.399 come on, you will not surely die. Now, I just 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:25.680 want to say this is Satan's very first strategy. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:29.439 And this is Satan's strategy even to this day, 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:33.300 to blur what God actually said so that it bends 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:37.420 our image of who God is and causes us to break 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:42.550 our faith in God. Now, if you fast forward to 00:06:42.550 --> 00:06:45.670 the days of Jesus, Jesus had an encounter with 00:06:45.670 --> 00:06:48.470 Satan as well, a temptation with Satan. But Jesus 00:06:48.470 --> 00:06:52.189 responded in a very positive way and a helpful 00:06:52.189 --> 00:06:55.290 way. Every time Satan came at Jesus with some 00:06:55.290 --> 00:06:59.610 kind of statement, then Jesus would answer by 00:06:59.610 --> 00:07:02.389 saying, well, actually, no, that's not what the 00:07:02.389 --> 00:07:04.850 Bible says. It is written in the Bible, such 00:07:04.850 --> 00:07:07.050 and such. And actually, at one point, Satan gets 00:07:07.050 --> 00:07:09.779 smart to this. And so Satan says. He starts quoting 00:07:09.779 --> 00:07:12.920 scripture to Jesus and Jesus actually realizes 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:15.240 he's twisting that and he's taking it out of 00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:18.100 context. And so Jesus kind of relied on knowing 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:22.220 what the Bible really said so that he could respond. 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:25.660 when the time came so yes we're going to have 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:28.079 a little fun with this series but but i don't 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:30.560 want you to see it as like a laughable matter 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:34.139 we need to know what the bible really says because 00:07:34.139 --> 00:07:37.660 we need to know who god really is so that we 00:07:37.660 --> 00:07:42.800 can develop a faith that really endures and the 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.360 phrase that we're going to be looking at today 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.699 the one that bill crawford read from the book 00:07:47.699 --> 00:07:53.540 of fabrications is God helps those who help themselves. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:56.319 You've heard this one before. You've probably 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.319 said this one before. God helps those who help 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:01.160 themselves. Actually, most people say it. The 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:03.680 Bible says God helps those who help themselves. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:06.860 There was apparently a survey, again, I think 00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:12.079 done by Barna Research, that over 75 % of Americans 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:15.000 believe that God helps those who help themselves 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:18.180 is found in the Bible. Canadians, I think, are 00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:20.000 at least a little bit smarter than Americans. 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:23.160 So if we were to do the survey here, it might 00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:26.339 come out to be something like 70%. But they actually, 00:08:26.420 --> 00:08:29.519 there was another little poll they did where 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.220 they literally went up to people on the street 00:08:31.220 --> 00:08:34.039 and they said, hey, just tell us one verse that's 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:36.639 in the Bible, any verse, give us any Bible verse. 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:40.120 And the verse that was most commonly cited was 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:44.529 in fact this verse. that isn't actually in the 00:08:44.529 --> 00:08:47.250 Bible at all. I mean, this sounds like it should 00:08:47.250 --> 00:08:49.610 be in the Bible, right? It's the kind of, you 00:08:49.610 --> 00:08:53.129 know, it really makes sense to us. In fact, I 00:08:53.129 --> 00:08:54.509 was just thinking the other day when our daughter 00:08:54.509 --> 00:08:57.330 Sophia went off to a university, we kind of worked 00:08:57.330 --> 00:09:00.169 this deal with her. We said, listen, we will 00:09:00.169 --> 00:09:02.529 help with residents and we'll help, you know, 00:09:02.549 --> 00:09:04.490 with your food plan and getting some books and 00:09:04.490 --> 00:09:06.620 stuff like that. But we want you. To do your 00:09:06.620 --> 00:09:09.299 part. And we want you to get a summer job so 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:11.980 that you can help pay your tuition. So you do 00:09:11.980 --> 00:09:15.399 your part and we'll do our part. Right? God helps 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:18.159 those who help themselves. It's the kind of thing 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.159 that we would do. And so we assume that that 00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:26.960 must be kind of how God is as well. But today, 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:29.179 let's ask three questions. The three questions 00:09:29.179 --> 00:09:30.860 I want to ask, and these are all in your notes, 00:09:30.899 --> 00:09:32.779 by the way. The three questions are, where did 00:09:32.779 --> 00:09:34.659 this saying come from? If it's not in the Bible, 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:36.620 where did it come from? Secondly, is there any 00:09:36.620 --> 00:09:39.600 truth to it? And then thirdly and lastly, what 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.559 does the Bible really say? Okay, let's start 00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:47.080 with this first question. Where did it come from? 00:09:47.639 --> 00:09:50.559 Well, you do a little digging. And you discover 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:53.940 that this phrase is traced back, not to the Bible, 00:09:54.019 --> 00:09:57.000 but 500 years before Jesus, there was this guy, 00:09:57.100 --> 00:09:58.919 Aesop. You guys have heard of Aesop's fables? 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:03.159 Yeah, yeah. So Aesop wrote a fable, and this 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:06.419 particular fable was called Hercules and the 00:10:06.419 --> 00:10:10.179 Wagoner. And in the fable, what essentially happens 00:10:10.179 --> 00:10:12.480 is there's this guy, he's driving a wagon through 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:15.919 a field. The wagon gets mired and stuck in some 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:21.049 mud. And so... The guy, he gets out of his wagon, 00:10:21.110 --> 00:10:22.889 gets off his horse or whatever, and he gets down 00:10:22.889 --> 00:10:26.169 and he cries out to Hercules for help. He says, 00:10:26.250 --> 00:10:30.409 oh, Hercules, help me in my hour of distress. 00:10:31.210 --> 00:10:36.309 And sure enough, Hercules shows up. But when 00:10:36.309 --> 00:10:38.629 Hercules appears, this is what Hercules says. 00:10:38.789 --> 00:10:42.590 He says, man, don't sprawl there. Get up and 00:10:42.590 --> 00:10:45.269 put your shoulder to the wheel. The gods help 00:10:45.269 --> 00:10:49.460 those who help. The moral of the story, according 00:10:49.460 --> 00:10:53.200 to Aesop, is you don't sit around and wait for 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:55.500 divine help to come, right? You've got to be 00:10:55.500 --> 00:10:57.600 willing to do your part. The gods reward those 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:00.720 who make a little effort, and they're not idle. 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:04.539 So, a short while later, there was this other 00:11:04.539 --> 00:11:08.250 guy named Euripides. He was a Greek... playwright. 00:11:08.250 --> 00:11:11.230 And he picked up on this phrase as well. And 00:11:11.230 --> 00:11:13.470 it's slightly different wording, but in one of 00:11:13.470 --> 00:11:15.750 his plays, he put something like this, try first 00:11:15.750 --> 00:11:21.850 thyself and then call on God. So for the worker, 00:11:22.110 --> 00:11:26.210 for what? For the worker, God helps. God helps 00:11:26.210 --> 00:11:28.529 the worker. In other words, you got to work at 00:11:28.529 --> 00:11:32.210 it and then God will help you. And that fit really 00:11:32.210 --> 00:11:34.710 well with Greek. philosophical worldview that 00:11:34.710 --> 00:11:37.029 said that the gods are especially partial to 00:11:37.029 --> 00:11:38.629 those who are willing to put in a little bit 00:11:38.629 --> 00:11:41.169 of effort and take some initiative. But really, 00:11:41.309 --> 00:11:45.190 it became popular in the English language because 00:11:45.190 --> 00:11:47.049 of Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin in the 00:11:47.049 --> 00:11:50.389 1700s, some book he wrote full of pithy little 00:11:50.389 --> 00:11:54.090 sayings called Poor Richard's Almanac. And in 00:11:54.090 --> 00:11:57.659 that book, he writes, God helps those who help 00:11:57.659 --> 00:12:00.259 themselves. And that aligned really well with 00:12:00.259 --> 00:12:02.279 American values at the time, which was all about 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:05.919 determination and hard work. And so that's how 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:08.809 it came to us. That's how it came to us. Search 00:12:08.809 --> 00:12:12.490 the Bible, you will not find it. But Aesop and 00:12:12.490 --> 00:12:16.049 Euripides and Benjamin Franklin and probably 00:12:16.049 --> 00:12:19.309 hundreds of other instances of how this idea 00:12:19.309 --> 00:12:22.549 trickled down to us and now we assume that somehow 00:12:22.549 --> 00:12:26.309 it came from the Bible. But I think an even more 00:12:26.309 --> 00:12:28.169 interesting question is this, not just how it 00:12:28.169 --> 00:12:32.570 got to us, but is there any truth to it, right? 00:12:32.690 --> 00:12:35.590 And I think, and maybe you'd agree with me, that 00:12:35.590 --> 00:12:38.740 yes. There's got to be some truth to this because 00:12:38.740 --> 00:12:41.159 that's why it's so catchy and why we latch onto 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:43.860 it. You know, a few years ago when we moved here 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:47.519 to Mississauga, we had this ginormous bench. 00:12:47.940 --> 00:12:50.320 It was almost like a pew. It was huge. And we 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.399 had to get it up our stairs to the top floor. 00:12:53.580 --> 00:12:56.240 And there was no way I could do it. So I needed 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.840 some help. And so Hercules wasn't available. 00:13:00.139 --> 00:13:02.960 And so I called on the next best person I knew, 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:08.309 Jordan Goddard. So Jordan, he came over. If you 00:13:08.309 --> 00:13:10.889 know Jordan, he's a pretty strong fella. And 00:13:10.889 --> 00:13:14.370 we got this thing up the stairs. Now, what if 00:13:14.370 --> 00:13:17.429 when Jordan had come over, I had just sat there 00:13:17.429 --> 00:13:19.950 in the corner, and Jordan was like, well, Rob, 00:13:20.009 --> 00:13:22.610 aren't you going to help me with this? And I 00:13:22.610 --> 00:13:23.889 said, no, no, I just thought you'd do it. He'd 00:13:23.889 --> 00:13:25.970 say, well, listen, Rob, if you're not going to 00:13:25.970 --> 00:13:28.809 do your part, there's no way I'm going to do 00:13:28.809 --> 00:13:32.549 my part. And I think there's some truth to that 00:13:32.549 --> 00:13:35.950 with God. Isn't there some truth? If you need 00:13:35.950 --> 00:13:39.889 a job, yes, you should pray for a job. But you 00:13:39.889 --> 00:13:42.450 should also get out there and apply for jobs. 00:13:42.629 --> 00:13:44.970 You should create a resume. You should network. 00:13:45.070 --> 00:13:47.450 You should go around and knock on a few doors. 00:13:47.710 --> 00:13:51.789 God is not going to cause all the employers to 00:13:51.789 --> 00:13:56.220 just call you. right? Or Jesus, you know, Jesus 00:13:56.220 --> 00:13:58.519 said this once. He said, look at the birds of 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:01.600 the air, right? They're not sowing or reaping 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.220 or storing away in barn. It's your heavenly Father 00:14:04.220 --> 00:14:07.340 feeds them. And that is true. I've never seen 00:14:07.340 --> 00:14:11.980 a bird that looked particularly worried. And 00:14:11.980 --> 00:14:14.220 yet, at the same time, they don't just stand 00:14:14.220 --> 00:14:16.399 there with their mouths open waiting for God 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:18.779 to miraculously feed them. No, birds are actually 00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:21.320 pretty busy. They're always doing something. 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:22.659 I don't know what they're doing, but they're 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:25.720 busy out there. They're working hard. They're 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:28.159 building nests. They're getting worms, whatever. 00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:31.519 And the point is, is that they're working somehow 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:37.509 in cooperation with God's help. Now, the same 00:14:37.509 --> 00:14:39.789 goes for human beings. In fact, Paul has this 00:14:39.789 --> 00:14:41.970 great line in 2 Thessalonians. He says, those 00:14:41.970 --> 00:14:45.789 who are unwilling to work will not get to eat. 00:14:45.889 --> 00:14:51.570 In other words, God does, in a way, help those 00:14:51.570 --> 00:14:54.610 who are diligent and those who are busy. God 00:14:54.610 --> 00:14:57.070 does not want us to be passive and just sitting 00:14:57.070 --> 00:15:00.330 around. One author I was reading this week kind 00:15:00.330 --> 00:15:02.129 of put it this way. He said, generally speaking, 00:15:02.409 --> 00:15:06.360 God will not generally do for you. what he enables 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:10.779 you to do for yourself. So if you have a test 00:15:10.779 --> 00:15:13.840 coming up this week, high schoolers, it doesn't 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:15.259 mean you don't have to study for your test. No, 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:16.460 you've got to study for your test. You better 00:15:16.460 --> 00:15:19.799 study for your test. You know, if you feel like 00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:21.519 you don't want to go to work, well, no, you better 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:23.559 go to work. You got to go to work and you better 00:15:23.559 --> 00:15:25.799 show up with a good attitude. Why is that? Because 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:28.500 God has enabled you to do some things on your 00:15:28.500 --> 00:15:31.480 own. And there's some expectation that you're 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:34.279 going to do what you've been enabled and gifted 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:39.460 to do. So God gave you a mind, right? God gave 00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:43.899 you a body. He gave you a will. So use it, right? 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:48.240 God does help us in a way. God does help us when 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:51.440 we help ourselves. So that being said, that being 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:55.580 said, It is also very important to say that that 00:15:55.580 --> 00:15:58.440 is not the moral of the story when it comes to 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:01.679 the Bible. You actually, if you were to read 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:04.539 the Bible, you would never come away with the 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:07.779 idea that this book is about how God helps those 00:16:07.779 --> 00:16:10.919 who help themselves. No, really what the Bible 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:15.100 really says is definitely something like this. 00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:18.799 God helps those who can't. help themselves. Now, 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:21.139 you won't find this in the Bible either. This 00:16:21.139 --> 00:16:23.200 line is also not in the Bible, so don't go look 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.200 for it. That's not a verse, but this is what 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:30.200 the Bible is about, right? This is what the Bible 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:33.039 is about. The story, in fact, of God's people. 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:36.779 begins with a cry for help. The Israelites groaned 00:16:36.779 --> 00:16:38.279 in their slavery. Remember, they were slaves 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:41.120 in Egypt. And they cried out and their cry for 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:43.700 help because of their slavery went up to God. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:47.679 God heard their groaning and he remembered his 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:50.100 covenant. God didn't hear their cry for help 00:16:50.100 --> 00:16:53.720 and say, put your shoulder to the wheel and push 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.639 a little harder. Or I only help those who've 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:58.480 helped themselves. I want to see you take some 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:02.120 initiative first. No, no, no. God just helps. 00:17:02.179 --> 00:17:06.869 God's heart. and God wants to help his people. 00:17:07.170 --> 00:17:10.650 You know, throughout the Bible, God is constantly 00:17:10.650 --> 00:17:13.089 helping people who can't help themselves. What 00:17:13.089 --> 00:17:17.410 kind of people? People who are like needy people. 00:17:17.849 --> 00:17:21.490 God helps weak people. God helps sad people. 00:17:21.710 --> 00:17:25.390 God helps sick people. God helps lonely people. 00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:28.750 God helps people who are like up to their eyeballs 00:17:28.750 --> 00:17:34.660 in troubles. God helps people who ask. God helps 00:17:34.660 --> 00:17:39.440 people who can't help themselves. In fact, sometimes 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:42.559 you could even accuse God of going a little too 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:45.519 far in his help. You know, there's one time Jesus 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:47.599 said that one of the characteristics of God is 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:51.440 that God causes the sun to rise on evil people 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:55.799 and good people. And God sends rain on righteous 00:17:55.799 --> 00:17:58.680 people and unrighteous people. He's helping everyone 00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:01.180 out, even people we think maybe don't deserve 00:18:01.180 --> 00:18:04.319 God's help. This is, as you start reading through 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.940 the Bible, you see it again and again. God is 00:18:06.940 --> 00:18:10.140 someone who helps. I lift up my eyes to the hills, 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:13.259 the psalmist says. From where does my help come? 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:17.440 My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:20.200 earth. Elsewhere, the psalmist says, God is our 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:23.599 refuge and our strength. A very present help 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:27.799 in trouble. Or another, this is also in the book 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:31.670 of Hebrews. The Lord is my helper. I will not 00:18:31.670 --> 00:18:37.250 fear. What can man do to me? I don't know if 00:18:37.250 --> 00:18:38.750 you, I mean, some of you guys will know this. 00:18:38.789 --> 00:18:42.190 This is a classic old hymn. We haven't sang this, 00:18:42.230 --> 00:18:43.789 at least in the four years I've been here, but 00:18:43.789 --> 00:18:45.670 some of you guys will know this. Isaac Watts, 00:18:45.849 --> 00:18:47.529 sing it with me, would you? Sing it with me. 00:18:48.170 --> 00:18:55.049 Oh God, our help in ages past, our hope for years 00:18:55.049 --> 00:19:03.089 to come. Our shelter from the stormy blast and 00:19:03.089 --> 00:19:11.690 our eternal home. That was beautiful. I like 00:19:11.690 --> 00:19:15.710 your, you got a good job. Yeah, yeah. God is 00:19:15.710 --> 00:19:18.880 a helper. God's a helper. He's not a coach. He's 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:20.259 not cheering you on from the sides. He's not 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:22.140 a critic, pointing out all the things you've 00:19:22.140 --> 00:19:24.799 done wrong. He's not a consultant who's there, 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:28.000 you know, if you can afford his fee, right? God 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:33.799 helps those who can't help themselves. And thank 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:39.480 goodness, because we all need help, right? I 00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:42.099 need help. And I'll tell you a secret about you. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:45.839 You need help. In fact, turn to the person beside 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:52.000 you and say, you need help. Yeah. Yeah. There 00:19:52.000 --> 00:20:02.099 are many areas in life where you need help, right? 00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:04.920 And here's the problem. The bigger the problem 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:08.039 is, actually, the more help that we need. But 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:11.339 sometimes if we don't get help, then little problems 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:13.880 become into great big problems, right? A little 00:20:13.880 --> 00:20:17.339 bit of overspending turns into like full -blown 00:20:17.339 --> 00:20:21.869 debt. A little bit of unresolved conflict becomes 00:20:21.869 --> 00:20:25.549 a broken marriage. A little bit of flirting becomes 00:20:25.549 --> 00:20:31.970 a devastating divorce. A bad habit becomes an 00:20:31.970 --> 00:20:34.670 addiction. Why? Because we didn't get help. We 00:20:34.670 --> 00:20:37.589 need help. Without help, little things grow into 00:20:37.589 --> 00:20:39.849 big things. Now, our pride says, don't ask for 00:20:39.849 --> 00:20:43.509 help. You don't need help, right? You know, you 00:20:43.509 --> 00:20:46.529 can fix this yourself. Pride says that actually, 00:20:46.569 --> 00:20:49.089 pride makes us think that asking for help is 00:20:49.089 --> 00:20:51.730 a sign of failure. But what I want to say to 00:20:51.730 --> 00:20:53.990 you today is asking for help is actually a sign 00:20:53.990 --> 00:20:56.630 of faith. Because what you're doing is you're 00:20:56.630 --> 00:21:01.009 admitting your need for God and coming to God 00:21:01.009 --> 00:21:04.250 to ask for help. is really the beginning of faith. 00:21:04.410 --> 00:21:06.630 If you've ever had that moment where you're like, 00:21:06.690 --> 00:21:08.650 I'm at the end of my rope. I don't know what 00:21:08.650 --> 00:21:11.970 to do. I've got no more options. I'm stuck. Then 00:21:11.970 --> 00:21:14.329 finally, you know, you've let go of your pride 00:21:14.329 --> 00:21:17.589 and you're in the perfect position to seek help 00:21:17.589 --> 00:21:20.269 from God. And you might now say, well, how do 00:21:20.269 --> 00:21:24.670 we get help from God? Well, even Aesop knew how, 00:21:24.849 --> 00:21:28.490 right? It's through prayer. Again and again and 00:21:28.490 --> 00:21:32.309 again, the Bible shows us that those who, that 00:21:32.309 --> 00:21:36.730 God helps those who pray. those who ask for help. 00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:38.769 So the Bible doesn't say, you know, we should 00:21:38.769 --> 00:21:40.710 be people of self -help. It says we should be 00:21:40.710 --> 00:21:43.630 people who look for help in prayer. Now, I just 00:21:43.630 --> 00:21:45.369 want to say right away, some of you will not 00:21:45.369 --> 00:21:47.210 like this whole conversation about prayer because 00:21:47.210 --> 00:21:49.849 you're disappointed with prayer because you prayed 00:21:49.849 --> 00:21:52.049 for things before and it has not happened. Or 00:21:52.049 --> 00:21:54.089 you feel guilty when it comes to prayer because 00:21:54.089 --> 00:21:55.789 you're like, oh, I ought to pray more and I don't 00:21:55.789 --> 00:21:58.650 pray enough. Or some of you, you know, you are 00:21:58.650 --> 00:22:00.950 confused by prayer because other people around 00:22:00.950 --> 00:22:02.890 you seem to have these wonderful experiences 00:22:02.890 --> 00:22:05.440 of prayer, but that's not been your experience. 00:22:05.500 --> 00:22:09.079 And some of you, obviously, lots of us, skeptical 00:22:09.079 --> 00:22:11.880 about prayer, not really sure if praying actually 00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:17.039 does anything at all. Or maybe you're on the 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.380 other side, and you're like that story we just 00:22:19.380 --> 00:22:23.349 read from Exodus. where prayer has been a lifesaver 00:22:23.349 --> 00:22:25.410 for you. Guys, let's just take a look at this 00:22:25.410 --> 00:22:28.410 story. This is like a crazy, crazy story. So 00:22:28.410 --> 00:22:31.730 here's the situation. Israel was on their way 00:22:31.730 --> 00:22:35.549 to go to the promised land. And on their way 00:22:35.549 --> 00:22:37.910 to the promised land, they get attacked by this 00:22:37.910 --> 00:22:40.789 group of people called the Amalekites. And so 00:22:40.789 --> 00:22:43.190 Moses needs a plan. He's got to figure out what 00:22:43.190 --> 00:22:46.569 to do. And so he calls his general, Joshua, together. 00:22:46.609 --> 00:22:48.609 He says, Joshua, we've got to have a strategy 00:22:48.609 --> 00:22:50.450 session. What are we going to do with these Amalekites? 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:52.779 And they talk and talk. And finally, Moses comes 00:22:52.779 --> 00:22:54.619 up with the weirdest plan. He says, here's the 00:22:54.619 --> 00:22:58.500 plan. You, Joshua, you choose some of your men 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:02.359 and you go fight the Amalekites. And I will stand 00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:05.740 on top of that hill with the staff of God in 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:08.819 my hand. That's the plan. That's the plan. Yes, 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:11.849 that's the plan. And then, of course, the next 00:23:11.849 --> 00:23:13.630 morning, that's exactly what happens. Joshua 00:23:13.630 --> 00:23:16.109 goes out to the battlefield and him and his men, 00:23:16.190 --> 00:23:19.130 you know, start fighting. And Moses climbs the 00:23:19.130 --> 00:23:21.809 hill along with his brother Aaron and another 00:23:21.809 --> 00:23:26.210 fellow called Hur. And Moses lifts his arms toward 00:23:26.210 --> 00:23:29.609 God. This is a posture of prayer. This is a posture 00:23:29.609 --> 00:23:33.309 of asking God for help. Now, the text actually 00:23:33.309 --> 00:23:37.220 doesn't tell us what Moses... We don't know, 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:39.460 and maybe it wasn't much of a prayer at all. 00:23:39.539 --> 00:23:42.259 But that's okay, because actually... Prayer isn't 00:23:42.259 --> 00:23:45.160 about our impressive words, right? It's not so 00:23:45.160 --> 00:23:48.160 much how you pray, but to whom you are praying. 00:23:48.380 --> 00:23:51.099 And so there's Moses. There he is with his arms 00:23:51.099 --> 00:23:54.299 lifted up. And this is the weird thing. Help 00:23:54.299 --> 00:23:58.700 comes. Power from heaven seems to come and help 00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:01.619 the fighting down in the valley. Whenever, you 00:24:01.619 --> 00:24:04.299 know, Moses has got his arms up in the air asking 00:24:04.299 --> 00:24:06.539 for help, it seems like the Israelites are winning. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:08.720 The battle is going in their favor. But of course, 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:11.910 over time, his arms get weak. gets tired. And 00:24:11.910 --> 00:24:14.630 when his staff comes down, the fighters seem 00:24:14.630 --> 00:24:17.269 to lose heart. Something changes. The power shifts. 00:24:17.430 --> 00:24:20.470 And now they are, in fact, being defeated. And 00:24:20.470 --> 00:24:23.309 so he has to lift his hands up again. The point 00:24:23.309 --> 00:24:25.410 is this. There is a lot more to this fight going 00:24:25.410 --> 00:24:27.569 on than just soldiers and swords and all that. 00:24:27.650 --> 00:24:31.190 There is a help coming from God. And when Moses 00:24:31.190 --> 00:24:34.579 lifts his hands in prayer, help comes. Guys, 00:24:34.619 --> 00:24:36.920 that is a perfect picture for us, actually, that 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:39.700 we all need help. And the way we ask for that 00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:43.160 help is to lift our hands to God in prayer. And 00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:45.220 we're all fighting battles, right? I'm not sure 00:24:45.220 --> 00:24:46.579 what battle you're fighting, whether it's something 00:24:46.579 --> 00:24:48.740 at work or at home or something with your finances 00:24:48.740 --> 00:24:51.519 or even health. You have a health battle that 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:55.559 you're facing. At any time, you can raise your 00:24:55.559 --> 00:24:59.619 hands and you can pray and you can ask for help. 00:25:00.409 --> 00:25:03.309 Because what this story shows us is that God 00:25:03.309 --> 00:25:09.410 is able to help. God is able to create the universe, 00:25:09.490 --> 00:25:11.309 to speak the universe into existence. God is 00:25:11.309 --> 00:25:13.509 able to part the waters of the Red Sea. God was 00:25:13.509 --> 00:25:16.410 able to feed 5 ,000 people with a few bread. 00:25:16.650 --> 00:25:19.049 God was able to open the eyes of blind people. 00:25:19.150 --> 00:25:21.630 He was able to help lame people walk. He was 00:25:21.630 --> 00:25:23.809 able to help deaf people hear again. God was 00:25:23.809 --> 00:25:27.390 able to raise dead people. back to life, right? 00:25:27.609 --> 00:25:29.910 I could actually talk to some people in this 00:25:29.910 --> 00:25:31.710 room, and you would be able to tell me, let me 00:25:31.710 --> 00:25:35.549 tell you how God showed me at a time of need 00:25:35.549 --> 00:25:38.130 that he was able. There are lots of those stories 00:25:38.130 --> 00:25:42.289 out there, 100%. But of course God is able. God 00:25:42.289 --> 00:25:44.569 wouldn't be God if God didn't have power, if 00:25:44.569 --> 00:25:47.230 God wasn't able. But that's just the thing. We 00:25:47.230 --> 00:25:50.190 don't just need a God who's able. We need a God 00:25:50.190 --> 00:25:52.250 who is willing, and we'll get to that in a second. 00:25:52.390 --> 00:25:56.809 But check this out. God is able. To do immeasurably 00:25:56.809 --> 00:26:00.630 more than all we can ask and imagine. Let's look 00:26:00.630 --> 00:26:03.609 at how this sentence builds. God is able. Okay, 00:26:03.710 --> 00:26:08.829 good. God is able to do more than we ask. God 00:26:08.829 --> 00:26:12.289 is actually able to do immeasurably more than 00:26:12.289 --> 00:26:17.049 all we ask. Or God is able to do immeasurably 00:26:17.049 --> 00:26:20.690 more than all we ask. Or imagine, just keeps 00:26:20.690 --> 00:26:24.380 on going and going and going. But you see, the 00:26:24.380 --> 00:26:26.400 thing is, we don't just need a God who is able 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:29.240 to help. We also have to have a God who is willing 00:26:29.240 --> 00:26:32.839 to help. Who cares if God is powerful if he doesn't 00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:36.940 care about us enough to come and help us? Strength 00:26:36.940 --> 00:26:41.839 wouldn't matter at that point. But he is willing. 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:44.859 He's willing to hear your cry. He is willing 00:26:44.859 --> 00:26:47.799 to come to your aid. He is willing to carry your 00:26:47.799 --> 00:26:51.380 burdens. God is not just mighty. He is merciful. 00:26:52.109 --> 00:26:58.089 God is not just able, but he's available. He's 00:26:58.089 --> 00:27:03.029 available, right? In fact, he is so willing that 00:27:03.029 --> 00:27:07.049 in order to help us, he became like us. He took 00:27:07.049 --> 00:27:09.849 on flesh. He came right down to our level to 00:27:09.849 --> 00:27:14.390 care for us. Now, get this, though. Even more 00:27:14.390 --> 00:27:18.630 than this, Jesus was so willing to help us that 00:27:18.630 --> 00:27:22.059 as a human, He became a person who needed help 00:27:22.059 --> 00:27:25.220 himself. Jesus would have had to say, Mommy, 00:27:25.420 --> 00:27:32.180 feed me. Mommy, help me walk. Mommy, Daddy, help 00:27:32.180 --> 00:27:37.079 me tie my sandals. I need help. Jesus knows what 00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:41.000 it is like to need help. Even at the end of Jesus' 00:27:41.180 --> 00:27:43.640 life, do you remember this story? Jesus needed 00:27:43.640 --> 00:27:47.359 help. When he was carrying his cross, to his 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:49.660 moment of crucifixion and death, he couldn't 00:27:49.660 --> 00:27:52.900 carry it alone. He needed help. So they grabbed 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:55.059 this guy from the crowd, Simon of Cyrene, and 00:27:55.059 --> 00:27:59.480 they made him carry the cross for Jesus. And 00:27:59.480 --> 00:28:05.839 on that cross, Jesus gives us the greatest help 00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:07.779 we could ever need for the greatest problem we 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:10.680 ever faced. Because when we were utterly helpless, 00:28:11.180 --> 00:28:15.180 Christ came at just the right time and died for 00:28:15.180 --> 00:28:18.079 us sinners. So whether you look at the birth 00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:20.039 of Jesus, the life of Jesus, or the death of 00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:23.400 Jesus, God knows what it's like to be weak, to 00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:28.220 be small, and to need help. But he was also able 00:28:28.220 --> 00:28:32.579 to, also willing to give up everything to experience 00:28:32.579 --> 00:28:36.299 what it was like to need help. That God is not 00:28:36.299 --> 00:28:39.480 distant. That is not a disinterested God. That 00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:43.140 is a God who is both able and willing. And, by 00:28:43.140 --> 00:28:47.440 the way, waiting, waiting. to help you right 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:52.680 now. Just before I end, I think it is worth noting 00:28:52.680 --> 00:28:58.779 that once you come to grasp how God is willing 00:28:58.779 --> 00:29:01.220 and able to help you, it should change our hearts 00:29:01.220 --> 00:29:03.000 and make us the kind of people that are willing 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:06.240 and able to help. Don't you find it interesting 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:09.599 that when Moses' hands were getting weak up there 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:11.559 and his strength started to give out, it was 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:14.940 his friends who came along and helped lift up 00:29:14.940 --> 00:29:18.220 his hands for him. They were his helpers, right? 00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:21.500 And somehow in all that mess of help and weakness, 00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:26.799 God's power was unleashed. And when you see people 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:30.460 in your daily life who are in need, you may be 00:29:30.460 --> 00:29:32.960 tempted to say, ah, God helps those who help 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:37.009 themselves. We may be like Hercules. We may have 00:29:37.009 --> 00:29:40.289 the strength to help someone, but we figure they 00:29:40.289 --> 00:29:43.950 should figure it out on their own. Maybe one 00:29:43.950 --> 00:29:46.190 thing you can do this week when you leave here 00:29:46.190 --> 00:29:48.950 is to look around you a little more carefully 00:29:48.950 --> 00:29:54.009 and see whose arms are getting weak and who needs 00:29:54.009 --> 00:29:58.369 help. Will you be like her or will you be like 00:29:58.369 --> 00:30:03.009 Hercules? Will you help or will you refuse to 00:30:03.009 --> 00:30:08.500 help in the time? comes. So there you go. The 00:30:08.500 --> 00:30:10.779 Bible doesn't say that. You know, when we were 00:30:10.779 --> 00:30:14.640 babies, we needed help eating and walking and 00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:17.380 dressing. And guess what? If you live long enough, 00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:20.519 you're going to need help again, eating and walking 00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:23.599 and dressing, right? We are born needing help. 00:30:24.380 --> 00:30:26.740 And we die needing help. But in the middle of 00:30:26.740 --> 00:30:28.759 our life, we sometimes convince ourselves that 00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:32.019 we don't need help. But we do. And all it takes 00:30:32.019 --> 00:30:34.180 is a phone call from the doctor. All it takes 00:30:34.180 --> 00:30:36.539 is a pink slip from work. And we realize we need 00:30:36.539 --> 00:30:40.700 help. The good news is not that God helps those 00:30:40.700 --> 00:30:43.380 who help themselves. The good news is that God 00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:47.000 hears your prayer for help, is able and willing 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:50.900 to give help. May even use a church like this 00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:55.140 to supply the help that you need when your arms 00:30:55.140 --> 00:30:58.740 are growing weak. And why is that? Because God 00:30:58.740 --> 00:31:01.900 helps those who can't help themselves. People 00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:06.339 like you and people like me. Thanks be to God. 00:31:07.099 --> 00:31:11.890 Amen. Thank you for listening to this week's 00:31:11.890 --> 00:31:14.890 episode of Trinity Sermons. This sermon was recorded 00:31:14.890 --> 00:31:18.890 at Trinity Church Streetsville on April 27, 2025.