God Helps Those Who Help Themselves? | Rev. Michael Fredericks

Well, I'm glad to be back uh with you

today sharing from God's word. And uh

when I the last time I spoke,

oh boy, is this thing going to give us

trouble again? The last time I spoke, I

did a message in a little series that I

called You Won't Find That in the Bible.

And uh we looked at a a saying. Um,

we're talking about things that we hear

sometimes that are are popular things

that Christians say, uh, common phrases,

uh, that people think are in the Bible,

but they're probably actually, well,

they're they're not actually in the

Bible. And, uh, and so we're

highlighting some of these things to try

to make sure that we we don't get our

theology a little bit mixed up by some

of these things. And I and I want to say

right off the top, this is not to shame

you or make you feel bad if you have

said these things or believed these

things. Um, but just the purpose of this

is to help refine us and our theology to

get ourselves thinking biblically and

not non-biblically.

>> So, oh, thank you. So, the last time uh

the message was uh God won't give you

more than you can handle. And we talked

about how actually the true story is God

gives us more than we can handle all the

time. Uh and and not always it's not

always from God too, right? A lot of the

things in life are just the life throws

these things at us. And it could be a

combination of the world, the flesh, and

the devil that throws things at us. And

it's often more than we can handle. And

uh that's why we need God in our lives.

We're not strong on our own. In our

weakness, he is he is strong. So that

was last the last time. If you didn't

catch that message, you go back on

YouTube and check it out. um what will

we look at this Sunday? So, imagine

you're in a small group uh Bible study

at church and uh someone shares, you

know, please please pray for me and our

family. We're we're struggling to to pay

to pay our bills. And then a

well-meaning person speaks up and says,

I'll pray for you, but remember, the

Bible teaches that God helps those who

help themselves.

So maybe you need to figure out how to

earn more money or manage your finances

better because you can't rely on God to

do everything for you, dear.

>> Gee, thanks. Wow.

Okay. So, that saying that God helps

those who help themselves. Let's turn in

our Bibles and locate that verse. It's

found in second obligations

for

It's not in there.

It's not in there. So, if it's not in

the Bible, then where does this saying

actually come from? Well, actually,

believe it or not, it comes from ancient

Greece. It comes from Asop, the ancient

Greek writer who we famous for Asop's

fables. And one of Asop's fables was

called Hercules and the Wagner. And in

this story that Asop tells, there was

this person with a cart with their horse

pulling the cart and it was it had just

rained and the road was mucky and the

wagon got caught and stuck in the mud

and uh and so the person the wager uh

got down on their knees and prayed to

Hercules, "Oh Hercules, come and rescue

my cart out of the mud." And Hercules

appears and says, "Why don't you just

push? Get out and push the cart because

the gods help those who help

themselves."

And that's the moral of the story

according to Asop.

Oh boy, this stupid thing. Do we need

this thing to go away or what?

Okay, I'm going to switch

testing. Okay.

[clears throat] So,

so that's a story that is not in the

Bible. It comes from ancient uh ancient

Greece. Despite that, this needs to go a

little louder, I think, Robin. Despite

that, despite the fact that it's

definitely not in the Bible, a survey

conducted by the Bara group, Bara

research, found that 53%

of Americans, oh, those Americans,

they agree strongly that the Bible

teaches that God helps those who help

themselves. A similar Barna poll found

that God who God helps those who help

themselves is one of the most widely

known Bible verses even though it's not

in the Bible.

I'm sure Canadian statistics would be

similar. [snorts] Okay, so it's not in

the Bible. But is it true?

Is it true? Well, to be fair, I think

there's an element of truth to it. We

shouldn't completely discount the

saying. What's true about it? Well,

there definitely is a sense in the Bible

throughout the Bible that God wants us

to not only be people of prayer and

faith, but also people of action. For

example, the whole theme of the book of

James is faith without works is dead.

You go to the next slide, please, Tom.

Tom, you go to the next slide, please.

Um, the whole theme of the book of James

is faith without works is dead. Okay.

So, just prayer and faith without any

action is not really what God's looking

for. Um, in James, also in the book of

James, it says, "Draw near to God and he

will draw near to you." So, there's this

element of initiative that we're

supposed to take in our spiritual life.

I get that. Uh, in 2 Thessalonians, it

says, "If anyone's not willing to work,

let him not eat." There's lots of

proverbs that also talk against laziness

and that sort of thing. So, so does God

help those who help themselves? Well,

yeah. I I I guess so in a sense if you

think about it that way. Followers of

Christ aren't supposed to just sit

around uh on their blessed assurance as

some people say and pray all the time

and do nothing else. We're supposed to

live out our faith in action. Uh being

not just hearers of the word but doers

of the word. And we need to invest in

our relationship with God like we do any

relationship. and we're supposed to work

hard and earn a living and care for our

families and all that sort of stuff. So

even though it's not in the Bible, God

helps those who help themselves does

have a a kernel of truth and wisdom to

it. So that's what's true about it.

What's troubling about it?

Well, the saying is also potentially

misleading and even possibly distracting

from the gospel message because the good

news, the gospel at its core is a

message that God helps those who cannot

help themselves.

>> Next slide there, Tom. God helps those

who cannot help themselves.

So, we're going to look at some

scripture that highlights this today.

Ephesians chapter 2 is where we will be.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

If you have your Bible, you can turn

there. And while you're doing that, I'm

going to get rid of this annoying mic

and get myself situated properly here.

All right.

Ephesians chapter 2. Going to read the

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

first 10 verses. This is the Apostle

Paul writing to Christians in the city

of Ephesus. And he reminds them of this

incredible thing that God has done for

them through Christ. He says, "Once you

were dead because of your disobedience

and your many sins. You used to live in

sin just like the rest of the world,

obeying the devil, the commander of the

powers in the unseen world. He is the

spirit at work in the hearts of those

who refuse to obey God.

All of us used to live that way,

following the passionate desires and

inclinations of our sinful nature. By

our very nature, we were subject to

God's anger, just like everyone else.

But God is so rich in mercy. And he

loved us so much that even though we

were dead because of our sins, he gave

us life when he raised Christ from the

dead. It is only by God's grace that you

have been saved. For he raised us from

the dead along with Christ and seated us

with him in the heavenly realms because

we are united with Christ Jesus. So God

can point to us in all future ages as

examples of the incredible wealth of his

grace and kindness toward us as shown in

all he has done for us who are united

with Christ Jesus.

God saved you by his grace when you

believed. And you can't take credit for

this. It's a gift from God. Salvation is

not a reward for the good things we have

done. So none of us can boast about it.

For we are God's masterpiece. He has

created us a new in Christ Jesus so we

can do the good things he planned for us

long ago.

Amen. May God add his blessing to the

reading of his holy word.

Okay. So, let's take a look at this

passage verse by verse

and uh and see what Paul has to say

here. He starts with the diagnosis. He

starts with the problem.

He says, "Remember guys, verse one, you

were dead before you knew Christ." You

want to put that up, Tom? Before you

knew Christ, you were dead. Spiritually

dead. And the best way to understand

spiritual death is separation.

Separation from God

both now and for eternity unless the

problem is remedied.

This separation, this division from the

Lord, his spiritual death. And he says,

he said, "You used to live in sin just

like the rest of the world. You used to

be like this. You used to be," he's

writing to Christians. "You used to be

in this state of spiritual deadness." In

verse two, he he talks uh he says uh you

were obeying the devil, the commander of

the powers in the unseen world. He's the

spirit at work in the hearts of those

who refuse to obey God.

We talked last time about the world, the

flesh, and the devil as these influences

that cause trouble and lead us to sin.

And these are all present in this verse,

all referenced here. These are the

contributing factors to our state of

sin.

And he says uh in verse three, all of us

used to live that way, following the

passionate desires and inclinations of

our sinful nature. This is that mindset

that if it feels good, do it.

Right. There's a song by Sloan. I love

the band Sloan to Halif. They used to be

from Halifax. And but the song, it's not

a good message. It says, "If it feels

good, do it even if it shouldn't."

That's a bad message. Don't listen to

that song. Good band, bad message.

Anyway, um yeah, but this is this is the

world's this is the mentality of the

flesh, the world, the flesh, and the

devil. Appease your instincts. Indulge

yourself. Uh if it feels good, do it.

And Paul says, "That's what you were

doing, my dear Ephesian Christian

brothers and sisters, before you knew

Christ. You were being guided by and

living according to the world, the

flesh, and our enemy, the devil."

We have this sinful nature that we

inherited from our father, Adam. All

mankind has inherited this disease, this

corruption within us. And in Psalm 51:5

Psalms 51:5

it says, "Behold, I was brought forth in

iniquity and in sin did my mother

conceive me." From from the very

beginning, all of us have this problem,

this sin issue. So that's the diagnosis.

The diagnosis is sin. And the prognosis

of the diagnosis is not good. It is

spiritual death. And so without

intervention, without rescue, without

salvation, without the cure that is

Christ Jesus, the prognosis is this

death, eternal separation from God. Sin

has made us spiritually dead,

disconnected from the Lord, and thus

disconnected from eternal life as he is

the source of life eternal. In 1

Corinthians 15, it says, "By a man came

death. In Adam all die." In Romans 6:23,

Romans 6:23

the wages of sin is death.

So think about what that means. In our

natural state, before we are rescued,

saved by Christ, we are unable to help

ourselves. The dead can't bring

themselves back to life.

The they can't change their own

condition of deadness. The dead need

someone else to resuscitate them. And

that's us without Jesus. Without Jesus,

we are helpless.

Helpless.

Another great Canadian musician, Neil

Young. All right, he sang that, right?

Helpless. Helpless. Helpless.

I love Neil Young, right? Another great

musician. Can't recommend all the

messages of his songs, but anyway. Um,

helpless. Dead and helpless without

Christ. Dead and helpless,

but not hopeless.

Yes, we were helpless but not hopeless

because of what it says in verse four.

It says, "But God." Oh, those are two of

the best words you'll ever find in the

Bible. Say with me, "But God."

>> But God.

>> Yeah. Remember that. Those that whenever

you see that in the Bible, you know

something good is going to come, right?

Is all this bad news. But God. But God.

What? But God is so rich in mercy and he

loved us so much that even though we

were dead because of our sins, he gave

us life when he raised Christ from the

dead. God acted. Notice his motives. His

He acted not because we're so awesome,

but because he's so awesome. The motive

was his wealth of mercy, his generous

love, the greatness of his love. So that

even when we had violated his laws, even

when we had followed after the world and

indulged our flesh and listened to the

voice of the devil and worshiped idols

and rebelled against his good plans for

our lives, which we all have done and do

on a regular basis, he did what? Did he

reject us? Did he say the heck with

these people? I'm done with them. No.

Even though we did all of that, it says

he gave us life. He gave us life.

Spiritual resuscitation. He made us

alive

together with Christ, the one who was

raised from the dead.

We too have been raised from spiritual

death. Saved from an eternal fate of

separation from God. Not because we were

able to help ourselves.

Not because we were good enough to pass

God's entrance exam. Not because God

helps those who help themselves. No. By

what? It starts with G.

>> Grace. Exactly. By grace. It is only by

God's grace that you have been saved.

his grace,

his unmarited

favor toward us, his undeserved gift of

love and mercy toward us through the

shed blood of Christ to pay the penalty

for our guilt and our shame. By grace,

we have been saved.

For he raised us. Verse six, he raised

us from the dead along with Christ and

seated us with him in the heavenly

realms because we are united with Christ

Jesus. Seated with him. United with him.

You see, you see the change that takes

place. Before we were separated from God

because of our sin. That's that

spiritual death. But now we are united

with him. We're seated with him in the

heavenly places. We've joined his royal

family. We're welcome at the table. All

these images. Imagine. Right. Imagine.

Right. This is the gift of salvation. It

is eternal life. It is relationship with

God. Where there once was separation,

now there's fellowship. Where there once

was distance and division, there is now

proximity and connection. Hallelujah.

>> Yeah. This is good news. Verse seven. So

God can point to us in all future ages

as examples of the incredible wealth of

his grace and kindness toward us as

shown in all he has done for us who are

united in Christ Jesus. You and I are

God's examples. And future generations

going to go, "Hey, did you see how I

changed Nova? Hey, did you see how I

changed Andrew? Did you see how I

transformed Nigel's life? I can do it.

It's amazing. We are examples of the

future, right? God can do. Sorry to

point you out. All of us. It's true for

all of us, right? God has performed this

incredible transformation, this

spiritual resuscitation.

That's what he has done. That's what he

has done, not what we have done. It's

his work. He gets the glory. Paul is

writing this to Christians, people who

have believed the message. trusted in

Jesus as their savior, committed their

lives to following him. And Paul is

explaining to these people just exactly

what took place spiritually behind the

scenes when they became Christ's

followers. He performed a spiritual

resuscitation. You were dead, but God

has made you alive by his grace.

So that's the that's the main message of

this passage in Ephesians.

Verses eight and nine are a summary of

what he just said. Let's read that.

These are the these are the verses that

you underline and memorize. All right.

If you haven't got Ephesians 2:89

memorized yet, it's good ones to work

on. God saved you by his grace when you

believed and you can't take credit for

this. It is a gift from God. Salvation

is not a reward for the good things we

have done. So none of us can boast about

it. I memorized the King James version

of it. Some of you probably have too.

Praise the Lord. What these verses tell

us is that when it comes to being saved,

God does not help those who help

themselves.

God helps those who could never help

themselves. Salvation is not a reward

achieved. It is a gift received.

And we finish with verse 10. And I think

I love this verse uh in this in this

Paul's flow of thought here. This is so

nice. He says, "For we are God's

masterpiece.

He has created us a new in Christ Jesus

so we can do the good things he planned

for us long ago."

Uh when I was in the valley uh during

vacation this summer, just like last

weekend, um we were down celebrating my

parents 50th wedding anniversary. It was

a we're pretty pleased with that. Yeah.

Um when they're here next week uh for

church, you can congratulate them in

person. Um uh especially my mom.

[laughter]

50 years tolerating my dad. Um anyway,

uh wonderful time and we got together as

family and I saw some family I haven't

seen in a long time. Uh including my

uncle Ed, my mom's little brother. Uh my

uncle Edgar is an artist. Uh and he

lives in Halifax and he does really

interesting art, all sorts of different

media. Um when I was a kid, he was like

the cool uncle who's the artist and he

does all this creative stuff. Anyway, um

he was one of the things that Uncle Ed

does is he takes um he he he takes

things that other people throw away um

and he makes art out of them. So he

finds garbage and stuff. People will

have like boxes of old like microphone

parts or pieces of old computers and

stuff and he'll turn them into like ray

guns and like spaceships and stuff and

put these models on display. And he the

thing he's working on right now is he

found a whole or my dad actually gave

him a whole bunch of old realtore

recordings of uh of the of AVR,

Annapolis Valley Radio, like hours and

hours of just recordings of AVR from the

1970s and someone had taped over it with

their country music band. And you would

think this is garbage. Who wants to

listen to this? Well, he's taken all

that and he's turning it into this this

creative art musical art project thing.

So anyway, that's my uncle Ed. He's a

cool guy. But I I just think that's such

a good um a good analogy for what God

does. He takes trash. He takes things

that that other people throw away,

things that people think are worthless,

things that you go, "Well, this is

nothing. This is not good." And makes

something beautiful from it. And this is

another way of describing the recreation

that God did in us spiritually. We are

God's masterpiece. We are God's work of

art. taking trash, not that you're

trash, but in our sinful condition,

taking us in our brokenness and our

sinfulness and turning us into his

masterpiece, creating something

beautiful and new from it. That's what

redemption is all about.

But I like how this verse continues. We

were created in Christ for a purpose. He

did this not so we can just sit around,

but so that we can do the good things he

planned for us long ago. So, back to

that first thought about how we're not

really supposed to just sit around and

do nothing.

Yeah, that's also true because he has

planned things for us to do, good works

for us to do. We're not saved by doing

good works. We were helpless and we

needed to be rescued. But now that we

are saved, as a result of our salvation,

we are given new life so that we can use

our new life to bring goodness into the

lives of others. He has plans for each

of us, amazing ways for us to serve and

contribute, do the good work of his

world, to do his kingdom work. And he

wants us to walk in that now that we

have been given new life in Christ.

And so it's not God helps those who help

themselves,

but what Paul teaches here in Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 is rather God helps the

helpless

and then sets them free to discover and

live in the purpose and plans he has for

their lives.

Amen.

>> Amen.

I want to close with a story

as told by radio announcer Paul Harvey.

Anybody remember him? All right. Paul

Harvey, great storyteller. And then he

would say, "And now you know the rest of

the story." Right. All right. We got

some old-timers in the room. All right.

So, he told this story and Paul Harvey

must have been a believer because a lot

of his stories had Christian messages in

them. Uh but uh this story was called

Jesus and the bird cage.

And it starts like this. Boston preacher

[clears throat] S. D. Gordon placed a

beat up, bent, rusted old bird cage

beside his pulpit when he told this

story. So imagine that bird cage sitting

up here and the preacher's preaching.

And he says this. He says, "An unckempt,

unwashed little lad, about 10 years old,

was coming up the alley, swinging this

old cavedin bird cage with several tiny

birds shivering on the floor of it."

The compassionate Dr. Gordon asked the

boy where he got the birds. He said he

trapped them. Dr. Gordon asked what he

was going to do with them. And the boy

said he was going to play with them and

have fun with them.

The preacher said, 'Well, sooner or

later you'll get tired of them. Then

what are you going to do with them? The

lad said, I have some cats at home. They

like birds. I'll feed them to my cats.

Dr. Gordon said, "Son, how much do you

want for the birds?"

The boy, surprised, hesitated and said,

"Oh, mister, you don't want these birds.

These are just plain old field birds.

They can't even sing. They're ugly."

The preacher said, "Just tell me, how

much do you want?"

The grubby little lad thought about it.

He squinted up in one eye, calculated

and hesitated, and said, "Uh, $2."

To his surprise, Dr. Gordon reached into

his pocket and handed the boy two $1

bills.

The preacher took the cage. The boy in a

wink hurried up the alley.

In a sheltered crevice between

buildings, Dr. Gordon opened up the door

of the cage and tapping on the rusty

exterior, he encouraged the little birds

one at a time to find their way out

through the narrow door and to fly away.

Thus, having accounted for the empty

cage beside his pulpit, the preacher

went on to tell what seemed at first

like a separate story about how once

upon a time Jesus and the devil had

engaged in a negotiation.

Satan had boasted how he'd baited a trap

in Eden's garden and caught himself a

world full of people. "What are you

going to do with all those people in

your cage?" Jesus wanted to know. The

devil said, "I'm going to play with

them, tease them, make them marry and

divorce and fight and kill one another.

I'm going to teach them to throw bombs

at one another. I'm going to have fun

with them." And Jesus said, "Well, you

can't have fun with them forever. When

you get tired of playing, what are you

going to do with them?" Satan said,

"Damn them. They're no good anyway. Damn

them. Kill them." And Jesus said, "How

much do you want for them?"

Satan said, 'You can't be serious.

[sighs] Uh, if I sell them to you,

they'll just spit on you. They'll hate

you. They'll hit you and beat you.

They'll hammer nails into you. They're

no good.

Jesus said,

"How much?"

Satan said, "All of your tears

and all of your blood, that's the

price."

Jesus took the cage, paid the price, and

opened the door.