God helps those who help themselves

We’ve been in the book of Acts for quite a while now, since the Sunday after Easter as a matter of fact. We’ve seen Jesus give the mission to the apostles, and through them, to the church as a whole, just before he ascended back into heaven following his resurrection. Then we saw the church carry out that mission as the gospel spread out from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and into the Greek speaking world. We’ve seen the apostles go to prison, be released from prison, and be rescued from prison by angels. And we’ve seen the church go through incredible growth after the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now there’s a whole lot more to the book of Acts. The rest of the book recounts Paul’s missionary journeys throughout the Mediterranean and the further spread of the gospel and growth of the early church. And we’ll get there. But for now we’re going to take a break from the book of Acts for a while. For the next several weeks we’ll be going through a series of sermons entitled “The Bible Doesn’t Say That.”

You know, unfortunately there are a lot of erroneous beliefs about God and about Christianity that have snuck their way into our modern church culture. Many of these beliefs are actually in direct contradiction to what the Bible really teaches. Over the next few weeks we’re going to look at some common phrases, or ways of thinking that many people believe are biblical but actually go against the teaching of scripture. We’ll look at these phrases or ideas and compare them with what the Bible actually does say.

The first idea we’re going to look at is a phrase that many people believe is actually a verse in the Bible. “God helps those who help themselves.” If you’ve been around awhile you’ll remember I’ve talked about this one a few times in the past. In fact I don’t think it was too long ago that I was telling you that I have a cousin who argued with me while I was seminary telling me that she had read that verse in the Bible. So I told her to find it for me. It’s been 11 years now and she still hasn’t come back to me with the verse. And that’s because the Bible doesn’t say that. In fact, it’s one of these ideas that runs completely counter to what the Bible actually teaches. Now I’ve said that in here before but we’ve not really gotten into what the Bible actually says. So that’s what we’re going to do this morning.

Now I’m going to give you two reasons why this phrase runs counter to biblical teaching. There’s one kid of general reason and then one more specific. For the more general reason I can’t give you a book, chapter and verse to turn to because the idea that this phrase, “God helps those that help themselves,” contradicts is really the entire counsel of scripture. It’s the whole story of the Bible. Let me explain. The Bible is broken up into different sections right? You’ve got the Old Testament and the New Testament. You’ve got 66 different books, 39 of them in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. There are a total of 1189 chapters. The Bible covers history from the creation of the world up to around 40 to 50 years after the crucifixion. And it actually looks forward into the future to the end of time. So without getting in to the debate about how long creation took, it covers an extremely long period of time. There are more than 3000 different people mentioned by name in the Bible and the setting ranges throughout the Middle East and North Africa up into Europe. There’s also the fact that the Bible was written by many different people. There were around 40 different authors that had a hand in writing the books of the Bible. But what many people don’t realize is that, even with so many characters, and covering so much physical ground, and such a long time, and written by so many different people, the Bible is a single coherent story. It is the story of the redemption of mankind. If you start from the beginning of Genesis you read about the creation story in chapters 1 and 2. Then in chapter 3, you read about the Fall. Adam and Eve sinned and fell out of communion with God. From that point on, the rest of the Bible is about redemption. It’s about God’s plan to restore mankind to a relationship with Him. And the whole point of that story is that we can’t do it on our own. We can’t save ourselves. God gave the Israelites the Law, not to restore the relationship, but to show them that they could never be good enough on their own. If “God helps those who help themselves,” then no one would ever get any help, because the whole story of the Bible points out the fact that we can’t help ourselves. God is the one that has to help us. He is the one that saves us from our sins.

So that’s the first, more general reason why this phrase goes against biblical teaching; because, we can’t help ourselves. But I can’t just stand up here and talk about the Bible without actually turning to some verses in the Bible. It’s been said that trying to preach a sermon without using scripture is preaching, it’s giving a talk, and that’s not what we’re here for so let’s turn to our text for this morning and see the more specific reason that this phrase isn’t biblical.

Matthew 6

now I want to look at a more specific reason

Matthew 6:25–34 CSB

25 “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add one moment to his life-span by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Our modern culture idolizes self-sufficiency. Everyone needs to take care of themselves, first. Look out for number one. Focus on your needs before anyone else’s needs. Look at the phenomenon of reality TV. Ever seen Survivor? They may start out on teams, but ultimately it’s all about being the last one standing to win the money at the end of the show.

God’s plan for our lives is the exact opposite. Focus on the kingdom first, and God will take care of your necessities. Following Jesus is about living a selfless life. Our focus should be on expanding the kingdom of God, on sharing the gospel with other people so that they can share in the promises that go along with it.

Now this isn’t saying that we don’t have to work to earn a living, and to earn our daily necessities. God isn’t just going to give you what you want. In fact in Paul writes:

2 Thessalonians 3:10 CSB

10 In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.”

So this passage from Matthew isn’t permission to be lazy, but it does command us to shift our focus. It commands us not to focus on ourselves, on helping ourselves, but to focus on the kingdom of God.

So how do we do that? How do we place our focus on the kingdom of God instead of following the modern impulse to focus on ourselves?

We have to set priorities in our lives. I’m sure you’ve all heard some preacher or speaker over the years talk about this. They’ll list off an order of priorities for you. God, Others, Self. God, Corps and Country. God, Family, Others, Self. Well, I’m not going to list off an order of priorities for you because I think that’s something that each person needs to decide for themselves. Plus I think the order can, and should change, depending on the circumstances of your life at any given time. I can’t tell you to always place family in front of yourself, because there are certain times (health concerns, career transitions, etc.) at which you may need to focus more on yourself for a short time, because ultimately it will be of more benefit to your family in the long run. But that’s a decision that you and your family have to make on a case by case basis. But I can say that God and His kingdom need to always be our first priority. Verse 33 in our passage from Matthew says this explicitly, “But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” If we place God first, everything else will fall into place the way it should. God will take care of our needs. Now I’m not saying that if we obey God and put him first He will shower us with money and possessions. That’s not the way it works. And we’re actually going to talk about that very concept next week. No, God doesn’t promise to make us rich, but he does promise to take care of us… if we have our priorities straight.

So again, how do we place God’s kingdom first? In studying for this sermon I found a great illustration of how you place the most important things first in life. It’s a concept called “planned neglect.” It sounds bad at first hearing, but listen to this.

A noted young concert violinist was asked the secret of her success. “Planned neglect,” she replied. Then she explained, “Years ago I discovered that there were many things demanding my time. After washing breakfast dishes, I made my bed, straightened my room, dusted the furniture, and did a host of other chores. I then turned my attention to violin practice. That system, however, failed to accomplish the desired results. So I realized I had to reverse things. I deliberately set aside everything else until my practice period ended. That program of planned neglect accounts for my success!”

That’s how we place God first. As human beings we will naturally do the things that are most important to us before the things that are of lesser importance. If you claim that God is the most important thing in your life, then time with Him should come before anything else. Before washing the breakfast dishes, before making the bed, dusting the furniture, before anything. So where does God fall in your priority list? And I’m not talking about the “God, Others, Self” list that we present to other people. I’m talking about the real list. The list that we make by how we use our time. Does God come first, or is He somewhere further down the list?

Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

In the late 19th century there was a man by the name of John Wanamaker who opened a department store in Philadelphia. Within just a few years that store had become one of the most successful businesses in the country. He is known for pioneering many things in the retail and advertising worlds. He is credited with the creation of the price tag and the money back guarantee. He provided his employees with free medical care, education, recreational facilities, pensions and profit-sharing plans long before such benefits were standard business practices. But operating his store wasn’t Wanamaker’s only responsibility. He was also named Postmaster General of the United States, and he served as superintendent for what was at that time the largest Sunday school in the world at Bethany Presbyterian Church. When someone asked him how he could hold all of those various positions at once, he explained. “Early in life I read, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ The Sunday school is my business, all the rest are the things.”

One evidence of Wanamaker’s desire to keep the Lord’s work first in his life was a specially constructed soundproof room in his store. Every day he spent 30 minutes there praying and meditating upon God’s Word. He had his priorities straight!

So I ask again, where does God fall in your priorities? Do you seek his kingdom first? Or do you “help yourself?”

Would you pray with me?