Christ First Forum

This is a good sermon that my friend Kar did and was referenced to blue letter bible...

Greetings,

I wanted to share a tutorial I found on the internet at the Blue Letter Bible web-site that was interesting, especially how sayings are passed down over time loosing their original meaning or intended application. It is titled under Sayings Not Found in Scripture: "God helps those who help themselves". As you'll soon discover it is far from being scriptural in its original context.

The saying, "God helps those who help themselves" is a phrase that people use without significance of its origin. Interestingly this expression came about in an Aesopian fable called "Hercules and the Wagoneer", around the period of 620–564 BC. In the story the Waggoner was driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. Eventually he came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank the wheels. So the Waggoner threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to Hercules the Strong. "O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress," and Hercules appeared to him, and said: "Tut, man, don’t sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel. "THE GODS HELP THEM THAT HELP THEMSELVES."

Many, many centuries later, Benjamin Franklin used his own twist on this saying in Poor Richard's Almanac, 1736; revising the saying as; "God helps those who help themselves". Reasoning that if man was not able to help himself, then man was hopeless. Franklin was a known deist [one who has a belief in God based on reason rather than revelation and involving the view that God has set the universe in motion but does not interfere with how it runs. Deism was especially influential in the 17th and 18th centuries], and so he believed that God did not play an active role in man's life.

The Bible teaches something entirely different than the above saying, because God made special provisions to help the helpless, as in;

Romans 5:6, 8
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly....But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Proverbs 28:26
He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
But he who walks wisely will be delivered.

Jeremiah 17:5
Thus says the LORD,
"Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the LORD.

Reference: (http://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/sayings.cfm#once

Karen's closing thoughts;

After reading all this it made me think of how Paul in the book of Romans suggests that within ourselves we are unable to be a righteous person, that we can do nothing apart from God;
Rom 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that [it is] good. Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not. Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Reference: (http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cf ... 7&t=KJV#15

We are unable to earn our standing with God, because our natural man is incapable and it is only by the grace of God. This saying "God helps those who help themselves" is meaningless because there would be no need for God to save us. Of course we do need saving, that is why God sent us His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to bare our sins, so we would no longer be separated from Him. Only by His grace can we obtain His fellowship, salvation, eternal life, forgiveness, peace and joy.

Left to our own devices--man would always fall short of God's holiness. This is what makes us different to the natural man; it is God’s spirit moving within us—where He shines His light through us that others can see hope in a dark world. So next time you hear the phrase, "God helps those who help themselves", instead turn it around to think about how God helps us in spite of ourselves, it is not by our own doing, but by the gift of God’s love, mercy, and grace! Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your love and faithfulness and redemption, in Jesus name. Amen.