God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

The Bible Doesn't Say That  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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A look at how God uses our weaknesses to receive glory to Himself

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Introduction:
What do Aesop, Benjamin Franklin, and the Quran all have in common? They all have been attributed with saying a similar phrase.
Poor Richard said:
…let us hearken to good advice, and something may be done for us. “God helps them that help themselves,” as Poor Richard says, in his almanac of 1733.
Aesop said:
A WAGGONER was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. At last 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,” quoth he. But 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.”
The Quran says:
Indeed Allah will not change the conditions of a population until they change what is in themselves.
And according to George Barna’s polls, 8 out of 10 people in America believe the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves.
Perhaps this is why the Christian self-help message has become so popular among Christian writers and preachers!
But what does the Bible say? Well we will take a look at that in just a moment.
First, we need God’s help today so let us pray and ask that He give it to us!
Read

The Basic Argument

God needs our help to work in our lives and chooses to work alongside of our efforts to bless us.
In order to examine this false statement that is found nowhere in the Bible, we need to consider this phrase on two separate levels.
Salvation
Work Ethic
We will first look at how this phrase relates to our work ethic and then turn to salvation.

What Does the Bible Say?

The Bible Says to Work Hard

Colossians 3:23 ESV
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
Deuteronomy 28:8 ESV
The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 28:2 ESV
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Deut

The Bible Warns Against Laziness

Proverbs 12:11 ESV
Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.
Proverbs 24:27 ESV
Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV
For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
2 Thess.

The Bible Says that God Uses the Weak

Isaiah 25:4 ESV
For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
1 Corinthians 1:27–2:5 ESV
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Hebrews 11:32–34 ESV
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Heb.
The point of all of these passages is that God is the One who empowers us for His service. And let me address another catchy phrase that people like to throw out at this time that is unbiblical as well.

God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.

This sounds good and preaches well, but is it true? God actually does require certain qualifications for service. Take for example pastors (or elders), teachers, and deacons.
James 3:1 ESV
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
James 3:1
1 Timothy 3:1–7 ESV
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
1 Tim. 3:1-
Paul also continues in giving the qualifications for deacons. The point is not to have separate sermon on these offices and what it takes to be a teacher, elder, or deacon, but rather to stress that there are certain qualifications. Also, just as Saul in the Old Testament demonstrates for us, it is possible to lose your place of ministry by becoming unqualified.
With that in mind, we turn back to understanding that what the Scripture shows us over and over again is that God takes broken vessels and fills them with the treasure of the gospel to be used for His kingdom
Often we have to learn to get out of the way before we can be used of God. Moses learned this after 40 years in the wilderness. Joseph learned in a prison cell in Egypt. David learned being chased by Saul all over the Israelite wilderness.
When we say things like “God helps those who help themselves,” we are actually giving ourselves much more credit than we deserve. We are assuming that we can actually help ourselves in the first place.
This is a good time for us to consider the second sphere in which this quote is completely wrong.
Salvation
It is imperative that we understand that we can do nothing to save ourselves. There is no half-way plan where we start out on the right path and God comes along beside us to help us out. Salvation is entirely a work of God.
Last week I had two Jehovah’s Witnesses stop by my house to try to share their plan of salvation. A major reason why they were at my house and a major component on salvation to them is works. We have to be good and do these works to be saved.
Let’s see how the Bible answers this.
Romans 3:21–25 ESV
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
The next passage shows us we stand before God as condemned criminals.
:21-25
Romans 3:23 ESV
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 ESV
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
tells us that anything we try to do to help God with our salvation is like filthy garments.
Isaiah 64:6 ESV
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
In this state, God did everything for us to save us.
Romans 5:6 ESV
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:6-
Romans 5:8 ESV
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
All of this is to glorify God who saves us completely by His grace and not by anything we do.
Ephesians 2:5-
Ephesians 2:5–9 ESV
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Conclusion:
As we close out our time together this morning, I hope you see how important it is to realize that it is only when we empty ourselves that we can be used of God. It is only when we realize that we cannot save ourselves or even help God save ourselves, that we can come to Christ and be completely free from our sins and stains. This morning, I hope that you have come to Him for a new life and that you are allowing yourself to be emptied so that He can fill you!
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