OPEN: Some years back I read the true story of a conversation a traveler had with a farmer in New York State. They got to talking about the weather, and the farmer assured the traveler that he could tell what the weather was going to be - by watching the behavior of his cows.
"When the cows are standing, it means no rain for the next 24 hours. When they're lying down, it means it's going to rain."
The traveler asked, "What does it mean when half the herd is standing and the rest are lying down?"
The farmer smiled and replied, "That means that half of them are wrong!"
APPLY: Predicting the weather… and predicting the future is as old as mankind. People have used everything from tea leaves to ouija boards, horoscopes, to talking to the dead to try to find out what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next year… etc.
ILLUS: I recently read on MSN.com that a famous psychic to the stars named Nikki was going to reveal her predictions of what was in store for people like Alec Baldwin, Lindsay Lohan, David Letterman, Angelina Jolie and others.
Now for many people, this is exciting news. To be able to learn about the rich and famous is intriguing reading. And, if that psychic’s predictions are 70 to 80% accurate – they are considered worth listening to.
But in Old Testament such a psychic would never live to see her own future. Any psychics, channeler, or those engaged in leading a séance would have been stoned to death. God hated such practices. In fact, He even hated things like ouija boards, horoscopes and reading tea leaves.
God basically told His people If I want you to know the future… I’ll tell you about it.” And God often used prophets to do just that. Prophets of God communicated the future to His people.
But even then, IF a prophet got less than 100% of prophecies correct they were put to death. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 tells us “But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death."
You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?"
If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.”
So, predicting the future has always been a dicey thing at best. Any person who presumed to tell people what was going to happen in the future ran the risk of angering God.
But… today and the rest of this month, I’m going to do just that.
I’m going to predict YOUR future.
And I’m convinced that what I’ll tell you is 100 % accurate because…
I’m only going to repeat what God has already said.
So, let’s start with today’s prediction:
I Predict God will be with you throughout this coming year!
AND I can predict this with 100% accuracy… because that’s what it says in Hebrews 13
God declared "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5
God has promised that (if you’re a Christian) He WILL be with you all through this next year.
What caught my attention when I first read this verse was that this promise was in quotations, which indicated it had been said previously in Scripture. And when I investigated I discovered it had actually been said many times before. The first time was in Genesis 28:15 when God said to Abraham: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
And God repeated the promise to the nation of Israel: “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deut. 31:8
And again God spoke to Joshua (as he prepared to lead God’s people into the Promised Land) God promised: “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5
This promise appears to be a constant theme throughout the Old Testament. God’s people were repeatedly assured, God would not leave them.
And NOW, God makes that same promise to YOU!
If you are His people, He’s not going to leave you… He’s not going forsake you!
Now it’s possible for someone to read this promise and come up with a misunderstanding of what God meant. They might think to themselves “Since God is going to always be with me and never leave me… I won’t ever encounter difficulties of any kind. Life will be smooth sailing. I’ll never be frustrated or face troubles of any kind.”
So is that true? How many of you (since you’ve become a Christian) have NEVER had any difficulties or frustrations of any kind? (no one raised their hand).
Well, that’s probably because that isn’t what the Bible teaches.
Jesus told us: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
The reason this is true is because – though God created this world - Satan still has power in it. And Satan intends to make our lives as difficult as he possible can. Peter told us “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
Bad things will happen to God’s people.
We will have trouble in this world.
But in the midst of those bad times… God will STILL be there for us.
It helps to understand that this same promise was made to the Israelites in the Old Testament.
AND THEY had all kinds of problems in their lives as well. But God would never forsake ANYONE who feared Him and kept His commandments.
For example, take the story of Joseph – one of the 12 sons of Jacob. God planned great things for this young man’s life and gave him two visions that indicated that one day he would become a great man. But shortly after God gave Joseph these dreams his brothers beat him, threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery and for the next few years Joseph was in slavery or jail.
But God never left him.
In fact, several times in that story we’re told “The LORD was WITH Joseph” Gen. 39:2,3,5,21,23
Fast forward a few years to the story of David.
We all know about David. He was just a young shepherd boy - but because God was with him he was able to kill a giant named Goliath - with one small stone and a slingshot and thru God’s help went on to become the greatest King that Israel ever had.
But shortly after David killed Goliath, he ran into trouble.
The King of Israel – King Saul - became jealous of him (because David became a mighty warrior and the people loved him). So eventually King Saul sought to kill David… and David ran for his life spending several years of his life in the wilderness hiding from Saul.
But God never left him.
It was while David was running from Saul … that he wrote many of his best Psalms.
Psalm 18 (for example) tells us “(David) sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Ps 18:1-2
The Bible is filled with stories of men and women who stood for God and faced difficulties, and dangers, and even death.
· Esther facing the wrath of the King of Persia to save her people
· Daniel spent a night in the lion’s den
· Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace.
You see this type of thing – over and over and over again throughout Scripture: God’s people facing difficulties, dangers and even death.
But the underlying message in each of those stories was this:
“I’ll never leave you and I’ll never forsake you”
Yes, you will face difficulties and dangers in this life.
But God WILL NEVER abandon you.
ILLUS: In Adam Clarke’s commentary on the this verse in Hebrews 13, he notes that in the Greek there are no less than 5 five negatives in this short sentence. Literally it would say: "No, I will not leave you; no, neither will I not utterly forsake you." (Adam Clarke’s commentary)
Now I realize – in English – there a grammatical rule that says that two negatives in a sentence turn the sentence into a positive statement. But in the Greek language… the more negatives there are in a sentence the more emphatic that negative statement is.
NO I will NOT leave you… NO I will NOT forsake you… it’s NEVER going to happen!!!!!
Now, why do I need to know that?
Why do I need remember that God will never leave nor forsake me?
Well, if I don’t remember that – there will come a time where I might be faced with difficulties and troubles that overwhelm me to the point where I say to myself “why bother? Why not just throw all my cards in and just give up? Why not just give up this ‘Christianity’ thing?” Or… even “why not just give up on life altogether?”
But that would be tragic, because God has saved us a very special purpose.
He has specific things He wants us to do with our lives to make a difference in this world.
When the world looks at us, God wants them to see God working in our lives.
* In verse 1 God says, “Love one another”
The world should be able to look at our congregation and see that we care for one another.
* In verse 2 He tells us: “Be good to strangers”
Thus, we should be known – not just for how well we treat each other – but for how we treat people we don’t even know!
* In verse 3 – “reach out to those in prison”
We should even reach out to those that the world would reject. To those who have been placed behind bars.
* In verse 4 He says: “Honor your marriage vows and don’t commit adultery”
We need to be people who take our vows seriously. We can be trusted with the most intimate and serious commitments this world has.
* Verse 5 says “Don’t put your faith in money. Instead be satisfied with what you have”
Lastly, we’re not to be people who dedicate our lives to piling up wealth – stacking one sack of coins on top of another. We’re not to put our trust in money, but in God. And our lives should be such that those around us realize that.
THEN – suddenly – God says BECAUSE I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.
In fact “we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:6
What God is saying here is “Do the right thing”
Do the right thing even when you face difficulties and frustrations.
Don’t be afraid of what man can do to you
Because I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Throughout the Bible God tells us:
If you do what I tell you to do, things might get a little uncomfortable for you
If you do what I tell you to do, life isn’t always going to go the way you want it to go.
If you do what I tell you to do, some people are going to give you a hard time.
You might feel like you’re all alone.
You might feel like nobody will help you.
But do what I tell you anyway… because I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.
That’s what Jesus said: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12
ILLUS: The famous writer C.S. Lewis once noted:
“I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity.”
Why would Lewis say that?
Because you will not ALWAYS be comfortable as a Christian.
You won’t necessarily be rich, or prominent or powerful.
BUT God promises: “Do what I tell you to do, no matter what happens because I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.”
It’s important to Him. So important that He is watching to see if you’ll do what He asks so that He can reward you with blessings in heaven itself.
But, Jeff, do you mean to say that if I do what God asks I might not be able to have ‘comfortable life’? If I do what God tells me to I might lose my friends? My job? My home? My loved ones?
Yeah, that’s all possible. Jesus said:
“…everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” Matthew 19:29
But that doesn’t make any sense?
If God isn’t going to leave me or forsake me… why would I lose anything?
Well, it’s not a question of what you’ll lose in this life… because you’re going to lose it anyway. Everything in this life is temporary.
Jesus said: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20
You can’t keep anything in this life.
So, the question is not “what we’re going to give up in this life”
But rather why?
If you’re going to lose it anyway, doesn’t it make sense to lose it for something that’s worthwhile?
Would you be satisfied with having a “comfortable” life - having all the things that you wanted - if it would mean your life accomplished nothing? If it meant that your life had had no value at all? If it meant that your life had become worthless?
But God is saying He can change that.
God is promising us: If we do what He tells us to do, He’ll make our lives count for something.
ILLUS: Think about it this way. I once read the true story of a rich man of a man before the Depression of the 1930’s who gave a sizable donation to a charity. Many of his advisors and close friends questioned his decision, but within a few weeks the stock market plunged and his bank closed its doors. Most of his wealth had evaporated. Looking back on what he’d lost, he thought to himself:
“If I’d known I was going to lose it all anyway… I’d have given more of it away.”
God says: Do what I tell you to do - give yourself away for my sake - and you can be assured that I will never leave you nor forsake you. And because I’ll never forsake you, you can count on the fact that when you give away your life for my sake, I’ll make your life “count for something”
Jesus said: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Mt 10:39
God promises that you’ll make a difference with your life.
But God’s promise is only for those who belong to Him.
To those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
To those who realize they have sinned and want to turn away from that sin.
To those who are willing to make Jesus the Lord and Master of their lives.
And allow themselves to be buried in the waters of Christian baptism and risen up to a new life.
CLOSE: So God has never forsaken anyone who belonged to Him? God never left someone He cared about?
Well yes, there was one person who was forsaken by God.
Turn with me to Matthew 27:43-46 (The crowds mocked Jesus while He was on the cross)
The crowd cried, “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’"
In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama, sabachthani?"— which means, "My God, my God… why have you forsaken me?"
Why had God forsaken Jesus while He was on the cross?
God turned away because God cannot look upon sin.
And the Bible teaches us that when Jesus died on the cross, He bore all of your sins – and all of my sins. He carried our sin and our shame with Him as He died. And in that moment of time Jesus felt the agony of being forsaken by His Father.
ILLUS: There’s a true story told a revival that was held in a small town. The crowd had dispersed, when a woman came down front and asked to speak with the preacher. She cried uncontrollably as she explained to the minister that she wanted to become a Christian, but she felt she had sinned too much for God to ever forgive her and accept her as His own.
Searching for a way to help her with her grief, the preacher asked “Is there a verse from Scripture that you know?”
She responded that, yes she did remember one: “For God so loved the world that He gave us His only ‘forgotten’ Son.”
The preacher was a little shocked as her misstatement of that verse, but then he realize God had given him a perfect opportunity to reach her. He asked “Do you know why God ‘forgot’ His son? He forgot His son… so He could remember you.”
That’s the message from Scripture: Jesus was forsaken so that we would not be.
