MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
TEXT: Hebrews 13:1-6; Deuteronomy 31:8
ILL. I wish you could have known Bessie Hanna. She was a long-time member of Central Christian Church in Brownsville, TX, & was 95 years old when she died.
Bessie was a lovely & loving person. And for the last 22 years of her life she taught the Loyal Women's class. Now think about that for a moment. Do you realize that means she was 73 years old when she began teaching that class?
By the time most people reach that age they have almost retired from doing much in the church. But not Bessie! At age 73 Bessie was just beginning her teaching career!
Anyway, during the last few weeks of her life I was visiting her in the hospital, & she wanted me to find & read to her a particular passage of Scripture. The passage that she wanted contains these words, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." It was her favorite passage of Scripture.
Let me tell you why this passage was so special to her. She was born in the late 1890’s in northeast Texas. And shortly after 1900 her parents became part of a large-scale migration from the OK Territory & north TX down to the Rio Grande Valley along the Mexican border – to an area of palm trees, citrus groves, & vegetable fields – if you had access to water.
Life along the border wasn’t easy back in those days. There was animosity between the Mexicans & the Anglo settlers coming in from the north. Bandits roamed freely in the area, & TX Ranger stations were being formed to stop them.
In that semi-tropical climate diseases also seemed to spread quickly, too. And it wasn’t long until both of Bessie’s parents had died, leaving Bessie & her brother orphans & all alone. They had no one to turn to for help.
Well, as often happened along the frontier in those days, there was a family that took them in. But evidently not out of any real love or concern for them. They treated the children as servants, as slaves to work in the fields.
They were never treated as part of a family. They were simply human animals, treated harshly & put to work for the benefit of their owners. It was a miserable existence for them.
During this time a traveling preacher came down to the Rio Grande Valley & began holding tent meetings. During one of those meetings he heard about the plight of the 2 orphan children, & he began asking people to pray for them.
When he returned to northeast TX with his tent revivals he continued to tell the story of the 2 orphan children. And in one of those services an uncle & aunt who had lost all contact with Bessie’s parents when they moved south, heard the story, recognized the names, & immediately headed south to rescue the children.
Well, from that point on life completely changed for the better for Bessie & her brother. She fell in love, married a good, kind Christian man. They moved to Brownsville & had children there.
One of her sons became a teacher, then a principal, & finally the Superin-tendent of Schools for Brownsville. In fact, the biggest school in Brownsville, Hanna High School, was named in honor of him.
And now, in that hospital room, at age 95, she shared with me some of the joys of her life & her certainty that through it all she had been greatly blessed.
And she told me that this assurance, this promise of God, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" had sustained her through the hard times & the good times. She knew that God loved her & had cared for her all her life long!
That is a wonderful promise, & it is found in Hebrews 13:5. But it is part of a longer passage, & I am going to come back to it in just a few minutes.
I. GOD MADE THIS PROMISE!
The first time God made such a promise is found in Genesis 28:15 when He said to Abraham: “I am with you & will watch over you wherever you go, & I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Then God had Moses tell the children of Israel as they left the slavery of Egypt, “The Lord himself goes before you & will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deut. 31:8) And that promise was repeated to Joshua also.
In fact, this promise was made again & again throughout the O.T. God’s people were assured that God would be with them, that He would never forsake ANYONE who feared Him & 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 & gave him two dreams showing 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 & sold him into slavery. And for the next few years Joseph was living as a slave & then as a prisoner in jail. But God never left him. In fact, several times we’re told “The Lord was with Joseph.” (Gen. 39:2,3,5,21,23)
Fast forward a few generations to the life 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 & a slingshot. And through God’s help David 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 was becoming a mighty warrior & the people loved him. So eventually King Saul sought to kill David - & David had to run for his life - spending several years living in the wilderness hiding from Saul.
It was while David was running from Saul that he wrote many of his best Psalms. Look at Psalm 18. It tells us, “(David) sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies & from the hand of Saul.”
He wrote: “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress & my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield & the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Psalm 18:1-2)
The Bible is filled with stories of men & women standing for God, facing difficulties, dangers, & even death. Esther risked the wrath of her own husband, the King of Persia, to save her people. Daniel spent a night in the lion’s den. Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace.
You see this type of thing happening over & over again throughout Scripture: God’s people facing difficulties, dangers & death. But God's underlying message in each story was this: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
II. DO WE MISUNDERSTAND GOD’S PROMISE?
Now it’s possible to hear that promise & misunderstand it. Some might think, “Since God promises to be with me & never leave me - that means my life will be free of difficulties. I’ll never be frustrated or face any troubles again.”
Do you believe that? I wonder how many of us, since we became a Christian, have never had any difficulties or frustrations? Well, it’s probably because that isn’t what the Bible teaches.
Jesus said: "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)
Yes, even though God created this world - & we belong to Him, Satan still has power, & he intends to make our lives as difficult as he possibly can. Peter tells us, “Be self-controlled & alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
Bad things do happen to God’s people. We will have troubles. But in the midst of those bad times, God has promised to be there for us!
Now, why do I need to know that? Why do I need to remember that God will never leave nor forsake me?
Well, if I forget that – there may come a time when I am facing difficulties & troubles so great that I say to myself, “Why bother? 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 a special purpose. He has specific things He wants us to do with our lives to make a difference in this world.
III. LET’S LOOK AT HEBREWS 13:1-6
Now here is the passage that Bessie Hanna wanted me to read to her.
1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
When the world looks at us, God wants them to see Him working in our lives.
In vs. 1 God says, “Love one another.” The world should be able to look at our congregation & see that we care for one another.
In vs. 2 He says, “Be good to strangers.” 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 vs. 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 vs. 4 He says, “Honor your marriage vows & don’t commit adultery.” We need to be people who take our vows seriously. People who can be trusted with the most intimate & serious commitments this world has.
Vs. 5 says, “Don’t put your faith in money. Instead be satisfied with what you have.” We’re not to be people who spend our lives piling up wealth. We’re not to put our trust in money, but in God. And our lives should be such that those around us realize that.
And after saying all that God tells us, “You can do this, ‘BECAUSE I’ll never leave you nor forsake you. So 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 & frustrations. Don’t be afraid of what man can do to you because I will never leave you nor forsake you."
ILL. The famous writer C.S. Lewis once wrote: “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.”
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 & falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
“Rejoice & 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)
Remember, everything in this life is temporary. Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth & rust destroy, & where thieves break in & steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth & rust do not destroy, & where thieves do not break in & steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20)
ILL. Think about it this way. I once heard about a wealthy banker back before the Depression of the 1930’s who gave a sizable donation to a charity. His advisors & close friends questioned his generosity, but within a few weeks the stock market plunged & his bank closed its doors. Most of his wealth evaporated.
Looking back on what he’d lost, he said, “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 - & you can be assured that I will never leave you nor forsake you. And I’ll make your life “count for something”
SU M. So has God never forsaken anyone who belonged to Him? Has God never left someone He cared about? Well yes, there was one who was forsaken by God.
Too easily we forget the cruel details of the agonizing sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. Even before His crucifixion, the Son of God was stripped naked, mocked, crowned with thorns & spit upon. Abused & ridiculed by heartless men, He was treated worse than an animal.
Then, nearly unconscious from blood loss, He was forced to drag a cumber-some cross up a hill, was nailed to it, & was left to die the slow, excruciating torture of death by crucifixion. While His lifeblood drained out, hecklers stood by & shouted insults, making fun of His pain & challenging His claim to be God.
Next, as Jesus took all of mankind's sin & guilt on himself, God looked away from that ugly sight, & Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus could have saved himself - but then He could not have saved you & me.
Words cannot describe the darkness of that moment. Why did God allow & endure such ghastly, evil mistreatment? Why? So you & I could be spared from an eternity in hell, & so you & I could share in His glory forever!
ILL. There’s a true story told about a revival that was held in a small town. The crowd had dispersed, when a woman came down front & asked to speak with the preacher. She cried uncontrollably as she explained to him that she wanted to become a Christian, but she felt she had sinned too much for God to ever forgive her & 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 bothered by her misstatement of that verse, but then he realized 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 & me.” That’s the message from Scripture: Jesus was forsaken so that we would not be. “NEVER WILL I LEAVE YOU; NEVER WILL I FORSAKE YOU.”
INVITATION
