“Born by Providence”
Matthew 10:27-31
A sermon for 7/04/21
Pastor John Bright
Matthew 10 27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
An old joke -
An auto dealer, facing bankruptcy, was walking along a beach when he kicked a bottle and out popped a genie. "Thanks for setting me free," said the genie. "To show my appreciation, I’ll grant you one wish."
"Okay," said the auto dealer, "I want to be the only foreign car dealer in a major metropolitan market."
"Done!" cried the genie.
Immediately, the dealer found himself in a glass-walled office looking out over a major city. "Quick," he said to his secretary, "tell me who I am."
"You’re the only Cadillac dealer in downtown Tokyo," said the secretary. 😊
SOURCE: The Jokesmith, Bits & Pieces, November 10, 1994, p. 4. Citation: Joel Smith in "Prayer that Gets Results" on www.sermoncentral.com.
There are lots of these kinds of jokes and they all go back to the Aladdin story from the old book known as “The Arabian Nights” or “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.” You know it – the genie is trapped in a lamp and upon being released he becomes the slave of whoever found the lamp. It is so tempting to think of God as the genie and make prayer the act of rubbing the lamp and God has to do whatever we ask. Of course, this is NOT HOW IT WORKS!
Let me give you another way of looking at it. What if we are the genie? Not that we can grant 3 wishes – no, we are the ones enslaved to the owner of the lamp. That would be a fair way to view the founders of our nation. They were being oppressed by a government that was about 4,000 miles away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. In that day, it took four to six months to travel in a ship – that was how they got word from their government. No email, no text messages. It was written on paper and sent on a ship. Think about this – how much could change in a few months? What about in a year when you are waiting for a reply?
It was in this world – so strange to us – that the First Continental Congress met in 1774. They represented the thirteen colonies that were begun in the almost two centuries since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in December of 1620. They believed that God had directed them to a place of freedom. That is what our founders were seeking – freedom. So they turned to God – the same God that had delivered the Israelites from Egypt. They needed to be delivered and they believed that was God’s Sovereign Plan.
This was always God’s plan v. 27-28
27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
God designed the whole universe and put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with free will. They chose to disobey God and our world was fallen. The fallenness of mankind is evident in every part of the Bible and in every part of history recorded over the centuries. Here in Matthew, Jesus explains that we have to keep proclaiming – loud and clear – that there is another way to live. If we follow the ways of this world, this culture – it ends in what we call eternal damnation in hell. That’s how God designed it – no matter what a wacky troll on social media wants to say about “a loving god would never send anybody to hell.” That’s right – He doesn’t – we choose to do what sends us to hell. We can also choose the path to eternal life. That’s what we are supposed to shouting from the rooftops! (Are we?)
The founders of our nation were not looking at salvation or damnation – they were focused on Divine Providence. What’s that? I went to my favorite website for concise answers to Christian matters – GotQuestions.org:
“Divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. The doctrine of divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole (Psalm 103:19), the physical world (Matthew 5:45), the affairs of nations (Psalm 66:7), human destiny (Galatians 1:15), human successes and failures (Luke 1:52), and the protection of His people (Psalm 4:8). This doctrine stands in direct opposition to the idea that the universe is governed by chance or fate.”
“Through divine providence God accomplishes His will. To ensure that His purposes are fulfilled, God governs the affairs of men and works through the natural order of things. The laws of nature are nothing more than God’s work in the universe. The laws of nature have no inherent power; rather, they are the principles that God set in place to govern how things normally work. They are only “laws” because God decreed them.” https://www.gotquestions.org/divine-providence.html
I want you to listen now to the very beginning and the very end of the Declaration of Independence -
“In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
In this opening – they appeal to the laws of nature and the God of nature for their right to freedom from tyranny. Right after this opening is the most famous line in the whole document – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Now to the end – “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
They were trusting Divine Providence.
I am still amazed that people want to teardown the founders of this country – especially claiming that they were NOT Christians.
Their first decision
The men at that first Continental Congress in September of 1774, represented the various denominations that were present in the Colonies - Anglicans, Quakers, Anabaptists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists. So who would pray for them to open their work? We think of this as a silly discussion – but religious tolerance was not practiced in all the Colonies so the Christians were treading lightly. It was during this discussion that Samuel Adams stood up and declared, “I am not bigot. I can hear a prayer from any man of piety and virtue and at the same time a friend of his country.” So they decided to invite an Anglican priest who opened with the Psalm for September 7 in the Book of Common Prayer – Psalm 35:
“Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler,
And stand up for my help.
3 Also draw out the spear,
And stop those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
Then he prayed a prayer that was not written down! This is not what Anglican Priests did back then!
John Adams noted in a letter to his wife, Abigail, this psalm and prayer greatly encouraged the delegates facing war - “You must remember this was the next morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if Heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning. After this, Mr. Duché, unexpected to everybody, struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present.”
https://thefounding.net/americas-founding-with-a-firm-reliance-on-the-protection-of-divine-providence/
Psalm 35 is among the list we refer to as The Imprecatory Psalms. They all contain the people of God crying out to Him to fight for their victory – for their deliverance – their freedom. I’m never sure how much a Christian can appreciate these cries for God’s help in time of battle. Of course, the women and men who have served our country in times of war understand this, but so do those of us who have had our own battles in life. I have told you before that I have been clean and sober since 1985. As time goes on, I don’t really think about how hard it was in the beginning – until I see someone struggling, wanting to be free from addiction but going through the stumbles and tumbles of breaking free from addiction. All of us are addicts – we are “Sin Addicts” and need to be set free by the Power of the Holy Spirit!
God cares for His children v. 29-31
“29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."
There is a vital truth here – for the founders of our nation – for our denomination - for all of us “Sin Addicts” – “And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.” Right there is the essence of Divine Providence – within the will of God we are found to be precious in His sight.
Those men who gathered together in the years leading up to July 4, 1776 all had the view that God’s hand was upon them. They believed that the tyranny of England was not the purpose of God, but rather the fallen nature of what happens when powerful and greedy leaders take advantage of those who live under them in this world. They believed God was calling them to separate from their oppressors.
We are coming out of a season of great uncertainty in so many ways. During this season, and now, have you succumbed to fear? Jesus gives us a simple command – “Do not fear” – not to condemn or shame us. No, it’s because He loves us! It’s because we are so precious to Him that He wants us to be free – free from fear and free from sin!
Today, I believe God has a plan for our Country!
Today, I believe God has a plan for our denomination!
Today, I believe God has a plan for you and me!
God has used our Country to accomplish His Divine Will in the past and will do it again!
God has used our denomination to accomplish His Divine Will in the past and will do it again!
I really, really want to be the person that God will use to accomplish His Divine Will in this season and in the season to come! What about you?
Pray with me – Lord, we look back and see Your Divine Providence at the birth of our nation. Help us in our present day when it looks to be a little broken here and there. Use us as instruments of Your Will to proclaim release to the captives all around us. They need You, Lord… so may we hear You calling, once again. Call to us as you called to the Prophet Isaiah – 6:8 “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” May our replay be as his -“Here am I! Send me.”
Amen.
