HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW Matthew 10:27-31
"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."
Vs27 - Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.
1. Don’t we do our best listening in the dark? Somebody said, it’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. But there is some darkness that cannot be dispelled with a candle and . . . darkness is beneficial.
A. God does not speak any more or any louder in the dark - God is speaking all the time - daylight or dark night - but we are more prone to listen in the dark.
1. When day is done and the lights are out and we crawl into bed for the night - and pull the cover up - and snuggle into the darkness - ready to spend sleepy hours in the pleasant darkness - it’s a good time to listen - God speaks in the dark.
a. There are not so many diversions in the dark.
(1) The daylight has distractions that keep us from listening.
(a) We have to earn a living - we have to "make it" in the daylight.
(b) There is work to do in the day. Jesus said to "work while it is yet day for the night comes when no man can work."
(c) The day was made for whatever distractions there are. And the dark was made for rest and relaxation and listening for that still small voice of God - IF IT WASN’T FOR THE DARKNESS - WE MIGHT NOT HEAR HIM AT ALL!
2. And - There are other kinds of darkness than just the physical absence of light.
a. There is the darkness of despair and heartbreak and who has not been there? James Stewart - a Scottish preacher who influenced my early ministry and preaching more than anybody else called this "The dark night of the soul." Things are so dark - platitudes and cliches like, "Well, just remember, it’s darkest just before dawn." Somehow, just don’t seem to be much help.
1. Maybe a friend, someone you loved and trusted and respected, disappointed you . . . badly . . . and it’s dark.
2. Maybe you’re sick . . . really sick . . . and can’t seem to get well - and it’s dark.
3. Maybe you’re old - and tired - and you’re not going to be younger here in this world. Stairs are steeper - people don’t talk loud enough or plain enough - sons and daughters are living their own lives and don’t seem to have time for you anymore and it’s dark.
4. Maybe you’re young - and trying to cope with school - and parents - and growing up - and peer pressure - You are being told that everybody’s doing it - you might as well. It’s the devil’s lie - but you hear it all the time. You want to hold out but it’s hard to do and - it’s dark.
5. Maybe you let yourself down - your church down - your God down - and you’re sorry you did that but you don’t know what to do and it’s dark?
(1) A heart that has never despaired will not have much to preach about from the housetops.
(2) A heart that has never broken - will never adequately sympathize with someone elses who has.
(3) A heart that has not walked in the valley of the shadow of death - cannot really appreciate the joy of living.
(4) A heart that has never suffered the awfulness of depression - cannot possibly appreciate the joy of freedom from it.
(5) Anyway, the point is - in the darkness - whatever kind is it - whether it’s physical - emotional - whether it’s depression - despair - lonliness - IT’S NOT ALL BAD - because in every kind of darkness - God speaks.
(6) The voice of God is heard in the inner ear - the spiritual ear - it isn’t loud - it does not overwhelm other voices - IF WE ARE NOT LISTENING, WE WON’T HEAR IT - and we do our best listening in the dark.
Whatever you hear in the darkness - speak it in the light.
1. God’s speaking is done to help us - so we ought to listen. But that’s where most of us miss it. It is not done JUST for our own good - it is that - but it’s for the good of the crowd and not JUST the individual.
2. God loves individuals – BUT GOD LOVES THE WORLD. And any revelation of Himself that He gives you is to be announced - to the world.
3. When you hear God speaking to you - don’t forget it - in the light. When God reveals Himself - he does it for a purpose - SO YOU CAN TELL ABOUT IT ION THE LIGHT. Aren’t we prone to forget that??
A. When it’s dark and we need God - and we listen - and hear Him. DON’T FORGET TO TELL ABOUT IT WHEN THE DARKNESS IS GONE.
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
1. This is not a scripture that we enjoy talking about. This does not with the way we want to think about God.
2. We would rather say it is the devil that destroys both soul and body in hell. But the devil does not have that kind of power.
a. It is the devil’s ambition to keep you out of the kingdom if he can - and destroy your witness for Christ if he can - and keep you from living for Christ if he can - but that’s about all the devil can do. When it comes to the end of the line - the devil goes into the lake of fire - as do the unbelieving dead - and the one who does it - is the one from whom the heavens and earth flee away - and the one from whom the unbelieving will cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them from His face.
. 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.
1. Sparrows are cheap - you couldn’t even get a copper coin for two sparrows now - you couldn’t get a copper coin for a million sparrows. A sparrow is about as worthless as birds get.
a. They are dirty - usually have fleas - and they reproduce abundantly.
b. They have no song - they’re not colorful and they are not pretty.
2. But not one of them falls to the ground apart from the Father’s will.
3. That being the truth - we can say this. Understand or not - darkness or not - whatever happens to us - is first filtered thru the will of The Father.
A. One of our favorite sports when we were teen agers was shooting sparrows.
There was an old dead walnut tree in the back yard - we lived on a farm - and we kept Clyde’s 22 Mossburg by the back door - bullets in the magazine but not in the firing chamber. From the kitchen table we could see the tree thru the window.
Sneak - cat - neck.
Not one of them fell - but that God was there - taking note? He cares for the sparrows - he cares for us.
4. But Bro. Rose - what about the horrible things that happen in the world? Stuff like famine - earthquakes - wars - disease, what about cancer and MS and heart disease and aids? Why does God put up with that?
a. Steel is tempered in the fire - it would just be mushy junky mud except for the fire.
b. Gold is refined in the fire - impurities are burned out in the fire.
c. Life is tested in the fire of trouble and heartache and disease and even death.
(1) Whatever comes out on the other side of darkness, that which goes thru the fire - is stronger and purer and higher and holier and better than it ever could have been - without it.
So - when it’s dark - God is saying something - and it is never so dark that God is not there.
Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsy was imprisoned in WWII in a German concentration camp. The conditions were horrible - even indescribably horrible. They were in their crude bunks one dark night - and they were talking about the horror and Betsy said, "Corrie, we’re in hell, this is hell." Betsy didn’t live to see the end of the concentration camp - she died there. But she told her sister this, "You’ve got to go out of here and tell the world - that no matter deep the pit - God’s love is deeper still."
Has God told you something in the darkness – He want’s you to tell it in the light!!!
